MXPA00006865A - Peelable child-resistant package - Google Patents

Abstract

A child-resistant tablet package (10) accommodates low density pharmaceutical tablets. The package includes a blister tray (12) having a plurality of blister depressions (20) which accommodate the low density porous pharmaceutical tablets. The blister tray further includes a frangible tray extent spaced (24) adjacent to each blister depression. The frangible tray extent may be manually puntured through the surface of the blister tray. A planar lid (14) is removably sealed over the blister tray and encloses the tablets within the blister depressions. The blister lid includes frangible cover extents (32) overlying each of the frangible tray extents. The cover extents and the tray extents may be frangibly displaced so as to establish a graspable peel tab to facilitate peelable removal of portions of the cover from the overlying disposition with respect to the blister depressions so as to expose the tablets for dispensing.

Description

PACKING DESPRE DIBLE RESISTANT TO CHILDREN Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to packages for containing low density porous tablets. More particularly, the present invention relates to packaging of child resistant ampoules for containing and dispensing low density porous tablets, wherein the blister pack inhibits the undesirable entry but still allows the fragile tablets to be dispensed without damage thereto. Background of the Invention It is well known to use blister packs to contain articles such as tablets or pharmaceutical capsules. Conventional blister packages include a blister twhich is typically a thermoformed plastic sheet having a plurality of blister depressions or cells formed therein. A cover material is placed in a covering arrangement over the ampoule t to house the tablets contained within the individual ampoule depressions. The cover material is typically sealed to the blister t providing environmental protection to it. Blister packaging provides some degree of protection to the tablets during shipping and storage and also provides convenience for dispensing the individual tablets from the package.

The removal of tablets from the blister pack can be accomplished by one of two conventional techniques. The first technique is to provide cover material that is supported on the blister tin a manner in which the cover material can be easily removed from the blister t providing easy access to the tablets contained in the blister depressions. In such embodiments, the cover material is adhesively sealed to the ampoule tby a non-aggressive adhesive so that the cover material, or a portion of the cover material (cover) can easily be peeled off from the ampoule t way to allow removal of the tablets. In such situations, an unsealed release tab can be established adjacent an edge of the blister tto facilitate manual detachment of the cover material. Examples of blister packs having removable covers disposed adhesively on a blister tare shown in U.S. Patent Nos. 3,246,746, issued to Holley; 3,659,706, granted to Serrell; and 3,737,029, granted to Serrell et al. The second technique to allow the removal of tablets from a blister pack is to provide an easily breakable cover material on the blister t Such cover material is formed of a laminate material that can be easily broken by manually deforming the blister depression and forcing the tablet through the cover material. In such embodiments, the tablet is removed from the blister pack by manually pushing the blister depression and forcing the tablet held in the depression through a cover material capable of breaking. The cover material can be sufficiently thin and flexible so as to allow the non-destructive passage of a conventional tablet or capsule therethrough. Examples of such push ampoule packages therethrough are shown in U.S. Patent Nos. 3,924,747, issued to Gener, and 4,911,304, issued to Bunin. Various other blister packs having removable covers susceptible to breakage and / or shedding are shown in U.S. Patent Nos. 4,838,425, issued to O'Brien et al., And 5,172,812, issued to Wharton et al. Although the techniques described above for storing and dispensing pharmaceutical tablets using cover material and t serve suitably for their intended purposes, there are certain disadvantages inherent in such designs. Both in the susceptible design to be detached and in the design that is pushed through, the removal of the tablet from the package is easily achieved. In the cover design capable of being peeled off, the adhesive holding the cover on the blister tray is relatively non-aggressive and a tongue is provided, which facilitates the easily removable removal of the tray cover. In the push design therethrough, the cover material is formed of relatively thin and flexible material so as to allow easy piercing of the cover by the tablet, without destroying the tablet. As you can see, none of these basic designs is resistant to access by children. In this way, a child would be able to easily dispense the tablet from the package. Techniques have been developed to make such blister packs sufficiently resistant to access by children. However, some of these techniques have been found unacceptable in certain situations. Many child-resistant packages have been designed that require considerable manual strength and dexterity in order to render the tablet unacceptable to a child. However, such devices have resulted in making packaging difficult to open even by adults. Also, specifically with respect to push-through packages, where the tablet must be forced through the cover material, the pushing action therethrough may result in the destruction of the tablet, especially in situations where tablets are used. porous low density. This destruction makes the tablet useless. It is therefore desirable to provide an improved blister pack design that accommodates tablets, including low density pharmaceutical tablets where the blister pack is adequately resistant to access by children but still simple and easy to open by an adult. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a package for tablets, to protect and dispense tablets. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a blister pack resistant to access by children, to contain and dispense tablets. It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a blister pack resistant to access by children, to contain and dispense tablets, which is adequately resistant to access by children, but still simple and easy to use by of an adult. In the efficient achievement of these and other objects, the present invention provides an access resistant tablet packaging to accommodate tablets. The package includes a blister tray having a first surface that includes a plurality of blister depressions accommodating tablets, open-ended, spaced, formed therein. A flattened cover, or cover material, is removably sealed on the first surface, having cover portions disposed over the open ends of the blister depressions. The blister material further includes a manually drillable cover extension, spaced adjacent to each of the various blister depressions accommodating tablets. The pierceable cover extension is capable of being frangibly displaced from the plane of the cover material to establish a release lug capable of being gripped to facilitate the detachable removal of portions of the cover from the cover arrangement with respect to the blister depressions, so as to expose the tablets to be dispensed. As described herein in a more particular way by way of the preferred embodiments, the package assembly allows access to the tablets contained therein, but is still resistant to access by children as a given degree of Drilling force to establish a detachment tongue. However, such force is applied away from the tablet, so as to protect fragile porous tablets. In an embodiment of the present invention, a blister tray includes a perforated portion having a slit through the plastic tray, adjacent to the blister depression. The perforation and the slit allow the cover material and the perforated portion to be perforated therethrough so as to establish the release tab. In a second embodiment, a portion of the cover is held non-adhesive to the blister tray at a spaced location adjacent to the blister depression. The blister tray can be pressed on the unattached portion of the cover so as to pierce the cover, establishing the release tab.

Brief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 is a bottom exploded perspective view of one embodiment of the tablet pack assembly of the present invention, showing a cover material disposed on a blister tray to accommodate the tablets. Figure 2 is a top plan view of the tablet pack assembly of Figure 1. Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the package assembly of Figure 2, taken through its lines 3-3. Figure 4 is a bottom perspective showing the assembled tablet package of Figure 1, with a portion thereof detached, exposing the tablet to be dispensed. Figure 5 is a bottom perspective view of a further embodiment of the present invention, showing a cover material disposed on a tray of ampoules to accommodate tablets. Figure 6 is a top plan view of the tablet package assembly of Figure 5. Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view of the package assembly of Figure 6, taken through lines 7-7 thereof. . Figure 8 is a bottom perspective view of the assembled tablet package of Figure 5, with a portion thereof removed, exposing the tablet to be dispensed. Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment The present invention provides a novel package for accommodating and dispensing tablets, such as pharmaceutical tablets. The packaging of the present invention provides a child-resistant packaging as the construction of the packaging makes it difficult for the typical child to apply the force necessary to remove the tablet from the package and / or requires considerable manual dexterity to remove the tablet from the package, that ordinarily would not be within the typical child's range. The present invention also provides a child-resistant package for low density tablets, ie tablets having a low density porous structure that makes the tablet relatively fragile. An example of a low density tablet that may be contained in the package of the present invention is shown and described in U.S. Patent No. 5,622,719, issued April 22, 1997, assigned to the same assignees as the present one, which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. Referring now to the drawings, a package assembly for accommodating and dispensing pharmaceutical tablets according to the present invention can now be described. Referring specifically to Figures 1-3, an embodiment of the package assembly of the present invention is shown. The tablet packaging assembly 10 includes a blister tray 12 and a cover material 14, which can be placed on the blister tray 12 to accommodate tablets 15 therebetween. The ampoule tray 12 is generally a thermoformed plastic member, typically formed of waterproof or water vapor resistant plastic, such as polyvinyl chloride ("PVC"), polypropylene ("PP"), custom laminates , etc. In addition, the blister tray 12 can be transparent so as to allow observation of the tablets 15 contained therein. The ampoule tray 12 includes a generally flattened portion 16 having a first flattened surface 16a and a second opposing flattened surface 16b. A plurality of blister depressions 20 are formed in the flattened portion 16. Each blister depression 20 includes an open end 21 that opens toward the first surface 16a of the flattened portion 16 and a closed bottom end 23 extending below the second surface 16b of the flattened portion 16. The blister depressions 20 are formed to have the overall size and configuration of the tablet 15, which is contained therein. The blister depressions 20 may be arranged in any desirable number or arrangement. Nevertheless, as is common with respect to pharmaceutical tablet packaging, blister depressions are typically arranged in aligned rows and columns. The aligned rows and columns of the blister depressions are further defined and are separated by packing perforations 29 which divide the depressions of blisters 20 into units containing individual tablets. This allows an individual packaged tablet to be removed from the rest of the package assembly 10. The package tray 12 further includes a plurality of tray tab portions 24, a tray tongue portion 24 being associated with and spaced adjacent to each depression. of blister 20. Each portion of tray tab 24 is defined by a partially parametrically bounded blister perforation 26 in conjunction with a die cutting slot 28. As shown herein, each perforation 26 includes a longitudinal side 26a and a pair of angularly disposed side sides 26b which in combination with the die cutting slot 28 define a tray tab portion of generally trapezoidal shape 24. Such a configuration is provided for manufacturing efficiency.; however, the tab portion of tray 24 may assume other shapes, such as semi-circular. The die cutting slot 28 extends through the flattened portion 16 from the first surface 16a to the second surface 16b. As will be described in greater detail hereinafter, the die cutting slot 28 and the perforations 26 allow the tray tab portion 24 to be manually moved from the flattened portion 16 of the blister tray 12. Preferably, the slit 28 should be at least as wide, and preferably wider, than the blister depression 20. The tablet packaging assembly 10 of the present invention further includes the cover 14 provided for sealed cover arrangement with respect to the tray of ampoules 12. The cover 14 is a flattened, flexible, generally thin member having opposing surfaces 14a and 14b, the surface 14b being positioned for sealed bonding with the first surface 16a of the blister tray 12. The cover 14 can be formed of a vapor barrier material such as aluminum foil, plastic foil or a custom laminated combination, suitable for sealing the formed depression. In the present illustrative embodiment, the cover 14 is formed of a paper / sheet metal laminate where a sheet of paper defines the surface 14a and a metal sheet defines the surface 14b. The combined paper / metal laminate is impervious to water vapor. The surface 14b of the cover 14 is typically adhered to the first surface 16a of the flattened portion 16 of the blister tray 12 by the use of a non-aggressive, removable adhesive 13 (Figure 7). Such an adhesive can typically be applied to the first surface 16a of the flattened portion 16 of the blister tray 12. The adhesive is of the type that will allow peelable removal of the cover 14 therefrom. These adhesives are usually custom-made or patented formulations, provided by manufacturers of adhesives, and suitable for sealing the blister tray, depending on the materials used in the package. The cover 14 includes a plurality of cover perforations 30 extending therethrough. The cover perforations 30 are generally of a size and shape that closely approximate the size and shape of the blister perforations 26 of the blister tray 12. The cover perforations 30 are designed to be generally aligned with and cover perforations. of blister 26 when the cover 14 is adhesively secured to the tray 12. The cover perforations 30 define partially limited cover tab portions 32 that cover and are adhered to trays of tray tab 24 of the tray of ampoules 12. The size of the perforations and the landing area between the perforations (not labeled) are derived by trial and error, according to the degree of difficulty desired for the opening and the type of materials used to form the cover material 14 and the tray of blisters 12. The cover 14 may also include a fold line 34, which is generally aligned with a trimming groove. 28 so as to facilitate the deflection separation of the cover tab portions 32 of the cover 14 in a manner that will be more fully described hereinafter. Conventionally, well known in the field of tablet packagings, the tablet pack assembly 10 of the present invention is assembled by inserting pharmaceutical tablets 15 into blister depressions 20 of the blister tray 12. The cover 14 is then adhesively secured to the blister tray 12 to fully environmentally seal the tablet 15 within the package 10. Dispensing of an individual tablet 15 from the tablet packaging assembly 10 can be described with respect to Figures 2-4. In order to dispense an individual tablet 15 from the tablet packaging assembly 10, the tray tab portion 24 and the cover tab portion 32 can be manually depressed in a breakable manner through the flattened portion 16 of the tray 12 and the cover 14 in the direction of the arrow A (FIG. 3). Such manual depression can be effected by the finger pressure exerted by the user. The depression capable of being drilled from the tray tab portion 24 through the flattened portion 16 is facilitated by the perforation 26 and the die cutting slot 28. In such manual depression, the tray tab portion 24 will be completely cut off. of the flattened portion 16 of the blister tray 12 when the perforated fastener of the tray tab portion 24 is exceeded by such manual depression. The die cut gap 28 facilitates the complete breakable removal of the tray tab portion 24 from the flattened portion 16. However, upon such removal occurring, the tray tab portion 24 will remain adhesively bonded to the tab portion of the tray. cover 32 that has been pierced through the plane of the cover 14, but still retained in the cover 14 in the fold line 34. The perforation of the cover tongue portion 32 is facilitated by the cover perforation 30. As shown in FIG. shown in Figure 4, the combination of the tray tab portion 24 and the cover tab portion 32 establishes a manually grasp able pull tab 40. The release tab 40 can be manually grasped from the bottom side (side of cover) of the package of packaging for tablets 10 by the user so as to facilitate the detachable removal of a portion 42 of the cover 14 dir Efficiently covering the blister depression 20. Upon removal of the cover portion 42 from the cover 14, the tablet 15 will be exposed, allowing easy removal of the tablet 15 from the blister depression 20. As shown in Figure 3 , the manual force necessary to pierce the tray tab portion 24 through the flattened portion 16 of the ampoule tray 12 is applied at a location that is spaced from the blister depression 20 containing the tablet 15. In this way , the manual piercing force is not applied directly to or on the fragile tablet 15. This prevents the destruction of the fragile tablet during the removal process. Further, the required steps necessary to effectively remove the portion 42 of the cover 14 from the blister tray 12 so as to expose the tablet 15 are such that they are not easily attainable by a typical child. A further embodiment of the child resistant tablet packaging assembly of the present invention is shown with respect to Figures 5-8. The embodiment of Figures 5-8 is substantially similar to the tablet package assembly of Figures 1-4. For convenience of the description, 100 has been added to the reference numbers of similar components of the embodiment of Figures 1-4. The tablet pack assembly 110 includes a blister tray 112 and a cover 114, which can be placed on the ampoule tray 112 so as to accommodate tablets 115 therebetween. The blister tray 112 is substantially similar to the blister tray 12 described above with respect to Figure 1. The perforations 126 define tray tab portions 124 adjacent each blister depression 120. In the present embodiment, the portions Tray tongue 124 are defined solely by blister perforations 126, the die cutting slot 28 of the tray 12 (Figure 1) being absent here. The cover 114 is substantially similar to the cover 14 of Figure 1 and includes cover perforations 130 of similar size and shape to the blister perforations 126. The cover perforations 130 are also designed to be generally aligned with and cover the perforations of blister 126 when the cover 114 is adhesively secured to the tray 112 by means of adhesive 113. In the illustrative embodiment present and particularly as shown in figures 6 and 7, the adhesive attachment of the cover 114 to the ampoule tray 112 is achieved without adhesive bonding of the cover tab portion 124. Such non-adhesive fastening is contemplated between the cover tab portions 32 and the tray tab portion. 124 is achieved by excluding adhesive from the region 135 of the tray tab portions 124 when the adhesive 113 is applied to the first surface 116a of the ampoule tray 112. In this way, a non-adhesive region 135 is established between each portion of the tray. cover tongue 132 and tray tab portion 124. The dispensing of an individual tablet 115 from tablet packaging assembly 110 is accomplished in a manner substantially similar to that described above with respect to the packaging for tablets 10. In order to dispense an individual tablet 115 of the tablet pack assembly 110, the lined tray tab portion 124 is depressed through the applicator portion. add 116 from tray 112 in the direction of arrow B (figure 7). The tray perforations 126 facilitate the pierceable displacement of the tray tab portion 124 of the flattened portion 116. Such a displacement capable of being punctured by rupture of each tray tab portion 124 from the flattened portion 116 also causes the tab portion of cover 132 is displaced by rupture of the flattened cover 114. The cover perforations 130 facilitate such displacement capable of being punctured by rupture. In the present illustrative embodiment, there is no adhesive fastening of the tray tab portion 124 to the cover tab portion 132, and the tray tab portion 124 remains attached to the flattened portion 116 of the tray 112 by absence of the die cutting slot 28 (FIG. 1), the release tab 140 is established on the underside (cover side) of the tablet pack 110 by the cover tab portion 132 alone. The non-adhered cover tab portion can be grasped manually by the user so that the portion 142 of the cover 114 can be removed detachably from its position of cover over the blister depression 120. Upon removal of a portion 142 of the cover 114, tablet 115 will be exposed, allowing easy removal of tablet 115 from blister depression 120. The present embodiment shown with respect to FIGS. 5-8 provides easy and inexpensive manufacture of the tablet package assembly as the separate die cut slit in the ampoule tray, which typically must be formed in a secondary operation, is not required to establish a detachment tab. Various changes in the above structures described and shown will now be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the particularly disclosed ranges of the invention are set forth in the following claims.

Claims (18)

1. CLAIMS 1. An access-resistant tablet pack comprising: a blister tray having a first flattened surface that includes a plurality of ampoule depressions accommodating tablets, open-ended, spaced, formed therein, said blister depressions that they accommodate tablets opening on said first surface, said tray of blisters also including a tray extension capable of breaking adjacent to each blister depression, said tray extension capable of breaking being manually drivable through said flattened surface; and a flattened blister cover, removably sealed on said first surface of said blister tray and having covering portions disposed on said open ends of said blister depressions accommodating tablets, said blister cover further including covering extensions capable of breaking covering each tray extension, each of said deck extensions being able to move by rupture of the plane of said blister cover upon said manual perforation of said tray extension so as to establish a detachment tab capable of being gripped to facilitate removal releasing said portions of said cover from said covering arrangement with respect to said blister depressions that accommodate tablets to expose said tablets to dispense them.
2. 2. A tablet package of claim 1, wherein said cover is formed of a multi-component laminate structure.
3. 3. A package for tablets of claim 2, wherein said tray is formed of a molded, thermoformed plastic.
4. 4. A package for tablets of claim 3, wherein said tray extensions and said cover extensions are capable of being manually drilled mutually.
5. A package for tablets of claim 4, wherein said tray extensions and said cover extensions are displaced in a direction from said blister tray toward said blister cover.
6. 6. A package for tablets of claim 5, wherein said tray extensions are formed able to break with said tray.
7. A package for tablets of claim 6, wherein said tray extensions are in adhesive tie wrapping with said cover extensions and wherein each of said detachment tabs includes said tray extension and said cover extension.
8. 8. A package for tablets of claim 6, wherein said tray extensions are in a non-adhesive covering arrangement with respect to said cover extensions.
9. 9. A package for tablets of claim 5, wherein said cover extensions are further defined by cover perforations.
10. 10. A package for tablets of claim 9, wherein said tray extensions are defined by tray perforations generally aligned with said cover perforations.
11. A package for tablets of claim 9, wherein said extensions of tray capable of being broken are further defined by an elongated slit, said slit extending through said first flattened surface at a location adjacent to said cover perforation.
12. 12. A child-resistant package for containing and dispensing tablets, comprising: a blister tray having several blister depressions therein formed to accommodate said tablets; and a cover disposed on said blister tray for housing said tablets within said blister depressions; said cover and said tray having portions capable of breaking aligned, spaced from said blister depressions, said portions capable of breaking being displaceable by perforation to define a detachment tab for removable removal of a portion of said cover covering said depression. blister.
13. 13. A child resistant packaging of the claim 12, wherein said portions capable of breaking aligned from said cover and said tray are formed by respective aligned perforations in said cover and said tray.
14. 14. A child resistant packaging of the claim 13, wherein said tray includes a die cutting slot which, in combination with said tray perforations, allows the removal by perforation of said tray portion of said tray.
15. 15. A child resistant packaging of the claim 14, wherein said cover is adhesively secured to said tray of baits, said portions capable of being aligned break of said cover and tray being adhesively joined.
16. 16. A child resistant packaging of the claim 15, wherein each of said detachment tabs includes said cover portions and said tray portions adhesively attached.
17. 17. A child-resistant package of claim 13, wherein said cover is adhesively secured to said blister tray, said portions capable of aligning said cover and said tray being in a non-adhesive covering arrangement.
18. 18. A child resistant package of claim 17, wherein each of said release tabs is defined by said cover portion.