Special receptacle or package – For ampule – capsule – pellet – or granule – Stacked within container
Reexamination Certificate
2003-04-30
2004-03-23
Bui, Luan K. (Department: 3728)
Special receptacle or package
For ampule, capsule, pellet, or granule
Stacked within container
C206S425000, C206S499000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06708826
ABSTRACT:
This invention concerns a packaged supply of individual doses of a personal care product, e.g., a medication, as, for example, an oral medication that is in the form of a strip of water-soluble film that contains a pharmaceutically active material.
Personal care products can be formulated in individual dosage units, e.g., as tablets or capsules to be swallowed, as lozenges or strips of water-soluble film to be allowed to dissolve in the mouth, or as strips of bioadhesive film composition for treating wounds. Sometimes it is important that each dose be segregated from the others—i.e., that the doses not all be held in the same bottle or vial. This might be the case, for example, if the formulation can be deleteriously affected by humidity, e.g., if the formulation is hygroscopic. Also, if the form of the dosage is such that the patient could easily, and unknowingly, take two dosage units at one time, when only a single unit was prescribed, it might be desired to package each dose individually. The present invention is directed to a convenient, effective way of doing so.
According to the present invention, a packaged supply of individual doses of a personal care product is comprised of the combination of:
a) atray;
b) a plurality of substantially identical packets uniformly stacked in the tray, each packet having a pouch portion that holds a single dose of the personal care product and a tab portion releasably connected to the pouch portion;
c) retention means for holding the tab portions of the stacked packets in the tray; and
d) a cover that is movably connected to the tray, the cover being movable between a closed position in which the stack of packets is enclosed within the tray and an open position in which the pouch portion of the topmost packet on the stack is sufficiently exposed that its front edge can be gripped, allowing the pouch portion to be pulled away from the tab portion to which it is connected, thereby releasing that pouch portion from the tray.
Preferably each packet is comprised of two flexible sheets that are partially laminated together so as to define a closed pocket between the sheets, in which the dose is held. Such constructions are sometimes called “blister packages.” The sheets may be made, for example, of one or more layers of foil, plastic film, and/or paper. Preferably the sheets are water resistant, and they can be airtight as well. A preferred metal foil is aluminum foil. As suitable plastic films may be mentioned films made of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), polyolefin, acrylonitrile polymers, and copolymers of ethylene and an ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid, e.g., acrylic acid. Suitable polyolefins include nucleated polypropylene, low density polyethylene, and high density polyethylene. Suitable acrylonitrile polymers include copolymers of acrylonitrile and methyl acrylate, e.g., the Barex® barrier resins. Suitable ethylene/unsaturated acid copolymers include those wherein the acid groups are partially neutralized with zinc or sodium ions, e.g., the Surlyn® packaging resins.
As suitable paper may be mentioned wax paper.
The tab portion and pouch portion of each packet may be connected by various means, e.g., by releasable adhesive strips, by hook and loop fastener strips, or by the two portions being constructed out of one sheet of material (on each side) and that material being thin enough that the pouch portion can be torn away from the tab portion. Thus, the pouch portion and tab portion can meet at a boundary zone along which the two portions can be torn apart by pulling, thereby releasing the pouch portion from the tray.
In the tear-apart embodiment, it is preferred that the boundary zone have tear-facilitating means that tend to confine the tear line to that zone when the pouch portion is tom away from the tab portion. Examples of tear-facilitating means include a score line in the sheet material, a perforated line therein, and a tear-directing notch in an edge of the packet at one or both ends of the boundary zone. If the boundary zone contains a layer of paper, preferably a perforated line will be used. If a score line or a perforated line is used, preferably it will run across the entire width of the packet. If a tear-directing notch is used, preferably two will be employed, one at each end of the boundary zone. This will make tearing as easy for lefthanders as for righthanders.
A tear-directing notch can be either a simple slit in the sheet material or a gap created by the removal of material, e.g., in a V shape.
Another way to help keep the tear line straight as it traverses across the width of the packet—i.e., keep it in the boundary zone—is to use sheet material that more easily tears in that direction than in directions perpendicular thereto. Thus, for example, the sheet material can be oriented or striated film.
In the tear-apart embodiment, preferably a minor portion of each pocket will extend into the packet's boundary zone, so that when the pouch portion is torn away from the tab portion along the boundary zone, the pocket is automatically opened along the tear line. This reduces the number of steps required to remove the pouch portion from the tray, open it, and withdraw the personal care product. A single act of tearing the pouch portion away from the tab portion serves also to open that end or edge of the pocket. Sometimes, however, if the pocket is only opened at that one edge, it may be difficult to withdraw the product. This might be the case, for example, where the product is in a form that will not easily fall out of the pocket, e.g., a strip of web material. Especially if one wants to use a thumb and forefinger to extract the product, that might be easier to do if the pocket were opened wider. To facilitate opening the pocket wider, the front edge of the pouch portion can have tear-facilitating means that enable the pouch portion, once released from the tray, to be manually torn into two segments along a second tear line, one that extends from the pouch's front edge to the tear line created when the pouch was pulled away from the tab portion. The pocket should straddle this second tear line, so that when the released pouch portion is torn in two, along that line, the pocket is further opened. Preferably the second tear line will divide the pocket into a major area and a minor area, with the major area constituting about two-thirds or more of the total area of the pocket, e.g., 75 or 80% thereof. In this way, the product will be less likely to fall out of the pocket, and maybe onto the floor, as the second tear line is being created.
In the case of a personal care product in strip form, it is preferred to locate the strip in the pocket in a position away from both tear lines, e.g., to center it in the pocket. In that way, the strip will not interfere with the tearing operation, nor will it be torn in two itself.
The packets and the pockets can be in any shape, but they will be generally easier and cheaper to manufacture if they are both rectangular.
The tray-and-cover assembly also can be in any desired shape, e.g., rectangular, oval, round, trapezoidal, triangular, or irregular. However, to conserve space the assembly preferably matches, at least approximately, the outline of the packets stacked within the tray. Since it generally is more economical to manufacture such packets in rectangular shapes, it follows that the preferred shape of the tray and cover also is rectangular.
The tray-and-cover assembly preferably is small enough and thin enough that it can readily fit in a purse or pocket. For example, it might have a thickness in the range of about 0.25 to 1 inch, a width of about 1 to 5 inches, and a length of about 1 to 5 inches. Thus, for example, the assembly might have a thickness of about 0.5 inch, a width of about 2 inches, and a length of about 3 inches.
The tray preferably has a fixed cover that partially covers one of the tray ends and has a free edge that is intermediate the two ends of the tray. The tab portions of the stacked packets, and the means that retain the tab portions
Ginsberg Steven
Grant Bradford S.
Bui Luan K.
Federman Evan J.
Lemke Kenneth G.
Warner-Lambert Company LLC
LandOfFree
Packaged supply of individual doses of a personal care product does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Packaged supply of individual doses of a personal care product, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Packaged supply of individual doses of a personal care product will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3258233