HK1110566A - Film container - Google Patents

Description

Film container

Technical Field

The invention relates to a film container with two, in particular rectangular, films joined together around their periphery to form a receiving chamber for a filling, in particular a pharmaceutical preparation of an active substance, at least one of said films being provided for the purpose of tearing it open, a marking being formed in the region of the join, which marking is exposed when said film is bent.

The film container is used, among other things, to protect a pharmaceutical formulation of an active substance from the environment from the outside, which may in some cases reduce the pharmaceutical properties of the formulation.

Background

In some countries regulations for packaging of childproof medical products are being considered or already exist in order to make it difficult for children to access drugs which in particular have toxic effects or which present relatively serious health risks when used improperly.

DE 202004003781U 1 discloses a child-resistant rectangular package comprising two foil films joined together, the butt-connecting region of which comprises at least one receiving chamber for a filling. To open the film container, a modified form of physical marking is provided, in particular a weakened area (Weakened area) or a removed edge portion, which is fully surrounded by a sealing area. A first marking is provided as a cut or a straight line in a sealed area of said package formed by said film, the sealed area being in the form of a sealed edge portion, which first marking does not extend to the edge of said package, and a second marking is provided as a straight line across the first marking, which when folded exposes the first marking towards the outer contour for tearing purposes. The seal area is widened in the area of the non-sealed removed portion to form a mark, whereby the cut becomes part of the outer contour when creased along the mark. The package is opened by tearing off one end of the package at the location of the cut. Furthermore, the rectangular bag is shown to have a sealed edge which widens in a corner region, while extending therethrough is a bending line extending transversely to the outer contour, and from which emerges a right-angled cut or perforated portion for tearing open the packaging.

Disclosure of Invention

The problem underlying the present invention is to provide a sealed film container of the type described above which is child-proof and which can be opened over a large area and which at the same time is easy to produce.

According to the invention, this problem is solved by the marking extending midway between two opposite outer edges of the film container.

The film container according to the invention is free of further markings or connecting areas, which improve the parts relating to the receiving chamber as in the prior art constructions, which for this reason are relatively easy to produce and therefore relatively inexpensive. After intentional folding or creasing of the film according to the instructions in the description, the film receptacle is torn, for example along the middle of a mark, in order to remove the basic package, powder, liquid or other filling, while the mark, for example a weakened portion of the film, ensures that at least the film enters the receiving chamber when it is torn by the tearing action, and that after creasing, the weakened portion of the film is present at least at the outer edge of the film receptacle.

In order to make it easier to fold the film so as to expose the indicia, it is convenient to provide a further indicia for controlling the fold of the film parallel to and spaced from the outer edge of the film container. The further indicia may for example extend the full width of the container of film and be printed as a straight line on one of the films. In order to protect the filler, the distance of the further marking to the associated outer edge is smaller than the distance to the receiving chamber.

Preferably, the further marker asymmetrically separates the markers. In other words, the marks have different lengths on one side of the other mark than on the other side. Preferably, the length of the mark between the receiving chamber and the further mark is longer than the length of the mark between the further mark and the respective outer edge. Thus, on the one hand, it is relatively easy to tear the film in order to facilitate removal of the filling, and on the other hand, the filling is protected from the environment by a relatively large connecting area. In order to make it easier to remove the filling, the marking advantageously extends in the middle of the housing. Conveniently, the marker and the further marker are arranged to exist at right angles to each other.

In a second preferred embodiment, the further mark is symmetrically separated from the mark, i.e. the mark has the same length on both sides of the further mark. This deformation is particularly preferred when the reason for the tolerance to the asymmetrical shape is particularly relevant for marks of short length, for example 1 mm. Also in this embodiment, tearing the film for removal of the filling is, on the one hand, relatively easy to carry out, and, on the other hand, the filling is protected from the environment because of the relatively large connecting area. In order to make it easier to remove the filling, the marking advantageously extends in the middle of the housing. Conveniently, the marking and the further marking are arranged to be present at right angles to each other.

According to one feature, the indicia are in the form of notches or cuts. Preferably, the other indicia are perforations. Thanks to these measures, which can be intuitively grasped by adults, the film container can be opened without using tools and methods required for opening.

In order to protect the filling from moisture penetrating through the connecting region, the two films are joined together by means of a heat-sealing lacquer.

Conveniently, one film is configured as the carrier film carrying the containment chamber and the other film is configured as a cover film. The carrier film, known as a blister film, is formed, for example, by thermoforming. Preferably, the film is constructed as a metal and/or plastic and/or paper film. These substances may be present in several layers. For example, on the side facing the filler, the carrier film comprises a layer of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) of about 60 μm thickness, followed by an aluminium foil of about 45 μm thickness, which in turn is connected to an oriented polyamide (oPA) film of about 25 μm thickness. On the side facing the filling, the cover film may comprise, for example, a 5 μm (3 to 7 μm) thick layer of heat-sealing lacquer, for example a commercially available acrylate-based polymer mixture, an approximately 20 μm thick aluminium film and attached thereto an approximately 23 μm thick polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film. Of course, the two films could be identical or made of other materials, with the PET and PVC/aluminum layers themselves being difficult to tear.

Aluminum foil also has the advantage that it protects photosensitive or UV-sensitive fillers from visible and ultraviolet radiation.

According to a further feature, the plurality of film containers are combined to form blister cards, which can be separated using intersecting perforations. A blister card may for example comprise six film containers, each film container being separated from an adjacent film container by a transverse perforation.

In general, in order to make it generally more difficult for children to open the film container in the blister card, it is preferable to arrange another marking parallel to and at a distance from the perforation along the centre separating the blister card. It is therefore necessary to first separate the film container from the blister card and then to fold it along another marking to facilitate its tearing along this marking, or optionally to fold all the film containers on one of the faces of the perforation separating the blister card after dividing the blister card into two halves, and then to tear the aluminum foil container along this marking, in which case it is substantially difficult to tear across the continuous edge structure of the opposite film container.

It is to be understood that the features mentioned above and others which will be described in more detail below are usable not only in the combinations specified, but also in other combinations. The scope of the invention is defined only by the claims.

The film container according to the invention is suitable, for example, for packaging pharmaceutical formulations comprising dabigatran etexilate as described, for example, in WO 03/074056.

Drawings

The invention is described in more detail hereinafter with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

figure 1 is a plan view of a film container according to the invention,

figure 2 is a perspective view of the film container according to figure 1,

FIG. 3 is another perspective view of the film container according to FIG. 1, an

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view of a blister card made from a plurality of film containers according to fig. 1.

Detailed Description

The film container 1 in the form of a blister is part of a blister card 2 which has transverse perforations 3, 4 for separating the film container 1. Each film container essentially comprises two films 5, one of which is configured as a carrier film comprising a receiving chamber 6 for a filling 7, i.e. a capsule 8 filled with a pharmaceutically active substance, and the other is configured as a cover film 10 attached to said carrier film by means of a heat-sealing lacquer, the connecting area between the two films 5 extending over the entire surface thereof, except for the receiving chamber 6.

Between the two parallel longitudinal edges 11 of the rectangular film container 1, in the middle of the receiving space 6, in the connecting region of the two films 5, there is provided a marking 13 in the form of a cut-out 12, which is spaced apart from both the relevant edge 14 of the end face and the receiving space 6. The cut 12 serves as a tear-assisting function and, after the film container 1 has been creased, emerges along a further marking 16 on the respective outer edge 14, which marking 16 is in the form of a perforation 15 extending parallel to and at a distance from the respective outer edge 14 on the end face. A further marking 16 extending over the full width of the film container 1 is arranged at right angles to the cut-out 12 and is asymmetrically divided such that the trajectory of the cut-out 12 between the receiving space 6 and the further marking 16 is longer than the trajectory section between the further marking 16 and the adjacent outer edge 14 on the end face. The outer edge 14, in combination with the further marking 16, opens an extended perforation 3 into the middle of the blister card 2, which is why the film holder 1 can only be torn open after it has been separated in order to remove the capsule 8.

Claims (16)

1. Film container with two, in particular rectangular, films (5) which are joined together around their periphery to form a receiving chamber (6) for a filling (7), in particular a pharmaceutical preparation of an active substance, at least one of said films (5) being provided with a marking (13) for the purpose of tearing it open, which marking is formed in a joining region which is exposed after the film (5) has been bent, characterized in that said marking (13) extends centrally between two opposite outer edges (11) of said film container (1).

2. A film container according to claim 1, characterized in that a further marking (16) for controlling the bending of the film (5) is provided parallel to and at a distance from the outer edge (14) of the film container (1).

3. A film container according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the further marking (16) is at a smaller distance from said outer edge (14) than from the receiving chamber (6).

4. A film container according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that a further marking (16) asymmetrically divides said marking (13).

5. The film container according to any of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the trajectory of the marking (13) between the receiving chamber (6) and the further marking (16) is longer than the trajectory between the further marking (16) and the respective outer edge (14).

6. A film container according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that a further marking (16) symmetrically separates the markings (13).

7. The film container according to any of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that said marking (13) extends along the middle of said housing (6).

8. Film container according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the marking (13) and the further marking (16) extend at right angles to each other.

9. Film container according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterised in that the marking (13) is in the form of a notch or cut (12).

10. The film container according to any of claims 2 to 8, characterized in that the further marking (16) is a perforation (15).

11. A film container according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that said two films (5) are joined together by means of a heat-sealing lacquer.

12. The film container according to any of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that one film (5) is constructed as a carrier film (9) comprising the receiving chamber (6) and the other film (5) is constructed as a cover film (10).

13. The film container according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterised in that the film (5) is constructed as a metal and/or plastic and/or paper film.

14. Film container according to any one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that a plurality of film containers (1) are combined to form blister cards (2) which can be separated by means of transverse perforations (3, 4).

15. Film container according to any one of claims 2 to 14, characterised in that a further marking (16) extends parallel to the perforation (3) and at a distance therefrom, said perforation (3) separating the blister card (2) in the middle.

16. The film container according to any one of claims 1 to 15, characterized in that said filling comprises a pharmaceutical formulation comprising dabigrantan etexilate.