Childproof, senior-friendly blister pack

• US 20040040881A1
• Filed: 08/28/2003
• Published: 03/04/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Colbert Packaging Corporation
• Original Assignee: Colbert Packaging Corporation
• Inventors: Grosskopf, Glenn A.
• Granted Patent: US 7,387,206 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 206/538
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 1/035 Blister-type containers blisters in general B65D75/36
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 2215/04 requiring the combination of different actions in succession
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 83/0445 all the articles being stored in individual compartments

Abstract

A blister pack for dispensing pills that is childproof yet senior-friendly. The blister pack includes a substantially tear-resistant housing that encloses one or more blisters contained on a blister sheet and surrounded by criss-cross grain material to provide cut or tear resistance in multiple directions. In one embodiment, the cavities of the blisters are positioned such that the pills are aligned at an angle with respect to the corresponding dispensing slots on the housing in their normal position. The blisters are detachably attached to a zipper strip on the blister sheet to prevent undesired rotation of the blisters. Upon removal of the zipper strip, the blisters may be twisted until their pills are substantially aligned with their respective dispensing slot. The blisters may then be depressed to remove the pills from the cavities of the blisters by pushing the pills through the foil sheet that covers the slots. In another embodiment, the blisters must be released and slid within a channel to align the pill with the dispensing slot to be released.

Claims

1. A childproof and senior-friendly blister pack for dispensing objects wherein the blister pack comprises:

one or more blisters, wherein each blister includes a cavity for housing one or more of said objects and wherein each cavity has a longitudinal axis;

a card comprising a first face and a second face;

at least one blister being movably retained by said card about said first face, so as to enable movement of the blister from a storage position to a dispensing position;

said second face having a dispensing opening formed therein; and

said longitudinal axis of the cavity being substantially aligned with said dispensing opening when said blister is moved to said dispensing position, so as to enable dispensing of said object through the dispensing opening.

2. The invention according to claim 1 wherein said blister pack further comprises:

retaining means having first and second positions;

said retaining means operably associated with said blister for preventing movement of said blister when said retaining means is in the first position; and

said retaining means enabling movement of said blister when said retaining means is in the second position.

3. The invention according to claim 1 wherein said object comprises a substantially pill-shaped object.

4. The invention according to claim 1 wherein said dispensing opening comprises a substantially slot-shaped opening, sized to enable said object to pass therethrough when said blister is in said dispensing position.

5. The blister pack of claim 1 which further comprises means for covering the dispensing opening.

6. The blister pack of claim 1 wherein the blisters further include means to facilitate the turning of the blisters.

7. The blister pack of claim 1 wherein the card further includes a cover operably associated therewith.

8. The blister pack of claim 1 wherein the card is made from a single sheet.

9. The blister pack of claim 1 wherein the card is made from at least two sheets.

10. The blister pack of claim 5 wherein the covering means is a foil sheet.

11. The blister pack of claim 1 wherein the longitudinal axis of the cavity in the storage position is approximately at about a 90-degree angle from the longitudinal axis at the dispensing position.

12. The blister pack of claim 2 wherein the retaining means is a zipper strip operably affixed to said blister in said storage position and separated from said blister in said dispensing position.

13. The blister pack of claim 3 wherein the substantially pill-shaped object is a pill and the card further comprises a plurality of symbols surrounding said blister, wherein the longitudinal axis of the cavity of the blister is initially aligned with one or more symbols to indicate information regarding the object.

14. The blister pack of claim 13 wherein the symbols comprise a clock face having a plurality of numbers surrounding the blister, and wherein the cavity of the blister is initially aligned with a number on the clock face to indicate when to take the pill.

15. The blister pack of claim 13 wherein the symbols comprise a clock face having a plurality of numbers surrounding the blister, and wherein the dispensing slot is initially aligned with a number on the clock face to indicate when to take the pill.

16. The blister pack of claim 1 wherein the card comprises a first face comprising a substantially tear-resistant material having grains aligned in a first direction and a second face made from a substantially tear-resistant material having grains aligned in a second direction substantially contrary to the grains of the top half so as to result in a substantially crossing pattern of grains to provide resistance to tearing in multiple directions.

17. The blister pack of claim 16 wherein the substantially tear-resistant material comprises a SPS board coated with a polyurethane material.

18. The blister pack of claim 12 wherein the blister sheet comprises at least three blisters aligned in at least one row, wherein adjacent blisters are attached to one of the zipper strips, the first of said blisters is attached to one zipper strip and each of the other blisters of the at least three blisters is attached to two zipper strips such that removal of one of the zipper strips only releases one blister.

19. A childproof and senior-friendly blister pack for dispensing pills, wherein the blister pack comprises:

a blister sheet having one or more blisters, wherein each blister includes a cavity for housing a pill, and wherein each cavity has a longitudinal axis;

a retaining member extending adjacent to the blisters, wherein the retaining member is removably attached to the blisters to prevent the blisters from being turned;

a housing encompassing the blister sheet and having one or more dispensing slots therein, wherein each of the dispensing slots has a longitudinal axis, and wherein the longitudinal axis of each of the dispensing slots is not initially aligned with the longitudinal axis of the corresponding cavity of the blister; and

whereby the retaining member is at least partially removable so as to release at least one of the one or more blisters to allow the blister to be rotated or turned until the longitudinal axis of the cavity of the blister substantially aligns with the longitudinal axis of the dispensing slot to allow for the pill to be dispensed through the dispensing slot.

20. A method for dispensing an object from a blister pack comprising the steps of:

filling a blister having an interior cavity with an object by placing said object substantially within said cavity, said cavity having a longitudinal axis;

forming said blister into a blister pack by combining it with a card assembly having a dispensing opening formed therein, such that said blister is operably retained by said card and said longitudinal axis is not aligned with said dispensing opening in a storage position; and

moving the blister to a dispensing position wherein said object is substantially aligned with said dispensing opening so as to permit passage of said object through said opening; and

, dispensing the object through the dispensing opening.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein said method further includes releasing said blister for movement by moving a releasing member, prior to moving said blister to said dispensing position.

22. The method of claim 20 wherein said step of moving of the blister comprises rotation of said blister.

23. The method of claim 20 further including said step of dispensing of the object comprises pushing of the object through said dispensing opening.

24. The method of claim 20 wherein said dispensing opening is a substantially slot-shaped opening, sized to enable said object to pass therethrough when said blister is in said dispensing position.

25. The blister pack of claim 20 wherein the card assembly further comprises a plurality of symbols surrounding said blister, wherein the cavity of said blister is initially aligned with one or more symbols to indicate information regarding the object.

26. The blister pack of claim 25 wherein the object is a pill and the symbols comprise a clock face having a plurality of numbers surrounding the blisters, and wherein the cavity of the blister is initially aligned with a number on the clock face to indicate when to take the pill.

27. The method of claim 21 wherein the releasing member is a zipper strip.

28. The method of claim 20 wherein the longitudinal axis of the cavity in the storage position is initially at about a 90-degree angle from the longitudinal axis of the cavity when moved to the dispensing position.

29. A childproof and senior-friendly blister pack for dispensing pills, wherein the blister pack comprises:

a blister sheet having one or more blisters, wherein each blister includes a cavity for housing a pill;

a retaining member extending adjacent to said blisters, wherein the retaining member is removably attached to the blisters to prevent the blisters from being moved; and

a housing encompassing the blister sheet and having one or more dispensing slots therein wherein each of the dispensing slots is not aligned with the pill within the blister;

whereby the retaining member is at least partially removed to release at least one of the plurality of blisters to allow the blister to be moved until the pill within the blister substantially aligns with the dispensing slot to allow for the pill to be dispensed through the dispensing slot.

30. The blister pack of claim 29 which further comprises means for covering the one or more dispensing slots.

31. The blister pack of claim 30 wherein the means for covering the one or more dispensing slot is a foil sheet.

32. The blister pack of claim 29 wherein the housing comprises a top half made from a substantially tear-resistant material having grains aligned in one direction and a bottom half made from a substantially tear-resistant material having grains aligned in a direction contrary to the grains of the top half to result in a substantially criss-cross pattern of grains to provide resistance to tearing in multiple directions.

33. The blister pack of claim 32 wherein the substantially tear-resistant material comprises a SPS board coated with a polyurethane material.

34. The blister pack of claim 29 wherein the housing includes a series of channels, and wherein each of the blisters is initially retained at one end of one of the series of channels and the respective dispensing slot is located distal from the blister.

35. A method for dispensing pills from a blister pack comprising the steps of:

providing a blister pack having a series of channels, a series of blisters for housing the pills, and a series of dispensing slots, wherein each of the series of blisters are initially retained within one of the series of channels by a retaining member such that the blister is not aligned with the dispensing slot;

at least partially removing the retaining member from the blister pack to release at least one of the blisters;

moving the blister along the channel in the blister pack until the channel is substantially aligned with the corresponding dispensing slot; and

depressing the blister to push the pill through the dispensing slot.

36. A childproof and senior-friendly blister-pack for dispensing objects comprising:

a body having a blister including a cavity for housing one or more of said objects capable of releasing said object when depressed;

an object dispensing mechanism operably associated with said body for dispensing the object from the blister pack; and

said body further having a channel communicating with said cavity within said body and said object dispensing mechanism, so as to receive and enable movement of said object from said cavity to said object dispensing mechanism, when released from said cavity, to allow the object to be dispensed.

37. A method for dispensing pills from a blister pack comprising the steps of:

filling a blister having a cavity with an object to be dispensed, wherein said object can be released from said cavity by depressing said cavity;

assembling said blister into a blister pack by combining it with a card assembly having a dispensing opening formed therein, a passageway communicating with said cavity at a first end and said object dispensing opening at a second end, and an object dispensing mechanism having a closed position and a dispensing position and being operably interposed between said passageway second end and said dispensing opening;

releasing said object from said cavity and into said passageway;

moving said blister pack to enable said object to move from said passageway to said object dispensing mechanism;

opening said object dispensing mechanism; and

dispensing the object through the dispensing opening.

38. A childproof and senior-friendly blister pack for dispensing pills comprising:

a first blister sheet having one or more blisters, wherein each blister includes a cavity for housing a pill;

a second blister sheet having at least one first channel that is aligned with the blister, wherein the pill may be placed within the channel by depressing the blister;

a pill dispensing mechanism associated with the first or second blister sheet for dispensing the pill; and

a housing encompassing the first and second blister sheets;

wherein the pill is dispensed from the blister into the at least one first channel, and then from the first channel to the pill dispensing mechanism to allow the pill to be dispensed.

39. The blister pack of claim 38, wherein the second blister sheet comprises a second channel that is connected to and traverses the at least one first channel, wherein the pill travels from the first channel into the second channel and to the pill dispensing mechanism to be dispensed.

40. The blister pack of claim 38, wherein the one or more blisters are arranged in columns that correspond to the at least one first channel.

41. The blister pack of claim 39, wherein the first or second blister sheet comprises a dispensing slot associated with the second channel and the pill dispensing mechanism comprises a turnable blister having a flange that initially prevents the pill from being dispensed through the dispensing slot.

42. The blister pack of claim 41 wherein the turnable blister comprises at least one retaining member and the second blister sheet comprises at least one receiving region for accepting the retaining member to temporarily fix the turnable blister in an open position to allow the pill to be dispensed through the dispensing slot or a closed position to prevent the pill from being dispensed through the dispensing slot.

43. The blister pack of claim 38, wherein the first or second blister sheet comprises a dispensing slot and the pill dispensing mechanism comprises a cover member and a channel, wherein the cover member slides within the channel between an open position to allow the pill to be dispensed through the dispensing slot and a closed position to prevent the pill from being dispensed through the dispensing slot.

44. A method for dispensing a pill from a blister pack comprising the steps of:

providing a blister pack having a first blister sheet having a series of blisters for housing the pills, a second blister sheet having a one or more first channels that are aligned with the blisters of the first blister sheet and a second channel that is connected to and traverses the one or more first channels, and a pill dispensing mechanism that is associated with the first or second channel for dispensing the pills, wherein each of the blisters has a cavity for containing the pills;

depressing the blister to push the pill through the cavity and into one of one or more first channels;

moving the blister pack to allow the pill to travel down the first channel and into the second channel;

moving the blister pack to allow the pill to travel down the second channel and into engagement with the pill dispensing mechanism; and

activating the pill dispensing mechanism to allow the pill to be dispensed from the blister pack.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein the first or second blister sheet has a dispensing slot associated with the pill dispensing mechanism, and the pill dispensing mechanism comprises a cover member and a channel, wherein the step of activating the pill dispensing mechanism comprises sliding the cover member within the channel to uncover the dispensing slot and allow the pill to be dispensed.

46. The method of claim 44, wherein the first or second blister sheet has a dispensing slot associated with the pill dispensing mechanism, and the pill dispensing mechanism comprises a turnable blister associated with the first or second blister sheet, wherein the turnable blister comprises a flange that initially covers the dispensing slot, and wherein the step of activating the pill dispensing mechanism comprises turning the turnable blister to uncover the dispensing slot and allow the pill to be dispensed.

47. The method of claim 46, wherein the turnable blister further comprises at least one retaining member, and the second blister sheet comprises at least one receiving region for accepting the retaining member to temporarily fix the turnable blister in an open position to allow the pill to be dispensed through the dispensing slot or a closed position to prevent the pill from being dispensed through the dispensing slot.