Patent Grant
10181272
This application is the National Stage of PCT/EP2015/067257 filed on Jul. 28, 2015, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 of German Application No. 10 2014 110 738.1 filed on Jul. 29, 2014, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference. The international application under PCT article 21(2) was not published in English.
The invention relates to a label for a container that is in multiple parts or in any case can be divided into multiple parts, particularly a container for storing, administering, withdrawing and/or accommodating a medication and/or a liquid. The invention furthermore relates to a container provided with such a label.
In the field of labeling of objects, particularly of multi-part pharmaceutical containers, it is known to structure labels in such a manner that during first-time use or first-time opening of the container that is in multiple parts or in any case can be divided into multiple parts, as intended, irreversible changes of the label occur, in order to make product counterfeiting, unauthorized re-use or further sale of a container that has already been used and/or of its contents more difficult. Such safety features serve as proof of first opening, so that the buyer or user of an article can easily determine whether he/she has an original product that comes from the original manufacturer and is in its original condition in his/her hands, or a counterfeit product. Particularly in medicine and pharmacy, it is important to draw the attention of the vendor, the doctor, the medical personnel, and the patient to any possible attempt at manipulation and any product forgery or trademark deception, by means of suitable labeling, in the handling of medication containers, in order to exclude the possibly significant health risks for the patient. By means of suitable labeling, it must furthermore be ensured that the medication or the container contents have not become outdated and unusable, contrary to the possibly incorrect marking.
The multi-part medication containers that come into consideration for the invention are, for example, syringes, injection pens, multi-part ampoules, vials, or, in general, multi-part containers. For example, syringes and injection pens contain a cap, in each instance, which must be pulled off before use. Likewise, there are one-part containers that are in one part in their original delivered state, but must be divided into two parts before use, as intended; examples are break-apart ampoules that must be opened by striking off an ampoule head, or other one-part or multi-part vessels, in which some other external seal must be removed, a cap must be pulled off or some other closure element must be released. The invention can also be considered for these containers which are not originally in one part. In the following text, no distinction will be made any longer between multi-part containers and one-part containers that can be divided into multiple parts before use, but rather, to represent them and for the sake of brevity, only multi-part containers will be discussed. However, the containers being considered have in common that in order to open them, two container parts must be separated from one another in order to gain access to the container contents. Before opening, however, the two container parts can either be separate container parts that have been mounted on one another, or, alternatively, two sub-regions of a container that is in one part at first but must be divided into two separate container parts. In the latter case, the two container parts are two sub-regions of a one-part container.
Medications or pharmaceuticals, in particular, for example liquid medication solutions, suspensions, liquids, powders or other formulations must be shielded not just from the ambient air but above all from contact with body tissue and pathogens before their first-time use. Also, aside from pharmaceutical containers, containers exist in which a container closure, for example a cap or a lid, must be separated and/or removed from the remainder of the container or its main body, by means of a pulling movement, in order to open the container. For example, a closure cap first has to be removed from a syringe or an injection pen in order to be able to withdraw and administer the medication solution.
Another aspect that plays a role in labeling of containers, particularly for medicinal products, is the use of documentation labels with which administration of a medication is documented, for example in a patient record or on a syringe with which part of the medication liquid is withdrawn from a vial and then administered. Such documentation labels are increasingly integrated into the label as a whole, with which the medication container is labeled, as a subsidiary label or spare label. For example, such a spare label is accommodated in part of the surface area of the label as a whole, or multi-layer labels having multiple, differently punched material webs are used, for example having multiple plastic films that lie one on top of the other, each having their own punch pattern.
In spite of the labels that have been in use until now for multi-part containers, particularly for medication containers, for example of the types listed above, development potential exists with regard to handling of such spare labels; in particular, after the medication container or, in any case, its label has been opened, additional manual actions are frequently required first, before the physician, the medical personnel or the patient has access to the integrated spare label and can remove this from the rest of the label and use it some other way.
It is the task of the present invention to make available a label for a multi-part container, particularly for a multi-part medication container, wherein the label not only achieves more effective proof of first opening, but rather, at the same time, also facilitates and simplifies handling of a spare label. In particular, the label is to be structured in such a manner that its spare label is directly accessible after the container has been opened, and can be handled as conveniently as possible, without prior additional manual actions being required for this purpose. Furthermore, a multi-part container provided with such a label, particularly one for pharmaceuticals, is supposed to be made available, where the spare label is more easily accessible when the container is put into use, and, at the same time, suitable proof of first opening is achieved.
This task is accomplished by means of a label according to the invention.
Some exemplary embodiments will be described below, making reference to the figures. These show:
The label according to the embodiments of this application is intended for a multi-part container, or, in any case, a container that can be divided into at least two parts, as intended, for example a syringe, an injection pen, a vial, an ampoule or another multi-part container for medicinal, pharmaceutical or other products, in which containers a container closure, for example a lid or a cap, is pulled off or removed from the remaining container part in some other way, in order to open the container.
The label has a first label section to be attached to a first container part, for example a main body or the actual container, as well as a second label section to be attached to a second container part. The label is particularly intended for such containers in which the second container part is the cap, the lid or some other container closure, which can be pulled off from the first container part using a pulling movement, for example. The label is therefore particularly well suited for two-part containers, for example for those in an elongated pen shape. The label is furthermore configured as a wrap-around label, in order to be able to optionally wrap it more than once around the first container part, the second container part or both container parts, so that the label overlaps on at least one of the container parts, i.e. it comes to lie on itself. For example, the main body of the container, i.e. the actual container without the closure cap, can have the first label section mentioned above completely wrapped around or adhesively applied to it more than once. However, depending on the type of embodiment, the container closure can also have a second label section wrapped around it more than once, in addition. However, at least the first label section is structured in the manner of a wrap-around label. The two label sections are configured in one and the same material web, for example implemented by one and the same plastic film; the basic surface area of this web is then divided into the first label section and the second label section, and, if applicable, even further sections by means of suitable perforations, punches or other separation lines or weakening lines. The first or second label section is the one that is intended, as explained above, for being attached to the first or second container part, respectively. The first label section therefore refers to the section that remains on the first container part, for example the main body of the container, after the container has been opened, i.e. after the two container parts are separated from one another. Correspondingly, the second label section is the one that remains or is affixed to the second container part, after the container has been opened, as intended. It is decisively determined by the course of the separation lines or weakening lines within the basic surface area of the label, along which the label is torn open and severed, as intended, when the container which the label is intended to label is opened, what region of the basic surface area of the label belongs to the first or second label section. In this regard, at least two separate label sections are formed, which were previously united in the same material ply. Therefore everything that remains on the second container part after a labeled container has been opened as intended belongs to the second label section.
According to this application, the second label section comprises a spare label that is configured in the same material web as the first label section, and also a remaining part of the second label section, if it is present, depending on the embodiment. In this way, the label according to the invention already differs from conventional labels, which, if they contain a spare label, are generally structured in such a manner that the spare label remains on the main body of the medication container after the container has been opened, until it is manually pulled off the container. In contrast, in this application a label is proposed, the spare label of which, as intended, does not remain on the main body of the container, but rather remains on the container closure or the second container part when this part is separated from the first container part.
Such a label structure might appear absurd at first glance, because the container closure normally possesses a much smaller dimension than the actual vessel and therefore appears to be far less suitable for accommodating a label part that can be inscribed or used in some other way, even if it is only a smaller documentation label, than the much larger first container part. Handling of a label, the spare label of which does not remain on the first container part or the main body, which is filled with the medication, the liquid or the other container contents, appears to be implausible, at first glance; not only because of the often larger circumference surface of this first container part for accommodating a spare label, but rather also because the filled first container part is used, but the closure part can already be disposed of or misplaced earlier.
According to this application, it is provided that the spare label is partly disposed in a basic surface area of the label, which area is intended for being wrapped around the first container part, and partly disposed in a second basic surface area that is intended for being wrapped around the second container part. The commercially available, standardized medication containers used in medicine, such as syringes, injection pens, vials, and ampoules, etc., are usually containers around which a label is wrapped, for example containers having a cylindrical, particularly a circular-cylindrical, but often also a conical circumference surface, or one shaped in some other way. The circumference surface, at least of the main body, i.e. of the actual container part, which is referred to as the first container part here, possesses a constant or, in any case, a hardly varying diameter along a first, axial direction, which forms the axis of symmetry of the container part and, if applicable, its circumference surface, over a major part of its height. Alternatively, the circumference surface can be formed to be conical or some other shape over a major portion of its height, specifically in such a manner that a label can be wrapped around the circumference surface. The container or other article therefore possesses a circumference surface that can be labeled, particularly can have a wrap-around label wrapped around it. In contrast, the cap for the syringe or the injection pen or the other container closure often possesses a different radius, which is smaller, for example, than that of the main body or which possesses an even greater conical inclination.
The container closure is usually offset in the axial direction relative to the circumference surface of the actual first container part; in the simplest case, the circumference surfaces of the first and of the second container part abut one another or are separated from one another by means of a face-side ring surface that runs approximately transverse to the axial direction, if applicable with an air gap or a constriction in between. Commercially available labels are therefore coordinated with the circumference surfaces of standardized medication containers, or at least of their main body, which surfaces are dimensioned uniformly with regard to radius, circumference, and height.
As a consequence of the radial symmetry of practically all medication containers such as a syringe, an ampoule, a vial, an injection pen, etc., the labels intended for labeling them possess not only specific minimum dimensions, for example in order to cover the circumference surface of a first container part in the circumference direction as well as the axial direction as completely as possible, something that translates into the form of minimum dimensions of the label along two directions, which correspond to the axial direction and the circumference direction.
Furthermore, the rotation symmetry of practically all conventional medication containers has the result that the basic surface area of the label, if the label is to be adhesively applied not only to the first but also to the second container part, naturally divides into a first basic surface area region for being wrapped around the first container part, and a second basic surface area region for being wrapped around the second container part. If, for example, the circumference surface of a first container part possesses a certain height in the axial direction, then the label intended for it also possesses a comparably large dimension in a first direction, which corresponds to the axial direction of the article, so that the available inscription surface on the circumference surface of the first container part is utilized as completely as possible, i.e. adhesively covered. In the case of a label that is even taller than this dimension of the first container part, the lower part of the label, for example, forms this first basic surface area region that is intended for adhesively applying the label and wrapping it around the first container part, while the remaining surface area region of the label, which is disposed above it, then forms the other, second basic surface area region for being wrapped around and adhesively applied to the second container part. This division of the label surface into a first and a second basic surface area region, which naturally results from the outer circumference surface of common medication containers, having rotation symmetry, is generally also marked by a separation line that runs between them. Conventionally, the separation line or weakening line usually crosses the basic surface area of the label completely, from one label edge to the opposite label edge, and runs between the two edges as a straight line or essentially as a straight line. At least the total course of the separation line, if one only connects the perforation punches, holes or the like lined up along the separation line with one another, usually results in a straight line between two opposite edges of the basic surface area of the label, so that this separation line surrounds the transition between the two container parts, as a ring-shaped line, on the dispensed label. In the case of such labels, there is therefore no difference, with regard to the surface area division within the basic surface area of the label, between the basic surface area regions of the label that are intended to be attached to a respective container part, and those basic surface area regions that are intended to be wrapped around the respective container part, because a sub-section of a first label section, which surrounds a first container part, is normally also attached to this part and remains on this first container part even after the container has been opened.
According to this application, however, it is provided that a spare label, which is part of the second label section and is therefore intended to be attached to the container part of a container (specifically already before the container is opened, but particularly also after it is opened), has two sub-sections, wherein the second sub-section is intended to cover the second container part, whereas the first sub-section of the spare label is intended to cover the first container part. The spare label thereby comprises a first and a second sub-section, wherein the first sub-section is disposed in a first basic surface area region, which serves for being wrapped around the first container part instead of the second container part. In the case of the label being proposed here, the course of the weakening line or lines for separating the label into the first and the second label section does not follow the geometry of the connection location between vessel body and vessel cover of commercially available medication containers having rotation symmetry, but rather deviates from it. In particular, here the spare label is part of the label as a whole, which is positioned within the basic surface area of the label in such a manner that the course of the weakening line or lines disposed between the two label sections deviates from the course of the boundary between the circumference surfaces of the two container parts. The spare label positioned and/or dimensioned within the label as a whole in this manner therefore “displaces” the separation line normally configured in the basic surface area of the label, as a straight line or in circular form after the label is dispensed, which line surrounds the ring-shaped transition between main body and closure part of common medication containers having rotation symmetry, and along which line division of the label into two parts or label sections normally takes place otherwise, because at least conventionally, a spare label is usually disposed only on one side of such a separation line or weakening line, which is supposed to serve as a later planned tear line. The spare label of the label proposed here is, however, intentionally structured in such a manner that the spare label, which is intended to remain on the second container part, namely with its first sub-section, comes to lie on top of the circumference surface of the first container part instead of on the second container part. At the same time, the entire spare label belongs to the second label section, i.e. it is delimited from the first label section by means of one or more suitably configured separation lines or weakening lines, in such a manner that when the label as a whole is torn apart during opening of the two-part container, it remains adhering or attached to the second container part, i.e. is separated from the first container part then, at the latest. The first part or surface area section of the spare label, which was previously located on or in any case above the circumference surface of the first container part, is then released from the first container part and projects beyond the separated second container part in the axial direction.
This first part of the spare label can then be used as a grip tab. On the unopened container, however, it could not be gripped before, in the inner part of the basic surface area of the label as a whole.
Depending on which wrapping region is adhesively affixed first, the first sub-section of the spare label, on the unopened container, is at first disposed to be visible above the first label section, or covered, i.e. hidden by the first label section. The first sub-section is not only separated from the first label section when the vessel is opened, in that corresponding weakening lines tear open, but rather it is, at the same time, also pulled out of the first label section or pulled off it in the axial direction. This is because the first sub-section of the spare label, specifically, preferably the entire first sub-section, of the spare label projects into the first label section or is disposed in the first basic surface area region of the label as a whole, for being wrapped around the first container part, this first sub-section is necessarily pulled off the first container part or pulled out of the first container part when the container closure is pulled off. This happens, in the case of the label proposed here, without any additional effort and without any additional manual actions, i.e. automatically during the unavoidable pulling movements or other movements that are required for separation of the second container part (closure) from the first container part (main body), for example if a protective cap is pulled off a syringe or off an injection pen. Therefore no additional, separate handling step on the part of the user of the labeled container is required, any longer, for exposing the first sub-section of the spare label that can be used as a grip tab.
The exposed or, in any case, pulled-off first sub-section of the spare label forms a projecting edge on the second container part; this projection is preferably dimensioned in such a manner that it, just like the second section of the spare label, can also carry suitable inscription parts or data, which make it possible to use the spare label as a documentation label. The first sub-section of the spare label therefore serves as a grip tab, in order to pull the spare label off the second container part or off a remaining part of the second label section that adheres to it, and use it elsewhere. The spare label can subsequently be adhesively affixed to a patient record or another documentation record, for example in order to document first-time administration of the medication liquid and, if applicable, the time point of administration, the type, composition and/or concentration of the administered medication, a serial number or some other information.
By means of removing the first sub-section of the spare label when the container is opened, a recess or gap is simultaneously formed in the indentation of the first label section, which is already sketched out in the non-divided label, by the weakening line between the two label sections. As soon as the container is opened and the label or its material ply has been torn apart, the surface area region of the first label section, which was previously covered, lies underneath and has been removed, becomes visible at the previous position of the first sub-section of the spare label that has been removed. This part is preferably structured as a functional region, for example as a clearly visible proof of first opening, or, in any case, a display field for the open state of the container.
The medication container, once it has been opened, can easily be differentiated from factory-new, unopened containers, even if it closed again later, because after removal of the spare label, the first label section of the latter is missing on the first container part and there, the surface area of the functional region is exposed, instead. At least if the container was adhesively wrapped in such a manner that the functional region was at first covered by the spare label, a noticeable change occurs on the labeled container circumference. In this way, the present invention even more effectively combines a new type of accommodation of a spare label with improved protection against product counterfeiting and against confusion between used and unused medication containers.
The label is structured as a wrap-around label, in which at least the first container part is circumferentially completely covered more than once, and thereby the label overlaps with itself on the outer circumference of the container part, i.e. comes to lie on itself. Therefore the first sub-section of the spare label and the functional region are accommodated in the two surface area sections that overlap one another. The functional region can be structured, for example, as a means of proof of first opening, as a sensor region for a parameter, or merely as an inscription or color marking for easily distinguishing the already opened container. The container can also be adhesively wrapped in such a manner that vice versa, the functional region covers the first sub-section of the spare label, so that the latter is pulled out from under the functional region when the container is opened. In both cases, in any case, an unexpected change occurs in the appearance of the label adhering to the container or of its visible individual parts that occur.
The label proposed in this application has the further advantage that it can be produced from only a single material ply. This material ply can, of course, be a material composite, which comprises, aside from a plastic film, if applicable composed of multiple film layers, also adhesive layers, adhesive neutralization layers or other anti-adhesion layers, printed layers—particularly ink layers and/or inscriptions that are imprinted or otherwise applied—or sensor layers having suitable chemicals. However, a single, uniform punch pattern is sufficient for the label, in order to punch the label as a whole out of the single material ply or material web. In particular, it is not necessary to punch surface area pieces out of different material webs for the spare label or for one of the two label sections, and to adhesively apply these to one another. Preferably, the label therefore consists of precisely one material web and is therefore a one-ply label. Further preferred embodiments are contained in the other claims, in the figures, and in the following figure description. The characteristics already discussed herein up to now can be applied to any of the exemplary embodiments of the figures and claims described below, both individually and in combination.
In concrete terms,
The first direction x along which the label 10 extends corresponds to the axial direction a, and the second direction y along which the label 10 extends corresponds to the circumference direction of the outer surface of the article. By means of the label according to any desired embodiment of this application, the transition between two container parts, in particular, is adhesively covered and thereby the closed original state of the container is ensured until it is opened for the first time. Fundamentally, applications of the labels described here for containers that do not have rotation symmetry, but rather are block-shaped, for example, are also conceivable, but the label according to the embodiments of this application is preferably intended for containers that have rotation symmetry on their outer surface or their outer circumference, particularly containers for storing, administering, withdrawing and/or accommodating a medication or a medication solution or some other liquid.
In
In
The second basic surface area region G2, which is intended to be wrapped around, but at least to partly run around and cover the second container part, is situated between the positions x0 and x1; for example, to be adhesively applied to a cap, a lid or some other container closure. The first and the second basic surface area region G1, G2 are predetermined by the design of commercially available cylindrical or circular-cylindrical, conical or otherwise shaped medication containers, around which a wrap-around label can be wrapped, as intended, and are therefore separated from one another by means of a straight line that runs at x1 (vertically in
In the case of a conventional label, the planned tear line would also run at the boundary between two basic surface area regions G1, G2, along which line the label is severed; in
The first label section 1 is disposed within the first basic surface area region G1, which simultaneously is also a wrap-around strip 3 to be wrapped around the first container part. The label contains a first separation line or weakening line S1, which leads into the first basic surface area region G1. According to
The first weakening line S1 in
The spare label 20 is one part and is free of weakening lines within its basic surface area. In particular, no weakening line, planned tear line or other interruption exists in or on the spare label 20, along the boundary between the first and the second basic surface area region of the spare label 20. It is true that the two sub-sections 21, 22 of the spare label 20 can have different top-side and/or underside coatings, but the plastic film 101 or, alternatively, the paper web that forms the main component of the material web 100 is not interrupted between the sub-sections 21, 22 of the spare label 20, and is also not weakened in any other way, but rather possesses an unreduced layer thickness there. The two sub-sections 21, 22 of the spare label 20 differ only in their placement relative to the positions x1, which corresponds to the position of the edge or edges of the first label section 1 that leads to the spare label outside of the spare label.
If the required pulling force for pulling the second container part off is applied, the first sub-section 21 is pulled out of the first label section 1 in the axial direction. The entire spare label 20 is then at first situated on the second container part and, afterward, can be pulled off this part for use, wherein the first sub-section 21 of the spare label forms a grip tab 26 or holding tab after having been exposed, i.e. pulled out of or, in any case, pulled off from the first label section 1. In particular, after pulling apart or severing the two label sections 1, 2 from one another, the first sub-section 21 of the spare label 20 forms a projection, i.e. a projecting part of the second label section 2. The first sub-section 21 of the spare label 20 therefore projects upward beyond the remaining part of the second label section 2 and/or beyond the container to which it has been adhesively applied or, if applicable, around which it has been adhesively wrapped. The spare label 20 can be used as a documentation label for the patient record or other documentation records, a syringe or some other article. Furthermore, the spare label can also be passed on or temporarily stored on the second container part, while the medication is already administered with the first container part. Further handling advantages for the medical personnel result from this.
The underside of the second spare label section 22 is provided with an adhesive layer 19 that can be used further after the label is pulled off from the second container part. The weakening line S1, which is configured as a perforation, punch or in some other suitable way, is structured in such a manner that when the container is opened, it tears open or tears through reliably, thereby severing the label 10 along the first weakening line S1, into the first label section 1 and the second label section 2. On the underside of the first surface area section 21 of the spare label 20, the label 10 is non-adhesive. In this way, the first sub-section 21 of the spare label 20 can be pulled out of the first label section 1 that surrounds it, in the axial direction a, i.e. tangential to the circumference surface of the labeled article. The underside adhesive layer 19 of the second sub-section 22 of the spare label 20, which is disposed outside of the first basic surface area region G1, merely needs to be sufficiently strongly adhesive so that the label 10 tears apart reliably and precisely in the first basic surface area region G1, along the first weakening line S1.
Because the label according to
The functional region 5 becomes visible on the opened container by means of pulling the spare label out of the first label section 1, i.e. during the same manual action with which the container is opened, the first sub-section 21 of the spare label 20 also becomes accessible as a grip tab 26, in this regard. The functional region 5, which is exposed at the same time during this process, can be used for a great number of application purposes. For example, it can be provided with an inscription 31 or with some other ink layer 34, wherein the latter simultaneously can also be a pigment layer that serves as a sensor layer 36 for detecting or for measuring and/or indicating a parameter. The inscription, ink layer or sensor layer can, for example, serve to identify that the container has already been opened and/or used, or that its contents are possibly no longer in the original, guaranteed quality and/or sterility state.
Suitable inscriptions can also be provided on the outer surface of the spare label—both on its first and on its second sub-section 21, 22. For example, an inscription can be provided on the spare label 20, which indicates in what direction the first container part is to be pulled off from the first or that the container is still unopened. After the spare label has been removed from the labeled article, it cannot easily be replaced. Furthermore, the inscription 31 or, in any case, the surface of the functional region 5 is now visible at the circumference of the first container part, indicating the used state of the container and/or its contents, for example. In the region of the functional region 5, in particular, any desired means 33 of proof of first opening can be configured, for example an ink layer 34 or a sensor layer 36 for detecting that a temperature has been exceeded or a temperature has not been reached during prior storage, influencing the shelf life or usability of the medication, for detecting contact with the outside air, for detecting incident light or UV radiation onto the surface of the functional region 5, or for indicating a specific pH or other parameter. The functional region 5 can also have warps 35 or other elevations, which generate an audible noise when the first sub-section 21 of the spare label 20 passes over them, in order to draw the attention of the medical personnel, also acoustically, to the open state, for example in order to prevent injuries resulting from unnecessarily attempting to grasp a protective cap of an injection needle that has long since been removed. The above listing of possible uses of the functional region 5, whether below or above the first sub-section 21 of the spare label 20 on the labeled container, is not comprehensive but rather merely serves as an example.
The characteristics mentioned in the above explanations regarding
On the underside 10b of the label 10 in
When the two container parts are pulled apart, the first weakening line S1 on the first sub-section 21 around the spare label 20 is torn open, and the sub-section 21, which previously rested on the functional region 5 from the outside, is stripped off from this region in the axial direction. Here, the surface area section that lies underneath, having the functional region 5, serves as a backing surface 15 for the first sub-section 21 of the spare label 20.
If it is provided that the label is, alternatively, adhesively applied with its edge of the wrap-around section 3 shown at the bottom in
The wrapping section U2 shown at the bottom of
The characteristics of the first embodiment described until now can also be applied to the embodiments of the other figures; in this regard, no repetitions will occur in the following text.
The first sub-section 21 of the spare label 20, which forms the projection of the second label section 2 that projects into the first label section 1, is surrounded, in the circumference direction U or the second direction y, from both sides by the first label section 1, in the region between the positions x1 and x2. Only the second label section 2 is disposed in the region between the coordinates or positions x0 and x1, and only the first label section 1 is disposed in the region between the positions x2 and x3. The region within which the two label sections 1, 2 engage into one another lies in the center region between these two end regions. In this regard, the spare label 20 engages between two sub-sections of the first label section 1 with its first sub-section 21; the indentation or the part of the first label section 1 that is set back in the direction of x3 lies between these sub-sections.
The spare label is a label region that is to be severed from the first label section 1, as intended, and furthermore used further to adhesively apply it to another article, i.e. as a documentation label. For this purpose, the spare label must also be severed from the remaining part of the second label section 2, in any case if the latter also comprises further parts than the spare label. The first sub-section 21 of the spare label is a sub-region of the label as a whole, which region possesses a sufficiently large surface area so that it can serve as a holding tab or grip tab, i.e. which is to be grasped by hand and/or pulled off from the second label section 2 and/or from the second container part 52 by hand. The first sub-section 21 of the spare label is furthermore a sub-region of the label as a whole, which is large enough to serve as the support for an inscription, as intended. In this regard, the first sub-section 21 and its inscription can already be visible, depending on the wrapping direction, immediately when the label as a whole is dispensed, or can make its appearance only when the container is opened, i.e. severed. The comments of these last two paragraphs apply analogously also for the remaining figures and other embodiments of this application.
The line sections of the two further weakening lines S2, which are shown graphically as being shorter, indicate that the further weakening lines S2 are more tear-resistant than the weakening lines S0 and S1, and therefore start to tear only when greater force is exerted or only when the spare label is manually pulled off, but not already when the two label parts 1, 2 are merely pulled apart from one another when the container is opened. The perforations along S0 and S1 therefore demonstrate fewer and/or narrower bridging regions or, depending on the embodiment, longer punch line sections between the bridge regions than the perforations along S2.
For the exemplary embodiment of
The anti-adhesion layer 8, for example a printed silicone varnish, can be optionally configured over the full area or partially, i.e. on the entire top surface area of the further functional region 7 or on part of it.
The top of the further functional region 7 only becomes visible after the spare label has been pulled off from the wrap-around strip 4 or the second container part 52 around which the strip is adhesively applied. The second functional region 7, just like the first functional region 5, can carry an inscription. However, the first functional region 5 is exposed, at the latest, when the two-part container is opened, when the spare label 20, as a whole, i.e. including its first sub-section 21, comes loose from the first label section 1 as an unavoidable consequence of the axial pulling movement or the other handling step for opening the container. The first functional region 5 is thereby exposed as soon as the projection of the second label section 2 situated on top of it, which can be used as a grip tab 26, is pulled off to the side; the second sub-section 22, in contrast, only when the spare label is manually pulled off from the second container part 52.
It is practical if the spare label runs around only a relatively small angle region in the circumference direction U, in order not to hinder its label part 22 from being lifted up and the further weakening lines S2 from tearing open due to an overly great total curvature and, as a result, overly great torsion resistance of the spare label. For example, the spare label runs around an angle range of between 30° and 120° of the total outer circumference of 360°, preferably an angle range from 45° to 90°.
The two container parts are held together by the label 10 in the delivered state, or, in any case, after being labeled, and the first functional region 5 covers the first sub-section 21 and blocks the view of the first function region 5—in any case if the film 101 of the material ply 100 is non-transparent or at least a non-transparent imprinting is provided on its outer side, in the region of the gripping surface 26, or if the material ply is a paper web, which is non-transparent in any case. When the container is opened, the lower ply is exposed, here, in particular, the first functional region 5. In the first functional region 5, an indication of cancellation or an indication of first opening can be accommodated in each of the exemplary embodiments shown in the figures; for example in the form of a suitable inscription 31, a VOID film region 32, a pigment layer or ink layer 34, a sensor layer 36 of some other means 33 of proof of first opening. The further functional region 7 can also have one of the above functional elements 31 to 36, particularly an inscription 31 or a pigment layer 34.
The underside of the first sub-section 21 of the spare label, which comes to lie on the first functional region 5, should preferably be non-adhesive, i.e. free of adhesive on the underside, and should have an underside anti-adhesion layer, adhesive covering or adhesive neutralization layer, for example. Nevertheless, sub-surfaces of the first sub-section 21 can optionally be adhesive on the underside or, in any case, can be adherent, as long as lateral sliding of the sub-section 21 as a whole over the first functional region 5 and tearing open of the weakening lines S1 when the two container parts 51, 52 are pulled apart is not impaired. For example, lettering such as “VOID,” for example, or other irreversible indications of first opening can be configured on the underside of the first sub-section 21 and/or on the top of the first functional region 5, using local adhesive regions or adhesive applications or other intermediate layers that are adhesive on both sides. After the two-part container around which the label is adhesively applied has been opened, and the spare label 20 has been removed from the second container part 52 and used elsewhere, as intended, the previous covering on the first functional region 5 is absent, and also on the further functional region 7, if it is present, depending on the embodiment, specifically even if the two-part container is later closed again, i.e. put together.
All of the above explanations regarding
A second functional region 6 is accommodated in the third wrapping region U3, wherein the first sub-section 21 of the spare label 30, which can be used as a grip tab 26, is now disposed within the basic surface area G of the label, between the first functional region 5 and the second functional region 6. When the label is wrapped around the first container part 51, the first functional region 5, the first sub-section 21, and the second functional region 6 come to lie on top of one another—in this sequence or the opposite sequence; depending on whether the label is adhesively applied around the container starting with the section U1 or U3 first.
In the first functional region 5, characteristics or elements 31 to 36 can be provided, as they have already been listed for the functional region 5 of
In deviation from
The embodiments according to
Alternatively, however, it can also be provided that one of the layers 11, 12 or both of them are structured in such a manner that their surface possesses greater roughness than the film 101 or the paper of the spare label or than the remaining material ply 100 of the label 10. For example, a chemical reaction between the two indicator components K1, K2 can be initiated by means of a short-term temperature increase, which occurs when the first label section 21 is pulled out, as the result of the friction heat. In this case, the surfaces of the first sub-section 21 of the spare label 20 serve as friction surfaces, heating surfaces or ignition surfaces. Instead of or in addition to a temperature-increasing effect, the mere mechanical friction when the spare label is pulled out can also be used to get a reaction going between the components K1, K2, for example in that ink pigments or substances of one or both components K1, K2, encapsulated in protective capsules, are released by the friction generated when the first sub-section 21 is pulled out, in that the protective capsules are crushed and/or torn out. In this way, the two components K1, K2 can actually be disposed in the same functional region, for example the lower functional region 5, because only the friction during the pull-out process damages, destroys or, in any case, opens the capsule sheaths between the two components K1, K2. The third wrapping region U3 then serves merely to ensure sufficiently strong compression between the underside friction surface 11 of the spare label 20 and the top functional region 5 underneath it.
In order for an immediate reaction that is already completed after a few seconds or minutes not to occur after the spare label section 21 has been removed, the indicator components K1, K2 or one of them can be provided with thin barrier layers or cover layers, which dissolve when they make contact with other components and thereby only gradually permit a chemical or other reaction between the two components K1, K2. Furthermore, an indicator component can be coated with a barrier layer that influences the time-dependent and/or temperature-dependent reaction with the second indicator component after contacting. Such barrier layers for time indicators and/or temperature indicators are described in WO 91/06853, for example. For example, the start and time progression of the reaction of the two indicator components can be controlled relatively precisely by means of the selection and thickness of the material for the barrier layer.
Furthermore, the functional regions 5, 6 that are provided with the indicator components K1, K2, or one of them, can be configured as layers having a temperature behavior similar to that of wax, i.e. as a layer that melts or becomes liquid or capable of flow only above a certain limit temperature or, in any case, only above room temperature, and only afterward permit a reaction between the indicator components. Possible chemical reactions for the alternatives for two-component indicator systems named in this application can be acid/base reactions, for example, particularly those that are connected with a change in color. For example, phenolphthalein and sodium hydrogen carbonate can be used as indicator components K1 and K2, for example in order to produce a color change from colorless to red.
The indicator components K1 and K2 can also be structured as follows. The first indicator component can be a metal layer or a layer that contains metal or a metallized film layer, preferably composed of a polymer film. The metal can be one of the metals aluminum, copper, silver, iron, magnesium, tin, chromium, zinc, nickel, titanium or an alloy of these aforementioned metals. The thickness of the metal layer amounts to 1 nm to 1 mm, preferably 5 nm to 0.5 mm.
The second indicator component can be a doped polymer layer, wherein the doping substance is an acid, a base or a salt. The polymer can also be functionalized with an acidic or basic group or can be functionalized with latently acidic or latently basic groups, for example with photolatent acids or photolatent bases that release the acid or base when irradiated with light.
Such indicator components are known and described in WO 2008/083926, for example. Activation of the time indicator and/or temperature indicator takes place by means of full-area contacting of the first indicator component with the second indicator component, after the spare label section 21 has been removed. After contacting of the two indicator components, a chemical reaction of the two reaction components with one another takes place. For example, according to one embodiment, a metal layer of the first indicator component, which particularly can be a shiny metal layer, is dissolved by the acid of the second indicator component, in time-dependent and/or temperature-dependent manner; this is detected, in terms of measurement technology, by means of detection of the changing optical (absorption, transmission, reflection) and/or electrical properties (electrical resistance), but can also be visually tracked with the naked eye, without any additional aids.
All the characteristics and embodiments listed here, with regard to the two components or one of them, are not restricted to
Finally, an acoustic effect can also be produced in that optionally, the first sub-section 21 of the spare label 20, the first functional region 5 and/or the second functional region 6 are provided with geometric uneven regions, for example punched-out regions or warps in individual film regions or surface regions. For example, top and underside punched-out regions or other grooved regions can be provided in the sub-section 21 of the spare label, which run transverse to the axial direction a and by means of which the sub-section 21 gets a slightly wave-like shape—in any case, in the tension-free state, when it is not yet sandwiched in the tight interstice between the wrapping regions U1 and U3. When it is pulled out, i.e. as it slides over corresponding uneven regions of the first and/or second functional region 5, 6, an audible noise then occurs, giving acoustical feedback that opening has taken place and therefore that the medication in the container is ready for use.
The coatings 11, 12 of the spare label section 21 can also be structured in such a manner that they impart a different curvature to it than is possible in the dispensed state, between the functional regions 5, 6 and winding regions U1, U3. When the sub-section 21 is pulled out from the first label section 1 on the first container part 51, the sub-section 21 then audibly snaps into its tension-free or lower-tension form, and thereby an audible opening noise can also be produced.
According to yet another variant, the layers 11, 12 or one of them can also contain magnetic substances, particularly those that have already been pre-magnetized, i.e. possess spontaneous magnetization. Structured conductor tracks or other conductive and/or magnetic structures can also be imprinted or otherwise provided on the sub-section 21 of the spare label and/or on one or both functional regions 5, 6. When the spare label section 21 is pulled out, a short-term induction current then occurs, which is detected by a small sensor on the adhesively wrapped container, for example, and can be displaced by means of an LCD display, a diode or some other means of display of the article itself, or can be read out in some other manner. For example, an injection pen can have a sensor below the circumference surface region over which the first spare label section 1 is to be applied.
Instead of two-component sensor systems, one-component sensors, for example as a sensor layer only in the first, lower functional region 5 can also be used, whereas the second functional region 6 in the wrapping region U3 is used merely as a transparent viewing window, if applicable with its own inscription. In this regard, the layers 6 and 12 in
In particular,
According to
In the first functional region 5, every suitable means of proof of first opening or other means of proof, for example for indicating the shelf life, the aging state of a medication or the storage period or period of use that has already elapsed can be provided. In this way, irradiation with light or UV rays, contact with ambient air, the fact that a temperature was exceeded or not reached during storage or after the container was opened, or some other effect can be indicated. Depending on the embodiment, it can be practical, in this regard, to structure the second functional region 6 to be transparent or non-transparent. Each of the means of proof listed here with reference to
In all the embodiments of this application, even if shown differently, the first sub-section 21 of the spare label 20 can preferably be slightly narrower at its end at the positions x2 than at the position x1, i.e. the spare label section 21 narrows all the more, the further it projects into the first label section 1. As a result, it can be pulled out more easily and without damage. A trapezoid geometry of the first spare label section 21, for example, allows more precise control of the intensity of the friction and/or retention force that occurs when it is being pulled out, without mechanical warping or even tears along the first weakening line S1 occurring. By means of suitable shaping of the basic surface area of the spare label section 21, the latter can be reliably pulled out without being damaged.
Furthermore, the holding force of the weakening lines S2 is coordinated with the holding force of the weakening lines S1 and, if applicable, also S0, and, if applicable, additionally also with the adhesive force of the underside adhesive layer 9 of the second sub-section 22 of the spare label 20. In particular, the holding force of the weakening lines S2 is dimensioned in such a manner that when the second label section 2 is pulled off from the first label section 1 on the container to which the label is adhesively applied, the first weakening line S1, which surrounds the first sub-section 21 of the spare label 20 and, if present (
For the remainder, the front of the labels shown in
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 2014 110 738 | Jul 2014 | DE | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2015/067257 | 7/28/2015 | WO | 00 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2016/016232 | 2/4/2016 | WO | A |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| 20170154548 A1 | Jun 2017 | US |
