Patent Application
20110078981
The present patent document claims the benefit of priority to European Patent Application No. EP 09172058.1, filed Oct. 2, 2009, and entitled “PACKAGING FOR PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS AND METHOD AND DEVICE FOR ITS PRODUCTION,” the entire contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention pertains to a packaging for pharmaceutical products and to a method and a device for its production.
Pharmaceutical products are packaged in many different ways. Especially frequent is a type of packaging in which a thermally deformable bottom sheet is provided with pockets. The pockets are then filled with the pharmaceutical products and sealed with a nonstretchable cover sheet. An especially well-known example of this type of packaging is the blister strip for tablets or sugar-coated pills, but products in powder form as well as ampules, etc., are also packaged in this way for specific applications.
The pockets in the bottom sheet always project downward, and the cover sheet is smooth and is sealed to the webs of the bottom sheet, which are also smooth.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a device for the production of a packaging for pharmaceutical products which makes it possible to expand possible uses of the packaged pharmaceutical products to additional areas of application.
The device for the production of a packaging for pharmaceutical products comprises:
So that the cover sheet can be easily provided, the device preferably comprises an unwinding device for unwinding a partial length of the roll of cover sheet material, a cutting device for cutting off a sheet from the roll, and a feed device for grasping and transporting the cut cover sheet to the forming station.
To form the troughs in the nonstretchable cover sheet, the forming station may comprise two forming tools, which can be moved toward and away from each other, wherein the second forming tool comprises stamping dies, which act successively on the cover sheet, and wherein the first forming tool comprises recesses corresponding to the shape of the stamping dies.
In a preferred embodiment, the stamping dies are arranged in a row which is graduated with respect to height and are pneumatically pretensioned. In this way, it is relatively easy to form troughs mechanically in a nonstretchable cover sheet of, for example, aluminum, which cannot be formed all at once either thermoplastically or by deep-drawing.
To simplify the production process, the first forming tool with the recesses can comprise a suction device for the formed cover sheet and can be part of the transport device. In this embodiment, the first forming tool can rotate around a vertical axis located outside the first forming tool.
To fasten the cover sheet temporarily to the bottom sheet before they are actually sealed together, the device can comprise a spot-fastening device, which is arranged upstream of the sealing station and comprises several heating pins.
The packaging for pharmaceutical products produced with the above device comprises a bottom sheet with pockets, which serve to hold the pharmaceutical products, and with webs arranged between the pockets, and it also comprises a nonstretchable cover sheet, which is sealed to the bottom sheet. Several webs of the bottom sheet comprise a ridge, and the cover sheet comprises integrally formed troughs corresponding to the shape of the ridges. The sealing is also performed between the troughs of the cover sheet and at least portions of the ridges of the bottom sheet.
This design is especially advantageous for certain applications, because as a result, the pockets formed in the bottom sheet do not, or do not only, project downward; instead, the intermediate space formed between the bottom of the pocket and the cover sheet designed to hold the pharmaceutical products can be formed exclusively or at least partially above the straight webs of the bottom sheet. This means that the position of the interior space of the pockets is shifted or expanded upward, and the pharmaceutical products held in the pockets are therefore accessible to new types of further processing and to new applications. For example, in a case such as this, a removal device could be moved horizontally in a straight line to penetrate through the cover sheet and thus allow access to powdered pharmaceutical product present in the pockets.
Since the webs of the bottom sheet are also sealed to the cover sheet in the area of the ridges, this guarantees that the edge areas of the pockets are reliably sealed.
In a preferred embodiment, the bottom sheet comprises alternating first and second sections, wherein each first section is flat and is sealed to the cover sheet, and wherein each second section comprises webs with the ridges, each of which is sealed to a trough of the cover sheet. When in this case the pockets are formed in the area of the second sections of the bottom sheet, the level of the pockets is raised above that of the flat first section of the bottom sheet in an especially simple manner.
The method for the production of packaging for pharmaceutical products comprises the following steps:
To guarantee that the pockets are also closed reliably around their edges, the cover sheet is also sealed to a plurality of the webs of the bottom sheet in the area of the ridges.
The provision of the nonstretchable cover sheet comprises preferably the steps of providing a roll of cover sheet material, partially unwinding the roll, cutting off a cover sheet from the roll, grasping this sheet, and transporting it.
To guarantee a preliminary adhesion between the cover sheet and the bottom sheet and to optimize the result of the sealing process, the cover sheet is spot-fastened to the bottom sheet after the formed cover sheet has been laid on top of the bottom sheet but before the cover sheet has been sealed to a plurality of the webs of the bottom sheet.
Additional features and advantages of the present invention can be derived from the following description, which is based on the drawings:
The example of the new packaging for pharmaceutical products shown in
The bottom sheet 2 comprises a plurality of pockets 6, which serve to hold pharmaceutical products. The pockets 6 can hold tablets, sugar-coated pills, and liquid substances, but preferably they hold substances in powdered form. Arranged between the pockets 6 of the bottom sheet 2 is a plurality of webs 8 of the bottom sheet 2. Several webs 8 of the bottom sheet 2 comprise an upward-projecting ridge 10. In the example shown here, the bottom sheet 2 comprises first sections 12 alternating with second sections 14. Each of the first sections 12 is flat and does not comprise any pockets 6, whereas the second sections 14 comprise webs 8 with the ridges 10.
The bottom sheet 2 consists of a thermoplastically deformable material and is produced by means of known forming processes, although special forming tools must be used. The cover sheet 4, conversely, consists of a nonstretchable material. Nevertheless, troughs 16 which matingly correspond to the shape of the ridges 10 of the bottom sheet 2 are formed into it. The material of the bottom sheet 2 is usually PVC, PVC/PVDC, or PVC/ACLAR, but other materials can also be used such as aluminum laminates, COC, PS, PP, or PET. The cover sheet 4 is usually made of hard aluminum or aluminum of defined hardness, but it can also consist of some other nonstretchable material such as a laminate of paper and aluminum foil.
The bottom sheet 2 and the cover sheet 4 are sealed together preferably along all the webs 8 of the bottom sheet 2. This means not only that the flat webs 8 of the bottom sheet 2 are sealed to the corresponding flat sections of the cover sheet 4, but also that the webs 8 of the bottom sheet 2 are sealed in the area of the ridges 10 to the cover sheet 4 in the area of its troughs 16. The secure closure of the pockets 6 in the bottom sheet 2 is thus guaranteed.
Many other embodiments of the packaging for pharmaceutical products are possible. In particular, the pockets 6 can extend over a wider area in the ridges 10; the bottoms of the pockets 6 can project farther downward (easily beyond the plane formed by the flat first sections 12); various other ridge patterns can be formed in the bottom sheet 2, etc. The important point in each case is that, in general, a certain number of webs 8 of the bottom sheet 2 comprise a ridge 10 and that the cover sheet 4 comprises molded-in troughs 16 which correspond to the shape of the ridges 10 and are sealed to them.
The device comprises an unwinding device 18 for partially unwinding a roll 20 of cover sheet material, a cutting device 22 for cutting off a cover sheet 4, and a feed mechanism 23 for gripping the cover sheet 4 and carrying it forward. In addition, it comprises a forming station 24, a transport device 26 for laying the formed cover sheet 4 on top of the bottom sheet 2, a spot-fastening device 28 for temporarily fastening the cover sheet 4 to the bottom sheet 2, and a sealing station 30 (shown only in
Providing the smooth cover sheet 4 prior to the forming of the troughs 16 can also be accomplished by auxiliary means other than those shown in
The forming station 24 consists of a first forming tool 32 and a second forming tool 34, which can be moved toward and away from each other. A more detailed explanation is given below with reference to
The embodiment of the transport device 26 shown in
The first part of the transport device 26 is designed to rotate around an axis of rotation Z. For this purpose, a shaft 36 is supported rotatably in a bearing device 38 and can be rotated by 180° by a drive (not shown). At the bottom end of the shaft 36, first forming tools 32 extend horizontally to the right and to the left of the shaft 36 as mirror images of each other. This guarantees that one of the first forming tools 32 will always be present in the forming station 24, whereas the other first forming tool will always be 180° away from its partner, thus serving to transport the cover sheet 4. Each rotation of the transport device 26 by 180° around the axis Z causes the two first forming tools 32 to switch places. A suction device with vacuum drawing openings, which firmly hold the formed cover sheet 4 on the first forming tool 32, is preferably present in the first forming tools 32, so that, even during the 180° rotation around the axis Z, the cover sheet 4 remains securely attached to the first forming tool 32.
The first part of the transport device 26 can also be designed in various other ways, however. For example, a gripping device or a pick-and-place device can take the formed cover sheet 4 from the forming station 24 and convey it to the sealing station 30. It is also possible to select a rotational arrangement different from that shown in
A feed mechanism can also be used as the second part of the transport device 26; this can be, for example, a gripping arm or a traveling vacuum suction belt. The two sheets, i.e., the cover sheet 4 and the bottom sheet 2, which are lying on top of each other and possibly spot-fastened to each other, can be transported to the sealing station 30 in this way.
It is also conceivable that the transport device 26 could consist of only a single part and could lay the cover sheet 4 directly on a bottom sheet 2 which has already been placed in the sealing station 30.
The spot-fastening device 28 is explained in greater detail below with reference to
The sealing station 30 is shown in detail in
The stamping dies 44 are arranged in a row of graduated height and are pneumatically pretensioned by the pneumatic cylinders 48. When the two forming tools 32, 34 now move toward each other, contact will occur first between the forward most stamping die 44 and the forward most recess 42, as a result of which a trough 16 will be formed in the cover sheet 4, whereas there is as yet no contact between the other stamping dies 44 and the other recesses 42; that is, the rear part of the cover sheet 4 is not yet clamped. Thus one trough 16 after the other is formed in succession in the nonstretchable cover sheet 4 until the last stamping die 44, i.e., the stamping die in the rearmost position, has engaged in the corresponding recess 42. The time which passes between the individual forming operation for one trough 16 and that for the adjacent trough is usually one or two seconds.
As can be seen especially clearly in
Many other possibilities can also be conceived for guaranteeing that the stamping dies 44 act individually, one after the other, on the cover sheet 4. For example, each of the stamping dies 44 could be actively moved upward individually, but this, of course, would require greater effort than the mechanically determined graduation of the heights of the stamping dies 44 as realized in the present example. The important point in any case is that the individual troughs 16 are formed one after the other, stepwise, in the nonstretchable cover sheet 4, because only in this way is it possible to form the troughs 16 uniformly. One end of the cover sheet 4 must therefore be free to move freely, so that the material of the cover sheet 4 can be drawn forward as a trough 16 is being produced.
It is also possible, of course, to switch the arrangement of the first forming tool 32 and the second forming tool 34 in mirror-image fashion.
In the embodiment shown here, the method for the production of a packaging for pharmaceutical products therefore proceeds as follows: First, the roll 20 of cover sheet material is unwound by the unwinding device 18, and a cover sheet 4 is cut off by the cutting device 22. Then the cover sheet 4 is gripped by the feed mechanism 23 and conveyed to the forming station 24. Alternatively, a cover sheet 4 is provided in some other way.
Then the desired troughs 16 are formed individually, one after the other, in the cover sheet 4 in a stepwise manner. The aspects explained above with reference to
After the troughs 16 have been formed in the cover sheet 4, this sheet is conveyed further along by the transport device 26 and laid on top of a bottom sheet 2, which has also been formed. In the exemplary embodiment shown here, the formed cover sheet 4 is drawn by suction onto the first forming tool 32 and rotated by 180° around the axis Z by the rotatable shaft 36.
After the cover sheet 4 and the bottom sheet 2 have been laid on top of each other, the spot-fastening device 28 can be actuated. For this purpose, in the exemplary embodiment shown here, the stroke arm 54 is lowered, so that the heating pins 52 pass through the openings 58 in the first forming tool 32 and spot-fasten the cover sheet 4 to corresponding points of the bottom sheet 2.
Then the fastened-together pair consisting of the cover sheet 4 and the bottom sheet 2 is conveyed to the sealing station 30, where the two sheets are sealed to each other by appropriately designed sealing plates 40.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 09172058.1 | Oct 2009 | EP | regional |
