EP2475591B1

EP2475591B1 - Soft-sided flexible blister package

Info

Publication number: EP2475591B1
Application number: EP10757509.4A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Paul K. Bowers; James Glydon
Original assignee: Intercontinental Great Brands LLC
Current assignee: Intercontinental Great Brands LLC
Priority date: 2009-09-08
Filing date: 2010-09-07
Publication date: 2016-05-04
Anticipated expiration: 2030-09-07
Also published as: JP2013503794A; PL2475591T3; US20120241347A1; ES2584558T3; JP5815528B2; MX341328B; JP5986135B2; EP2475591A1; WO2011031654A1; CN102686492B; CN102686492A; MX2012002849A; JP2014177307A

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION:

The present invention relates generally to a consumable product package assembly according to the preamble of claim 1, comprising a flexible package supporting a plurality of consumable products. More particularly, the present invention relates to a consumable product package assembly comprising a soft, flexible blister package and to a method of forming a product package.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:

It has long been known to use blister packages to support and house a plurality of consumable product such as candy, gum, mints, as well as pharmaceutical products such as capsules, tablets and the like. Conventional blister package assemblies of this type include a thermal- formed blister tray having a plurality of upwardly opening compartments which support the consumable products therein. A blister cover or sheet encloses the open upper end of the blister tray to sealably cover each of the compartments. The blister cover may be formed of a wide variety of materials including metal foil, plastic film or combinations thereof. The blister tray is then supported in a paperboard sleeve in a slidable fashion.
When it is desirable to dispense one of the products contained within the blister tray, the blister tray is slid out from the blister sleeve and the blister cover is removed from over one of the compartments to dispense the product. Various techniques are known to dispense the individual product from the compartments. The blister cover could be formed of a rupturable material which allows manual depression of the product through the cover.
In other embodiments, the blister cover may be peeled back at selected locations over the compartment to open the compartment to dispense the product.
EP 1120355 discloses a package having a removable peelable cover. The cover comprises a weakly sealed portion having a grip flap to assist in the removal of the weakly sealed portion from the remainder of the packaging in order to dispense the sealed product.
While the blister tray and sleeve combination serves adequately for its intended purposes, certain attributes are not readily achieved with this arrangement. For example, the blister tray and sleeve combination is a relatively rigid structure. As successive products are dispensed from the assembly, the user must maintain possession of the entire assembly, in tact, until the last product is dispensed. Thus, when only a small amount of product remains, the user still must carry the entire assembly.
Furthermore, until the blister tray is removed from the blister sleeve, the products cannot be viewed. Thus, the user has no idea of how many products remain in the assembly. Furthermore, even when the tray is removed from the sleeve the product can only be viewed from one side as the blister cover is typically formed of a nontransparent material.
It is, therefore, desirable to provide a package which can be more easily carried by the user where the products can be viewed, and where after dispensing of a certain amount products, the size of the package itself can be reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:

In accordance with a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a consumable product package assembly as defined in claim 1. Further optional features of the assembly of the first aspect of the invention are set out in the claims dependent on claim 1.
In accordance with a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of forming a product package as defined in claim 6. Further optional features of the method of the second aspect of the invention are set out in the claims dependent on claim 6.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:

Figure 1 is a side plan view of a pair of flexible sheets on either side of a plurality of products for forming the blister package of the present invention.
Figure 2 is a side plan view of the assembled package of Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a front plan view of one embodiment of the blister package of the present invention.
Figure 4 is a front plan view of a further embodiment of the blister package of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS:

The present invention provides a flexible soft-sided blister package for accommodating one or more consumable products such as candy, gum, mints, as well as pharmaceutical products such as capsules, tablets and the like. The present invention also provides for ease of dispensing of the products from the blister package.
Referring to Figures 1 and 2, one representation of a soft-sided blister package of the present invention is shown. Blister package 10 is formed from a pair of flexible sheets 12 and 14. Sheets 12 and 14 may be formed of a wide variety of material including plastic films and the like. For example, the plastic films may include films formed of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyester, polyethylene or laminates and combinations thereof. In addition, the films may be formed of cellulose and/or other degradable or biodegradable materials. Preferably, as will be described in further detail hereinbelow, the film sheets are transparent enabling visualization of the products contained therein. The sheets support therebetween a plurality of spaced apart products, which in the present illustrative embodiment are gum pellets 16. The gum pellets may be arranged in spaced apart orientation defining plural rows and/or columns. While in the preferred embodiments shown herein, a plurality of gum pellets are shown, it is of course understood that it is within the contemplation of the present invention that a single product may be contained between the sheets 12 and 14.
The sheets 12 and 14 are provided, preferably, from a roll. The sheets 12 and 14 are placed in intimate contact around the array of gum pellets 16. As shown in Figure 2, the sheets may be secured together at locations between and around the gum pellets 16. Preferably, as will be described in further detail hereinbelow, various heat seal techniques are used to secure the sheets 12 and 14 together around the gum pellets 16. Also, perforation lines may be included to allow severing of the sheets between the pellets. The assembled sheets may cut to the desired configuration to form package 10. While the sheets 14, 16 conform about the pellets 16 to form a pellet or pocket 15, it is contemplated that the pockets or pouches for the pellets may be provided by vacuum forming techniques.
Referring now to Figure 3, one embodiment of the flexible package of the present invention is shown. Package 20 is formed of a pair of film sheets 22 and 24 which are sealed together about a plurality of spaced apart gum pellets 26. In the present illustrative embodiment, an arrangement of gum pellets in a 2 x 3 orientation is shown. However, it can be appreciated that any arrangement of rows and columns is within the contemplation of the present invention. The sheets 22 and 24 are sealed together perimetrically around each pellet 26.
In the present embodiment, the perimetrical seal is a four sided seal on each side of the rectangular gum pellet 26. The present invention employs a combination of a permanent heat seal and a pealable releasable seal.
As shown in Figure 3, the permanent heat seal 30 is applied to three sides of the pellet 26 and a peelable releasable seal 34 is applied to the remaining sides. In the present illustrative embodiment, the peelable releasable seal 34 of one column of gum pellets is aligned along one edge 20a of the package 20. The peelable releasable seal 34 of the second column is aligned along the opposite edge 20b of the package 20. As depicted in Figure 3, the peelable releasable seal area 34 is openable under manual squeeze pressure. Thus, the user may dispense an individual pellet 26 from the package 20 by squeezing the pellet through the adjacent peelable releasable seal area 34. Such manual pressure opens the seal and allows dispensing of the pellets.
A further feature of the present invention includes the ability to provide perforations along the permanent heat seal area 32. Such perforations 36 allow the package to be separated between the gum pellets 26 so as to provide separate sealed packages. Any arrangement of individual package configurations may be achieved by the arrangement and location of the perforations 36. As can be appreciated, the package 20 can be severed into smaller units such as columns or rows or can be severed to provide individual sealed pellets. In fact, the arrangement of the perforations 36 allow the package to be separated into any number or configurations of gum pellets 26. Moreover, the package 20 can be separated both prior to dispensing the gum pellets 26 or after dispensing the gum pellets 26. Thus, as each gum pellet is used from the assembled packet, the dispensed portion of the package can be removed from the remainder. This allows the package to be made smaller as the pellets 26 are used.
In addition, as above noted, the sheets 22 and 24 may be formed of a wide variety of material. Furthermore, the sheets may be formed of transparent, translucent or similar tear-opaque materials which would allow visualization of the pellets 26 contained therein. Thus, the consumer would know the type of pellets contained within the package as well as know how many pellets remain in an assembled package.
Referring now to Figure 4, a further embodiment of the package of the present invention is shown. Package 30 is shown in a single column arrangement including a plurality of gum pellets 36 therein. While a single column is shown, it is understood that the arrangement of Figure 4 could be employed in a multiple column orientation.
In the present illustrative embodiment, a permanent heat seal 50 is applied about three sides of the pellet 46. The upper side as viewed in Figure 4 includes the peelable, releasable seal 54. Thus, the arrangement of Figure 4 allows dispensing in vertical sequence of each individual pellet 46. Perforations are provided between the vertically arranged pellets where the perforation 60 is next adjacent the peelable release seal 54, but is wholly contained within the heat seal 50. Thus, once the first pellet is dispensed from the upper end of the vertical package 40, the used portion of the package can be removed at the perforation 60 then the next successive pellet 46 is available for dispensing. Even after separation, the remaining pellets remain sealed. It, of course, may be appreciated that the package may be severed at any of the perforation locations to define smaller units. In fact, the package can be severed at each perforation location to define individually packaged and sealed pellets.
Various changes to the foregoing described and shown structures would now be evident to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the particularly disclosed scope of the invention is set forth in the following claims.

Claims

A consumable product package assembly comprising:
a plurality of consumable products (16; 26; 46);

a flexible package (10; 20; 40), said flexible package comprising a pair of films (12,14; 22, 24) bonded together to define plural product compartments (15), each compartment enclosing at least one product (16; 26; 46) of said plurality; and

each said compartment (15) being defined by a perimetrical seal about said at least one product (16; 26; 46);

characterised in that said perimetrical seal includes:
a non-releasable seal portion (30; 50) defined by a portion of said perimetrical seal; and

a releasable seal portion (34; 54) defined by a portion of said perimetrical seal and adapted to open under manual squeeze pressure so as to dispense the product (16; 26; 46) through the releasable seal portion (34; 54);

wherein said flexible package (10; 20; 40) is adapted for squeezing so as to dispense said at least one product (16; 26; 46) from said compartment (15) under manual squeeze pressure.
An assembly of claim 1 wherein each said compartment is separated by a perforation or line of weakness (36, 60) so as to permit detachment of one said compartment (15) from the packaging assembly.
An assembly of claim 2 wherein said perforation or line of weakness (36; 60) is positioned across said non-releasable portion (30; 50).
An assembly of claim 2 wherein said perforation or line or weakness (36; 60) is positioned adjacent said non-releasable portion (30; 50).
An assembly of claim 1 wherein the perimeter seal is formed by welding.
A method of forming a product package comprising the steps of:
providing a first flexible film (12; 22);

forming a compartment (15) having an open end in said first flexible film;

inserting a product (16; 26; 46) in said compartment (15) through said open end;

providing a second flexible film (14; 24);

positioning said second flexible film (14; 24) over said first flexible film (12; 22) so as to enclose said compartment (15) and;

characterised in that the method further comprises sealing said second flexible film (14; 24) to said first flexible film (12; 22) perimetrically about said compartment (15) to form a perimetrical seal;

forming a non-releasable seal portion (30; 50) defined by a portion of said perimetrical seal;

forming a releasable seal portion (34; 54) defined by a portion of said perimetrical seal and adapting the releasable seal portion (34; 54) to open under manual squeeze pressure so as to dispense the product (16; 26; 46) through the releasable seal portion (34; 54); and

adapting the package for squeezing under manual squeeze pressure for dispensing of said product (16; 26; 46) from said compartment (15) through the releasable seal portion (34; 54).
A method of claim 6 wherein said providing steps include:
providing said first and second flexible film (12, 22; 14, 24) from rolls.
A method of claim 6 wherein said forming step includes:
applying a vacuum to one side of said first flexible film (12, 22) to form said open ended compartment (15).