ES2430438B1 - Medicine capsule container - Google Patents

Abstract

Medicine capsule container formed from two sheets with one or more cells joined together so that two cells, one of each sheet, form a cavity to house a capsule, characterized in that each cell of each sheet comprises a peripheral wall formed by a plurality of strips with different angle of inclination with respect to the middle plane of the cavity and a rounded top.

Description

DESCRIPTION Medicine capsule container

The present application refers to packages for medicament capsules, and in particular refers to packages 5 formed from two honeycomb sheets joined together.

STATE OF THE PREVIOUS TECHNIQUE

There are packages that comprise a top sheet with cells intended to contain the medicine and a bottom sheet sealed to the top sheet to enclose the medicine in the socket. In some cases, the bottom sheet may be a thin sheet of metal that can be broken when the medicine in the socket is pushed against said bottom sheet. This type of packaging is known as Push-Through-Pack (PTP). Among others, documents US2006283758, EP0570188B or WO03010065 describe this type of packaging.

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And also known are cold-formed containers, known as "cold form foil" (CFF), which are preferably manufactured from an aluminum-based laminated film that is pressed into a mold with a seal. In these cases the aluminum lengthens and maintains the formed figure. This type of packaging can be torn open or can comprise grooves or the like to facilitate its opening.

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It is known that aluminum films guarantee airtightness in the sense of impermeability to environmental water vapor and oxygen, necessary to keep medicines in the form of capsules, pills, pills, etc. Therefore, the main advantage of cold forming is precisely the fact that the use of aluminum offers an almost complete barrier to water and oxygen, which makes it possible to extend the expiration date of the product. 25

WO2011 / 005078 describes a cold formed aluminum foil and its manufacturing method so as to avoid breakage in the material. It also describes a container formed from one of these sheets in combination with a cover that seals the cavities formed in the sheet. This means that the resulting cavity may be larger than the drug to be accommodated and therefore that there may be a volume of air inside the closed socket. The disadvantage of this type of container is therefore the presence of air inside the cavity that can violate the stability of the drug housed there.

Therefore, there is a need for a container for medicament capsules made from two honeycomb aluminum sheets that allow reducing the space between the medicament and the container, that is, a container that preserves the characteristics of the product contained therein.

EXPLANATION OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect, a container for medicament capsules formed from two sheets with one or more cells joined together is provided so that two cells, one of each sheet, form a cavity to accommodate a capsule. The package is characterized by the fact that each socket of each sheet comprises a peripheral wall formed by a plurality of strips with different inclination angle with respect to the middle plane of the cavity and a rounded top.

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According to this aspect, when a medicine capsule is housed in a cavity formed by two cells of two honeycomb sheets joined together, where each cell comprises a peripheral wall formed by a plurality of strips with different angle of inclination with respect to the median plane of the The space between the capsule and the peripheral wall of the container is minimized because the different strips of the peripheral wall allow the capsule shape to be copied more accurately around its entire perimeter and minimizing the free volume between peripheral wall and capsule. In this way the amount of air inside the cavity is reduced, that is to say that a smaller amount of air is achieved in contact with the medicine, which implies a greater stability of the medicine housed in said cavity. In addition, this form of alveoli allows the cavity formed by two alveoli to adapt to the shape of the capsule without breaking the material during the process of drawing it, that is, the process that forms the alveoli, locates the capsules and close the container 55

On the other hand, the fact that the peripheral wall comprises a plurality of strips implies a greater capacity to stretch the material from which the containers are manufactured such as for example aluminum, reducing at least in part the risks of breakage thereof during the capsule drawing process.

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Likewise, with this type of container it is possible to reduce the size of the cavity where the capsule is housed. This entails savings of material used for its manufacture and therefore a cheaper package.

In some embodiments, the angles of inclination of each strip with respect to the middle plane of the cavity may be decreasing from the strip arranged closer to the middle plane of the cavity towards the strip arranged 65

closer to the top. This helps to more accurately copy the outline of the capsule that is housed in the cavity.

In some embodiments, the stripes may comprise at least one straight section.

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In some embodiments, the peripheral wall may comprise two longer facing portions and two shorter facing portions so that they define an elongated cavity. In this way it is possible to accommodate oblong capsules in such containers.

In some embodiments, each strip may be defined between a lower base and a concentric upper base, both having an elongated shape with rounded ends and the lower base being larger than the upper base such that between said lower base and said Upper base defines a substantially conical trunk shape. In these embodiments, the upper base of a strip may coincide with the lower base of the strip immediately consecutive from the middle plane of the cavity towards the top.

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In some embodiments, the peripheral wall may comprise three stripes. In some of these embodiments, the three stripes may comprise a first strip disposed closer to the middle plane of the cavity whose inclination angle is between 50 ° - 80 °, a second middle strip whose inclination angle is between 45 ° - 55 ° and a third strip arranged closer to the top whose inclination angle is between 30º - 45º. twenty

In some of these embodiments, the first strip may have an inclination angle between 53 ° - 60 °, the second strip may have an inclination angle between 47 ° - 53 ° and the third strip may have an inclination angle between 38 ° - 42 ° . In other embodiments, the first strip can have an inclination angle between 69 ° - 77 °, the second strip can have an inclination angle 25 between 47 ° - 53 ° and the third strip can have an inclination angle between 33 ° - 38 °.

In some embodiments, the sheets may comprise aluminum. In this way a container is achieved that guarantees the impermeability to the environmental water vapor and oxygen necessary to keep the medicines intact and stable. In addition, and taking into account the material savings mentioned above, a reduction in the use of aluminum is achieved which has a positive impact on the environment since less aluminum waste is produced when drugs packaged in aluminum are consumed.

In some embodiments, each sheet may have a thickness of approximately 0.25 mm. This ensures that there are no breaks or cracks in the sheets during the process of drawing the capsules. 35

Other objects, advantages and features of embodiments of the present package will be apparent to the person skilled in the art from the description, or can be learned with the practice thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 40

Particular embodiments of this package will now be described by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows an exploded perspective view of a container for medicament capsules according to one embodiment;

Figure 2 shows a plan view of the container of Figure 1;

Figure 3 shows a partial side view of the container of Figure 1; and 50

Figure 4 schematically shows a capsule housed in a container according to figure 1.

DETAILED EXHIBITION OF MODES OF EMBODIMENT

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Figure 1 shows an exploded perspective view of a container for medicament capsules according to an embodiment of the invention that may be formed from two sheets 10a, 10b with seven alveoli 11a, 11b each. However, it should be understood that the number of alveoli present in each sheet can be any other, even each sheet could form a single socket.

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The package can be formed from joining the two sheets 10a, 10b together so that the cells 11a of one of the sheets 10a coincide with the cells 11b of the other sheet 10b to form cavities (see Figure 4). Each socket 11a, 11b comprises a peripheral wall 111.

Figure 2 shows a plan view of the container of Figure 1 where it is distinguished that the peripheral wall 111 of each socket 11a, 11b (only the cells of one of the sheets are shown) can comprise a plurality of strips 111a, 111b, 111c and a top 112. Each strip 111a, 111b, 111c may comprise two longer facing portions A and two shorter and rounded facing portions B, so that the resulting cavity can accommodate an elongated capsule. 5

Figure 3 shows a side view of one of the sheets 10a of Figure 1. Figure 3 shows a peripheral wall comprising three strips 111a, 111b, 111c that can comprise at least one straight section each. In the enlarged view enclosed by the broken line of Figure 3 it is shown that said three strips 111a, 111b, 111c can have different inclination angle α, β, γ with respect to the median plane 113 of the cavity, represented by a line heading 113 'parallel to the middle plane 113 of the cavity for better viewing of said angles. The peripheral wall may also comprise a top 112 that can be rounded.

In some embodiments comprising three stripes, the first strip 111a may be the one that is closest to the middle plane 113 of the cavity and the angle α between said strip 111a and the middle plane 113 of the cavity 15 may be between 50 ° - 80 ° . In these embodiments, the second strip 111b may be that which is in the middle and the angle β between said strip 111b and the middle plane 113 of the cavity may be between 45 ° - 55 ° and the third strip 111c may be that closest to the top 112 of the socket 11a and the angle γ between said strip 111c and the middle plane 113 of the cavity can be comprised between 30 ° - 45 °.

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In the enlarged views of Figures 1 and 3 it is shown that each strip 111a, 111b, 111c may also be defined between a lower base bi and a concentric upper base bs. In addition, both bi, bs bases may have a substantially elongated shape with rounded ends. The lower base bi can be larger than the upper base bs such that between said lower base bi and said upper base bs a substantially conical trunk-shaped shape T. 25 can be defined.

Although in figures 1-3, alveoli with peripheral walls comprising three stripes have been shown, it should be understood that another number of strips is also possible, depending on the size of the capsule to be embedded and the thickness of the sheet.

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Figure 4 schematically shows a capsule 2 housed in one of the cavities 11 formed by the peripheral walls 111 of two cells 11a, 11b one of each sheet 10a, 10b, the sheets being joined together so as to form a container 1 for capsules of medications. In Figure 4 it is clearly seen how the peripheral wall fits the contour of the capsule, minimizing the free space (volume of air) that remains within the cavity. 35

Depending on the type of capsule to be packed, the stripes may have different angles of inclination, for example, for hard gelatin capsules of type 1/2/3, the angle γ is between approximately 33 ° and 38 °, the angle β is comprised between 47º and 53º approximately and the angle α is between 69º and 77º approximately. In another example, for hard gelatin capsules of type 0 the angle γ is between approximately 40 38 ° and 42 °, the angle β is between approximately 47 ° and 53 ° and the angle α is between approximately 53 ° and 60 °.

In one example, an aluminum package for seven hard gelatin capsules no. 1/2/3 (81.5 x 65) has been manufactured using a 0.25 mm thick aluminum foil and an aluminum stretch ratio of 1.4. The volume of each socket is 1865 mm3. For this purpose, the peripheral wall alveoli have been manufactured with three stripes where the angle γ is 35.4º, the angle β is 49.7º and the angle α is 72.7º.

In another example, an aluminum package for seven hard gelatin capsules No. 0 (96 x 76) has been manufactured using a 0.25 mm thick aluminum sheet and an aluminum stretch ratio of 1.4. The volume of 50 each alveolus is 2700 mm3. For this purpose, the peripheral wall alveoli have been manufactured with three stripes where the angle γ is 40º, the angle β is 49.6º and the angle α is 56.3º.

Although only some particular embodiments and examples of the invention have been described herein, the person skilled in the art will understand that other alternative embodiments and / or uses of the invention are possible, as well as obvious modifications and equivalent elements. In addition, the present invention encompasses all possible combinations of the specific embodiments that have been described. The numerical signs relating to the drawings and placed in parentheses in a claim are only intended to increase the understanding of the claim, and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the claim's protection. The scope of the present invention should not be limited to specific embodiments, but should be determined only by an appropriate reading of the appended claims.

Claims (12)

1. Package (1) for medicament capsules formed from two sheets (10a, 10b) with one or more cells (11a, 11b) joined together so that two cells, one of each sheet, form a cavity (11) to accommodate a capsule (2), characterized in that each socket (11a, 11b) of each sheet (10a, 10b) comprises a peripheral wall (111) formed by a plurality of strips (111a, 111b, 111c) with different inclination angle (α, β, γ) with respect to the middle plane (113) of the cavity and a rounded top (112). 2. Container according to claim 1, characterized in that the strips (111a, 111b, 111c) comprise at least one straight section. 10 3. Package according to any one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the inclination angles (α, β, γ) of each strip (111a, 111b, 111c) with respect to the median plane (113) of the Cavity are decreasing from the strip (111a) arranged closer to said median plane (113) of the cavity towards the strip (111c) arranged closer to the top (112). fifteen A package according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the peripheral wall (111) comprises two longer facing portions (A) and two shorter and rounded facing portions (B) so that they define a elongated cavity  twenty 5. Packaging according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that each strip (111a, 111b, 111c) is defined between a lower base (bi) and a concentric upper base (bs), both having a shape elongated with rounded ends and the lower base (bi) being larger than the upper base (bs) such that between said lower base (bi) and said upper base (bs) a substantially conical trunk-shape (T) is defined ). 25 A package according to claim 5, characterized in that the upper base (bs) of a strip (111a, 111b) coincides with the lower base (bi) of the strip (111b, 111c) immediately consecutive from the middle plane (113) from the cavity towards the top (112).  30 7. Package according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the peripheral wall (111) comprises three strips (111a, 111b, 111c). A package according to claim 7, characterized in that the three stripes (111a, 111b, 111c) comprise a first strip (111a) arranged closer to the median plane (113) of the cavity whose angle of inclination (α ) is between 50º and 80º approximately, a second middle strip (111b) whose angle of inclination (β) is between 45º and 55º approximately and a third strip (111c) arranged closer to the top (112) whose angle of inclination (γ) is between approximately 30 ° and 45 °. 9. Container according to claim 8, characterized in that the first strip (111a) has an angle of 40 inclination (α) between approximately 53 ° and 60 °, the second strip (111b) has an inclination angle (β) between 47º and 53º approximately and the third strip (111c) has an inclination angle (γ) between 38º and 42º approximately. 10. Container according to claim 8, characterized in that the first strip (111a) has an angle of inclination (α) between approximately 69 ° and 77 °, the second strip (111b) has an inclination angle (β) between 47º and 53º approximately and the third strip (111c) has an inclination angle (γ) between 33º and 38º approximately. 11. Container according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the sheets (10a, 50 10b) comprise aluminum. 12. Container according to claim 11, characterized in that each sheet (10a, 10b) has a thickness of approximately 0.25 mm. 55