Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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DESCRIPTION
The present invention relates to an application aid for
mechanically removable, sheet-like substrate sections, multiply
arranged on a sheet-like, flexible strip of carrier material,
in the form of cuts or predetermined breaking lines within the
carrier material. The present invention further relates to the
use of said application aid for sheet-like therapeutic systems,
plasters or labels.
Surfaces or parts of surfacesof substrates frequently
have to be protected during the period of time between
manufacture and use. The reasons for this, for example, may be
to maintain their self-adhesiveness, sensitivity against
mechanical damage, or to prevent escape of volatile components
of the substrate.
Usually such a protection of the respective substrate
surfaces is achieved by the contact with a sheet-like covering
material which will be referred to hereafter as carrier material
for the substrate.
In this connection, the carrier material is connected
with the substrate by means of aahesive forces which can be
overcome by mechanical removal or pulling-off forces.
This removing process, the transfer of the substrate
section to the site of application, as well as the application
itself involve many problems which in some cases are not yet
solved satisfactorily.
These steps are particularly difficult if the contact
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surface of the substrate section with the carrier material
during the time between removal and application has to be
absolutely free of contamination. In this connection, it is
- particularly necessary to prevent mechanical damage of the
substrate contact surface and/or to maintain its sterility. In
some cases, the contact surface of the substrate may also
contain reactive substances which are to take effect only at
the site of application. This particularly applies to pharma-
ceutically active substances which are applied in the form of
plasters and have a pure topical effect.
A solution of this problem in the case of pressure-
sensitive adhesive foil dressingsis described in European
Patent No. 0144891. Here, two gripping edges of a supporting
foil allow contamination-free removal of the protective covering
- of the pressure~sensitive adhesive layer, contamination-free
transfer to the site of appllcation, and contamination-free
application, whereby subsequently the supporting foil is removed.
However, this solution i~ very expensive and this
technical teaching cannot be applied to substrate sections
having the size of coins or to a stock of substrate sections
arranged on a section of carrier material. It has to be hinted
at the fact that it is the multiple-arrangement of substrate
sectlons on a section of carrier material which becomes more
important in case of smaller sizes of substrate sections.
European Patent Application Mo. 0 284 963 proposes an
application aid in the form of a pull-off aid for mechanically
removable, sheet-like substrate sections being multiply stocked
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up on a sheet-like, flexible section of carrier material. For
this purpose, for each substrate section a curved cut or
predetermined breaking line is provided for within the contact
surface between substrate and carrier material. By vertically
applying pressure onto the carrier material in the region of the
contact area, a portion of the carrier material predetermined
by the cut or the breaking line is bendable in the direction of
the substrate section and thus separates the edge portion of the
substrate section adjacent to the cut or the predetermined
breaking line from the carrier material. In this way a gripping
area results at the substrate section permitting complete
removal of the substrate section from the carrier material.
Although the problem of separating even smaller substrate
sections from carrier materials is solved, still at least part
- of the contact surface of the substrate section has to be
touched with the fingers or an auxiliary instrument, which in
many cases is undesirable.
It is accordingly the object of the present invention
to provide an application aid for mechanically removable, sheet~
like substrate sections which are positioned in multiplicity
on a section of a sheet-like, flexible carrier material in the
form of cuts or predetermined lines of separation or breaking
lines within the carrier material, which application aid permits
application of the substrate sections in a manner free from
contamination.
Surprisingly, this object could be achieved in that
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for each individual substrate section a cut or a predetermined
breaking line extending into the area of the contact surface
between substrate and carrier material connects the opposite
edges of the strip of carrier material, and that the carrier
material projects beyond the substrate sections at least at one
end of the strip of carrier material.
Substrate and carrier material are sheet-like
structures which may be multi-layered either each individually
or both at the same time. The thi.ckness of the laminate may
range from splits of a millimeter to several millimeters. It
is preferred that the cohesion between substrate and carrier
material be managed by means of a pressure-sensitive adhesive,
; however, other forces, such as electrostatic or magnetic
forces, may be employed, too.
According to the present invention punched substrate
sections are arranged on a strip of carrier material in direct
contact to one another or - due to reasons of shape or
production - with a certain distance between them. The cuts or
predetermined breaking lines run within the carrier material
itself regardless of geometry in the region of the contact
surfa~e of the substrate sections and the carrier material and
thereby connect the opposing edges of the strip of carrier
material. Preferably~ the cuts or predetermined breaking lines
between opposite edges of the carrier material are straight
lines. However, the may also have a non linear course.
Due to the fact that the strip of carrier material
projects beyond the substrate sections at least at one end, a
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gripping aid is formed with which a portion of the carrier
material strip can be separated along the adjacent cut or
predetermined breaking line, respectively. In this connection,
the substrate section adheres to this portion and the remainder
can be peeled off the carrier material in a contamination-free
manner. Subsequent to the contamination-free transfer to the
site of application by gripping the pro~ecting part of the
carrier material, the exposed contact surface of the substrate
section is brought into contact with the acceptor without
automatic contamination in situ, the rest of the carrier
material is easily removed with the help of the projec-ting part,
and the rest of the substrate surface is brought without
contamination into the application position by pressing. With
the removal of the substrate section adjacent to the gripping
aid, another part of the strip of carrier material is exposed
which now in the same way serves as gripping aid for the second
substrate section.
This procedure is continued until the last substrate
section on the carrier material strip is removed.
Thus, during production, only one single gripping tab
has to be provided for, while all following gripping surfaces
for the further successive removal of the substrate sections are
; formed by removing the respective preceding substrate section -
irrespective of the number of substrate sections on the strip.
Thus, unnecessary waste of material is prevented and
the required surface of carrier material is reduced to a
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minimum when the substrate sections of an all-over laminate of
substrate and carrier material are punched out.
The strip of carrier material is flexible an~ can be
rolled up like a coil in case of sufficient flexibility of the
substrate thus permitting compact storage. It is also possible
to arrange several strips of carrier material in parallel,
which strips then may be separated into indi~idual strips at
predetermined breaking lines situated between the individual
strips.
The required cuts in the carrier material can be
created by punching, cutting, squeezing or embossin~, but as
well, by employing laser beams.
Suitable methods of forming the predetermined breaking
]ines are pre-punching, perforation, local chemical or thermal
treatment, or the influence of laser beams.
The lines may be created prior to or after application
of the substrate or substrate sections.
A preferred use of the application system are multiply
arran~ed substrate sections of sheet-like transdermal systems,
~20 plasters or labels.
The invention will be further illustrated by way of
example only with reference to the following Figures, in which,
Figure 1 shows a top view on a section of a carrier
material strip with square substrate sections contacting one
another;
Figure 2 shows the cross-section along line I/I of
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Figure 3 shows a top view on a section of a carrier
material strip with projecting edges;
Figure 4 shows a top view on a section of a carrier
material strip with round substrate sections; and
Figure 5 shows a top view on a muItiple-arrangement
of strips of carrier material with round substrate sections.
In addition to the square substrate sections (11)
contacting one another, Figure 1 shows the cuts (12) between
the substrate sectionsO The substrate sections (11) are in
flush termination with the edge of the carrier strip ~10) which
projects beyond the substrate sections at the lower end.
The cuts or predetermined breaking lines within the
strip of carrier material are designated as (13).
In Figure 2 the cross-section through Figure 1 along
the line ItI illustrates the positions of Figure 1. It is made
clear that the carrier material (10) projects beyond the
substrate sections at the lower end of the strip and thus forms
the first gripping area. The cuts or predetermined breaking
lines (13) positioned centrally below the substrate sections
permit contamination-free removal of the individual substrate
~;sectlons (11) which are separat~d from one another by cuts (12).
~; ~The strip of carrier material (30) shown in Figure 3
additionally projects beyond the square substrate sections (31
at the longitudinal edges of the strip; in this case too, the
substrate sections - which are separated by cuts (32) - are in
close contact. The cuts or predetermined breaking lines (33~
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within the carrier material are positioned in the lower half
of the contact surface between carrier material and substrate
section. The location of these lines is arranged in such a way
that the size of the remaining contact area of the substrate
section at the gripping tab of the carrier material will be of
sufficient size to take up the re~uired forces for pulling off
the remaining part o~ the substrate section. On the other hand,
the remaining part must not become so small that its contact
area at the site of application is not adequate to withstand
the forces during removal of the still adhering section of
carrier material.
In Figure 4, too, the strip of carrier material (40)
projects beyond the round substrate sections (41) which can be
removed and applied one after the other without contamination
of the contact surface staxting from the lower end by means of
the cuts or predetermined breaking lines (43). The substrate
sections need not be square or round, but may have any shape
required by practice and the respective purpose of application.
Even on the same strip of carrier material there may be
different geometric shapes of substrate sections.
Figure 5 shows an arrangement in which three strips
of carrier material (50) are formed from a larger section of
carrier material by predetermined breaking lines ~54). The
round substrate sections (51) are distributed symmetrically on
the strip (50~ and are provided with cuts or predetermined
breaking lines (53) in the lower third of their contact surface
in the carrier material strip (50) thus permitting the desired
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handling of the substrate sections.
Prior to application of the substrate sections, the
strips are separated individually at the predetermined breaking
lines (54). The arrangement shown merely is an example to
illustrate the principle of multiple-arrangements.
It becomes obvious from the drawings in Figure 1 and
Figures 3 to 5 that the present invention permits an optimal
use of the area of the carrier material and that of the
substrate.
It is understood that the specification and examples
are illustrative but not limitative of the present invention
and that other embodiments within the spirit and scope of the
invention will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art.
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