Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
~ILE, Ptff IN THIS ~ 2 1 ~ 7 9 1 9
T TRANSLATIO~'I
COATED ALUMINUM FOIL
VVITH IMPROVED COLD-FORM~G CAPABILITY
AND PACKAGE PRODUCED BY USING THIS ALUMrNUM FOIL
Technical Field
The invention relates to a coated ~ ",i"",~ foil with hl~loved cold-
forming capability as well as a package, especially a press-through or blister
package, I..~,,.lr~ctllred by using such an ~llllllilllllll foil.
State of the Art
Press-through or blister packages are generally made up of a supporting
body of flat lllatelial which, withi~n a planar area, shows several recesses
produced by defo~ g this material to receive the packaged goods, especially
tablets, capsules, etc., and which is surface-conn~cted in said planar area to an
al!l,,,i,,.l,-~-sealing foil. The supporting body material is in many cases made up
of a plastic foil, for example a PVC foil with a thickness in the range of
approximately 0.2 to 0.3 mm, in which the indentation is produced by a hot-
forming process. By pressing against the back side of a support recess, the latter
is deformed and the tablet or capsule cont~in~d in it is removed from the package
by breaking the sealing foil or by peeling off the sealing foil.
In order to extend the expiration date, many medicines call for packaging
that is as hermetic as possible. However, this can be accomplished only to a
limited extent with the conventional press-through or blister packages: gases and
water vapor are able to diffuse through the wall of the support. While the degree
of this diffusion depends on the plastic used for the support, an absolute blocking
of gas and vapor diffusion cannot be achieved with a plastic support. In order to
ensure hermeticity, supports have become known recelllly that consist of a cold-formed all~lllilllll,, compound foil. As seen from the outside toward the inside,
such a compound foil consists for in~t~n~e of 0.025 mm OPA (oriented
polyamide), 0.045 mm allll~ l" and 0.060 mm PVC, the all.l-lill.lll~ foil
providing the hermeticity, the plastic foils bonded to the alll",i"l~ foil endowing
the ~U~)Oll with increased strength and, so it is assumed, plevell~ g excessive
stresses on the ~llll"illll.~, foil during cold-forming that might othenvise tear it.
21879~
In any event experience shows that the cold-formability of said compound
material is sul)~ lly higher than that of an equivalent normal ~lll.,.illl-i~ foil.
On the other hand, such blister package supports entail the drawback that they do
not meet present waste removal regulations that specify that such empty packages5 may only be removed as a whole if they consist of at least 90% by weight of a
ulliroll~l material. In the above example, the ~ll.. ~.i.. portion, for in~t~nce, is
only 57%. In addition, the use of pure ~ll.".i...... " foils as supports for press-
through or blister packages has been considered practically impossible until now.
The object of the invention is to provide the al.. ~i.. foil with a
10 relatively thin coating that improves its cold-forming behavior and that is suited
especially as a highly hermetic material for a supporting body in blister packages.
Representation of the Invention
This problem is solved in accordance with the invention by a coated
al!--,-i-----~ foil in which the ~lll...i.,.--.. foil has a thickness in the range of 0.05 to
0.3 mm and the surface on the mold side according to British Standard (BS) 2782
has a friction coefficient in the range of a m~ximllm of 0.35, preferably,
however, it should have a m~ximllm of 0.30, and/or the coated surface on the
punch side of the ~ i..l.... foil has a m~ximllm of 0.45, preferably, however,
it should have no more than 0.40.
Thereby, the coated surfaces on the mold side are preferably made up of
a plastic layer.
In accordance with a plerelled embodiment of the invention, the plastic
layer on the punch side is heat-sealable and shows a thickness of 0.001 to 0.030mm. According to an additional prefe.led embodiment of the invention, this
thickness is of 0.003 to 0.020 mm. Preferably, however, the range should be
from 0.003 to 0.012 mm.
Another plefelled embodiment of the invention is characterized in that the
mold side is coated with synthetic resin made up of a thin protective lacquer with
a thickness of 0.0005 to 0.020 mm.
2 1 87q l ~
Furthermore, the object of the invention is a package that is highly gas-
tight, especially a blister package with a supporting body of a flat material which,
within a planar area shows more recesses produced by the defolllling of this
material for receiving the packaged goods, especially tablets, capsules, etc.,
which in this planar area is surface-connected with an alu"~i",llll-sealing foil,
whereby the ~hl",i",l", content of the empty package should make up the highest
possible percentage.
This problem is solved in the package according to the invention that is
characterized by a supporting body made up of one piece and recesses that are
created by a cold-forming procedure, and that are provided at least their concave
sides with a sealable plastic coating. The supporting body is produced from a
coated ahll,~illlllll foil according to the invention, whereby the alul~ "lll, content
of the empty package is made up of more than 80% by weight, preferably more
than 90% by weight.
Description of the Drawings
and a Way for Implem~nting the Invention
The invention is further explained with reference to the figures that
illustrate an advantageous embodiment of the package according to the invention. Fig. 1 shows the package from a top view;
Fig. 2 shows a schematic cross-section representation along lines II-II in
Fig. 1; and
Fig. 3 shows a partial view that suggests the production process.
The supporting body 1 is produced from a cold-formable ~h~ " strip
with a thi~lrn~ss in the range of 0.05 to 0.3 mm and a quality according to
~ll,,,-i,,l,,,, Association (AA) 8079 or 8008. This al~l~llilllllll strip is coated on the
punch side with a sealable plastic material 2, especially in the form of a heat-sealing lacquer with a th~ n~oss of 0.001 to 0.030 mm, preferably of 0.003 to
0.012 mm. A protective coating layer (not shown) may also be provided on the
mold side. The amountofprotective lacquer coating applied is, for instance, 2g/m2.
2t879t~
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The support shown in the Figures was made from an al~ strip 0.1
mm thick comprising a 0.009 mm thick heat sealing lacquer on one side. 4.5 mm
deep cups 3 are cold-formed into said coated strip with coll~olldence to the
configurations of the p~c~ ing means to be m~mlf~ctured. The surface
5 enlargement achieved by the cold-forming in the area of the cups in the case
presented amounts to approximately 35%. Such a surface enlargement was not
tain~ble in a reproducible manner with an uncoated allll--il,.lll, strip of thisthickness.
The cups 3 in the strip are then filled with the packaged goods, for
instance tablets 4, and are connected with an alll,lli,,~,,, sealing foil 5 of 0.01 to
0.04 mm thick (in this embotlim~nt 0.02 mm) fitted to its underside, namely
between the undeformed portions of the support 7, with a heat sealing layer
preferably in the form of a heat sealing lacquer layer 6 with a thickness of 0.003
to 0.020 mm (0.009 mm in this embodiment), as intli~ate~l in Fig. 3 by the
arrows 8. The compound strip so formed and already cont~ining the packaged
goods is then point-like pe.~l~l~d along ~e lines 9 and the packages are finallystamped out along their contours 10.
Fig. 1 shows the finished package with one al~ l sealing foil 5 broken
through at a cup 3 and, in the dot-shaded area, the scope of the seal 11. The
p~c~ ing can be albiL~ily subdivided at the perforations along the lines 9. In
this in~t~n~e, the allll~ lll proportion of the packaging means alone (support plus
sealing foil) is 94%.
Commercial Use
The coated ~ foil according to the invention is suited preferably
as p~c~ging lllat~.ial for press-through or blister packages which are used in
ph~ eutic~l~ and which can be disposed of easily as empty packages.
