US3182791A

US3182791A - Package

Info

Publication number: US3182791A
Application number: US237001A
Authority: US
Inventors: Jenner Myron
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1962-11-13
Filing date: 1962-11-13
Publication date: 1965-05-11
Anticipated expiration: 1982-05-11

Description

M. JENNER May 1'1, 1965 PACKAGE Filed NOV. 15, 1962 INVENTOR MYRON TEA/NER .ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,132,791 PACKAGE Myron Iienner, Bethel, Vt. Filed Nov, 13, 19:62, Ser. No. 237,601 Claims. (Cl. Z06-56) This invention relates to a novel package, and more particularly relates to a multiple-compartment package.

The invention has among its objects the provision of a novel multiple-compartment package.

A further object of the invention relates to a multiplecompartment package having novel identifying means associated with each of the compartments of the package.

Yet another object of the invention lies in the provision of a novel multiple-compartment package in strip form having compartments in the form of serially connected envelopes and separately applied envelope-identifying means, portions of the identifying means being uniquely associated with each of the envelopes of the package.

A still further object is to provide a package having a plurality yof separately held articles adapted to be used sequentially at different times, the package incorporating novel means which may be applied to the-'package by the user to identify the time at'which each of such articles is to be used. Y

Further objects are to provide a multiple envelope package wherein article-identifying means may be applied `and located by the user relative to the individual packaged articles, and to provide a packageV wherein the articles are 4dated and sequentially removed with their respective compartments and article-dating means, whereby the remaining portion of the package serves as a record offwhat articleshave been used, what articles remain, and when the first of theremaining articles is to be used.

The above and further objects and novel features of the invention will more fully appear from the following description when the same is read in connection with the accompanying drawings. *i It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration only, and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views,

FIG. 1 is a View in plan of a rst embodiment of package in accordance with the invention, the package being in strip form, portionsof thestrips 1S and 21 of the package being shown broken away for clarity of illustration;

, FIGS. 2 and 3 are views in vertical section through the rst embodiment of package, the sections being taken along the lines 2-2 and 3-3, respectively, of FIG. l, Lthe pill or tablet in FIG. 2 being shown in elevation;

FIG. 4 is a View .in plan of a partially segmented date strip which is to be incorporated in a package in accordance with the invention in the manner shown in FIGS. l, 2, and 3; and i FIG'. S'is a View in plan of a second embodiment of package in accordancewitl1`the invention, `portions of the '

strips

18 and 21 ofthe package being shown broken away for clarity of illustration. l

p The package of the invention-mits 'preferred embodiments is in the form of a strip composed of connected enr.v,el npes,.the envelopes and theirl contained products being removed'sequentially from the strip as the products are used. An illustrative but non-limiting example of articles with which the package of the invention may be used to advantage is that ofV a medicinal-tablet or pill which is to be taken at the rate of one aday. It frequently proves burdensome for theuserjtoremember to take a tablet `each day, and 'to remember,` afterwards whether a tablet v lshown in FIGS. 1-4, inclusive.

3,132,791 Patented May 11, 1965 ice has been taken on the proper day. This becomes particularly burdensome, and the record-keeping, if any, becomes prone to error, when the cycle of tablet-taking is to be interrupted at periodic intervals. The latter type of medication is illustrated, for example, by the taking by women of ovulation-inhibiting pills or tablets.

The novel package of the invention lends itself admirably to use with a product, such as pills, tablets, capsules, or the like, which are to be taken at periodic times with intervals of abstaining from taking the product. The package is simple, economical, and easily used, and itself provides a simple, foolproof means of keeping a record of the taking of the product. The package may be sold for use by all potential customers, and may readily be adapted by the consumer, after purchase, to the individual requirements of theV particular product and the particular user.

Turning now to the drawings, a rst embodiment of package of the invention, generally designated 10, is

Package 10 is in elongated strip form, and in effect is composed of a plurality or serially connected sealed envelopes 13 each containing one article or product, such product being adapted to be used or taken one at a time. Usually such article is in the form of a unitary tablet or pill, such as shown at 16 in each envelope 13, although it is to be understood that in some instances each of the doses to be taken may be in the form of a plurality of pills, tablets, or capsules contained in a Vsingle envelope 13.

The package 10 is made up of a bottom strip or layer 11 which may be made, for example, of thin sheet material made of material such as plastic film or a thin metal foil, the strip 11 being made either of material which is itself thermoplastic and can be softened by heat, or one having a thermoplastic fusible or adhesive coating on the upper surface thereof as the strip is shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3. A similar upper strip or layer 12 is disposed above strip 11. 'Tablets 16 are sealed within the resulting envelopes '13 in a conventional manner, confronting faces of strips 11 and 12 being sealed together as` indicated at 14 to form individually sealed spaces 15 containing the tablets 16. Preferably, the strips 11 and 12 are perforated transversely between envelopes 13, as indicated at 17, whereby to facilitate the tearing of the envelopes from each other. In the illustrative package 10 there are twenty envelopes 13, each containing a tablet 16, such envelopes being disposed in sequence from the right-hand end 33 of the strip package as it is shown in FIG. 1. Four similar but empty envelopes 20 are disposed in sequence and connected to the left-hand or forward envelope 13 for reasons to be explained.

Package 10, in the portion thereof which is initially prepared and sold, is completed by an upper transparent strip 1S, which may be made of thermoplastic film material, which is disposed above strip 12 (FIGS. 2 and 3) in slightly spaced relationship with respect thereto and is edge sealed to the strips 11 and 12 at the edges 23 thereof lying above the edges of the zones 14 of envelopes 13.

Strips

12 and 18 form between them a slide-receiving and retaining space 19 within which a slide or strip 21 may be inserted and slid lengthwise bythe purchaser and user of the package. Strip or slide 21, which in the illustrative embodiment in effect constitutes a calendar, is shown more clearly in FIG. 4.

Strip 21 may be made of fairly stiff paper or thin cardboard, so as readily to be received within the space 19 between

strips

12 and 18 by being slid longitudinally into such space from one end thereof. Strip 21 is cornposed of a plurality of serially arranged vsections 22, each of such sections being of a length equal tov the length of each -of the

envelopes

13 and 20..' The sections 22 of striptZl have printedV on one broad face thereofthe tween successive sections; it is alsorpreferred in order to facilitate tearing oi of successive sections 22, to provide shallow notches 25 at the edges of successive sections in alignment with the perforated lines 24. Strip 21 may be sold or given away with the purchase of one or more packages 10, for example, in the form of a `roll 26 from which the requisite length of strip 21 may be progressively unrolled.

In connection with the illustrative package 1t), let it be assumed that the tablets 16 are such that they are to be taken by the user at the rate of one a day for a period of 20 days, following which there is to be an interval of 4 days in which no tablets are taken. It is because of such V4-day period that the four empty envelopes 29 are employed at the left-hand or forward end of the package 10. Such envelopes 20 may be marked for convenience with distinctive indicia such as a colored dot 27 printed upon the upper strip 12 at such empty envelope 20, and the date a'ixedvto each envelope 2t? may be visually emphasized by a colored circle 35 printed on layer iii. The package l Will be sold to the consumer together with a suicient length of calendar or date strip 21 to kpermit'the strip 21 to be appliedvto the package by the consumer with vparticular reference to the manner in which the tablets 16 are to be taken by the consumer. Having determined the date at which the first tablet 16 is to be taken, the `user then counts backward four days to determine the date which is to be applied to the first or left-hand empty envelope 20. The strip 21 is then dispensed as required, and the left-hand or forward end portion thereof torn off along such line 2,4 as to leave the last determined date Vas the last section 22 on the strip. The strip 21 is then introduced within the space i9 of the package as by being pushed intothe space 19 there-of in the direction from right to left. Feeding of the strip 21 into the package is stoppedrwhen the end of the first section 22 of the strip coincides with the forwardV end of the first or left-hand empty envelope 20. The right-hand end of the strip 21 is then torn off at a perforated line 2liV which coincides with the right-hand end 33 of the package proper made up of the strips 11, 12, and t8.

The thus positioned strip 21 may be retained in the correct,r predetermined position within the strip guiding and retaining means l2, l of the package in a number of ways. Oneof the simplest ways isto bend or fold the package with the'strip 21 therein at regular intervals,- such as along the fold lines 29 indicated on FlGr.V l. Although the package may then subsequently beV substantially straightened, the lines of folding 29 remain suiciently to retain the strip 21 in place in the package.

Alternately, the strip 21 may be adhesively secured or stapled to the layers 11, l2, and 18 of the package.

Such latter methods, however, are not ordinarily necessary.

In the use ofthe package 20 the consumer, having arrived at the day on which use of the package should begin, tears olf Von such day the first or left-hand empty envelope 20 together with the section 22 of the date'strip 2 which overlies such envelope. On each of the following three days, the remaining empty envelopes Ztl are removed one by one from the package together with the corresponding section 22 of the date strip. On the fifth day, the first or left-hand envelope 13 and date strip section 22 are removed from package 1t), and the tablette contained in such envelope is consumed. The

vdescribed S11veees-siive,tearingoffY of the empty envelopes and then of the filled envelopes necessarily requires the complete severing of the envelope, including the portion of strip 1S and the corresponding section 22 of the strip 2l overlying such envelope from the package. Such action automatically insures that the user of the product will know Whether or not a product 16 has been taken for a particular day, and also how many products remain to be taken in the period in which the products contained by the package 10 are to be taken.

A second embodiment of package in accordance with the invention, there generally designated 30, is illustrated in FIG. 5. The right-hand section 31 of such package is identical with the right-hand portion of package 10 of FIGS. l-4, inclusive, and thus the parts there-of are designated by the same reference characters as in the first described embodiment. The package 30 differs from package l@ of FIGS. 1-3, inclusive, by the fact that it omits the empty envelopes 20 at the left-hand end of the package in the first embodiment and that at the left-hand end of the finally assembled package, as shown in FIG. 5, the end of the product-identifying or date strip 21 projects beyond the left-hand or forward edge 34 of the package proper. Such protruding end of strip 2l., which is generally designated 32, in this instance is shown as containing seven individual date sections 22. Strip 2l is retained positioned relative to the package proper by folding the package and Vdate strip at intervals, as indicated at folds 29. Other meansV may be employed for this purpose, as indicated above in connection with the first described embodiment of package in accordance with the invention.

The package 3i) of FIG. 5 thus is somewhat more exible in its manner of use than is that of the first described embodiment. PackageV 30 may thus be used readily by. a consumer for whom there has been prescribed an initial, non-product consuming period which may be different from that of most other similar consumers. Thus the illustrative package 30 shown is Vone which has been assembled by'a consumer who requires an initial seven-day non-consuming interval, followed by an interval of 2O days in which one tablet 16 per day is taken. Y Although only a limited number of embodiments of the invention have been illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described in the foregoing specification, it is to be especially understood that various changes, such as in the relative dimensions of the parts, materials used, and the like, as well as the suggested manner of use of the apparatus of the invention, may be made therein without departing from the spirit, and scope of the invention as will now be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Thus, particularly with the embodiment of the package shown in PEG. 5, the product-containing portion 31 of the package may be formed continuously as, for example, in lengths to contain a hundred or more individual envelopes i3, and may be sold in `such-lengths or parts thereof. With such construction, the `user is free to cut olf a length of portion 31 ofthe package, and thus a number of tablets lle, which conforms to his or her individual needs. Any unused portion of the productv containing portion 31 ofthe package may be employed as either the 'starting or end portion of a subsequently used package, thestrip 21 threaded through the space 19 in such portion,'aspwell as the space 19Y of the rnain portion of the succeeding strip, taken with the folds 29 or other fastening meansabove indicated, preventing any unwanted longitudinal displacement between the product containing portions 31 of the package and the date strip.

As above pointed out, in some'instancesthe individual dose, product, or article contained ineach envelope 13 .of the package may itself consistof a plurality of separate pieces, tablets, pills, etc. It may also consist of predetermined quantities of powder or liquid. The terms product and article employed herein and in the following claims, in the absence of further qualifications, are intended to cover the contents of each envelope 13, whether such contents are solid or liquid, and Whether such contents'are unitary or divided.

What is claimed is:

1. In a package for medicinal use, a plurality yof identical envelopes detachably connected together in end-toend relation to form an elongated strip, a medicinal ma terial confined in each envelope, a strip guiding and re taining means overlying and extending longitudinally along said envelopes throughout the length thereof, and

a single unitary strip of iiexible material longitudinally and slidably adjustable in and along said guiding and retaining means, said strip consisting of a plurality of sections detachably connected in end-to-end relation, each said section having adimension in the longitudinal direction of said strip, equal to the corresponding dimension of said envelopes, each said section bearing calendar indicia of a respective day of a month, said days being in sequence from one end of said strip to the other.

2. The package of claim l, said strip guiding and retaining means being a single transparent film extending continuously along the packageV and sealed along its longitudinal edges only to and along the respective'opposite longitudinal marginal edges of the strip formed by said envelopes.

3. The package `of claim 1, said elongated strip of envelopes terminating at the forward end thereof with an envelope containing a tablet, the forward end of said single unitary strip extending outwardly beyond the forward end of said strip of envelopes and said strip guiding and retaining means thereon, through a predetermined number of sections of said single unitary strip, corresponding to the number of days preceding the day on which a tablet is to be taken by the user in commencing the cycle of medication forwhich said package was assembled.

4. A package as dened in claim 1, 'wherein the package comprises means at the forward end thereof forming a pluralityl of serially connected empty envelopes extend- 6 ing beyond and connected to the first envelope at said forward end of the package containing a tablet, and the forward end of the date strip extends to overlie the empty 'envelope at the forward end of the package, the number of empty envelopes at the forward end of the package corresponding to the number of days preceding the day on which a tablet is to be taken by the user in commencement of the cycle of medication for which the package is assembled.

5. In a package for medicinal use, a plurality 0f identical envelopes detachably connected together in end-toend relation to form an elongated strip, a medicinal material coniined in each envelope, a strip guiding and retaining means overlying and extending longitudinally along said envelopes throughout the length thereof, and a single unitary strip of iiexible material longitudinally and slidably adjustable in and along said guiding and retaining means, said strip consisting of a plurality of sections detachably connected in end-to-end relation, each said section having a dimension in the longitudinal direction of said strip, equal to the corresponding dimensions of said envelopes, each said section bearing indicia of a respective interval of time, said intervals of time being arranged in sequence from one end of said strip to the other.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS ,1 1941 THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner.

EARLE I. DRUMMOND, Examiner.

Claims

1. IN A PACKAGE FOR MEMDICINAL USE, A PLURALITY OF IDENTICAL ENVELOPES DETACHABLY CONNECTED TOGETHER IN END-TOEND RELATION TO FORM AND ELONGATED STRIP, A MEDICINAL MATERIAL CONFINED IN EACH ENVELOPE, A STRIP GUIDING AND RETAINING MEANS OVERLYING AND EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY ALONG SAID ENVELOPES THROUGHOUT THE LENGTH THEREOF, AND A SINGLE UNITARY STRIP OF FLEXIBLE MATERIAL LONGITUDINALLY AND SLIDABLY ADJUSTABLE IN AND ALONG SAID GUIDING AND RETAINING MEANS, SAID STRIP CONSISTING OF A PLURALITY OF SECTIONS DETACHABLY CONNECTED IN END-TO-END RELATION, EACH SAID SECTION HAVING A DIMENSION IN THE LONGITUDINAL DIRECTION OF SAID STRIP, EQUAL TO THE CORRESPONDING DIMENSION OF SAID ENVELOPES, EACH SAID SECTION BEARING CALENDAR INDICIA OF A RESPECTIVE DAY OF A MONTH, SAID DAYS BEING IN SEQUENCE FROM ONE END OF SAID STRIP TO THE OTHER.