EP3045397A1 - Packaging device for medicaments - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a drug packaging apparatus. In known packaging devices, there is the problem that drugs are not optimally placed in the package. To solve this problem, the packaging device according to the invention comprises a packaging material supply (10), a folding and guiding device (20), wherein the folding and guiding device (20) folds a packaging material web (2) in the longitudinal direction, by the edges of the packaging material web of packaging material web Folded portions (22a, 22b) are guided along and a folding portion (23) a folding area (3) in the packaging material web (2) sets, and wherein the folding and guiding means (20) has a collision area (24) for medicaments to be packaged first joining device (40) and a second joining device (50), wherein the folding and guiding device (20) has a medicament supply section (25) spaced from the folding section (23), via which medicament vertically spaced from the folding region (3) into the folded packaging material web (2) are passed.

Description

The present invention relates to a pharmaceutical packaging device, and more particularly to a packaging device for use in a blister machine.

Corresponding blister machines are known from the prior art. For example, this describes WO 2013/034504 A1 a blister machine which can be used in pharmacies and hospitals or, if dimensioned appropriately, also in blister centers, which assembles medicaments according to the individual patient according to the medically prescribed administration time. The packaging device of the blister machine packs the pharmaceutical compositions (which may contain only one drug or a plurality of individual drugs) in bags formed from an endless packaging material web, so-called blister bags, these bags leave the packaging device as "blister tube" for further use (as a blister tube strung together, not yet separated filled blister bag called). A blister bag regularly corresponds to a time of taking a patient, ie contains all medicines that a patient must take in the morning, for example.

The blister machine according to the aforementioned WO document comprises a plurality of drug dispensing and dispensing devices which cooperate with a plurality of circulating guide means which supply the drugs also to circulating collection means through which the drug compositions are fed to a packaging device. The blister machine can provide a variety of drug compositions in a short time due to the special construction, which places special demands on the packaging device.

In known packaging devices, the provided drug compositions of the device itself are supplied via appropriate transport devices and packed in blisters in the packaging device (this process is also referred to as blistering). At a given position, the drug composition is transferred to the packaging device. This happens, for example, by temporarily opening the transport device, whereupon the pharmaceutical composition falls on a baffle plate provided for this purpose. In packaging devices according to the prior art, the baffle plate simultaneously serves as a shaping / folding aid for a packaging material web guided past it (from which the packaging device forms the individual blister bags). The packaging material web is usually folded along the longitudinal axis in such a way that the fold region is arranged "below". From the baffle the individual drugs of the drug composition slip into the fold area where a stop is regularly formed by the vertical seal of the preceding bag.

Due to the orientation of the baffle plate and the folded packaging material web, the direction of movement of the packaging material web and the construction of the baffle plate require that the medicaments to be packaged regularly lie one behind the other in the prefolded packaging material web. Depending on the number of drugs so relatively long bags may result, resulting in a waste of material and increasing the time of packaging.

Depending on the shape of the drug to be packaged, the geometry of the impact plate causes drugs to be partially infed so unfavorably to the prefolded portion of the packaging material web (e.g., tablets in the form of a flat circular cylinder on a face) that it will cause problems in closing the prefolded container Section of the packaging material web and their further transport can come through the packaging device.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a pharmaceutical packaging device in which the delivery of drugs into the prefolded Packaging material web is improved so that shorter drug bag can be produced.

The object is achieved according to the invention by a packaging device for medicaments according to claim 1. The packaging device according to the invention comprises a packaging material supply for feeding a flexible, elongated packaging material web from a supply roll and a folding and guiding device arranged downstream of the packaging material supply (the designation "downstream"). refers to the direction of movement of the packaging material web, starting from the supply roll, by the packaging device).

The folding and guiding device comprises a packaging material web receiving region and two packaging material web folding regions, which converge in a folding section, which is arranged opposite to the receiving region of the folding and guiding device. The folding and guiding device of the packaging device according to the invention folds the packaging material web in the longitudinal direction by guiding the edges of the packaging material web along the packaging material web folding regions and the folding section defines a fold region in the packaging material web, thereby producing a folded packaging material web having a partially U-shaped cross section.

This pre-folded U-shaped region of the packaging material web, which is continuously "formed" during movement of the packaging material web, during the packaging process, the drugs are supplied; hereinafter this area will be referred to as "packaging area".

The folding and guiding device comprises an impact area for medicaments to be packaged, the medicaments being guided from this impact area into the area of the folded packaging material web (packaging area).

The packaging device according to the invention comprises a first joining device arranged downstream of the folding and guiding device, with which the folded packaging material web is joined vertically to the longitudinal direction, wherein usually two vertical joining regions are produced per pharmaceutical bag or blister bag to be produced. Since the blister pouches in the device are usually not separated after packaging or manufacturing, a joining region regularly serves as the "end" of a preceding blister pouch and "beginning" of a new blister pouch. Depending on the exact configuration of the first joining device, however, two separate vertical joint regions can also be produced per blister bag.

The packaging device further comprises a second joining device arranged downstream of the folding and guiding device, with which the folded packaging material web is assembled parallel to the longitudinal direction and opposite or spaced from the folding region.

The order in which the first and second joining devices are arranged with respect to the direction of movement of the packaging material web within the packaging device is not essential to the present invention and depends on design details of the packaging device. However, it is customary to rearrange the first joining device of the folding and guiding device.

The folding and guiding device according to the invention comprises a drug delivery section spaced from the folding section, through which the medicament to be packaged is vertically spaced from the fold section into the folded (and downstream of the feed section) vertical packaging material web (the packaging section).

In prior art packaging devices, flat baffles are used by means of which the medicaments to be packaged are supplied to the packaging area in vertical proximity to the fold area, which is regular leads that the drugs, due to the movement of the packaging material web during packaging, are arranged substantially one behind the other, so that the volume of drug bag produced in the course of Verblisterns is insufficiently utilized and this, relative to the longitudinal direction of the packaging material web, relatively "long "fails.

Due to the embodiment of the folding and guiding device according to the invention, the medicaments are guided vertically spaced from the folding area into the packaging area, so that the medicaments initially, when stopped by the vertical joining area of the preceding medicament bag, fall down onto the folding area and subsequent medicaments possibly via already supplied medicaments to be ordered. The drugs to be delivered no longer interfere with each other, so that at the same speed (compared to known packaging devices), the same number of drugs can be packaged more quickly and into a "shorter" drug bag, since the drugs are arranged not only one behind the other but also one on top of the other are. When using a folding and guiding device according to the invention, the supply of the individual medicaments of the medicament composition is accordingly improved in such a way that shorter medicament pouches can be produced, which i.a. leads to a saving of material with regard to the packaging material. At the same time, however, a faster blistering is also possible, since the device can be operated faster due to the lower hinderance of the individual drugs during the delivery.

When using known baffle plates, it is possible in unfavorable cases that circular cylindrical drugs are supplied on their end face the folded packaging material web area. If drugs are to be packaged with a relatively large radius, it may therefore happen that they are supplied and packaged vertically with respect to their radius to the direction of movement of the packaging material web, which, depending on the size of the drugs and the filling of a folded packaging material web area to be closed, can lead to problems in the following joining areas. If, for example, the folded packaging material web is too bulged, it may be too "flat" to be joined together in the second joining device parallel to the longitudinal device, since the packaging material web simply does not reach the actual joining region of the joining device.

In a preferred embodiment of the packaging device according to the invention, it is therefore provided that the surface of the folding and guiding device providing the impact area is concave. On the one hand, this results in the impact area having a steeper angle of inclination (as compared to a surface without a concave configuration), whereas the drug delivery section arranged in the tip of the triangular folding and guiding device is made flatter, so that the surface of the folding and Guide device represents a kind of "ski jump" over which the drugs are particularly effective and directed (approximately parallel to the joint area) are guided in the pre-folded portion of the packaging material web. There, a vertical joining area of a preceding drug bag forms a stop for the drugs, from which they fall toward the fold area, so that an arrangement over each other is more likely.

The collision of the drugs in the impact area of the folding and guiding device regularly burst smallest drug particles and contaminate the surface of the folding and guiding device. Subsequent drugs may co-grind the contaminant particles so that over time, there may be increased contamination of the drugs in the drug sachets. It is therefore necessary to replace the folding and guiding device regularly, which is time-consuming and makes an unwanted interruption of the blistering necessary.

In a preferred embodiment of the packaging device according to the invention, it is therefore provided that the folding and guiding device comprises a releasable drug delivery member and a folding member, wherein the feed section is part of the releasable drug delivery member and the folding portion is part of the folding member. Once a certain level of contamination has been reached, due to the inventive design of the folding and guiding device only the coming into contact with the drug releasable drug delivery member must be replaced, the folding component, which ensures the guidance and folding of the packaging material web can in the Packaging device remain. The replacement can thus be carried out much faster, since it is no longer necessary to use the complete folding and guiding device in the guide path of the packaging material web.

As already described above, a significant advantage of the packaging device according to the invention, the pharmaceuticals are also arranged one above the other in the packaging area. An optimum arrangement of the medicaments in the folded region of the packaging material web is dependent on the distance of the feed section from the fold region of the packaging material web, more precisely from the distance between the top side of the feed section and the underside of the folding section. In order to be able to adjust this distance ideally, it is provided in a preferred embodiment that the detachable drug delivery member is pivotally mounted.

As already mentioned, the contamination of the surface of the folding and guiding device is problematic and requires that a cleaned surface is provided on a regular basis. This can be done, for example, by replacing the folding and guiding device, or at least one component of this device. In order to extend the intervals between the provision of a cleaned surface, in a preferred embodiment of the packaging device according to the invention, it is provided that the surface of the folding and guiding device which provides the impact area at least in sections provided with a non-stick coating, which impedes the adhesion of chipped drug particles. Possibly. peeling off drug particles are conducted with the drugs in the folded packaging material web and do not remain on the surface.

Alternatively or additionally, it is provided in a further preferred embodiment that the folding and guiding device is associated with a cleaning device, with which on the surface of the folding and guiding device adhering contaminants can be removed. This can be done, for example, by the surface of the folding and guiding device is acted upon by a fluid which rinses the adhering contaminants in the packaging material web. The contaminated area of the packaging material web is assembled as usual into a bag and then disposed of. As a cleaning fluid, for example, a cleaning liquid can be used. Care must be taken in the design of the cleaning device and the guidance of the cleaning fluid that the contaminant particles are not flushed into other areas of the packaging device.

The packaging material web is provided to the folding and guiding device via the packaging material supply, usually from a supply roll, which may be arranged in a special section of the packaging device. Particularly in the case of large blister centers, large amounts of drug are blistered in often repetitive order, so that the supply roll can already have finished printed or marked packaging material web areas. In such a case, a spontaneous change of the drug to be packaged is only possible if the supply roll is changed with the already marked packaging material web. In order to be flexible with regard to the medicaments to be packaged, it is provided in a preferred embodiment of the packaging device according to the invention that it comprises a marking device with which the packaging material web corresponding to the packaging or already packaged medicinal products. Usually, corresponding markings are printed on the packaging material web, so that it is preferred that the marking device is arranged upstream of the folding and guiding device, so that a not yet folded packaging material web can be printed.

• Figur 1A eine Schrägansicht der erfindungsgemäßen Verpackungsvorrichtung mit durch die Vorrichtung geführter Verpackungsmaterialbahn zeigt;
• Figur 1B eine Schrägansicht der erfindungsgemäßen Verpackungsvorrichtung ohne Verpackungsmaterialbahn zeigt;
• die Figuren 2A - 2F Detailansichten der erfindungsgemäßen Verpackungsvorrichtung im Bereich der Falt- und Führungseinrichtung zeigen;
• die Figuren 3A und 3B Seitenansichten der erfindungsgemäßen Verpackungsvorrichtung im Bereich der Falt- und Führungseinrichtung zeigen;
• die Figuren 4A - 4C und 5A - 5C schematische Darstellungen der Zuführung von Arzneimitteln in die gefaltete Verpackungsmaterialbahn bei Verwendung einer üblichen Prallplatte und einer erfindungsgemäßen Falt- und Führungseinrichtung zeigen; und
• Figuren 6A - 6F verschiedene Ansichten einer Ausführungsform der Falt- und Führungseinrichtung zeigen.

In the following, an embodiment of the packaging device according to the invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawing, in which

• Figure 1A shows an oblique view of the packaging device according to the invention with guided through the device packaging material web;
• FIG. 1B an oblique view of the packaging device according to the invention without packaging material web shows;
• the FIGS. 2A-2F Show detailed views of the packaging device according to the invention in the region of the folding and guiding device;
• the FIGS. 3A and 3B Side views of the packaging device according to the invention in the region of the folding and guiding device show;
• the Figures 4A-4C and 5A-5C show schematic representations of the delivery of drugs in the folded packaging material web using a conventional baffle plate and a folding and guiding device according to the invention; and
• FIGS. 6A-6F show different views of an embodiment of the folding and guiding device.

Figures 1A and 1B show oblique views of an embodiment of the packaging device according to the invention. at Figure 1A In the upper area, a packaging material web 2 guided through the device is shown, which leaves the device as a (only indicated) blister hose 2d. The blister hose is formed as it passes through the device; how this is done is explained with reference to the following figures. In FIG. 1B the packaging material web and the blister hose is omitted, otherwise the figures are identical.

The illustrated embodiment of the packaging device according to the invention comprises a supply roll 11, on which a packaging material web 2 is stored, which is formed into bags as it passes through the packaging device and filled with drugs. From the supply roll 11, the packaging material web 2 is supplied with a packaging material supply 10 a folding and guiding device 20, wherein in the embodiment shown between the supply roll and folding and guiding device 20 is still a marking device 60 is arranged, with which information is applied to the packaging material web can.

With the help of a triangular in this embodiment, folding and guiding device 20 and a subsequent first joining device 40, the packaging material web 2 is folded in the longitudinal direction to form a U-shaped double web, the two "legs" of the double web are regularly ready or high. How exactly the actual folding process of the packaging material web and the filling of the folded packaging material web taking place in the same section of the packaging device will be carried out will be described in more detail with reference to the following figures.

With the first joining device 40 arranged downstream of the folding and guiding device 20, the folded and filled with pharmaceuticals packaging material web is vertical to the longitudinal direction or movement direction X of the packaging material web (see FIG. 1 ), wherein a joint area simultaneously represents the beginning of a new (not yet closed) blister bag and the end of the previous blister bag. In the embodiment shown, the first joining device 40 is realized by a welding device, with which the folded double web is welded vertically to the longitudinal direction. Attached to the first joining device 40 is a cleaning device 29 with which a cleaning fluid can be applied to the surface of the folding and guiding device 20 in order to remove impurities from the surface.

Downstream of the first joining device 40, a second joining device 50 is arranged, with which the folded double web, which is filled with medicaments and is already provided with vertical joining regions, is assembled parallel to the longitudinal direction and spaced from the fold of the packaging material web, this in the embodiment shown is again realized by a weld. The finished blister hose 2d is led out of the blister machine and fed to an inspection and (for example, patient-related) separation.

The Figures 2A - 2E show detailed views of an embodiment of the packaging device according to the invention in the region of the folding and guiding device 20. As in FIG. 2A can already be seen, the packaging material web 2 is folded by means of the folding and guiding device 20 and the first joining device 40 to a double web 2c.

For this purpose, the unfolded packaging material web 2 is guided under a triangular folding and guiding device 20 in a packaging material web receiving region 21. In the lateral areas of the folding and guiding device, sections 2a, 2b of the packaging material web 2 protrude. At the (in FIG. 2A not to be recognized) tip of the folding and guiding device 20, the folding area is determined, ie the area in which the actual folding of the packaging material web takes place. The folding of the double web is maintained by the folding and guiding device 20 downstream first joining device 40.

FIG. 2A also shows some details of the first joining device 40, namely two welding rollers 41, 42 oriented vertically to the longitudinal direction or movement direction of the packaging material web (or double web), with which welding regions or joining regions directed vertically to the longitudinal direction of the packaging material web are formed.

During deflashing, the welding rollers 41, 42 rotate, the rotational speed being adapted to the bag length and the moving speed of the packaging material web. In the illustrated embodiment each welding roller two opposite welding portions 41a, 41b, 42a, 42b (see Fig. 2B ) and only in these areas have the welding rollers during the rotation contact with the double track carried out between them. The welding sections are matched to one another, so that when the double web moves and the welding rollers rotate, they make contact with the double track every X cm and form a joining region 4. The path of "non-contact" between weld sections and dual track defines the length of the blister bag.

The representation according to Fig. 2B only serves to illustrate the rollers / contact areas. As can be seen, the joining region in the direction of movement of the

Packaging material web at the level of the axes of the welding rollers, i. Joining area 4 was introduced "straight"; the rollers would have to be rotated by 90 ° C to reproduce this just happened welding. For clarity, however, this representation is selected.

As already indicated, the folding and guiding device 20 can be designed in several parts and have a detachable drug delivery component and a folding component. at Figure 2C the detachable drug delivery member 26 is omitted and it is only the newly formed, triangular-shaped folding member 27 can be seen. In this figure it can also be seen that the packaging material web 2, after it has been guided under the folding and guiding device 20 at the packaging material receiving area 21, at the two other side regions of the folding and guiding device, the so-called packaging material web folding areas, of which only in the direction of movement "right" packaging material web folding area 22a can be seen, emerge.

at FIG. 2D the complete folding and guiding device 20 is shown, but the packaging material web 2 is omitted, and in this The illustration shows the "left" packaging material web folding region 22b.

at Figure 2E For illustration of the folding, the first joining means is omitted to illustrate the area where the folded packaging material web portions 2a, 2b meet, this area 6 being illustrated only schematically. By way of example, it is indicated that the packaging material web areas 2a, 2b converge in the area 6 in a pointed manner, which is not entirely true in practice, since the area is constantly filled with medicaments which deform the area.

The packaging material web / double web is moved by the packaging device during blistering, and with the web also the joining region (in the direction of the arrow) moves on. The folded packaging material web and the folding and guiding device 20 form a kind of funnel, and in this funnel to be restrained drugs on the folding and guiding device passed (see also FIG. 3B ).

At the in Figure 2F As shown, both the first joining device and the packaging material web / double web are omitted, and it is the inventively designed folding and guiding device 20 can be seen. In the illustrated embodiment, the folding and guiding device 20 is constructed in two parts, with a lower folding member 27 and an upper drug delivery member 26, wherein the drug delivery member is releasably secured to the folding member. In the illustrated embodiment, the drug delivery member 26 provides a collision area 24 from which to package drugs to be delivered to the packaging area.

Like in the Figure 2F 2, the two packaging material web folding regions 22a, 22b, which in the present case are provided by the folding component 27, converge in the folding section 23, which defines the fold region of the packaging material web. The drug delivery member 26 has the drug delivery section near the tip 25, which is formed by the folding portion 23 vertically (up) spaced. Furthermore, in Figure 2F already to guess that the surface of the drug delivery member 26 is concave.

The FIGS. 3A and 3B show side views of the packaging device according to the invention in the region of the folding and guiding device 20. Bei FIG. 3A the first joining device is omitted to illustrate the course of the unfolding of the packaging material web 2 from the side. In this illustration, it can be seen that the folding and guiding device itself is arranged inclined in the packaging device, and the unfolded packaging material web 2c after folding is likewise guided further inclined through the device.

FIG. 3B shows a further side view of the packaging device according to the invention, wherein in this representation, a part of the unfolded packaging material web, the area 2b from FIG. 3A is omitted, so that the folding and guiding device 20 can be seen. In the presentation according to FIG. 3B Furthermore, a plurality of medicaments 7 are shown in order, on the one hand, to illustrate the delivery of the medicaments 7 into the packaging region 6 and the arrangement of individual medicaments in a blister pack (to be finished) (delimited by joining regions 4a, 4b).

The provided drug combination is fed via a feed 5 of the folding and guiding device 20, which they impinge on in the impact area 24. The concave configuration of the surface of the folding and guiding device 20, which in the embodiment shown consists of the drug delivery component 26 and the folding component 27, means that the angle in the impact region is steeper in comparison to a non-concave surface, so that the medicines are accelerated more. In the region of the tip of the folding and guiding device 20, the medicament-feeding section 25 is formed, vertically spaced from the folding section 23. The embodiment of the folding and guiding device according to the invention requires that the medicaments 7 not in the area of the fold 3 are supplied to the packaging area 6, but, based on the direction of movement of the packaging material web, vertically spaced from the folding area 3. The folding and guiding device according to the invention forms a kind of ski jump (this effect is enhanced by the concave configuration of the surface) , which has the consequence that the drugs 7 are not simply stored one behind the other in the folding area 3, but "jump" in the packaging area 6. In the packaging area they bounce, in the "snapshot" just shown, against the vertical joining region 4a and then fall in the direction of folding area 3. In this way, drugs can be arranged not only one behind the other (in the direction of movement of the packaging material web), but also one above the other, what leads to the same number of medicines being packaged in a smaller blister pack. A correspondingly manufactured blister bag is in FIG. 3B "left" of the joining region 4a shown. It can also be seen that a joining region 4a represents the "start" for the blister bag which has just been produced and the bag end for the preceding blister bag.

The exact nature of the storage of the drugs in the packaging area depends on the medicines themselves and the length of the blister pack. In the state shown, the drugs collide at the joining area and then fall down. When moving the packaging material web, in which the joining region 4a moves on to the left, it may also happen that the drugs no longer bounce off the joining region, but simply arise in the direction of movement in the packaging area.

The Figures 4A-4C and 5A-5C schematically show the difference in the production of blister packs with a known baffle plate and a folding and guiding device according to the invention, wherein the FIGS. 4A-4C the production with a known baffle plate 20 '.

The Figures 6A-6D show various views of an embodiment of a folding and invention Guide means 20, wherein the embodiment shown comprises a drug delivery member 26 and a folding member 27.

In the illustrated embodiment, the folding member 27 is formed as a flat triangular plate. In particular, however, the underside of the folding component can also be designed completely differently in other embodiments.

In the figures, in particular FIG. 6C , the concave configuration of the surface of the drug delivery member 26 is clearly visible. Furthermore, the packaging material web receiving region 21 and the packaging material web folding regions 22a, 22b, which are provided by the folding component 27 in the embodiment shown, can be seen.

Both Figures 6E and 6F It can be seen that the drug delivery component can be designed to be pivotable relative to the folding component, with which it is possible to adapt the folding and guiding device to the medicaments to be packaged or to be restrained.

Claims (7)

Pharmaceutical packaging device (1) comprising a packaging material feed (10) for feeding a flexible elongated packaging material web (2) from a supply roll (11),
a folding and guiding device (20) arranged downstream of the packaging material feed (10) with a packaging material web receiving region (21) and two packaging material web folding regions (22a, 22b) converging in a folding section (23), the folding and guiding devices Guide means (20) longitudinally folding the packaging material web (2) by guiding the edges of the packaging material web along the packaging material web folding regions (22a, 22b) and the folding section (23) defines a fold region (3) in the packaging material web (2), and wherein the folding and guiding device (20) has a collision area (24) for medicaments to be packaged,
a first joining device (40) arranged downstream of the folding and guiding device (20), with which the folded packaging material web (2) is joined together vertically to the longitudinal direction,
a second joining device (50) arranged downstream of the folding and guiding device (20), with which the folded packaging material web (2) is joined together in parallel to the longitudinal direction,
said folding and guiding means (20) having a drug delivery section (25) spaced from said folding section (23) over which drugs are directed vertically spaced from said folding section (3) into said folded packaging material web (2). Pharmaceutical packaging device (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the Impact region (24) providing surface of the folding and guiding device (20) is concave. The pharmaceutical packaging device (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the folding and guiding device (20) comprises a releasable drug delivery member (26) and a folding member (27), the delivery portion (25) being part of the detachable drug delivery member (26) and the folding portion (23) is part of the folding member (27). The medicament packaging device (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that the releasable drug delivery member (26) is pivotally supported such that the delivery portion (25) of the drug delivery member (26) is height adjustable with respect to the fold region (3) , Packaging device (1) for medicaments according to one of claims 1 - 4, characterized in that the impact area (24) providing surface of the folding and guiding device (20) is at least partially provided with a non-stick coating (28). Pharmaceutical packaging device (1) according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that the folding and guiding device (20) is assigned a cleaning device (29) with which impurities adhering to the surface of the folding and guiding device (20) are removed can be. Pharmaceutical packaging device (1) according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that the packaging device (1) comprises a marking device (60), preferably arranged upstream of the folding and guiding device (20).

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