Abstract:
A package structure includes a viewing panel ( 16 ), a blister ( 14 ), a front card ( 12 ), and a rear card ( 18 ). The viewing panel has a surface area. The blister includes a body-portion, with the body portion being sized and shaped to receive one or more consumer goods therein. The front card defines a front opening ( 30 ) therein. That front opening is sized and shaped to receive the body portion of the blister therethrough. The rear card ( 18 ) defines a rear opening therein, with the rear opening having a surface area that is less than the surface area of the viewing panel. The rear card ( 18 ) is attached to the front card to secure the viewing panel therebetween.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    The present application is directed to blister card packaging structures and, more particularly, to trap sealing blister card packaging structures incorporating a viewing panel or window. 
         [0002]    Various consumer goods, such as pharmaceuticals, software, electronics, health and beauty products and the like, typically are packaged in trap sealing blister packages. Traditionally, trap sealing blister packages are formed by positioning a consumer good in a flanged blister and sealing the flanged blister between two cards. 
         [0003]    It has long been presumed that the only way to make the consumer good visible in the package was to faun the flanged blister from transparent polymeric materials. However, constructing flanged blisters from transparent polymeric materials requires additional, more expensive materials and more complex processing steps as compared to constructing flanged blisters from paperboard-based substrates. 
         [0004]    Accordingly, there is a need for a blister card packaging structure having a transparent viewing panel or window available at a relatively low cost. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0005]    In one aspect, the disclosed blister card packaging structure may include a viewing panel having a surface area, a blister including a flange, a viewing panel receiving recess and a body portion, the viewing panel receiving recess being sized and shaped to closely receive the viewing panel therein, a front card defining an opening therein, the opening being sized and shaped to receive the body portion therethrough and prevent passage of the flange therethrough, and a rear card defining an opening therein, the opening of the rear card having a surface area that is less than the surface area of the viewing panel, wherein the front card is sealed to the rear card to secure the flange and the viewing panel therebetween. 
         [0006]    Other aspects of the disclosed blister card packaging structure will become apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]      FIG. 1  is a top plan view of the components of one aspect of the disclosed blister card packaging structure; 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is a side elevational view of the components of the blister card packaging structure of  FIG. 1  in a pre-assembled configuration; 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  is a front perspective view of the blister card packaging structure of  FIG. 2  in a partially assembled configuration; 
           [0010]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a portion of the blister card packaging structure of  FIG. 3 ; and 
           [0011]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a portion of the blister card packaging structure of  FIG. 4 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0012]    Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , one aspect of the disclosed blister card packaging structure, generally designated  10 , may include a front card  12 , a blister  14 , a viewing panel  16  and a rear card  18 . Additional components and features may be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. 
         [0013]    The viewing panel  16  may be a sheet or film of transparent or generally transparent material. For example, the viewing panel  16  may be formed from a sheet of polymeric material, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), amorphous polyethylene terephthalate (APET), polylactide (PLA), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) or the like. The size and shape of the viewing panel  16  may be dictated by the overall size and shape of the packaging structure  10  and by other design considerations. For example, the viewing panel  16  may be generally rectangular, square or circular in top view. In one aspect, the viewing panel  16  may have a thickness sufficient to resist tampering and deter theft. 
         [0014]    The blister  14  may include a flange  20 , a viewing panel receiving recess  22  and a body portion  24 . The body portion  24  may define a storage chamber in which various items, such as consumer goods, may be received. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the body portion  24  may be formed into various shapes, such as a hemispherical bubble, a rectangular box or other regular or irregular shapes. The shape and size of the body portion  24  of the blister  14  may be dictated by the items to be packaged in the packaging structure  10 . 
         [0015]    In one aspect, the blister  14  may be formed by thermoforming a paperboard substrate into the desired shape and configuration. Optionally, the paperboard substrate may be coated with or otherwise include additional layers and/or materials, such as printable coatings, polymeric coatings, tear resistant layers and the like. In another aspect, the blister  14  may be formed from a polymeric material using, for example, a stamping process, an injection molding process or the like. At this point, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the blister  14  may be formed from a wide variety of materials using a wide variety of processes. 
         [0016]    As shown in greater detail in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the viewing panel receiving recess  22  may be formed as a lip or the like in the blister  14  between the flange  20  and the body portion  24  and may extend about the periphery of the body portion  24 . The viewing panel receiving recess  22  may be sized and shaped to closely receive the viewing panel  16  therein and to support the viewing panel  16  over the body portion  24  of the blister  14 . 
         [0017]    As shown in  FIG. 2 , in one aspect, the viewing panel receiving recess  22  may have a depth D that generally corresponds to the thickness T of the viewing panel  16  such that the top surface  17  of the viewing panel  16  is generally flush with the top surface  15  of the flange  20  when the packaging structure  10  is in the assembled configuration. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that an alternative aspect of the disclosed packaging structure  10  may be formed without the viewing panel receiving recess  22 , wherein the viewing panel  16  is positioned on the top surface  15  of the flange  20 . Furthermore, optionally, those skilled in the art will appreciate that an adhesive may be used to secure the viewing panel  16  to the viewing panel receiving recess  22 . 
         [0018]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , the front and rear cards  12 ,  18  may be formed as separate pieces. Alternatively, the front and rear cards  12 ,  18  may be formed as a single continuous piece of material and may be separated by a fold line (not shown). For example, the cards  12 ,  18  may be formed by die cutting a bulk supply sheet, though those skilled in the art will appreciate that any available means for forming cards  12 ,  18  may be used. 
         [0019]    Furthermore, while the front and rear cards  12 ,  18  are shown in  FIG. 1  as defining a generally rectangular periphery in top view, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the front and rear cards  12 ,  18  may be formed into various sizes and shapes depending upon the application of the packaging structure  10 . 
         [0020]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , the front card  12  may include an outer surface  26  and an inner surface  28  and may define an opening  30  (also see  FIG. 1 ) therein sized and shaped to receive the body portion  24  of the blister  14  therethrough, while preventing the flange  20  of the blister  14  from passing therethrough. The rear card  18  may include an outer surface  32  and an inner surface  34  and may define an opening  36  (also see  FIG. 1 ) therein sized and shaped to expose the viewing panel  16  when the packaging structure  10  is in the assembled configuration. In one aspect, the opening  36  in the rear card  18  may be slightly smaller than the viewing panel  16  to facilitate fully enclosing the viewing panel  16  between the front and rear cards  12 ,  18 . 
         [0021]    Optionally, a hanger notch (not shown) may be formed in the front and/or rear cards  14 ,  16  to facilitate hanging the assembled packaging structure  10  on a retail display rack (not shown). 
         [0022]    The front and rear cards  14 ,  16  may be formed from any conventional blister package substrate such as a paperboard substrate. Examples of suitable paperboard substrates include solid bleached sulfate (SBS), folding boxboard and recycled board, whether bleached or unbleached. For example, the front and rear cards  12 ,  18  may be formed from or may include a SBS board having a thickness of about  10  to about  30  points. 
         [0023]    The outer surfaces  26 ,  32  of the front and rear cards  12 ,  18  may be coated with a printable coating selected for compatibility with the desired printing method and the selected substrate from which the front and rear cards  12 ,  18  are formed. For example, the outer surfaces  26 ,  32  of the front and rear cards  12 ,  18  may be coated with clay, calcium carbonate or combinations thereof. 
         [0024]    The inner surfaces  28 ,  34  of the front and rear cards  12 ,  18  may be coated with a sealing material. The sealing material may be any material that may form a seal between the inner surfaces  28 ,  34  of the front and rear cards  12 ,  18 . In one aspect, the sealing material may be an adhesive (e.g., a pressure sensitive adhesive or a curable adhesive). In another aspect, the sealing material may be a material that melts and seals to adjacent substrates or layers upon the application of heat, radio frequency energy and/or ultrasonic energy. Examples of useful sealing materials include ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), ethylene methyl acrylate (EMA), copolymers of EVA and EMA, and combinations of EVA and/or EMA and other polymers or materials, low density polyethylene, high density polyethylene, linear low density polyethylene, ethylene acrylic acid, ethylene methacrylate, ethylene ethyl acrylate and ethylene n-butyl acrylate. 
         [0025]    Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the front and/or rear cards  12 ,  18  may include additional layers or materials without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the front and/or rear cards  12 ,  18  may include a tear resistant layer or material to provide improved package security. For example, the front and/or rear cards  12 ,  18  may include an oriented film layer, such as a layer of biaxially oriented polyester film sold under the mark MYLAR® (E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company of Wilmington, Del.). 
         [0026]    Referring to  FIG. 3 , the packaging structure  10  may be formed by (1) positioning the body portion  24  of the blister  14  through the opening  30  in the front card  12  such that the flange  20  of the blister  14  is positioned against the inner surface  28  of the front card  12 , (2) positioning an item (e.g., a consumer good) into the body portion  24  of the blister  14 , (3) positioning the viewing panel  16  over the body portion  24  such that the viewing panel  16  is received in the viewing panel receiving portion  22  of the blister  14 , (4) positioning the rear card  18  over the front card  12  such that the flange  20  and viewing panel  16  are positioned therebetween and such that at least a portion of the inner surface  34  of the rear card  18  is positioned to engage at least a portion of the inner surface  28  of the front card, and (5) applying heat, radio frequency energy, ultrasonic energy, microwave energy, mechanical pressure and/or an adhesive to the mated portions of the front and rear cards  12 ,  18  to seal the front card  12  to the rear card  18 . 
         [0027]    Accordingly, those skilled in the art will appreciate that incorporating a viewing panel  16  into the packaging structure  10  as described above allows the packaged product to be viewed without the need for forming the entire blister  14  from a transparent polymeric material and without the need for an additional step of gluing a window onto the package. 
         [0028]    Although various aspects of the disclosed blister card packaging structure have been shown and described, modifications may occur to those skilled in the art upon reading the specification.