Abstract:
The invention relates mainly to an element suitable for being ingested, the element including at least one air-passing channel making it possible to avoid choking in the event of being swallowed the wrong way. The present invention applies to the food industry and also to the pharmaceuticals industry.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates mainly to elements that can be ingested such as sweets, candies, dried fruit, peanuts, or medicines to be taken orally. 
     Medicines, such as tablets, pills, or capsules, for example, and also certain foodstuffs such as, for example, nuts, sweets, candies, ice cubes, sugar lumps, confectionery, and chocolates are presented in the form of a relatively hard solid piece which, when swallowed the wrong way, in particular by an old person or by a child, and in particular a young child, runs the risk of blocking the airways, giving rise to choking. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Consequently, an object of the present invention is to provide ingestible elements that do not present a risk of choking when they are swallowed the wrong way. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide such ingestible pieces of a shape that makes them easier to swallow. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide medicines presenting active principle release properties that are optimized as a function of the prescribed treatment. 
     According to the present invention, these objects are achieved by an element of the medicine, sweet, candy, nut, dry charcuterie, or cheese type or the like in which at least one air flow channel is formed. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention will be better understood from the following description and the accompanying figures given as non-limiting examples, and in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a tablet in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a tablet in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a tablet in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a capsule in accordance with the present invention prior to being assembled; 
     FIG. 5 is an analogous view of the FIG. 4 capsule after it has been assembled; 
     FIG. 6 is a section view of a coated tablet in accordance with the present invention; and 
     FIG. 7 is a side view of a line for making air flow channels through ingestible elements in accordance with the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     In FIGS. 1 to  7 , the same references are used to designate the same elements. 
     FIG. 1 shows a tablet  1  containing an active principle, such as aspirin for example, having a channel  3  made through the thickness thereof to interconnect the two main faces  5  and  7  of the tablet. The channel  3  allows air to flow through. Thus, if the tablet  1  should become stuck in a position where it blocks the trachea, the channel  3  allows air to pass through and avoids choking while waiting for the tablet to be evacuated from the airways. By way of example, the channel  3  can be cylindrical with a diameter lying in the range 0.5 mm to 6 mm, for example, preferably in the range 2 mm to 4 mm, e.g. equal to 2 mm, 3 mm, or 4 mm. Nevertheless, it should be understood that implementing channels having sections in the form of regular or other polygons, etc., and also channels of varying sections would not go beyond the ambit of the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 shows a tablet  1  in accordance with the present invention having a plurality of channels  3  distributed around its periphery and advantageously interconnected, e.g. at the center of the tablet. The tablet of FIG. 3 is chunkier in shape making it easier to swallow and it is also provided with channels  3  regularly distributed around its periphery plus a channel  3  interconnecting its main faces  5  and  7 . All the channels are interconnected in the center of the tablet  1 . Thus, whatever position the tablet might occupy if stuck in the trachea, the lungs remain connected via an air flow channel to the external medium containing air. 
     FIGS. 4 and 5 show a capsule  9  whose outer skin is constituted by a first U-tube  11 . 1  having an outside diameter substantially equal to the inside diameter of a second U-tube  11 . 2 . The tubes are suitable for being engaged one in the other so as to form a tube in the form of a closed loop suitable for receiving microencapsulated particles of the activated principles of the medicine. The space between the walls of the tube forms an air-passing channel  3 . The capsule  9  can be substantially toroidal, or on the contrary it can be flattened. In a variant, each of the tubes  11 . 1  and  11 . 2  is of varying diameter so that the outside diameter of the tapering end of a first tube corresponds to the inside diameter of the flared end of the other tube, thus enabling the tubes to be engaged in each other. 
     In a variant, the outer skin of the capsule is constituted by a single tube whose ends are engaged one in the other. 
     FIG. 6 shows an example of a coated tablet  1  in accordance with the present invention comprising an active principle  13 ′ covered by a film  15  for preventing contact with the taste buds (for a medicine of disagreeable taste) or for controlling release of the active principle. By way of example, the film  15  can be based on sugar. Advantageously, the film  15  covers the active principle  13 ′ completely, including inside the channels  3 . 
     Naturally, the present invention is not limited to medicines but also applies to foodstuffs such as, for example, sweets, candies, biscuits, nuts, dry charcuterie, pieces of cheese, ice cubes, sugar lumps, confectionery, chocolates, and extruded products of the type comprising cocktail nibbles and the like. The elements can be obtained by compression or molding in molds having inserts corresponding to the channels  3 . These inserts can be implemented, for example, in the form of rods that are fixed, or moving if that should be necessary to enable unmolding. 
     For foodstuffs that are not shaped in this way such as hazelnuts, peanuts, cashew nuts, or the like, the channels  3  are advantageously made by removing material mechanically or thermally. Material is advantageously removed by means of a punch, although drilling, mechanical machining, or laser machining would not go beyond the ambit of the present invention. 
     FIG. 7 shows a line for making channels  3  by removing material, advantageously by means of a punch. The line comprises a conveyor  17  fed with ingestible elements  19  by a feeder  21 , e.g. a hopper. A mechanical guide device represented by  23  serves to orient the elements  19 , in particular hazelnuts, peanuts, or advantageously, peanut halves. 
     The elements in which channels  3  are to be made come under a punch  25  (or other removal tool) driven with motion represented by arrow  27  perpendicularly to the travel direction  29  of the conveyor  17  and synchronized therewith. In a first embodiment, the conveyor  17  moves continuously and the punch  25  acts on moving targets. In a variant, the conveyor brings an element  19  under the punch  25  and then stops while the punch operates. The movement of the conveyor  17  then restarts and elements  19  with channels  3  are collected in a receptacle  31  for packaging. 
     The present invention applies to the food industry and also to the pharmaceuticals industry.