Abstract:
A solid dosage preparation is provided with a bottle of water. The solid dosage preparation is contained in a safe and sanitary blister package and attached by means of a shrink band to the closure of the bottle. The shrink band provides a tamper-indicating seal for the both the bottle and blister contents. An advantage of the design is that it does not require customization of bottle and closure tooling, and thereby provides a simple and cost-effective means for combining solid and liquid materials in a unitary package. An additional advantage is the robustness of the tamper-indicating system and methodology.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This is a Continuation-In-Part application claiming priority to U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 12/355,773, filed Jan. 17, 2009, now abandoned. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to bottled water products, and more particularly to a nutritionally enhanced drink. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Additives are commonly sold in combination with bottled water. Currently marketed examples include energy, or health, drinks, where the additive is provided in solution form. Other examples include a medication where the bottled water is supplied simply as a convenience for washing down a pill or a capsule. 
     In particular instances involving nutritional supplements, however, it is useful to supply the supplement in solid dosage form, similar to the medication example. Doing so improves the shelf stability of a natural active ingredient, and particularly one of a biological derivation, which might otherwise degrade or lose potency over time when in dissolution. 
     In contrast with the medication circumstance, however, the water is not just a convenience for administering the dosage. It is also a measured amount of ingredient required for the best metabolic results. Therefore, the means for combining the two components into a single package is an important aspect of the product put-up. 
     The bottle closure typically provides such means in the prior art. For example, in U.S. Patent Application 2003/0000910 to Jang, a cap to a water bottle contains a compartment for the dosage. The compartment is closed with a separate cap, which may be attached by a hinge. In another example, U.S. Patent Application 2008/0000786 to Collotta, the tablet or capsule is housed in a space between a cap and a secondary cap, or over cap. In this version, the over cap is snapped over a standard bottle closure and held in place by a tamper-evident seal. The tamper-evident seal, which conforms to the smooth bottle profile, lacks an undercut feature to wrap around and prevent compromise by slipping it off and on. In both of these examples, the pills or capsules are loose in the cavity spaces and are without the protection of any individual packaging designed for sanitary and safe handling. 
     In U.S. Pat. No. 6,959,841 to Vlodek, a push-through blister package is housed within an assembly of cap components. The blister is comprised of a thermoformed “pocket” heat sealed to a frangible lidding, typically aluminum foil. The solid dose is contained in the pocket and can be expelled there from by pushing through the lidding. Blister packaging, commonly used for pharmaceutical packaging and usually sited where the dosage is prepared, can provide a sanitary, if not aseptic, means for handling, and a safe means for transporting, the product. 
     Each of the prior art examples, however, involve an assembly of separate cap components requiring multiple custom tools. For cost reasons, it would be preferable to have a means for utilizing a stock cap and thereby avoiding specialized tooling. What is missing in the prior art is a way to combine a blister package containing an individual dose with a stock cap for a water bottle in a simple and cost-effective construction, which is, at the same time, essentially nonviolable with respect to tamper-evidence. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In view of the above-mentioned unfulfilled needs, the present invention embodies, but is not limited by, the following objects and advantages: 
     A first objective of the present invention is to provide a solid dosage form of a solid dosage preparation together with a bottle of water. 
     A second objective of the present invention is to provide the solid dosage preparation in a sanitary and safe blister package. 
     A third objective of the present invention is to utilize a stock, or commodity, closure for the bottle. 
     A fourth objective of the present invention is to render both the water and the solid dosage preparation secure from tampering in a manner that is essentially nonviolable. 
     In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, an enhanced water product combined with a safety feature comprises a water bottle containing water and having a neck finish and a neck flange operable with a closure. The closure is sealing fitted to the neck finish and has a top surface thereon. The enhanced water product further comprises a solid dosage preparation contained in a means for disposing said preparation on the top surface of the closure. The means for disposing protects the solid dosage preparation from contamination when separate from the closure. Additionally, the enhanced water product comprises a means for attaching the means for disposing to the top surface of the closure. The means for attaching also provides an indication of tampering, which is essentially violable, in the event of a violation attempt. 
     In a particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention, the means for disposing comprises a blister package. The blister package is comprised of a film and a frangible lidding sealed thereto to form a laminated structure, the film having a cavity formed therein. The laminated structure has a blister flange surrounding the cavity which substantially covers the top surface of the closure. 
     In a particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention, the means for attaching comprises a shrink band jacketing the cap and blister package in a heat-applied conformation sealingly overlapping both the blister flange and the neck flange. In this manner, the blister package is secured to the closure and the closure to the water bottle, and access to either the solid dosage preparation through the lidding, or the water through the closure, cannot occur without the shrink band evidencing tampering. 
     As this is not intended to be an exhaustive recitation, other embodiments may be learned from practicing the invention or may otherwise become apparent to those skilled in the art. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Various other objects, features and attendant advantages of the present invention will become fully appreciated as the same becomes better understood through the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the several views, and wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the invention, illustrating a bottled water product with a solid dosage preparation; 
         FIG. 2  is a partial exploded view in perspective; 
         FIG. 3  is a partial section view in perspective; 
         FIG. 4  is a front elevation view of the shrink band; and 
         FIG. 5  is an enlarged section view of  FIG. 4  taken along the lines  5 - 5 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       FIG. 1  shows an enhanced water product  1 . The major components thereof are best shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 . Water bottle  10  is sealed by closure  20 . solid dosage preparation  30  is contained within a means for deploying  40 . Means for deploying  40  is joined with closure  20  and bottle  10  by a means for attaching  50 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , water bottle  10  is provided with a neck finish  11  and a neck flange  12 . Closure  20  is sealingly fitted to neck finish  11  by means of screw threads  13 , best shown in  FIG. 3 . Closure  20  has a top surface  21 . 
     In the preferred embodiment, the means for deploying  40  is a blister package  41 . Referring to  FIG. 3 , blister package  41  is comprised of a film  42 , which is heat-sealed to a frangible lidding  43  to form a laminated structure  44  ( FIG. 2 ). Film  42  can be heated and drawn by a plug die to form a cavity  46 . Blister package  41  has an extended sealing area forming a blister flange  45  ( FIG. 2 ). The extent of blister flange  45  is such that it substantially covers top surface  21 . 
     The solid dosage preparation  30  is represented in the drawings by tablet  31 . The term “solid dosage preparation” may comprehend a plurality of tablets, and, in the alternative, caplets or capsules. Tablet  31  is placed in cavity  46  of blister package  41  prior to the lamination step. If the packaging of the tablet in the blister package is a coincidental process with the production of the tablet, the blister package becomes a sanitary and safe means of conveying and deploying the tablet, particularly if the process is carried out in a clean-room environment. 
     In the preferred embodiment, the means for attaching  50  is shrink band  51 , shown in  FIGS. 2, 4 and 5 . Shrink band  51  is applied as a tube slipped over closure  20  with blister package  41  reposing on top surface  21 , the tube extending above blister flange  45  on one end and below neck flange  12  on the other end. When heat is applied to shrink band  51 , the shrinkable material radially contracts and wraps itself around neck flange  12 , forming an undercut underlap  52 , while engaging blister flange  45  in an overlap. The shrink band is illustrated in the figures as having been shrunken. Because of the stiffness of blister flange  45 , the undercut underlap  52  will firmly attach blister package  41  to closure  20  and prevent removal of the shrink band  51  by any non-destructive means. Since frangible lidding  43  is protected against top surface  21 , and blister package  41  cannot be removed from top surface  21  without evidence of damage to shrink band  51 , a tamper-indicating system for tablet  31  is therein defined. Similarly, since closure  20  cannot be removed from neck finish  11  while encapsulated by shrink band  51  without evidencing damage thereto, the contents of water bottle  20  is rendered protected by notice of a tampering incident. 
     While recognizing that nothing is one-hundred percent tamper-safe, it is possible to postulate a situation where measures to conceal tampering would be so extreme as to be considered unpractical. The tamper-evident system discussed in the paragraph above is such a situation. To violate the tablet  31 , for example, the blister package  41  would have to be essentially reconstructed. This would involve access to specialized tooling and equipment. To violate the water and gain access to the blister package  41  from underneath, where temporary concealment of a broach might be possible, the shrink band  51  would have to be replaced because, in view of the fact that heat-shrinking involves irreversible molecular chain realignments, removal would involve destroying it. Replacing the shrink band would involve matching the material and access, again, to specialized equipment. The shrink material, having a preferred size and shrink modulus, could be rendered further unique by pattern-printing with a brand name, or a term such as “safety-sealed”, for example. With these means and methods, therefore, the safety of the ingredients in the instant package can be considered essentially nonviolable in a tamper-indicating sense. 
     Water bottle  10  can be formed by known methods in a variety of thermoplastic materials. In the preferred embodiment, the bottle is blow-molded from polyethylene terephthalate (PETE), which is a clear resin of the polyester family. Similarly, production methods and materials for the closure are in common practice. In the preferred embodiment, closure  20  is injection molded from one, or a combination of, polypropylene (PP) or polyethylene (PE), both of which are commodity resins generically known as polyolefin&#39;s. It is preferred that both the bottle and the closure come from stock-supply scenarios, where high-volume tooling in continuous production keeps costs to a minimum. It is an advantage of the present invention to allow use of such non-specialized components for packaging water. 
     Blister package  41  is produced by a thermoforming process. The process involves web-fed film and foil, wherein the film is heated and drawn between male and female dies to form a cavity, the cavity is filled with contents, the foil is subsequently heat-seated to the cavity selvage, and the blister is die cut from the laminated web. In pharmaceutical operations, this is commonly done in a clean room adjacent the solid dosage preparation area. In the preferred embodiment, the film is plasticized polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and the foil is a frangible aluminum foil. 
     Tablet  31  is compressed and shaped in a die following a granulation process where the ingredients are blended and dried. Tablet processing is well known in the solid dosage art. Shrink band  51  is supplied in an extruded tube cut to a length sufficient to rest on the shoulder of the bottle and extend over the top of the closure. The sleeved bottle is then sent through a heat tunnel where radiant heat shrinks the band into profile conformance. In the preferred embodiment, the shrink band is comprised of clear PVC material. It may also have a vertical perforation to assist in its removal. 
     While a particular form of the invention has been illustrated and described, it will be apparent that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, instead of threading, the closure may snap over a lip on the neck finish; or the shrink band may extend to cover the entire body of the bottle; or the blister package may have multiple cavities with multiple doses therein. Accordingly, it is not intended that the invention be limited, except as by the appended claims.