PATCH WITH A FAST-OPENING PACKAGE, AND METHOD OF AND DEVICE FOR MANUFACTURING THE PACKAGE

Abstract: A patch with a fast-opening package, comprising: an adhesive support (A), possibly lacking the bandage pad and covered by one or more films (P1, P2) of a protective material that can be separated from said support (A); a wrapper (I1, I2) enclosing said patch and consisting of two half-wrappers (I1, I2) that can be separated by pulling two end portions (E1, E2), at least one of said two half-wrappers being anchored to said protective material. At least one film of protective material has such an extension as to cover at least half the support and has a region submitted to die pressing to reduce the surface in contact with the adhesive, thereby allowing removal of the film by pulling the associated half-wrapper (I1, I2) without a noticeable effort.

Description: PATCH WITH A FAST-OPENING PACKAGE, AND METHOD OF AND DEVICE FOR MANUFACTURING THE PACKAGE The present invention relates to a patch with a fast-opening package and to the means for manufacturing the package. A known type of patch comprises an adhesive support onto which a gauze pad may be secured, usually in such a position that the pad is wholly surrounded by the adhesive support. According to the prior art, the patches are enclosed within a paper package or wrapper keeping the sterility and adhesion properties of the patches until the moment they are applied. Moreover, a film of protective material, generally of silicone paper, divided into two parts, is inserted between the gauze pad and the adhesive support. Packages for adhesive bandages that are opened by pulling the opposite ends of their wrappers are already known and industrially manufactured. Said wrappers can be divided into two parts or half-wrappers or half-packages that allow exposing half the adhesive support and the gauze when being opened. The other half support is exposed by subsequently stripping, still by pulling, the remaining half- wrapper, as disclosed for instance in US patent 4,235,337 to Dotta. The opening capability of the wrapper is ensured in that the two separable half-wrappers are respectively anchored to a corresponding one of the two protective films of the adhesive bandage, and in that the anchoring area is located in correspondence with the area occupied by the gauze pad. Thus, being the initial film portions isolated from the adhesive by the gauze pad, stripping and folding of the protective films is made easier. Without that measure, detaching the conventional protective films of silicone paper would be almost impossible, since the same films would be wholly engaged by the adhesive even in the areas where they are joined to the corresponding half-wrapper. It is an object of the present invention to allow a quick opening also for patches lacking a gauze or bandage pad and consisting of the only adhesive support, such as transdermal patches, or for patches having an adhesive bandage area, such as for instance hydro-colloid patches, or yet in all cases where the reduced size of the bandage pad scarcely isolates the protective material in the patch from the adhesive (e. g. adhesive bandages of the kind known as "Island dressings", cosmetical patches, and so on). It is another object of the present invention to allow a quick opening in patches of the above mentioned kind by using, as protective material, the conventional silicone paper or the like, with planar shape, that is obtained by recovering the liner removed from the adhesive support, which liner protects the adhesive support before the gauze pad is applied during the patch manufacture. According to the invention, the above and other objects are achieved as claimed in the appended claims. The features of the invention and the advantages it affords will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments, shown only by way of non limiting example in the accompanying drawings, in which: - Fig. 1 is a schematical cross sectional view of a patch in a package according to a first embodiment of the invention; - Fig. 2 is a schematical cross sectional view of a patch in a package according to a second embodiment of the invention; - Fig. 3 is a schematical cross sectional view of a patch in a package according to a third embodiment of the invention; - Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion of protective material; and - Fig. 5 is a schematical view of the device for die pressing the protective material. Turning to Fig. 1, a cross-sectional view is shown of a package for a patch lacking a bandage pad and consisting of adhesive support A only. Protective films Pi and P2 are provided onto adhesive support A and the patch is enclosed inside a wrapper comprising half- wrappers and I2 that can be separated by pulling opposite ends Ei and E2. Films Pi and P2 have, in correspondence with regions Ci and C2 where they are glued to half- wrappers and I2, a portion Z provided with hemispherical projections SP (with a diameter of about 2 mm) directed towards the adhesive surface of support A. By pulling ends Ei and E2 of the package, half- wrappers and I2 will tend to become separated and will draw with them, alternately, film Pi or film P2, the simultaneous detachment of both films Pi and P2 being highly improbable. The detachment of films Pi or P2 from adhesive support A when the package is opened is allowed by projections SP, which act so that the area actually in contact with the adhesive is greatly reduced. The effort required for removing said films Pi and P2 is thus greatly reduced if compared to the case when films Pi and P2 contact the adhesive of support A according to plane surfaces, in correspondence with gluing areas Ci and C2. Projections SP are obtained by submitting a portion of the protective films to an alteration during patch manufacture, e. g. by die pressing. In the considered instance the alteration is an embossing, which provides an effective and cheap solution to the problem of reducing the surface in contact with the adhesive and moreover increases the film thickness. Turning now to Fig. 2, a possible variant embodiment of the invention is shown, always in case of a patch lacking the bandage pad. In the patch shown in Fig. 2, film Pi has such an extension as to cover up to about 90% the adhesive support and has a set of projections SP in correspondence with gluing area Ci, whereas film P2 lacks such projections. Consequently, by exerting a pulling action on opposite package ends Ei and E2, preferential detachment of film Pi, together with half- wrapper , is obtained first, since detachment of film Pi is made easier by the provision of projections SP. The detachment of film P2 can occur subsequently without appreciable effort, by acting on the side of film P2 that remained free (the left- hand side in Fig. 2) . By exerting a pulling action in opposite directions on support A and end E2, film P2, being free at its left-hand side and being joined to half- wrapper I2 at C2, will undergo a torsion together with adhesive support A. Consequently, the exerted pulling action will no longer be applied to film P2 in a direction parallel to the resting plane of film P2 onto the underlying adhesive and, once a certain degree of torsion has been reached, film P2 will become readily detached, together with I2, from adhesive support A. The arrangement shown in Fig. 2 can therefore allow a preferential opening of the package in a predetermined direction, by exposing most of the patch, always on one side and not on the other side. The same effect could be achieved also with a less pronounced differentiation of the films if compared with the arrangement shown in Fig. 2, for instance by sizing the protective films and the respective half- wrappers to a 2: 1 ratio and by enhancing the projections provided on Pi with respect to projections provided in this case also on P2, so that P2 exhibits a greater resistance to removal. An opening in a predetermined direction resulting in exposing even the whole patch is instead provided in the example shown in Fig. 3, always with reference to a patch lacking a bandage pad, this being the condition where opening is more difficult. Support A, protected by film P, is enclosed inside a wrapper comprising facing half- wrappers Ii, I2 that can be separated, or better peeled away, by pulling adjacent ends or tongues Li, L2. Preferably that wrapper, like the wrappers provided in the arrangements shown in Figs. 1 and 2, is made of cold self- sealing paper or plastics or of paper or plastics thermo-weldable at moderate temperature and pressure, so that separation of the wrapper components does not require severe efforts or jerks. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 3, the end of the back of adhesive support A close to tongues Li, L2 is joined with half- wrapper I2 by gluing the inner surface of I2 and the non-adhesive surface of patch A at area C2, said gluing being preferably obtained by spreading an adhesive over I2. The end of film P close to tongues Li, L2 is joined with half- wrapper Ii by gluing at area Ci, where projections SP are also provided that are directed towards the adhesive in support A and that considerably reduce the area actually in contact with the adhesive itself. Conversely, thanks to the gluing at C2, patch A remains glued by its back to half- wrapper I2, which can be handled to make the patch adhere to the skin without even touching the patch itself by the fingers. Once the patch has been made to adhere, the user will strip off half- wrapper I2, and the back of patch A will not exhibit noticeable traces of the adhesive spread over I2 at area C2. Moreover, gluing at C2 will prevail without difficulty over the adhesive of support A, thereby keeping the back thereof attached to half-wrapper I2, still thanks to projections SP reducing the contact area between P and A. Turning to Fig. 4, hemispherical projections SP are preferably made by embossing and are arranged in parallel rows put close to each other and staggered in a honeycomb pattern. Turning now to Fig. 5, a device for die pressing the protective material is schematically shown. In Fig. 5, reference 1 denotes a rotating female cylindrical die and reference 2 denotes a corresponding rotating male die. Said dies 1 and 2 co-operate with each other and are equipped with projections la and complementary recesses 2a between which protective material P to be die pressed is made to pass. Advantageously, protective material P to be embossed can be submitted to a treatment by which it is made more flexible and /or robust in order to reduce lesions and/ or crushing due to the die pressing operation. That treatment includes for instance localised application, before or after die pressing, of suitable plastic materials, preferably by spraying or by cold or hot spreading. With reference to the die pressing, it is to be appreciated that it can result in concave areas - instead of convex areas - directed towards the adhesive, or in mere lacks of materials, e.g. holes. The essential feature is that the surface contacting the adhesive is reduced and, possibly, that the film thickness is increased. Even if the invention has been disclosed with reference to a patch lacking a bandage pad, it can be employed with advantage also in case of patches equipped with said pads.

Claims: Patent claims 1. A patch with a fast-opening package, comprising: - an adhesive support (A), equipped with or lacking a bandage pad and covered by one or more films (Pi, P2) of a protective material that can be separated from said adhesive support (A); - a wrapper (Ii, I2) enclosing said adhesive support (A) and substantially consisting of two half-wrappers that can be separated by pulling two end portions (Ei, E2), at least one of said two half- wrappers being anchored to said protective material; characterised in that it comprises at least one film (Pi, P2) of protective material that has such an extension as to cover at least half the surface of the adhesive support (A), said film (Pi, P2) having, at or near the anchoring area to the associated half- wrapper, a region (Z) submitted to an alteration that reduces the surface in contact with the adhesive and preferably increases the film thickness, thereby allowing removal of the film by pulling the associated half-wrapper without such an effort as to deform the adhesive support (A) forming the patch or to cause detachment of the film from the associated half- wrapper. 2. A patch as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that said adhesive support (A) is protected by a single film (P) and is enclosed inside a wrapper consisting of two facing plane half- wrappers (Ii, I2) that are welded together along the edges and that can be separated by pulling two respective projecting adjacent ends defining a pair of tongues (Li, L2), said protective film (P) being anchored to the associated half-wrapper, and the back of the adhesive support opposite to said protective film being anchored to the other half-wrapper, the anchoring areas (Ci, C2) being located near the edge of the adhesive support (A) directed towards said tongues (Li , L2) for the wrapper opening. 3. A patch as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the adhesive support (A) is protected by at least two films (Pi, P2) and is enclosed inside a wrapper substantially consisting of two half- wrappers (Ii, I2) shaped as envelopes with facing open sides that are joined to each other but that can be separated by pulling the respective opposite end portions, said protective films (Pi, P2) being submitted, at or near the areas (Ci, C2) where they are anchored to the respective half- wrappers (Ii, I2), to a die pressing treatment such as to reduce the surface in contact with the adhesive. 4. A patch as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the adhesive support (A) is protected by at least two films (Pi, P2) and is enclosed inside a wrapper substantially consisting of two half- rappers (Ii, I2) shaped as envelopes with facing open sides that are joined to each other but that can be separated by pulling the respective opposite end portions, a first one of said protective films being submitted, at or near the area where it is anchored to the respective half- wrapper (Ii, I2), to a die pressing treatment such as to reduce the surface in contact with the adhesive, whereas the other one of said protective films is lacking said treatment and has a reduced length if compared to the first one, whereby said second film can fold within its half- wrapper, after removal of the first film, until becoming detached from said adhesive support (A). 5. A patch as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the alteration to which the protective film is submitted is an embossing defining a plurality of hemispherical projections or recesses arranged in several rows located close to each other and staggered in a honeycomb pattern. 6. A method of manufacturing a patch as claimed in any preceding claim, characterised in that the alteration of the protective material surface is obtained by die pressing and is carried out directly in a manufacturing apparatus when forming the patch, preferably by processing the liner covering the adhesive support, recovered during the patch manufacture. 7. A method as claimed in claim 6, characterised in that the protective material to be die pressed is submitted to a treatment whereby it is made more flexible and /or more robust in order to reduce lesions and crushing occurring during die pressing, said treatment being obtained through application of suitable plastic materials, preferably by spraying or by cold or hot spreading. 8. An apparatus for manufacturing a patch as claimed in any preceding claim, characterised in that it comprises two rotating cylindrical dies co-operating with each other and equipped with complementary projections and recesses, respectively, between which the protective material to be die pressed is made to pass.

Inventors: DOTTA ANGELO, DOTTA, ANGELO
Applicants: DOTTA ANGELO, DOTTA, ANGELO
Application year: 2001
Main classification: A61F13
IPC codes: A61F13, A61F15