Abstract:
A product carrier strip ( 1 ) comprising a transponder circuit ( 2, 3 ). When the product carrier strip is used, it is possible to trace back medicaments from a patient to a manufacturer, for example, for each individual product strip which is usually sold in an external packaging, together with several other product carrier strips. Product carrier strips with metallic extruded films ( 7 ) comprise a recess ( 8 ) whose edge is used as an antenna. a non-metallic extruded film is provided according to one varient of the invention.

Description:
AREA OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to a product carrier strip. Product carrier strips are frequently used to present products, such as pharmaceuticals, candies, parts of technical assemblies and the like to the consumer clearly and—in the case of pharmaceuticals and foods—hygienically. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Above all in the pharmaceutical field, the problem arises of being able to track pharmaceuticals from the patient back to the producer, for each individual product carrier strip, which has typically been sold in an external package together with multiple other product carrier strips. The identification of the individual product carrier strip is to occur as rapidly as possible and without great effort being expended. 
       IDEA OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    The present invention is therefore based on the object of developing a product carrier strip which permits completely automatic identification as much as possible even when it is located in an external package. 
         [0004]    This object is achieved in that the product carrier strip has a transponder circuit. With the aid of electromagnetic transponder technology, serial number, batch number, expiration date, etc., of the pharmaceutical tablets situated on a product carrier strip according to the present invention may be detected and electronically stored if desired, for example. The detection may be performed automatically, for example, when the product carrier strip passes through a gate in a larger external package—possibly together with other product carrier strips. Contact between product and read device or precise geometric orientation in relation to the read device, as is necessary for optical detection of characters or codes, may be dispensed with. 
         [0005]    According to an advantageous embodiment, the product carrier strip comprises a blister film, which has a bubble-shaped receptacle chambers for products. The number of the receptacle chambers is arbitrary, however, typically multiple (more than two) receptacle chambers are provided. 
         [0006]    According to a further advantageous embodiment, the bubble-shaped receptacle chambers are closed by at least one push-through film. 
         [0007]    If the push-through film is metallic, according to an especially advantageous embodiment of the present invention, the film is provided with a recess. The edge of the recess acts as an antenna for the electromagnetic query and response signals. It is advantageous to situate the transponder circuit in the area of the recess, it also being advantageous to couple the transponder circuit via a wire bridge to the push-through film, or more precisely, to the part of the push-through film which encloses the recess, in order to connect the transponder circuit to the antenna in this way. 
         [0008]    According to an especially advantageous embodiment of the present invention, a non-metallic (electrically non-conductive) film is used as the push-through film. Providing recesses in the push-through film may be dispensed with in this embodiment of the present invention. Plastic films, polymer films, polypropylene films, and particularly non-elastic polypropylene films have been shown to be suitable as non-metallic films. However, the latter film is especially advantageous, since the film tears immediately due to the non-elasticity, as soon as the consumer pushes in a receptacle chamber of the blister film in order to press a product, such as a tablet, through the push-through film out of the receptacle chamber. The effect is similar to the effect with the metallic push-through films typically used for blister strips. 
         [0009]    According to an advantageous embodiment of the present invention, a transponder circuit whose operating frequency is in the range from 10 to 15 MHz is used in connection with non-metallic push-through films. 
         [0010]    However, it is also possible to operate transponder circuits at an operating frequency of 850 MHz to 2.5 GHz. Transponder circuits having this operating frequency, which are advantageously equipped with a UHF chip component, may also advantageously be used in product carrier strips having metallic push-through film, if it is provided with a recess. 
         [0011]    As explained above, metallic push-through films which are provided with a recess may also be used as an antenna, in particular if transponder circuits having an operating frequency of 850 MHz to 2.5 GHz are used. Antennas for the transponder circuit may be attached to the product carrier strip, in particular to the push-through film, however. Printing the antenna or etching the antenna out of a metal layer have been shown to be especially advantageous, since these procedures may be incorporated into the production process for product carrier strips. 
         [0012]    According to an advantageous refinement of the present invention, the transponder is provided with a removal sensor system, by which it is determined when a product is removed from the product carrier strip. The transponder stores the removal event with the date and possibly also with the time of day. The consumer behavior may thus also be “queried”, which is of special significance in the pharmaceutical field in particular (research of the “patient compliance”). 
         [0013]    According to a further embodiment of the present invention, the transponder circuit is situated on at least one receptacle chamber. In this configuration, the transponder circuit is situated at a distance to the push-through film which corresponds to the height of the receptacle chamber area even if the push-through film is metallic, sufficient transmission and/or reception quality may be ensured as a result of the distance between the transponder circuit and the push-through film. 
         [0014]    The present invention will be explained in greater detail in the following on the basis of the exemplary embodiments schematically illustrated in the drawing. The figures of the drawing are not to scale, in particular, the thicknesses of the various layers shown are drawn greatly enlarged in relation to their other dimensions for reasons of visibility. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
         [0015]      FIG. 1  shows a product carrier strip according to a first embodiment of the present invention in longitudinal section; 
           [0016]      FIG. 2  shows the product carrier strip from  FIG. 1  in a top view; 
           [0017]      FIG. 3  shows a further embodiment of a product carrier strip according to the present invention in longitudinal section; 
           [0018]      FIG. 4  shows the product carrier strip from  FIG. 3  in a section along section line IV-IV in  FIG. 3 . 
           [0019]      FIG. 5  shows a further embodiment of a product carrier strip according to the present invention in longitudinal section; 
           [0020]      FIG. 6  shows the product carrier strip from  FIG. 5  in a view from below; 
           [0021]      FIG. 7  shows a product carrier strip according to a further embodiment of the present invention in longitudinal section; 
           [0022]      FIG. 8  shows the product carrier strip from  FIG. 7  in a top view. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0023]      FIG. 1  shows a product carrier strip  1  according to a first embodiment of the present invention in longitudinal section. The product carrier strip  1  has a blister film  6 , in which multiple receptacle chambers  4  for tablets  5  are molded. The blister film  6  is welded to a push-through film  7  made of plastic, made of non-elastic polypropylene in the example. The push-through film  7  is situated on the blister film  6  in such a way that the receptacle chambers  4  of the blister film  6  are closed by the push-through film  7  and the tablets  5  are enclosed in the receptacle chambers  4 . In order to remove the tablets  5 , the consumer typically presses with his thumb against a receptacle chamber  4 , while he holds the product carrier strip on the side of the push-through film with his index and middle fingers. The receptacle chamber  4  of the blister film  6  deforms due to the pressure and the tablets  5  is pressed against the push-through film  7 , so that this breaks because of the strain and the tablet  5  leaves the product strip. 
         [0024]    A transponder circuit  2  is attached to a section free of receptacle chambers (at the right end of the product carrier strip  1  in  FIG. 1 ). The transponder circuit  2  contains a chip  3  and an antenna  10 . The transponder circuit is attached to the blister film  6  using adhesive and sealed using a protective film in the example. 
         [0025]    Since the push-through film is manufactured from plastic and, as a result, is non-conductive, the operation of the transponder circuit  2  is not disturbed. With the aid of the transponder circuit  2 , which has an operating frequency of 13.56 MHz in the example, the product carrier strip  1  may be identified even when it is located in an external package. Relevant data are stored in the chip  3 , such as serial number, batch number, and expiration date, and the transponder circuit  2  transmits this data to the query circuit in response to an appropriate query signal. 
         [0026]      FIG. 2  shows the product carrier strip  1  from  FIG. 1  in a top view. A total of 12 receptacle chambers  4  may be seen, each of which contains one tablet. Furthermore, the transponder circuit  2  may be seen. 
         [0027]      FIG. 3  shows a further embodiment of a product carrier strip  1  according to the present invention in longitudinal section. The product carrier strip is constructed similarly to the product carrier strip from  FIGS. 1 and 2 . In particular, it has a blister film  6 , in which receptacle chambers  4  are molded. The blister film  6  is connected to a push-through film  7  in such a way that the receptacle chambers  4  are closed by the push-through film  7 . However, in contrast to the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the transponder circuit  2  is situated lying between the blister film  6  and the push-through film  7 . An antenna  10  comprising two turns and a chip component  3  may be recognized in  FIG. 3 . 
         [0028]    It is to be noted on the production technology that the antenna  10  was printed onto the push-through film  7  and the chip  3  was attached to the push-through film  7  using adhesive before the push-through film  7  has been welded to the blister film  6 . 
         [0029]      FIG. 4  shows the product carrier strip from  FIG. 3  in a section along section line IV-IV in  FIG. 3 . As may be seen from  FIG. 4 , the antenna  10 , which is only shown comprising two turns for reasons of clarity, runs along the edges of the two films  6  and  7 . In reality, the antenna  10  contains further turns. Since the antenna  10  runs largely at the edge of the product carrier strip  1 , it encloses a large area which is penetrated by field lines of the magnetic query signal, which has a positive result in a stronger antenna signal and finally in an increased range. 
         [0030]    Notwithstanding the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the transponder circuit  2  comprising chip  3  and antenna  10  may be attached to the external side of the push-through film  7 , which is preferable in many cases from manufacturing technology aspects. 
         [0031]      FIG. 5  shows a product carrier strip  1  according to a third embodiment of the present invention in longitudinal section. The product carrier strip  1  has a blister film  6 , in which multiple receptacle chambers  4  for tablets  5  are molded. The blister film  6  is welded to a metallic push-through film  7 , made of aluminum in the example. The push-through film  6  is situated on the blister film  6  in such a way that the receptacle chambers  4  of the blister film  6  are closed by the push-through film  7  and the tablets  5  are enclosed in the receptacle chambers  4 . In order to remove the tablets  5 , the consumer typically presses using his thumb against a receptacle chamber  4 , while he holds the product carrier strip on the side of the push-through film using his index and middle fingers. The receptacle chamber  4  of the blister film  6  deforms due to the pressure and the tablet  5  is pressed against the push-through film  7 , so that this breaks because of the strain and the tablet  5  leaves the product strip  1 . 
         [0032]    In a section free of receptacle chambers (on the right end of the product carrier strip  1  in  FIG. 5 ), the push-through film  7  is removed in an area, in other words: a recess  8  is provided in the push-through film  7 . The recess  8  may be implemented by typical stamping technology. A chip  3  is situated in the center of the recess which implements the transponder circuit. The chip  3  is bonded to the metallic push-through film  7 . 
         [0033]    The edge of the metallic push-through film  7  running along the recess  8  acts as an antenna, and the antenna signal is transmitted to the chip  3 . 
         [0034]    With the aid of the transponder circuit comprising the chip  3 , which has an operating frequency of 915 MHz in the example, the product carrier strip  1  may be identified, even when it is located in an external package. Relevant data, such as serial number, batch number, and expiration date, are stored in the chip  3 . The transponder circuit transmits this data to the query circuit in response to a corresponding query signal. 
         [0035]    It is possible to operate the transponder circuit at a frequency in the range from 850 MHz to 2.5 GHz due to the recess  8  in the metallic push-through film, the edge of the recess  8  is used as an antenna simultaneously. 
         [0036]      FIG. 6  shows the product carrier strip  1  from  FIG. 5  in a view from below. The chip component  3  situated in the recess  8  may be recognized, which is coupled to the metallic push-through film  7 . The transponder circuit (chip  3  and edge of the recess  8 ) may be protected by being sealed over using a protective film (not shown), if the concrete application makes this seem appropriate. 
         [0037]      FIG. 7  shows a product carrier strip  1  according to a further embodiment of the present invention in longitudinal section. The product carrier strip  1  has a blister film  6 , in which multiple receptacle chambers  4  for tablets  5  are molded. The blister film  6  is welded to a push-through film  7  made of metal, aluminum in the example. The push-through film  7  is situated on the blister film  6  in such a way that the receptacle chambers  4  of the blister film  6  are closed by the push-through film  7  and the tablets  5  are enclosed in the receptacle chambers  4 . 
         [0038]    Four receptacle chambers  4  are not filled with tablets on one section (at the right end of the product carrier strip  1  in  FIG. 7 ). A transponder circuit  2  is attached to these empty receptacle chambers  4  using adhesive. The transponder circuit  2  contains a chip  3  and an antenna  10 . The transponder circuit is attached to the blister film  6  using adhesive and sealed over using a protective film in the example. 
         [0039]    If a transponder is situated on a metal surface, the operation is significantly interfered with, which is noticeable due to a reduced transmission and/or reception power and therefore a lower query distance. The interference may even cause the operation to fail completely. Since the transponder circuit  2  is located at a distance to the push-through film  7  which corresponds to the height of the receptacle chambers  4 , the operation of the transponder circuit  2  is not interfered with by the metallic push-through film  7 . The product carrier strip  1  may be identified with the aid of the transponder circuit  2 , which has an operating frequency of 13.56 MHz in the example, even when it is located in an external package. Relevant data are stored in the chip  3 , such as serial number, batch number, and expiration date, and—in the case of a removal sensor system—data of the removal times, and the transponder circuit  2  transmits this data to the query circuit in response to a corresponding query signal. 
         [0040]      FIG. 8  shows the product carrier strip  1  from  FIG. 7  in a top view. A total of 16 receptacle chambers  4  may be recognized, four of which are used as support pillars for the transponder circuit  2 .