Abstract:
This hygienic or aseptic multi-pouch package includes one or more inner pouches, finger, multi-finger and full hand sized capable of being carried by a card holder which is removably stored within an outer pouch. The inner pouch is suitable for use as a finger pouch which may be used to clean teeth or for similar purposes. When only one inner pouch is hygienically removed at a time, the remaining pouches can be conveniently resealed within the card holder in the outer pouch.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS 
     Disclosure Document No. 603469 dated Jul. 10, 2006. 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH 
     Not Applicable. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to hygienic aseptic packaged pouches, individually, in a three part package assembly without contaminating pouches being removed or remaining. Hygienic dispensing of individual pouches is made possible by their structure, positioning inside an inner paper holder, and dispenser outer poly bag dispenser, printed directions for opening, pouch dispensing, removal and use, printed directions printed on the outside and inside paper holder. 
     In the prior art there are several examples of packages which though not limited to such use, are particularly suitable for providing a digital sheath impregnated with tooth powder. Such sheaths, for example, as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,401,290 and 5,454,207 have been successful but have not been provided with a readily available outer pouch for resealing. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     This package assembly provides a solution to this problem by providing a three part system having 1) a plurality of individual inner digital pouches packaged within 2) a folded card holder contained within 3) an outer pouch, which is a tamper evident protective zip-lock poly bag or pouch. 
     The folded card holder provides a medium which permits instructions for hygienic use to be printed on the outside and inside of the card and which are clearly readable and refer to the top or shorter panel side up positioning and removal of pouches, i.e. “open this side for hygienic removal.” The folded card may be provided with the sealable edges on two long sides, the sealable edges providing a third short side and the remaining side being open to afford access to the digital pouches held therewithin. The outer pouch includes a perforated portion disposed above the zip-lock which when removed, reveals the zip-lock and an opening affording access to the card holder when opened by un-zipping the outer pouch. The tear away portion of the outer pouch may include an aperture suitable for hanging a three part package for display purposes. 
     The finger pouch is hygienic or aseptic in that it is capable of being autoclaved or irradiated or the like as may be necessary. Also it may be necessary to provide peel seal adhesive around the inside of the card holder. The peel seals have the capability of being finger-pressure resealed to maintain the aseptic integrity of the enclosed inner pouches within the card holder. 
     The arrangement of the card holder within the tough (2 mil) poly bag or pouch is such that the folded over card is approximately the same width as the inside of the poly bag but the top of the card is substantially narrower than the zip-lock opening to render the card holder to be easily withdrawn up to a point where it is about two-thirds removed from the rectangular poly bag. At this limit the card holder can be removed so that even if the finger is not clear of the outer pouch, the hygienic integrity of the pouch is maintained even if the outer pouch is mislaid. Further, the card holder preferably has rounded corners to avoid being caught up on the poly bag. 
     The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention, as well as presently preferred embodiments thereof, will become more apparent from the reading of the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In the accompanying drawings which form part of the specification: 
         FIG. 1  is a plan view of an inner digital pouch; 
         FIG. 2  is a side view of the pouch; 
         FIG. 3  is a plan view of the outside of the card holder prior to folding showing printed instructions for hygienic package opening and examination of contents; 
         FIG. 4  is a plan view of the inside of the holder prior to folding showing printed instructions for individual hygienic pouch removal without compromising the remaining pouches; 
         FIG. 5  is a plan view of the inside of the holder prior to folding showing the pouch in position inside the finger pressure resealable cold seal adhesive that encircles the inside of the holder; 
         FIG. 6  is a side view of the folded holder with a pouch positioned inside; 
         FIG. 7  is a plan view of the folded holder positioned within the outer pouch showing the dispenser card having a single inner pouch enclosed; 
         FIG. 8  is a side view of the dispenser package shown in  FIG. 7  before tear-off of the tamper evident portion; 
         FIG. 9  is a similar view to that shown in  FIG. 8  with the tamper-evident tear off section removed and the zip-lock open; 
         FIG. 10  is a side view of the outer pouch open and the card holder containing a single pouch partially removed; 
         FIG. 11  is a similar view to  FIG. 10  with a finger inserted into the single pouch and a finger holding the pouches bottom side panel in position; 
         FIG. 12  is a similar view to  FIG. 11  with the finger incipiently inserted in the top pouch and a finger holding the pouch below in position; 
         FIG. 13  is a final step prior to removal of the top pouch with a finger, and a digit, the thumb, holding the bottom panel of the pouch. 
         FIG. 14  is a view of a finger pouch removed and on the finger. 
     
    
    
     Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The following detailed description illustrates the invention by way of example and not by way of limitation. The description clearly enables one skilled in the art to make and use the invention, describes several embodiments, adaptations, variations, alternatives, and uses of the invention, including what is presently believed to be the best mode of carrying out the invention. 
     Referring now by reference characters to the drawings and first to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , there are shown a plan and side view of the inner pouch  10  prior to use. The pouch  10  has a long bottom panel  12  and a short upper panel  14  joined to the bottom panel  12  with which it is continuous and to which it is joined by narrow heat sealing lines  16  which are positioned away from side panel edges. These areas of unsupported fabric indicated by numeral  17  are very soft and even though they are in direct contact with delicate body tissues within the mouth will cause no discomfort. It will be understood that the stripes of the pre-medicated agents  18  can be alternately color coded to identify contents and applied to the upper panel before heat sealing into an outer pouch  10 . Such pouches  10  range in size from single finger, multi-finger and full hand for cleaning, treating and medicating the delicate tissues within the mouth form the subject matter of prior art by the inventor herein, such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,401,490 and others. 
       FIGS. 3 and 4  show the tapered card holder which is enfolded about one or more pouches to provide a dispenser card holder  20  which commonly will include a number of inner pouches  10  placed on top of each other, for example a 12-pack. It will be observed (see  FIG. 5 ) that the card holder  20  has a base fold line  22  which extends the card holder folded portions outwardly on both sides of the said fold line  22  so that when the two identically sized panels  24  are folded against each other, the two sides are preferably cold-sealed together to form a seal formed by two long sides  26  and two short sides  28  which co-operate to completely surround the inner pouch  10  therewithin. Lines  21  are straight and lines  23  are tapered. It will be understood that while the card shown in  FIG. 5  is formed from a single folded card  24 , it could be formed from two separate cards  24  joined at the baseline as by gluing. It will also be understood that although the term “card” is used, a plastic card or paper could also be used. 
       FIG. 7  shows the enfolded card holder  20  locked within a transparent outer pouch  40 . To achieve this, the card holder  20  is fed into the outer pouch  40  with at least one inner pouch  10  arranged on the inside of the transparent outer pouch  40 . When the card holder  20  is disposed on the inside of the outer pouch  40 , extending beyond the line  32 , the outer pouch  40  is heat sealed along line  32  and the end of the outer pouch  40  is torn off and discarded. At the other end, the zip-lock is closed and the tamper evident section of the bag  38  is torn off along the perforated line  36  after a purchase is made by a consumer. The broken outline is an indication of the card holder in the partially pulled out dispensing position. 
     It will be assumed that a purchase has been made and the customer is in possession of an outer pouch  40  similar to that shown in  FIGS. 7 and 8 . The procedure to be followed to open the outer pouch  40  is best shown by  FIGS. 8-14 . It will be understood that  FIGS. 12 and 13  illustrate two inner pouches  10 . 
     It is thought that the component parts of the package have been fully understood from the foregoing description of parts, but for completeness of disclosure, the method of access to the inner finger pouch will be briefly described. 
     First by reference to  FIG. 8 , the tamper evident tear off section  38  is removed, i.e. torn off. By “tamper evident” is meant that when the tear off section  38  is removed, before it reaches the end user, it is evident that the outer pouch  40  may have been tampered with. The outer pouch zip-lock  44  is then accessible and zipped into an open position as shown in  FIG. 9 . This access enables the joined top and bottom panels  24 , of the card holder  20 , to be accessible at the tab area opening  36 , as shown for example in  FIGS. 7 and 8  and the card holder  20  to be grasped by thumb and index finger and pulled partially out of the outer pouch  40  until the red line indicated by numeral  25  on the card holder  20  is approximately aligned with the tab area opening  36 . This stage is shown in  FIG. 10  and an index finger can then be inserted into the inner pouch  10  with the index finger or thumb of the other hand holding the long bottom pouch panel  12  in position. The inner pouch can then be removed easily by holding the panel  12  with the thumb as shown in  FIG. 13 . In this manner, the inner pouch  10  pulls out easily. 
     When only one inner pouch  10  is to be used, a simple set of instructions  31  may be used, for example: 
     1. To get finger in finger pouch, hold in place its long bottom side panel. 
     2. When you take out finger pouch, hold its bottom side panel with the thumb on the same hand. 
     As noted above, the system may be used with more than one inner pouch  10 .  FIGS. 12 and 13  illustrate this arrangement and the user is referred to the instructions printed on the inside of the inner card (see  FIG. 4  at numeral  33 ) as follows: 
     1. Push the index finger of one hand inside the upper inner pouch  10 . 1 . 
     2. Hold the index finger or the thumb of the other hand on the lower pouch  10 . 2  to hold it in place. 
     3. Remove the inner pouch  10 . 1  on the index finger held by the thumb on the same hand out of the card holder and the outer pouch  40 . 
     4. Push the inner pouch  10 . 2  and the card holder  20  back into the outer pouch  40 . 
     5. Seal the card holder  20  by means of the seal  26  all around the inner pouch  10 . 2 . 
     6. Close the outer pouch  40  by means of the ziploc  44  to maintain the inner pouches in a hygienic condition. 
     Although the invention being described by making details reference to a preferred embodiment such detail is to be understood in an instructive rather than any restrictive sense, many variations being possible within the scope of the claims hereunto appended.