Device for dispensing from a blister pack

Abstract

A pack for medicinal tablets has two parts hinged together, each part having pockets containing tablets. The pockets may be displaced to expel the tablets through a foil sheet.

1 - 16 . (canceled) 
   
   
       17 . A pack assembly comprising two packs of medicinal tablets joined together, each pack being provided with an external cover piece, the two packs being joined such that the assembly has a stowed configuration in which the medicinal tablets cannot be expelled and an opened configuration in which the medicinal tablets can be expelled, the external cover pieces being in a face-to-face relation when the assembly is in its stowed configuration; each said pack comprising:
 a base wall which defines a plurality of locations for the tablets, wherein at each said location there is a displaceable pocket which is substantially dome-shaped and integral with the base wall and which constitutes a recess for a tablet,   an internal cover piece of a rupturable material, and   a tablet between the displaceable pocket and the internal cover piece,   wherein the base wall is of a sufficiently rigid construction as to be resistant to permanent deformation and is elastic such that it can be reversibly flexed;   wherein a junction between the pocket and the base wall acts as a hinge such that the pockets are bistable and have a concave position in which the pocket accommodates a tablet and a convex position in which the tablet is forced from the pocket; and   wherein each pack is formed by injection moulding.   
   
   
       18 . A pack assembly according to  claim 17  wherein the pockets contain naked tablets. 
   
   
       19 . A pack assembly according to  claim 17  wherein the tablets are provided in a blister pack located in the pockets. 
   
   
       20 . A pack assembly according to  claim 17  wherein the base wall has openings which correspond to the locations for the tablets and the recesses are those of a blister pack located against the base wall, with its blisters protruding through the openings, and functioning as the displaceable pockets. 
   
   
       21 . A pack assembly according to  claim 17  comprising 4 to 16 pockets. 
   
   
       22 . A pack assembly according to  claim 17  wherein the base wall is formed from a polymer. 
   
   
       23 . A pack assembly according to  claim 17  wherein the hinge is pre-stressed. 
   
   
       24 . A pack assembly according to  claim 17  wherein the pockets are stable both in a starting position in which they accommodate a tablet and in an inverted position in which they have expelled the tablet, through the internal cover piece. 
   
   
       25 . A method of manufacturing a pack according to  claim 17  wherein the pack is formed by injection moulding with pockets formed in the base wall and hinges between the base wall and the pockets, wherein the hinges are pre-stressed during the manufacturing process and wherein the pockets are adapted to take a non-inverted state in which a recess for a tablet is formed in the pocket and an inverted state in which the tablet is expelled from a pocket. 
   
   
       26  A method according to  claim 25 , wherein the pack is moulded so  25 , that the pockets are formed in the inverted state and are then forced into the non-inverted state after moulding. 
   
   
       27 . A method according to  claim 26 , wherein the pockets are forced into the non-inverted state by means of mechanical or hydraulic force.