Packaging material capable of suppressing performance deterioration of opening detection-use IC, and method for manufacturing same

Abstract

A packaging material 10 comprises: a storage container 20 having storage sections 21; and a lid material 30 for sealing openings 21A of the storage sections 21. The lid material 30 comprises: a base material layer 35; a metal layer 32 provided on the base material layer 35 and having wires 32A, 32B that are broken when opening the storage sections 21; ICs 33 mounted on the metal layer 32, connected to the wires 32A, 32B, and communicating with an external device; and a thermal adhesive layer 31 bonded to the storage container 20. The thermal adhesive layer 31 has: an adhesion region 31A thermally bonded to the storage container 20; and non-adhesion regions 31B not thermally bonded to the storage container. In a plan view, the ICs 33 are provided at positions overlapping with the non-adhesion regions 31B of the thermal adhesive layer 31.

Description

Packaging material capable of suppressing performance deterioration of IC for opening detection, and manufacturing method thereof

[0001] The present technology relates to a packaging material that can suppress performance degradation of an IC for opening detection, and a manufacturing method thereof.

[0002] Conventionally, technologies for detecting the opening of a storage section in a packaging material (e.g., a press-through package (PTP)) that has a storage section for storing tablets or the like have been known, and one example of such a technology is disclosed in Patent Document 1. The packaging material described in Patent Document 1 includes a lid material that seals the storage section, and an opening detection sheet that is attached to the lid material and has a metal layer and an IC for communication. When the contents are removed from the storage section, the IC in the opening detection sheet and the antenna in the metal layer are disconnected, and the IC is unable to communicate with an external communication device. As a result, the return signal from the IC in response to the transmission signal from the external communication device is discontinued, thereby detecting the opening of the storage section.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2022-187574

[0004] (Problem to be Solved by the Invention) Patent Document 1 discloses that an opening detection sheet can be attached to the lid of a PTP after the fact. In this way, the opening detection sheet can be stored and distributed separately before attachment. On the other hand, if the opening detection sheet itself can be used as the lid, the time and effort of attaching it after the fact is not required, and the opening detection function can be easily imparted.

[0005] There is a concern that the IC described in Patent Document 1 may be damaged when thermocompressed during the PTP manufacturing process. Thermocompression bonding of the lid and the container in the PTP manufacturing process is typically performed by applying a pressure of about 0.2 MPa to 0.4 MPa at a temperature range of about 200° C. to 300° C. If the IC is exposed to such high temperature and pressure, there is a concern that it may be damaged and its communication performance may be degraded.

[0006] The present technology has been developed based on the above-described circumstances, and aims to suppress performance degradation of an IC for detecting opening of a packaging material.

[0007] (Means for solving the problem) A packaging material related to the technology described in the specification of the present application comprises a storage container having a storage section, and a lid material that seals an opening of the storage section of the storage container, and an item stored in the storage section can be removed by breaking the lid material that covers the opening, and the lid material comprises a base material layer, a metal layer that is provided on the base material layer and has wiring that breaks when the storage section is opened, an IC that is mounted on the metal layer and connected to the wiring and that communicates with external equipment, and a thermal adhesive layer with the storage container, and the thermal adhesive layer has an adhesive region that is thermally bonded to the storage container and a non-adhesive region that is not thermally bonded to the storage container, and the IC is provided in a position that overlaps the non-adhesive region of the thermal adhesive layer in a plan view.

[0008] The IC may be provided at a position overlapping the opening of the housing portion in a plan view.

[0009] The IC may be embedded in the thermal adhesive layer while being mounted on the metal layer.

[0010] A method for manufacturing a packaging material related to the technology described in the present specification includes providing a metal layer on a sheet-like base material layer, which forms wiring that is broken when the packaging material is opened, mounting an IC for communicating with an external device on the metal layer and connecting the IC to the wiring, applying a thermal adhesive layer on the metal layer and the IC mounted on the metal layer to manufacture a lid material, and thermally bonding the thermal adhesive layer of the lid material to a storage container having a storage section to seal the opening of the storage section of the storage container, and in the thermal bonding process, the IC is positioned in a position that overlaps a non-bonded area of ​​the thermal adhesive layer that is not thermally bonded to the storage container in a plan view.

[0011] In the thermal bonding step, the IC may be disposed at a position overlapping the opening of the housing portion in a plan view.

[0012] In the step of applying the thermal adhesive layer, the IC may be embedded in the thermal adhesive layer.

[0013] In the thermal bonding step, the opening of the housing portion may be sealed by thermocompression bonding at a heating temperature of 200° C. to 300° C. and a pressing force of 0.2 MPa to 0.4 MPa.

[0014] Effect of the Invention According to the present technology, it is possible to suppress deterioration in the performance of an IC for detecting opening provided in a packaging material.

[0015] 4B shows the manufacturing process of the PTP following FIG. 4C. FIG. 4C is a top view of a PTP according to another embodiment.

[0016] 1 to 4D , an explanation will be given of an embodiment 1. In this embodiment, an opening detection sheet (an example of a lid material) 30 and a PTP (a press-through package, an example of a packaging material) 10 to which the opening detection sheet 30 is thermally bonded are illustrated. Note that some of the drawings show an X-axis, a Y-axis, and a Z-axis, and the directions of the axes are drawn so that they are common to all the drawings.

[0017] As shown in FIG. 1 , the PTP 10 includes a sheet-like storage container 20 having a storage section 21 for contents 90, such as tablets, and an opening detection sheet 30 thermocompression-bonded to the storage container 20. In this embodiment, pharmaceuticals are used as the contents 90; however, the contents may be foods, chemicals, precision parts, or other items other than pharmaceuticals, as long as they are opened and consumed. The opening detection sheet 30 is thermally bonded to the storage container 20 by a heat roll HR (see FIG. 4D ) provided in a contents filling machine, as described below. When thermally bonded to the storage container 20, the opening detection sheet 30 serves as a lid covering the opening 21A of the storage section 21 and sealing the storage section 21. The planar shape and size of the opening detection sheet 30 are configured to cover the entire main surface of the storage container 20, and are substantially the same as those of the storage container 20 in this embodiment. The contents 90 can be removed by pushing and tearing the opening 21A of the opening detection sheet 30.

[0018] The storage container 20 includes a plurality of storage sections 21 that protrude on the side opposite the tamper-evident sheet 30. Each storage section 21 has an internal space for storing the contents 90, and the boundary with the tamper-evident sheet 30 forms an opening 21A. The storage sections 21 are formed in a shape that follows the shape of the contents 90 in a plan view, and are, for example, circular. The storage container 20 according to this embodiment has a total of ten storage sections 21, five of which are formed at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction (Y-axis direction) and two of which are formed at predetermined intervals in the lateral direction (X-axis direction), but the shape, size, and number of the storage sections 21 are not limited.

[0019] A material known as a PTP sheet-like container is appropriately used for the storage container 20. The storage container 20 is, for example, a resin container processed from a resin (e.g., polyvinyl chloride resin) sheet material having a thickness of about 60 μm to 400 μm.

[0020] The tamper detection sheet 30 is a press-through sheet-like composite material and includes an IC (Integrated Circuit) 33. The IC 33 is provided to communicate with an external device to perform tamper detection. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 3 , the tamper detection sheet 30 is a composite material in which a thermal adhesive layer 31, an IC 33, a metal layer 32, and a base material layer 35 are laminated in this order from the storage container 20 side (the lower side in FIG. 3 ).

[0021] The base material layer 35 is a sheet-like member having at least an insulating layer. The base material layer 35 is provided on the entire surface as the outermost layer of the opening detection sheet 30 and protects the entire opening detection sheet 30 from damage due to external forces during transportation. The material of the insulating layer of the base material layer 35 is not particularly limited, but is preferably a material that has heat resistance and pressure resistance against heating by the heat roll HR and adhesion strength (adhesion) that prevents it from being easily peeled off by external forces.

[0022] The base layer 35 may also have aluminum foil or the like in addition to the insulating layer. By laminating aluminum foil, moisture resistance can be improved. When aluminum foil is provided, it is preferable that the insulating layer be interposed between the aluminum foil and the metal layer 32, thereby ensuring insulation between the aluminum foil and the metal layer 32.

[0023] The metal layer 32 has a plurality of wirings 32A, 32B provided on a main surface 35A of the base layer 35 facing the container 20. The wirings according to this embodiment include an antenna wiring 32A and a lead wiring 32B. The antenna wiring 32A is arranged to function as an antenna. The lead wiring 32B is arranged as an auxiliary wiring for connecting the antenna wiring 32A and the IC 33, as shown in FIG. 2 .

[0024] The shape (wiring pattern) of each wiring 32A and wiring 32B is not limited to that shown in the drawing and can be changed as appropriate. For example, although one antenna wiring 32A according to this embodiment is formed for each storage section 21 as shown in FIG. 2, one antenna wiring 32A may be formed for each two storage sections 21. Furthermore, for example, the wiring 32A and 32B may be routed at a high density to improve the moisture resistance of the opening detection sheet 30. Furthermore, the metal layer 32 may have components other than the wiring 32A and 32B.

[0025] As shown in Figure 3, the IC 33 is mounted on the metal layer 32. The PTP 10 achieves wireless communication with an external communication device through the antenna wiring 32A of the metal layer 32 and the IC 33. The IC 33 and the antenna wiring 32A are configured to receive a signal transmitted from the external communication device and, in response, transmit a signal back to the external communication device. A short-range wireless communication technology such as RFID is used as the wireless communication method, but the communication method is not limited thereto.

[0026] When the opening detection sheet 30 covering the opening 21A is torn during opening, the lead-out wiring 32B extending to a position overlapping the opening 21A in a plan view is broken. This disconnects the IC 33 from the lead-out wiring 32B, and the IC 33 is unable to communicate with the external communication device. As a result, the response signal from the IC in response to the transmission signal from the external communication device is cut off or significantly reduced, thereby detecting the opening of the container.

[0027] The thermal adhesive layer 31 is an insulating layer formed by applying and drying a thermal adhesive onto the metal layer 32 and the IC 33 mounted thereon. The thermal adhesive layer 31 is made of a thermal adhesive such as a polyester adhesive, a polypropylene adhesive, a vinyl chloride adhesive, or a vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer adhesive (vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate adhesive), and any known thermal adhesive for PTP can be used as appropriate.

[0028] The thermal adhesive layer 31 is applied over the entire surface of the tamper-evident sheet 30. The base material of the thermal adhesive layer 31 has fluidity, and is applied so as to flow into the periphery of the IC 33 and into the IC 33 between the wiring of the metal layer 32 (see comparison of FIGS. 4B and 4C described below). As a result, the IC 33 is embedded in the thermal adhesive layer 31 while being mounted on the metal layer 32.

[0029] The thermal adhesive layer 31 is thermally bonded to the storage container 20 during the manufacturing process of the PTP 10, covering the storage section 21. The portion of the open detection sheet 30 other than the portion covering the opening 21A of the storage section 21 (i.e., the portion overlapping the opening 21A in a plan view) is thermally bonded to the storage container 20 by the thermal adhesive layer 31. The sealing ability of the storage section 21 is designed appropriately depending on the use of the PTP 10, but it does not need to be airtight to the extent that no gas leaks out, as long as it is airtight enough to at least prevent solids from leaking out.

[0030] Next, a method for manufacturing the PTP 10 described above will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 4A , a metal layer 32 is formed on a sheet-like substrate layer 35. The wiring 32A and 32B of the metal layer 32 are formed, for example, by applying a conductive ink in a predetermined pattern to the main surface 35A of the substrate layer 35 and then curing the ink. The conductive ink is a conductive composition in which conductive particles are dispersed in a vehicle containing a binder. For example, various particles composed of materials exhibiting good conductivity, such as gold, silver, copper, platinum, aluminum, and alloys thereof, as well as carbon black, are used. The conductive ink can be applied by various printing methods, such as dispenser application, gravure printing, and inkjet printing. The conductive composition can be cured by a drying curing method, a heat curing method, or the like, depending on the type of conductive ink used.

[0031] Next, as shown in Fig. 4B, an IC 33 is mounted on the main surface of the metal layer 32 opposite the base layer 35, and the IC 33 is connected to the lead wiring 32B and, ultimately, the antenna wiring 32A. Thereafter, as shown in Fig. 4C, a thermal adhesive layer 31 is applied to the metal layer 32 and the IC 33 mounted thereon. This completes the manufacture of the opening detection sheet 30, which is a lid material.

[0032] Next, as shown in FIG. 4D , the thermal adhesive layer 31 is thermally bonded to the storage container 20 by a heat roll HR, and the opening 21A of the storage section 21 of the storage container 20 is sealed with the tamper-detection sheet 30 (lid material). During this thermal bonding process, the IC 33 is positioned (aligned) so as to overlap the opening 21A of the storage section 21 in a plan view, and in this state, the thermal adhesive layer 31 is thermally bonded to the storage container 20. The thermocompression bonding conditions are within the typical temperature and pressure ranges used in existing content filling machines (blister seal packaging machines), such as a heating temperature of approximately 200°C to 300°C and a pressing force of approximately 0.2 MPa to 0.4 MPa. Preferably, the heating temperature is approximately 240°C to 280°C and a pressing force of approximately 0.3 MPa to 0.4 MPa. This allows the use of existing blister seal packaging machines used to manufacture conventional PTPs without tamper detection capabilities.

[0033] Furthermore, in existing blister seal packaging machines, the heat roll HR is usually configured not to press against the opening 21A of the storage section 21. That is, as shown in Figures 3 and 4D, the thermal adhesive layer 31 has an adhesive region 31A that is pressed by the heat roll HR and thermally bonded to the storage container 20, and a non-adhesive region 31B that is not thermally bonded to the storage container 20. The non-adhesive region 31B of the thermal adhesive layer 31 according to this embodiment is an area that overlaps with the opening 21A of the storage section 21 of the storage container 20, and the adhesive region 31A is an area that does not overlap with the opening 21A.

[0034] According to the PTP 10 described above, when the opening detection sheet 30 is thermocompression bonded to the storage container 20 as a lid, the IC 33 is positioned so as to overlap the opening 21A of the storage section 21, and is therefore not pressed by the heat roll HR. This prevents the IC 33 from being damaged during the thermocompression bonding manufacturing process. As a result, even when the opening detection sheet 30 is thermocompression bonded to the storage container 20 as a lid, performance degradation of the IC 33 can be prevented.

[0035] In addition, the IC 33 does not necessarily have to be positioned overlapping the opening 21A of the storage section 21 as long as it is not pressed by the heat roll HR during the thermal bonding manufacturing process. In other words, the IC 33 only needs to be positioned overlapping the non-bonded region 31B of the thermal bonding layer 31 that is not pressed by the heat roll HR, thereby preventing damage. For example, if the mold for the heat roll HR is designed so as not to press the area where the IC 33 is located, the IC 33 may be positioned in a position other than overlapping the opening 21A of the storage section 21.

[0036] Furthermore, the IC 33 is embedded in the thermal adhesive layer 31 while mounted on the metal layer 32. This allows the IC 33 to remain in the thermal adhesive layer 31 during and after opening, preventing it from peeling off from the opening detection sheet 30. If the IC 33 is positioned so as to overlap the opening 21A of the storage section 21 of the storage container 20, there is a concern that if the contents 90 are pushed out and the opening detection sheet 30 is torn during opening, the IC 33 may peel off and fall to an unexpected location. In this regard, with the PTP 10 according to this embodiment, the IC 33 is embedded in the thermal adhesive layer 31, thereby reliably preventing such a situation.

[0037] The inventors of the present application used an existing blister seal packaging machine to perform thermocompression bonding of the above-mentioned evaluation samples of the PTP 10 under conditions of a heat roll HR heating temperature of 240°C and 280°C and a pressing force of 0.3 MPa and 0.4 MPa. As a result, it was confirmed that there was no performance degradation of the IC 33 and that it could be read by an external communication device.

[0038] <Other Embodiments> The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and illustrated in the drawings, and the following embodiments, for example, are also included within the technical scope of the present invention.

[0039] (1) The shape of the storage container 20 illustrated in the first embodiment, the number and spacing of the storage sections 21, and the corresponding shape of the wiring 32A, 32B of the opening detection sheet 30 can be changed as appropriate. For example, the opening 121A of the storage section 121 and the wiring 132A, 132B of the metal layer 132 may be arranged as shown in FIG.

[0040] (2) The configuration of the base material layer 35 of the tamper-evident sheet 30 can be changed as appropriate depending on the purpose. For example, the base material layer 35 may have a configuration in which two aluminum foils are bonded together with a resin intermediate layer.

[0041] (3) The tamper detection sheet 30 can be thermocompressed as a lid material as described above, but it may also be attached to a conventional PTP that does not have an tamper detection function in a later process.

[0042] 10: PTP (packaging material), 20: storage container, 21, 121: storage section, 21A, 121A: opening, 30: opening detection sheet (lid material), 31: thermal adhesive layer, 31A: adhesive area, 31B: non-adhesive area, 32, 132: metal layer, 32A, 132A: antenna wiring (wiring), 32B, 132B: lead wiring (wiring), 33: IC, 35: base material layer, 90: stored item

Claims

1. A packaging material comprising: a storage container having a storage section; and a lid material sealing an opening of the storage section of the storage container, wherein an item contained in the storage section can be removed by breaking the lid material covering the opening, wherein the lid material comprises: a base layer; a metal layer provided on the base layer and having wiring that breaks when the storage section is opened; an IC mounted on the metal layer and connected to the wiring for communicating with external equipment; and a thermal adhesive layer to the storage container, wherein the thermal adhesive layer has an adhesive region that is thermally bonded to the storage container and a non-adhesive region that is not thermally bonded to the storage container, and wherein the IC is provided in a position that overlaps the non-adhesive region of the thermal adhesive layer in a plan view.

2. The packaging material according to claim 1, wherein the IC is positioned so as to overlap the opening of the storage section in a plan view.

3. The packaging material according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the IC is embedded in the thermal adhesive layer while being mounted on the metal layer.

4. A method for manufacturing a packaging material, comprising: providing a metal layer having wiring that breaks when the packaging is opened on a sheet-like base layer; mounting an IC for communicating with an external device on the metal layer and connecting the IC to the wiring; applying a thermal adhesive layer to the metal layer and the IC mounted on the metal layer to manufacture a lid; thermally bonding the thermal adhesive layer of the lid to a storage container having a storage section to seal the opening of the storage section of the storage container; and during the thermal bonding process, the IC is positioned so as to overlap, in a plan view, with a non-bonded area of ​​the thermal adhesive layer that is not thermally bonded to the storage container.

5. The method for manufacturing a packaging material according to claim 4, wherein in the thermal bonding step, the IC is positioned so as to overlap the opening of the container portion in a plan view.

6. A method for manufacturing a packaging material according to claim 4 or 5, wherein in the step of applying the thermal adhesive layer, the IC is embedded in the thermal adhesive layer.

7. A method for manufacturing a packaging material according to claim 4 or 5, wherein in the thermal sealing step, the opening of the storage section is sealed by thermal compression at a heating temperature of 200°C to 300°C and a pressure of 0.2 MPa to 0.4 MPa.

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