Blister with Tilting Side-Walls for Reliable Dose Ejection
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing blister designs may inadvertently trap medication doses between collapsing side walls and the front face, leading to incomplete ejection of prescribed doses, particularly for elderly patients with varying medication sizes and shapes.
Innovation Solution
A blister sheet with two pairs of side walls, where one pair yields progressively and the other tilts towards each other under finger pressure, ensuring medication doses are displaced and ejected with greater certainty, featuring elongated shape, parallel steps on the longer side walls, and smooth, stiff side walls that tilt to facilitate ejection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If all side walls are made corrugated to yield progressively, then the blister is easier to open, but medication doses may be trapped between collapsing side walls and the front face
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies different structural qualities to different parts of the blister. The first pair of opposed side walls are corrugated to yield progressively, while the second pair of opposed side walls are smooth and stiff to tilt gradually. This local differentiation allows the blister to both ease opening and ensure complete dose ejection without trapping medication.
2Reliability
If side walls are made smooth and stiff to prevent trapping, then medication ejection is more reliable, but more force is required to open the blister
Solution Approach 1:
The invention segments the side walls into two distinct pairs with different properties. One pair (first pair) is corrugated and yields progressively to reduce opening force, while the other pair (second pair) is smooth and stiff to prevent dose trapping. This segmentation allows each pair to fulfill its specific function without compromising the other.
Data Source
AI summary
A blister sheet (1) has a generally rectangular blister (2) formed with one pair of longer side walls (7) having parallel steps (8) and a second pair of shorter side wall (9) devoid of steps. The side walls serve to space a front face (5) of the blister from the plane of a rupturable foil backing sheet (4) which retains medication doses (nor shown) inside the blister until they are to be taken. The medication doses are ejected from the cavity of the blister (2) by depressing its front face with finger pressure so that they are forced against the backing sheet (4) with sufficient force to rupture it. During the application of finger pressure to the front face (5) it bows downwardly in its central region as indicated by the broken outline. Simultaneously the end walls (9) tilt inwardly towards one another so that any medication doses lying against them are forced into the central region of the blister from which they can be ejected more easily by the descending front face (5).