Packaging for unitary dosage items

Abstract

The present invention provides an alternative solution to packaging for a plurality of unitary dosage items that is convenient for a user to carry with them. Preferably, the easily portable package contains a number of unitary dosage items that will remind a user of which dosages have been administered. The present invention is particularly useful for unitary dosages of items whose stability or shelf life may be enhanced by decrease of exposure to degradative influences, such as light, oxygen or physical destruction.

1 . A package for a plurality of unitary dosage items comprising:
 a. a blister package comprising a polymeric layer that is substantially a planar rectangle with a plurality of indentations of regular depth for storing said unitary dosage items; and a substantially planar rectangular sealing layer of about the same size as the polymeric layer, wherein the sealing layer adheres to the planar regions of the polymeric layer, thereby sealing off each indentation; and   b. a paperboard sleeve comprising a single sheet of substantially rectangular paperboard folded four times with two opposing sides of the rectangle adhered together to form a sleeve that has substantially rectangular sides, two wide and two narrow in opposed pairs, and two substantially rectangular openings on opposite ends of the sleeve from each other, wherein the two wide sides of the sleeve are slightly wider than the substantially planar rectangle of the blister pack and the two narrow sides of the sleeve are slightly wider than the indentation depth of the blister pack;   
     thereby permitting the paperboard sleeve to encompass the blister pack to form the package for the plurality of unitary dosage items. 
   
   
       2 . The package according to  claim 1  wherein said unitary dosage items are gel caps containing a liquid that includes a nutritional supplement or a pharmaceutical active ingredient. 
   
   
       3 . The package according to  claim 2  wherein said unitary dosage item is fragile. 
   
   
       4 . The package according to  claim 2  wherein said unitary dosage item is sensitive to oxygen. 
   
   
       5 . The package according to  claim 2  wherein said unitary dosage item is sensitive to light. 
   
   
       6 . The package according to  claim 4  wherein said unitary dosage item is vitamin D. 
   
   
       7 . The package according to  claim 5  wherein said unitary dosage item is conjugated linoleic acid. 
   
   
       8 . The package according to  claim 4  wherein said unitary dosage item is omega-3 fatty acid. 
   
   
       9 . The package according to  claim 4  wherein said unitary dosage item is flax oil. 
   
   
       10 . The package according to  claim 1  wherein said paperboard sleeve is opaque to light. 
   
   
       11 . The package according to  claim 1  wherein said paperboard sleeve is from 0.2 to 0.5 millimeters thick. 
   
   
       12 . The package according to  claim 1  wherein said unitary dosage item is to be taken once each day, and each row of the blister package contains 7 indentations of regular depth for storing one week's worth of unitary dosage items. 
   
   
       13 . The package according to  claim 1  wherein two unitary dosage items are to be taken each day, and each row of the blister package contains 14 indentations of regular depth for storing one week's worth of unitary dosage items. 
   
   
       14 . The package according to  claim 1  that is stacked together with a plurality of other packages according to  claim 1  inside an outer package that comprises a folded single piece of paperboard that has a substantially rectangular base unit that folds to form a base unit box and an extension that is a substantially rectangular lid unit that folds to form a lid with a flap that tucks into the base unit box; wherein said base unit box has an open top and a closed bottom with two short sides and a front long side and a back long side, wherein said lid unit extends from the top of the back long side of the base unit box once it is folded to form a crease at the attached part of the lid, and the edge of the rectangular lid unit opposite the side that folds along the long side of the base unit folds down to become a lid flap; and wherein the substantially rectangular base unit has a first 90° fold across its long side to form the top long side of a base unit box that creases to form the extending lid, and a second 90° fold parallel to the first fold that forms the bottom long side of the base unit box and setting the depth of the box, said depth being a multiple D of the narrow opening of the sleeves recited in  claim 1 , said second fold having slits from the outside of the base unit box to the outer edge of the unfolded base unit at either end of the second fold, which fold 90° toward the inside of the box prior to folding up the base unit box sides to become side-supporting tabs, and a third fold parallel to the first and second folds that become the bottom long side of the base unit box, said third fold having slits from the outside of the base unit box bottom to the outer edge of the unfolded base unit at either end of the third fold, wherein the spacing between the slit beginnings determine the length of the base unit box bottom and are a multiple of the length L of one rectangular edge of the folded sleeve of the package described in  claim 1 , and which slits form a tab that folds 90° toward the inside of the box prior to folding up the base unit box sides to become side-supporting tabs and leaving two remaining center sections on opposite sides of the bottom wherein the spacing between the slits of the second and third folds defines the width of the base unit box which should be a multiple W of the other rectangular edge of the folded sleeve of the package described in  claim 1 , and a fourth 90° fold parallel to the first, second and third folds that forms the bottom front long side of the base unit box; the two remaining center sections fold up 90° from the short sides of the base of the base unit box outside of the side-supporting tabs, being twice the height of the base unit box depth, forming bottom box corners at the ends of the second and third fold slits, a final fold of the short sides of the base unit box down over the side-supporting tabs so that the side height is only once the height of the base unit box depth, thereby forming a rectangular base unit box that is closed at the bottom and open at the top that can hold a stacked plurality that is the multiple of L times W times D of the packages according to  claim 1 .