This invention relates to a device for displacing a product from a sealed compartment in a carrier, and is particularly concerned with a device for removing batteries from blister packs thereof.

In the medical field, tablets are often sold in blister packs, i.e. plastics packs where compartments are pressed out of a base and are sealed across the base by a frangible material such as a metal foil, after the tablets are located in the compartments. Blister packs form a convenient means by which people can dispense one or more tablets as required, whilst leaving the remaining tablets in the pack in a sealed condition.

Such blister packs are also used to sell other products, for example to sell pack batteries. In particular, button cells are known to be arranged in compartments of such pack, when they are sold in batch.

But, contrary to medical packs, the frangible material of such packs has to be hard to break, in order to make the battery relatively difficult to deblister as a child-resistant measure.

For this reason, the frangible material responds to specific regulations concerning its breakage capacity.

Consequently, not only the batteries are difficult to unpack for children, but also for an adult person.

The goal of the present invention is to provide a device configured to remove a product from a compartment of a compartment pack with easiness.

According to the present invention there is provided a device for use with a carrier defining at least one sealed compartment in which a product is located and which is at least partly formed of a frangible material, the device having means for supporting the carrier with the compartment aligned with an aperture in the supporting means, and means for engaging with the compartment whereby to break the frangible material and displace the product from the compartment through the aperture, the supporting means and the engaging means being normally spaced apart but being relatively movable to effect product displacement.

the supporting means comprise at least one prong arranged in the aperture in order to break the frangible material when the engaging means displace the product.

The invention is remarkable in that the supporting means comprise at least one prong arranged in the aperture, in order to break the frangible material when the engaging means displace the product.

Thanks to the prong, the frangible is easier to break, when the engaging means displace the product. The frangible material is pressed against the prong when passes through the aperture. Consequently, the breakage of the frangible material is triggered, and the breakage occurs more easily and efficiently.

According to a particular embodiment of the invention, the at least one prong extends in a plane defined by the aperture.

According to a particular embodiment of the invention, the supporting means comprise at least two prongs arranged in the aperture.

According to a particular embodiment of the invention, the at least two prongs are arranged in opposite positions inside the aperture

According to a particular embodiment of the invention, the frangible material comprises, preferably in totality, one of the following materials, such as cardboard or plastic films, for example made of PET, PE, PS.

According to a particular embodiment of the invention, the frangible material forms a layer a multilayer having a thickness between 0.01 to 0.5 mm for plastic, or up to 1mm for cardboard.

According to a particular embodiment of the invention, the at least one prong has a sharp end.

According to a particular embodiment of the invention, the carrier (10) comprises a blister pack with a product, such as a battery, and the compartment is pressed out of a base and is closed by the frangible material extending across the base, the supporting means being arranged to support the pack with the compartment upstanding thereon

According to a particular embodiment of the invention, the engaging means comprises a prominent member which provides a face arranged to initially engage an upstanding side edge of the compartment under pressure so as to deform same and cause the product to break the frangible material

According to a particular embodiment of the invention, the supporting means and the engaging means define spaced legs of a substantially U-shaped member, the aperture of the supporting means being located towards a free end of the respective leg

According to a particular embodiment of the invention, the prominent member projects inwardly from a location towards a free end of the other leg.

According to a particular embodiment of the invention, the legs may be resiliently movable towards one another.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

• Fig. 1 is a top perspective view of a device with a battery carrier according to the invention;
• Fig. 2 is a bottom perspective view of the device with the battery carrier of Fig. 1;
• Fig.3 is a side elevation of the device with the battery carrier of Fig. 1 in a first arrangement;
• Fig.4 is a side elevation of the device with the battery carrier of Fig. 1 in a second arrangement;
• Fig. 5 is a top perspective view of the device of Fig. 1;
• Fig. 6 is a side perspective view of the device of Fig. 1; and
• Fig. 7 is a top view of the device of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, a device 1 for manually removing products 14, from blister packs 10 is formed as a substantially U-shaped member, preferably of an injection molded plastics material or produced by additive manufacturing, defining a pair of spaced elongate, planar legs 2, 4 integrally connected by a base 6. In the described embodiment, the products 14 are batteries, in particular button cells.

The molding is such that the legs 2, 4 are normally in a spaced apart relation, as viewed in the drawings, but can be resiliently moved together for a purpose hereinafter described.

Means for supporting the carrier 10 comprises the upper leg 2 of the U-shaped member, whereas means for engaging with the compartment 14 comprise the lower leg 4.

Relative to the in-use orientation as viewed in the drawings, the upper leg 2 has a circular through aperture 8 towards the free end 3 thereof. The lower leg 4 is formed with an inwardly projecting prominent member 5 towards a free end 9 thereof whereby, in a normal spaced relation, the member 5 is aligned above the aperture 8. The member 5 is integrally formed with the lower leg 4. Towards the free end 9 of the lower leg 4, the member 5 extends the maximum distance towards the upper leg 2, and then defines a face 7 towards the upper leg 2 to thereby define a cam surface. The member 5 has the shape of a truncated cone.

As showed in the figures, a blister pack 10 comprises several compartments 12, for example arranged in two rows. Each row comprises five compartments 12 in this embodiment. Each compartment 12 is filled with a single product 14, in particular one button cell. The frangible material 20 comprises one of the following materials, such as cardboard or plastic films, for example made of PET, PE, PS, preferably in totality. The frangible material 20 forms a layer or a multilayer having a thickness between 0.01 to 0.5 mm for plastic, and up to 1 mm for cardboard.

In use, the blister pack 10 is supported on the lower leg 2 between the latter and the upper leg 4, with the sealed compartments 12 upstanding relative to the leg 2. One of the compartments 12 is aligned with the aperture 8.

Pressure applied by hand, for example by thumbs on the downer surface of the lower leg 4, if necessary, at respective ends of the location of the prominent member 5, moves the latter towards the sealed compartment 12. The face 7 of the member 5 towards the outer end thereof initially engages against a down standing side edge of the compartment 12, whereby continued hand pressure deforms the plastics material of the compartment 12 and pushes the product 14 against the layer to break the latter, and therefore displace the product 14 through the layer and through the aperture 8.

The face 7 is designed to enable as little force as is necessary to deform or crush the compartment 12, such force being less likely to damage the product 14 in the compartment 12. Deblistering does not therefore require any hand pressure on the blister pack itself, and the product 14 can be removed in a non-painful way without damage to fingers or fingernails. It will be appreciated that the position of the blister pack is simply changed to align another sealed compartment 14 with the aperture 8 when another product 14 requires to be obtained.

According to the invention, the supporting means comprise at least one prong 15 arranged in the aperture 8. In the figures, the supporting means comprise two prongs 15, 16 arranged in the aperture 8. Preferably, the two prongs 15, 16 are arranged in opposite positions and in opposite directions.

The prongs 15, 16 project in the plane defined by the aperture 8, preferably towards the centre of the aperture 8. Furthermore, the prongs 15, 16 project in the same plane as the plane of the upper leg 2.

Preferably, the prongs 15, 16 have sharp ends and terminate with an edge or a pin. In the figures, the prongs 15, 16 are triangular shaped with an edge at the free end.

Such prong ends make the breakage of the frangible material 20 easier to operate.

Various modifications may be made without departing from the invention. For example, the device may be made of other than injection molded plastics material and could be shaped and dimensioned differently to that described and shown in the drawings. And the products contained in the compartments pack could be different than batteries.