Apparatus and method for separating blister strips

Apparatus for the automated separation of a strip (1) of primary packages (10), each containing an ophthalmic lens, in particular a contact lens such as a soft contact lens, into single primary packages (10), each primary package (10) of the strip (1) comprising a primary packaging shell (12), wherein a respective sealing foil portion (11) of a common sealing foil strip (13) is sealed to each primary packaging shell (12) to separably connect the primary packages (10) of the strip (1),

• the apparatus comprising
• a plurality of vacuum grippers (21, 22) arranged along a row, each vacuum gripper (21, 22) comprising a gripping surface (210, 220) for contacting the respective sealing foil portion (11) sealed to a dedicated primary packaging shell (12) of one primary package (10) of the strip (1) to grip said one primary package (10), wherein adjacently arranged vacuum grippers (21, 22) are rotatable relative to one another around a rotation axis (r) extending in a direction of the row along which the plurality of vacuum grippers (21, 22) are arranged, and
• a rotary drive unit (4) for rotating the plurality of vacuum grippers (21, 22) with respect to one another between
• an in-plane arrangement of the gripping surfaces (210, 220), in which the gripping surfaces (210, 220) of all vacuum grippers (21, 22) are arranged in a common plane (pg),and
• a twisted arrangement of the gripping surfaces (210, 220), in which the gripping surfaces (210, 220) of adjacently arranged vacuum grippers (21, 22) are arranged rotated relative to one another around the rotation axis (r) and include a rotational angle (a) in the range of 60 degrees to 120 degrees, in particular 90 degrees to 105 degrees,and especially 95 degrees.