Blister packaging machinery

Apparatus for fabricating blister packs comprising:

• a first support for a web of plastic material located at the input end of the apparatus;
• feed means to feed the web of plastic material along a path of travel through the apparatus to the output end thereof;
• forming means along the path of travel to form wells in a conveyed web of plastic material;
• dispensing means along the path of travel to dispense pills into the wells;
• a second support for a web of rupturable material located above the linear path of travel to feed rupturable material onto the plastic material for movement therewith in a two part laminate;
• tray means for a stack of cards laterally offset from the path of travel, the cards being formed with apertures;
• conveyor means to sequentially feed cards from the support means to a location adjacent to the web of plastic material and then into contact therewith;
• coupling means along the path of travel to couple the plastic material with the cards to form a three part laminate;
• and
• cutting means along the linear path of travel to cut the laminate for forming individual blister packs;
• and
• rail means positioned transverse to, and operatively associated with, the path of travel for supporting the cards at their edges, the rail means including narrowly spaced rails remote from the path of travel for receiving the cards and widely spaced rails below the path of travel to accommodate the coupling means and further including recesses formed in the widely spaced rails traverse the path of travel for allowing the wells formed in the web of plastic material to move along the path of travel.

For use in continuous and automatic machinery for forming blister packs as they move in a path of travel, the blister packs being of the type formed of plastic material with pill-receiving wells, a rupturable material thereabove, and pills sealed therebetween within the wells, apparatus to sequentially convey apertured information-bearing cards to the plastic material with the apertures aligned with the wells and to weld the information-bearing cards to the plastic material, the apparatus comprising:

• a tray offset from the path of travel and adapted to support a plurality of cards with apertures in a stack;
• pneumatic conveyor adapted to pick off the lowermost card in the tray and move the picked card to an intermediate location adjacent to, but offset from, the path of travel;
• fixed support means having a first end beneath the intermediate location and a second end beneath the path of travel, the support means being configured to thereby allow support of cards thereon by their edges, the support means also including rails to support the plastic material, the rails having recesses to allow passage of the wells with respect to the rails;
• piston means to sequentially shift cards from the first end to the second end;
• lifting means beneath the support means adapted to raise a card at the second end into contact with the plastic material with the wells extending through the apertures;
• and
• ultrasonic welding means to couple the raised card to the plastic material to form a three-part laminate blister pack.