WO2005073105A2

WO2005073105A2 - Packaging contact lenses

Info

Publication number: WO2005073105A2
Application number: PCT/GB2005/000321
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ronald Shade Hamilton
Original assignee: Provis Limited
Priority date: 2004-01-30
Filing date: 2005-01-31
Publication date: 2005-08-11
Also published as: GB0401976D0; WO2005073105A3; EP1708932A2; TW200606068A

Abstract

A package contains a number of contact lenses sealed within 'blisters' (110) arrayed in two dimensions on a common supporting sheet (100). The form and spacing of the blisters and the sheet is such as to permit folding of the sheet between adjacent rows of blisters to form at least a right angle, with the blisters on the inside of said angle. Folding the sheet of lenses in such a way allows a foil of lenses to be neatly fitted into a square or rectangular tubular box (600) in a reasonable space-efficient manner, while permitting many different prescriptions to be displayed side by side in a reasonable space. Printing (614) on the foil itself can be viewed on a narrow face of the pack, and printing can optionally be viewed on all faces of the pack.

Description

PACKAGING CONTACT LENSES

This invention relates to packaging small articles, in particular to daily disposable contact lenses packaged as an array of lenses on a foil sheet.

It is current practice to provide daily contact lenses in strips, or in an array of strips, whereby a number of lenses are contained in individual cavities or "blisters" containing saline solution regularly spaced and attached to a sheet or "foil". This method is preferred to providing the lenses individually, where the user may be more prone to losing lenses, or the lenses may be more prone to damage. The spacing is sufficient to allow individual blisters to be torn off for use without damaging adjacent lenses, leaving the remaining lenses on the sheet. The foil also serves to seal the cavity in which each blister is provided. The lens is obtained by peeling the foil off the blister to open the cavity and inserting the tip of a finger to ease the lens gently out of the saline solution.

Daily disposable contact lenses are typically provided in bulk, ranging in quantity from a week's supply (around seven lenses per eye), to three or more months' supply (such as 96 lenses per eye, including a few spares). Lesser quantities would tend to be provided for trial purposes, and may comprise a single strip of lenses.

For any of the above quantities the lenses will typically be provided as one or more foils of lenses in a two-dimensional array, for example as four strips of four lenses. Perforations are normally provided to allow whole strips to be easily detached from an array of multiple strips. Where more than one foil is provided, the packaging typically involves providing the foils in pairs, the cavities arranged to face into each other, and positioned offset to each other so that the cavities of one foil align with the gaps between cavities of the facing foil. Pairs of foils can be stacked above each other, as required. Where there are fifteen (5x3) or sixteen (4x4) lenses per foil, for example, on month's supply can be provided by two sheets, and three months by six sheets. This arrangement maximises packaging efficiency, which is beneficial not only for distribution purposes, but also for storage purposes. While it is efficient in terms of volume, however, it results in a very flat pack which is not ideal for some types of retail display.

The packaging and presentation of goods for sale is nowadays an important part of selling a product to a consumer (and, before that, to a retailer). The provider of contact lenses is equally keen to adopt modern practices for marketing contact lenses. Packaging and presentation will become significantly more important, as distribution channels are gradually moving away from the "optician only" approach to more customer-oriented techniques, like self-selection from an in-store display.

Hitherto, for lenses manufactured in flat foils the manufacturer has little option but to provide the lenses in a flat box. If such flat boxes are is stacked flat, like plates on a shelf, only a very small display area is available on which to provide a distinctive sign that could differentiate the lenses from those from a competitor. Furthermore, the prescription for the lenses is normally printed on the foil. The foil is laid flat within the box and an opening is typically provided in the larger face of the box through which the prescription can be viewed. In this situation, it is not possible to display the prescription to a viewer without standing the box on its side. In order to do so results in a relatively tall box standing on a very shallow side, which is unstable. Locating this style of package on a shelf so that the prescription can be easily viewed can be precarious, and prone to being blown over by people walking by, or for the scenario of self-selection, prone to being disrupted by clumsy hands. Displaying a large selection of powers necessary to cater for individual prescriptions, would require a very large display area. Printing the power on the thin side of each box would greatly add to the cost of handling and brings risk of errors, which may not be noticed by the customer or retailer.

It is an object of the present invention to provide method and apparatus for packaging of small articles such as contact lenses that will be more suitable and/or more versatile for retail stocking and point-of-sale display, without adding greatly to production costs or handling. According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a package containing a number of contact lenses sealed within respective cavities, the cavities being defined by "blisters" arrayed in two dimensions on a common supporting sheet, characterised in that the form and spacing of the blisters and the sheet is such as to permit folding of the sheet between adjacent rows of blisters to form at least a right angle, with the blisters on the inside of said angle.

In a preferred embodiment, the blisters are formed individually and sealed to a common foil. The blisters of said two-dimensional array may alternatively be formed integrally in a single sheet, or integrally with the other blisters in each of said rows.

Folding the sheet of lenses in such a way allows a foil of lenses to be neatly fitted into a square or rectangular tubular box in a reasonable space-efficient manner. At the same time the package loses its large flat face, and many different prescriptions can be displayed side by side in a reasonable space. Importantly, printing on the foil itself can now be viewed on a narrow face of the pack, and indeed printing can optionally be viewed on all faces of the pack.

Folding the sheet to a right angle with the lenses on the inside is not possible with the applicant's previous design, because of shoulders on the blisters. Similar obstacles are present on competing suppliers' blister packs. However, once the appropriate design changes have been made to permit folding, the overall dimensions need not be any greater than for the known sheets. Accordingly, the invention provides a basic packaging unit which can be adapted to both bulk flat pack mail order and compact point-of-sale applications.

The package may be provided in a folded state so as to form a tube having as its narrowest sides a single row of blisters, or possibly a double row of blisters.

The package may be provided in a folded state so as to form a tube with four sides of equal width, each side formed by a single row of blisters. The package may be provided in a folded state so as to form a tube with at least three sides and a generally rectangular cross-section. In other words, the sheet in this case is folded at right angles in two or more places, with one or more rows of lenses between the folds.

"Rectangular" in this context includes square. If the sheet and cavities were formed to fold to an angle as acute as sixty degrees, then triangular shapes would become possible, allowing further creativity in packing design, but possibly a lower overall density.

The package in its folded form may further comprise means for retaining the sheet in its folded form. This may be a complete outer envelope, a sleeve, or a simple tab locally joining the sides of the sheet.

Where an outer envelope covers the sides of the package, one or more windows may be provided aligned with information printed on the sheet to permit viewing of said information without opening the package. "Window" in this context implies merely an aperture or transparent portion of the carton or other envelope

Where an outer envelope encases a plurality of such packages, windows may be provided to permit viewing information from each sheet.

The package may further comprise an accessory housed within a central space between the folded rows of blisters. The accessory may comprise an instruction leaflet, an order form for further lenses, or any item sized to fit.

The invention further provides a plurality of packages according to the invention as set forth above, presented in an array so as to permit selection of an individual one of said packages by reference to information printed on the supporting sheets thereof, each package being folded at least once between adjacent rows of blisters, so as to present a face smaller than the overall area of the sheet. The folded sheet, for example, in a four-sided tube and four lenses in length is also conveniently shaped for vertical stacking in a dispensing cabinet suitable for manual removal of one tube at the bottom and gravity replacement or by machine dispensing after payment by the customer.

The invention in a second aspect provides a method of packaging contact lenses comprising the steps of: providing a package containing a number of contact lenses sealed within respective cavities, the cavities being defined by "blisters" arrayed in two dimensions on a common supporting sheet, said sheet being printed with information on its face opposite the face carrying the blisters; and folding the sheet at least once between two adjacent rows of blisters, with the blisters on the inside of the fold, thereby to form a package having a face narrower than the face of the entire sheet, said narrower face presenting said printed information.

The narrow face may have the width of a single row of blisters.

The folded sheet may be combined with other similar sheets (folded or not) in a single package. In such a case, windows may be provided to permit viewing information from each sheet.

The fold may be made substantially to a right angle or an acute angle, although this is not essential to the method according to the present invention.

The sheet may be folded into the form of a tube. The tube may be of rectangular cross- section.

The folded sheet may be fitted with a closure to retain it in its folded form.

The folded sheet may be fitted within an outer envelope, the envelope being formed so as to permit viewing of said printed information. The outer envelope may comprise a sleeve or carton, with apertures of transparent portions to permit viewing of the printed information.

An accessory such as an instruction leaflet may be added to the package within a space created by the folding of the sheet.

A hanger may be provided on the package. This may be added separately or integrated with either the envelope or the sheet itself. The hanger may be a projecting loop or hook, or a hole in part of the package. It may be an accessory fitting partly within the central space of the folded tube.

The method may further comprise displaying a plurality of such packages in an array such that their narrow faces are presented side by side, so as to permit selection of individual packages by reference to the information printed on their respective sheets.

The packages for folding may be received from a production line also supplying packages for supply in an unfolded form, the printed information varying between packages. The packages for supply in folded and unfolded form maybe supplied from a common stock of unfolded packages, the printed information varying within said common stock.

The principle of the invention is not limited to the packaging of contact lenses, and may also be applied for example to any small article supplied in numbers, such as confectionery, pharmaceuticals, buttons, screws, nails and the like.

The "printed information" in any of the above aspects can take any form, and simple colour coding of the sheet material is encompassed within the meaning of that term as used herein.

These and other features and advantages of the invention will be understood from a consideration of the exemplary embodiments described below. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figs, la and lb are a plan and side elevation view respectively of a package made according to the invention, comprising a sheet of sterile 'blister' cavities, each containing a contact lens;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation view of sheets of the form shown in Figs la and lb, stacked in a nested fashion with blisters interleaved;

Fig. 3 is an end view of a sheet of four rows of blisters, folded in on itself to form a tube of lenses in accordance with a particular embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 4 is an end view of a sheet comprising six rows of blisters, folded to form a differently shaped tube;

Fig. 5 is an end view of nested folded sheets; and

Fig. 6 illustrates a point-of-sale package containing a tube of lenses of the type shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 7 illustrates an alternative point-of-sale package; and Fig. 8 shows a dispensing cabinet for tube packs of the type shown in Fig3 ; and

Figs. 8a and 8b are front and cut away side views of a dispensing cabinet containing packages of the type shown in Fig. 3. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Figs, la and lb illustrate in flat form a sheet of metal foil 100 carrying an array of contact lens blister cavities 110. Each cavity 110 contains a separate contact lens and preserving fluid (not shown) in a conventional manner. Typically the blister cavities are formed separately, assembled into an array and sealed by heat fusion to a common foil 100. Perforations 120 are provided in this example, to aid folding and tearing the foil between rows of lenses. Background details on the form and manufacture of such packs can be found in our co-pending applications, mentioned in the introduction to this application. Further detail need not be given here for an understanding of the present invention. The distinctive feature of the present pack is that the outer form of the blisters and their spacing is such as to permit folding of the sheet to an angle of 90° or less, with the blisters on the inside of the angle.

Various combinations of array sizes can be envisaged. For example, four rows of four lenses give an array of 4 x 4 = 16 lenses per sheet. Six sheets then gives 96 lenses, enough for a generous three month supply for one eye. Sheets of 4 x 5 = 20 lenses may be equally convenient, or 3 x 5 = 15 or 4 x 6 = 24 lenses per sheet.

Fig. 2 shows how a bulk pack of lenses can be assembled for supply to a user in a manner generally known per se. By off-setting the arrays of blisters in two dimensions, pairs of sheets can be nested to achieve a compact arrangement, in which each blister nestles in the space between four blisters of the opposite sheet. The novel form and spacing of the blisters in the present example also allows each pair of foils 200 to nest together so closely that the base of each blister touches or nearly touches the foil of the opposite sheet, giving the minimum possible pack height for carrying one month's supply, for example, or three months. In a particular embodiment, the height of the nested pair of foils is 7.7mm, so that three pairs can be stacked and packed within a height of 23mm, suitable for postal delivery through customers' letterboxes. The pitch of the individual blisters across the sheet is 25.2mm, so that, when offset and nested in pairs, a stack of 4 x 4 lens sheets has a width of 112.5mm (four-and-a-half times the pitch). As explained in the introduction, such packs are suitable for mail-order dispensing, but are not well-suited to point-of-sale display, or for supply in smaller quantities, such as for a fortnight. For this purpose, the folding properties of the novel sheet can be exploited.

Fig. 3 shows the end view of a sheet 100 having four rows of blisters, folded to make a pack 300 having a square tube configuration. The blisters are on the inside of the tube, making good use of the space and presenting a smooth outer surface. Importantly, any printed material such as lens power and batch information will be visible on the outer surface of the foil tube. Indeed, the batch information will be visible on four sides, rather than only one side as with the flat sheet. This square tube pack 300 might contain twelve, sixteen, twenty or twenty- four lenses, depending whether the sheet 100 has a 3 x 4, 4 x 4, 4 x 5 or 4 x 6 array of lens blisters. A small space remains down the centre of the tube. This can if desired be used for a rolled or folded instruction leaflet 310.

With the example dimensions given above with reference to Figure 2, the pitch between rows of lens blisters implies a square tube of width 25.2mm, with a length 100mm, for a 4 x 4 sheet. The central space between the domes of the blisters would be 11.4 mm wide at its narrowest.

In Fig. 4, a sheet having six rows of lenses is folded to form a tube pack 400 having a rectangular section. This tube again is well suited to point-of sale display. A folded leaflet 410 is shown inserted in the central cavity. In Fig. 5 a larger pack 500 comprises a unit square tube 510 nested within a large square tube having two units per side. The larger tube may be made from a single sheet having eight rows of lenses, or it may be formed from two sheets of four rows, meaning three identical sheets are carried in this pack.

Figs. 4 and 5 show just two of many alternative configurations possible with this type of sheet. If the spacing and form of the blisters permits folding to 60° or less, then tubes having a triangular section may be provided. The arrangement of blisters in the two- dimensional array need not be rectangular. Adjacent rows of blisters may be staggered, so that the dome of one blister folds partly into the space between two blisters in the neighbouring row. This may be appropriate where the blisters are deeper, to maintain a desired packing density.

The blisters in the packs as shown are formed individually and fused to a common foil 110. This creates natural fold lines between the rows. In an alternative embodiment, a whole row of blisters may be formed in a common body of plastic or other material, and these rows fused to a common foil, still leaving the fold lines between the rows.

In a yet further alternative embodiment, the entire two-dimensional array of blisters can be formed in a common sheet of plastic, similar to those used for packaging pharmaceutical pills or lozenges. In the packaging of pills, generally the blister is pressed flat from behind to force the product to break through the foil for use. In the packaging of contact lenses, however, the cavity is opened by peeling the foil without deforming the dish, and both dish and foil are more robust than would be used to package a pill. Where the blisters have been formed in a common sheet of more rigid plastic it may be necessary in that case to include lines of perforations or other weakening features in the blister sheet, to permit easy folding along a well-defined line in the sheet. The term "blister" most naturally refers to the last type, but is used herein to cover any form of cavity.

Fig. 6 shows one example of a complete point-of-sale package 600 including a unit square tube within an outer cardboard carton having slim side walls 604, 606 and an end flap closure 608. The end flap is fastened with a tamper-evident seal 610 such as a self-adhesive label. An aperture 612 is provided to align with information 614 printed on the foil of the sheet 100 contained within, in order that the strength of the lenses can be read directly from the foil, and date and batch number information can also be seen for quality & stock control.

Additional apertures 616 can be provided on the other faces of the carton, depending on the expected manner of display. In an embodiment where more than one sheet is included in an outer carton, the apertures may be provided such that some portion of each sheet is visible, allowing confirmation that all sheets within have the same prescription, for example. For example, a carton or other wrapper might be dimensioned to enclose two unit square tubes (2 x 16= 32 lenses), three, four or six tubes (6 x 16 = 96 lenses). In such arrangements, each tube has at least one printed surface facing outwards. In contrast, the conventional flat stacking shown in Fig 2 hides the faces of most of the sheets, and hence hides their identifying indicia.

Returning to the example shown in Figureό, a hook 618 is provided for hanging the package on a display stand. The hook may be formed integrally from the card of the carton in a well-known manner. A closed loop or other form of hanger may be equally suitable. A projection or a simple aperture formed integrally within the sheet itself may also serve for hanging.

Of course many varieties of package and display stand are known for point of sale display, and these can be adapted as desired to accommodate and display a range of contact lens strengths in an orderly and compact fashion, using the slimmer package afforded by folding the blister pack sheet 100. The carton may be made of clear or opaque plastic, rather than cardboard. If clear, then there may be no need to provide apertures for the reading of the information from the foil, or windows can be provided between printed designs or information on the carton. In choosing the form and materials of the outer envelope, pack weight and cost will be considerations, as well as cost of display space and the harshness of the particular environment for storage, handling and display.

An alternative to a square shaped surrounding tube would be a round tube of internal diameter slightly greater than the diagonal of the square. Whilst this configuration would take more space it would provide a very distinctive presentation with product differentiating and other marketing advantages. It may also suit dispensing of the type described below with reference to Figs. 8a/8b. Fig. 7 illustrates a minimal package 700 which comprises essentially the folded sheet 100 held in its tubular form by an adhesive tab 710. The printed information 614 on the foil is visible at every lens position on every side of the pack. A hook 712 can be provided by a shaped self-adhesive tab if desired. Obviously the package of Fig. 7 is less well protected than that of Fig. 6 which has a cardboard carton. Depending on the environment, therefore, the package of Fig. 7 may be of more use for stock held in racks or drawers behind the counter, rather than in the open accessible to customers.

An alternative form of outer envelope might be a film wrap or shrink-wrap of plastic film. This can of course be transparent and/or printed and coloured in very many ways. The wrap might itself hold the hanging hook in place. The hanger might be in the form of a stalk with a foot, adapted to be fed through the central space of the tube (or included during the folding operation). An example of such a hanger is illustrated in broken lines at 714.

It should be noted that the sheet need not be folded in more than one place, to allow a narrow face to be presented to the user with the information printed on the foil fully visible on the narrow face. Thus, a simple "L" cross-section may be presented, where one row of a sheet is turned at right angles to the bulk of the sheet. One such sheet, or two facing in opposite directions, can be accommodated in a package that has both narrow and broad faces, similar to known packages, but with the difference that the printed foil is now visible on the narrow face. Where a number of sheets are packed together, it may be that only an outer one or an outer pair have rows of blisters folded for this purpose, the others being nested flat against it in the conventional manner.

It should also be noted that the sheet need not necessarily be folded to a right angle to render a narrow face visible at point-of-sale. It may be possible to achieve satisfactory results by folding the end of a sheet to an obtuse angle. For this, packages may be angled slightly on their shelving, and a specially shaped carton may be provided, for example of a parallelogram cross-section. Figs. 8a and 8b illustrates one particular form of dispensing cabinet 800, in which individual packs 802, 804 etc. based on the 4 x 4 tube of Fig. 3 are held in channels 806, 808, 810 etc.. Twenty-five channels are shown for the sake of example, in a two- dimensional array. Each channel is stocked with lenses of a particular strength. The customer or sales person can withdraw one pack (802) from the foot of the appropriate channel, whereupon the stock (804 etc.) moves down by gravity to present a fresh pack in a manner well known for other small products. Feeding may be by a spring force or active conveyor instead of gravity. The stock may be visible or hidden. Such a dispensing cabinet can be readily adapted to an automatic vending apparatus, as well, where the user inserts payment and a pack of the appropriate prescription is released. Even in embodiments where the printed information is not available or even relevant, the folded tube pack is a convenient shape for automatic or semi-automatic dispensing. Similarly, the printed information may be visible to the person stocking the dispensing cabinet or vending machine, without necessarily being visible to the customer when making their selection. Machine-readable information such as bar codes may allow the machine itself to confirm the prescription is correct before dispensing a pack.

These variations and many others within the spirit and scope of the invention will be readily apparent to the skilled reader from a consideration of the examples and discussion above. The invention is not limited to the examples disclosed.

A significant advantage is provided in that the same manufacturing process results in either flat stack or folded foil. Apart from a simple folding action, no additional process steps are required between producing packs of contact lenses as a stack of interleaving sheets, or as one or more folded foils. This provides additional flexibility to cater for fluctuations in demand in flat-pack and folded foil products, allowing production between either to be readily switched to meet demand. Stock can be kept in the unfolded state and packed "just in time" according to demand. Substantially the same principal equipment and processes can be used to supply both markets, and even the configuration of folded package can be varied at will. Customers and intermediaries can also take comfort from the consistency of the foil package, and the assurance of consistent quality that this brings.

Claims

1. A package containing a number of contact lenses sealed within respective cavities, the cavities being defined by "blisters" arrayed in two dimensions on a common supporting sheet, characterised in that the form and spacing of the blisters and the sheet is such as to permit folding of the sheet between adjacent rows of blisters to form at least a right angle, with the blisters on the inside of said angle.

2. A package as claimed in claim 1 provided in a folded state so as to form a tube having as its narrowest sides either a single row or a double row of blisters.

3. A package as claimed in claim 1 or 2 provided in a folded state so as to form a tube with four sides of equal width, each side formed by a single row of blisters.

4. A package as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3 provided in a folded state so as to form a tube with at least three sides and a generally rectangular cross-section.

5. A package as claimed in claim 2, 3 or 4 further comprising means for retaining the sheet in its folded form.

6. A package as claimed in claim 2, 3, 4, or 5 wherein an outer envelope covers the sides of the package, and at least one window is provided aligned with information printed on the sheet to permit viewing of said information without opening the package.

7. A package as claimed in claim 6 wherein a plurality of such sheets are covered by a single outer envelope, and wherein windows are provided to permit of viewing information from each sheet, rather than only one of the enclosed sheets.

8. A package as claimed in any of claims 2 to 7 further comprising an accessory housed within a central space between the folded rows of blisters.

9. A package as claimed in claim 8 wherein said accessory comprises a leaflet.

10. A package as claimed in any of claims 2 to 9 wherein a hanger is provided on the package.

11. A package as claimed in any of claims 1 to 10 wherein said blisters are of a type formed individually or in said rows and subsequently joined to said supporting sheet, leaving a gap between said rows.

12. A display arrangement comprising a plurality of mdividual packages each made according to the invention of any preceding claim, the individual packages being presented in an array so as to permit selection of an individual one of said packages by reference to information printed on the supporting sheets thereof, each package being folded at least once between adjacent rows of blisters, so as to present a face smaller than the overall area of the sheet.

13. A method of packaging contact lenses comprising the steps of: providing a package containing a number of contact lenses sealed within respective cavities, the cavities being defined by "blisters" arrayed in two dimensions on a common supporting sheet, said sheet being printed with information on its face opposite the face carrying the blisters; and folding the sheet at least once between two adjacent rows of blisters, with the blisters on the inside of the fold, thereby to foπn a package having a face narrower than the face of the entire sheet, said narrower face presenting said printed information.

14. A method as claimed in claim 13 wherein the narrow face has the width of a single row of blisters.

15. A method as claimed in claim 13 or 14 wherein the folded sheet is combined with other similar sheets in a single package.

16. A method as claimed in claim 13, 14 or 15 wherein the fold is made substantially to a right angle or an acute angle.

17. A method as claimed in any of claims 13 to 16 wherein the sheet is folded into the form of a tube.

18. A method as claimed in claim 17 wherein the tube is of rectangular cross- section.

19. A method as claimed in any of claims 13 to 18 wherein the folded sheet is fitted with a closure to retain it in its folded form.

20. A method as claimed in any of claims 13 to 19 further comprising fitting the folded sheet within an outer envelope, the envelope being formed so as to permit viewing of said printed information.

21. A method as claimed in claim 20 wherein the outer envelope comprises a sleeve or carton, with one or more windows to permit viewing of the printed information.

22. A method as claimed in claim 21 wherein a plurality of such sheets are covered by a single outer envelope, and wherein windows are provided to permit of viewing information from each sheet, rather than only one of the enclosed sheets.

23. A method as claimed in any of claims 13 to 22 wherein an accessory such as an instruction leaflet is added to the package within a space created by the folding of the sheet.

24. A method as claimed in any of claims 13 to 23 wherein a hanger is provided on the package.

25. A package as claimed in any of claims 13 to 24 wherein said blisters are of a type formed individually or in said rows and subsequently joined to said supporting sheet, leaving a gap between said rows.

26. A method as claimed in any of claims 13 to 25 wherein a number of packages for folding are received from a production line also supplying packages for supply in an unfolded form, the printed information varying between packages received over time.

27. A method as claimed in claim 28 wherein the packages for supply in folded and unfolded form are supplied from a common stock of unfolded packages, the printed information varying within said common stock.

28. A method as claimed in any of claims 13 to 27 further comprising displaying a plurality of such packages in an array such that their narrow faces are presented side by side, so as to permit selection of individual packages by reference to the information printed on their respective sheets.