Bottles and jars – Closures – Having warning means or means impeding closure removal
Utility Patent
1999-05-04
2001-01-02
Shoap, Allan N. (Department: 3727)
Bottles and jars
Closures
Having warning means or means impeding closure removal
C215S043000, C215S044000
Utility Patent
active
06168035
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates in general to child-resistant closing caps and closures which are designed for closing off the dispensing outlet of a container where access to the contents within the container by young children is to be limited or restricted in some fashion. More specifically the present invention relates to such child-resistant closures which are threaded and designed for a two-step removal procedure. The removal procedure generally involves the manual release of abutting or engaging tabs and portions. Related aspects of the present invention involve structural configurations which are specifically designed to restrict the ability of a young child to remove the closure by using his or her teeth. These aspects of the present invention can be utilized with or without the two-step removal procedure.
A variety of child-resistant closures are known to exist, some of which include threaded caps which cooperate with a corresponding container so as to prevent removal of the cap without first performing a manual manipulation which is intended to disengage a portion of the cap from a portion of the container. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,989,152 which issued Nov. 2, 1976 to Juilian, child-resistant locking means are provided as part of a twist-action cap for a container, the locking means having two cooperating parts. There is an abutment on the container near, but spaced radially from, the container neck and a tab on the cap which engages the abutment and prevents retrograde rotation of the cap. The tab is flexed inwardly in order to be moved past the abutment, both when the cap is screwed onto the container neck and when it is desired to remove the cap from the container neck. In other closure designs, inner and outer closure sidewalls are used to provide the child-resistant feature.
When ratchet or abutment portions on the closure and container are used to provide the child-resistant feature, they are typically positioned 180 degrees apart. The two-step removal procedure for these designs typically involves the concurrent, manual release of one or more abutting or engaging portions between the closure and the container followed by retrograde rotation of the closure followed by a second (concurrent) manual release manipulation. The key is to size one or more of the abutting or engaging portions with an axial height suitable to cause a second abutment after closure rotation, typically 180 degrees. The thread pitch of the closure and container also needs to be compatible with this intent, since the pitch controls how much axial movement there is of the closure relative to the container outlet during the 180 degrees of closure rotation.
What has been discovered is that with some smaller diameter closures, young children can span the closure outside diameter with their teeth. The upper and lower teeth of a young child, when placed around the diameter of the closure, are roughly 180 degrees apart and accordingly would likely be aligned with the oppositely-disposed child-resistant features on the closure. It is therefore a possibility that a young child could unintentionally release the abutment or engagement of the closure from the container when using the teeth to try and remove the closure from the container. If a two-step removal procedure is designed into the closure-container combination, then the child has to rotate the closure and repeat the release procedure.
In order to improve on the design of child-resistant closure/container systems of the type described with 180 degree spacing for the abutment or engagement features, the present invention provides staggered spacing of 160-200 degrees for the child-resistant features. In this way, the teeth of a young child, which will typically be 180 degrees apart when grasping the outside diameter of the closure, will not be aligned with the child-resistant features due to the 20 degree offset. On larger closures, children may use their teeth to try and pry the closure off of the container, but with these larger diameter closures, it will be assumed that the closure cannot be gasped between the upper and lower teeth. There are actually two embodiments available for incorporating the 160/200 degree spacing. The abutment tabs on the container and the tabs on the cap can both be set at a spacing of 160/200 degrees. Alternatively, one of these two structural members can be designed with 180/180 degree spacing while the other member includes the 160/200 degree spacing. However, only when both structural members are at the same spacing will a simultaneous double release be required. The preferred staggered spacing of 160/200 degrees for the closure is selected to be far enough away from 180/180 degrees that the teeth cannot engage both tabs, but close enough to permit relatively easy removal by adults.
As an added safeguard, the present invention incorporates a blocker bead located adjacent each child-resistant tab or abutment portion on the closure which tab needs to be manually depressed in order to release the closure and allow it to be removed from the container outlet. Any attempt by a young child to compress the child-resistant tab causes the corresponding and adjacent blocker bead to be contacted before the child-resistant tab is pushed radially inwardly far enough for release and this prevents the child-resistant tab from being released.
Based upon the design enhancements offered by the present invention, improvements are made to the state of the art for devices and designs of this type. What results is an improved child-resistant closure/container product.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A closure cap and container combination which includes a child-resistant feature according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises a container outlet and a closure cap. The container outlet includes an externally-threaded sidewall which defines a dispensing opening and an outer annular skirt which is positioned at the base of the sidewall. The closure cap is constructed and arranged for threaded assembly onto the container outlet for closing the dispensing opening, the closure cap including an internally-threaded outer wall which defines a hollow interior, a top surface for closing one end of the hollow interior, and a pair of circumferentially spaced-apart abutment ribs integrally formed as part of the outer wall, each abutment rib including a free end and being constructed and arranged for riding over each abutment projection during the threaded advance of the closure cap onto the outlet and for abutting engagement against a corresponding one of the abutment projections during attempted retrograde removal of the closure cap from the outlet, each of the pair of abutment ribs being manually movable in a radially inward direction for taking the corresponding abutment rib out of abutting engagement and wherein the circumferential spacing between the pair of abutment ribs in a clockwise direction is different from the circumferential spacing in a counterclockwise direction.
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Merek Joe
Rieke Corporation
Shoap Allan N.
Woodard Emhardt Naughton Moriarty & McNett
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