Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
6)45~79
~his invention relates to safety closure~ for con-
; tainers and more particularly to safety closures which may not
be removed from a container by young children and which require
manipulation b~ a person having adult gripping and reasoning
powersO A closure cap is provided for sealing medicine packages
and other packa~s where it is desirable -to prevent free acc~ss
to the contents and to protect young children and others ~rom
harm by u~authorized or a~cidental use of the products.
~ A variet~ of such safety closures have been designed
- 10 for use with medicine and other potentiall~ dangerous products.
~hese prior designs have in certain cases been e~fective but
have been found to be too dif~icult for use by normal adults.
- In other cases, safety clos~res have been too easily removed
b~ ~oung children or have been undul~ complicated either in the
closure structure or in their use of a special and relatively
expensive cooperating ~inish on the glass or other contai~er.
Additionally, prior safety closure caps in many cases are not
readily applied to containers during the i~itial sealing opera-
tion b~ co~ventional closure cap hopperin~ feeding~ sealing~
labeling~ and inspecting machinery.
These objections are overcome by the provision of a
clo~ure cap having an inner and an outer shell whiGh are
rotatabl~ interconnectedO A ratchet coupling means is provided
for locking the shells together onl~ when they are tur~ed onto
a container and a second connecting means~ activated b~ a~
appropriately applied pre~sure ~rip of the user~ is provided
to interlock the shell~ for closure cap removalO
Accordingly? an object of -the present invention i8 to
provide an improved safet~ closureO
Another object of the i~vention is to provide a sa~et~
closure which is characterized ~ being easil~ applied during
the initial sealing~ which re~ists removal by children, and
which is readil~ removed by responsible adult~
~''~ ` ''
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~ ~ 045~79
Another object of the invention is to proviae an
improved safet~ package comprising an improved ~afet~ closure
and a container with a conventi.o~al closure engaging means. ~.
Another object of th~ inventlon is to provide an
e~fective safet~ closure which is relativel~ easily manufac-
tured and which ma~ be handled by conventional contai~er sealing
machiner~
`- Other and further objects of the i~vention will be
- obvious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiments
about to be described or will be indicated in the appended
claims, and various advantages ~ot referred to herein will
occur to one skilled in the art upon employment of the inve~tion ~:
in practic~
~ preferred embodiment of the i~ventio~ has been
chosen for purpose~ of illustration and descriptio~ and is
shown in the accompanying draw mgs, ~orming a part of the
speci~ication~ wherein:
FIG. 1 is a perspeotive view of a preferred embodi- -
ment of a safet~ package sealed with the safety closure of the
inventio~O
FIG. 2 i~ a perspective view showing the package o~
FIG. 1 with the closure cap removed. :
FIG~ 3 is a perspective view, partiall~ cut away, -
illu~trati~g a preferre~ embodiment of the safety closure cap.~
FIG. 4 is an e~ploded per~pective view of the closure :;
cap of FIGo 30
~IG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of the closure eap
of FIG. 3 applied to the threaded neck of a glasæ contai~erO
FIGS. 6 and 7 are horizontal sectional views o~ the
closure cap of ~IG. 3 illustrating a coupli~g ratchet i~ it~ :
cap appl~ing and in its cap removal actio~s, respectivel~O
FIGo 8 is a vertical sectional view of the sealed
package of ~IG~ 5 illustrating the removal of the safety
.
~` ~045~)79
~ closure from the container.
`~ FIG~o 9 and 10 are horizontal sectional views illus-
trati~g the closure removal loching means in its cap sealing
and in its cap remo~al po~ition~;~ ré~pe¢tivel~O
FIGo 11 is a perspec,~i.ve ~iew of another embodiment
o~ a package sealed with a safety closureO
` ~G. 12 is a vertical sectional view of the package
. . .
of ~IG~ 11 illustrating the removal of the closure from the
¢ontai~ler.
~ 10 ~IG. 13 is an exploded perspective view o~ the safety
; closure of ~IG~ 12~ `
; ~IG. 14 is a perspective view of a still further
embodiment of a sa~ety package sealed with a safety closure.
~ IG~ 15 is a vertical sectional view of the sealed
package of FIG o 14~
FIG~ 16 is an exploded perspective view of the safety
closure ¢ap of ~IGo 15~
~ preferred embodiment of the safety packa~e and the
safety closure cap will now ~e dsscribed with re~erence ta
.. . . ` 20 ~IGSo 1 thro~gh 104
.; .
FIG, 1 illustrates a tgpical package 1 of the t~p~
used ~or products such as medicines ~here it is ad~antageou~
to have a safety closureO ~he package 1 i~cludes a glass or
plasti¢ contai~ler 2 ~ealed by a safetg closure cap 3 in accordance
with the present invention. ~he safety closure cap 3 is removed
b~ the user~s manipulating the cap 3 in a particular way and
which~ as will be described below, is a manner not readil~ per- ;
formed by small childre~ or by other irresponsible personsO In
~IG. 2 the cap ~ is ~hown removed from the container 2 whi~h has
~ con~entional neck portion 4 including a closure e~gaging mean~
such as a screw thread 5 similar to that used for engaging
regular molded plastic or other closure ¢ap~
~he pre~erred embodiment of the safety clo~ure cap 3
~3-
~ ~045079
in accordance with the present invention includes a cup-shaped
.outer shell 6 rotatabl~ attachecl to a smaller nesting inner
shell 70 Relative rotation is provided ~or b~ the loose ~it
between the shells. ~he two shells 6 and 7 are held in their
nested position as illustrated i.n ~IGS. 3 and 5 b~ an inwardly -
proaecting bead 8 on the lower edge of the skirt 9 of thé outer
. cap shell 6~ When the safety closure cap 3 is applied to the
container 2 during a regular sealing operation~ as with auto-
matic sealing e~uipment or otherwise, it i8 desirable that the
inner and outer shells 6 and 7 turn as a unit when sealing
torque is applied to the outer surface of the outer shell 60 In
order to provide this result~ a ratchet 10 is provided for lock-
ing the shells 6 and 7 ~or simultaneou~ action when the outer
shell 6 is turned onto the container 2. ~he ratchet 10 provides
no interlock when the outer shell 6 is turned in the opposite
or the cap removing direction. ~he ratchet 10 thus permits the
outer shell 6 to turn ~reel~ on the inner shell 7 and the con-
tai~er 2 when the user attempts to remove the closure cap 3 .
from the.¢ontainer 2 in the ordinar~ wayO
A cir¢ular cavity 11 is provided in the underside o~
the outer cap shell 6 cover 12 to recei~e the ratchet pawl
members l~o ~he generally circular edge o~ the cavit~ 11 has
a number of ratchet teeth 14 (~IG~ 6) ~ormed on it with generall~
radiall~ oriented pawl engaging ~urfaces 15 as best seen in
~IGo 60 A plurality of the M exible pawl members 13 are inte-
grally formed on -the top 16 o~ the inner shell 7~. ~his unitary
construction includes a support section 17 pre~erably mol~ed a~ .
an integral por-tion o~ the inner shell top 16 from which the
~lexible pawl ~embe~s 13 project0 ~he above described pawl 10
i5 conveniently ~ormed as a u~itary molded member with the ~ :
inner shell 7 including the skirt 18 and container engaging
threads 19 (~IG. 5)0
When the outer shell 6 is turned in a clockwise
1045~79
: direction (FIG~ 6) during cap application, the ratchet teeth
14 move into engagement with the pointed outer ends 20 of the
pawl members 1~ causing the inner shell 7 to turn with the
outer shell 6 and causing the CGlp threads 19 to turn on-to the
complementG~ry threads 5 on the container neck 40
When the outer cap shell 6 is turned in the opposite
: or counterclockwise direction~ as shown in ~IG. 7~ the ratchet
teeth 14 snap over the flexible pawl member 13 permitting the
outer shell 6 to rotate on the inner shell 7 so that the
ratchet 10 provides no coupling force to permit the disengage-
ment of the cap and container threads
An independent interlocking mean~ is provided for
. releasably connecting the inner and outer cap shells 6 and j
for cap removal~ ~his means comprises a flexible lower portion
of the skirt 9 of the outer cap shell 6 and the adjacen~ outer
~ur~ace of the skirt 18 inner cap shell 7. In order tc remove
the cap 3~ the skirt 9 of the outer cap shel~ 6 must be pre~sed
inwardly using a firm finger pressure in the ma~ner illustrated
in FIGSo 1 and 8. ~his pressure on the cap skirt 3 which only
may be satis~actoril~ applied by a person with mature hands~
results in an interlock between the skirt portion~ 9 and 18 of
the two cap shells 6 and 7 and permits the user to turn the
inner shell 7 along with the outer shell 6 to turn the cap 3
from the container i~ the manner illustrated in ~IG. 2. ~hi~
cap removal action i~ facilitated by the use o~ a number of
spaced slots 22 on the inner surface o~ the outer shell 6~kirt 9
and a similar number of cooperating lugs or proaection~ 21
positioned on the outer sur~ace of the skirt 18 o~ the inner
cap shell 7.
A~ the user presses inwardly o~ the closure ¢ap skirt
9 and turns the outer shell 6~ the slots 22 and lugs 21 will : :
become aligned a~d engaged in the manner illustrated in FIG. 10 :
permitting the clo~ure cap 2 to be tur~ed off of the container 3'~
.
: 1045~79
~he thickn~ss of the skirt 9 of the outer cap shell 6 is
proportioned so that the ~ecessary skirt deforma~ion required
. for cap removal ma~ only be obtained by a user having both
:- ma~ure finger size and strength.
he shell~ 6 and 7 of the closure cap 3 may be molded
.: from conven-tional plastics presently used for molded clo~ure
caps with the ~hell dimensions being proportioned to proYide
the necessar~ cap strength and with the skirt portions of the
..
inner and outer shells being given a t~ick~ess which permits
the necessary ækirt de~ormation for cap remo~al only under
~ature ~inger pressuresO A sealing gasket 23 iQ provided within
the in~er cap shell 7.
~ IGSo 11 through 13 illustrate another embodiment o~
the inventionO A safet~ closure cap 30 seals a container 31
. and has a similar ratchet coupling 32 and a modified cap removal
` coupling 33f34'0
As illustrated in ~IG. 12~ an inner shell 35 and an
outer shell 36 are connected b~ a connecting bearing 37 and a
coupling pin ~8. The closure cap 30 and the ratche~ 32 operate
in the manner described above during cap application to provide
for the simultaneous rotation of the inner shell 35 and the
outer shell 36~ A friction or interlocking action between the .
¢ap shell skirts 39 and 40 of the inner shell 35 and the outer
shell 36 causes the ~ap threads 42 to turn ~n the container
threads 43 for ~ap removal. In the embodiment of the removal
- coupling illu~trated, a knurled or roughened zone 33 is formed ~;
on the skir~ 40 of the outer shell.36 and a number of spaced
grippin~ proaections 34, which ma~ ha~e friction surface~ are
provided on the outer surface of the skirt 39 of the inner shell
30. 350 A sealing gasket 41 is proviaéd within the inner cap shell
350
Another embodiment of the safety closure cap in
accordance with the invention is ill~strated at 50 in ~IGS. 14
-6-
1045~)79
through 16. ~he cap 50 has a similar arrangement of inner and
ou-ter shells 51 and 52 with a ratchet means 53 for a cap appli-
cation and with a separate user gripped ring 54 for cap removal.
The in~er shell 51 and outer shell 52 are connected by a bearing
bu~ton 61 with the ratchet means 53 including pawl arms 62 on
the inner shell 51 and cooperating ratchet teeth 56 (~IG. 15)
on the outer shell 52~ The interlocking means for cap removal
comprises the exposed gripping ring 54 a-t the bottom of the
inner cap shell 51 which exposes a limited gripping surface 55
for cap remo~alO ~he surface 55 is gripped by the package user
to turn the inner shell 51 on the container 60 to disengage the
cap threads 57 and contai~er threads 58~ ~he surface 55j for
example~ may have a vertical exposed surface of about one-
sixteenth or so of an inch on ar~gular 28 millimeter medicine
cap ha~ing a cap skirt 59 of about one-half an inch. This
,;
i relatively small surface ma~ only be gripped sufficientl~
tightly for cap removal by mature fingers. ~he cap 50 is
i~ removed in the manner illustrated in FIGo 14 b~ the user gripping
!~;` the exposed surface 55 of the ring 54 together with the skirt
portion 59 on the outer shell 52 above ito Otherwise, the ou-ter
cap shell 52 rotates freel~ on the inner s~ell 51 and thus on
the sealed container 60 with the ratchet 53 only providing a
coupling when the cap 50 is turned in the cap application
direction~
; Ib will be seen that an improved safet~ closure cap
, .
has been provided which combines convenience of initial sealing
together with a capability of being removed only by mature
product users. The cap is9 for example~ incapable of being
, . .
removed by small children or other incompetent persons. ~ho
improved safety closure ma~ be ~ormed of only two principal
portions which are easily molded from existing plastic materials
i~ conventional cap manufacturing equipm~nt~
A relatively simple and ef~eotive safet~ closure cap
:, .
~7~
~;, . .. .. . ., ~ " . . . .
~IV4S~79
is provided for use on a variety of containers and particularly
~; for use on medicine packages where the produ¢t is potentiall~
dangerouæ for use by immature persons.
~,~ As various changes ma~y be made in the form, construc-
.; -tion and arrangement of the parts herein withou't departing from
the spirit and scope of the invention and without sacrificing
..any of its advantages, it is to be understood that all matter
herein is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limit-
ing senseO
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