Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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KW100289/903.1.060 D 8565
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SCREW CLOSURE FOR CHILD-PROOF CAP
BACKGROUND ,~
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1.0 Field Of The Invention~
This invention relates generally to child-proof caps, and
particularly to such caps that include a screw closure.
2.0 iscussion, of Related Art:
In the context of the invention, screw closures are
understood to be closures which can be simultaneously pressed
in radially and turned in the peripheral direction with one
hand. Since children at the dangerous age do not have the
necessary abstractive faculty to exert these two forces or
movements, closures of the type in question are said to be
child-proof. The screw closure itself may consist of various
materials and may be associated with containers of any type,
but especially bottles.
Known child-proof screw closures for bottles,
particularly medicine bottles of various kinds, are small in
size to correspond ~to the 'relatively small volume of this
particular application. If the closure caps of relatively
large containers, for example for laundry or dishwashing
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detergents, were simply to be scaled-up versions of the screw ,, ,'',~'
20 caps of medicine bottles, the radial depression forces required ,
to release the child-proof closure would be far too great for , ,,~,,
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practical convenience. Since the area to be depressed also
becomes larger with the increase in geometric scale, any
reduction in the necessary depression force may risk
unintentional release of the child-proof closure.
3.0 Summary Of The Invention:
An object of the present invention is to provide a child-
proof screw closure which can be used on small containers, and
also particularly on relatively large containers of the type
preferably used for laundry and dishwashing detergents, and for
which closure is easy to use.
This and other objects of the invention are provided by a
child-proof screw closure comprising a screw cap designed to be
opened by simultaneous radial depression of at least one press-
in zone and screwing rotation of the cap. Typically, the cap
is mounted on a container including a thin bottle-like neck.
One embodiment of the invention includes at least one tilting
flange extending parallel to the screw axis, and designed to
pivot about a tilt axis extending substantially tangentially of
the screw axis. The flange is mounted in one piece in the wall
of the screw cap via an elastic web of material forming the
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tilt axis. At its lower longitudinal end facing the container,
the tilting flange is provided on the inside with at least one
locking tooth designed to engage in a groove provided on the
neck part of the thread. The press-in zone consists of the
longitudinal end, opposite the locking tooth, of the tilting
flange on the head of the screw cap.
The child-proof closure provided by the invention is a
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ock which can be locked and unlocked by pivoting a tilting
flange in the form of an axially extending longitudinal strip
of the screw cap. To press in or actuate the tilting flange,
it is merely necessary to overcome the resilience of the
constituent material of the web forming the tilt axis.
Although, according to the invention, pressing in or
rather unlocking is possible with relatively little force, the
force has to be applied to a certain point of the tilting
flange. A child at the dangerous age does not have the
necessary abstractive faculty to perform the same movements at
the same time, and also to find certain pressure points.
In another embodiment, the child-proof closure further
includes not one tilting flange, but two tilting flanges
diametrically opposite one another (relative to the screw
axis). Each tilting flange is provided with a locking tooth
for the associated groove in the neck of the container.
Unnoticed opening of an unused container provided with
the screw closure is eliminated, according to yet another
embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment each tilting
flange, apart from the web of material forming the tilt axis,
is connected to the adjoining material of the screw cap solely
by at least the originality bridge. An originality closure
such as this, equivalent to lead sealing, may advantageously
consist of a bridge of material between the wall of the screw
cap and the press-in zone of the tilting flange.
The possibility of compression-molding, extruding or
otherwise forming this component in one piece facilitates
production and assembly of the screw closure. In one
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~"~émbodiment particularly advantageous in this regard, the screw
cap with its substantially cylindrical outer wall is made
double-walled, between the surface of its cover remote from the
container and the radial web of material forming the tilt axis,
with a sufficient radial distance between the inner and outer
walls for the tilting required to disengage the locking tooth
from the groove. The screwthread required for screwing the
closure on its inside may thus be formed on the inside of the
inner wall. As a result, the screwthread is not affected by
the child-proof locking mechanism.
As already mentioned, the screw closure may be made of
any material suited to the particular application. For
containers for laundry and dishwashing detergents, the one-
piece screw cap should be made of a plastics material which is
resistant in particular to hypochlorites and surfactants.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
One example of an embodiment of the invention is
described in detail below with reference to the accompanying
drawings, in which like items are identified by the same
reference number, wherein:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of the screw closure on
the neck of a bottle, for one embodiment of the invention.
Figure 2 is a perspective view, partly in section, with
the closure unscrewed from the neck of the container, of the
one embodiment of the invention.
Figure 3 is a perspective view, looking obliquely from
below, of the closure shown in Figures 1 and 2.
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Referring to Figures 1 to 3, the child-proof screw
closure consists of a screw cap globally denoted by the
reference 1, with tilting flanges or cheeks 3 which are
integrated in diametrically opposite, axially extending
longitudinal strips from its wall 2, and which are connected to
the main body of the screw cap 1 solely by webs 5 of material
acting at a tilt axis 4. The tilt axis 4 may be regarded in
approximate terms as a chord or tangent of the basically
cylindrical screw cap 1.
The screw cap 1 is optionally substantially symmetrical
in relation to its screw axis 6. The important feature of the
tilt axis 4 or the web 5 of material forming the tilt axis 4 is
the resilient force which it exerts on the tilting cheek 3 so
that normally i.e. in the absence of external influences, the
tilting cheek 3 occupies the locking position described in
detail hereinafter. The bending of the web 5 or the axis 4 in
accordance with the circumference of the cylinder is desirable
in that it adds to or increases this resilient force.
In practical application, the screw cap 3 is screwed with
its inner thread 7 onto an outer thread 8 on the neck 9 of a
container 10. on the neck 11, the outer thread 8 comprises at
least one groove 13 in a locking ring 12. As shown, the groove
13 is provided with a substantially sawtooth-like stop 14 so
that a locking tooth 16~ (see FigUre 3) provided on the inside
of the tilting cheek 3 at the lower longitudinal end 15 facing
the container 10 can engage in the groove 13 via rotation of
the screw cap 1. Under the effect of the resilience in the web
5 of material, the locking tooth 16 is normally, i.e. in the
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locking position, pressed into the groove 13. The shapes of
the groove 13 and the locking tooth 16 are selected so that the
screw cap 1 cannot be turned without unlocking.
The screw cap 1 is unlocked by moving the tilting cheek 3
in the direction of the arrow 19 by radially depressing the
press-in zone 18 adjoining the cover zone 17 of the screw cap 1
facing the container 10 above the tilt axis 4. As a result,
the lower longitudinal end 15 of the tilting cheek 3 is lifted
radially, substantially relative to the (cylinder) wall 2, from
the peripheral surface of the screw cap 1. To facilitate this
movement via a user, it is preferred that arrows 19 be provided
on the surface 17 of the cover, for indicating the depressing
direction. ;
In principle, the tilting cheek 3 is only joined to the
body of the screw cap 1 by the substantially radial webs 5 of
material. Accordingly, an encircling slot 20 is provided, and
also extends through the surface 17 of the cover. The slot 20
may be interrupted by originality bridges 21 only before the ~-
container is used for the first time. The originality bridges
21 are best provided in the wall 2 on one or both sides of the
press-in zone 18. When the screw cap is depressed for the
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first time in the direction of the arrow 19, the originality
bridges 21 are broken. Accordingly, an important advantage of
the invention is that it is easy to tell whether or not the
closure has been opened.
For the production and handling of the closure, it has
proved to be favorable to make the screw cap 1 double-walled
between the surface 17 of the cover and the pivot axis 4 or the ;
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~eb 5 of material. In this case, the screw cap 1 consists of
the outer wall 2 and an inner wall 22 which carries the inner
screwthread 7, and at its lower end 23 facing the container 10,
is connected to the tilting cheek 3 by the web 5. The mutual
radial distance between the outer wall 2 and the inner wall 22
is sufficient for the tooth 16 to be able to slide completely
out of the groove 13, when the press-in zone is depressed in
the direction of the arrow 19.
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