GB2080777A

GB2080777A - A container with a safety closure

Info

Publication number: GB2080777A
Application number: GB8121639A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1980-07-15
Filing date: 1981-07-14
Publication date: 1982-02-10
Also published as: DK305480A; DE3127974A1; SE8104339L; IT8109473A0; DK148406C; DK148406B; FR2486914A1; IT1167943B; FI812154L; IT8111710V0; JPS5755859A; AU7284981A; NO812419L

Abstract

A container with a safety closure, preferably a medicine bottle, has a cap (34), as shown a screw cap, which is to be turned when applied or removed, and a blocking mechanism in the form of a resilient blocking means (38) on a collar (32) securely mounted on the neck and a stop face (41) on the closure cap. The cap has an area of reduced wall thickness which in the closed position is opposite the blocking means and makes it possible to act on said means by pressure from the outside. When the cap is turned in the direction of removal from the closed position the stop face engages the blocking means and prevents further turning, unless the blocking means is caused to clear the stop face by applying a pressure to said area of the closure cap. Alternatively blocking means (38) may be moulded directly on neck (31). <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A container with a safety closure The invention relates to a container, preferably a bottle for packing medicine, comprising a closure cap that may be applied and removed by turning, and a resilient blocking means mounted or formed on the container or a collar securely fitted thereon, said blocking means being engaged by a stop face of the closure cap upon turning of the closure cap in the direction of removal from the closed position when the blocking means is in its unaffected position.

Such containers with safety closures serve to impede the removal of the closure sufficiently for children and others who are ignorant of the dangers presented by the contents of the container to be unable to open the container, which may e.g. be a medicine or pill bottle, without the opening operation becoming so difficult as to cause problems to the qualified user.

Safety closures are known which have a sleeve turnable fitted around the closure cap and a coupling means operable for interconnecting the cap and the sleeve so that turning of the sleeve will also result in turning of the closure cap. The coupling means may assume various configurations and be e.g. a loose key or a resilient part of or on the sleeve, which part may be pressed into engagement with a projection of the closure cap. Safety closures of this type are relatively expensive to manufacture, and it applies to most of them that they are difficult to operate for elderly people with weak hands and fingers. In other safety closures the closure cap has an opening through which the block means is operable with a finger or a tool. Such constructions generally provide inadequate safety against unauthorized opening.

The object of the invention is to provide a safety closure of the present type which is reliable in operation and inexpensive to manufacture and provides excellent safety against unauthorized opening.

This object is achieved in that the closure cap fully or partly consists of a resilient material and is so arranged that it allows the blocking means to be operated to cancel the blocking by external pressure on the closure cap. The low costs compared to said known constructions are i.a. due to the absence of any outer sleeve turnably mounted on the closure cap, and the reliability in operation can be ascribed to the fact that the resilient blocking means can easily be so arranged that in normal conditions its freedom of movement will hardly be restricted significantly by impurities or material from the container. Safety against unauthorized opening is provided for in that the container with applied closure cap has no features readily visible from the outside that will reveal or suggest how to remove the closure cap.

In simple embodiments, the blocking means is constituted by a leaf spring attached to the container or to the collar or is constituted by a tongue integrally formed with the container or the collar.

When the cylindrical wall of the closure cap has a reduced wall thickness in an area adjacent the stop face, the blocking means may be operated by the thin wall portion being pressed against said means.

Both the thin wall portion and the stop face may be provided by a substantially wedge-shaped recess whose truncated end face is parallel with the axis of the closure cap. Expediently, the truncated end face of the substantially wedge-shaped recess is disposed essentially in an axial plane, or the substantially wedge-shaped recess is so disposed at the lower edge of the closure cap that it is downwardly open.

In still another embodiment of the safety closure the stop face is formed with a groove for receiving the end of the blocking means when the closure cap is in its closed position. This reduces the risk of undesirable opening because the closure cap is to be turned through a small angle in the direction of application before the blocking means is pressed inwards to cancel the blocking.

The invention will be explained more fully below by way of example only and with reference to the drawing, in which Figure 1 is a prespective view of an embodiment of the safety closure of the invention, used in connection with a bottle, and Figure 2 is a sectional view of a detail of a modified embodiment of the container with a safety closure of the invention.

In the drawing 30 represents the upper part of a bottle, preferably of glass, whose neck 31 has securely attached to it a collar 32 of a strong, elastic material, such as e.g. polypropylene, polystyrene or nylon. The collar 32 is formed with external threads 33 and an end flange 43 defining a central opening 44. The collar 32 is also formed with a bead 36 that extends along the lower edge and is slitted as shown at 37. One end section 38 of the bead, resulting from the slitting operation, is spaced from the rest of the closure cap and forms a resilient blocking means, which in its shown, inoperative position protrudes radially from the fixed portion of bead. The collar 32 may be manufactured by injection moulding.

A closure cap 34 has a skirt 45 with internal threads 35, and an end wall 46. The closure cap 34 also has a sleeve part 39 at its lower edge, this sleeve part has a slightly greater diameter than the rest of the closure cap and serves to receive the bead 36 of the collar 32. The interior face of the sleeve part 39 is formed with a substantially wedge-shaped recess 40 that extends along a section of the lower edge of the sleeve part and has a truncated end face 41 which forms a stop face intended to cooperate with the blocking means 38 on the collar 32. The recess 40 defines a thin-walled sleeve area 42, the location of which may be marked on the exterior of the sleeve.

When the cap 34 is screwed onto the collar 32, the blocking means 38 is pressed inwards by the sleeve part 39. The wedge-shaped recess 40 and the blocking means 38 are preferably so disposed with respect to each other and to the threads 33 and 35 that upon short turning of the closure cap from the closed position, the stop face 41 engages the end of the blocking means 38 which thus prevents further turning. The blocking may be cancelled by pressing the thin-walled area 42 of the sleeve 39 inwards by means of a finger, said area being sufficiently resilient to allow the blocking means 38 to be pressed so far inwards that the stop face 42 can pass it. The closure cap may then be screwed off without further obstuctions.

In the modified embodiment of the blocking means 38 shown in Figure 2 the blocking means has a wedge-shaped cross-section, and the end of the blocking means engages, in the closed position of the cap, a groove 47 provided in the stop face 41.

This arrangement renders it impossible to press the blocking means inwards before the closure cap has been turned through such an angle in the direction of application that the blocking means clears the groove 47.

The shown and described constructions may be modified in many ways. For example, there may be two or more angular spaced blocking means, and these blocking means may operate with the same stop face of their respective stop faces. Further, the blocking means might optionally be formed in the end flange of the collar instead of in its cylindrical wall. The part cooperating with the closure cap does not have to be an applied collar, but may constitute an integral part of a bottle consisting entirely of an elastic plastics material.

Also, it is possible to use several other forms of blocking means than the shown and described ones.

The blocking means may e.g. be a leaf spring which at one end is embedded in or otherwise secured to the collar or the container neck. The blocking means may also be e.g. a spring loaded pin movable between an advanced blocking position and a retracted release position. The recess 40 in the closure cap may also have other configurations than the one shown and does not have to be disposed as far as at the lower edge of the closure cap.

Claims

1. A container, preferably a bottle for pacing medicine, comprising a closure cap that may be applied and removed by turning, and a resilient blocking means mounted or formed on the container or a collar securely fitted thereon, said blocking means being engaged by a stop face of the closure cap upon turning of the closure cap in the direction of removal from the closed position when the blocking means is in its unaffected position, characterized in that the closure cap fully or partly consists of a resilient material and is so arranged that it allows the blocking means to be operated to cancel the blocking by external pressure on the closure cap.

2. A safety closure according to claim 1, characterized in that the blocking means is constituted by a leaf spring attached to the container or the collar.

3. A safety closure according to claim 1, where the container or the collar consists of an elastic material, characterized in that the blocking means is constituted by a tongue integrally formed with the container or the collar.

4. A safety closure according to claim 1,2 or3, where the stop face is disposed on or in the cylindrical wall of the closure cap, characterized in that said wall has a reduced wall thickness in an area adjacent the stop face.

5. A safety closure according to claim 4, characterized in that the cylindrical wall is formed with a substantially wedge-shaped recess whose truncated end face is parallel with the axis of the closure cap.

6. A safety closure according to claim 5, characterized in that the truncated end face of the substantially wedge-shaped recess is disposed essentially in an axial plane.

7. A safety closure according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the substantiallywedge-shapeds recess is so disposed at the lower edge of the closure cap that it is downwardly open.

8. A safety closure according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the stop face is formed with a groove for receiving the end of the blocking means when the closure cap is in its closed position.