Safety Closure

Abstract

A safety closure for preventing access to containers such as drug bottles and the like by children and other irresponsible persons. The closure includes two major parts. One part is a sleeve which is axially secured to the container neck and has an outer threaded surface. The sleeve is free to rotate on the neck. The other part is a cap which may be threaded to the sleeve, but is secured from removal from the container so long as it is threaded on the sleeve. Preliminary rotation of the sleeve is necessary to free the cap for removal in the normal manner.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Certain prior safety closures have relied upon the use of an outer cap which slips with respect to an inner threaded cap of conventional design. Separate key members or else various cam arrangements requiring strength or artifice are used to interengage the two caps. The former present the obvious disadvantage of possible loss of unauthorized use of the key. The cam arrangement may be difficult to operate. Furthermore, these devices are expensive to manufacture.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The present invention obviates the disadvantages of previously available devices by providing an arrangement in which the cap is positively locked from all movement until a cooperating sleeve (which may be concealed) is rotated in a clockwise, and hence noninstinctive direction.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a safety closure for containers storing drugs, poisons, or other substances which offer potential dangers to children or other irresponsible individuals.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a simple safety closure which can be readily removed by adults capable of following simple instructions, but which can not be removed by children, intoxicated persons unaware of the contents of the container, or other persons not sufficiently alert to consciously and deliberately perform the requisite sequence of noninstinctive operations. A further object is to provide such a closure which can be readily and inexpensively manufactured in a variety of forms adapted to various containers. Yet another object is to provide such a closure which upon casual inspection resembles a conventional screw closure, but which upon normal operation cannot be turned, and hence tends to deter experimentation which would otherwise present the hazard of accidental discovery of the method of opening.

Other objects, features and advantages will be apparent from the attached drawings of preferred embodiments of the invention and the accompanying description thereof:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view from the bottom of the cap portion of a closure, embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of the cap portion;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view from the top of the sleeve portion;

FIG. 4 is an elevation, partially in section, of container, cap, and sleeve assembled;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the container and sleeve assembled taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of the container;

FIGS. 7 through 10 show an alternate embodiment of the invention in which:

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of the container;

FIG. 8 is a top plan view of the container;

FIG. 9 is a bottom plan view of the cap;

FIG. 10 is an elevation partially in section of container, cap, and sleeve assembled; and

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of container, cap, and sleeve.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The safety closure of the invention is intended for use with a container 50 (FIG. 6) having an axisymmetric neck portion. The closure itself consists of two components, a cap portion 20, and a sleeve portion 30. The sleeve portion 30 is locked by retaining means 53 integral with the container neck to the container. The sleeve portion 30, though free to rotate with respect to the container, is restrained from outward axial movement with respect thereto. The cap 20 may be threadingly engaged by the sleeve portion 30 and when so engaged and closed is prevented from rotation with respect to the container 50 as is described below. The cap 20 must be moved from its closed position by clockwise rotation of the sleeve to permit cap rotation and removal.

Referring more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, the cap 20 is formed with a conventional annular sidewall and top. The sidewall is formed with internal helical threads 21 extending from its lower edge. Internal downwardly depending locking means in the form of lugs 22 are formed on the inner surface of the top and extend toward the open end of the cap. These lugs are preferably provided with wedge-shaped ends 23 that are located concentric with the cap axis and spaced one from another as shown at 25. If a sealing gasket or coating is provided, it is located in the annular space 27 between the lugs and the sidewalls of the cap. The outer surface 24 of these sidewalls is cylindrical in the preferred embodiment, but may be of any shape adapted to blend inconspicuously with the corresponding sidewalls 34 of the sleeve 30 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. Thus for example, a knurled or serrated treatment may be provided on these outer surfaces.

The sleeve 30 is provided with external threads 31 from its upper edge adapted to engage the internal threads of cap 20. An annular groove 35 located on the inner wall of the sleeve 30 is provided for engaging a corresponding annular ridge 53 (FIG. 6) on the container neck. Within the container neck are inwardly projecting detents 51, preferably provided with tapered upper surfaces 52. These detents are spaced and sized to engage the spaces 25 between the cap lugs 22, and thereby prevent rotation of the cap when the cap is closed and the lugs 22 and detents 51 are interengaged as shown in FIG. 4. The ridge 53 is preferably outwardly beveled as is the lower inner surface of sleeve 30 at 37 to facilitate the sleeve being force fitted into place. The outer surface 34 of the sleeve sidewall is shown as being relatively wide for the sake of clarity; it may, however, be narrower to render it less conspicuous and to thereby improve the security of the closure. Similarly, the cap sidewall 24 and the sleeve sidewall 34 may be suitably grooved or scored to render the joining of sleeve and cap harder to perceive. The sleeve should be made of a material that permits it to be resiliently deformed whereby it may be snapped into a locked permanent engagement with the container neck.

The alternate embodiment shown in FIGS. 7 through 10 is similar in principle but differs in the design of the cap-container engagement. In lieu of the detents 51, the container (FIG. 7 and FIG. 8) is provided with peripheral notches 61, and the cap 20 (FIGS. 9 and 10) is provided with cooperating downwardly extending teeth 70. A sealing gasket or coating 71 may be located within the circle formed by these teeth and affixed to the underside of the cap. Other variations in the cap-container engagement means may also be employed depending upon the material and configuration of the container and the degree of sealing required. For example where the container rim is sufficiently wide, it is possible to inscribe notches entirely within the container rim, and to provide the cap with cooperating projections for engagement with those notches.

To remove the cap when closed as shown in FIG. 4 the sleeve 30 is first rotated clockwise causing the sleeve threads 31 to act upon the cap threads 21 and thereby to raise the cap sufficiently to free the lugs 22 (or the teeth 70) from the container detents 51 (or notches 61). The cap can then be rotated counterclockwise in the normal manner to remove it. To replace the cap, this procedure is reversed. The cap is placed in position (index marks 72 and 73 as shown in FIG. 11 will facilitate the correct angular alignment), and the sleeve 30 is rotated counterclockwise until the cap engages with the container. The cap can then be rotated clockwise in the normal manner to complete the closure.

Other embodiments will be obvious to those skilled in the art and are within the following claims.

Claims

I claim:

1. A container closure comprising:

a container with an axisymmetric neck;

a threaded sleeve surrounding said neck and rotatable with respect thereto;

a threaded cap threadingly engageable with said threaded sleeve;

first engagement means for limiting outward axial movement of said sleeve with respect to said neck; and

second engagement means for preventing relative rotation of said cap with respect to said neck provided that said cap is in its closed position or within a predetermined axial distance thereof, but permitting such relative rotation when said cap is not within said predetermined axial distance.

2. The container closure of claim 1 wherein said first engagement means comprises a peripheral rib surrounding said container neck and a cooperation groove within said sleeve.

3. The container closure of claim 1 wherein said second engagement means comprises downwardly projecting lugs within said cap and cooperating detents projecting inwardly from the inner surface of said container neck.

4. The container closure of claim 1 wherein said second engagement means comprises downwardly projecting teeth within said cap and cooperating notches adjacent at the rim of said container neck.

5. The container closure of claim 1 wherein the outer surface of said sleeve and the outer surface of said cap form a substantially continuous surface and the joining between said outer sleeve surface and said outer cap surface is visually inconspicuous.

6. The container closure of claim 1 further comprising visual indicia on the outer surface of said sleeve and the outer surface of said cap to facilitate angular alignment thereof to engage said second engagement means.

7. The container closure of claim 1 further comprising sealing means within said cap.

8. The container closure of claim 2 wherein said peripheral rib is outwardly beveled.

9. The container closure of claim 3 wherein said downwardly projecting lugs are concentrically arranged within said cap.

10. The container closure of claim 4 wherein said downwardly projecting teeth are located to extend outwardly of the rim of said container neck when said container cap is in closed position.