Safety Closure For A Container

Abstract

An arrangement, for closing a container such as a bottle or like container, including a cap within the skirt of which is mounted one or more projections, for example, pins. Each pin fits into a groove formed in or on the neck or similar formation on the container. Each groove has at least one indent within which the inserted pin can be located to hold the cap in a position to seal the container. The cap is provided with means to bias it away from the container when the latter is sealed, and an enlarged indented section within a groove is used so that the biassing action in combination with the enlarged indented section provide a closure for the container which cannot be easily undone by young children. In another arrangement, the pins are located on the container and the grooves within the cap.

Description

This invention relates to closure arrangements for containers such as bottles and more particularly concerns an arrangement incorporating a re-usable cap which is placed over the neck of a container to seal the same. The cap cannot be accidentally removed from the container and the closure arrangement may incorporate features which make it very difficult for a child to remove the cap from a sealed container.

With the growth of pharmacology and the increased prescription by doctors of medicines which are beneficial when used in specific doses for particular illnesses but which are dangerous, even fatal when the dosage is exceeded, the need to prevent children having access to drugs is especially important. Equally important is the necessity to protect the children against access to hazardous substances so often to be found in cupboards or on shelves, benches, or the like, in and around most dwelling places and outbuildings. Unfortunately, many people do not always take the trouble to ensure that these hazardous substances are kept safely out of the reach of children and those that do take such precautions may occasionally forget to do so.

Also, there are those people who have to carry drugs with them and should the container of the drugs, for example, in pill or capsule form fall open in their pocket, handbag or briefcase, the drugs may be spilled onto the floor when removing a handkerchief or other object. A child could then pick up a dangerous tablet and swallow the same, perhaps mistaking it for a candy or sweet.

Numerous preparations are specially sweetened, for example, children's aspirins, to assist in their administration, which is all very well when the dosage is controlled by a parent or other responsible person but it is well known that children who are able to get possession of a container and can open it invariably consume an excessive dosage with disastrous results.

Drugs and other preparations in liquid form also present a hazard. An inquisitive child who comes upon a bottle containing a liquid is likely to taste the contents of the bottle, especially if the liquid is coloured. Since it is common practice to use a pleasant flavouring to render sour or bitter tasting medicines more palatable, the child in question could easily exceed greatly a safe dose. Also, the removal by a child of a cap from a container carrying a caustic substance or a highly volatile liquid which gives off a toxic gas, for example, would be a potentially very dangerous action.

One object of the present invention is, therefore, the provision of a closure arrangement for containers such as bottles which cannot easily be opened by young chidren.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a closure arrangement for containers which requires a positive action to open the same.

According to the present invention, a container closure arrangement comprises a first closure member which co-operates with a second closure member to hold a sealing member against the rim of the container at the periphery of the opening or mouth thereof, one of said closure members comprising a skirted cap containing said sealing member and the other closure member comprising a neck or similar formation on the container and defining the opening thereto, means biassing said cap away from said neck, at least one projection located in one of said closure members and at least the same number of grooves formed in or on the other of said closure members, each groove comprising an entry portion for a projection and at least one indent within which the projection is located when the container is sealed.

Some preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the top part of a container closed by an arrangement in accordance with the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a front view, partly in section, of the closure arrangement of FIG. 1, illustrating safety provisions in a groove in the container neck,

FIG. 3 is a front view, partly in section, of a different embodiment of the invention, showing a combination of safety and simple cap locking arrangements,

FIG. 4 is a section through the cap of FIG. 3,

FIG. 5 is a partly sectional view of a modified arrangement where pins are included on the container and grooves are formed in the cap, and

FIG. 6 depicts a groove configuration of yet another embodiment of the invention.

Although a variety of cap and neck combinations are possible within the scope of the present invention, the following description relates specifically to the case where projections in the form of pins and two grooves are used. It is, however, possible to use one pin and one groove in the closure arrangement, but this is not regarded as the most practical closure arrangement.

It should be noted that where a plurality of pins (or other suitable projections) and grooves is involved, it is not necessary for the pins and grooves to be uniformly spaced, although this will generally be the case, and it is possible for there to be more grooves than pins in an arrangement.

In addition, in the following description, the directional terms, such as "downwardly" "upward," "above," "below" and the like, relate to the container and cap in a location corresponding to that of the containers and caps illustrated in the drawings. It is realised that this is not necessarily the case in practice.

Referring now to the drawings, a container 11 (e.g., a bottle) is closed as its aperture by a cap 7 having locating pins 8 which engage with a groove or track 9 formed on or in the surface of the container adjacent the aperture thereof. The groove or track 9 is cut out of the wall or similar formation on the neck of the bottle or is formed therein. The groove does not extend completely through the neck material. Each groove has a generally downward entry portion 10 which terminates in a locking portion having indents for use in holding the cap on the container when the latter is closed by the former.

To ensure a good seal when the cap is used, and to assist in the locking of the cap on the container, a means to provide a biassing force away from the container on sealing the same is provided. This means is typically a compressible and resilient pad 12 mounted within the cap behind a sealing pad 13, rubber or a rubber substitute or a pillow of air being examples of pad 12. Alternatively, a spring or the like may be fitted in the cap 7 behind the pad 13.

Sealing with the cap is effected by running the pins 8 into the entry portions 10 of grooves or tracks 9 until the pad 13 meets the top of the neck or similar formation on the container 11. At this point it should be noted that at the upper end of the neck the entry portions of the grooves may be considerably wider than is necessary to accommodate the pins. Indeed, in one embodiment -- for example, when the container is intended for use by persons of limited manipulative ability -- the entry portion may be quarter-circular in shape or an expanded form of that shape, extending over almost half of the outer circumference of the neck at the top thereof.

Normally, however, the grooves will be enlarged at their entrances to about two or three times the width of the pins to be inserted so that locating the pins within the grooves is not a difficult task. Manual pressure on the cap to compress pad 12 or its alternative spring enables the pins to complete their travel to the bottom of entry portions 10 and enter the locking portions of the grooves.

Here, if the pins have been moved into a position under the indent or one of the indents formed in the upper edge of the locking portions of the grooves, release of the cap permits it to move under the biassing force so that the pins enter into the indents having dimensions similar to those of the indent reference 14 in FIG. 2.

A plurality of such indents may be provided in the locking portion of a single groove to provide a number of sealing positions of the cap. If the plurality of indents are so arranged that they are at different heights on the neck (for example, by inclining the locking portions of the grooves), a variety of sealing pressures of pad 13 is possible.

When sealed in this manner, which for convenience will be termed "simple sealing", the cap cannot be accidentally removed from the bottle. However, reverse rotation of the cap without pressing the same further on to the container neck does enable the cap to be removed from it and consequently this arrangement in itself is not entirely safe if young children could have access to the container. A larger indent or cut-away portion 15 (see FIG. 2) can be used to remedy this deficiency.

Indent 15 is so dimensioned and positioned in the groove that when the cap is rotated to release the seal on the container, the pins 8 enter this indent as a result of the biassing effect of the pad 12 or its equivalent. Unless a force is applied to keep the pins located in the lower part of the grooves, they become located within indent 15 and the cap cannot be removed unless it is first depressed against the bias force. This depression in combination with rotation of the cap is not at all easy for a child to do.

This type of groove configuration will be termed "safety locking configuration" in view of the difficulty in removing the cap. With this type of safety locking configuration, it is possible that with the dimensions of large indents 15 that have been chosen, a satisfactory sealing of the container is achieved even when the pins of the cap are located within and at the top of indent 15. In such a case, the smaller indent 14 may be omitted, although this is unlikely in practice.

If required, two sets of grooves may be provided in the neck or other formation on a container one set having the safety locking configuration and the other set having the simple sealing construction. An example of this form of groove is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The person sealing the container may choose what sort of sealing is required at any particular time by the choice of cap or the action taken when sealing the container.

In FIGS. 3 and 4, a single groove has two substantially horizontal locking sections, namely 19 and 23 the lower one 23 having a safety locking configuration and the upper, 19, a simple sealing construction. For use with this type of groove, a cap 16 (similar to cap 7 of FIGS. 1 and 2) having two sets of pins, 18 and 21, as illustrated in FIG. 4, may be provided for simple sealing. Each set of pins enters one of the sets of horizontal sections of the grooves but the lower pins 21 do not necessarily assist in the sealing of the container 17 (similar to 11) since they may be lying clear below indent 24 when the upper pins 18 are held in the small indents of the upper horizontal grooves. Using the small indents at the extreme left of the locking sections, each set of pins is used for sealing and should one pin be broken, effective sealing of the container can still be achieved. It can be seen in FIG. 3 that a downward entry portion 20, similar to 10 of FIG. 2, leads to the two grooves; reference 22 relates to the terminal indent dimension of groove section 23 in a manner similar to reference 14 of groove 9.

As long as sufficient compressibility of resilient pad 12 (or the alternative spring) is provided, a cap 7 having a single set of pins, as illustrated in FIG. 1, will be satisfactory for use with this type of groove; the safety locking will, of course, require a greater manual force to enable the pins 8 to enter the lower locking sections of the grooves.

As an alternative to this arrangement, two forms of caps with single pins may be provided, one with high set pins for simple sealing, the other with lower set pins for safety locking. Depending on the contents of the container, the appropriate one of the caps will be chosen.

It will be seen from the preferred embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 as well as 3 and 4 that the respective grooves have entry portions 10, 20 with one or more locking sections associated therewith, extending from these entry portions and being inclined at an acute angle to a plane transverse the associated closure member. At least two indents are formed in the locking sections, such as 14 and 15 as shown in FIG. 2, and 22 and 24 in the lower one of the two locking sections appearing in FIG. 3. The indent remote from the entry portion is smaller while the other indent, closest to the entry portion, namely 15 and 24, respectively, is larger than the other indents. The indents allow the projections or pins 8, 18, 21 to be located at different distances from the respective sealing members or resilient pads 12. The closure member having the groove therein defines a lobe-shaped portion between the entry portion 10, 20 and the larger indent 15, 24; the lobe-shaped portion, in cooperation with a wall of the groove, constituting a restriction through which the above-mentioned pins or projections must be moved when operating the closure arrangement. As a consequence, to separate the closure members, a force is required to cause the projections to pass through said restriction, following which the projections can be moved into the entry portion and the closure members separated.

As has been mentioned before, it should be understood that either the groove is formed in the cap 7, 16 with the pins 8, 18 being provided in a formation or neck of the container, or the reversal is equally possible where the pins are in the cap and the groove or grooves are formed in the container.

FIG. 5 will be discussed somewhat later.

Yet another form of arrangement where the two types of sealing are provided with a single groove is that where a single downward section of the groove has two locking sections, each extending in opposite directions from the downward section. In one direction, the locking section will have a safety locking configuration and in the other direction, a simple sealing construction. Preferably the two locking sections meet the downward section at different levels to assist in determining when the cap is in a position for removal (i.e., when it has been turned to a point where further rotation of the cap is prevented by the pins bearing against the sides of the downward sections of the grooves).

Yet another possible groove construction is illustrated in FIG. 6. This construction is particularly apt for use where safety locking is definitely required, which will be the case with very dangerous substances.

An island 27 is provided in each groove. Island 27 has an end 28 which may be pointed or rounded but is so shaped that it provides a restriction to the movement of a pin in channel 26 below the island 27. At this point, force, depending upon the degree of restriction to the movement of the pin, must be used to move the pin past the restriction (typically a downwardly pointing tip when the container and/or the pin is made of a plastics material) and into one of the small indents at the end 29 of the groove to seal the container.

On reversing the movement of the cap, the pin moves back until it reaches tip 28 of the island 27. Because of the shape of the tip 28 and the dimensions of channel 26 at this point, the pin cannot re-enter channel 26 but has to travel along the upper channel 25 until it reaches a stop in the form of the material surrounding the groove at indent 30. From this position, the pin can only be moved into the entry section of the groove by forcing it past the island in the small passage below indent 30. This passage is dimensioned to be a push fit for a pin. Such an action is an extremely difficult one for a child to master, especially if it is unaware of the nature of the movements required.

To further ensure against a pin entering the channel 26, the back edge of the pin (which is the right edge if reference is made to a pin entering the channel of FIG. 6) is flat or at least blunt. A wedge-shaped pin, or one having a rounded leading edge, which is capable of expanding the channel 26 at tip 28 would not then be able to pass into channel 26 in the reverse direction. By closing the width of the groove below point 28 and below indent 30, the degree of difficulty in opening the container can be increased.

In the case of containers made of non-resilient material, the point 28 will be positioned so that the pin is a snug fit in the channel 26. This is a sufficient restriction to the path of a pin to make it difficult for the pin to re-enter channel 26 at point 28 especially if the back edge of the pin is flat or blunt.

It will be clear to those skilled in the art of providing seals for containers that the embodiment of FIG. 6 may be modified by the inclusion of a second locking section of the groove in a manner akin to the arrangement of FIG. 3. In view of the detailed description of the inclusion of a second locking member given earlier, it is not necessary to describe in detail the alternative arrangements that are possible, including the use of a cap having two sets of pins.

It may, however, be worth mentioning that in the situation where the two sets of locking sections are located one above the other, the upper sections will be shorter in length than the lower sections and will terminate so that the lower pins, in the case of a cap being used which is of the type illustrated in FIG. 4, have not passed under the restriction at point 28 of the island 27 when the upper pins are at the ends of their associated locking sections. There are, of course, no restrictions, apart from those imposed by the size of the container, on the relative lengths of the locking sections when they are on opposite sides of the entry portion.

FIG. 5 illustrates the arrangement of pins 8a and grooves 9a when the pins are incorporated with the bottle while the grooves -- having any of the configurations already described -- are formed in the inner face of the skirt of the cap.

It will be noted that in the drawings, all the pins in the caps have buttons projecting beyond the outer surface of the cap. This is not necessary but can be useful for location of the pins by a person (for example, a blind or infirm person) wishing to seal a container or as a holding point for the machines filling the containers. They may, therefore, be added to or formed integrally with the exterior of the skirt of the caps.

It should also be realised that while the invention is particularly applicable to containers made of glass or plastics materials and caps made of plastics materials, other materials, including metals, can be used for caps or containers where circumstances so require.

Claims

I claim:

1. A container closure arrangement comprising a pair of closure members cooperating to hold a sealing member against a rim of the container at the periphery of its mouth, one of said closure members including a cap containing said sealing member, and the other closure member including a formation on the container and defining the mouth, means within said cap for biasing the same away from the formation; at least one projection located in one of said closure members, at least the same number of grooves formed in the other closure member, said groove having an entry portion for said projection and at least one locking section extending from said entry portion and being at least partly inclined at an acute angle to a plane transverse its associated closure member; at least two indents formed in said locking section, namely at least one indent remote from said entry portion, for locating said projection therein when the container is sealed, and another indent closest to said entry portion and larger than the other indents, the latter allowing said projection to be located at different distances from said sealing member, said other closure member defining a lobe-shaped portion between said entry portion and said larger indent, said lobe-shaped portion, in cooperation with a wall of said groove, constituting a restriction through which said projection must be moved when operating the closure arrangement; whereby, to separate said closure members, a force is required to cause said projection to pass through said restriction, following which said projection can be moved into said entry portion and said closure members separated.

2. The container closure arrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein two of said locking sections are provided, extending from said entry portion, the locking section further away from said sealing member having said lobe-shaped portion and said restriction therein.

3. The container closure arrangement as defined in claim 2, wherein said two locking sections are substantially perpendicular to the general direction of said entry portion.

4. The container closure arrangement as defined in claim 3, wherein two sets of projections are provided, one set each being associated with a respective one of said two locking sections.

5. The container closure arrangement as defined in claim 4, wherein said two locking sections extend from said entry portion in different directions and meet the same at different levels.

6. The container closure arrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein said at least one groove is formed in said cap, the latter constituting said one closure member, while said at least one projection is provided in the formation of the container, which constitutes said other closure member.

7. The container closure arrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein said at least one projection is provided in said cap, the latter constituting said one closure member, while said at least one groove is formed in the formation of the container, which constitutes said other closure member.

8. The container closure arrangement as defined in claim 7, wherein said projection is provided on the outer surface of a skirt of said cap.

9. A container closure arrangement comprising a pair of closure members cooperating to hold a sealing member against a rim of the container at the periphery of its opening, one of said closure members including a skirted cap containing said sealing member, and the other closure member including a neck formed in the container and defining the opening, means within said cap for biasing the same away from the neck; at least two projections, in the form of pins, located in one of said closure members, and at least two grooves formed in the other closure member, said grooves having respective entry portions for said pins and at least two indents within which said pins are located when the container is sealed; wherein said grooves have locking sections extending from said entry portions and being inclined at an acute angle to a plane transverse its associated closure member, said indents being formed in said locking sections, whereby said pins can be located at different distances from said sealing member when the container is sealed; wherein an indent, other than the indent most remote from said entry portion, is larger than the other indents, said biasing means being effective to bias the cooperating pin into said larger indent when said closure members are rotated relative to each other to open the sealed container, unless a force is applied to said closure members to overcome the effect of said biasing means until said cooperating pin has reached said entry portions; and further wherein said grooves are divided in their locking sections into two channels separated by an island, the end of said island remote from said entry portion forming a restriction in one of said channels, through which the cooperating pin must pass to reach such indents, the other end of said islands defining a side of a narrow passage connecting said channels, said restriction being effective to prevent the return of said last-named cooperating pin into said one channel in the reverse direction; whereby, to separate said closure members, said pin has to travel in the other channel until it reaches a stop preventing further relative rotation of said closure members, a force now being required to cause said pin to pass through said passage, following which said pin can be moved into said entry portion and said closure members separated.

10. The container closure arrangement as defined in claim 9, wherein said pins are provided in said cap, while said grooves are formed in the neck of the container, said pins being blunt on their sides closest to the meeting point of said entry portions and said locking sections when the container is sealed.

11. The container closure arrangement as defined in claim 10, wherein said grooves have further locking sections extending from said entry portions and being devoid of enlarged indents.

12. The container closure arrangement as defined in claim 11, wherein said first-named and said further locking sections extend in each groove in different directions from said entry portions and meet the same at different levels.