US 2025/0320102 A1Published application

Child-resistant safety cap removal tool

AssigneeCVS Pharmacy, Inc.

InventorChih-Jen Leu

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

A safety cap removal tool including an ergonomic and user-friendly arrangement that allows for the removal of an outermost cap of a child-resistant safety cap bottle with reduced effort. The safety cap removal tool includes a baseplate, a nest block attached to the baseplate, and a pivot arm pivotally attached to the baseplate. The tool includes a receiving area disposed between a clamping surface of the pivot arm and the nest block. When the child-resistant safety cap bottle is placed cap-side down against the baseplate the pivot arm is then moved into contact with the child-resistant safety cap where a lip of the pivot arm engages with an edge of the outermost cap. In this position, the bottle is then moved in a direction away from the lip, pivoting at an area adjacent the nest block, separating the outermost cap from the remaining portion of the child-resistant safety cap.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A safety cap removal tool, comprising:

a baseplate, comprising:
a first side;
a second side that is offset from the first side by a width of the baseplate;
and
a contact surface arranged between the first side and the second side;
a nest block attached to the baseplate adjacent the first side;
a pin attached to the baseplate adjacent the second side of the baseplate;
a pivot arm comprising an arm length, the arm length extending from a pivot end of the pivot arm to a handle end of the pivot arm, the pivot arm pivotally engaged with the pin at the pivot end of the pivot arm, wherein the handle end of the pivot arm is arranged outside of a periphery of the baseplate at the first side, and wherein a receiving space is arranged between the pivot arm and the nest block;
and
a lip extending from a surface of the pivot arm into the receiving space;
wherein the pivot arm is moveable about the pin between an open state of the pivot arm and a closed state of the pivot arm, wherein, in the open state of the pivot arm, the pivot arm is spaced apart from the nest block by a first distance, wherein, in the closed state of the pivot arm, the pivot arm is spaced apart from the nest block by a second distance, and wherein the second distance is less than the first distance.

8 more elements

A safety cap removal tool, comprising:

a baseplate comprising a width extending from a first side of the baseplate to a second side of the baseplate and a height extending from a third side of the baseplate to a fourth side of the baseplate;
a nest block attached to a surface of the baseplate, the nest block arranged adjacent the first side of the baseplate and the third side of the baseplate;
a pivot arm comprising a length extending from a pivot end of the pivot arm to an actuation end of the pivot arm, the pivot arm rotationally engaged with the baseplate at a pivot disposed at the pivot end of the pivot arm, wherein the pivot is arranged adjacent the second side of the baseplate;
a safety cap receiving space disposed between the pivot arm and the nest block, the safety cap receiving space inset from the width of the baseplate a dimension from the first side and a dimension from the third side of the baseplate;
and
a lip extending a distance from the pivot arm into the safety cap receiving space, the distance corresponding to a wall thickness of an outermost cap of a child-resistant safety cap of a bottle.

3 more elements

A method of removing an outermost cap from a child-resistant safety cap, comprising:

providing a safety cap removal tool, comprising:
a baseplate comprising a width extending from a first side of the baseplate to a second side of the baseplate and a height extending from a third side of the baseplate to a fourth side of the baseplate;
a nest block attached to a surface of the baseplate, the nest block arranged adjacent the first side of the baseplate and the third side of the baseplate;
a pivot arm comprising a length extending from a pivot end of the pivot arm to an actuation end of the pivot arm, the pivot arm rotationally engaged with the baseplate at a pivot disposed at the pivot end of the pivot arm, wherein the pivot is arranged adjacent the second side of the baseplate;
a receiving space disposed between the pivot arm and the nest block, the receiving space inset from the width of the baseplate a dimension from the first side and inset from the width of the baseplate a dimension from the third side of the baseplate;
and
a lip extending a distance from the pivot arm into the receiving space;
positioning a child-resistant safety cap of a bottle into the receiving space of the safety cap removal tool such that a top surface of the child-resistant safety cap is disposed in contact with the surface of the baseplate and a cylindrical surface of the child-resistant safety cap of the bottle is disposed in contact with the nest block;
causing the pivot arm to rotate about the pivot in a first direction and contact the cylindrical surface of the child-resistant safety cap of the bottle clamping the child-resistant safety cap of the bottle between the pivot arm and the nest block, wherein the lip extends the distance over a wall thickness of an outermost cap of the child-resistant safety cap of the bottle;
and
applying a force to the bottle such that the bottle and an innermost cap of the bottle separate from the outermost cap of the child-resistant safety cap of the bottle.

8 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.