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US 4,144,983 AGranted
Child-resistant closure
AssigneeLewis, Pauls & Associates, Ltd.
InventorsJames D. Pauls, Roy Hammett
Life of this patent
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AssigneeLewis, Pauls & Associates, Ltd.
InventorsJames D. Pauls, Roy Hammett
Estimating the term…
A child-resistant closure for a container having a screw threaded neck, includes a cap having an end wall and a depending, cylindrical skirt with screw threads therein for mating cooperation with the screw threads on the container to releasably secure the cap to the container. Interengaging, selectively releasable detent members are formed on the cap and container for resisting removal of the cap by a child, but enabling an adult to remove the cap. The detent members include a plurality of detents on the cap and a cooperating detent on the container, wherein the detents have first cooperating, interengagable surfaces to enable the detents to move past one another in a cap tightning direction, and second cooperating, interengagable surfaces to prevent movement of the detents past one another in a cap loosening direction. The detents on the cap have different lengths in a direction axially of the cap, with the leading detent being longest and the trailing detent being shortest, whereby any of the detents will engage the detent on the container with substantially equal area within a predetermined range of rotational positions of the cap on the container. The detent on the container is carried by a movable, flexible release member which flexes to permit the detents to move past one another in a cap tightning direction, and the release member has an at rest position with the detents interengaged to prevent removal of the cap. The release member is constructed to be easily manually flexed in a direction to disengage the detents and thus enable the cap to be removed.
A child-resistant closure, comprising:
A container having a threaded neck for cooperation with a threaded closure cap, an annular tooth ring formed on the neck projecting radially outwardly therefrom, a child-resistant closure restraining means integrally formed on the container neck for cooperation with a cap to resist removal of the cap and comprising a continuation of the tooth ring, said closure restraining means comprising a flexible, spring-like member having a detent formed thereon for cooperation with a detent on a cap associated with the container to latch or restrain the cap against opening movement, said release member comprising a generally flat, rectangularly shaped body having length and width dimensions and a thickness dimension, and integrally molded on the container neck and having a free end and an end fixed to the container, said body having a substantially constant thickness throughout its length from the free end to the fixed end thereof, and being joined to the container along a radiused connecting portion, whereby the the body flexes generally uniformly over a substantial portion of its length in a direction generally perpendicular to the plane defined by the length and width dimensions when a detent on a cap engages the detent on the release member during closing movement of the cap onto the container and when the release member is manually and deliberately deflected to disengage the detent members to permit movement of the cap in an opening direction.
In combination, a container and closure cap wherein the container has a threaded neck with a tooth ring thereon and the cap has a threaded skirt cooperatively engaged with the threaded neck releasably securing the cap to the container, the improvement comprising interengaging child-resistant detent means on the container neck and cap resisting opening movement of the cap, said detent means including at least one detent member integrally molded on the cap skirt, and a cooperating detent on the container neck, said detent on the container being carried by a flexible release member having a generally flat, rectangularly shaped body having length and width dimensions and a thickness dimension and having a free end and an end fixed to the container at the neck of the container and comprising a continuation of the neck ring, said body being joined to the container neck along a radiused connecting portion, said body flexing generally uniformly over a substantial portion of its length when the detent on the cap engages the release member during closing movement of the cap onto the container and when the release member is deflected to disengage the detent members to permit movement of the cap in an opening direction.
In combination, a container and closure cap wherein the container has a threaded neck and the cap has a threaded skirt cooperatively engaged therewith releasably securing the cap to the container, the improvement comprising interengaging child-resistant detent means on the container and cap resisting opening movement of the cap, said detent means including a plurality of detent members integrally molded on the cap skirt, including at least a leading detent, a trailing detent and a middle detent, the detents on the cap having different lengths axially of the cap, the lengths being such that a line drawn along the farthest axial points of the free ends thereof extends parallel to a tangent to the helix angle of the threads of the cap, and a cooperating detent on the container, whereby at least one of the detents will securely engage the detent on the release member when the cap is threaded tightly onto the container, said detent on the container being carried by a flexible release member having a generally flat, rectangularly shaped body having length and width dimensions and a thickness dimension and having a free end and an end fixed to the container, said body being joined to the container along a radiused connecting portion, whereby the body flexes over a substantial portion of its length when the detent on the cap engages the release member during closing movement of the cap onto the container and when the release member is deflected to disengage the detent members to permit movement of the cap in an opening direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.