US 5,690,242 AGranted

Sharps disposal container cap securement arrangement

AssigneeWinfield Industries

InventorVance D. Campbell, Jr.

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Abstract

A sharps disposal container cap securement arrangement includes a container with a neck having an opening at a top thereof through which sharps may be placed for disposal within the container, a cap adapted to screw downward over and around the neck of the container to close the opening and to provide a fluid-tight seal therewith once the cap is screwed down on the neck, an annular lock collar rotatably mounted around an exterior surface of the neck of the container, detents formed on the exterior surface of the neck of the container and on the collar for supporting the collar on the neck for movement between a lowered unlocked condition and a raised locked condition in response to the lock collar being rotated between first and second positions relative to the neck, and cooperative series of one-way teeth formed on the collar and on the cap for securing the cap to the collar and thereby preventing unscrewing of the cap from the neck of the container once the cap is screwed down on the neck providing the fluid-tight seal and the lock collar has been rotated from the first to second position.

Claims30

Dependent claims

A sharps disposal container cap securement arrangement, comprising:

(a) a container with a neck having an opening at a top thereof through which sharps may be placed for disposal within said container and a plurality of lugs disposed in spaced relation to one another about and attached to and projecting outwardly from an exterior surface of said neck and spaced below said top thereof;
(b) a cap adapted to rotatably fit downward over and around said neck of said container above said lugs thereon so as to close said opening through said neck of said container;
(c) an annular lock collar open at opposite axially spaced upper and lower portions and rotatably mounted around said neck of said container spaced below said top thereof and below said cap, said lock collar having pairs of spaced upper and lower recesses defined therein extending upwardly from said lower portion of said collar and a tapered edge leading from said upper recess of each of said pairs to said lower recess thereof, said lugs of said neck of said container being seated in said upper recesses and supporting said collar at a lowered unlocked condition relative to said cap once said collar has been rotated to a first position, said lugs of said neck of said container being seated in said lower recesses and supporting said collar at a raised locked condition relative to said cap once said collar has been rotated to a second position, each of said lugs bearing against one of said tapered edges extending between said upper and lower recesses during rotation of said collar to move said collar from said lowered unlocked condition upwardly to said raised locked condition;
and
(d) cooperative means formed on said collar and on said cap for locking said cap to said collar and thereby securing said cap on said neck of said container so as to prevent removal of said cap from said neck of said container once said cap is fitted down on said neck of said container and said collar has been rotated from said first position to said second position relative to said neck and thereby moved from said lowered unlocked condition to said raised locked condition relative to said cap.

2 more elements

A sharps disposal container cap securement arrangement, comprising:

(a) a container with a neck having an opening at a top thereof through which sharps may be placed for disposal within said container;
(b) a cap adapted to rotatably fit down over and around said neck of said container so as to close said opening through said neck of said container, said cap having a row of one-way ratchet teeth formed thereon;
(c) an annular lock collar rotatably mounted around said neck of said container below said cap and having a second row of one-way ratchet teeth formed thereon being complementary to said first row of one-way ratchet teeth on said cap, said first and second rows of one-way ratchet teeth being adapted to engage each other to thereby prevent removal of said cap from said neck of said container in response to rotatable movement of said lock collar from a first position to a second position relative to said neck once said cap is fitted down on said neck of said container;
and
(d) detent means formed on said neck of said container and on said collar for supporting said collar on said neck to undergo rotational movement from said first position to said second position relative to said neck and thereby cause said collar to also move from a lowered unlocked condition relative to said cap in which said first and second rows of one-way ratchet teeth are disengaged from one another to a raised locked condition relative to said cap in which said first and second rows of one-way ratchet teeth are engaged with one another.

2 more elements

A sharps disposal container cap securement arrangement, comprising:

(a) a container with a neck having an opening at a top thereof through which sharps may be placed for disposal within said container;
(b) a cap adapted to rotatably fit downward over and around said neck of said container to close said opening and to provide a fluid-tight seal therewith when said cap is fitted down on said neck;
(c) an annular lock collar rotatably mounted around an exterior surface of said neck of said container below said cap;
(d) detent means formed on said neck of said container spaced below said top thereof and on said collar for supporting said collar on said neck for movement from a lowered unlocked condition to a raised locked condition relative to said cap once said cap is fitted down on said neck of said container providing said fluid-tight seal and in response to said collar being rotated from a first position to a second position relative to said neck;
and
(e) cooperative means formed on said collar and on said cap for locking said cap to said collar and thereby securing said cap on said neck of said container so as to prevent removal of said cap from said neck of said container once said cap is fitted down on said neck of said container providing said fluid-tight seal and in response to said collar being rotated from said first position to said second position relative to said neck and thereby moved from said lowered unlocked condition to said raised locked condition relative to said cap.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.