The present invention relates to a child resistant closure and particularly to a child resistant closure with vents.
It is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of “including,” “comprising,” or “having” and variations thereof herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items. Unless limited otherwise, the terms “connected,” “coupled,” “in communication with” and “mounted,” and variations thereof herein are used broadly and encompass direct and indirect connections, couplings, and mountings. In addition, the terms “connected” and “coupled” and variations thereof are not restricted to physical or mechanical connections or couplings.
Furthermore, and as described in subsequent paragraphs, the specific mechanical configurations illustrated in the drawings are intended to exemplify embodiments of the invention and that other alternative mechanical configurations are possible.
Child resistant closure 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention depicted in the
The child resistant closure 10 is designed for products that are highly sensitive to moisture and need to have the package leak tested after the capping and induction sealing to ensure an adequate seal has occurred. Packages are inspected for leaks on the fill line in a vacuum decay, nitrogen flushing, leak detection chamber. Previous child resistant closures have a nesting engagement that includes a continuous retaining bead on each of the inner cap and outer cap that are capable of creating a seal that may not allow air or fluid trapped between the outer and inner caps to evacuate quickly. This air that remains trapped between the caps results in a high level of false rejects at the leak detection chamber at fast assembly line speeds. To remedy this inadequacy, the present embodiments of the inner cap includes one or more vents or vent channels on the exterior surface that axially run the entire height or axial distance of the side wall and extends over the inner cap top wall. These vents create an open path between the inner cap and the continuous retention bead of the outer cap to lessen any chance of an unwanted seal. Therefore, air or fluid trapped between the outer and inner caps can evacuate quickly through these vents during the initial vacuum pull in the leak chamber, thereby reducing the level of false rejects at fast line assembly speeds.
Referring to the drawings, the child resistant closure 10 includes outer cap 30 and inner cap 50 which are telescoped in assembled relationship with the inner cap extending into outer cap and retained therein by a continuous retaining bead 35 (
The aforementioned construction functions such that the closure 10 is applied to a container, rotation of outer cap 30 in the closure-applying direction B will cause spring fingers 42 to engage the abutting surfaces 44 of ramps 40 of inner cap 50, and rotation in the opposite or closure-removing direction A will cause the spring fingers 42 to slip over or ride over the ramps 40. When outer cap 30 is rotated and at the same time forced axially toward inner cap 50 against the action of spring fingers 42, lugs 60 of the inner cap 50 become engaged with lugs 33 of the outer cap 30 so that closure 10 can be unthreaded from the container.
In accordance with the embodiment, a depression or recess 43 that is generally radial is associated with each ramp 40 adjacent its abutting surface 44 so that when spring fingers 42 are in engagement with ramps 40, the distal free end of each finger 42 extends into the recesses 43 and hold the outer cap 30 away from the inner cap 50 at the same time fingers 42 orient the outer cap 30 relative to the inner cap 50 such that the bottom surface 33c of lugs 33 on the outer cap 30 are axially aligned with the upper surface 62c of lugs 60 on the inner cap 50 and prevent any top load on the package from being applied to spring fingers 42. As a consequence, axial loads such as those that would be encountered if containers are stacked one upon the other are absorbed by lugs 33 and 60 so that there is no deformation of the relatively deflectable outer cap 30.
Although the container is not shown in detail, the container may generally have an elongated cylindrical shape, but it is not limited to such and may be of a variety of shapes that best contain the product or have the greatest aesthetic appeal. The container may have a shoulder narrowing to a container neck finish including a neck that is of sufficient length to accommodate an external thread for threaded engagement of child resistant closure 10 with the container. At the top of the neck is an opening surrounded by a rim permitting access to the contents of the container. The container may be of unitary construction and made of any of numerous materials commonly known in the art depending on specific product and environmental conditions. Some common examples of materials include but are not limited to polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyethylene terephthalate. The container described above is merely representative of containers in general, and it is to be understood that there are a variety of containers of different shape, size, and neck finish that may be used with the push and turn closure embodiments herein.
As shown in
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3-7, closure 10 also includes inner cap 50. Inner cap 50 includes top wall 52 with a peripheral or depending skirt or wall 56 therearound. In addition, inner cap 50 may include a sealing liner 80 (
As shown in
Lugs 33 of outer cap 30 are put in operable engagement with lugs 60 of inner cap 50 when closure 10 is pushed down to become engaged with the container. When minimal force is applied downwardly to outer cap 30 while turning it in the closure-applying direction B, on-drive surface 33b of each outer cap lug 33 will engage each respective lug 60 of inner cap 50 to screw closure 10 onto the container neck finish. In the embodiment shown in
The application of a downwardly directed pushing force to outer cap 30 while turning it in the closure-removing direction A will produce an effect which depends on the magnitude of the applied force. If the force is great enough, the off-drive surfaces 33a of outer cap lugs 33 will be tightly engaged against side surfaces 62b of inner cap lug center portion 62 and the turning of the outer cap will operate to unscrew closure 10 from the container neck finish. If, on the other hand, an insufficient axial pushing force is applied to outer cap 30, as may normally occur when turned by a child, will cause the spring fingers 42 to slip over or ride over the ramps 40 and the off-drive surfaces 33a of lugs 33 will slide across or be axially displaced above the inner cap lugs 60. The difference in length between skirt 56 of inner cap 50 and skirt 34 of outer cap 30 allows this axial displacement to occur as successive spring fingers 42 slip over or ride over the ramps 40 without imparting a turning movement to the inner cap, thus producing the desired child resistant feature.
Child resistant lugs 33 are formed integrally with outer cap 30 adjacent the junction of top wall 32 and skirt 34. Lugs 33 correspond in number and spacing to lugs 60 on inner cap 50. Both outer cap lugs 33 and inner cap lugs 60 are annularly aligned in that the annulus on which the lugs 33 are located is approximately the same diameter as the annulus on which the lugs 60 are located. In that manner, the outer cap skirt 34 and ramps 40 form an annular zone therebetween in which the lugs 60 and lugs 33 are located. It will be understood by one skilled in the art that there are a variety of lugs, ratcheting, and/or spring mechanisms that may be used to operably engage the outer cap and inner cap in a child resistant mechanism while still providing the desired venting.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3-7, inner cap 50 includes one or more vent channels or recesses 20. The elongated vent channels 20 are shown as to be a substantially vertical/axial portion and a radial portion along the exterior surface of the inner cap 50. Vent channel 20 extends radially along a portion of the inner cap top wall 52 and continues axially along the inner cap skirt 56 through the distal free end of the skirt. Alternatively stated, vent channel 20 has an upper or first vent channel 20a above the inner cap top wall that is continuous with or in fluid communication with an axial or second vent channel 20b. Vent channels 20 may extend through inner cap lug 60 at a variety of positions, or more specifically through, at various depths, one or more lug lateral portions or platforms 62a, 63b. As a result, vent 20 may create one or more lug lateral portions 63a, 63b as shown between lug center portions 62 that combine to create a platform for receiving outer cap lug 33. Each vent channel 20 is recessed from the exterior surface of the inner cap skirt 56 and includes opposing sides 22, 23 with a bottom surface 24 therebetween. Sides 22, 23 of vent channel 20 may coincide with or define the lateral portions 63a, 63b between two adjacent lugs 60, two adjacent portions of retaining bead 55, and two adjacent unscrewing lugs 58. Unscrewing lugs 58 may function during the molding process to aid in removal of the cap from the mold cavities. Bottom surface 24 of second vent channel 20b is recessed and as a result is spaced at a smaller radial distance from the central vertical axis of inner cap 50 than the radial distance of the outermost periphery of the skirt 56 along the length of the vent channels. Further the upper end of bottom surface 24 of first vent channel 20a merges with the upper surface of inner cap top wall 52 and therefore is recessed between lugs 60 across a portion of the top wall. The width or distance C of each vent channel 20 (
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3-7, each vent channels 20 permits air or fluid to be evacuated from between inner cap 50 and outer cap 30. Vent channel 20 remains open (
It should be also understood that the embodiment in
It is understood that while certain embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it is not limited thereto except insofar as such limitations are included in the following claims and allowable functional equivalents thereof.
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Number | Date | Country |
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2677614 | Dec 1992 | FR |