Child resistant closure system

Abstract

A closure system includes a container and a closure. The container including a rim extending perpendicular to the side wall, the rim including a locking lug extending from an upper surface of the rim and a break disposed in the rim adjacent to the locking tab, the break operable to form a deflectable locking portion of the rim. The closure including a side wall, a flange extending perpendicular to the side wall, and a locking lug disposed within the flange for engaging the corresponding locking lug of the container. The flange may include a gap portion disposed adjacent to the locking lug for allowing a user to deflect the deflectable locking portion of the container through the gap portion in the flange to disengage the locking lug of the container from the locking lug of the closure.

Claims

1. A closure system comprising: a container having a neck portion, the neck portion including a circumferential side wall and a symmetrical rim extending out from the container side wall, the rim including a locking lug extending from an upper surface of the rim and a break disposed in the rim adjacent to the locking lug, the break being substantially symmetrically aligned with the rim and including a curved slot disposed between the rim and the circumferential side wall of the container neck portion operable to form a deflectable locking portion of the rim; and a closure dimensioned and configured to be secured to the neck portion of the container, the closure including a side wall, a flange extending out in radial symmetry from the closure side wall, and a locking lug disposed within the flange for engaging the corresponding locking lug of the container when the closure is installed on the container in a child resistant configuration, wherein, when the closure is secured to the neck portion of the container, the symmetrical rim of the container extends radially outward a distance further than the flange of the closure, the flange of the closure and the locking of the container and closure are positioned and configured such that the locking lugs are hidden within the flange, and the deflectable locking portion of the rim is operable to be deflected downward to disengage the locking lugs of the container and the closure to uninstall the closure from the child resistant configuration.

2. The closure system of claim 1 wherein the container is manufactured in a two-stage injection stretch blow molding process.

3. The closure system of claim 1 wherein the flange of the closure includes a gap portion disposed adjacent to the locking lug of the closure for enhancing access to the deflectable locking portion of the container rim.

4. The closure system of claim 3 wherein the flange of the closure includes a top exterior surface and a bottom interior surface, the gap portion extending through the top exterior surface and the bottom interior surface of the flange.

5. The closure system of claim 4 wherein the gap portion of the closure is vertically aligned with at least a portion of the deflectable locking portion of the container when the closure is installed on the container in the child resistant configuration.

6. The closure system of claim 1 wherein the closure further includes indicia operable to direct consumers attention to the deflectable locking portion of the container, the indicia being vertically aligned with at least a portion of the deflectable locking portion of the container when the closure is installed on the container in the child resistant configuration.

7. The closure system of claim 6 wherein the flange of the closure includes a gap portion disposed adjacent to the locking lug of the closure for enhancing access to the deflectable locking portion of the container rim and the indicia is vertically aligned with the gap portion of the closure and at least a portion of the deflectable locking portion of the container.

8. The closure system of claim 7 wherein the indicia includes an arrow pointing towards the deflectable locking portion of the container rim when the closure is installed on the container in the child resistant configuration.

9. The closure system of claim 6 wherein: the side wall of the closure includes a plurality of substantially smooth sections each disposed between two knurlment sections, one of the plurality of substantially smooth sections is vertically aligned with at least a portion of the deflectable locking portion of the container, and the indicia is disposed in the substantially smooth section vertically aligned with at least a portion of the deflectable locking portion of the container.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Further advantages of the disclosure are apparent by reference to the detailed description when considered in conjunction with the figures, which are not to scale so as to more clearly show the details, wherein like reference numbers indicate like elements throughout the several views, and wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 is a side perspective view of a prior art closure system with a closure installed in a child resistant configuration and a locking structure of a container being deflected downward to remove the closure from the container;

(3) FIG. 2 is a side perspective view of the prior art container of FIG. 1;

(4) FIGS. 3A-3B are overhead side perspective views of the top section of the prior art closure of FIG. 1;

(5) FIGS. 3C-3D are underneath side perspective views of the bottom section of the prior art closure of FIG. 1;

(6) FIG. 4 is an overhead perspective view of the bottom section/child resistant portion of the prior art closure of FIGS. 3A-3D;

(7) FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of the closure of FIGS. 3A-3D;

(8) FIG. 6 is a side perspective view of a container according to one embodiment of the disclosure;

(9) FIG. 7 is an overhead perspective view of the container of FIG. 6;

(10) FIG. 8 is a top view of a bottom section/child resistant portion of a closure according to one embodiment of the disclosure;

(11) FIG. 9 is a side view of the closure of FIG. 8;

(12) FIG. 10 is an overhead perspective view of the closure of FIGS. 8-9 installed on the container of FIGS. 7-8 in a child resistant configuration;

(13) FIG. 11 is a top view of the closure of FIGS. 8-9 installed on the container of FIGS. 7-8 in a child resistant configuration;

(14) FIG. 12 is a bottom view of a container according to another embodiment of the disclosure;

(15) FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of the container of FIG. 12;

(16) FIG. 14 is a side view of the container of FIG. 12; and

(17) FIG. 15 is a top view of a child resistant portion of a closure according to one embodiment of the disclosure;

(18) FIG. 16 is a side perspective view of the closure of FIG. 15 installed on the container of FIGS. 12-14 according to one embodiment of the disclosure;

(19) FIG. 17 is an overhead perspective view of the closure system of FIG. 16;

(20) FIG. 18 is a side view of a key for the closure system of FIGS. 16-17 according to one embodiment of the disclosure;

(21) FIG. 19 is an overhead perspective view of a container according to another embodiment of the disclosure;

(22) FIG. 20 is an overhead perspective view of the container of FIG. 19 with a closure installed thereon in a child resistant configuration according one embodiment of the disclosure;

(23) FIG. 21 is a side view of the closure system of FIG. 20; and

(24) FIG. 22 is a top view of the closure system of FIG. 20.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(25) In certain embodiments, the disclosure relates to a child resistant closure system in which an exposed deflectable push down tab element of a locking structure of a container is removed and access is provided to deflect the locking structure through a small gap provided in a peripheral skirt/flange of the closure. The closure system of the present disclosure is primarily directed for use with containers intended to store and dispense pharmaceutical products, and particularly prescription pharmaceuticals. However, the system may also be used with other types of containers in which a child resistant closure is desired.

(26) It should be noted that, while the child resistant closure system 100 described below is similar to the closure system 10 of the '331 and '988 Patents described above and shown in FIGS. 1-5 herein with the primary exception being the manner in which a user is able to access the locking structure 26 of the container 12, the features of this disclosure can be implemented into any other child resistant closure systems utilizing similar deflectable tab elements.

(27) Referring to FIGS. 6-11, closure system 100 includes a container 112 and closure 140 similar to the container 12 and closure 40 substantially as described above with the exception of the locking structure 126 and access provided thereto. In this regard, instead of including a container portion extending radially outward with respect to the rim 24 of the container 12 and flange 60 of the closure 40, the outermost portion of the locking structure 126 of container 112 is preferably radially aligned with the rim 124. In other words, the push down tab 34 of the container 12 described above has been removed such that no portion of the locking structure 126 extends radially outward with respect to the flange 160 of the closure 140. Accordingly, when the closure 140 is installed on the container 112 in a child resistant configuration as shown best in FIG. 10, the manner in which to unlock the closure system 100 is discretely hidden from a user or is otherwise not readily apparent.

(28) In preferred embodiments and as shown FIGS. 6-7, the locking structure 126 is simply a locking tab 130 extending from a top surface of a symmetrical rim 124. The rim is referred to as symmetrical because the outermost width of the rim 124 in relation to the sidewall of the container 112 is consistent around the entire circumference of the container neck (i.e., there is no radially extending tab protruding from the rim 124 of the container 112). To form the deflecatble portion, a break 128 in the rim 124 is provided adjacent the locking tab 130. Break 128 includes a gap 127 in the rim 124 and a curved slot 129 extending from the gap 127 along the side of the container 112 to at least the tab 130 (i.e., at least a small amount of space is provided between the rim 124 and the side of the container from the gap 127 to the tab 130), which allows for the portion of the rim 124 between the tab 130 and the gap 127 to be deflected slightly downward to disengage the locking tab 130 from the locking projection 164 of the closure 140 when the closure 140 is installed on the container 112 in the child resistant configuration. For purposes of the present application, the break 128 is referred to herein as being substantially symmetrically aligned with the rim 124 due to the rim 124 and break 128 being configured together to provide the substantially symmetrical shape of the rim 124.

(29) Unlike the neck rings described above with respect to the prior art containers having a deflectable tab portion extending from their neck rings, providing container 112 of the present disclosure with a substantially symmetrical rim/neck ring 124 allows the container 112 to be able to be easily and consistently picked up and handled by two stage injection blow mold machines during fabrication or automated dispensing machines during dispensing of medications in the containers 112. Additionally, because there is no longer a projection extending from the rim 124 of the container 112 (i.e., the rim 124 is an entirely symmetrical bead with simply a hinged tab created by the break 128 in the rim 124), it should be understood that container 112 can be manufactured using either a one-stage or the more efficient two-stage injection stretch blow molding fabrication process. In this regard, the curved slot 129 for forming the deflectable portion of rim 124 is able to formed using stretch blow molding techniques because the mold is able to move in both the X-direction and one of the Y-direction or Z-direction in stretch blow molding machines. On the other hand, the curved slot 129 cannot be formed using the injection blow molding method contemplated in the '373 Patent due to the mold in injection blow molding machines only being able to move in the Y-direction (the '373 Patent refers to this method as injection blow molding processes using standard neck ring technology in which the container finish can be formed by straight pull from the neck rings . . . ).

(30) In view of the advantages described above of having a substantially symmetrical rim on containers, alternate embodiments of the present disclosure may include a substantially symmetrical rim that extends out from the container side wall a sufficient distance such that it is not entirely covered by the flange of the closure. In other words, in certain embodiments (such as depicted in the embodiment of FIGS. 19-22 described further below), the present disclosure provides a child resistant closure system in which the rim is symmetrical such that it can be molded in two-stage blow molding fabrication methods and can be easily handled in automated dispensing systems while also providing a somewhat more discernible push down portion if desired by extending the width of the symmetrical rim past the flange of the closure intended to be secured to the container. The added width of the symmetrical rim according to this embodiment also has the advantage of providing more contact surface area for the user to push down on the deflectable locking structure 126 while still avoiding the easily discernible radially extending tab of prior art designs.

(31) Referring to FIGS. 8-11, in embodiments where the rim 124 does not extend out from the flange 160, closure 140 of closure system 100 includes a small gap 161 disposed in its flange 160 for providing access to the locking structure 126 of container 112. It should be understood that the gap 161 may also be provided in embodiments where the rim 124 does extend at least somewhat out from the flange 160 to enhance access to the locking structure 126. In operation of either embodiment, the closure 140 is installed onto the container 112 by rotating the closure 140 until the locking projection 164 of the closure 140 engages the locking tab 130 of the container 112. At this point, the gap 161 of closure 140 is vertically aligned with at least a portion of the deflectable portion of the rim 124 of container 112 disposed between the gap 127 and the locking tab 130. To remove the closure 140 from the container 112, the user inserts the tip of one of their fingers into the gap 161 in the rim 160 of closure 140 and pushes down on the portion of the rim 124 of the container 112 adjacent to the gap 127 in the rim 124 to disengage the locking tab 130 from the locking projection 164 of closure 140.

(32) In alternate embodiments, the gap 161 in the flange 160 of the closure 140 is reduced to a size in which a user cannot access or otherwise push down on the deflectable portion of rim 124 of the container 112 with a user's finger. Instead, the user is required to use a small tool such as a paper clip or the side of a credit card to traverse the gap 161 and deflect the rim 124. In yet a further embodiment, the gap 161 is formed of an aperture of a particular shape such that a specialized key is needed to be inserted into the aperture to push down on the deflectable portion of rim 124.

(33) For example, referring to the alternate embodiment of FIGS. 12-18, closure system 200 includes a container 212 and closure 240 similar to container 12 and closure 40 of container system 10 except the outermost portion of the locking structure 226 of container 212 does not extend out from the container 212 any further than the flange 260 of closure 240 when the closure 240 is installed on the container 212 in the child resistant configuration. Thus, a user is unable to disengage the locking structure 226 of the container 212 from the locking projection 264 of the closure 240 by simply pushing down on the locking structure 226 with one's finger.

(34) Accordingly, in order to remove the closure 240 from the container 212 when the closure 240 is installed in the child resistant configuration, closure 240 includes a small aperture 261 (such as a thin slot as depicted) disposed in flange 260 adjacent to the locking edge 268 of the locking projection 264. In preferred embodiments, the aperture 261 is small enough (0.040 inches or less) such that readily available household items such as coins cannot be inserted into the aperture 261. In most preferred embodiments, aperture 261 is so thin that it is generally not discernible when viewing the closure 240, at least to a child or unless a user knows where to look for it on the closure 240. Accordingly, referring to FIGS. 16-18, disengagement of the locking projection 264 of the closure 240 from the locking structure 226 of the container 212 is permitted only with a separate unlocking tool 280 having a thin key portion 282 that is dimensioned and configured to fit through the aperture 261 and deflect locking structure 226.

(35) In other aspects, the unlocking tool 280 preferably includes a handle portion 284 to assist in gripping the tool 280 and driving the key portion 282 in an appropriate direction (i.e., downward in this embodiment) to deflect the locking structure 226. The handle portion 284 preferably includes a key aperture 286 such that the unlocking tool 280 may be secured to a user's key ring to prevent loss of the unlocking tool 280. The unlocking tool 280 may also include a top lip portion 288 and/or bottom lip portion 290 dimensioned and configured to ensure that the key portion 282 is only inserted into the aperture 261 to a depth sufficient to disengage the corresponding locking structures of the closure 240 and container 212. For example, bottom lip portion 290 may include a thicker portion of tool 280 adjacent to the key portion 282 that does not fit into aperture 261 and contacts the flange 260 once the key portion 282 is inserted a sufficient depth into aperture 261. On the other hand, top lip portion 288 is a portion of tool 280 that extends outward from the main body opposite the handle portion 284 such that the top lip portion 288 contacts the top edge 244 of the closure 240 once the key portion 282 is inserted into aperture 261 to a sufficient depth. Lip portions 288, 290 prevent the user from applying too much pressure to the unlocking tool 280, which in turn prevents the user from breaking the key portion 282 of tool 280 and/or the locking structure 226 of the container 212.

(36) In yet another aspect of the disclosure, the aperture 261 is preferably disposed in the flange 260 directly against the sidewall 252 of closure 240. Thus, in order to locate the aperture 261, the user may position the bottom of key portion 282 against the corner of the sidewall 252 and flange 260 and rotate the closure 240 or unlocking tool 280 until the key portion 282 drops into the aperture 261.

(37) Referring to FIGS. 19-22, another embodiment of the present disclosure provides a closure system 300 generally as described above with respect to FIGS. 6-15. In this regard, the container 312 includes symmetrical rim 324 with a deflectable locking structure 326 formed by a break 328 in the rim 324. Disposed on the upper surface of the rim 324 is a locking tab 330 that is positioned and configured to engage a corresponding locking projection (not shown) in the flange 360 of the closure 340. According to this embodiment, the symmetrical rim 324 of the container 312 extends radially a greater distance than the flange 360 of the closure 340. As described above, this embodiment provides added width to the symmetrical rim 324 to provide more contact surface area for the user to push down on the deflectable locking structure 326 while still avoiding the easily discernible radially extending tab of prior art designs.

(38) With continued reference to the embodiment of FIGS. 19-22, indicia 380 and/or symbols 382 (indicia and symbols also being referred to collectively herein as indicia) may be provided on the container 312 and/or the closure 340 to provide operating instructions to users of the system 300 or otherwise direct consumers attention to the gap 361 of the closure flange 360 and/or the deflectable portion 326 of the container rim 324. The indicia 380 and/or symbols 382 are particularly desirable in embodiments or situations where it is believed intended users may have difficulty figuring out the operation of the present system due to the lack of the radially extending tab. In preferred embodiments, and with particular reference to FIG. 20, indicia 380 on the container 312 or closure 340 may be a basic operational term (e.g., PRESS) while the symbol 382 on the closure 340 may be an arrow pointing towards the deflectable portion of the container 312. In preferred embodiments, indicia 380, 382 is disposed in vertical alignment with the gap 361 of the closure flange 360 and/or the deflectable portion 326 of the container rim 324. In most preferred embodiments in which indicia 382 is desired, the closure 340 is molded such that one of the smooth sidewall sections is positioned between knurlment sidewall sections such that a smooth sidewall section is vertically aligned with the gap 361 of the closure flange 360 and/or the deflectable portion 326 of the container rim 324 and the indicia 382 is then provided in the smooth sidewall section.

(39) The foregoing description of preferred embodiments for this disclosure has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise form disclosed. Obvious modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The embodiments are chosen and described in an effort to provide the best illustrations of the principles of the disclosure and its practical application, and to thereby enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the disclosure in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the disclosure as determined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are fairly, legally, and equitably entitled.