Child resistant snuff container

Abstract

A snuff container (101), comprising a base part (102) and a closure part (103) and being provided with a locking arrangement (120) for locking the closure part on the base part (102). The base part (102) comprises a bottom wall (105), a base side wall (107) and a compartment wall (117) arranged inward of the base side wall (107) with a space (114) between the base side wall (107) and the compartment wall (117). A portion of the base side wall (107) is formed by a resiliently flexible tongue (133), with an upper part of the tongue (133) being inwardly deflectable in a direction towards the compartment wall (117). The locking arrangement (120) comprising a first locking member (122) is arranged on an upper part (135) of the resiliently flexible tongue (133) and a second locking member (123) is arranged on the closure part (103) at a closure side wall end edge (113). The locking arrangement (120) is arranged to assume a locked configuration and a release configuration in which the upper part (135) of the resiliently flexible tongue (133) is in an inwardly deflected position.

Claims

1. A snuff container, comprising a base part and a closure part, a snuff storage compartment having an access opening being arranged in said base part, said closure part being configured to open and close said access opening, said snuff container comprising a plurality of locking arrangements for locking said closure part on said base part, wherein said snuff container has a generally circular outer circumference and has an axial direction and a radial direction perpendicular to said axial direction, said base part comprises a bottom wall, said bottom wall having a peripheral edge and a base side wall extending from said peripheral edge of said bottom wall and terminating in a base side wall end edge, said base part further comprising a compartment wall arranged inward of said base side wall and at a distance from said base side wall with a space between said base side wall and said compartment wall; said closure part comprises a top wall having a peripheral edge and a closure side wall, said closure side wall extending from said peripheral edge of said top wall towards said bottom wall and terminating in a closure side wall end edge; a portion of said base side wall comprises a plurality of resiliently flexible tongues, each of said resiliently flexible tongues having a lower part at said bottom wall and an upper part, said upper part of each of said resiliently flexible tongues being inwardly deflectable in a direction towards said compartment wall; each of said plurality of locking arrangements comprises one of said plurality of resiliently flexible tongues, a first locking member being arranged on said upper part of said resiliently flexible tongue and a second locking member being arranged on said closure part at said closure side wall end edge, said first and second locking members being mating locking members and being configured to be in mating engagement with each other in a locked configuration of said locking arrangement and to be free from engagement with each other in a release configuration of said locking arrangement, wherein said upper part of said resiliently flexible tongue is in an inwardly deflected position in relation to adjacent parts of said base side wall, and wherein said first locking member comprises a ridge extending circumferentially along said base side wall end edge with first parts of said first locking member being arranged on said resiliently flexible tongues at said upper ends of said resiliently flexible tongues and with second parts of said first locking member being arranged between said resiliently flexible tongues.

2. The snuff container according to claim 1, wherein said first and said second mating locking members comprise interengaging ridges.

3. The snuff container according to claim 2, wherein an extension of said second locking member along said closure side wall end edge is smaller than or equal to a circumferential extension of said resiliently flexible tongue.

4. The snuff container according to claim 1, wherein said snuff container comprises first and second locking arrangements forming a pair of locking arrangements, said first and second locking arrangements being placed at opposing locations along a circumference of said snuff container.

5. The snuff container according to claim 4, wherein said closure part is configured to be rotatable in relation to said base part when said snuff container is closed.

6. The snuff container according to claim 5, wherein said snuff container comprises two oppositely arranged locking arrangements and two second locking members are arranged diametrically opposite each other on the inside of said closure part and forming a pair of second locking members.

7. The snuff container according to claim 6, wherein said closure part comprises at least one auxiliary locking member and wherein said base part comprises at least one corresponding release member.

8. The snuff container according to claim 7, wherein said closure part comprises a pair of auxiliary locking members and said base part comprises a pair of corresponding release members said release members being constituted by interruptions in a first locking member.

9. The snuff container according to claim 8, wherein said release members in said first locking member and said auxiliary locking members have smaller circumferential extension than a circumferential extension of said resiliently flexible tongues.

10. The snuff container according to claim 5, wherein said closure part comprises a blocking member configured to prevent said resiliently flexible tongue from moving into said space between said base side wall and said compartment wall except when said resiliently flexible tongue has been brought into a selectable release position on said circumference of said snuff container, said selectable release position corresponding to a position of a second locking member on said closure part.

11. The snuff container according to claim 10, wherein said blocking member comprises one or more blocking flanges said blocking flanges being arranged on an inside of said top wall and extending from said inside of said top wall downward into said space between said base side wall and said compartment wall.

12. The snuff container according to claim 1, wherein a width of said resiliently flexible tongue is from 13 mm to 25 mm.

13. The snuff container according to claim 1, wherein a supplemental closure element is provided at the closure side wall end edge on the inside of the closure side wall.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The present invention will be further explained hereinafter by means of non-limiting examples and with reference to the appended drawings wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a snuff container seen from above;

(3) FIG. 2 shows a top view of the snuff container in FIG. 1 in a release position;

(4) FIG. 3 shows a cross-section through the snuff container in FIG. 2, taken along the line III-III;

(5) FIG. 4 shows a side view of the snuff container in FIG. 1;

(6) FIG. 5 shows the snuff container in FIG. 1 in a release position;

(7) FIG. 6 shows the snuff container in FIG. 1 in an open position; and

(8) FIG. 7 shows the snuff container in FIG. 1 seen from below and in an open position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(9) It is to be understood that the drawings are schematic and that individual components, are not necessarily drawn to scale. The child resistant snuff container shown in the figures is provided only as an example and should not be considered limiting to the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is determined solely by the appended claims.

(10) Although the snuff container shown in the figures is a cylindrical snuff container having circular cross section it is to be understood that the locking arrangement as disclosed herein can be arranged on a snuff container having non-circular cross section, such as rectangular, near-rectangular, oval or the like. A cylindrical snuff container wherein the closure part and the base part are arranged such that they can be rotated in relation to each other to set the closure arrangement in a release position may be preferred as it requires two sequentially performed manipulations to allow the closure arrangement to become disconnected.

(11) Furthermore, the snuff container may be provided with a disposal compartment for temporary storage of used snuff portions. Such disposal compartment may be arranged in the closure part or in the base part, as is known in the art.

(12) The snuff container 101 shown in FIG. 1 comprises a base part 102 and a closure part 103. The snuff container 101 is shown in FIG. 1 in a closed position with the closure part 103 closed and locked on the base part 102 and is shown in FIG. 6 in an open position with the closure part 103 removed from the base part 102.

(13) As indicated in FIG. 1, the closed circular snuff container 101 has an axial direction A coinciding with a vertical direction when the snuff container is placed with the base part 102 on a horizontal surface, a radial direction R coinciding with a horizontal direction when the snuff container 101 is placed with the base part 102 on a horizontal surface, the radial direction R being perpendicular to the axial direction A, and a circumferential direction C.

(14) The base part 102 comprises a bottom wall 105 having a peripheral edge 106 and a base side wall 107 extending from the peripheral edge 106 of the bottom wall 105 in the axial direction A and terminating in a base side wall end edge 108 as seen in FIG. 3.

(15) Two opposing portions of the base side wall 107 are formed by two resiliently flexible tongues 133 as is illustrated in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. The resiliently flexible tongue 133 has a lower, fixed end 134 at the bottom wall 105 and an upper, free end 135 which free end has an edge forming part of the base side wall end edge 108. The resiliently flexible tongue 133 is arranged so that it can be inwardly deflected about the lower end 134. As can be seen in FIG. 6, the upper ends of the resiliently flexible tongues 133 are separated from the adjacent portions of the base side wall 107 by discontinuities 125 in the base side wall 107 which are shown as slits from the base side wall end edge 108 downwards towards the peripheral edge 106 of the bottom wall 105. The slits terminate at a distance from the peripheral edge 106 of the bottom wall 105. In this manner, the resiliently flexible tongues 133 are hingedly connected to the remaining parts of the base side wall 107 at the lower ends 134 of the resiliently flexible tongues 134 such that the upper ends 135 of the resiliently flexible tongues 133 may be moved inwards into the snuff container 101, without affecting the remaining parts of the base side wall 107.

(16) The closure part 103 comprises a top wall 110 having a peripheral edge 111 and a closure side wall 112 which extends from the peripheral edge 111 of the top surface 110 towards the bottom wall 105 in the axial direction A of the closed snuff container 101 and which terminates in a closure side wall end edge 113.

(17) The base side wall 107 has a lower part which is visible from the outside when the snuff container is closed and an upper part which is concealed inside the closure side wall 112 when the snuff container 101 is closed. When the snuff container is closed, the closure side wall end edge 113 abuts against a peripheral ledge 108 on the outside of the base side wall 107.

(18) The bottom wall 105 of the base part may be an unbroken wall delimited by the peripheral edge 106. Alternatively, the bottom wall 105 may comprise separate bottom wall parts which together form the bottom wall. As shown in FIG. 7, a central part of the bottom wall 105 may be constituted by a bottom wall 105 of the storage compartment 115 and a peripheral part of the bottom wall 105 may be constituted by a sealing ring 105, which is applied to cover a gap corresponding to the space 114 between the base side wall 107 and a compartment wall 117. The sealing ring 105 is an optional component of the snuff container 101.

(19) The snuff storage compartment 115 is delimited in the radial direction, R, by a compartment wall 117 which extends from the bottom wall 105 of the base part 102 parallel to the base side wall 107 at a distance from the base side wall 107 in the radial direction R such that a space 114 is formed between the base side wall 107 and the compartment wall 117. The compartment wall 117 terminates in a compartment wall end edge 118. The height of the compartment wall 117 is shown in the figures to be the same as the height of the base side wall 107. As set out herein, such arrangement is optional and the snuff container may be provided with a compartment wall 117 being higher or lower than the base side wall 107. In a closed snuff container 101, the compartment wall end edge 118 abuts against the inner surface of the top wall 110, as is shown in FIG. 3. In this manner, the compartment 115 is effectively sealed and the contents inside the compartment 115 may be kept fresh for a prolonged time. The inner closure of the snuff container is optional to the invention as disclosed herein.

(20) The snuff container 101 is provided with two locking arrangements 120 for locking the closure part 103 on the base part 102.

(21) The locking arrangements 120 are placed diametrically opposite each other in the radial direction R of the snuff container 101, as is seen e.g. in FIG. 2.

(22) The provision of paired locking arrangements is optional to a snuff container as disclosed herein. Accordingly, the snuff container may be provided with only a single locking arrangement or with up to five locking arrangements spaced apart in the circumferential direction C allowing the locking arrangements to be simultaneously operated by the fingers on one hand. When providing three or more locking arrangements, the locking arrangements may be located in the base side wall with equal spacing in the circumferential direction C or being spaced apart to provide convenient gripping positions for an adult size hand.

(23) Each locking arrangement comprises a first locking member 122 and a second locking member 123. In the embodiment which is shown in the figures, the first locking member 122 is constituted by a ridge extending circumferentially along the base side wall end edge 108 and being the first locking member 122 of both locking arrangements. The first locking member 122 comprises first parts 122 arranged on the resiliently flexible tongues 133 at the upper ends 135 of the resiliently flexible tongues 133 and second parts 122 arranged between the resiliently flexible tongues 133 and being separated from the first parts 122 by the discontinuities 125 in the base side wall 107. The second locking members 123 are arranged on the inside of the closure part 103 at the closure side wall end edge 113, as can be seen in FIGS. 3 and 7. The first and second locking members 122, 123 are mating locking members and are arranged to be in mating engagement with each other in a locked configuration of the locking arrangement wherein the resiliently flexible tongues 133 are aligned with adjacent parts of the base side wall 107 as is illustrated in FIGS. 1, 4 and 6 and to be free from engagement with each other in a release configuration of the locking arrangement wherein the resiliently flexible tongues 133 are in an inwardly tilted position in relation to the adjacent parts of the base side wall 107.

(24) A snuff container as disclosed herein may be provided with a greater number of second locking members 123 than the number of first locking members 122. In the non-limiting example shown in the figures, two second locking members 123 are arranged opposite each other on the inside of the closure part 103 along the circumference of the snuff container 101 as is seen in FIG. 7. The second locking members 123 form a pair opposing second locking members. When the pair of second locking members 123 is aligned with the corresponding first locking members 122 on the resiliently flexible tongues 133, a pair of auxiliary locking members 123 is aligned with corresponding interruptions 140 in the ridges forming the second parts 122 of the first locking member 122. The interruptions 140 in the second parts 122 of the first locking member 122 are sized and positioned to allow passage through the interruptions of the pair of auxiliary locking members. In the illustrated embodiment, the interruptions 140 in the second parts 122 of the first locking member 122 and the auxiliary locking members 123 have smaller extension in the circumferential direction C than the extension of the resiliently flexible tongues 133 in the circumferential direction C. Thereby, the second locking members 123 cannot pass through the interruptions 140 and can only be disconnected from the first locking member when aligned with the resiliently flexible tongues 133. The snuff container may, thus, be opened in two rotational positions of the closure part in relation to the base part.

(25) Alternatively, the second locking members 123 and the auxiliary locking members 123 may be of equal size and may form first and second pairs of opposing second locking members. When any one of the pairs of second locking members is aligned with the resiliently flexible tongues 133, the other pair of second locking members 123 is aligned with corresponding release members 140 formed as interruptions in the ridges forming the second parts 122 of the first locking member 122. The release members 140 in the second parts 122 of the first locking member 122 are sized and positioned to allow passage through the interruptions of the auxiliary pair of second locking members which is not aligned with the resiliently flexible tongues 133. The snuff container may, thus, be opened in any of four rotational positions of the closure part in relation to the base part.

(26) With reference again to FIG. 1, the closure side wall end edge 113 and the ledge 108 on the outside of the base side wall 107 meet at a dividing line D when the snuff container 101 is closed. The dividing line D extends circumferentially around the snuff container 101 and may be arranged at a distance from the bottom surface 105 in the axial direction A of from 30% to 70% of a combined height H.sub.B+H.sub.T of the visible part of the base side wall 107 and the closure side wall 112, such as from 50% to 70% of said combined height H.sub.B+H.sub.T of the visible part of the base side wall 107 and the closure side wall 112.

(27) The snuff container 101 is opened by rotating the closure part 103 and the base part 102 in relation to each other such that they are set in a release position, with the resiliently flexible tongues 133 aligned with one pair of second locking members 123. In order to aid a user to readily identify the release position, the snuff container 101 may be provided with alignment means. In the illustrated example, the alignment means is provided by a triangular cut-out 145 on the closure part 103 and a corresponding triangular cut-out 146 on the base part 102 and by mating parts of a raised pattern which parts together form a rectangle indicating the position of the resiliently flexible tongue 133. The alignment means signal that a release position has been reached when the triangular cut-outs 145, 146 are aligned with each other and the parts of the raised pattern form a single rectangle, as shown in FIG. 5. The triangular cut-outs shown in the figures are only offered as one example of useful alignment means, and it is to be understood that other alignment means may be used such as arrows, lines, dots, etc. Without limitation, the alignment means may be inset into the goods of the snuff container, as the cut-outs shown in the figures, may form a relief on the surface of the snuff container as the rectangles shown in the figures, or may be printed or embossed on the container or on a label attached to the container. The alignment means on the closure part may be arranged on the top wall 110, on the side wall 112, or both. In the illustrated embodiment, one pair of alignment means is shown, indicating the location of the pair of second locking members 123 on the outside of the closure part 103. In a snuff container having a symmetrical paired arrangement of resiliently flexible tongues 133 and corresponding paired second locking members 123 it is sufficient to mark out the location of only one of the second locking members 123. Alignment of one of the second locking members in a pair of second locking members 123 with a resiliently flexible tongue automatically brings the opposing second locking member 123 into alignment with the opposing second resiliently flexible tongue 133. In a snuff container having more than one release position, alignment means may be provided for all release positions.

(28) After alignment of the first and second locking members 122, 123 with each other, as is shown in FIG. 3, the upper part of the resiliently flexible tongues 133 can be pushed inward, towards the storage compartment 115 to transfer each locking arrangement 120 to the release configuration by moving the first part 122 of the first locking member 122 into the space 114 between the compartment wall 117 and the base side wall 107 and out of engagement with the second locking member 123. In a release position of the base part 102 and the closure part 103, the resiliently flexible tongues 133 can be pushed inwardly the full distance between the compartment wall 117 and the base side wall 107. In order to decouple the closure part 103 from the base part 102, both locking arrangements 120 need to be manipulated to the release configuration at the same time, i.e. the resiliently flexible tongues 133 need to be simultaneously pressed inwardly.

(29) As shown in FIG. 7, a supplemental closure element 141 may be provided e.g. in the form of a bead extending along the closure side wall end edge 113, on the inside of the closure side wall 112. The bead is arranged to cooperate with the first locking member 122 and is dimensioned such that it can be disengaged from the first locking member 122 the base part by simply pulling the closure part away from the base part when the locking arrangement 120 is in the release configuration, with the resiliently flexible tongues 133 pressed inwardly and the first locking members disengaged from the second locking members 123. Generally, the bead protrudes a smaller distance from the closure side wall 112 than the second locking member or members 123 or any auxiliary locking member 123.

(30) The supplemental closure element 141 is optional to the snuff containers as disclosed herein such that no engagements are present between the closure part 103 and the base part when the locking arrangements 120 are in the release position as the pair of auxiliary locking members 123 is simultaneously brought into alignment with the interruptions 140 in the second parts 122 of the first locking member 122.

(31) When the locking arrangements 120 are not in a release position, e.g. as is shown in FIG. 1, the resiliently flexible tongues 133 are prevented from moving into the space 114 between the compartment wall 117 and the base side wall 107 by blocking members 150 which are arranged on the inside of the top wall 110 of the closure part 103. The blocking members 150 are shown as blocking flanges which extend from the inside of the top wall downward into the space 114 between the base side wall 107 and the compartment wall 117. When the snuff container 101 is closed with the closure part 103 applied on the base part 102 the restriction in the space 114 between the base side wall 107 and the compartment wall 117 caused by the blocking member prevents inward tilting of the resiliently flexible tongue to a position in which the first and the second locking members 122, 123 become disengaged.

(32) The child safety locking arrangements as disclosed herein may be applied to other types of containers requiring child proofing, such as containers for house-hold chemicals, pharmaceuticals, etc.