Abstract:
The present invention provides a solution with a releasable, childproof container that is particularly suited for ammunition and other hazardous items. The container has a cover and body. The container body includes, preferably in two opposing side walls, a resilient leaf, which is preferably biased slightly outward. The resilient leaf is adapted to pivot inwardly and outwardly within an opening in a side wall. The container cover includes stops mounted on an inner surface of the body side walls and aligned with the cover side wall having the resilient leaf. Adjacent to and above the stop is a release panel, which is also capable of pivoting inwardly and outwardly relative to the container.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (1) Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to child resistant containers for storage of hazardous materials, and in particular, child resistant containers for transferring and storing ammunition. 
     (2) Background of the Invention 
     Young children have a well-known tendency to place small objects in their mouths. In addition to swallowing, children often bang objects together or on hard surfaces. Such activity may lead to tragic results when ammunition is accidentally made accessible to children. Although efforts are generally made to keep boxes of ammunition out of reach from children, secondary lines of defense are needed. Further, access to ammunition may lead to efforts to actually load a weapon out of curiosity, which may also lead to tragic consequences. 
     Many child resistant containers have been devised for hazardous materials, such as ammunition and medicine. Opening these containers generally depends on some combination of dexterity, strength and intellect, which is not possessed by young children. In addition to being rather expensive to manufacture, these containers often turn out to be inconvenient and too difficult for adults to open. Many adults lack the strength and dexterity to open these containers for a variety of physical reasons. Further, given the nature of the contents, these containers need to provide periodic access and child resistance between periods of access. 
     There is a need for an inexpensive container that is child resistant while remaining accessible to adults of varying physical abilities. The container must have a reusable locking assembly. Preferably, the container would be easy to manufacture using traditional paperboard construction techniques. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a solution with a releasable, childproof container that is particularly suited for ammunition and other hazardous items. The container has a cover and body. The container body includes, preferably in two opposing side walls, a resilient locking leaf, which is preferably biased slightly outward. The resilient leaf is adapted to pivot inwardly and outwardly within an opening in a side wall. The container cover includes stops mounted on an inner surface of the body side walls and aligned with the cover side wall having the resilient leaf. Adjacent to and above the stop is a release panel, which is also capable of pivoting inwardly and outwardly relative to the container. 
     As the cover is lowered over and onto the container body, the stops force the resilient leaves inward. The resilient leaf releases outward after the stop travels completely below the resilient leaf, such that the stop is positioned directly below and in alignment with the corresponding resilient leaf. The cover and container body cannot be inadvertently separated from the fully closed position because upward travel of the cover relative to the body is interrupted by the stops contacting the corresponding resilient leaves. The cover is removed by initially pushing inwardly on the release panels so that the resilient leaves are moved inwardly to a position inside the stops. Once the resilient leaves and respective stops are clear of each other, the cover is released for removal. Preferably, the container box and cover are of paperboard box construction using corrugated cardboard wherein the cover and body are each formed from uniform templates. 
     These and other aspects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art after a reading of the following description of the preferred embodiments when considered in conjunction with the drawings. It should be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention as claimed. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate one embodiment of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a container according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a top plan view of a blank for forming the cover of the container of the present invention; 
     FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a blank for forming the body of the container of the present invention; 
     FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view taken along  4 — 4  in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view showing the deflection of the resilient leaf by the stop mounted on the container cover during placement of the cover; 
     FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view showing the container body stop in its operative position adjacent to and beneath the resilient leaf after the resilient leaf has returned to its original position; and 
     FIG. 7 is a partial sectional view showing the release panel in a deflected position so as to deflect the resilient leaf away from the container cover stop. 
     FIG. 8 is a partial sectional view showing the deflection of the resilient leaf by the stop mounted on the container cover during removal of the cover. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Throughout the figures, fold lines are indicated by lines of long and short dashes. Cut lines along which the material has been cut along a surface or through completely are indicated by solid lines. With reference to FIGS. 1 and 4 and  4  through  8 , a tamper resistant container according to the present invention includes a cover  102  having an inside surface  102   a  and outside surface  102   b  and a container body  104  on which the cover  102  fits. 
     The container cover  102  has a top panel or wall  302 , opposing end walls  306  and side walls  304 . The container cover  102  optionally includes finger cutouts  109  located at opposing end walls  306  of the cover  102 . The cover side walls  304  each include a release panel  105  formed in and being substantially coplanar with the outside surface of the container cover  102 . The release panels  105  are hingedly connected to the side walls  304  so as to be pivotable to either side of the side walls. Optionally, a score  107  may be provided in the container cover  102  to facilitate the hinge-like motion by the release panel  105  as described below. Preferably the score  107  is only along the outside surface and along the base of release panel  105 . A stop  106  is mounted on the inner surface of the side walls  304  in a position adjacent to and, in a preferred embodiment, immediately below the release panel  105 . Although the stop  106  is shown in this preferred embodiment as having a trapezoidal shape, other suitable shapes may be used. 
     The container body  104  has a floor  200 , opposing end walls  206  and side walls  202  extending upwardly therefrom. Each of the side walls  202  includes a U-shaped cutout  110  which forms an opening  110  with a downwardly extending resilient locking leaf  112  therein. The cutout  110  should provide sufficient space surrounding resilient leaf  112  to permit the resilient locking leaf  112  to flex freely inwardly and outwardly in a coplanar relationship with side wall  202 . Preferably, the resilient leaves  112  are biased slightly outward to enhance outward resiliency. This may be accomplished by simply bending the leaves outward to an extent that they stay outwardly biased in their resting state. Notably, the terms “side walls” and “end walls” are used solely to facilitate the description of the invention and avoid confusion. In practice, any elements located on or in the side walls are equally applicable to the end walls. 
     The container body  104  may optionally contain flap  114 , which is hingedly formed in side wall  202 . The width of flap  114 , in this preferred embodiment, is equal to that of the opening  110 . A slit  115  may be provided at the base of flap  114  to facilitate its hinge-like movement. The container cover  102  and body  104  may be constructed of any suitable material. The preferred material is corrugated EFLUT board. Other acceptable materials include thermoplastics or cardboard. 
     Referring now to FIG. 2, an exemplary container body blank  200 , includes a floor  201 , end walls  202  extending from the ends of the floor  201  and side walls  206  extending from the sides of floor  200 . Side walls  206  may include a fold-over portion  208  which, during the assembly of the container body is folded over onto side walls  206  so as to hold the end wall flaps  204  in place. In this embodiment, the fold over portions  208  are held in place by tabs  205  which are inserted into slots  207 . It should be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill that the folded over portion  208  may be eliminated, for example, by adhering the end wall flaps  204  to the side walls  206 . Opening  116  in fold over portions  208  allows resilient leaves  112  to travel through fold over portions  208  when assembled as discussed in further detail below. 
     With reference to FIG. 3, an exemplary container cover blank  300  is illustrated. Cover blank  300  is preferably constructed of the same material as the blank  200  used to construct the container body. Cover blank  300  includes a top panel or wall  302 , cover side walls  304 , and in this embodiment, end walls  306  each of which include a folded-over portion  312 . The end panels are provided with circular openings  315  that form finger cutouts when end panel portion  312  is folded over onto end panel portion  310  so as to hold side panel flaps  308  in place. In this embodiment, the folded over portions  312  are held in place by the insertion of tabs  314  into slots  316 . In an alternative embodiment the folded over portion  312 , tabs  314  and slots  316  are eliminated by gluing the side wall flaps  308  to the inner surfaces of end walls  306 . 
     The stops  106  located on the side walls  304  are formed in this embodiment by folding over stop flaps  320 . It will be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that rather than being formed integrally with the side walls  304 , a separate stop member could be adhered or otherwise attached to the inner surface  102   a  of the side walls  304 . 
     The operation of the tamper resistant mechanism of the present invention is illustrated in the cross-sectional views in FIGS. 4 through 8. Notably, the container cover  102  and body  104  are shown having a single wall construction for simplicity. If the templates of FIGS. 2 and 3 are used, the walls of the cover and body are double layered. FIG. 4 depicts the container cover  102  positioned directly above the container body  104 . As noted above, a stop  106  is mounted on the inner surface  102 A of each side wall  304  of the container cover  102 . The inside dimensions of the container cover  102  are substantially equal the outside dimensions of the container body  104 . The stops  106  infringe on these dimensions and, preferably, cause the top portions of side walls  202  of the container body  104  to flex inward when the container cover  102  begins to slide over the container body  104 . 
     As depicted in FIG. 5, as the container cover  102  continues its descent over the container body  104 , the stops  106  cause the resilient leaves  112  to hinge inward until the stop passes the respective lower edges of the resilient leaves  112 . Once the stops  106  pass these lower edges, the resilient leaves  112  spring outward toward the respective inside surfaces  102 A of side walls  304  of the container cover  102  and over top of stops  106 , as depicted in FIG.  6 . Notably, the optional flap  114  flexes inward in response to contact from the stops  106  to allow the stops  106  to rest further toward the inside of the container, which allows the lower edge of the resilient leaves  112  to further overlap the upper edges of the stops  106 . Preferably, the resilient leaves  112  and stops  106  are in substantial vertical alignment once the cover is in place. The result is a locking action between the container cover  102  and body  104 . In the preferred embodiment, container cover  102  and body  104  are configured to allow the upper edge of stops  106  and the lower edges of the resilient leaves  112  to rest substantially adjacent one another when the container cover  102  is in place. 
     Once the cover is locked in place, release of the cover initially requires application of inwardly directed, lateral forces to the release panels  105  as depicted in FIG.  7 . These forces must effectively cause the release panels  105  to hinge inwardly to an extent sufficient to contact and push the resilient leaves  112  past the most inner surfaces of the stops  106 . For double wall construction, openings  116  (FIGS. 1 and 2) are provided in fold over portions to allow the resilient leaves  112  to hinge inwardly through the fold over portion. Once the resilient leaves  112  are clear of the stops  106 , the container cover  102  will be slid off of the container body  104 , as depicted in FIG.  8 . Once the upper edge of stops  106  slide past the lower edges of the resilient leaves  105 , inward lateral force to the release panels is no longer required for removal of the container cover  102 . 
     Although numerous advantages of the present invention have been discussed, it will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill that other advantages are provided by the present invention. Those advantages, though not discussed here, are included within the scope of the present invention. 
     Although the present invention has been described with preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that modifications and variations may be utilized without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention, as those skilled in the art will readily understand. Such modifications and variations are considered to be within the purview and scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.