Child resistant medication container

There is disclosed a medication container which is adapted to be side loaded with unit doses of medication during packaging operations. After being filled with the unit doses of medication, the container side is sealed. The medication doses can be removed by a user from the sealed container by means of a child resistant removable closure at one end of the container.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Unit doses of medication that are prepared in the form of tablets, 
capsules, caplets, and the like, are generally packaged in bottles which 
are typically loaded or filled into the bottle through its neck. After 
being thusly loaded or filled, the bottles are usually closed with a 
removable cap means so that a patient can access the medication. 
A more convenient package form has been provided in a earlier invention, 
U.S. Pat. No. 5,213,213, issued May 25, 1993, which relates to a elongated 
container body C ("stick") having a removable closure means ("cap"). This 
has been found to be a convenient form to consumers, who have frequently 
responded to surveys requesting package designs which are in smaller sizes 
and which are easy to lift and carry. However, this package does not have 
any particular child-resistant (CR) cap associated with it. 
Ironically, senior citizens who most prefer small size packages, also 
dislike many commonly available "child-resistant" (CR) packaging as they 
have difficulty in opening, or experience spills in opening. However, CR 
packages are widely used as mandated by government regulations, in both 
OTC and prescription drugs for certain classes of medications. If a senior 
citizen has a package which has a hard-to-open cap, once the cap is off, 
it stays off. From that point on, the original child-resistant container 
is anything but. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It has now been found that a medication container having an elongated body 
can be provided with a simple, yet easy-to-use (CR) cap. 
In general, the medication container of the invention comprises an 
elongated body having a closed end and an open end and is adapted to 
receive and accommodate unit doses of medication of different sizes and 
shapes; a child resistant removable closure means to close the open end of 
said container; an elongated opening formed in the wall of said container, 
said opening being substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of said 
container; and, means to cover and seal said opening after said container 
has been loaded with unit doses of medication. 
The geometric form of the medication container is not critical but for ease 
of manufacture and to minimize cost, it is preferably tubular or 
rectangular. The means to removably close the open end of the container is 
a critical feature of this invention, and is a cylindrical cap having a 
cam-like projection which is engaged by a spring element separate from the 
body of the container. This spring element can be depressed by exerting 
pressure on the cover across the elongated opening in the wall of the 
container, thereby disengaging the cam from the spring, so that the cap 
opens. The pressure required to push on the cover is relatively slight, 
much less than that of the commonly employed "push & twist" (CR) caps, yet 
has been demonstrated child resistant using a standard effectiveness study 
protocol. 
The material used to cover and seal the elongated opening after the 
container has been loaded or filled with the unit doses of medication is 
not critical, but it should be such that once sealed to the container body 
over the elongated opening it is difficult to remove, yet flexible. 
Conventional materials such as plastic films or aluminum foilplastic 
laminates, and the like, can be employed for this purpose. 
Although the medication container of the invention can be made from any 
suitable material, moldable plastics such as high or low density 
polyethylene, polypropylene, and the like, are preferred as they are 
readily moldable and economic.

Turning now to the drawing, wherein like reference numerals denote like 
parts, there is shown in FIGS. 1-3 the medication container of the 
invention generally identified by reference numeral 10. The body 11 of 
container 10 has a closed end 12, and an opposed open end 13 and an minor 
wall 20 paralleled to open end 13. An elongated opening 14 is formed in 
the wall of the body 11 which is substantially parallel to the 
longitudinal axis of body 11. In the embodiment illustrated, open end 13 
carries internal threads 15 to receive a removable cap 16 having extemal 
threads 17 and an inner cap extension 22 provided with an eccentric 
cam-shaped protrusion 23. Inner wall 20 has round opening 21 through which 
the inner cap extension 22 fits. A cover means 18 is employed to overlay 
the elongated opening 14 and is sealed to the body 11 of container 10 in 
the area defining the periphery of elongated opening 14. 
Fitted in between inner wall 20 and open end 13 is a ratchet block part 25 
(shown above and outside the container) which engages cap 16 when the cap 
16 having external threads 17 is screwed onto internal threads 15. This 
ratchet block part 25 is made from Delrin or a moldable plastic with 
elastic, or spring-like properties. The eccentric cam-shaped protrusion 23 
on the inner cap extension 22 engaged the bottom flanges or spring element 
26 of ratchet block part 25. The top 27 of the ratchet block part 25 must 
be pushed through lid 18 in order to disengage the cam-shaped protrusion 
23 from spring element 26 when unscrewing cap 16 to open the container 10. 
The action of unlocking is further illustrated in the cross section of FIG. 
2. Showing container 10. Ratchet block part 25 with the top 27 and spring 
element 26 is being depressed to disengage the eccentric cam-shaped 
protrusion 23 on inner cap extension 22, so that the cap can be removed. 
Shown in the dotted line is the internl thread I.D. 15 through which the 
tablets pass. 
FIG. 3 illustrates the action of opening container 10, in which dot 30 
indicates the point at which pressure is exerted to activate or unlock the 
spring element. 
Prior to filling and loading medication container 10, removable cap 16 is 
threadably screwed through ratchet block part 25 and open end 13 so that 
both ends of container 10 are closed during the filling and loading 
operation. During automated filling and loading operation, container 10 is 
conveyed to one or more filling and loading stations by such means as 
conventional conveyor belts. At the filling and loading stations, a 
pre-determined number of unit doses of medication, here shown in the form 
of tablets 28, are all deposited concurrently into container 10; i.e., in 
a single one-drop operation. Once the container 10 has been loaded with 
the medication, it is conveyed to a station where cover means 18 is placed 
to overlay elongated opening 14. Cover means 18 can then be sealably 
secured to the top wall 29 such as by heat sealing at the same station or 
be conveyed to another station to be sealably secured. This operation also 
secures ratchet block part 25 so that it does not fall out when the cap 16 
is opened. 
To access the medication in the container 10, a patient would unscrew and 
remove cap 16 as shown in FIG. 3 and remove that quantity of unit dose 
medication needed. When closing, the cap engages the ratchet with an 
audible click to assure child safety. The cap can be made from a slightly 
harder material than the container, so that it serves as a self-gasket 
when tightly closed, and bites into the container, or vice versa. In a 
preferred application, Delrin or polypropylene can be used for the cap, 
and LDPE for the container. 
Thus, the medication container of the invention provides several 
significant advantages over conventional bottles currently used. 
Primarily, it provides a child resistant cap or a medication container 
which permits loading of the entire predetermined number of medication 
units as a one load drop as opposed to loading bottles through their necks 
with individual medication units. No additional packing is required at the 
dispensing end of the medication container of the invention whereas 
bottles generally require some type of packing such as cotton to fill in 
empty head space. The relatively narrow opening at the dispensing end of 
the medication container of the invention permits a user to readily 
extract individual medication units separately as opposed to shaking out 
an individual medication unit from the conventional, wide mouth opening of 
bottles thereby making it more convenient for a user and minimizing 
contamination of the medication units that may be caused by frequent user 
handling. 
While the medication container of the invention has been described in some 
detail and with particularity, it will be appreciated by those skilled in 
the art that changes and modifications can be made therein without 
departing from the scope of the invention defined in the claims.