Abstract:
A child resistant closure apparatus between a container and a cap comprises a separate safety lock ring. The lock ring is mounted over the container neck and the cap is mounted on the container neck and engages with a pair of lock clasps on opposite sides of the lock ring. Finger pads on opposite sides of the lock ring are squeezed and compressed by one hand of the user while the cap is rotated on the container neck by the other hand of the user to separate the cap from the container. The lock ring is designed to be employed with container and cap closure assemblies of at least two different sizes, reducing their manufacturing costs. Additionally, the lock ring may be removed from the container if it is desired that the container and cap not have a child resistant closure apparatus.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (1) Field of the Invention 
     The present invention pertains to a child resistant closure between a container and a cap that also comprises a separate safety lock ring. The lock ring is mounted over the neck of the container and the cap is mounted on the neck of the container and engages with a pair of lock clasps on opposite sides of the safety lock ring. Finger pads on opposite sides of the safety lock ring must be squeezed and compressed by one hand of the user while the cap is rotated on the container neck by the other hand of the user in order to separate the cap from the container. The safety lock ring is designed to be employed with container and cap closure assemblies of at least two different sizes, which eliminates a need for separate safety lock rings for the two different sizes of containers and caps and reduces their manufacturing costs. 
     (2) Description of the Related Art 
     Child resistant closures are often employed on containers having potentially harmful contents such as pharmaceutical drugs, household cleaning liquids and household insecticides, to name only a few applications. One example of the construction of a child resistant closure between a container and cap includes a locking mechanism on the container that must be moved by one hand of the user while the cap is removed from the container by the other hand of the user. The requirement of using two hands to perform two movements on the container and cap not only perplexes children attempting to remove the cap from the container, but also many adults. 
     The typical child resistant closure is incorporated into the construction of the container and the cap. In plastic containers and caps, component parts of the child resistant closure mechanisms are molded onto both the containers and the caps. Incorporating a child resistant closure mechanism in the construction of the container and the cap increases the costs of manufacturing the container and cap over the costs of manufacturing a container and cap that do not incorporate a child resistant closure. 
     In addition, because the container and cap are manufactured with the child resistant closure mechanism as part of their constructions, the child resistant closure mechanism cannot be removed from the container and cap when the child resistant closure is not required or desired. Individuals who do not have children that purchase products contained in container and cap assemblies incorporating child resistant closures often find the presence of the child resistant closure to be an inconvenience. 
     What would overcome these disadvantages associated with child resistant closures employed on container and cap assemblies is a child resistant closure apparatus that could be removed from the container and cap assembly when desirable. In addition, a child resistant closure apparatus that could be employed with container and cap assemblies of more than one size would reduce the costs associated with manufacturing the two different sizes of container and cap assemblies comprising child resistant closure mechanisms. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The child resistant closure apparatus of the present invention overcomes the disadvantages associated with prior art child resistant closures by providing a closure mechanism that can be removed from the container and cap assembly when desired. The child resistant closure apparatus also provides a safety lock ring that can be employed with at least two different size container and cap assemblies, thereby providing a reduction in manufacturing costs by providing a single part that can be employed with two different container and cap assemblies. These advantages are provided by the child resistant closure apparatus of the invention which is basically comprised of a container, a cap removably attachable to the container and a safety lock ring that is removably attachable to the container. In the preferred embodiment of the invention each of these three component parts are manufactured of a plastic material, as is conventional in the art. 
     The container has a hollow interior volume and an opening in the container provides access to the interior volume. A cylindrical neck surrounds the opening. The container neck exterior surface has an attachment mechanism formed thereon that is complementary to an attachment mechanism of the cap. The container neck is formed with a pair of arcuate ridges that project outwardly from the container neck on opposite sides of the container neck. The container neck is also formed with a pair of ribs that project outwardly from the container neck just below the ridges. 
     The lock ring has a cylindrical sidewall that is dimensioned to pass easily over the container neck with the sidewall spaced radially outwardly from the container neck. A pair of finger pad portions of the sidewall project radially outwardly from opposite sides of the sidewall. A pair of clasps project radially inwardly from the finger pads to distal ends of the clasps. The distal end of each clasp is formed with a hook that projects upwardly from the clasp. The lock ring is also formed with a pair of flanges that project radially inwardly from opposite sides of the sidewall at positions that are oriented 90° relative to the lock ring clasps. 
     The lock ring is removably attached to the container neck by passing the lock ring over the neck and positioning the lock ring flanges on the tops of the container neck ridges. Pushing the lock ring downwardly causes the lock ring to resiliently deflect moving the lock ring flanges radially outwardly and passing the flanges over the container neck ridges. The lock ring flanges engage beneath the container neck ridges thereby removably attaching the lock ring to the container neck. 
     In the preferred embodiment of the invention the cap is a cap of a trigger sprayer that removably attaches the trigger sprayer to the container. However, the cap of the child resistant closure need not removably attach a separate component to the container and can be employed only to provide a removable closure over the opening of the container neck. The cap has a cylindrical skirt that is dimensioned to fit over the container neck and inside of the lock ring. The interior of the cap skirt is formed with an attachment mechanism complementary to the attachment mechanism of the container neck. In addition, the cap skirt interior is provided with a pair of lugs on opposite sides of a cap. Each lug is formed with a cam surface and a stop surface. 
     In attaching the cap to the container neck the cap is moved downwardly over the neck and is rotated relative to the neck in the manner conventional with screw threaded attachment mechanisms or bayonet type attachment mechanisms. As is conventional, the cap is rotated in a clockwise direction over the container neck which causes the cam surfaces of the cap lugs to come into engagement with the hook portions of the lock ring clasps. The rotational movement of the cap causes the clasp hook portions of the lock ring to slide over the cam surfaces. The resiliency of the lock ring enables the clasp hook portions to move radially inwardly as they slide over the lug cam surfaces. When the clasp hooks of the lock ring have passed over the cap lug cam surfaces the resiliency of the lock ring causes the clasp hooks to snap into place adjacent the cap lug stop surfaces. The positioning of the clasp hooks of the lock ring adjacent the cap lug stop surfaces prevents the cap from being rotated in the counterclockwise direction to remove the cap from the container neck. 
     To remove the cap from the container neck it is necessary to first manually squeeze the finger pads on the opposite sides of the lock ring compressing the resiliency of the lock ring. This causes the clasp hooks of the lock ring to move radially inwardly toward each other displacing them from their previous positions adjacent the cap lug stop surfaces. With the clasp hooks displaced from the cap lug lock surfaces, the cap can now be rotated with the other hand of the user in a counterclockwise direction to remove the cap from the container neck. 
     The lock ring of the child resistant closure apparatus of the invention is dimensioned to be employed with two different size container and cap assemblies. In the preferred embodiment the lock ring may be employed with a container and cap assembly having a 24 mm diameter container neck and a 28 mm diameter container neck. However, container and cap assemblies having other neck dimensions may be employed by changing the dimensions of the lock ring. By enabling use of a single size lock ring with two different size container and cap assemblies to provide those assemblies with a child resistant closure apparatus, the manufacturing costs of the two different sizes of container and cap assemblies is reduced. 
     In addition, because the lock ring is removably attached to the container by the resiliency of the lock ring and the engagement of the lock ring flanges beneath the container neck ridges, the lock ring can be removed from the container if desired. This enables the child resistant closure apparatus to be removed from the container and cap assembly where it is desired that the container and cap assembly not have a child resistant closure apparatus. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWING FIGURES 
     Further features of the invention are set forth in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the invention and in the drawing figures wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is an elevation view of the child resistant closure apparatus of the invention attaching a trigger sprayer to a bottle container; 
     FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of the child resistant closure apparatus of the invention comprising a bottle container, a cap mounted on the container and a lock ring mounted on the container; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the container neck, the lock ring and the cap disassembled from each other; 
     FIG. 4 is a plan view of the top of the container with the cap and lock ring removed; 
     FIG. 5 is a plan view of the lock ring removed from the container; 
     FIG. 6 is a cross-section plan view of the cap removed from the container; 
     FIG. 7 is a plan view of the lock ring mounted on the container; 
     FIG. 8 is a cross-section plan view of the lock ring mounted on the container neck and the cap mounted on the container neck; 
     FIG. 9 is a top plan view of the lock ring mounted on the container neck and the cap mounted on the container neck; 
     FIG. 10 is a cross-section view through the container neck, the lock ring and the cap in a plane positioned along the line  10 — 10  shown in FIG. 9; 
     FIG. 11 is a cross-section view through the container neck, the lock ring and the cap in a plane positioned along the line  11 — 11  of FIG. 9; and 
     FIG. 12 is a cross-section view through the container neck, the lock ring and the cap in a plane positioned along the line  12 — 12  of FIG.  9 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     In describing the child resistant closure apparatus of the invention, terms such as “top,” “bottom,” “above” and “below” will be used. It should be understood that these terms are being used to describe the component parts of the invention in the typical upright orientation of the container  12  shown in FIG.  1 . Because the orientation of the container  12  will change in use of the apparatus of the invention, the terms should not be interpreted as limiting. 
     The child resistant closure apparatus of the present invention is basically comprised of a bottle container  12 , a cap  14  that is removably attachable to the bottle container  12  and a safety lock ring  16  that is also removably attachable to the bottle container  12 . In the preferred embodiment of the invention, each of these three component parts are manufactured of a resilient plastic material. 
     The bottle container  12  has a hollow interior volume and an opening in the container that provides access to the interior volume. A cylindrical neck  18  surrounds the opening. The cylindrical container neck  18  has a center axis  22  that defines mutually perpendicular axial and radial directions relative to the container  12 . The container neck has an exterior surface with spiraling screw threading  24  formed thereon that is complementary to screw threading of the cap  14 . The complementary screw threading of the container neck and cap enable the cap to be removably attached to the container neck. However, other types of attachment mechanisms may be used in lieu of the screw threading, for example a bayonet type attachment mechanism or other equivalent types of attachment mechanisms. The bottle container  12  and the neck  18  are, for the most part, conventional. However, the container neck  18  is formed with novel structural features. 
     A pair of arcuate ridges  26  are formed on diametrically opposite sides of the container neck. The arcuate ridges  26  project radially outwardly a short distance from the container neck exterior surface and extend circumferentially a short distance around the container neck. As best seen in FIG. 4, the arcuate ridges  26  each extend around less than one quarter of the container neck circumference. A pair of axially oriented ribs  28  also project radially outwardly from the container neck exterior surface. The ribs  28  extend outwardly from the container neck exterior surface to the same extent as the arcuate ridges  26 . Each of the ribs  28  is positioned at the center of one of the arcuate ridges  26  just below the arcuate ridge as shown in FIG.  3 . 
     The lock ring  16  has a cylindrical side wall  32  with an interior diameter dimensioned to enable the lock ring to pass easily over the container neck  18 . The interior diameter dimension of the side wall  32  positions the side wall interior surface  34  radially outwardly from the exterior surface of the container neck  18 . The lock ring side wall  32  has an axial length dimension that is less than half of the length dimension of the container neck  18 . 
     In viewing the plan view of the lock ring side wall  32  shown in FIG. 5, it can be seen that the side wall has a generally circular configuration except for the presence of a pair of finger pad sections  36  that project radially outwardly from the opposite sides of the side wall. A pair of clasps  42  project radially inwardly from the bottoms of the two finger pads  36  to distal ends of the clasps. The distal end of each clasp is formed with a hook  44  that projects axially upwardly from the clasp. 
     A pair of arcuate flanges  46  are formed on the interior surface  34  of the lock ring side wall  32 . The flanges  46  are positioned adjacent the bottom edge of the side wall  32 , and each, flange  46  is centered on the side wall interior surface  34  relative to the pair of clasps  42 . Each of the flanges  46  has an arcuate length that is less than one quarter of the circumference of the lock ring side wall  32 . A notch  48  is formed in the center of each flange. 
     The lock ring  16  is removably attached to the container neck  18  by passing the lock ring over the neck and positioning the lock ring flanges  46  on the tops of the container neck ridges  26 . Pushing the lock ring  16  downwardly causes the lock ring to resiliently flex, moving the lock ring flanges  46  radially outwardly which causes the flanges to pass over the container neck ring ridges  26 . After passing over the neck ring ridges  26 , the lock ring flanges  46  engage beneath the ridges  26  and thereby removably attach the lock ring  16  to the container neck  18  and prevent axial movement of the lock ring  16  relative to the container  12 . The ribs  28  on the container neck  18  engage in the notches  48  at the centers of the lock ring flanges  46  and thereby prevent rotational movement of the lock ring  16  relative to the container  12 . 
     In the preferred embodiment of the invention the cap  14  removably attaches a trigger sprayer  52  to the container as shown in FIG.  1 . The trigger sprayer  52  is a hand-operated trigger sprayer of the type known in the art. Because the construction of the trigger sprayer  52  is known, it will not be described in detail. Although the cap  14  preferably removably attaches the trigger sprayer  52  to the container  12 , the cap of the child resistant closure apparatus can be employed without the trigger sprayer  52  to provide a removable closure over the opening of the container neck as shown in FIG.  2 . 
     In all of the alternate embodiments of the cap  14 , the cap has a cylindrical skirt  54  with opposite exterior  56  and interior  58  surfaces. A bottom annular surface  62  extends radially between the skirt exterior surface  56  and the skirt interior surface  58 . The cap skirt  54  has a diameter dimension that enables the cap to fit over the container neck  18  and inside of the lock ring  16 . The cap exterior surface  56  has a diameter dimension designed to enable the cap exterior surface to engage in sliding contact with the interior surface  34  of the lock ring  16  as shown in FIG.  8 . The interior surface  58  of the cap skirt is formed with internal screw threading  64  that is complementary to the external screw threading  24  of the container neck  18 . The cap could also be formed with other types of attachment mechanisms that are complementary to the attachment mechanism employed on the container neck, for example a bayonet fitting. 
     The cap interior surface  58  is also provided with a pair of lugs  66  that project outwardly from the interior surface on opposite sides of the cap as shown in FIG.  6 . Each lug  66  is formed with a stop surface  68  and a cam surface  72 . The stop surface  68  is positioned in a plane that intersects the center axis of the cap and the center axis  22  of the container neck  18  when the cap is attached to the container. The cam surface  72  extends perpendicularly from the stop surface  68  and merges with the cap interior surface  58 . 
     In attaching the cap  14  to the container neck  18  with the lock ring  16  having been previously attached to the container neck  18  as described above, the cap  14  is positioned on the container neck  18  and rotated in a clockwise direction as is conventional with screw threaded attachment mechanisms or bayonet type attachment mechanisms. The rotation of the cap  14  causes the cap to move downwardly on the container neck  18 . As the cap moves downwardly, the cap lugs  66  approach the hooks  44  of the lock ring clasps  42 . The lug cam surfaces  72  come into engagement with the clasp hooks  44  and cause the clasp hooks to pass over the cam surfaces  72  of the lugs  66 . The resiliency of the lock ring  16  enables the clasp hooks  44  to move radially inwardly as they slide over the lug cam surfaces  72 . When the clasp hooks  44  of the lock ring  16  have passed over the cap lug cam surfaces  72 , the resiliency of the lock ring causes the clasp hooks to snap into place against the cap lug stop surfaces  68  as shown in FIG.  8 . The positioning of the clasp hooks  44  of the lock ring  16  adjacent the cap lug stop surfaces  68  prevents the cap  14  from being rotated in the counterclockwise direction on the container neck  18  to remove the cap from the container neck. 
     To remove the cap  14  from the container neck  18 , it is necessary to first manually squeeze the finger pads  36  on the opposite sides of the lock ring  16 , compressing the resiliency of the lock ring. This causes the clasp hooks  44  of the lock ring to move radially inwardly toward each other displacing the hooks  44  from their previous positions adjacent the cap lug stop surfaces  68 . With the clasp hooks  44  displaced from the cap lug lock surfaces  68  by one hand of the user, the cap  14  can now be rotated in the counterclockwise direction by the other hand of the user to remove the cap from the container neck  18 . 
     The lock ring of the child resistant closure apparatus of the invention is dimensioned to be employed with two different size container and cap assemblies. In the preferred embodiment, the lock ring may be employed with a container and cap assembly having a 24 mm diameter container neck and a 28 mm diameter container neck. However, container and cap assemblies having other container neck dimensions and cap dimensions may be employed by changing the dimensions of the lock ring. By enabling use of the single size lock ring with two different size container and cap assemblies to provide those assemblies with a child resistant closure apparatus, the manufacturing costs of the two different size container and cap assemblies is reduced. 
     In addition, because the lock ring is removably attached to the container by the resiliency of the lock ring and the engagement of the lock ring flanges  46  beneath the container neck ridges  26 , the lock ring may be removed from the container if desired. This enables the child resistant closure apparatus of the invention to be removed from the container and cap assembly where it is desired that the container and cap assembly not have a child resistant closure apparatus. 
     While the present invention has been described above by reference to a specific embodiment, it should be understood that modifications and variations of the invention may be constructed without departing from the scope of the invention defined by the following claims.