Patent Publication Number: US-2006008186-A1

Title: Reclosable child resistant package

Description:
FIELD OF INVENTION  
      This invention provides child resistant packaging (CRP) for household products especially pills and capsules. That is, safety packaging having features that make it difficult for most children to open yet is easily opened by most adults as required by the regulations administered by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. While this invention is directed at products that require CRP it is not limited to these products.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) requires that certain products for household use be packaged in safety packaging or as it is commonly called child resistant packaging (CRP). Prescription drugs (RX) and certain over the counter (OTC) medications are among the products regulated. The majority of the child resistant packaging used for packaging pills and capsules is composed of reclosable packages consisting of containers, sometimes called a vial, and closures; and single use packages such as blister packs.  
      The reclosable child resistant packages have a closure that is removed to gain access to the product within the container. The closures for these type packages must be manipulated by pushing down, squeezing, orienting, or taking other action such that the child resistant mechanism is overcome to enable the consumer to remove the closure from the container. One such child resistant package consisting of a container and a closure is shown in patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,711,442 issued to Kusz.  
      One type of conventional reclosable packaging consists of flexible plastic bags having interlocking strips at or near their opening. These reclosable plastic bags are not child resistant but they are in common use within the household for storing any number of items. These plastic bags are also in wide use for packaging some commercial products that do not require child resistant packaging. Typically, these packages are opened by grasping sections of flexible plastic material above the interlocking strips and pulling them apart to disengage the interlocking strips. This action opens the package and provides access to the product contained therein. It is important to note that there is material extending above the interlocking strips to be used to open the package. The package is closed by using ones fingers for grasping both sides of the package over the interlocking strips, squeezing the strips together, and sliding ones fingers over the length of the strips so as to engage the interlocking strips over their entirety. The package shown in patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,100 is typical of this type of packaging. A common variation of this type of reclosable packaging consists of replacing the panels of material used to pull the package open with a zipper like device. This device is slid back and forth along the interlocking strips to open the package in one direction and in the opposite direction to close the package. A typical package is described in patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,919,535. It is important to note that this type of package does not have material extending above the interlocking strips but does have a zipper like attachment, installed over the interlocking strips, for opening and closing the package.  
      The pharmacist dispensing prescription drugs into individual reclosable packages is similar to a consumer placing items into plastic bags for storage. If one could invent a way to make these plastic bags in such a manner as to meet the legal requirements for this type of packaging, they could be used by pharmacists for dispensing prescriptions. Further the growth of mail order prescriptions has brought about a search for packaging that best suits this market. Currently, the relatively bulky reclosable child resistant packages consisting of a closure and a relatively rigid plastic container are in general use. The invention of a child resistant version of the reclosable plastic bags could provide an alternative reclosable flat package to the mail order prescription market.  
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The object of the present invention is to provide a child resistant reclosable package for use mainly by the prescription drug industry but not limited to use within this industry. This package would provide a unique child resistant reclosable plastic bag for use within the average household. The preferred package itself is flat, flexible, and consists of two generally rectangular panels connected to each other at the bottom and both sides. There is an opening at the top of the package for filling product into the package and dispensing product from the package. On the interior, at the top of each panel is an interlocking strip used to close the package when the strips are in engagement. On the proposed package there are no panels of plastic material above the interlocking strips suitable for use in opening the package. Nor is there a zipper like device attached to the exterior of the interlocking strips for the purpose of opening and or closing the package by sliding the device along the length of the strips. Rather, the consumer is instructed to open the proposed package by grasping the package between the thumb and forefinger, as if to pinch the package, near the top of the package just below the interlocking strip. With the thumb in frictional engagement with exterior of one side of the package, the forefinger is in frictional engagement with the opposite side of the package. Now one moves their thumb in a downward direction toward the bottom of the package while keeping the finger relatively stationary. This causes the side of the package in contact with the thumb to tend to move downwardly relative to the side of the package in contact with the finger. Because the package is grasped near the interlocking strips this movement will cause the interlocking strip to rotate in the direction of the thumb while the strip on the side of the package in contact with the finger rotates toward the side in contact with the thumb. Continued movement of the thumb causes sufficient force to be applied to the strip on the thumb side to separate it from the strip on the finger side, thus opening the package. The package is restored to its closed position by pinching the sides of the package together to engage the interlocking strips. Then sliding ones fingers over the entire length of the strips completely closes the package.  
      An alternate version of this concept would be similar to the preferred version described above except that rather than opening the package by moving the front panel in a downward direction relative to the back panel; the package would be opened by moving the front panel in a lateral direction relative to the back panel. That is, the package is opened by grasping the top of the package over, or slightly below the interlocking strips, between the thumb and (fore) finger and keeping the thumb in frictional engagement with the exterior of one strip while moving the thumb to the left, causing this strip to move to the left relative to the back strip, which then causes the interlocking strips to separate. Because the package is flat with the panels connected at their sides, attempting to slide one panel with respect to the other, the panels will separate as the front panel attempts to make a U turn at the end of the left side of the package. Of course the same thing would happen at the right end of the package. This anticipated opening of the package in two locations, to the left and right of the area where the package is grasped, would theoretically require twice as much force as separating the interlocking strips in a single place as is the case with the preferred version of this disclosure.  
      The front and back panels of the package can be composed of a single layer of plastic material or multiple layers of material(s) of sufficient thickness so as to provide desirable characteristics such as moisture resistance, ultra violet light resistance, and tear resistance as might be expected by children using their teeth to gain access to the package contents. Further these panels can be designed with characteristics that make them resistant to opening by pinching the front panel with one hand and the back panel with the other hand and pulling the panels apart. These characteristics include, but are not limited to the stiffness or flexibility of the material and the frictional properties of the surface of the panels.  
      To provide a child resistant feature it is anticipated that the package would need to be gripped by the consumer in a specific location to open the preferred package by manipulating the panels as previously described. The specific locations where the package is to be gripped, between the thumb and finger, could be indicated by indicia on the front and back panels of the package. To the left and or right of the indicia the interior of the panels could have a series of projections designed such that they would prevent or restrict movement of one panel with respect to the other. The upper area of the package, that does not include the area indicated to be used for opening the package, can have means on the interior of the panels that would prevent the panels from sliding with respect to each other when the panels are gripped in a location other than that indicated.  
      One such means could be ridges of material protruding from the interior of the panels such that pressing the panels together and slight vertical movement, causes the sides of these ridges to abut and prevents the panels from sliding with respect to each other; thus making it necessary for the consumer to grasp the package in a specific location to open the package by the intended method.  
      The proposed package prior to filling is flat. Therefore a label can be secured to one side of the package with relative ease. When the package is filled the consumer will have full view of the entire label rather than having to rotate the package to read the entire label as is the case with the current cylindrical packages. While it is anticipated that a label would be attached to the package, the information contained thereon could be printed directly on the package using a printer specifically designed for that purpose.  
      While the package as described above teaches a basic reclosable child resistant package to be disclosed in this invention, various techniques may be used by those skilled in the art of package design to enhance specific elements of this concept and still be within the scope of this disclosure. Such techniques or specifications include but are not limited to. 
      1) The type, thickness, melt index, physical properties, additives, color, texture, orientation, or other attribute of the materials used in the composition of this package.     2) The design of the interlocking strips including the number, height, thickness, shape, or cross section of the male and female portions of the strips and or the strips themselves.     3) The presence of any label, printing, indicia, instructions, pictogram, or other visual aid dispensed with or on the package for the purpose of instructing how to open or close the package; or how or where to place ones hands or fingers when opening or closing the package.     4) The use of lubricants or other substances or bumps, groves, ridges, or other disruption of any of the surfaces of the package so as to effect the frictional properties or area of engagement between the surfaces and between any surface contacted by the consumer when opening or closing the package.    

    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a plan view of the front panel and the position of section A-A.  
       FIG. 2  is a plan view of the back panel and the position of section B-B.  
       FIG. 3  is a view of section A-A.  
       FIG. 4  is a view of section B-B 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
      This description assumes that the reader is familiar with flat plastic storage bags, composed of two plastic panels connected together at the bottom and two sides, having interlocking strips at or near the top of their interior surface. This type of packaging is well known. What is described here is a preferred version of a unique child resistant, flat, flexible and reclosable package having two panels that are connected at the bottom and two sides and having interlocking means for opening and closing, at the top of their interior surface.  
      Referring to  FIG. 1  to  4 , Package  1  consists of front panel  2  and back panel  12  being permanently connected at the bottom and the left and right sides while the tops of the panels can be connected and disconnected to close and open the package, respectively. Front panel  2  and back panel  12  have thicker portions  4  and  14  at their top, respectively. These thicker portions contain the means for connecting the panels to close the package. Thicker portion  4  has a generally circular bead  7  projecting from its interior wall, along its length, near the top and a generally semi-circular groove  6  on its outer surface extending only above indicia  5 . Thicker portion  14  has a generally circular depression  17  over the length of its interior wall near the top and a generally semi-circular groove  16  on its outer surface extending only above indicia  15 . The forcible insertion of bead  7  into depression  17  is the method to be employed for closing the package. The package is opened by removing the bead  7  from depression  17 . This is accomplished by placing ones thumb, with thicker portion  4  being above the thumb, on indicia  5  on the front panel; and forefinger on indicia  15 , with thicker portion  14  being above the finger, so as to grasp the package. Now one moves the thumb downwardly, while it is in frictional engagement with the indicia on the front panel, causing the front panel to move down relative to the back panel. A way of visualizing this is that as the front panel moves downwardly, the back panel moves upwardly a short distance, makes a U turn and begins to move downwardly. It is the act of performing this U turn or attempting to perform this U turn that applies force to the bead relative to the depression and causing the bead to be pulled from the depression. Now referring to  FIG. 3  showing in section the interface between the surfaces of thicker portions  4  and  14 , as the front panel  2  moves downwardly the thicker portions will begin to rotate in the counter clockwise direction and several things will happen. The groove  6  will begin to close while groove  16  will begin to open, the interface between thicker portions  4  and  14  will begin to spread apart like an inverted V, and bead  7  will rotate in a counter clockwise direction within depression  17  as it begins to be pulled from this depression. Continued downward movement of the thumb will continue the actions described above until the bead  7  in the area of indicia  5  is pulled completely from the depression  17 . With the panels now separated in this location one can use their fingers to grasp each panel and completely open the package by pulling the panels apart.  
      The package can be closed by squeezing the tops of the panels together to force the bead  7  into depression  17  along the entire length of the bead.  
      The design and fit of the bead  7  and the depression  17  can be such that the ingress or egress of moisture is minimized when the package is closed. The bead  7  and depression  17  in  FIGS. 3 and 4  shows a clearance fit for illustrative purposes but in practice they could have an interference fit.  
      The preferred version of this disclosure is with indicia  5  on the front panel  2  illustrating a debossed arrow pointed toward the bottom of the package and the bead  7  being on the thicker portion  4 ; and with indicia  15  on the back panel  12  illustrating a debossed arrow pointed toward the top of the package and the depression  17  being on the thicker portion  14 . Alternately, these arrows could be embossed, outlined, printed, labeled or be applied by any other means or be pointed in opposite directions and still be in the scope of this disclosure.  
      An alternate method of opening this package is to instruct the consumer to open the package by sliding the tops of the panels laterally rather than vertically as described above. By moving the top  4  of front panel  2  laterally with respect to the top  14  of the back panel  12  will cause the projection  7  to become dislodged from the depression  17  as the tops  4  and  14  attempt to make a U turn at the left and right ends of the package.  
      The area indicated by  3  is a series of projections on the interior of the front panel, to the left and or right of indicia  5 , that would abut a series of projections  13  on the interior of the back panel, to the left and or right of indicia  15 , that would prevent or restrict vertical movement of the front panel with respect to back panel  12  when the package is grasped to the left or right of the indicia  5  or  15  to open the package.  
      The bead  7  shown in section A-A located directly above indicia  5  may differ in profile than that shown in section B-B located in an area not above the indicia. Further the depression  17  shown in section A-A located directly above indicia  15  may differ in profile than that shown in section B-B located in an area not above the indicia. The design of the bead  7  and depression  17  may vary along their length so as to make it easier to remove the bead  7  from depression  17  above the indicia  5  and  15 . The design of the bead  7  and or depression  17  could be altered over their length in one or more locations for packages utilizing lateral movement for package opening.