Patent Publication Number: US-2023150736-A1

Title: Child-resistant closure for a container and method of making same

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This patent application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Pat. Application No. 63/279,471, filed on Nov. 15, 2021, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     Various aspects of the disclosure relate generally to child-resistant closures for containers. According to examples, the disclosure relates to systems, devices, and related methods for the manufacture, assembly, and use of child-resistant container closures. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Products such as medicines, poisons, and adult recreational substances may be dangerous if ingested or handled by children. These products may be sold or distributed in containers that are child-resistant, meaning that they require particular steps to be followed in sequence or simultaneously in order for the product to be accessed. Such containers may require multiple parts to be molded from plastic and assembled, and their child resistance may rely on material properties such as the reliable deformation of the plastics used. However, plastic containers may pose issues of cost, manufacturability, durability, and may not be suitable for certain products due to chemical interactions. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate exemplary aspects of the disclosure and, together with the description, explain the principles of the disclosure. 
         FIG.  1    is an illustration of a container assembly, according to aspects of this disclosure; 
         FIG.  2    is an illustration of an inner cap portion of a cap assembly, according to aspects of this disclosure; 
         FIG.  3    is an illustration of an outer cap portion of the cap assembly, according to aspects of this disclosure; 
         FIG.  4    is a cross-sectional view of the cap assembly, according to aspects of this disclosure; and 
         FIG.  5    is an illustration of the forces applied to open the container assembly, according to aspects of this disclosure. 
         FIG.  6    is an illustration of an exemplary method of applying a cap assembly to a container assembly, according to aspects of the disclosure. 
         FIG.  7    is an illustration of a method of forming an inner cap portion of a cap assembly, according to aspects of this disclosure. 
         FIG.  8    is an illustration of a method of forming an outer cap portion of a cap assembly, according to aspects of this disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Aspects of this disclosure relate to child-resistant container closures and methods for the manufacture, assembly, and use of child-resistant container closures. 
     The terminology used below may be interpreted in its broadest reasonable manner, even though it is being used in conjunction with a detailed description of certain specific examples of the present disclosure. Indeed, certain terms may even be emphasized below; however, any terminology intended to be interpreted in any restricted manner will be overtly and specifically defined as such in this Detailed Description section. Both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the features, as claimed. 
     In this disclosure, the term “based on” means “based at least in part on.” The singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context dictates otherwise. The term “exemplary” is used in the sense of “example” rather than “ideal.” The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” “including,” or other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion such that a process, method, or product that comprises a list of elements does not necessarily include only those elements, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. Relative terms, such as, “substantially” and “generally,” are used to indicate a possible variation of ±10% of a stated or understood value. 
     Portable, child-resistant containers may be useful for storing products such as medicines, poisons, and adult recreational substances that may be dangerous if ingested or handled by children. While some child-resistant containers have been used for pills and household cleaners in the past, such containers may require multiple parts to be molded from plastic separately and then later assembled. Further, the child resistance of such plastic containers may rely on material properties such as the reliable deformation of the plastics used. Replacing these plastics with metals such as aluminum can have the advantage of being easier to manufacture and recycle, and may provide resistance to certain substances that may cause plastics to leech or degrade. The disclosed child-resistant container closures may provide improvements in manufacturability, durability, product quality, and may be more easily recycled. 
       FIG.  1    depicts an exemplary child-resistant container assembly  100  in accordance with the present disclosure. Child-resistant container assembly  100  can include container body  110  and cap assembly  120 . Container body  110  may be of many forms, sizes, and shapes, including, for example, a beverage bottle capable of holding approximately 2-24 ounces of liquid. In some embodiments, container body  110  may be formed from, for example, glass, metal, or plastic. In embodiments, where container body  110  is formed of metal, any suitable metal may be used, including, but not limited to, aluminum. Container body  110  may include a closed container base  112  at the bottom of container body  110  and a container opening  114  at the top. In some embodiments, container opening  114  may be an externally threaded neck configured to receive a cap and be sealed. A central longitudinal axis  116  can be defined by the container body  110  and particularly container opening  114 . Central longitudinal axis  116  may be normal to the plane defined by container opening  114 , and may extend through the center of container opening  114  into container body  110  as well as outward through cap assembly  120 . Container body  110  and cap assembly  120  may be coaxial about this central longitudinal axis  116 . 
     Cap assembly  120  may be formed in two parts: an inner cap  130  nested inside of and coaxial with an outer cap  140 .  FIG.  2    illustrates an embodiment of inner cap  130 . Inner cap  130  can include an inner cap top surface  132  having one or more protrusions  133  at an upper portion thereof, an inner cap opening  134  at a lower portion thereof, and an inner cap sidewall  136  positioned between the upper and lower portions. Inner cap sidewall  136  can include internal threading to allow inner cap  130  to be secured to complementary threading on container opening  114  of container body  110 . Inner cap sidewall  136  can also define inner cap opening  134 , and may be formed with an annular groove  138  extending circumferentially around inner cap  130  between inner cap top surface  132  and inner cap opening  134 . In some embodiments, annular groove  138  can be a plurality of smaller indents spaced about the circumference of inner cap  130 . 
       FIG.  3    illustrates an embodiment of outer cap  140 . Outer cap  140  can include an outer cap top surface  142  having one or more engagement elements  143  that correspond in shape and position with protrusions  133  on the inner cap top surface  132 . Outer cap  140  can also include an outer cap opening  144  at a lower portion thereof, opposite outer cap top surface  142 , being defined by an outer cap sidewall  146 . Outer cap sidewall  146  may include a plurality of gripping features  147  at least partially surrounding a portion of outer cap sidewall  146 . In some embodiments, gripping features can be one or more vertical ridges, bars, indentations, protrusions, or combinations thereof. Outer cap sidewall  146  can also include an annular ridge  148  extending inward (i.e., towards the central longitudinal axis  116 ) partially or circumferentially around outer cap  140 . 
       FIG.  4    illustrates cap assembly  120  wherein outer cap  140  is placed on top of inner cap  130  such that both inner cap sidewall  136  and outer cap sidewall  146  as well as inner cap top surface  132  and outer cap top surface  142  are parallel to and proximate one another. When inner cap  130  and outer cap  140  are assembled to form cap assembly  120 , outer cap  140  may be retained in position covering inner cap  130  by the cooperation between annular groove  138  and annular ridge  148 , while still being capable or rotating freely with respect to inner cap  130 . Efforts to pull outer cap  140  away from inner cap  130  would result in a small amount of movement of outer cap  140  (e.g., an amount slightly larger than the height of protrusions  133 ) prior to annular ridge  148  coming into contact with annular groove  138  and/or a portion of inner cap sidewall  136  proximate annular groove  138 . The small amount of play between inner cap  130  and outer cap  140  can provide sufficient space for outer cap top surface  142  to rotate freely without necessarily engaging protrusions  133 . 
     Further, outer cap  140  completely covers inner cap  130 , such that inner cap  130  cannot be directly gripped or manipulated. While it is possible for outer cap  140  to rotate independently of inner cap  130 , the interference between outer cap  140  and inner cap  130  due to annular ridge  148  and annular groove  138  prevents a user from simply removing outer cap  140  and unscrewing inner cap  130  directly. Therefore, since outer cap  140  both fully covers inner cap  130 , and is not easily removed from inner cap  130  due to the annular ridge-and-groove arrangement, a user must rotate both outer cap  140  and inner cap  130  together in order to access the contents of container body  110 . 
     However, as a result of the annular ridge-and-groove retention arrangement, and the small amount of space between the top surfaces of inner cap  130  and outer cap  140 , inner cap  130  does not necessarily rotate with outer cap  140 .  FIG.  5    illustrates the manner in which outer cap  140  and inner cap  130  may be made to rotate together, thus allowing access to the contents of container body  110 . Specifically, in order to rotate inner cap  130  along with outer cap  140 , engagement elements  143  can engage corresponding protrusions  133  to allow applied rotation  510  to be transmitted through outer cap  140  to inner cap  130 . In some embodiments, protrusions  133  and engagement elements  143  may have a cross sectional geometry (as shown in  FIG.  4   ) that includes two opposing sloped walls that can be joined by a rounded or substantially flat top portion, and may be arranged about longitudinal axis  116  in, for example, a cross arrangement. In order to keep engagement elements  143  and corresponding protrusions  133  engaged, an applied force  520  may be applied along longitudinal axis  116  to maintain the engagement while applied rotation  510  rotates outer cap  140  and inner cap  130  to unscrew cap assembly  120  from container opening  114 . 
     The amount of applied force necessary to maintain the engagement between outer cap  140  and inner cap  130  depends on a number of factors, for example, the shape of engagement elements  143  and corresponding protrusions  133 . For example, if protrusions  133  and engagement elements  143  interact with one another in a plane that has a slope that approaches being parallel to central longitudinal axis  116 , very little of the applied rotation  510  would need to be countered by applied force  520  in order to keep outer cap  140  and inner cap  130  engaged, and therefore they will remain engaged with a relatively small applied force  520 . On the other hand, if protrusions  133  and engagement elements  143  interact with one another in a plane with a slope that approaches being perpendicular to central longitudinal axis  116 , much more of the applied rotation  510  would need to be countered by applied force  520  in order to keep outer cap  140  and inner cap  130  engaged, and a relatively larger applied force  520  will be needed to maintain the engagement without slipping. Similarly, features such as rounded edges and protrusions that extend less far above the inner cap top surface  132  may also increase the applied force  520  needed to prevent slipping. In this way, some protrusion designs may be more child-proof than other designs, as the particular application requires. 
     Providing cap assembly to close or provide a seal to container body  110  can be accomplished by different methods. For example, inner cap  130  may be formed by roll forming the cap directly on the container. Inner cap  130  may be placed in position on top of container opening  114 , and a machine can roll around inner cap  130  and create a thread, annular groove  138 , and seal around the bottle. Once inner cap  130  is coupled to container body  110 , outer cap  140  can be punched onto the bottle over the top of inner cap  130 , and annual ridge  148  can be formed to cooperate with annular groove  138  to secure outer cap  140  to inner cap  130 . In some embodiments, to provide a sealing engagement between the upper edge of container opening  114  and the inner surface of inner cap  130 , a gasket (e.g., a silicone gasket) may be secured to an underside of inner cap top surface  132 . 
     According to an embodiment of this disclosure, child-resistant closures are disclosed for containers such as bottles. Although this disclosure describes child-resistant closures for bottles, the disclosure is not limited to such use. Aspects of the disclosure may also be used for other containers and for containers that need to be resistant to animals or other beings with limited capabilities to perform the simultaneous and/or sequential steps to access the inside of a container. 
     It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations may be made in the disclosed devices and methods without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Other aspects of the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the features disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope of the disclosure being indicated by the following claims and their equivalents.