Patent Publication Number: US-6698605-B2

Title: Modified bottle neck for use with child resistant caps

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     The present invention relates to a bottle and child-resistant closure combination wherein the closure can be opened without being completely removed from the bottle. More particularly, the present invention relates to a modified bottle neck which includes an anti-removal ring to deter the user from completely removing the closure from the bottle. 
     Highly corrosive products, such as drain openers and antifreeze, are commonly packaged in bottles having child-resistant closures. The closures and their complementary bottles are designed to allow the user to open the bottle without completely removing the closure. For example, the user may squeeze the sides of the closure to release one or more locking lugs on the closure from corresponding locking lugs on the bottle neck, and then twist the closure enough to open an aperture in the closure allowing product to flow out of the bottle at a relatively controlled rate. Typically, the locking lugs on the closure and on the bottle neck are sufficiently long that the lugs interact at least a second time as the closure is twisted open thereby preventing the user from rotating the closure any further without an additional unlocking action. 
     However, the user can remove the closure completely by squeezing the sides of the closure and releasing the locking lugs as many times as necessary to allow the closure locking lugs to not engage the bottle locking lugs. Once the closure is removed, the risk of spilling large quantities of the product increases because the bottle has a relatively large neck opening as compared to the opening in the closure. Thus, it would be beneficial to have a bottle with a child-resistant closure that could not be easily removed from the bottle merely by squeezing the sides of the closure to release the closure locking lugs from the bottle locking lugs. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present invention relates to a bottle having a modified neck adapted for use with a child-resistant closure which allows the user to open the bottle without removing the closure completely from the bottle. The bottle neck includes at least one anti-removal ring which is intended to deter the user from bypassing the child-resistant safety features of the bottle and removing the closure completely from the bottle. The bottle neck may also include at least one deformation recess which allows the user to deform the closure to a greater extend than could be achieved without the recess thereby allowing the user to more easily disengage the locking lugs on the closure from the locking lugs on the bottle to open the bottle. 
    
    
     SUMMARY OF THE FIGURES 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a bottle having a neck made in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a top view of the bottle neck on the bottle of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a first alternative embodiment of a bottle having a neck made in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a second alternative embodiment of a bottle having a neck made in accordance with the present invention; and 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a closure which may be used with a bottle having a neck made in accordance with the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The present invention relates to a bottle having a modified neck and intended for use with a child-resistant closure. The modified neck depicted in the various Figures is selected solely for the purpose of illustrating the invention. Other and different necks may utilize the inventive features described herein as well. 
     The bottle of the present invention is intended to be used with a child-resistant closure which allows the user to open the bottle without removing the closure completely from the bottle, such as the closure  50  shown in FIG.  5 . The closure  50  is representative of the general type of closure which may be used with a bottle having a neck made in accordance with the present invention and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. The closure  50  has a cap top  52  with an aperture  51 , a cap skirt  54  extending from the cap top  52  to a cap bottom  56 , at least one cap thread (not shown) located on an interior surface or engaging face of the cap skirt  54 , and at least a first cap lug (not shown) located near the cap bottom  56 . The thread and locking lug are fixedly attached to the engaging face of the cap skirt  54 , as is known in the art. The closure  50  may be used with a separate plug  70  to control the product flow rate. In the “closed” position, the plug  70  projects through the closure aperture  51  so that product cannot flow out of the bottle and the closure locking lug engages a bottle locking lug  16  to prevent the closure  50  from unintentionally rotating to an “open” position. In the “open” position, the closure  50  is axially displaced from the plug  70  so that a gap or opening exists allowing product to flow out of the bottle. The user “opens” the bottle by squeezing the closure skirt  54  to deform the skirt  54  and to disengage the closure locking lug from the bottle locking lug  16  and then rotating the closure  50  counterclockwise. By rotating the closure  50  clockwise until closure and bottle locking lugs engage and the plug  70  protects through the aperture  51 , the bottle can be “closed”. 
     Reference is first made to FIGS. 1 and 2 in which a bottle neck constructed in accordance with the present invention is generally noted by the character numeral  10 . The bottle neck  10  has an open end  12  and a shoulder  14 . At least one thread  18  is positioned near the open end  12  and at least one locking lug  16  is positioned near the shoulder  14 . The neck  10  further includes at least one anti-removal ring  20  which is positioned between the lug  16  and the open end of the neck  12  and encircles the neck  10 . The ring  20  is adapted to impede the removal of the child-resistant closure by including at least one flange, brim, extension, latch, hook or similar projection  22  which projects from the ring  20  away from the neck  10 . For example, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the ring  20  can include a first and a second brim  22   a ,  22   b , with the first brim  22   a  being radially offset from the second brim  22   b  by about 180°. The brims  22   a ,  22   b  are essentially identical and each has a slightly ovoid shape with a maximum width “w”. The width “w” should be sufficient to prevent the user from disengaging the bottle lugs  16  from the corresponding closure lugs when the closure  50  is axially displaced from the shoulder  14  by more than one full rotation and the closure skirt  54  is deformed. 
     When the closure  50  is open, the anti-removal ring  20  on the bottle neck  10  functions to deter the user from deforming the closure skirt  54  to a sufficient extent that the closure locking hip can completely disengage from the bottle locking tags  16  thereby allowing the closure  50  to be removed from the bottle. Specifically, when the closure  50  is in the open position, the closure locking lugs abut the anti-removal ring projection  22  and the bottle lugs  16 . If the user attempts to squeeze the closure skirt  54  to disengage the closure lugs from the bottle lugs  16 , the projection  22  on the ring  20  creates a barrier that prevents the user from deforming the closure skirt to the extent required to disengage the lugs  16 . 
     A first alternative embodiment  110  is shown in FIG.  3 . The bottle neck  110  has an anti-removal ring  120  which further includes a notch  124  on a brim  122 . The notch  124  is adapted to retain the closure locking lug. After the closure locking lugs are initially released from the bottle locking lugs  16 , further squeezing of the closure  50  causes the closure locking lug to be held in the notch  124 , thereby preventing further rotation and removal of the closure  50 . 
     A second alternative embodiment  210  is shown in FIG.  4 . The bottle neck  210  has an anti-removal ring  220  which further includes a flange or partial segment of a brim  224 . The flange  224  is flared outward from the bottle neck  210 . After the closure locking lugs are initially released from the bottle locking lugs  16 , further squeezing of the closure  50  causes the closure locking lug to engage the flange  224 , thereby preventing further rotation and removal of the closure  50 . 
     The anti-removal ring  20 , and particularly the projection  22 , can make it more difficult for the user to squeeze and deform the closure skirt  54  to initially disengage the closure locking lugs from the bottle locking lugs  16  and open the bottle. To overcome this problem, the bottle neck  10  may include at least one deformation recess  30 , shown in FIG.  1 . The recess  30  is a region between the projection  22  and the shoulder  14  which is indented or recessed relative to the projection  22 . The recess  30  allows the user to apply greater pressure to the closure skirt  54  in the recessed region  30  than can be applied in a non-recessed region. This causes greater deformation to the skirt  54 —the skirt  54  can have a pronounced oblong shape—and allows the closure lugs to flare out farther than could be achieved without the recess  30 , thereby allowing the closure lugs to separate from the bottle lugs  16 . As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, essentially identical deformation recesses  130 ,  230  may be included with the alternative embodiment anti-removal rings  120 ,  220 , respectively. 
     From a reading of the above, one with ordinary skill in the art should be able to devise variations to the inventive features. For example, the notch on the projection may have different shapes or configurations adapted to match the locking lugs on the intended closure. These and other variations are believed to fall within the spirit and scope of the attached claims.