Patent Publication Number: US-11655082-B2

Title: Container with safety-latch

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to a container, and more particularly to a container with a safety-latch. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Adults may want to keep items away from children. The items may be dangerous to children. Such items may include medicines, cannabinoid products, including cannabis, and other items. Some safety latches are used in industry, but they can be expensive, difficult to operate by adults, and may be aesthetically unappealing. 
     Thus there is a need for a container with a safety-latch that overcome the above listed and other disadvantages. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The disclosed invention relates to a container with a safety-latch, the container comprising: a lid; a base rotatably attached to the lid; a lip located on the lid; a base pin attached to the base; an outer sleeve rotatably attached to the base pin; a U-shaped pin rotatably attached to the outer sleeve, and configured to removably attach to the lip; where the outer sleeve and U-shaped pin are difficult for a child to manipulate in order to remove the U-shaped pin from the lip. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present disclosure will be better understood by those skilled in the pertinent art by referencing the accompanying drawings, where like elements are numbered alike in the several figures, in which: 
         FIG.  1    is a front view of the container with a safety-latch; 
         FIG.  2    is a front view of the safety-latch; 
         FIG.  3    is a front view of the outer sleeve; 
         FIG.  4    is a front view of the inner member; 
         FIG.  5    is a front view of the inner member from  FIG.  4    elastically deformed; 
         FIG.  6    is a front view of the lid and base and U-shaped pin; 
         FIG.  7    is a front view of the inner member with the post in the post hole; 
         FIG.  8    is a front view of the inner member from  FIG.  7    elastically deformed; 
         FIG.  9    is a side view of the lid and base and latching mechanism; 
         FIG.  10    is a detail view of the post; 
         FIG.  11    is a side view of the lid and base and latching mechanism latched; 
         FIG.  12    is a magnet embodiment of the latching mechanism; 
         FIG.  13    is a post and sliding member embodiment of the latching mechanism; 
         FIG.  14    is a view of the latching mechanism form  FIG.  13   , with the sliding mechanism pushed to the left; 
         FIG.  15    is a detail view of the sliding member; 
         FIG.  16    is a locking tooth embodiment of the latching mechanism; 
         FIG.  17    is bottom view of the locking member from  FIG.  16   ; 
         FIG.  18    is a side view of a torsional spring embodiment of the latching mechanism; 
         FIG.  19    is a side view of the latching mechanism from  FIG.  18   , with the latching mechanism in an unlatched configuration; 
         FIG.  20    is a side view of the rotatable member; and 
         FIG.  21    is a side view of the rotatable member from  FIG.  20   , and an unlatched configuration. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       FIG.  1    is a perspective view of a container  10  with a lid  14  and a base  18 . A safety-latch  22  comprises catch plate  26  and an anchor plate  30 . 
       FIG.  2    is a close up view of the anchor plate  30 . The lid  14  is shown with the catch plate  26  along the outer side  34  of the lid  14 . In one embodiment, the catch plate  26  comprises a lip  38  configured to allow a U-shaped pin  42  to removable attach to the lip  38  and close the lid  14  with respect to the base  18 . The anchor plate  30  is rotatably attached to the U-shaped pin  42 . The anchor plate  30  also is rotatably attached to the base  18 . In one embodiment, the anchor plate  30  may rotate about a base pin  56  that is attached to the base  18 . The anchor plate  30  comprises an outer sleeve  48 . Located within the outer sleeve  48  is an inner member  52  that is elastically deformable, wherein when the inner member is deformed by a user, it will go back to its original shape once the deforming force is removed. The outer sleeve  48  has a first side cutout  60  and a second side cutout  64  that allows a user to squeeze the inner member  52 . The inner member  52  may be made out of any suitable material with elastic properties, including, but not limited to quartz fiber, elastomers, natural rubber, synthetic rubber, nitrile rubber, silicone rubber, urethane rubbers, chloroprene rubber, Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA rubber), etc. 
       FIG.  3    shows the outer sleeve  48  removed from the base  18  and with the inner member  52  removed. A base pin hole  58  is shown in dashed lines on the sleeve  48 . The base pin hole  58  is may be a through hole from the left side  68  of the outer sleeve  48  to the right side  72  of the outer sleeve  48 . Also, the U-shaped pin holes  44 ,  45  are also shown in dashed lines. The U-shaped pin hole  44  may be a hole in the left side  68  of the outer sleeve  48  and only extends part way through the outer sleeve  48 . Similarly, the U-shaped pin hole  45  may be a hole in the right side  78  that only extends part way through the outer sleeve  48 . 
       FIG.  4    is a view of the inner member  52 . The inner member  52  is configured to fit within and/or slide within the outer sleeve  48 . The inner member has a post hole  76 . The post hole  76  is configured to contain a post located on the base  18 . Between the post hole  76  and the bottom  88  of the inner member  52  is a cut  92 . The inner member  52  is configured such that when the left side  80  and right side  84  of the inner member  52  are squeezed towards each other (see  FIG.  5   ), the cut opens or spreads as shown in  FIG.  5   , so that the post hole  76  opens and the inner member  52  can slide up and away from a post that previously was located in the post hole  76  and the post was previously generally holding the inner member  52  in place relative to the post. The inner member  52  may have an opening  100  that helps the inner member  52  to elastically deform such that the cut  92  opens widely, as shown in  FIG.  5   . In another embodiment, the cut  92  may be omitted, and the post hole  76  is configured to snuggly slide over the post  104 . 
       FIG.  5    is a front view of the inner member  52  being squeezed on its left and right sides  80 ,  84 ; the squeezing force is represented by the arrows  96 . The squeezing force  96  elastically deforms the inner member  52  such that the cut  92  is forced open, thus opening the post hole  76 . 
       FIG.  6    shows a front view of the lid and base. In this view, the inner member  52  is located within the outer sleeve  48 . Portions of the U-shaped pin  42 , and base pin  56  are shown in dashed line because they are behind the outer sleeve  48 . In this view, the post  104  extending from the base  18  is shown in the post hole  76 , and both are in dashed lines because they are behind the outer sleeve  48 . 
       FIG.  7    is a view of the inner member  52  with a post  104  located in the post hole  76 . The outer sleeve  48  and container  10  are removed for simplicity. 
       FIG.  8    is view of the inner member  52  with a post  104  located in the post hole  76 . The outer sleeve  48  and container  10  are removed for simplicity. In this view the left side  80  and right side  84  are squeezed, causing the inner member  52  to elastically deform such that the cut  92  spreads open, thus allowing the post hole  76  to have an opening between the post hole  76  and the bottom  88  of the inner member  52  such that the inner member  52  can slide up and away from the post  104 . 
       FIG.  9    is a side view of the lid  14  and base  18 . The outer sleeve  52  can be seen able to rotate about the base pin  56 . The base pin  56  is connected to the base  18 . The outer sleeve  52  rotates about the pivot point  108  where the base pin is rotatably attached to the outer sleeve  52 . The post  104  is shown attached to the base  18 . When the outer sleeve  52  rotates towards the post  104 , the post hole  76  will not fit over the post  104 , unless the left side of inner member  80  and right side of inner member  84  are squeezed to elastically deform the inner member so the post hole  76  will become large to fit over the post  104 . Once the squeezing force is removed from the left side of inner member  80  and right side of inner member  84 , the post hole  76  will go back to its smaller size and fit snugly against the post  104 . The lid  14  will be locked down on the based  18  because the u-shaped pin  42  will be holding the lid  14  down via the lip  38 . In order to open the lid  14 , a complex set of moves will need to be performed: (a) the left side of inner member  80  and right side of inner member  84  will need to be squeezed together; (b) the outer sleeve  48  and inner member  52  will need to be rotated up and away from the post  104  while maintaining the squeezing force on the left side of inner member  80  and right side of inner member  84 ; (c) rotate the outer sleeve  48  until the U-shaped pin  42  is no longer laying in the lip  38 ; (d) open the lid. These near simultaneous steps will be difficult for a child to perform, thus making the latch child-proof and thus providing a safe way to store items in the container  10   
       FIG.  10    is a close up view of the post  104  from  FIG.  9   . The post  104  comprises a shaft  112 , and a head  116  located at one end of the shaft  112 . The shaft  112  may have a diameter slightly smaller than the post hole  76  diameter. The head  116  may have a diameter larger than the post hole  76  diameter. In one embodiment, the head  116  may taper from a diameter larger than the post hole  76  (on an end nearest the base  18 ) diameter, down to a diameter about the same as the post hole  75  diameter (on an end farthest from the base). 
       FIG.  11    is side view of the outer sleeve  52  from  FIG.  9   , where the latch system has closed the lid  14  with respect to the base  18 , and the post  104  is inside of the post hole  76  of the inner member  52 . 
       FIG.  12    is another embodiment of the safety-latch. In this embodiment, the outer sleeve  48  may be removably attached to the base  18  via magnetization means. The magnetization means may comprise a magnet  120  located on the sleeve  48  that is configured to magnetically attach to a magnet  124  attached to the base  18 . In other embodiments, the magnet  124  may simply be a material that is attracted to magnets, such as a ferromagnetic material or diamagnetic material. In still other embodiments, a magnet  124  may be attached to the base, and a material  120  attracted to magnets may be attached to the sleeve  48 . 
       FIG.  13    shows another embodiment of the safety-latch. In this embodiment, the base has a post  104  similar to the post shown in  FIG.  10   . Located within the outer sleeve  48  is a spring loaded locking mechanism  128 . The spring loaded locking member comprises a sliding member  130 . The sliding member comprises a hole  132  that is slightly larger than the diameter of the head  116  of the post  104 , and a slot  136  that is slightly wider than the diameter of the shaft  112  of the post  104 . Springs  140  maybe located on one or both sides of the sliding member. A push member  131  may be extend from the sliding member, and is configured to allow a user to push the sliding member  130 . The springs  140  may be offset from the sliding member  140  so that a user can push the sliding member  130  on its push member  131  such that the hole  132  aligns with the head  116  of the post  104  so that the safety-latch is free to slide off of the post, and the lid  14  can be opened with respect to the base  18 . 
       FIG.  14    shows the sliding member  130  pushed by force  144  to the left, so that the hole  132  is aligned with the head  116  of the post  104 , so that now the latch is unlocked, and the lid  14  can be released with respect to the base  118 , and/or the lid  114  can be locked with respect to the base  118 . 
       FIG.  15    is a close up view of the sliding member  130 . 
       FIG.  16    shows another embodiment of the safety-latch. The safety-latch may comprise a spring loaded locking mechanism  150 . The spring loaded locking mechanism  150  comprises a locking member  152  that extends from the base  18  (instead of a post  104 ). The spring loaded locking mechanism  150  comprises a sliding member  156 , and a spring  164 . The sliding member comprises a slot  160 . The spring  164  is configured to push the sliding member against the locking member  152  so that the outer sleeve  48  is held against the base  14 . When a user applies a force to the right of sliding member  156 , the sliding member moves to the right, and the locking member  152  is released, and the outer sleeve  48  can be moved up and away from the base  14 . 
       FIG.  17    shows a bottom view of the locking member  152  extending from the base  18 . The locking member  152  may comprise an orthogonal section  153 , that is orthogonal to the surface of the base  18 . On a distal end of the orthogonal section  153  is a locking tooth  154  that is orthogonal to the orthogonal section  153 . The locking tooth  154  will generally abut the sliding member  156 , unless it is moved by the user so that it is aligned with the slot  160 , and can then allow the outer sleeve  48  to rotate away from the base  18 . 
       FIG.  18    is another embodiment of the safety latch.  FIG.  18    is a side view cross-sectional view of the outer sleeve  48  and base  18 . In this embodiment, the outer sleeve  48  comprises a rotatable member  168 , which can rotate in the direction of the arrow  172 . Extending from the base  18  is a locking member  176 . Inside the rotatable member  168  is a torsional spring  180  configured to apply a force to the rotatable member in the counter-clockwise direction. In order to unlock the safety latch, a user must turn the rotatable in a clockwise direction, in order to move the torsional spring  180  out of the way of the locking member  176 .  FIG.  18    shows the torsional spring  180  engaged with the locking member  176 , such that the safety latch is locked.  FIG.  19    shows the rotatable member  168  rotated clockwise such that the torsional spring  180  is no longer engaged with the locking member  176 , and the outer sleeve  48  is free to move away from the base  18 . 
       FIG.  20    is side view of the rotatable member  168 . In this view a handle  184  is shown on the rotatable member  168 , that allows a user to hold and rotate the rotatable member  168 .  FIG.  21    shows the rotatable member from  FIG.  20   , rotated in the clockwise direction so that the safety latch is now unlocked. The force of the torsional spring  180  tends to keep the rotatable member in a locked position with respect to the locking member  176 . 
     The disclosed container with safety-latch has many advantages. The latch will prevent children from opening the container, because of the difficulty of operating the latching system for children. Thus, the container can hold items that may be considered dangerous for children, such as medicines, cannabinoid products, including cannabis, and other items. Opening the container requires dexterity that small children may not have. 
     It should be noted that the terms “first”, “second”, and “third”, and the like may be used herein to modify elements performing similar and/or analogous functions. These modifiers do not imply a spatial, sequential, or hierarchical order to the modified elements unless specifically stated. 
     While the disclosure has been described with reference to several embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the disclosure. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the disclosure without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the disclosure not be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this disclosure, but that the disclosure will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.