GB2293818A

GB2293818A - Child resistant dispensing closure

Info

Publication number: GB2293818A
Application number: GB9420236A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Colin J Martin
Original assignee: RPC Containers Ltd
Current assignee: RPC Containers Ltd
Priority date: 1994-10-07
Filing date: 1994-10-07
Publication date: 1996-04-10
Anticipated expiration: 2014-10-07
Also published as: GB9420236D0; GB2293818B

Abstract

A child resistant dispensing closure 2 for a container having an outlet aperture 26 comprises a cap 40 rotatable relative to the container and a spout 70 pivotably disposed on the cap. A passage 50 in the cap is aligned with the outlet aperture 26 in one particular rotational position of the cap. The spout also has a passage 78 therethrough which is aligned with the passage in the cap when the spout is pivoted into its dispensing position. The two passages and the outlet aperture in the container must be aligned to allow material out of the container. Preferably the outlet aperture 26 is provided in a plug 20 which is an interference fit within the container neck and the cap has an annular projection which fits under a flared part 10 of the container neck. A projection 80 may be provided on the spout to facilitate pivoting, and the upper surface of the cap may be provided with ridges of a similar shape to the projection to disguise its position and function. Indicia may be provided on the cap and container to facilitate aligning of the passages and outlet aperture 26. <IMAGE>

Description

CHILD-RESISTANT DISPENSING DEVICE The present invention relates to a child-resistant dispensing device, particularly but not exclusively for use with containers of noxious fluids such as lighter fuel.

A number of children are poisoned every year as a result of ingesting noxious substances (such as bleach, medicines and cleaning fluid) after accidentally opening a container. For this reason, such substances are normally packaged in containers with child-resistant closures, which are designed so that they can only be opened by a particular combination of movements, which a child is unlikely to discover by accident. A British Standard exists for such child-resistant closures, which specifies that if the closures are given to children to play with, a certain percentage of the closures must remain unopened after a certain time, for the closure to pass.

An impending change in UK law will mean that dispensers for containers for many substances which currently are not required to be child-resistant, such as containers for lighter fuel, will have to conform to the British Standard. At the moment, lighter fuel is normally packaged in containers with a dispensing device comprising a relatively simple pivoted spout. The spout can rotate between a first open position, where a passage through the spout is aligned with an opening in the wall of the container, thus allowing lighter fuel to flow out of the container through the opening and the passage, and a second closed position, where the passage is not aligned with the opening and flow of fuel is prevented.Although such dispensing devices can be arranged such that the only way to move the spout from its closed position is to use some sort of tool, this is not sufficient for the device to meet the British Standard.

Accordingly, there is a need for a dispensing device for fluid containers that has child-resistant features.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a child-resistant dispensing device for a container, comprising a cap rotatably mountable on the container, and a spout member pivotally mounted on the cap, the cap being rotatable relative to the container to bring at least one dispensing passage of the cap into or out of alignment with an aperture in the container wall, and the spout member being pivotable to bring a dispensing passage thereof into or out of alignment with the said passage in the cap.

In a preferred embodiment the device additionally comprises a plug member arranged to fit into an opening in the container wall and having an aperture therethrough which, in use, constitutes the said aperture in the container wall.

The said opening in the container wall and the said plug may be configured to prevent the plug rotating in the opening. This may be achieved by means of a flat on the plug and a corresponding flat on the perimeter of the opening.

The said plug may additionally comprise raised ridges to seal around the aperture in the plug and the passage in the cap.

Preferably, an indicium is provided on the cap which is alignable with an indicium on the container to facilitate the aligning of the said dispensing passage of the cap with the container aperture.

The said spout member may be pivotally mounted in the cap by way of a cylindrical body of the spout formed with coaxial trunnions at its ends which are a snap fit into complementary regions of a recess formed in the cap, the said body having a tubular radial extension through which the dispensing passage of the spout extends.

To facilitate pivoting the spout member in and out of the said recess, a projection is preferably provided on the said cylindrical body which extends outwardly of the cap when the spout member is in its closed position, ie when its dispensing passage and the aperture in the cap are out of alignment. A user can press on the projection to cause the spout member to pivot, at least until its outer end is clear of the recess and can be lifted further.

As a particularly preferred feature, one or more ridges corresponding in shape to the said projection may be provided on the upper surface of the cap, to form at least one continuous ridge which includes the projection. The projection then has the appearance of being part of a continuous ridge, whereby its position and function are not apparent to a child.

The scope of the present invention also extends to this latter feature in itself, not necessarily in the context of a pivoting spout member. Thus, viewed from another aspect, the invention provides a child-resistant dispensing device for a container, including an operating member which is movable between a closed position and an open, dispensing, position, a part of said member being arranged to stand up from a surface of the device in its open position and being depressed towards said surface for opening, the said surface being formed with an upstanding portion which includes the upstanding part of said member, so as to disguise the presence of the latter. Preferably, the said upstanding portion is an elongate ridge with a break therein in which the said upstanding part of the operating member is a close fit.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig 1 is a plan view of the dispensing device according to the invention, in place on a container and in a closed position; Fig 2 is a cross-section on line II-II of Fig 1; Fig 3 is a plan view of the device in its open position; and Fig 4 is a cross-section on line IV-IV of Fig 2.

The figures show a child-resistant dispensing device 2 mounted on a wall 4 of a container 6 for a noxious substance, such as lighter fuel. The wall is substantially planar in this case, but part of it extends outwardly in a generally frusto-conical shape to form a neck 8. The neck flares radially outwardly at 10 near its end, and the walls of the neck then curve inwardly to form an opening 12, which is circular except for a small flat 14 on its perimeter, whose purpose will be described later. Provision of this flat is the only modification required to enable a container as used with a prior art dispensing device to be used with the dispensing device of this embodiment of the invention.

The dispensing device comprises three parts, an plug 20 which engages in the container opening 12, an cap 40 which is mounted on the neck and the plug 20, and a spout member 70 mounted in the cap 40, although the dispensing device may comprise merely a cap and a spout member mounted on a differently formed neck. In such a dispensing device, the neck would be shaped to perform the same functions as the neck and plug in the present embodiment.

In this embodiment, the plug 20 comprises a circular planar section 22 which overlies the opening 12 in the wall of the container, and an annular wall member 24 which extends from the planar section. The annular wall section is disposed radially inwardly from the outer edge of the planar section, the outer region of which forms an overhang which overlies the part of the neck 8 around the opening 12. An aperture 26, offset from the centre of the circle, is formed in the planar section 22. When the plug is mounted on the container, the annular wall member 24 is an interference fit within the opening 12. The annular wall has a small flat which corresponds with the small flat 14 on the opening, and prevents the plug from rotating in the opening.

The cap 40 is generally cylindrical, with the upper part 42 being solid apart from a recess 52 to accommodate the spout member 70, and the lower part 44 being annular. The lower part has an inwardly projecting ring 46, which engages beneath the flared part 5 of the neck to hold the cap on the container, with the plug retained in the opening on the neck between the container and the cap. The cap 40, plug 20 and neck 8 are dimensioned so that the cap can rotate when mounted on the container. The centre of rotation of the cap and the centre of the circular planar section 22 are coincident.

On the upper surface of the planar section of the plug are formed two raised annular portions 28, 30. One (28) closely surrounds the through hole, and the other (30) is formed near the edge of the plug, having a radius greater than the distance by which the through hole is offset from the centre of the circle. When the cap is mounted on the container with the plug in place, these raised portions contact the lower surface 48 of the solid upper part of the cap, as shown, and act as seals.

The upper part of the cap has a dispensing passage 50 formed in it, offset from the centre of rotation of the cap by the same distance as the aperture 26 in the plug 20 is offset from the centre of the circular planar section 22. By rotating the cap 40 relative to the plug 20 the aperture 26 and passage 50 can be placed out of alignment to prevent discharge of the contents of the container, as shown in Figs 1 and 2, or in alignment to allow discharge of the contents of the container, as shown in Figs 3 and 4.

As mentioned above, a recess 52 is formed in the upper part of the cap to accommodate the spout member 70. The spout comprises a substantially cylindrical body 72, with coaxial cylindrical trunnions 74 extending from its ends, and a tubular radial extension 76 at one side of the cylinder. A dispensing passage 78 is formed through the radial extension and the cylindrical body.

The trunnions snap fit into complementary parts of the recess, so that the spout can pivot about the trunnions between a closed position as shown in Figs 1 and 2 and an open position as shown in Figs 3 and 4. The passages 50 and 78 in the cap and the spout are arranged so that they are aligned when the spout is in the open position. The upper end of the passage 50 in the cap 40 is profiled so as to seal against the cylindrical body 72 as it rotates.

In order to accommodate the entire length of the spout, part of the cylindrical surface of the cap is extended radially outwardly to form a bulge 56 as shown, which extends the full length of the cap. This bulge can also serve as an aligning mark, to aid a user when aligning the dispensing passages in the plug and cap.

The shapes of the horizontal cross-section and the lower surface of the recess 52 substantially correspond to the shape of the spout 70, to ensure a snug fit and hinder attempts to move the spout by using tools or similar devices to lever it up. To allow the spout to be moved, it is provided with a projection 80, which extends outwards from the cap when the spout is in its closed position. A user can apply pressure to this projection, as shown by arrow A, and the moment thus applied to the spout member causes it to rotate about the axes of the cylindrical body 72 and the trunnions 74.

Once the end of the spout has been lifted above the upper surface of the cap by this method, the user can lift the spout the rest of the way into its open position with his or her fingers.

In order to disguise the projection 80 and render its purpose less obvious, "confusion bars" in the form of raised ridges 58,60 are provided on the upper surface of the cap. The ridges, which run across the upper surface of the cap from one side to the other, parallel to the pivoting axis of the spout, are discontinuous in the region of the recess accommodating the spout. The ridges are shaped so that the projection 80 appears to be a continuation of one of the ridges in this region. The ridges 58,60 and the projection 80 seem to serve a purely decorative function at first sight, and the user must know that the projection is there and know its purpose if the dispensing device is to be opened. This further reduces the chance of a child accidentally opening the dispensing device.

The dispensing device is assembled before it is mounted on the container. In the embodiment shown, the plug 20 is fitted into the cap 40 from below, and is loosely retained in the cap by the inwardly projecting ring 46. The spout 70 is snap-fitted into the recess in the top of the cap. The dispensing device 2 is then pushed onto the container 6, so that the annular wall 24 enters the opening 12. The plug 20 must be correctly aligned with the opening 12 for the flats to correspond. The inwardly projecting ring 46 on the lower part of the cap engages beneath the part 10 of the neck that is flared outwardly to rotatably retain the cap on the container.

In order to open the dispensing device to allow material to be removed from the container, the aperture 26 in the plug 20 and the passage 50 in the cap 40 must be aligned, and the spout 70 must be pivoted. To facilitate the aligning of the passages, reference indicia are provided on the container 6 and the cap 40. As mentioned above, the bulge 56 may form a reference mark, or alternatively a mark (such as an arrow) may be moulded, printed or otherwise provided on the outer surface of the cap. A further reference mark may be embossed, printed or otherwise provided on the container.It is also possible to have the cap "click" into place when it is rotated to the correct position by means of a boss engaging in a recess, but since such a dispensing device is less likely to resist a child's attempts at opening it (as it is obvious that the "click" position is somehow significant) this arrangement is not preferred.

When the passages in the cap and plug have been aligned, the spout can be raised into its open position using the procedure described above, to allow removal of material from the container.

The two opening procedures are completely independent, and both must be performed to open the dispensing device. It is not possible to remove material from the container if only one procedure has been carried out, and this makes accidental opening of the dispensing device less likely. It is immaterial in which order the procedures are performed.

The invention is of course not limited to use on lighter fuel containers, but may be used on containers for any liquid where a child-resistant dispensing device is needed or preferred. In a modified version, the apertures and passages 26, 50, 78 in the spout 70, cap 40 and plug 20 are of such sizes as to allow the dispensing device to be used on containers for powders such as insecticides, rooting powder or caustic soda, where a childresistant dispensing device is likewise wanted. The scope of the invention also extends to a container which is formed integrally with a dispensing device according to the invention.

Claims

1. A child-resistant dispensing device for a container, comprising a cap rotatably mountable on the container, and a spout member pivotally mounted on the cap, the cap being rotatable relative to the container to bring at least one dispensing passage of the cap into or out of alignment with an aperture in the container wall, and the spout member being pivotable to bring a dispensing passage thereof into or out of alignment with the said passage in the cap.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1, additionally comprising a plug member arranged to fit into an opening in the container wall and having an aperture therethrough which, in use, constitutes the said aperture in the container wall.

3. A device as claimed in claim 2, wherein said opening in the container wall and the said plug are configured to prevent the plug rotating in the opening.

4. A device as claimed in claim 3, wherein rotation of the plug in the opening is prevented by means of a flat on the plug and corresponding flat on the perimeter of the opening.

5. A device as claimed in any of claims 2 to 4, wherein said plug additionally comprises raised edges to seal around the aperture in the plug and the passage in the cap.

6. A device as claimed in any preceding claim wherein an indicium is provided on the cap which is alignable with an indicium on the container to facilitate the aligning of the said dispensing passage of the cap with the container aperture.

7. A device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said spout member is pivotally mounted in the cap by way of a cylindrical body of the spout formed with coaxial trunnions at its ends which are a snap fit into complementary regions of a recess formed in the cap.

8. A device as claimed in claim 7, wherein said body has a tubular radial extension through which the dispensing passage of the spout extends.

9. A device as claimed in claim 7 or 8, wherein a projection is provided on the said cylindrical body which extends outwardly of the cap when the spout member is in its closed position, ie when its dispensing passage and the aperture in the cap are out of alignment.

10. A device as claimed in claim 9, wherein one or more ridges corresponding in shape to the said projection are provided on the upper surface of the cap, to form at least one continuous ridge which includes the projection.

11. A child-resistant dispensing device for a container, including an operating member which is movable between a closed position and an open, dispensing, position, a part of said member being arranged to stand up from a surface of the device in its closed position and being depressed towards said surface for opening, the said surface being formed with an upstanding portion which includes the upstanding part of said member, so as to disguise the presence of the latter.

12. A device as claimed in claim 11, wherein the said upstanding portion is an elongate ridge with a break therein in which the said upstanding part of the operating member is a close fit.

13. A child-resistant dispensing device substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.