CONNECTION RESI STENT TO N YES
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to child resistant containers and in particular to such containers or packages which are of the compression and torsion type. BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In conventional child-resistant compression and torsion packages, it is common to provide a container having opposing retention protrusions and a closure which has protrusions on the periphery thereof which engage the protrusions of the protrusions. retention on the container. To remove the closure, it must be tightened or compressed to allow the projections on the closure to be expelled from the path of the projections on the container and then the closure can be unscrewed from the container. Classical patents showing such construction are US Pat. Nos. 3,949,893; 3,894,021; 4,116,351 also as EPO WO 9/01924. Such child resistant packaging has been produced and has been successfully on the market. However, sometimes they are difficult to use. When efforts are made to make such containers easier to use and more user-friendly, the closure can be destroyed if the projections on the closure are folded back and rotated to the closure in a direction of REF: 24016 unscrewed ( counter-clockwise) although the closure has not been tightened or compressed. Therefore, among the objectives of the present invention are to provide a child-resistant package or packaging which is easy to use by an adult; more convenient to the user and which can not be easily destroyed. According to the invention, the child-resistant compression and torsion pack comprises a container having a finish and a closure having a base wall and an outer peripheral flexible wall or skirt depending on the wall of the base. The wall has an internal thread on the internal surface of the same. The finish has an external thread on it. The closure has an internal surface with spaced flexible chordal protrusions extending circumferentially in the direction of separation of the closure. The container termination has opposed radially extending butt joints, each butt joint includes a radial abutment surface. The termination of the container includes an integral radial projection adjacent to the radial abutting surface of the butt joint which has a smaller radial extent than the butt joint. The radial projection also has a chordal surface extending to the intersection of the radial abutting surface on the finish, such that the chordal overhang on the closure is urged toward the intersection when a closure is rotated in one direction retrograde (counterclockwise) to separate the closure without flexing the peripheral wall. The finish also has detents or obstacles under the threads that contact a blunt front end on the threading of the closure to limit rotation of the closure with respect to the container and to orient the closure on the container.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is an elevation view of a package or packing of an embodiment of the invention. Figure 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of Figure 1. Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing the relative positions of the closure and the container when the closure is removed. Figure 3A is a view similar to Figure 2, showing the relative positions of the closure and the container when an attempt is made to remove the closure without compression. Figure 4 is a fragmentary partial sectional elevational view of a portion of the package. Figure 5 is an elevation view of the container. Figure 6 is a side elevational view of a container, taken from the right in Figure 5. Figure 6A is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view, taken along line 6A-6A of Figure 6. Figure 7 is a plan view of the container shown in Figure 5 Figure 8 is a fragmentary enlarged plan view of a portion of the container. Figure 9 is a perspective view of the closure. Figure 10 is a sectional view taken along line 10-10 in Figure 9. Figure 11 is a sectional view taken along line 11-11 of Figure 9. Figure 12 is a view on the bottom floor of the closure. Figure 13 is an elevation view of a modified form of the closure. Fig. 14 is a sectional view taken along line 14-14 of Fig. 13. Fig. 15 is a sectional view taken along line 15-15 of Fig. 14. Fig. 16 is a view on the lower floor of the closure shown in Figure 14. Figure 17 is a sectional view of the closure shown in Figures 13-16 as applied to a container. Figure 18 is a fragmentary partial sectional elevational view of the package shown in Figure 17.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS With reference to Figures 1-12, the child-resistant compression and twist pack 20 of one embodiment of the invention comprises a container 22 and a closure 24. The container 22 is made of plastic, such such as polypropylene or polyethylene terephthalate and the closure is made of plastic, preferably of polypropylene. The closure 24 includes a base wall 26 and a peripheral skirt or wall 28, which is generally oval in cross section, having a long axis and a short axis. Opposite planar portions 30 are provided which contact the fingers on the long axis (Figures 2, 9) and have vertical ribs 32 to facilitate gripping between the thumb and fingers. The closure further includes a skirt 34 of internal annular wall, which has double threads 36 (figures 4, 11). The forward end of each of the threads 36 on the closure is a blunt end 38 for the purposes described herein. With reference to Figures 7 and 9, the container 9 is generally oval in horizontal cross section corresponding to the horizontal cross section of the closure 24, such that when the closure is fully applied, the profiles of the closure 242 and the container 22 they conform. Thus, the container 22 has arcuate sides 40 and opposed flat sides 42 (Figure 7). The container 22 further includes a flange 44 with a cylindrical finish 46 extending upward thereof. The termination 46 has threads 48 complementary to the threads 36 on the closure 24. In addition, an axial retainer or obstacle 50 is provided on each of the threads 48 and extends downwardly therefrom as shown in Figure 6, for the purposes described herein. With reference to Figures 7 and 8, the termination 46 is formed with radially opposed butt joints 52, each of which has a radially extending and axially extending surface 54. A radial projection 56 extending upwardly and circumferentially having a radial extent less than the butt joint 52 is provided adjacent to the abutting surface 54 and includes a flange surface 58 intersecting the abutment surface 54. stop. The butt joint 52 includes a flat upper radial surface 60 intersecting the axial surface 54. The butt joint
52 further includes a circumferentially extending projection 62, which extends circumferentially from the axial surface 54 in a direction opposite to the projection 56. The projection 62 has an upper inclined surface 64 that extends in the direction of rotation of the closure 24 which closure 24 is applied to the container 22. The closure 24 includes projections 70 opposed flexible cordals on the arcuate walls 29. Each chord 70 extends circumferentially in the direction of separation of the closure and is hinged to the skirt along an area 72 of vertical articulation and at its upper end on a horizontal articulation area 74 (figures 2, 4, 11, 12). When the closure 24 is rotated to apply the closure to the container 22, the cleat projections 70 contact the ramp surface 64 and flex beyond the abutments 52 to assume the position as shown in the figure. 2 which prevents the closure 24 from being unscrewed. When the closure is to be separated from the wall 28 it is compressed in the portions 30, as shown in Fig. 3, to cause the cordate projections 70 to be ejected outwardly beyond the butt joint surfaces 54 in such a manner that the closure 24 can be unscrewed. If an attempt is made to separate the closure without bending the wall 28, the corral projections 70 will contact the intersection of the axial abutting surface 54 on the finish 46 and the radial projection 56 on the finish 4 cause the wall 28 flex out as shown in Figure 3A and causes the chordal projections 70 to change the angular relationship to further force the ends of the corrido projections 70 to the intersection. When the closure 24 is applied to the container 22 the dull ends 38 on the threads of the closure 24 come into contact with the obstacles 50 on the finish 46 (Figure 6A). Each obstacle 50 includes a complementary axial surface 51 and thickened at its free end to reinforce the obstacle 50. This limits the rotation of the closure 24 and aligns the oval closure 24 with the oval container 22. At the same time the obstacles 50 prevent excessive tightening and facilitate the separation of the closure by an adult. In the form of the invention shown in Figures 13-18 the closure is circular in cross section and there is no need for a blunt thread or obstacle on the container since the container need not be oriented with respect to the container. Nevertheless, can be included if you want to prevent excessive tightening. In this way, for purposes of clarity, numbers corresponding to the corresponding parts with an "a" suffix are provided. The container includes an axial flange 80 immediately below the closure when the closure is fully applied. It can also be noted that the closure does not have an internal skirt but that the threads on the closure are applied directly to the external skirt. An annular flange 82 extends downwardly from the base wall of the closure and contacts the opening of the container to provide a valve seal which is particularly useful when the container is used to handle liquid products. It can be seen that a child-resistant container has been provided which is easily usable by an adult; more convenient to the user and which can not be easily destroyed. It is noted that in relation to this date, the best method known by the applicant to carry out the aforementioned invention, is the conventional one for the manufacture of the objects to which it relates.
Having described the invention as above, property is claimed as contained in the following