US3737063A - Container having a safety stopper - Google Patents

Abstract

This invention consists of a glass or plastic container of any desired size and shape having a vertically disposed neck in which is located a peripheral flange that is triangular in crosssection and whose short side is a horizontally disposed ledge on which is placed the horizontally disposed disk of a stopper that cannot be removed from the neck of the aforesaid container without the use of a key, as will hereinafter be described. The hollow stopper which is made of flexible plastic or the like has a basic side configuration of a deformed hexagon.

Description

United States Patent 1191 Loup 14 1 June 5, 1973 541 CONTAINER HAVING A SAFETY 3,473,681 10/1969 Hall .21s/9 STOPPER 265,007 9/1882 Bennett ..2l5/55 [76] Inventor: Raymond Loup, 200 Jameson FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Avenue Toronto Omano Canada 504,063 7/1951 Belgium 215/52 [22] Filed: Oct. 12, 1971 [21] pp No; 187,944 Primary ExammerDonald F. Norton 4 57 ABSTRACT [52] 215/31 37 Thisinvention consists of a glass or plastic container of any desired size and shape having a vertically [51] Int. (J. 129/16 disposed neck in which is located a peripheral flange [58] held of Search 4 that is triangular in cross-section and whose short side 215/55 220/245 60 R is a horizontally disposed ledge on which is placed the horizontally disposed disk of a stopper that cannot be References end I removed from the neck of the aforesaid container TE PA without the use of a key, as will hereinafter be I UNI D STATES TENTS described. The hollow stopper which is made of flexi- 1,262,387 4/1918 Petschel 215/55 UX ble plastic or the like has a basic side configuration of 2,848,130 8/1958 Jesnig ..215/47 X a deformed hexagon l24,277 3/1872 Marsh ....215/55 UX 3,362,556 1/1968 Waldrum ..2l5/9 X 3 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJUH 5 I975 INVEN'IOR RAYMOND M. LOUP FIG.6

This invention relates to bottles, jars, and any other kind of container having a relatively small opening that is closed by means of a stopper or the like; more particularly, to a container whose closure is made difficult if not impossible to open by people unfamiliar with its structure.

Both newspapers, hospitals, and doctors, as well as police and fire rescue squad records contain countless reports of children and older persons requiring treatment of doctors and/or hospitals as a result of the accidental taking of poisons and the like because they could open the wrong container too easily.

Although I personally call my invention a child-proof container, I hereinafter as well as in the title of this specification and its appended claims, call the invention a container having a safety stopper as I do not wish to limit its use to only places where there may be children. Teenage and adult persons as well as children can be harmed by accidentally taking the contents of a container of harmful material.

It is for this reason that the principal object of this invention is to provide a container having a safety stopper or the like that cannot be loosened or removed unless one knows its method of assembly, thereby preventing an unauthorized person from being accidentally harmed by the contents of the container.

Another object of this invention is to provide a container having a safety stopper of the character herein described that will prevent a child from accidentally opening the container which may have some form of harmful material therein that would make the child sick or even produce death.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a container having a safety stopper that can be mass produced in any size and from any material.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will no doubt appear to those experienced in the art as well as to others upon the reading of the following specification and its appended claims when the reading is done in connection with an examination of the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a pictorial view of a typical container with the stopper removed, made according to this specification.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a part of this invention, taken substantially along line 2-2 of FIG. 1, and viewed in the direction indicated by the arrows.

FIG. 3 is a portion of a typical exploded pictorial view of the neck of a container manufactured according to this specification and showing the stopper and its locking device.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a typical neck of a container having this invention incorporated therein along with the stopper and its key in place.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a typical neck of a container showing the stopper in a raised position FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of one wall of the neck of a container and a portion of the stopper.

\ FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of one wall of the neck of a typical container having an optional form of this invention incorporated therein.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of one wall of a neck of a typical container having still another form of this invention incorporated therein.

In the several views of this invention, like parts of the invention are indicated by like reference numbers.

Directing ones attention first to FIGS. 2 and 3 of the accompanying drawing it will be seen that this inven tion consists of the neck 10 of a container of any desired shape and size and material. However, the invention is particularly adapted to a glass or plastic container.

The aforesaid neck 10 of the container is provided with an integrally formed internal peripheral flange ll that is triangular in cross-section with the short side of the triangle being the horizontally disposed ledge 12 on which rests the disk 13 of the stopper 14 when the stop- 3 per is in place in the neck of the container, indicated in FIG. 1 by the reference number 15.

The aforesaid stopper 14, which is hollow, has the basic side configuration of a deformed hexagon, as one can see by looking at FIGS. 2, 4, and 5 of the accompanying drawing. The often-mentioned stopper is made of flexible plastic or the like in order that it may be completely withdrawn from the container, as has been done in FIG. 3 of the drawings. The stopper is made integrally with the aforesaid disk 13. The disk 13 is provided with an elongated opening 16 in the center thereof for the reception of the crossbar 17 that is integrally formed on the lower end of the vertically disposed stem 18 of the key 19 which has a ring 20 integrally formed on the upper end of the aforesaid stem 18.

Attention is now called to FIGS. 7 and 8 of the drawing where it is seen that there are herein illustrated two ways in which the neck 10 of any ordinary container may be fitted with a liner 21 having a triangular-shaped flange 22 that is equivalent to the aforesaid flange ll of the container 15. The aforesaid liner 21, that is illustrated in FIG. 7 of the accompanying drawing, is pressfitted into the neck of the container. Some form of cementor glue may be used to provide additional securement of the liner in the neck of the container, if it is so desired. The liner 22, illustrated in FIG. 8 of the drawing, is provided with a hook-shaped upper edge 23 that fits down over the edge of the neck of the container.

The way in which this novel invention of a container having a safety stopper works is quite obvious to those experienced'in the art when they have examined FIG. 4 of the accompanying drawing. For the benefit of those less experienced in reading a patent drawing, the following description of the way in which this invention is used is herein given.

When one desires to place the aforesaid stopper l4 in the neck of a container having the aforesaid flange 11 therein, all one has to do is to take the stopper 1 4 and push it down into the neck of the container until the body of the stopper compresses and passes on down past the flange 1 l and the underside of the disk 13 rests on the horizontally disposed ledge 12 of the flange. When it is desired to remove the stopper 14, all one has to do is to take the key 19 in hand and press it downward so that the aforesaid bar 17 of the key will pass on through the aforesaid elongated opening 16 that is located in the center of the disk 13 of the stopper 14, then turn the key 19 by its ring 20 so that the oftenmentioned bar 17 of the key is at right angle to the elongated opening 16 in the stopper. Now, a firm pull upward on the aforesaid ring 20 of the key 19 will pull the stopper from the neck of the container.

It will be seen that this invention can be adopted to any size and shape of container that may be made of any.desired material. Obviously, the stopper cannot be removed without the use of the aforesaid key 19, therefore any child or other person not having a real need for the contents of the container will be unable to open the same.

This novel invention will find countless uses in practically every industry, such as medicine, the bottling of cleaning materials, chemistry, and the like. Since the aforesaid stopper 14 and its disk 13 are made of flexible plastic or thelike, the aforesaid elongated opening 16 in the same will remain closed and will only open when the aforesaid bar 17 of the key 19 is pressed down through the same.

This invention is subject to any and all changes and- /or modifications that one may care to make in so long as the changes and/or modifications all fall within the scope and intent of the appended claims.

What l now claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A container having a safety stopper of the character described, comprising a container of any desired 4 configuration having a vertically disposed neck in which is located a peripheral flange adapted to prevent a stopper from being pushed too far down into the container, said flange having a cross-section of a triangle 7 whose short side is a horizontally disposed ledge on which a portion of a stopper rests when the said stopper is in the said neck of the said containen'and a stopper of flexible plastic or the like so configurated that-the said stopper cannot be removed without the use of a separate key that is adapted to be pushed down through the said stopper, then rotated and then pulled upward when it is desired to remove the said stopper from the said container, the said stopper being hollow and'having the basic configuration of a deformed hexagon.

2. The invention of claim 1, wherein the upper surface of the said stopper is integrally formed with a horizontally disposed disk having an elongated opening in the center thereof.

3. The invention of claim 2, wherein the said key comprises'a horizontally disposed cross-bar that is intestem whose upper end terminates in a ring.

Claims (3)

1. A container having a safety stopper of the character described, comprising a container of any desired configuration having a vertically disposed neck in which is located a peripheral flange adapted to prevent a stopper from being pushed too far down into the container, said flange having a crosssection of a triangle whose short side is a horizontally disposed ledge on which a portion of a stopper rests when the said stopper is in the said neck of the said container; and a stopper of flexible plastic or the like so configurated that the said stopper cannot be removed without the use of a separate key that is adapted to be pushed down through the said stopper, then rotated and then pulled upward when it is desired to remove the said stopper from the said container, the said stopper being hollow and having the basic configuration of a deformed hexagon.

2. The invention of claim 1, wherein the upper surface of the said stopper is integrally formed with a horizontally disposed disk having an elongated opening in the center thereof.

3. The invention of claim 2, wherein the said key comprises a horizontally disposed cross-bar that is integrally formed on the lower end of a vertically disposed stem whose upper end terminates in a ring.

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