US3784060A

US3784060A - Child resistant deformable closure

Info

Publication number: US3784060A
Application number: US00307357A
Authority: US
Inventors: R Hazard
Original assignee: Silgan Dispensing Systems Slatersville LLC
Current assignee: Silgan Dispensing Systems Slatersville LLC
Priority date: 1972-11-17
Filing date: 1972-11-17
Publication date: 1974-01-08
Anticipated expiration: 1991-01-08

Abstract

A child-resistant closure can be constructed so as to include a deformable member mounted on a closure body by flexible means which serve to control the deformation of the deformable member when it is manually engaged. During such engagement, deformation of the deformable member is concentrated by the controlled flexure permitted so as to move the deformable member to a position in which a closure member mounted on the closure body can be moved from a closed position to an open position. Preferably, the closure member includes a surface which will engage and move the deformable member as the closure member is moved from an open position to a closed position so that when the closure member is in the closed position a part of the deformable member will overlie a part of said closure member so as to hold the closure member in a closed position.

Description

O United States Patent [191 [111 3,784,060 Hazard Jan. 8, 1974 CHILD RESISTANT DEFORMABLE Primary Examiner-Samuel F. Coleman CLOSURE Assistant ExaminerH. Grant Skaggs, Jr. 75 inventor: Robert E. Hazard, North O Kingstown, R.l. [73] Assignee: Polytop Corporation, Slatersville, [57] ETRACT R.l, A child-resistant closure can be constructed so as to include a deformable member mounted on a closure [22] Filed 1972 body by flexible means which serve to control the de- [21] Appl. No.: 307,357 formation of the deformable member when it is manually engaged. During such engagement, deformation of the deformable member is concentrated by the con- [52] US. Cl 222/153, 222/534, 222222//553465, trolled flexure permitted so as to move the deformable [5]] I t Cl B67!) 5/00 member to a position in which a closure member 11 mounted on the Closure body can be moved from a [58] Field of Search 222/566, 567, 545,

222,544 534 153 536 215/74 76 closed position to an open position. Preferably, the closure member includes a surface which will engage [56] R f C1 d and move the deformable member as the closure 8 erences member is moved from an open position to a closed UNITED STATES PATENTS position so that when the closure member is in the 3,655,099 4/1972 Hazard 222/153 closed position a part of the deformable member will 3,477,618 /1969 Hazard 222/534 overlie a part of said closure member so as to hold the 3,718,238 2/1973 Hazard 222/556 closure member in a closed position 2,808,183 10/1957 Olson et al 222/536 12 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures CHILD RESISTANT DEFORMABLE CLOSURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The term child resistant is used in the closure field to designate closures which are relatively difficult to open and yet which are capable of being opened by an individual in possession of normal faculties. It is intended that such closures be sufficiently difficult to open so that there is substantially no danger of their being opened by comparatively young children or by those of less than normal or diminished mental capacity.

Many child-resistant closures have been proposed and a number of different child-resistant closures have been commercially manufactured because of a seemingly ever increasing desired to provide closure structures which to at least a degree are safer than prior conventional closures. It is considered unnecessary to detail in this specification the principal types of so-called child-resistant" closures which have been proposed and manufactured since an understanding of all of such structures is not necessary to an understanding of the present invention.

A number of factors are considered to evidence that there is need in the closure field for new and improved closures which can be broadly classified as childresisant" or hard" to open closures. One of these factors is the fact that the utilization of presently known child-resistant closures is presently comparatively limited. Other factors which have tended to preclude the extremely widespread utilization of known childresistant closures pertain to various types of economic considerations, the manner in which such closures operate and their effectiveness and reliability.

To be accepted it is considered that a closure of a child resistant character must be relatively inexpensive to manufacture, must be capable of being easily and conveniently assembled, must be capable of being easily attached to or used on a container, must be of such a nature as to be relatively difficult to open without being extremely difficult to open, must be of a selfclosing nature and must be capable of performing reliably throughout its normal period of utilization. These considerations are all regarded as important.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A broad objective of the present invention is to provide new and improved closures of a child resistant character. More specifically an objective of this invention is to provide closures as indicated which are considered to meet the foregoing and various related criteria for widespread acceptance. From this it can be deduced that other more specific objectives of the invention are to provide closures: which are relatively inexpensive to manufacture, which may be easily and conveniently assembled, which may be easily attached to or used on a container; whic are relatively difficult for comparatively young children or those of diminished mental capacity to open; which are self-closing; and which are capable of reliable utilization for a comparatively long period.

In accordance with this invention these and various related objectives of it are achieved in a closure having a closure body which is adapted to be connected to a container and having a closure member movably mounted on said closure body so as to be capable of being moved between opened and closed positions by the improvement which comprises: a deformable member mounted on the closure body so that a part of the deformable member overlies a part of the closure member when the closure member is in said closed position so as to prevent movement of said closure member from this closed position and flexible means connecting the deformable member with the closure body for mounting the deformable member relative to the closure body so that it can be manually moved and flexed to a position in which these parts do not overlie one another. When the deformable member is manually engaged the flexible means serves to control the deformation of the deformable member so as to cause the principal deformation of the deformable member to occur adjacent to the parts which normally overlie one another.

A structure of this type is intended to minimize the deformation of the deformable member necessary in order to place the deformable member in a configuration in which the closure member can be moved to the open position. In the preferred embodiment of the structure the deformable member has to be engaged in a specific manner in order to move the deformable member to a configuration in which the closure member can be opened. Preferably the closure member is constructed so that as it is moved from such an open position to a closed position it engages and temporarily deforms the deformable member so that the closure member is held against inadvertent movement in a closed position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Because of the nature of a closure such as is contemplated by the present invention it is difficult to comprehend the structure of such a closure from a summary such as the preceding. Further details of such a closure are best explained with reference to the remainder of this specification, the appended claims and the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side-elevational view of a presently preferred embodiment or form of a closure in accordance with the invention set forth in this specification;

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of this closure;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing the deformation of the closure as it is in the process of being opened;

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view taken at line 44 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 1 of a modified form of a closure in accordance with this invention.

From a consideration of the entire specification and the claims it will be realized that the two closures illustrated in the drawings are specific structures embodying the essential, intangible concepts of the invention set forth and defined in the appended claims. These concepts may be used in a wide variety of differently appearing and differently constructed closures through the use of routine engineering skill in the closure field without departing from the scope of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the drawings there is shown a closure 10 in accordance with this invention which includes a closure body 12 and a closure member 14. The particular closure member 14 illustrated is best termed a spout because of the way it functions within this closure 10. At least the closure body 12 should be formed of a conventional polyolefin material such as is normally utilized in the manufacture of dispensing closures so that this body 12 will have the desired deformable, flexible and resilient characteristics necessary for its operation in a manner as hereinafter indicated. The member 14 will normally also be formed of the same material.

The body 12 is formed so as to include a generally flat top 16. Such a flat top 16 is preferred in the closure for utilitarian reasons such as stacking, price marking and the like. This body 12 also includes a dependent cylindrical skirt 18 which extends generally from the edge or periphery 20 of the top 16 for use in attaching the closure 10 to a conventional container (not shown). The skirt 18 includes an internal, inwardly extending annular bead 22 for this purpose. If desired this bead 22 may be referred to as a means for attaching the body 12 to a container so that it cannot normally be removed from the container during the use of the closure 10. The bead 22 may be considered as such a means since it is intended to snap within a groove (not shown) of corresponding shape in a container neck in such a manner as to hold the closure 10 against removal from such a container or neck during normal utilization.

The body 12 also includes a dependent, annular plug or stopper-like internal cylindrical flange 24 which is designed to fit within such a container neck (not shown) in a known or conventional manner so as to seal the interior against leakage. This flange 24 may be referred to as a sealing means because of its function. If desired, other equivalent or related known sealing means can be used. Similarly other related means for mounting the body 12 can be used with this closure 10. If desired the skirt 18 can be formed integrally with a container such as a tube.

The invention set forth herein pertains to the utilization of a normally cylindrical deformable member 26; this member 26 is normally cylindrical in shape and is located around the exterior or periphery 27 of the shirt 18. The interior of this member 26 is spaced from the exterior 27 of the skirt 18 by two differently orientated sets of

webs

28 and 30. These

webs

28 and 30 extend from adjacentto the edge 20 and immediately below this edge 20 to adjacent to the bottom of the skirt 18. These

webs

28 and 30 are integral with both the skirt l8 and the deformable member 26. They are sufficiently thin so as to be relatively flexible. Hence, they may be termed flexible means. They are also sufficiently thin so as to be relatively resilient in character so as to be relatively resilient in character so as to be capable of acting more or less as springs during the utilization of the closure 10.

Preferably the deformable member 26 includes a lower edge 32 which is located below the bottom of the skirt 18. As formed, this deformable member 26 also includes an inwardly extending top flange 34 extending completely around the interior of the member 26. This flange 34 has an intersurface 36 which is substantially flush with or aligned with the edge 20. This type of structure may be molded in forming the body 12 as an integral one-piece unit by utilizing overlapping die parts extending from different directions.

As formed, the body 12 also includes an elongated cavity or slot 38 extending from the edge 20 of the skirt 18 to an enlarged central opening 40 in the top 16. The body 12 also includes a hole 42 extending from the opening 40 throughn the body 12 into the interior of the flange 24. A known type of deformable sealing ring 44 is preferably located within the opening 40 around the hold 42 for the purpose of forming a seal with a cylindrical surface 46 on the closure member or spout 14.

This spout 14 preferably includes aligned trunnions 48 which are adapted to be snapped through restricted entrance openings 50 in the top 16 into known bearing openings 52 located in the top 16 beneath these entrance openings 50. This structure is intended to be used in movably mounting the spout 14 so it may be rotated between a closed position as shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings to an opened position in which a passage 54 in the spout 14 extends vertically from the top 16 in alignment with the hole 42. It will be recognized that the spout 14 can be mounted on the top 16 in other known manners than through the use of the trunnions 48 and the bearing openings 52.

The passage 54 extends completely through the spout 14 from the surface 46 to adjacent to an end 56 which is located generally along the exterior 27 of this skirt 18, but which projects slightly from the exterior 27 of this skirt 18. This end 56 includes a sloping surface 58 which is located at an angle to the passage 54 and a notch 60 located above the surface 58 and the passage 54. In the closure 10 the spout 14 also includes a small flat tab 62 in alignment with its upper surface.

The closure 10 may be assembled by popping or snapping the trunnions 48 on the closure member 14 through the openings 50 into the bearing openings 52 so as to rotatably mount this closure member or spout 14 on the closure body 12. When the spout 14 has been assembled in this manner it may be rotated towards a closed position as shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings. As it is so rotated, the sloping surface 58 will engage the flange 34 so as to tend to deflect this flange 34 and the deformable member 26 outwardly from the skirt 18 in the area where this flange 34 is contacted. As the result of such deflection, as the rotation of the spout 14 continues the flange 34 will slide along the surface 58 until such time as it is opposite the notch 60.

At this point, the flange 34 will slide or pop into this notch 60 and the deformable member 26 will resume its initial cylindrical configuration. When the spout 14 is thus placed in a closed position as shown, the tab 62 will overlie the flange 34 and the member 26 as indicated in FIG. 1 of the drawings. In this closed position the part of the flange 34 fitting within the notch 60 will overlie a part of the spout 14--more specifically the portion of the spout 14 beneath this notch 60--so as to hold the spout 14 against rotation.

When the closure 10 is to be used it will normally be engaged by the thumb and the initial finger of the hand of a user along the defonnable member 26 in the generalized areas shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawings by the arrows A. These arrows are approximately on opposite sides of the complete closure 10. As the deformable member 26 is so engaged because of its physical character it will be bent. With the invention such bending is controlled through the use of the

webs

28 and 30.

The

webs

28 and 30 are symmetrically located about a line passing through the spout 14 so that the control of the deflection or deformation of the member 26 will be substantially equal on both sides of an imaginary line or plane passing through the center of the spout 14.

The two webs 28 are located adjacent to one another approximately on the opposite side of the closure from the end 56 of the spout 14. The two webs 30 are on the other hand located so as to be spaced towards the spout 14 from the areas where the deformable member 26 will be engaged so as to extend nearly in a line perpendicular to the length of the spout 14.

As a consequence of this arrangement of the

webs

28 and 30, when pressure is applied to the member 26 at the arrows A this member 26 will assume a more or less egg shaped cross-sectional configuration as shown in FIG. 3 of the drawings in which the portion of the member 26 directly opposite the end 56 is moved to a greater extent from the skirt 18 than any other portion of the member 26. When pressure has been applied as shown so as to place the deformable member 26 in configuration as indicated in FIG. 3 the tab 62 may be manually lifted with a second hand of the user so that the spout 14 may be rotated to an opened position. Such rotation is possible because the flange 34 is pulled away from the notch 60 as a result of the deflection in the member 26.

The nature of this deflection in the member 26 is considered quite important to the invention. The

webs

28 and 30 are located so that the principal deflection away from the skirt 18 is opposite the end 56 of the spout 14. In essence the structure of the member 26 and the

webs

28 and 30 involves a type of mechanical linkage used so that a minimum amount of motion applied to the member 26 causes a maximum amount of deflection of this member 26 in the area where such flexure is needed in order to disengage the member 26 so that it may be rotated to an opened position.

With the preferred structure shown the flexure necessary for the closure 10 to be opened does not occur if pressure should be applied to other than the areas shown by the arrows A. Indeed, if pressure should be applied to other regions of the member 26 such pressure will cause flexure tending to result in the flange 34 seating in the notch 60 more firmly than before. This is considered to add to the child resistant characteristics of the closure 10. These characteristics areconsidered to be enhanced by the fact that two hands are required in order to both flex the deformable member 26 to a position where the spout 14 can be opened and to open this spout 14.

In opening the closure 10 the pressure applied to the member 26 can be released at any time after the spout 14 has been rotated to the degree necessary to space the notch 60 from the flange 34. 26 the release of the deformable member 36 the inherent characteristics of this member 26 and the

webs

28 and 30 will cause the member 26 to automatically return to its initial configuraiton or position.

Upon closing of the closure 10, the spout 14 will be rotated to a closed position as shown. As this occurs the surface 58 will engage the flange 34 as previously described so as to deflect it and the member 26 to the extent necessary for the flange 34 to get in a position in which the inherent characteristics of the member 26 and the

webs

28 and 30 will snap the flange 34 into the notch 60.

In FIG. 5 of the drawings there is shown a closure 100 in accordance with the invention which is essentially very similar to the closure 10. In the interest of brevity those parts of the closure 100 which are the sameor substantially the same as parts of the closure 10 are not separately described herein and are designated in the drawings and where necessary for explanatory purposes in this specification by the numerals previously used to designate such parts preceded by the numeral 1.

In the closure the notch 60 previously described is omitted and the closure member 14 is formed so as to include a top surface 164 which in effect serves the same function as this notch 60. In this closure 100 when the deformable member 126 is manipulated as previously described, the flange 134 will be spaced from the end 156 to a sufficient extent so that the spout 114 may be manually engaged with a fingernail or a tool or the like so as to be rotated from a closed position as shown. If desired, s small lip 166 may be located on the end 156 in order to facilitate such rotation.

From a consideration of the preceding it should be obvious how the closure 10 achieves the various objectives of the invention indicated in the preceding discussion. With this structure there is no external indication as to how the closure 10 should be opened. If desired, such an indication can be applied to the closure by imprinting on the flexible member 26 or on thetop 16. The absence of any such indication is considered to contribute to the child-resistant character of the closure 10.

It is also considered in this closure 10 that the sealing and holding functions performed relative to a container neck are essentially independent of the opening and closing action achieved and are accomplished in such a way that the closure 10 may be effectively used with conventional or standarized containers. Because of the careful control of the manner in which flexure occurs as the closure 10 is used, there is substantially no danger of such flexure in any way interfering with the man'- ner in which the closure 10 is supported upon a container neck so as to form a seal with such a neck.

Further, the complete closure 10 is of such a character and shape that it maybe installed upon conventional container necks utilizing conventional capping equipment. This is quite important since large scale closure users are reluctant to utilize closures requiring specialized capping equipment because of economic considerations.

I claim:

1. A closure having a closure body which is adpated to be connected to a container and having a closure member movably mounted on said closure body so as to be capable of being moved between an opened position in which material may be moved through said closure and a closed position in which no material can move through said closure, in which the improvement comprises:

a deformable member mounted on said closure body,

a part of said deformable member overlying a part of said closure member when said closure member is in said closed position so as to prevent movement of said closure member from said closed position, and

flexible means connecting said deformable member with said closure body for mounting said deformable member relative to said closure body so that it can be manually engaged and flexed to a position in which said part of said deformable member does not overlie said part of said closure member,

said flexible means serving to control deformation of said deformable member when it is manually engaged so as to cause the principal deformation of said deformable member to occur adjacent to said part of said deformable member so as to minimize the deformation of said deformable member necessary in order to place said deformable member in a configuration in which said closure member can be moved to said opened position.

2. A closure as claimed in claim 1 including:

means on said closure member for causing deformation of said deformable member when said closure member is moved from said opened position to said closed position so that when said closure member is in said closed position said deformable member will return to its initial position after being engaged by said means so that said closure member in said closed position will be held so as to prevent movement of said closure member from said closed position.

3. A closure as claimed in claim 1 wherein: said closure body includes a dependent skirt having means formed thereon for securing said skirt to a container neck so that said closure cannot normally be removed from such a neck,

said deformable member is a cylindrical member extending completely around said skirt so as to hide said skirt from view, said cylindrical member being spaced from the exterior of said skirt completely around said skirt.

4. A closure as claimed in claim 3 wherein:

said flexible means comprise webs extending between the interior of said cylindrical member and the exterior of said skirt, said webs being arranged so that when pressure is applied to said cylindrical member on two opposed sides of said deformable member said part of said deformable member will move further away from said closure body than any other part of said deformable member.

5. A closure as claimed in claim 1 wherein:

said closure is a dispensing closure,

said closure member is a spout rotatably mounted on said closure body so as to be capable of being rotated between said opened and closed positions,

said part of said closure member is the end of said spout.

6. A closure as claimed in claim 5 wherein:

said closure body includes a dependent skirt having means formed thereon for securing said skirt to a container neck so that said closure cannot normally be removed from such a neck,

7. A closure as claimed in claim 6 wherein:

8. A closure as claimed in claim 1 wherein:

said closure is a dispensing closure,

said part of said closure member is the end of said spout,

said deformable member is a cylindrical member extending completely around said skirt so as to hide said skirt from view, said cylindrical member being spaced from the exterior of said skirt completely around said skirt, and i said deformable member includes an inwardly extending flange located on said cylindrical member adjacent to said end of said spout, said flange fitting with respect to said spout when said spout is in said closed position so as to prevent rotation of said spout to said opened position.

9. A closure as claimed in claim 8 wherein:

said flexible means comprises webs extending between the interior of said cylindrical member and the exterior of said skirt,

said webs being located symmetrically about an imaginary plane passing through the center of the length of said spout in such a manner that only when pressure is applied to said cylindrical memher in two opposed areas on different sides of said plane the deformation of said deformable member away from said skirt will be greater opposite said end of said spout so as to permit said spout to be rotated to said opened position.

10. A closure as claimed in claim 8 wherein:

said end of said spout including a sloping surface capable of engaging said flange so as to cause temporary deformation of said deformable member as said spout is rotated to said closed position and then releasing said flange when said spout is in said closed position so that when said spout is in said closed position it is held in said closed position.

11. A closure as claimed in claim 10 wherein:

said end of said spout includes a notch formed therein, said flange fitting within said notch when said spout is in said closed position, said end including a tab overlying said flange when said spout is in said closed position for use in manually rotating said spout.

12. A closure as claimed in claim 10 wherein:

said flange overlies said end of said spout when said spout is in said closed position.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE v CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3 7 4 05 Dated January 8. 1974 Inventor(s) ROBERT E. HAZARD It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column line 16 "increading desired" should read --increasing desire.

Colu 1,- line 57 "'whic" should read"-'-which--.

Column 3, line 42 "shirt l8" should read --skirt l8--.

Column 5, line 50 and 5l "26 the release. of the deformable member 36" should read --Upon the release of the deformable member 6 Column 6, line 27 "It is also considered in this closure l0" should read --It is also considered important in this closure l0--.

Signed and sealed this 9th day of July 197A.

(SEAL) Attest:

MoCOY M. GIBSON, JR. C. MARSHALL DANN Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents FORM M050 (1069) USCOMM-DC 60376-P69 I ".5, GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE Z ll 3-3-"

Claims

1. A closure having a closure body which is adpated to be connected to a container and having a closure member movably mounted on said closure body so as to be capable of being moved between an opened position in which material may be moved through said closure and a closed position in which no material can move through said closure, in which the improvement comprises: a deformable member mounted on said closure body, a part of said deformable member overlying a part of said closure member when said closure member is in said closed position so as to prevent movement of said closure member from said closed position, and flexible means connecting said deformable member with said closure body for mounting said deformable member relative to said closure body so that it can be manually engaged and flexed to a position in which said part of said deformable member does not overlie said part of said closure member, said flexible means serving to control deformation of said deformable member when it is manually engaged so as to cause the principal deformation of said deformable member to occur adjacent to said part of said deformable member so as to minimize the deformation of said deformable member necessary in order to place said deformable member in a configuration in which said closure member can be moved to said opened position.

2. A closure as claimed in claim 1 including: means on said closure member for causing deformation of said deformable member when said closure member is moved from said opened position to said closed position so that when said closure member is in said closed position said deformable member will return to its initial position after being engaged by said means so that said closure member in said closed position will be held so as to prevent movement of said closure member from said closed position.

3. A closure as claimed in claim 1 wherein: said closure body includes a dependent skirt having means formed thereon for securing said skirt to a container neck so that said closure cannot normally be removed from such a neck, said deformable member is a cylindrical member extending completely around said skirt so as to hide said skirt from view, said cylindrical member being spaced from the exterior of said skirt completely around said skirt.

4. A closure as claimed in claim 3 wherein: said flexible means comprise webs extending between the interior of said cylindrical member and the exterior of said skirt, said webs being arranged so that when pressure is applied to said cylindrical member on two opposed sides of said deformable member said part of said deformable member will move further away from said closure body than any other part of said deformable member.

5. A closure as claimed in claim 1 wherein: said closure is a dispensing closure, said closure member is a spout rotatably mounted on said closure body so as to be capable of being rotated between said opened and closed positions, said part of said closure member is the end of said spout.

6. A closure as claimed in claim 5 wherein: said closure body includes a dependent skirt having means formed thereon for securing said skirt to a container neck so that said closure cannot normally be removed from sUch a neck, said deformable member is a cylindrical member extending completely around said skirt so as to hide said skirt from view, said cylindrical member being spaced from the exterior of said skirt completely around said skirt.

7. A closure as claimed in claim 6 wherein: said flexible means comprise webs extending between the interior of said cylindrical member and the exterior of said skirt, said webs being arranged so that when pressure is applied to said cylindrical member on two opposed sides of said deformable member said part of said deformable member will move further away from said closure body than any other part of said deformable member.

8. A closure as claimed in claim 1 wherein: said closure is a dispensing closure, said closure member is a spout rotatably mounted on said closure body so as to be capable of being rotated between said opened and closed positions, said part of said closure member is the end of said spout, said closure body includes a dependent skirt having means formed thereon for securing said skirt to a container neck so that said closure cannot normally be removed from such a neck, said deformable member is a cylindrical member extending completely around said skirt so as to hide said skirt from view, said cylindrical member being spaced from the exterior of said skirt completely around said skirt, and said deformable member includes an inwardly extending flange located on said cylindrical member adjacent to said end of said spout, said flange fitting with respect to said spout when said spout is in said closed position so as to prevent rotation of said spout to said opened position.

9. A closure as claimed in claim 8 wherein: said flexible means comprises webs extending between the interior of said cylindrical member and the exterior of said skirt, said webs being located symmetrically about an imaginary plane passing through the center of the length of said spout in such a manner that only when pressure is applied to said cylindrical member in two opposed areas on different sides of said plane the deformation of said deformable member away from said skirt will be greater opposite said end of said spout so as to permit said spout to be rotated to said opened position.

10. A closure as claimed in claim 8 wherein: said end of said spout including a sloping surface capable of engaging said flange so as to cause temporary deformation of said deformable member as said spout is rotated to said closed position and then releasing said flange when said spout is in said closed position so that when said spout is in said closed position it is held in said closed position.

11. A closure as claimed in claim 10 wherein: said end of said spout includes a notch formed therein, said flange fitting within said notch when said spout is in said closed position, said end including a tab overlying said flange when said spout is in said closed position for use in manually rotating said spout.

12. A closure as claimed in claim 10 wherein: said flange overlies said end of said spout when said spout is in said closed position.