Safety closure and container

Abstract

A child resistant cap including relatively thin threads which, when the cap is in a relaxed condition, are spaced from the bottle neck, said spacing permitting the cap to be squeezed inward at points on opposite sides of the cap so that the cap responds to the squeezing by expanding outward at points ninety degrees from the squeezing points so that stops on the cap at the cap expanding location will miss the stops normally engaged when in a relaxed condition, thereby permitting the cap to be removed from the bottle. The cap may also include a guide ring in the cap interior to guide the cap over the bottle neck to help ensure that the cap is centered on the bottle opening. The cap may include pressure pads on the cap skirt outside near the cap bottom showing the user where to press and stiffening the portion of the cap where pressure is to be applied. And, the cap may include a tamper indicating ring which will separate from the cap the first time the cap is removed from the bottle. Furthermore, in an alternative cap and bottle combination, an imaginary line connecting the cap threads and an imaginary line defined by the bottle neck will intersect at an angle of from one to eight degrees, thereby providing an increasing gap between the cap threads and the bottle neck as one gets further from the cap top, this angle creating non-vertical changes to the cap or the bottle or both.

What is claimed is:  
     
       1. A child resistant cap and bottle combination comprising: 
       a bottle having a neck portion and an adjacent opening, the neck portion having at least a first bottle lug extending outward therefrom, the neck portion having an interior  exterior bottle thread for receiving a cap thread, the bottle thread being positioned at a location nearer the adjacent opening than the bottle lug;  
       the cap comprising:  
       a. a cap top having a first diameter;  
       b. a cap skirt having an inner surface and extending from said cap top to a cap bottom, said cap bottom having a second diameter greater than said cap top first diameter;  
       c. said cap skirt inner surface having a threaded portion therein, said threaded portion being located toward said cap top, said threaded portion having at least one cap thread, said cap inner surface having at least a first cap lug, said cap lug being located toward said cap bottom;  
       d. said cap being received on the bottle, said at least one cap thread being received by the bottle thread, the first bottle lug and the first cap lug engagably preventing said cap from being removed from the bottle when said cap is in a relaxed condition, said at least one cap thread having an innermost extent in spaced relation with the bottle neck portion, said bottle thread having an outermost extent in spaced relation with said cap skirt, said spaced relation between said outermost extent of said bottle thread increasing from top to bottom of said inner surface of said cap skirt in said relaxed condition, said cap being removable from the bottle by applying pressure to said cap skirt at opposed pressure locations approximately transverse to said cap lug whereby said at least one cap thread moves toward the bottle neck portion at said opposed pressure locations thereby reducing said spacing, said cap thread thereby moving away from the bottle neck portion at said cap lug thereby enlarging said spacing, thereby spacing said cap lug from the bottle lug.  
     
     
       2. The child resistant cap and bottle combination of  claim 1 , said at least one cap thread being parallel to said cap top. 
     
     
       3. The child resistant cap and bottle combination of  claim 2  where the cap thread receiving means is a groove having a groove width and said at least one cap thread has a thread width, said thread width being less than the groove width. 
     
     
       4. The child resistant cap and bottle combination of  claim 3 , said thread width being less than one-half the groove width. 
     
     
       5. The child resistant cap and bottle combination of  claim 3 , said thread width being approximately equal 0.03 inch. 
     
     
       6. The child resistant cap and bottle combination of  claim 1 , said cap interior portion having a seal therein, said seal being adjacent said cap top and engaging the bottle opening when said cap is received on the bottle. 
     
     
       7. The child resistant cap and bottle combination of  claim 1 , said cap interior portion having a guide ring therein, said guide ring being adjacent said cap top, said guide ring fitting over the bottle neck portion at said adjacent opening when said cap is received on the bottle. 
     
     
       8. The child resistant cap and bottle combination of  claim 7 , said cap interior portion having a seal therein, said seal being adjacent said cap top within said guide ring and engaging the bottle opening when said cap is received on the bottle. 
     
     
       9. The child resistant cap and bottle combination of  claim 1 , said cap skirt having opposed outward pressure pads at said opposed pressure locations toward said cap bottom. 
     
     
       10. The child resistant cap and bottle combination of  claim 1 , the bottle having a tamper indicating ring therearound, said cap having a break away ring attached to said cap bottom, said break away ring having an in turned collar to be received by the tamper indicating ring when said cap is received on the bottle, the tamper indicating ring causing said break away ring to separate from said cap when said cap is removed from the bottle the first time. 
     
     
       11. The child resistant cap and bottle combination of  claim 1 , said at least one cap thread having inner ends, said threaded portion having a first imaginary line connecting said inner ends, said cap top having a second imaginary line transverse to said cap top, said first imaginary line and said second imaginary line having an intersection angle therebetween of at least one degree. 
     
     
       12. The child resistant cap of  claim 11 , said intersection angle being not more than eight degrees. 
     
     
       13. The child resistant cap of  claim 11 , said intersection angle being approximately 3½ degrees. 
     
     
       14. The combination of  claim 1 , said bottle neck portion having a top diameter equal to a bottom diameter. 
     
     
       15. The combination of  claim 1  wherein said cap threads includes first threads and first grooves and said cap thread receiving means include second threads and second grooves whereby in said relaxed condition, said first threads are spaced from said second grooves and said second threads are spaced from said firsts grooves. 
     
     
       16. A child resistant cap and bottle combination, comprising: 
       a. a bottle having a neck portion and an adjacent opening, said neck portion having an exterior bottle thread for receiving a cap thread, said bottle thread having an outermost extent and a first imaginary line connecting said outermost extent extending substantially parallel to said bottle neck portion;  
       b. a cap having:  
       (1) a cap top;  
       (2) a cap skirt having an inner surface and extending from said cap top to a cap bottom; and  
       (3) said cap skirt inner surface having a threaded portion therein; said threaded portion having at least one cap thread, said at least one cap thread having an innermost extent, said threaded portion having a second imaginary line connecting said innermost extent extending substantially perpendicular to said cap top, said first imaginary line and said second imaginary line having an intersection angle therebetween of at least one degree; and,  
       c. said cap and said bottle having engageable means for preventing said cap from being removed from said bottle when said cap is in a relaxed condition, said cap thread innermost extent being in spaced relation with said bottle neck portion and said bottle thread outermost extent being in spaced relation with said inner surface of said cap skirt, said spaced relation between said outermost extent of said bottle thread increasing from top to bottom of said inner surface of said cap skirt in said relaxed condition.  
     
     
       17. The child resistant cap and bottle combination of  claim 16 , said intersection angle being not more than eight degrees. 
     
     
       18. The child resistant cap and bottle combination of  claim 16 , said intersection angle being approximately 3½ degrees. 
     
     
       19. The child resistant cap and bottle combination of  claim 16 , where said first imaginary line and a line transverse to said cap top have an angle therebetween of not more than ½ degrees. 
     
     
       20. The child resistant cap and bottle combination of  claim 16 , where said second imaginary line and a line transverse to said cap top have an angle therebetween of not more than ½ degrees. 
     
     
       21. The combination of  claim 16  wherein said cap threads include first threads and first grooves and said cap thread receiving means include second threads and second grooves whereby in a relaxed condition, said first threads are spaced from said second grooves and said second threads are spaced from said first grooves.