초록 ▼

A two piece safety or child resistant dispensing closure for granular or pellet material. The opening of the dispensing window can be varied to control the rate of dispensing. One piece of the closure is a cap which is attached to the container by threads or a snap-on flange. The cap has a pair of o

A two piece safety or child resistant dispensing closure for granular or pellet material. The opening of the dispensing window can be varied to control the rate of dispensing. One piece of the closure is a cap which is attached to the container by threads or a snap-on flange. The cap has a pair of opposed circumferential windows in its top. The second piece of the closure is a flat cover with corresponding circumferential dispensing windows. The cover is attached to the cap for rotation between an aligned window dispensing position and a closed, nonaligned window position. A pair of opposed rocker arms which may be depressed by the thumb and forefinger of the user is used to release the cover from its closed position and rotate it to a dispensing position. Detents on the cap coact with the rocker arms on the cover to secure the cover and cap with any desired degree of alignment between the windows on the cap and cover to achieve metered dispensing.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A two piece safety dispensing closure for a container comprising, in combination: a cylindrical cap having an annular skirt containing means for attachment to a container, and a flat top having a dispensing opening therethrough, a flat cover affixed to said cap for rotation relative thereto and h

1. A two piece safety dispensing closure for a container comprising, in combination: a cylindrical cap having an annular skirt containing means for attachment to a container, and a flat top having a dispensing opening therethrough, a flat cover affixed to said cap for rotation relative thereto and having a dispensing opening therethrough, and a rocker arm occupying a portion of said cover and being pivotably connected thereto by a hinge, said rocker arm having a locking tab engageable with retaining means on said cap for locking said cover against rotation in a first closed position with said dispensing openings out of registration with each other, and upon depression of said rocker arm, said locking tab disengages said retaining means to permit rotation of said cover to a second dispensing position wherein said dispensing openings are aligned to form a passage for dispensing the contents of said container therethrough. 2. The two piece safety dispensing closure of claim 1 wherein said rocker arm is formed integral with said cover and the means for pivotably connecting said rocker arm to said cover is a molded torsion hinge. 3. The two piece safety dispensing closure of claim 1 wherein said cap is formed with its top being recessed to a depth approximating the thickness of said cover to thereby form an annular guard preventing rotation of the cover by gripping its outside edge, said retaining means on said cap including a pair of circumferentially spaced posts extending upwardly from said recessed top abuting the inside annular wall of said guard, and said rocker arm extending in a radial direction with said locking tab being retained between said posts for locking said cover in a first closed position against rotation. 4. The two piece safety dispensing closure of claim 3 wherein said cap is formed with an annular array of detents along the inside of said annular wall of said guard within the larger circumferential area between said posts whereby when said rocker arm is pivoted to release said cover from its first closed position, and said cover is rotated to align said dispensing openings to form a passage in said second position, said detents coact with said locking tab to permit alignment of said openings to a desired degree and to retain said cover in said second dispensing position. 5. The two piece safety dispensing closure of claim 4 wherein a downwardly extending projection is formed on said locking tab for engagement with said detents. 6. The two piece safety dispensing closure of claim 4 wherein ramps are formed on the sides of said posts facing away from each other, said ramps extending downwardly towards said detents whereby when said cover is rotated from said dispensing position towards said closed position said locking tab will be raised above said retaining posts to drop therebetween into said first closed position. 7. The two piece safety dispensing closure of claim 1 wherein said cover is formed with a centrally projecting retaining boss and said cap has a centrally located aperture to receive said boss as it is snapped into place to affix said cover for rotation relative to said cap. 8. The two piece safety dispensing closure of claim 1 wherein a rocker arm guard is formed integral with said cover, said guard having radial, upwardly slanted side walls to receive a portion of said rocker arm with a corresponding inclined press-open surface. 9. The two piece safety dispensing closure of claim 1 wherein said rocker arm is radially oriented with said locking tab being at its outer end, and the inner end presenting a press-open surface, said rocker arm being flush with the cover surface when said cover is in its first closed position, and said cap having an annular recessed area to receive the inner end of said rocker arm when it is depressed. 10. The two piece safety dispensing closure of claim 1 wherein said dispensing openings in the top of said cap and said cover are in the form of circumferential slot windows. 11. The two piece safety dispensing closure of claim 10 wherein said cap and cover each have two diametrically opposed dispensing windows. 12. The two piece safety dispensing closure of claim 11 having two diametrically opposed radially extending rocker arms spaced between said diametrically opposed dispensing windows. 13. A two piece safety dispensing closure for a container comprising, in combination: a cylindrical cap having an annular skirt containing means for attachment to a container, and a recessed top having a pair of diametrically opposed circumferential window openings, a flat cover affixed to said cap for rotation relative thereto, said cover having a pair of diametrically opposed circumferential window openings, radially located so that they can be aligned with the cap windows to form passages for dispensing the contents of said container therethrough, said cap being recessed to a depth approximating the thickness of said cover to thereby form an annular guard preventing rotation of said cover by gripping its outside edge, a pair of diametrically opposed radially disposed rocker arms spaced between said windows and being formed as a portion of said cover with mid point molded torsion hinges, the radially outward ends of said arms constituting locking tabs engageable with retaining slots formed on the inside of said annular guard for locking said cover against rotation in a first closed position with said windows of said cover and cap out of dispensing registration with each other, the radially inward ends of said arms constituting press-open areas, a circumferential recess formed in the underside of said cap to accommodate the press-open ends of said rocker arms when they are depressed to disengage the locking tabs from said retaining slots permitting rotation of said cover from said first closed position to a second dispensing position wherein said cap and cover windows are aligned. 14. The two piece safety dispensing closure of claim 13 wherein said retaining slots are defined by circumferentially spaced posts extending upwardly from said recessed top and having ramp surfaces sloping away from the slot side of said posts toward an annular array of detents formed on the inside of said annular guard between said posts, whereby said detents cooperate with said locking tab to retain said cover in said second dispensing position with a desired degree of alignment between the windows of said cap and cover to regulate the flow of contents from said container, said ramps raising said locking tabs to drop over said retaining posts into said slots as said cover is rotated to said second closed position. 15. The two piece safety dispensing closure of claim 14 wherein a downwardly extending projection is formed on the locking tabs for engagement with said detents. 16. A two piece safety dispensing closure for a container comprising, in combination: a cylindrical cap having an annular skirt containing means for attachment to a container, and a recessed top having a pair of diametrically opposed circumferential window openings, a flat cover affixed to said cap for rotation relative thereto having a pair of diametrically opposed circumferential window openings, radially located so that they can be aligned with the cap windows to form passages for dispensing the contents of said container therethrough, said cap being recessed to a depth approximating the thickness of said cover to thereby form an annular guard wall preventing rotation of said cover by gripping its outside edge, a pair of diametrically opposed radially disposed rocker arms and associated upraised guards spaced between said windows and being formed as a portion of said cover, each of said rocker arms having: a molded torsion hinge at its mid point, a radially outward locking tab engageable in its horizontal, flush with cover, position with retaining slots formed on the inside of said annular guard wall, a radially inward press-open surface sloping upwardly, each of said guards having an upwardly slanted portion to receive the sloping press-open surface of said rocker arm, whereby the press-open portion of said rocker arms can be engaged by the thumb and index finger of the user to depress the arms, disengaging said locking tabs so that said cover can be rotated from a first closed position in which the locking tabs are engaged with the retaining slots and said windows of said cover and cap are out of dispensing registration with each other, to a second dispensing position wherein said cap and cover windows are aligned. 17. The two piece safety dispensing closure of claim 16 wherein said retaining slots are defined by circumferential spaced posts extending upwardly from said recessed top, and further including ramp surfaces sloping away from the slot side of said post towards an annular array of detents formed on the inside of said annular guard between said posts, whereby said detents cooperate with said locking tab to retain said cover in said second dispensing position with a desired degree of alignment between the windows of said cap and cover to regulate the flow of contents from said container, said ramp raising said locking tabs to drop over said retaining posts into said slots as said cover is rotated to said first closed position. 18. The two piece safety dispensing closure of claim 17 wherein a downwardly extending projection is formed on each of said locking tabs for engagement with said detents.