GB2158048A

GB2158048A - A closure device

Info

Publication number: GB2158048A
Application number: GB08411016A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Peter James Puresevic; Julian Davidson Taylor
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1984-04-30
Filing date: 1984-04-30
Publication date: 1985-11-06
Also published as: GB2158048B; GB8411016D0

Abstract

A flip-top closure for the dispensing opening of a container comprises a first body member 2 with a flip-top 3 adapted to be mounted on the container, and a second body member 4 mounted on the first body member and having a part 5 which is usually in overlapping relation with the flip top 3 to prevent opening thereof, which part 5 is displaceable from said overlapping relation to expose the edge 6 of the flip top 3 for opening thereof. Displacement of the member 4 involves rotation and axial movement so as to allow studs 24 to pass between projections 19 on the member 2. Unscrewing of the closure is prevented by a ratchet mechanism 17, 23. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A closure device The invention relates to a closure device for a container having a cylindrical opening.

Dangerous substances such as household cleansers are often housed in a container with a dispensing opening which is normally closed by a flip-top cover, which cover can readily be removed from the opening particularly by children who can then gain access to the contents of the container with possibly harmful or even fatal results.

It is an object of the invention to seek to mitigate these disadvantages of prior closure devices.

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a flip top closure device for a dispensing opening of a container, comprising a first body member with a flip-top adapted to be mounted on the container, and a second body member mounted on the first body member and having a part which is normally in overlapping relation with the flip top to prevent opening thereof, which part is displaceable from said overlapping relation to expose the edge of the flip top for opening thereof.

The first and second body members may be substantially cylindrical.

The second body member may be displaceable axially towards the container body in use in order to displace the part from said overlapping relation.

The first body member may have splines and the second body member may have resilient flaps which overlap the splines and which may be arranged so that the second body member can be rotated with respect to the first body member in one sense only, and the body members may also have respective interengaging means which only allow the second body member to be displaced axially after rotation in said one sense with axial pressure applied to the second body member.

The first body member may comprise an end wall and a depending skirt, and the end wall may house said dispensing aperture.

The flip top may be hinged to the end wall and may include a spigot for engagement in the dispensing aperture.

The part may be integral with the second body member and may overlap the whole of the periphery of the flip-top in the closed position.

The first and second body members may be made of plastic material.

The first and second body members may be injection moulded in plastics material.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a container with a dispensing opening, having a flip-top closure device hereinbefore defined.

A flip-top closure device for a dispensing opening of a container is hereinafter described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Brief description of drawings Figure 1 is a side elevational view, partly in longitudinal section, of a first body member of the flip-top closure device according the invention; Figure 2 is a side elevational view, partly in longitudinal section, of a second body member of the flip-top closure device according to the invention; and Figure 3 shows the first and second body members, of Figures 1 and 2 respectively, assembled to form a flip-top closure device.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a fliptop closure device 1 (Figure 3) for a dispensing opening of a container (not shown), comprising a first body member 2 (Figure 1) with a flip-top 3 adapted to be mounted on the container, and a second body member 4 (Figure 2) mounted on the first body member 2 and having a part 5 which is usually in overlapping relation with the flip top 3 to prevent opening thereof, which part 5 is displaceable from said overlapping relation to expose the edge 6 of the flop top 3 for opening thereof.

The first body member 2 is generally cylindrical and is injection moulded from plastics material. It has an end wall 7 and a depending skirt 8, the end wall 7 having a dispensing aperture 9 formed therethrough. The end wall 7 also mounts the flip top 3 by an integral connector or hinge 10, the flip top 3 having a spigot 11 for plugging the dispensing aperture 9 in the usual closed position. The flip top 3 also has opposite the hinge a rebate providing a lip 12 by which the flip top can be pivoted upwardly (as viewed) about the hinge 10 from the Figure 3 position to the Figure 1 position. The flip top 3 has a peripheral edge and there is a chamfer 13 leading from the edge to the flap top 14. The first body member 2 also has an internal screw thread 15 by which it is adapted to be mounted on a container.The depending skirt 8 has a first part 16 with axially extending radial splines 17 and a second part 18 of greater radial extent than the first part 16 which has at the bottom (as viewed) interengaging means in the form of peripherally spaced lugs 19.

The second body member 4 is also injection moulded in plastics material and is generally cylindrical. It has a top wall 20 with a through aperture 21 large enough to receive the flip top 3, the top wall 20 overlapping the enlarged second part 18 of the depending skirt 8 of the first body member 2.

The second body member 4 also has a depending skirt 22 with inwardly projecting resilient flaps 23 with interdigitate with the splines 17 of the first body member 2, as shown in Figure 3. The skirt member 22 also has interengaging means in the form of spaced inwardly directed protrusions 24.

There is also a peripheral inwardly directed flange 25 which prevents the closure device from being forced off a container to which it is fitted.

In use the closure device 1 is mounted on a container by screw engagement of the threads 15 with threads (not shown) of the container. A ring or pad 26 ensures that the contents of the container, say bleach, are only able to pass to the aperture 9 and cannot seep down over the threads 15 to contaminate the external surface of the body of the container. The closure device 2 is in the usual, closed, position shown in Figure 3 with the entire periph eral edge of the flip top 3, including the hinge 10, overlapped by the part 5 of the second body member 4. The flip top 3 can therefor not be operated as it is not possible to apply upward pressure to the lip 12 to lift the flip top.

If it is desired to dispense some contents, the second body member 4 is displaced axially downwardly by turning in one sense, the anti-clockwise unscrewing direction, at the same time applying downward or axial pressure until the protrusions 24 are aligned with gaps 27 between the lugs 19 so that the second body member 4 can then be displaced axially bodily so that the part 15 is removed from overlapping engagement with the edge 6 of the flip top 3, the lip 12 is exposed and upward pressure thereon flips the flip top 3 to the Figure 1 position so that the dispensing aperture 9 is unplugged. The anti-clockwise motion is allowed because the ratchets 23 are inclined to the longitudinal axis of the device and click over the splines 17. The device 1 is returned to the Figure 3 configuration by returning the flip top 3 to plug the dispensing aperture 9 and by pulling the second body member 4 upwardly in an anti clockwise motion so that the protrusions 24 overlie the lugs 19, the part then overlapping the edge 6 of the flip top 3 so that opening thereof is obviated.

Movement of the second body member 4 in the clockwise sense is obviated because the inclined ratchets 23 catch on and engage the splines 17 and cannot click thereover.

The protrusions 24 and lugs 19 with spaces 27 form interengaging means of the first and second body members. The part 5 has a chamfer which has the same angle of inclination as the chamfer 13 so that a virtually uninterrupted surface is presented in the Figure 3 configuration.

Claims

1. A flip-top closure device for a dispensing opening of a container, comprising a first body member with a flip top adapted to be mounted on the container, and a second body member mounted on the first body member and having a part which is usually in overlapping relation with the flip top to prevent opening thereof, which part is displaceable from said overlapping relation to expose the edge of the flip top for opening thereof.

2. A flip-top closure device according to Claim 1, the first and second body member being substantially cylindrical.

3. A flip-top closure device according to Claim 2, the second body member being displaceable axially towards the container body in use in order to displace the part from said overlapping relation.

4. A flip-top closure device according to Claim 3, the first body member having splines and the second body member having resilient flaps which overlap the splines and which are arranged so that the second body member can be rotated with re spect to the first body member in one sense only, the body members also having respective interengaging means which only allow the second body member to be displaced axially after rotation in said one sense with axial pressure applied to the second body member.

5. A flip-top closure device according to any preceding claim, the first body member comprising and end wall and a depending skirt, the end wall housing said dispensing aperture.

6. A flip-top closure device according to Claim 5, the flip top being hinged to the end wall and including a spigot for engagement in the dispensing aperture.

7. A flip-top closure device according to any preceding claim, the part being integral with the second body member and overlapping the whole of the periphery of the flip-top in the closed position.

8. A flip-top closure device according to any preceding claim, the first and second body members being made of plastic material.

9. A flip-top closure device according to Claim 8, the first and second body members being injection moulded in plastics material.

10. A flip-top closure device for a dispensing opening of a container, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

11. A container with a dispensing opening, having a flip-top closure device according to any preceding claim mounted thereon.