Protective closure for aerosol containers

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to protective closures for aerosol containers and particularly to a closure which must be initially ruptured for disengagement with the can and may be subsequently firmly but releasably engaged with the can.

Aerosol cans or containers are generally provided with an operating mechanism mounted on the top of the can for releasing the can contents. To prevent the accidental or inadvertent operation of the mechanism which would expel a portion of the can contents in an undesired manner, a closure or cap is releasably mounted on the can enclosing the operating mechanism. It has been found, however, that prior to the sale of the can and its contents to the ultimate user, particularly in self-service markets, certain persons of a curious or mischievous nature are inclined to disengage such caps and release some of the contents to satiate their bent. It also occurs that releasable caps may be unintentionally disengaged in shipment or handling with a subsequent accidental release of the contents. Such accidents or tampering not only reduces the can contents but may give rise to undesirable contact with foreign substances rendering the contents unhealthful. Furthermore, the operating mechanism may be permanently damaged in shipping and handling where the cap becomes disengaged.

Accordingly, the prior art has developed tamper-proof protective closures whereby the cap is mounted after the can is filled so as to be disengageable only when the cap is ruptured. This protects the ultimate consumer since a protective closure so ruptured is immediately detectable before purchase and yet may be subsequently ruptured to uncover the operating mechanism. However, since it is also desirable to protect the operating mechanism from inadvertent actuation during use by the consumer, caps have been developed which may be ruptured in a manner allowing the cap to be releasably re-mounted on the can. Such prior art tamper proof caps include a frangible portion which may be ruptured in various ways such as shown in United States Patents No. 3,262,600 and No. 3,266,676. The prior art closures, however, are not in all respects satisfactory to prevent disengagement except by rupture and then subsequently to be firmly but releasably engageable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention comprises a tamper-proof protective closure for use in enclosing the operating mechanism of aerosol cans including a top wall, a cylindrical side wall having a depression therein, a circumferential web mounted on the lower edge of the cylindrical side wall, a circumferential skirt depending from the web, an arcuate opening, formed in the web adjacent the body depression, and having a radial opening extending outwardly through the web at each end of the arcuate opening, and a tab extending upwardly from the web and including a portion of the skirt adjacent the slot which may be ruptured from the cap so that the skirt becomes discontinuous and may thereby be easily enlarged to allow the skirt to be forced over the end of the can for re-use.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a tamper-proof protective closure constructed in accordance with the present invention mounted on an aerosol container;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation view of the protective closure shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a front elevational view of the protective closure shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a side elevation sectional view taken along ₁₅ the line 4—4 in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a top plan view of the protective closure shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 6 is a side elevation detail sectional view of a portion of the protective closure shown in FIGURE 1; 20 FIGURE 7 is a top plan detail view of a portion of the protective closure shown in FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 8 is a side elevation sectional view of a portion of the protective closure taken along the line 8—8 of FIGURE 7.

²⁵ DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED

EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the drawing, there is shown an aerosol bomb 20 comprising a cylindrical container 22 having a ³θ dispensing opening and spraying mechanism, generally designated by the reference numeral 24, mounted on one end of the container 22. A protective closure, shown generally by the reference numeral 26, is mounted on container 22 enclosing the dispensing opening and spraying ³⁵ mechanism 24 and comprises a top wall 28 and cylindrical side wall 30 having a depressed portion 32. An annular web 34 is connected to the lower edge of cylindrical wall 30. Depressed portion 32 is defined by an arcuate wall having a concave curvature 35 at the upper end which ^υ fairs into a convex curvature 36 at the lower end so that the lower edge of depressed portion 32 defines a convex segment.

A circumferential continuous skirt 38 depends down₄₅ wardly from the outer edge of annular web 34. As seen best in FIGURE 4, container 22 includes an annular rib 42 formed at its upper end which may comprise the flange of the container top wall. The inner wall 40 of circumferential skirt 38 includes means for releasably secur₅₀ ing closure 26 on container 22. This securing means comprises an annular rib 44 formed integrally on the inner wall 40 of circumferential skirt 38 spaced downwardly from the lower surface of annular web 34 so as to engage annular rib 42 of container 22 as seen in FIGURE 4.

₅₅ An arcuately shaped tab 46 extends upwardly from annular web 34 and is spaced radially adjacent the depressed portion 32 of cylindrical wall 30 as seen in FIGURE 5. It will be readily appreciated that tab 46 is radially spaced from depressed portion 32 of cylindrical go wall 30 that an object such as a person’s finger can be downwardly inserted between tab 46 and depressed portion 32 of cylindrical wall 30.

As seen in FIGURE 5, tab 46 is radially spaced inwardly from the outer edge of annular web 34 so as to 65 be within a cylindrical plane defined by the bottom edge of cylindrical wall 30. Through this construction a device used in the assembling of protective closure 26 on container 22 which includes a cylindrical grasping mechanism will closely fit around cylindrical wall 30 of closure 7θ 26 without interference from tab 46. It will also be appreciated that protective closure 26, which is preferably constructed of a plastic material, will be extremely easy

3,480,184 ³ to mold by virtue of the position of tab 46 within the cylindrical plane defined by cylindrical wall 30. Tab 46 is provided with at least one integral rib, such as 47, to facilitate molding of the closure.

As seen best in FIGURES 5 and 7, annular web 34 has an opening 48 which partially defines the base of tab 46. Opening 48 includes an arcuate portion 50 immediately inwardly and radially adjacent tab 46 and extends for substantially 45°. The length of arcuate portion 50 is the same as the length of the base of tab 46. At each end of arcuate portion 50 are radial openings 52 and 54 which define the sides of the base of tab 46. As seen best in FIGURE 7, the radial opening 54 extends outwardly to the outer circumferential edge of web 34. At each point where the radial openings intersect inner wall 40 of skirt 38, axial lines 58 and 60 are scored or grooved on inner wall 40 of skirt 38, one of which is shown in detail in FIGURE 8. At each point where the radial openings intersect the outer wall of skirt 38 axial lines 59 and 61 are grooved or scored on the outer wall of skirt 38, one of which is shown in detail in FIGURE 8. The thickness of skirt 38 between the inner and outer wall score lines will be seen to be substantially reduced to facilitate the fracturing of this segment of the skirt.

It will be readily seen that tab 46, the portions of annular web 34 between radial openings 52 and 54, and the portion of the skirt 38 between score lines 58, 59 and 60, 61 define a frangible portion 62 of protective closure 26. While protective closure 26 is preferably formed from a resiliently deformable plastic material, such material is chosen so that the frangible portion may be fractured from the protective closure.

The protective closure 26 will be mounted on container 22 after the aerosol bomb 20 is suitably filled with the product to be sold and dispensed by the consumer. Such protective closure will be removable from container 22 throughout its shelf life. Upon purchase, the consumer, by simply inserting a finger between tab 46 and the depressed portion 32 of cylindrical wall 30 and drawing the finger outwardly will easily fracture the frangible portion 62 from the protective closure 26. This will allow the protective closure to be removed from container 22. In subsequent use, to protect the spraying mechanism from inadvertent operation, the protective 45 closure 26 may be replaced on container 22 by a slight downward force on the top wall 28 of the closure which will cause the discontinuous circumferential skirt 38 to expand circumferentially so that annular rib 44 of skirt 38 will snap over the annular rib 42 of container 22 and thereby releasably secure the protective closure on container 22.

While a particular embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the invention in its broader aspects. Accordingly, the aim in the appended claims is to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.