Self-closing safety container for medicinal tablets

Claim 1

A self-closing, safety container for medicinal tablets or other hazardous articles, comprising: a container body consisting of a cylindrical side wall, having a closure at the bottom end thereof; a cup-shaped cap rotatably mounted on the open top end of said container body, said cap having an annular cylindrical skirt projecting down over the top edge of said cylindrical side wall; both said cylindrical side wall of said container body and said cylindrical skirt of said cap having apertures provided therein which can be registered with respect to one another to form an exit opening, through which pills can be discharged; an arcuate shelf-like projection extending laterally inward from the inner surface of said cylindrical side wall of said container body at the top end thereof substantially opposite the aperture in the side wall, said projection having an upwardly opening channel having closed ends; a helical compression spring lying within said channel, and having one of its ends abutting against the adjacent end of the channel; and a protuberance projecting downwardly from the underside of said cap into said channel, said protuberance engaging the other end of said compression spring, whereby rotation of said cap to align said apertures causes said compression spring to be compressed by said protuberance, so that when the cap is released, the spring rotates the cap to displace the apertures in the cap from the aperture in the side wall.