Rotatable container closure including a removable locking element

Claim 2

A container closure combination comprising an assembly of a cap component and a container component disposed in coaxial relationship, interengaging means on said components for controlling the axial movement of said cap component relative to said container component towards a dispensing position in accordance with the relative angular positions of said components, said interengaging means including axial projection and recess means alignable in one of said relative angular positions for preventing said relative axial movement and alignable in another of said relative angular positions for facilitating said relative axial movement, said combination including guiding means arranged on said components guiding said components during axial assembly of said components into said one angular position, and stopping means arranged on said components for stopping the cap from rotating from said one angular position to said another of said relative angular positions, said stopping means including a tearable element with the tearing of said element enabling the cap component to rotate from said one angular position to said another angular position.

Claim 3

Apparatus according to claim 1, in which said container component includes a container having a valved outlet and wherein when the cap component is in the open position said cap component may be axially displaced to move up and down a limited axial distance in both directions to operate said valved outlet of the container.

Claim 4

Apparatus according to claim 2, in which said container component includes a sleeve and said cap component having a sleeve surrounding said skirt, said skirt having at least one projection on its inner face, co-operating with the border of one of two levels formed on the upper edge of the sleeve and adapted to come in contact with the said skirt projection to limit the freedom of movement of the cap in the axial direction, and said stopping means including said border being framed with two edges adapted to come in contact with said skirt projection in order to limit the freedom of rotation of the cap component in both directions.

Claim 5

Apparatus according to claim 2, in which the cap component is provided with a downwardly facing projection around at least its lower edge, a sleeve forming part of the closuRe component being surrounded by said cap component projection, and said stopping means including said sleeve being equipped on its outer face with two stops adapted to come in contact with said cap component projection to restrict the freedom of rotation of the cap component on the sleeve in both directions, and said interengaging means including an abutment on said closure component adapted to come in contact with said cap component projection to restrict the freedom of displacement of the cap component downwards in an axial direction, said abutment acting only on part of the degree of displacement of the cap component in rotation.

Claim 6

Apparatus according to claim 1 in which said container component includes a container and wherein the cap component can be separated from the container by movement away from the container only when the cap is in said another relative angular position.

Claim 7

Apparatus according to claim 5 in which the cap component includes a skirt having a cylindrical face which is provided around the periphery of its lower edge with a succession of alternating free sectors and sectors provided with an upstanding rim, and said container component is provided with a sleeve having an annular face located adjacent said skirt lower edge and having in succession on its periphery alternating free sectors and sectors having an upstanding lip, the free sectors of the said container component being long enough to afford passage therethrough of the sectors of the skirt having the said rim relative axial displacement of the two components, the rim and lip being shaped to enable the skirt to be force-fitted in the sleeve by axial approach, said skirt and said sleeve forming said interengaging means, and said stopping means including the skirt having on its outer face said tearable element in the form of a detachable plate which in the course of this fitting operation can only be accommodated to the right of a free sector of the sleeve, and can move in rotation only along the length of the said sector, the limits thereby fixed in regard to the rotation of the cap serving to retain the cap in the sleeve by means of the said upstanding lip and rim.

Claim 8

Apparatus according to claim 6, in which the free sectors of the annular face of the sleeve are just long enough to allow passage of the sectors of the lower edge of the skirt which are provided with the said rim.

Claim 9

The combination according to claim 1, wherein said guiding means and stopping means are coextensive.

Claim 10

The combination according to claim 1, wherein said guiding means include means operative to prevent assembling the two components into an angular open position.

Claim 11

The combination according to claim 1, wherein said components are held assembled to each other through detent means.

Claim 12

The combination according to claim 8, wherein said guiding means and stopping means comprise projection means arranged on one of said components and complementary recess means arranged on the other of said components, said projection means and complementary recess means being mutually interengageable upon assembly of said components.

Claim 13

Apparatus according to claim 11, in which the complementary recess means include two vertical grooves formed in the outer cylindrical face of a skirt of the cap component and the projection means has the shape of two uprights adapted to fit into said grooves, the uprights being attached by a breakable connection to said container component, and the uprights being provided with a cross-piece acting as a pull-tag designed to facilitate the removal of the said projection by breakage.

Claim 14

Apparatus according to claim 12, in which the cross-piece is located opposite a cut-out formed in the upper face of the cap component.

Claim 15

Apparatus according to claim 11, in which the complementary recess means is a notch formed on a removable ring surrounding the skirt of the cap component and attached thereto by breakable connection, and the projection means is a tootH formed on the container component and housed in the notch.

Claim 16

Apparatus according to claim 11, in which the projection means is a movable claw attached by breakable connection to the skirt of the cap component around the periphery thereof and fitting into a hollowed out portion which is formed around the upper edge of a sleeve of said container component, which hollowed out portion defines the complementary recess means.

Claim 17

A container closure combination comprising an assembly of a cap component and a container component disposed in coaxial relationship, interengaging means on said components for controlling the axial movement of said cap component relative to said container component towards a dispensing position in accordance with the relative angular positions of said components, said interengaging means including axial projection and recess means alignable in one of said relative angular positions for preventing said relative axial movement and alignable in another of said relative angular position for facilitating said relative axial movement, said interengaging means being of a structural configuration facilitating mutual assembly by relative axial movement towards each other, and breakable connection means between said components for both assuring assembly of said components only in said one relative angular position and preventing relative rotation between said components to said another of said relative angular position, said breakable connection means including cooperating complimentary male and female parts on said components mutually engageable in an axial direction.

Claim 18

A container closure combination comprising an assembly of a cap component and a container component disposed in coaxial relationship, interengaging means on said components for controlling the axial movement of said cap component relative to said container component towards a dispensing position in accordance with the relative angular positions of said components, said interengaging means including axial projection and recess means alignable in one of said relative angular positions for preventing said relative axial movement and alignable in another of said relative angular position for facilitating said relative axial movement, said interengaging means being of a structural configuration facilitating mutual assembly by relative axial movement towards each other, and breakable connection means between said components for both assuring assembly of said components only in said one relative angular position and preventing relative rotation between said components to said another of said relative angular position, said breakable connection means including cooperating complimentary male and female parts on said components mutually engageable in an axial direction.

Claim 19

A combination according to claim 16, wherein the container component includes a container and a member connectable thereto to occupy an intermediate position between the cap component and the container.

Claim 20

A combination according to claim 16, wherein the container component is a member assemblable to the cap component into said angular closed position to be connected thereafter to a container neck so as to occupy an intermediate position between the cap component and the container.