Safety closure for medicine bottles and the like

Claim 1

A safety closure for a container of the type that includes a generally cylindrical neck having a proximate end integral with the container and a distal end defining a mouth opening for communicating with the interior of the container comprising a helical thread formed on said neck and projecting therefrom and having a plurality of convolutions of uniform profile intermediate said distal end and said proximate end, said thread having a plurality of teeth formed therein throughout the length thereof, said teeth each defining an abutment residing wholly within the profile and extending transverse to the thread and facing in a direction toward said proximate end, a cap having a cylindrical body and an end plate spanning one end of said cylindrical body, said cylindrical body defining interior thereof a helical thread groove complementally engageable with the thread on said neck, a pawl secured to said cylindrical body adjacent the end thereof remote from said end plate, said pawl having a radially extending tooth surface radially movable into said groove for engagement with the abutments on said neck thread to prevent rotation of said cap toward the distal end, means for radially resiliently biasing said pawl relative to said cylindrical body and into said groove for engagement with said abutments, and means affording a grip on said pawl for moving said pawl radially outward against said biasing means to effect disengagement between said pawl and said abutments to permit substantially unimpeded removal of said cap from said neck.