FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure pertains to child-resistant packaging and more particularly to internally threaded caps or closures that are highly resistant to removal from a container by a child, but which can be easily removed by an elderly, weak or infirm adult.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Child-resistant locking closures were invented in the 1960's, and have been widely used as a last line of defense against the risk of children ingesting dangerous materials. The Poison Prevention Packaging Act requires the use of child-resistant packaging for most prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs, household chemicals, and other hazardous materials that could be dangerous for children.

There are now hundreds of child-resistant packaging designs available. Most of these designs require two dissimilar motions for opening, which are intended to be easy for adults, yet difficult for children. However, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has stated that there is no such thing as child-proof packaging. Thus, the objective is to design packaging that denies access to most children, while allowing access to most adults. Existing child-resistant packaging is reasonably effective at preventing most children from opening such containers, while allowing most adults easy access to the contents of such containers. However, because most of these designs rely on a disparity between the knowledge, strength and/or dexterity of the typical adult as compared with the typical child, there are precocious and/or unusually strong or dexterous children that will be able to open existing child-resistant packaging, and there are weak, elderly or infirm adults that will be denied access to the contents of child-resistant packaging.

Thus, there is a need for an improved child-resistant cap or closure for a container that allows fewer children to open the container and also allows more adults to open the container.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The disclosed child-resistant closure has a screw-on inner cap covered by an outer cap. A gripping surface on a sidewall of the inner cap is exposed through at least one cutout in the outer cap. The cutout or cutouts limit contact between the fingers and hands of a user and the inner cap to an area of the gripping surface that is sufficient to allow an adult to apply the force needed to remove the cap from a container, while being too small to allow a child, especially a smaller child to contact a sufficiently large area of the gripping surface to allow removal of the closure from the container.

