Package exhibiting improved child resistance without significantly impeding access by adults

• US 4,948,002 A
• Filed: 12/29/1988
• Issued: 08/14/1990
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/1988
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: The Procter & Gamble Company
• Original Assignee: The Procter & Gamble Company
• Inventors: Thornock, Del M., Hamilton, Peter W., Kock, Ronald W., Paul, Robert A., Goldberg, James R., Willhite, William Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): Garbe, Stephen P.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Stucker, Nova
• Application Number:
  US07/291,926
• Time in Patent Office: 593 Days
• Field of Search: 215/209, 215/216, 215/221, 215/225
• US Class Current: 215/221
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 50/046 and such deformation causes the disengagement of locking means, e.g. the release of a pawl-like element from a tooth or abutment, to allow removal of the closure by simultaneous rotation

Abstract

A package for storing and dispensing potentially dangerous materials, such as medicament tablets or the like, said package being resistant to opening by children but readily openable by adults, particularly adults having impaired manual dexterity of their hands and/or fingers. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the package comprises a bottle, a collar which is secured in place over the uppermost portion of the bottle and a closure which is secured to the finish portion of the bottle by means of complementary screw threads. The collar preferably includes a pair of spring-like pushtabs containing vertical extensions which engage interlocking teeth on the innermost surface of the closure skirt when the closure is fully assembled onto the bottle. To remove the closure, the opposed pushtabs must be manually depressed prior to applying unscrewing torque to the closure to disengage the pushtab extensions from the interlocking teeth on the closure. In a particularly preferred embodiment, application of the closure to the finish portion of the bottle gives the user an audible confirmation that the package has been restored to its child resistant condition for the next dispensing cycle. Method and apparatus for producing the package are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A package suitable for storing and dispensing potentially dangerous material, said package being resistant to opening by children yet readily openable by adults, said package comprising:

(a) a bottle for containing said potentially dangerous material, said bottle having a base portion and a finish portion having an external thread extending about its periphery;

(b) a collar secured in fixed relation over said base portion of said bottle, said collar including at least one resiliently deformable pushtab having an exposed surface contour which generally conforms to the exterior surface contour of the adjacent portions of said collar to minimize the chance of inadvertent depression thereof when said collar is grasped, said pushtab having a vertical extension projecting above the uppermost surface of said collar, the uppermost end of said pushtab being inwardly movable relative to the rest of said collar when a squeezing force is applied to said uppermost end of said pushtab; and

(c) a closure having at least one skirt and including means for rotatably and releasably securing said closure to said bottle, said closure also having at least one interlocking tooth on the innermost surface of said skirt, said interlocking tooth being so shaped and positioned that it will deflect said vertical extension of said resiliently deformable pushtab when said closure is rotatably secured onto said finish portion of said bottle, but will prevent removing said closure from said neck portion of said bottle by rotating said closure in the reverse direction unless said resiliently deformable pushtab on said collar is first depressed to disengage said pushtab vertical extension from said interlocking tooth.

4. The package of claim 1, claim 2 or claim 3 wherein the force required to depress said resiliently deformable pushtab on said collar is between about 0.5 pounds and about 5 pounds.

5. The package of claim 4 wherein said resiliently deformable pushtab on said collar is joined to said collar at its lowermost end via a cantilevered connection, whereby said resiliently deformable pushtab resists said squeezing force applied to its uppermost end by acting as a beam spring through its cantilevered connection to the remainder of said collar.

6. The package of claim 4 wherein said collar includes a socket for receiving said resiliently deformable pushtab and wherein said resiliently deformable pushtab includes at least one projection extending outwardly from at least one of its lateral edges, said projection serving to lock said resiliently deformable pushtab into the recesses defined by said socket when said resiliently deformable pushtab is inserted into said socket.

7. The package of claim 1, claim 2 or claim 3, wherein said collar is secured in fixed relation over said bottle by means of at least one groove on said bottle or said collar and at least one complementary ring on the other of said bottle or said collar.

8. The package of claim 7 further including at least one anti-rotation lug on said bottle and a complementary recess on the mating portion of said collar, whereby said collar is prevented from rotating relative to said bottle when removal torque is applied to said closure without first depressing said resiliently deformable pushtab to disengage said pushtab vertical extension from the interlocking tooth on the skirt of said closure.

9. The package of claim 1, claim 2 or claim 3 wherein said interlocking tooth on the innermost surface of the skirt of said closure exhibits a cam shaped surface of gradually decreasing radius which will gradually deflect the vertical extension of said resiliently deformable pushtab when said closure is rotated or screwed onto said finish portion of said bottle, but which will permit said vertical extension to snap back to its undeformed condition immediately upon passage of the interlocking tooth beyond said vertical extension of said pushtab, whereby the user is provided with an audible signal that the package has been rendered child resistant for the next dispensing cycle.

10. The package of claim 9 wherein said vertical extension of said resiliently deformable pushtab and said interlocking tooth on the skirt of said closure are provided with mating surfaces which will tend to more tightly interlock said tooth and said vertical extension with one another if removal torque is applied to said closure without first depressing the uppermost end of said pushtab.

13. The package of claim 1, claim 2 or claim 3 wherein said collar and said bottle comprise a single integrally formed unit.

14. The package of claim 1, claim 2 or claim 3, said package further including graphic instructions understandable by a literate adult but not by an illiterate child affixed thereto, said graphic instructions describing the steps which must be followed to remove said closure from said bottle.

2. A package suitable for storing and dispensing potentially dangerous material, said package being resistant to opening by children yet readily openable by adults, said package comprising:

(a) a bottle for containing said potentially dangerous material, said bottle having a base portion and a finish portion having an external thread extending about its periphery, said base portion and said finish portion being interconnected to one another by a shoulder portion which converges in the direction of said finish portion;

(b) a collar secured in fixed relation over said shoulder portion of said bottle, said collar including at least one resiliently deformable pushtab having an exposed surface contour which generally conforms to the exterior surface contour of the adjacent portions of said collar to minimize the chance of inadvertent depression thereof when said collar is grasped, said pushtab having a vertical extension projecting above the uppermost surface of said collar, the uppermost end of said pushtab being inwardly movable relative to the rest of said collar when a squeezing force is applied to said uppermost end of said pushtab; and

(c) a closure having at least one skirt and an internal thread which is complementary to the external thread on said finish portion of said bottle for releasably securing said closure to said bottle, said closure also having at least one interlocking tooth on the innermost surface of said skirt, said interlocking tooth being so shaped and positioned that it will deflect said vertical extension of said resiliently deformable pushtab when said closure is screwed onto said finish portion of said bottle, but will prevent unscrewing said closure from said neck portion of said bottle unless said resiliently deformable pushtab on said collar is first depressed to disengage said pushtab vertical extension from said interlocking tooth.

11. The package of claim 2 or claim 3 wherein said closure skirt containing said interlocking tooth comprises an outermost skirt, said closure further including an innermost skirt containing said internal thread.

12. The package of claim 11 wherein the pitch of the external thread on the finish portion of said bottle and the mating internal thread on said closure are sufficiently steep that no pushtab vertical extension on said collar is able to re-engage an interlocking tooth on said closure skirt once the uppermost end of said pushtab has been initially depressed and unscrewing of the closure has been initiated, whereby it is only necessary to depress the uppermost end of said pushtab one time to permit complete unscrewing of said closure.

3. A package suitable for dispensing medicament tablets or the like, said package being resistant to opening by children yet readily openable by adults, said package comprising:

(a) a bottle for containing said medicament tablets, said bottle having a base portion and a finish portion having an external thread extending about its periphery, said base portion and said finish portion being interconnected to one another by a shoulder portion which converges in the direction of said finish portion;

(b) a collar secured in fixed relation over said shoulder portion of said bottle, said collar including a pair of resiliently deformable spring-like pushtabs located approximately 180°

from one another on the periphery of said collar, each of said resiliently deformable spring-like pushtabs having an exposed surface contour which generally conforms to the exterior surface contour of the adjacent portions of said collar to minimize the chance of inadvertent depression thereof when said collar is grasped, each of said pushtabs having a vertical extension projecting above the uppermost surface of said collar, the uppermost ends of said pushtabs being inwardly movable relative to the rest of said collar when an inwardly directed force is applied to the uppermost end of each of said pushtabs; and

(c) a closure having at least one skirt and an internal thread which is complementary to the external thread on said finish portion of said bottle for releasably securing said closure to said bottle, said closure also having a pair of interlocking teeth located approximately 180°

from one another on the innermost surface of said skirt, said interlocking teeth being so shaped and positioned that they will deflect said vertical extensions of said resiliently deformable spring-like pushtabs when said closure is screwed onto said finish portion of said bottle, but will prevent unscrewing said closure from said neck portion of said bottle unless said resiliently deformable spring-like pushtabs are first depressed to disengage said pushtab vertical extensions from said interlocking teeth.

15. A package suitable for storing and dispensing potentially dangerous material, said package being resistant to opening by children yet readily openable by adults, said package comprising:

(a) a bottle for containing said potentially dangerous material, said bottle having a base portion and a finish portion having an external thread extending about its periphery;

(b) a collar secured in fixed relation over said base portion of said bottle, said collar including at least one resiliently deformable pushtab highedly secured to said collar at its lowermost end, said collar further including a cantilevered beam spring having a free and which contacts the innermost surface of said resiliently deformable pushtab to impart resistance to depression thereto, said resiliently deformable pushtab having a vertical extension projecting above the uppermost surface of said collar, the uppermost end of said pushtab being inwardly movable relative to the rest of said collar when a squeezing force between about 0.5 pounds and about 5 pounds is applied to said uppermost end of said pushtab; and

a closure having at least one skirt and including means for rotatably and releasably securing said closure to said bottle, said closure also having at least one interlocking tooth on the innermost surface of said skirt, said interlocking tooth being so shaped and positioned that it will deflect said vertical extension of said resiliently deformable pushtab when said closure is rotatably secured onto said finish portion of said bottle, but will prevent removing said closure from said neck portion of said bottle by rotating said closure in the reverse direction unless said resiliently deformable pushtab on said collar is first depressed to disengage said pushtab vertical extension from said interlocking tooth.

16. A package suitable for storing and dispensing potentially dangerous material, said package being resistant to opening by children yet readily openable by adults, said package comprising:

(a) a bottle for containing said potentially dangerous material, said bottle having a base portion and a finish portion having an external thread extending about its periphery, said base portion and said finish portion being interconnected to one another by a shoulder portion which converges in the direction of said finish portion;

(b) a collar secured in fixed relation over said shoulder portion of said bottle, said collar including at least one resiliently deformable pushtab hingedly secured to said collar at its lowermost end, said collar further including a cantilevered beam spring having a free end which contacts the innermost surface of said resiliently deformable pushtab to impart resistance to depression thereto, said resiliently deformable pushtab having a vertical extension projecting above the uppermost surface of said collar, the uppermost end of said pushtab being inwardly movable relative to the rest of said collar when a squeezing force between about 0.5 pounds and about 5 pounds is applied to said uppermost end of said pushtab; and

(c) a closure having at least one skirt and an internal thread which is complementary to the external thread on said finish portion of said bottle for releasably securing said closure to said bottle, said closure also having at least one interlocking tooth on the innermost surface of said skirt, said interlocking tooth being so shaped and positioned that it will deflect said vertical extension of said resiliently deformable pushtab when said closure is screwed onto said finish portion of said bottle, but will prevent unscrewing said closure from said neck portion of said bottle unless said resiliently deformable pushtab on said collar is first depressed to disengage said pushtab vertical extension from said interlocking tooth.

17. A package suitable for dispensing medicament tablets or the like, said package being resistant to opening by children yet readily openable by adults, said package comprising:

(a) a bottle for containing said medicament tablets, said bottle having a base portion and a finish portion having an external thread extending about its periphery, said base portion and said finish portion being interconnected to one another by a shoulder portion which converges in the direction of said finish portion;

(b) a collar secured in fixed relation over said shoulder portion of said bottle, said collar including a pair of resiliently deformable spring-like pushtabs, each of said resiliently deformable pushtabs on said collar being hingedly secured to said collar at its lowermost end, said collar further including a pair of cantilevered beam springs, each of said cantilevered beam springs having a free end which contacts the innermost surface of one of said resiliently deformable pushtabs to impart resistance to depression thereto, said resiliently deformable pushtabs being located approximately 180°

from one another on the periphery of said collar, each of said resiliently deformable spring-like pushtabs having a vertical extension projecting above the uppermost surface of said collar, the uppermost end of each of said pushtabs being inwardly movable relative to the rest of said collar when an inwardly directed force between about 0.5 pounds and about 5 pounds is applied thereto; and

(c) a closure having at least one skirt and an internal thread which is complementary to the external thread on said finish portion of said bottle for releasably securing said closure to said bottle, said closure also having a pair of interlocking teeth located approximately 180°

from one another on the innermost surface of said skirt, said interlocking teeth being so shaped and positioned that they will deflect said vertical extensions of said resiliently deformable spring-like pushtabs when said closure is screwed onto said finish portion of said bottle, but will prevent unscrewing said closure from said neck portion of said bottle unless said resiliently deformable spring-like pushtabs are first depressed to disengage said pushtab vertical extensions from said interlocking teeth.

18. A package suitable for storing and dispensing potentially dangerous material, said package being resistant to opening by children yet readily openable by adults, said package comprising:

(a) a bottle for containing said potentially dangerous material, said bottle having a base portion and a finish portion having an external thread extending about its periphery;

(b) a collar secured in fixed relation over said base portion of said bottle, said collar including at least one resiliently deformable pushtab hingedly secured to said collar at its lowermost end, said innermost surface of said pushtab further including a substantially rigid lug which contacts and deforms the sidewall of said bottle when an inwardly directed squeezing force is applied to the uppermost end of said pushtab, whereby the resilience of said sidewall provides resistance to depression to said resiliently deformable pushtab, said resiliently deformable pushtab having a vertical extension projecting above the uppermost surface of said collar, the uppermost end of said pushtab being inwardly movable relative to the rest of said collar when an inwardly directed squeezing force between about 0.5 pounds and about 5 pounds is applied to said uppermost end of said pushtab; and

(c) a closure having at least one skirt and including means for rotatably and releasably securing said closure to said bottle, said closure also having at least one interlocking tooth on the innermost surface of said skirt, said interlocking tooth being so shaped and positioned that it will deflect said vertical extension of said resiliently deformable pushtab when said closure is rotatably secured onto said finish portion of said bottle, but will prevent removing said closure from said neck portion of said bottle by rotating said closure in the reverse direction unless said resiliently deformable pushtab on said collar is first depressed to disengage said pushtab vertical extension from said interlocking tooth.

19. A package for storing and dispensing potentially dangerous material, said package being resistant to opening by children yet readily openable by adults, said package comprising:

(a) a bottle for containing said potentially dangerous material, said bottle having a base portion and a finish portion having an external thread extending about its periphery, said base portion and said finish portion being interconnected to one another by a shoulder portion which converges in the direction of said finish portion;

(b) a collar secured in fixed relation over said shoulder portion of said bottle, said collar including at least one resiliently deformable pushtab hingedly secured to said collar at its lowermost end, said innermost surface of said pushtab further including a substantially rigid lug which contacts and deforms the sidewall of said bottle when a inwardly directed squeezing force is applied to the uppermost end of said pushtab, whereby the resilience of said sidewall provides resistance to depression to said resiliently deformable pushtab, said resiliently deformable pushtab having a vertical extension projecting above the uppermost surface of said collar, the uppermost end of said pushtab being inwardly movable relative to the rest of said collar when an inwardly directed squeezing force between about 0.5 pounds and about 5 pounds is applied to said uppermost end of said pushtab; and

(c) a closure having at least one skirt and an internal thread which is complementary to the external thread on said finish portion of said bottle for releasably securing said closure to said bottle, said closure also having at least one interlocking tooth on the innermost surface of said skirt, said interlocking tooth being so shaped and positioned that it will deflect said vertical extension of said resiliently deformable pushtab when said closure is screwed onto said finish portion of said bottle, but will prevent unscrewing said closure from said neck portion of said bottle unless said resiliently deformable pushtab on said collar is first depressed to disengage said pushtab vertical extension from said interlocking tooth.

20. A package for dispensing medicament tablets or the like, said package being resistant to opening by children yet readily openable by adults, said package comprising:

(a) a bottle for containing said medicament tablets, said bottle having a base portion and a finish portion having an external thread extending about its periphery, said base portion and said finish portion being interconnected to one another by a shoulder portion which converges in the direction of said finish portion;

(b) a collar secured in fixed relation over said shoulder portion of said bottle, said collar including a pair of resiliently deformable spring-like pushtabs, each of said resiliently deformable pushtabs on said collar being hingedly secured to said collar at its lowermost end, said innermost surface of each of said pushtabs further including a substantially rigid lug which contacts and deforms the sidewall of said bottle when an inwardly directed force is applied to the uppermost end of said pushtab, whereby the resilience of said sidewall provides resistance to depression to each of said resiliently deformable pushtabs, said resiliently deformable pushtabs being located approximately 180°

from one another on the periphery of said collar, each of said resiliently deformable spring-like pushtabs having a vertical extension projecting above the uppermost surface of said collar, the uppermost end of each of said pushtabs being inwardly movable relative to the rest of said collar when an inwardly directed force between about 0.5 pounds and about 5 pounds is applied thereto; and

(c) a closure having at least one skirt and an internal thread which is complementary to the external thread on said finish portion of said bottle for releasably securing said closure to said bottle, said closure also having a pair of interlocking teeth located approximately 180°

from one another on the innermost surface of said skirt, said interlocking teeth being so shaped and positioned that they will deflect said vertical extensions of said resiliently deformable spring-like pushtabs when said closure is screwed onto said finish portion of said bottle, but will prevent unscrewing said closure from said neck portion of said bottle unless said resiliently deformable spring-like pushtabs are first depressed to disengage said pushtab vertical extensions from said interlocking teeth.

21. A package suitable for storing and dispensing potentially dangerous material, said package being resistant to opening by children yet readily openable by adults, said package comprising:

(a) a bottle for containing said potentially dangerous material, said bottle having a base portion and a finish portion having an external thread extending about its periphery;

(b) a collar secured in fixed relation over said base portion of said bottle, said collar including at least one resiliently deformable pushtab hingedly secured to said collar along one of its lateral edges, said collar further including a cantilevered beam spring having a free end which contacts the innermost surface of said resiliently deformable pushtab to impart depression resistance thereto, said resiliently deformable pushtab having a vertical extension projecting above the uppermost surface of said collar, the unsecured lateral edge of said pushtab being inwardly movable relative to the rest of said collar when a squeezing force between about 0.5pounds and about 5 pounds is applied to said uppermost end of said pushtab; and

(c) a closure having at least one skirt and including means for rotatably and releasably securing said closure to said bottle, said closure also having at least one interlocking tooth on the innermost surface of said skirt, said interlocking tooth being so shaped and positioned that it will deflect said vertical extension of said resiliently deformable pushtab when said closure is rotatably secured onto said finish portion of said bottle, but will prevent removing said closure from said neck portion of said bottle by rotating said closure in the reverse direction unless said resiliently deformable pushtab on said collar is first depressed to disengage said pushtab vertical extension from said interlocking tooth.

22. A package suitable for storing and dispensing potentially dangerous material, said package being resistant to opening by children yet readily openable by adults, said package comprising:

(a) a bottle for containing said potentially dangerous material, said bottle having a base portion and a finish portion having an external thread extending about its periphery, said base portion and said finish portion being interconnected to one another by a shoulder portion which converges in the direction of said finish portion;

(b) a collar secured in fixed relation over said shoulder portion of said bottle, said collar including at least one resiliently deformable pushtab hingedly secured to said collar along one of its lateral edges, said collar further including a cantilevered beam spring having a free end which contacts the innermost surface of said resiliently deformable pushtab to impart depression resistance thereto, said resiliently deformable pushtab having a vertical extension projecting above the uppermost surface of said collar, the unsecured lateral edge of said pushtab being inwardly movable relative to the rest of said collar when a squeezing force between about 0.5 pounds and about 5 pounds is applied to said uppermost end of said pushtab; and

(c) a closure having at least one skirt and an internal thread which is complementary to the external thread on said finish portion of said bottle for releasably securing said closure to said bottle, said closure also having at least one interlocking tooth on the innermost surface of said skirt, said interlocking tooth being so shaped and positioned that it will deflect said vertical extension of said resiliently deformable pushtab when said closure is screwed onto said finish portion of said bottle, but will prevent unscrewing said closure from said neck portion of said bottle unless said resiliently deformable pushtab on said collar is first depressed to disengage said pushtab vertical extension from said interlocking tooth.

23. A package suitable for dispensing medicament tablets or the like, said package being resistant to opening by children yet readily openable by adults, said package comprising:

(a) a bottle for containing said medicament tablets, said bottle having a base portion and a finish portion having an external thread extending about its periphery, said base portion and said finish portion being interconnected to one another by a shoulder portion which converges in the direction of said finish portion;

(b) a collar secured in fixed relation over said shoulder portion of said bottle, said collar including a pair of resiliently deformable spring-like pushtabs each of said resiliently deformable pushtabs on said collar being hingedly secured to said collar along one of its lateral edges, said collar further including a pair of cantilevered beam springs, each of said cantilevered beam springs having a free end which contacts the innermost surface of one of said resiliently deformable pushtabs to impart depression resistance thereto, said resiliently deformable pushtabs being located approximately 180°

from one another on the periphery of said collar, each of said resiliently deformable spring-like pushtabs having a vertical extension projecting above the uppermost surface of said collar, the unsecured lateral edge of each of said pushtabs being inwardly movable relative to the rest of said collar when an inwardly directed force between about 0.5 pounds and about 5 pounds is applied thereto; and

(c) a closure having at least one skirt and an internal thread which is complementary to the external thread on said finish portion of said bottle for releasably securing said closure to said bottle, said closure also having a pair of interlocking teeth located approximately 180°

from one another on the innermost surface of said skirt, said interlocking teeth being so shaped and positioned that they will deflect said vertical extensions of said resiliently deformable spring-like pushtabs when said closure is screwed onto said finish portion of said bottle, but will prevent unscrewing said closure from said neck portion of said bottle unless said resiliently deformable spring-like pushtabs are first depressed to disengage said pushtab vertical extensions from said interlocking teeth.

24. A package suitable for storing and dispensing potentially dangerous material, said package being resistant to opening by children yet readily openable by adults, said package comprising:

(a) a bottle for containing said potentially dangerous material, said bottle having a base portion and a finish portion having an external thread extending about its periphery, said base portion and said finish portion being interconnected to one another by a shoulder portion which converges in the direction of said finish portion;

(b) a collar secured in fixed relation over said shoulder portion of said bottle, said collar including at least one resiliently deformable pushtab having a vertical extension projecting above the uppermost surface of said collar, the uppermost end of said pushtab being inwardly movable relative to the rest of said collar when a squeezing force is applied to said uppermost end of said pushtab; and

(c) a closure having an innermost skirt containing an internal thread which is complementary to the external thread on said finish portion of said bottle for releasably securing said closure to said bottle, said closure also having an outermost skirt containing an interlocking tooth on the innermost surface of said outermost skirt, said interlocking tooth being so shaped and positioned that it will deflect said vertical extension of said resiliently deformable pushtab when said closure is screwed onto said finish portion of said bottle, but will prevent unscrewing said closure from said neck portion of said bottle unless said resiliently deformable pushtab on said collar is first depressed to disengage said pushtab vertical extension from said interlocking tooth, said closure further including an intermediate resiliently deformable skirt located between said innermost and outermost skirts adjacent the innermost surface of said pushtab vertical extension, whereby squeezing force applied to the uppermost end of said pushtab causes deformation of said resiliently deformable skirt by said pushtab vertical extension, said deformation of said resiliently deformable closure skirt increasing the depression resistance of said pushtab.

25. A package suitable for dispensing medicament tablets or the like, said package being resistant to opening by children yet readily openable by adults, said package comprising:

(a) a bottle for containing said medicament tablets, said bottle having a base portion and a finish portion having an external thread extending about its periphery, said base portion and said finish portion being interconnected to one another by a shoulder portion which converges in the direction of said finish portion;

(b) a collar secured in fixed relation over said shoulder portion of said bottle, said collar including a pair of resiliently deformable spring-like pushtabs located approximately 180°

from one another on the periphery of said collar, each of said resiliently deformable spring-like pushtabs having a vertical extension projecting above the uppermost surface of said collar, the uppermost ends of said pushtabs being inwardly movable relative to the rest of said collar when opposed squeezing forces are applied to said uppermost ends of said pushtabs; and

(c) a closure having an innermost skirt containing an internal thread which is complementary to the external thread on said finish portion of said bottle for releasably securing said closure to said bottle, said closure also having an outermost skirt having a pair of interlocking teeth located approximately 180°

from one another on the innermost surface of said outermost skirt, said interlocking teeth being so shaped and positioned that they will deflect said vertical extensions of said resiliently deformable spring-like pushtabs when said closure is screwed onto said finish portion of said bottle, but will prevent unscrewing said closure from said neck portion of said bottle unless said resiliently deformable spring-like pushtabs are first depressed to disengage said pushtab vertical extensions from said interlocking teeth, said closure further including an intermediate resiliently deformable skirt located between said innermost and outermost skirts adjacent the innermost surface of said pushtab vertical extension, whereby squeezing force applied to the uppermost end of said pushtab causes deformation of said resiliently deformable skirt by said pushtab vertical extension, said deformation of said resiliently deformable closure skirt increasing the depression resistance of said pushtab.

26. A package suitable for storing and dispensing potentially dangerous material, said package being resistant to opening by children yet readily openable by adults, said package comprising:

(a) a bottle for containing said potentially dangerous material, said bottle having a base portion and a finish portion having an external thread extending about its periphery, said bottle further including a radially extending projection;

(b) a collar secured in fixed relation over said base portion of said bottle, said collar including at least one resiliently deformable pushtab having a vertical extension projecting above the uppermost surface of said collar, the uppermost end of said pushtab being inwardly movable relative to the rest of said collar when a squeezing force is applied to said uppermost end of said pushtab, said resiliently deformable pushtab on said collar further including a torque resisting rib on its innermost surface which contacts said radially extending projection on said bottle whenever removal torque is applied to said closure without first depressing said pushtab, whereby said projection on said bottle helps to resist said removal torque applied to said closure and transmitted to said pushtab through its vertical extension; and

(c) a closure having at least one skirt and including means for rotatably and releasably securing said closure to said bottle, said closure also having at least one interlocking tooth on the innermost surface of said skirt, said interlocking tooth being so shaped and positioned that it will deflect said vertical extension of said resiliently deformable pushtab when said closure is rotatably secured onto said finish portion of said bottle, but will prevent removing said closure from said neck portion of said bottle by rotating said closure in the reverse direction unless said resiliently deformable pushtab on said collar is first depressed to disengage said pushtab vertical extension from said interlocking tooth.

27. A package suitable for storing and dispensing potentially dangerous material, said package being resistant to opening by children yet readily openable by adults, said package comprising:

(a) a bottle for containing said potentially dangerous material, said bottle having a base portion and a finish portion having an external thread extending about its periphery, said base portion and said finish portion being interconnected to one another by a shoulder portion which converges in the direction of said finish portion, said bottle further including a radially extending projection;

(b) a collar secured in fixed relation over said shoulder portion of said bottle, said collar including at least one resiliently deformable pushtab having a vertical extension projecting above the uppermost surface of said collar, the uppermost end of said pushtab being inwardly movable relative to the rest of said collar when a squeezing force is applied to said uppermost end of said pushtab, said resiliently deformable pushtab on said collar further including a torque resisting rib on its innermost surface which contacts said radially extending projection on said bottle whenever removal torque is applied to said closure without first depressing said pushtab, whereby said projection on said bottle helps to resist said removal torque applied to said closure and transmitted to said pushtab through its vertical extension; and

(c) a closure having at least one skirt and an internal thread which is complementary to the external thread on said finish portion of said bottle for releasably securing said closure to said bottle, said closure also having at least one interlocking tooth on the innermost surface of said skirt, said interlocking tooth being so shaped and positioned that it will deflect said vertical extension of said resiliently deformable pushtab when said closure is screwed onto said finish portion of said bottle, but will prevent unscrewing said closure from said neck portion of said bottle unless said resiliently deformable pushtab on said collar is first depressed to disengage said pushtab vertical extension from said interlocking tooth.

28. A package suitable for dispensing medicament tablets or the like, said package being resistant to opening by children yet readily openable by adults, said package comprising:

(a) a bottle for containing said medicament tablets, said bottle having a base portion and a finish portion having an external thread extending about its periphery, said base portion and said finish portion being interconnected to one another by a shoulder portion which converges in the direction of said finish portion, said bottle further including a pair of radially extending projections;

(b) a collar secured in fixed relation over said shoulder portion of said bottle, said collar including a pair of resiliently deformable spring-like pushtabs located approximately 180°

from one another on the periphery of said collar, each of said resiliently deformable spring-like pushtabs having a vertical extension projecting above the uppermost surface of said collar, the uppermost ends of said pushtabs being inwardly movable relative to the rest of said collar when opposed squeezing forces are applied to said uppermost ends of said pushtabs, each of said resiliently deformable pushtabs on said collar further including a torque resisting rib on its innermost surface which contacts one of said radially extending projections on said bottle whenever removal torque is applied to said closure without first depressing both of said pushtabs, whereby each of said projections on said bottle helps to resist said removal torque applied to said closure and transmitted to each of said pushtabs through its vertical extension; and

(c) a closure having at least one skirt and an internal thread which is complementary to the external thread on said finish portion of said bottle for releasably securing said closure to said bottle, said closure also having a pair of interlocking teeth located approximately 180°

from one another on the innermost surface of said skirt, said interlocking teeth being so shaped and positioned that they will deflect said vertical extensions of said resiliently deformable spring-like pushtabs when said closure is screwed onto said finish portion of said bottle, but will prevent unscrewing said closure from said neck portion of said bottle unless said resiliently deformable spring-like pushtabs are first depressed to disengage said pushtab vertical extensions from said interlocking teeth.