Container closure

• US 5,525,299 A
• Filed: 08/13/1993
• Issued: 06/11/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 08/13/1993
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Henry E. Lowe
• Original Assignee: Henry E. Lowe
• Inventors: Lowe, Henry E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Warden, Jill
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ludlow, Jan M.
• Application Number:
  US08/106,906
• Time in Patent Office: 1,033 Days
• Field of Search: 422/102, 422/61, 422/99, 422/58, 422/20, 422/32, 435/296, 206/221, 206/219, 215/118, 220/212, 220/521, 220/522, 220/254, 588/261
• US Class Current: 422/559
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 3/50825 Closing or opening means, corks, bungs closures for containers B65D; means for removing stoppers B67B7/02
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 51/28 with auxiliary containers for additional articles or materials B65D51/247 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 51/2814 the additional article or materials being released by piercing, cutting or tearing an element enclosing it
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 51/2828 said element being a film or a foil B65D51/2821, B65D51/2842 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 51/2864 the element being a plug or like element closing a passage between the auxiliary container and the main container

Abstract

A cap having two chambers provides a means for and method of decomposing or neutralizing a hazardous chemical residue in a container after it has been emptied at the point of consumption. One of the chambers is a screw cap which normally closes and seals the container prior to the consumption of the hazardous chemical. The other chamber contains a measured amount of a second chemical which decomposes or neutralizes the residue of the hazardous chemical. The other chamber may be sealed off by a rupturable membrane, a screw cap, a friction held stopper, or a tear-off top, any of which may be ruptured or removed at the time when the residue is to be decomposed or neutralized. In the preferred embodiment, a screw cap is removed from the second chamber and the cap is inverted and screwed onto the container rupturing the membrane in the process, thereby releasing the second chemical into the container.

Claims

1. A device for decomposing or neutralizing a residue of a hazardous chemical in a container prior to the disposal thereof, said device comprising a cap having first and second chambers which are physically isolated from each other, each of said first and second chambers having an open end, said second chamber containing a chemical for decomposing or neutralizing residue of a hazardous chemical, and means for releasing said decomposing or neutralizing chemical on demand from said second chamber, wherein said first and second chambers have the same internal diameter and the same internal threading and said means for releasing comprises a rupturable barrier means interposed between the open end of said second chamber and said decomposing or neutralizing chemical.