Flat pack ramp lever

• US 9,738,426 B1
• Filed: 02/25/2014
• Issued: 08/22/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 02/26/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CSP Technologies North America LLC (AptarGroup Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: CSP Technologies Incorporated (AptarGroup Incorporated)
• Inventors: Giraud, Jean-Pierre, Pichot, Herve
• Primary Examiner(s): Smalley, James N
• Application Number:
  US14/189,852
• Time in Patent Office: 1,274 Days
• Field of Search: 220262, 220263, 220264, 220324, 220326, 220833, 220834, 220835, 132293, 292DIG 11
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 1/03 for pills or tablets containers for pills or tablets with special dispensing means therefor B65D83/04
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 2215/02 requiring the combination of simultaneous actions
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 2215/06 based on the difference in size between children's and adults' hands
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 2251/1016 Means for locking the closure in closed position
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 2251/1058 Latching mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 43/162 the container, the lid and the hinge being made of one piece B65D43/161 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 43/22 Devices for holding in closed position, e.g. clips
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 50/02 openable or removable by the combination of plural actions
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 50/04 requiring the combination of simultaneous actions, e.g. depressing and turning, lifting and turning, maintaining a part and turning another one B65D55/02 takes precedence; caps or covers secured by rotation with bayonet cams B65D41/06, B65D41/36
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 85/10 for cigarettes

Abstract

A package comprises a latch including first and second legs and an actuating portion. The first and second legs are joined at an angle. The actuator portion of the first leg is positioned to be displaced generally laterally to displace the second leg generally longitudinally to release the latch. In another embodiment the package has base wells on the inside surface. A generally flat marginal sealing surface encircles the first and second base wells. The wells of the base and/or lid are covered with a cover sheet to close them. Still another embodiment is a child-resistant container comprising a shell, two drawers, a stop, and a latch. The drawers are prevented from sliding apart past a limit of travel when one drawer is open sufficiently to provide access to its contents and the other drawer is not.

Claims

1. A package comprising:

a first shell portion;

a second shell portion that removably affixes to the first shell portion to move the package between an opened position and a closed position, the second shell portion having first and second catches and at least one lid ramp;

first and second latches that respectively engage said first and second catches when the package is in the closed position for releasably latching the first shell portion and second shell portion together, the first and second latches each having an actuator portion adapted to be displaced by a user to release the first and second latches from engagement with the first and second catches, each of the first and second latches also including a latch ramp, the latch ramp configured to engage the lid ramp when the actuator portion is displaced to at least partially raise the unlatched second shell portion to facilitate moving the package from the opened position to the closed position; and

a button assembly on said second shell portion that interfaces with the first and second latches, said button assembly requiring activation simultaneously with said displacement of the first and second latches by the user, said button assembly including a button, a tab, and a cavity, said button assembly adapted to be displaced from a locked position to an unlocked position, said tab positioned to be adjacent to an end portion of said at least one latch when said button assembly is in the locked position to prevent the displacement of said first and second latches, said button assembly configured to align the cavity with the end portion of said first and second latches when said button assembly is in an unlocked position to allow the displacement of said first and second latches.

2. The package of claim 1, further comprising a hinge that pivotally joins the first shell portion and the second shell portion, wherein the first shell portion and the second shell portion pivot about the hinge to move between the opened position and the closed position.

3. The package of claim 1, wherein the latch ramp extends from the actuator portion.

4. The package of claim 1, wherein the lid ramp is formed integrally with the catch.

5. The package of claim 1, wherein the engagement of the lid ramp and the latch ramp compromises a seal formed within the package.

6. The package of claim 1, wherein the latch ramp and the lid ramp comprise mating sloped surfaces.

7. A package comprising:

a first shell portion;

a second shell portion that pivotally couples to the first shell portion to move the package between an opened position and a closed position, the second shell portion having a catch;

a latch that engages the catch when the package is in the closed position, for releasably latching the first shell portion and second shell portion together, the latch having an end portion and an actuator portion, the actuator portion adapted to be displaced by a user to release the latch, allowing the package to move from the closed position to the opened position; and

a button assembly, having a button that moves between a locked position that prevents displacement of the latch, and an unlocked position that permits displacement of the latch, or from the unlocked position to the locked position, allowing the package to move from the closed position to the opened position or from the open position to the closed position.

8. The package of claim 7, wherein a tab abuts the end portion of the latch when the package is in the closed position, to prevent displacement of the latch.

9. The package of claim 7, further comprising a hinge that pivotally joins the first shell portion and the second shell portion, wherein the first shell portion and the second shell portion pivot about the hinge to move between the opened position and the closed position.

10. A package comprising:

a first shell portion;

a second shell portion that pivotally couples to the first shell portion to move the package between an opened position and a closed position, the second shell portion having a catch;

a latch that engages the catch when the package is in the closed position, for releasably latching the first shell portion and second shell portion together, the latch having an end portion and an actuator portion, the actuator portion adapted to be displaced by a user to release the latch, allowing the package to move from the closed position to the opened position; and

a button assembly that moves between a locked position that prevents displacement of the latch, and an unlocked position that permits displacement of the latch, allowing the package to move from the closed position to the opened position, wherein the button assembly includes a button, the tab, and a cavity, the tab positioned to be adjacent to the end portion of the latch when the button assembly is in the locked position to prevent the displacement of the latch, the button assembly configured to align the cavity with the end portion of the latch when the button assembly is in the unlocked position to allow the displacement of the latch.

11. A package comprising:

a first shell portion;

a second shell portion that pivotally couples to the first shell portion to move the package between an opened position and a closed position, the second shell portion having a catch;

a latch that engages the catch when the package is in the closed position, for releasably latching the first shell portion and second shell portion together, the latch having an end portion and an actuator portion, the actuator portion adapted to be displaced by a user to release the latch, allowing the package to move from the closed position to the opened position; and

a button assembly that moves between a locked position that prevents displacement of the latch, and an unlocked position that permits displacement of the latch, allowing the package to move from the closed position to the opened position, wherein the button assembly further comprises at least one spring that biases the button assembly to the locked position.

12. A package comprising:

a first shell portion;

a second shell portion that pivotally couples to the first shell portion to move the package between an opened position and a closed position, the second shell portion having a catch;

a latch that engages the catch when the package is in the closed position, for releasably latching the first shell portion and second shell portion together, the latch having an end portion and an actuator portion, the actuator portion adapted to be displaced by a user to release the latch, allowing the package to move from the closed position to the opened position; and

a button assembly that moves between a locked position that prevents displacement of the latch, and an unlocked position that permits displacement of the latch, allowing the package to move from the closed position to the opened position, wherein the button assembly comprises a slot, and the first shell portion comprises a guide that slidably engages the slot to guide the button assembly between the locked position and the unlocked position.

13. A package, comprising:

a first shell portion that forms a base of the package;

a second shell portion that forms a lid of the package, the second shell portion being movable with respect to first shell portion to move the package between an opened position and a closed position, and including first and second catches;

first and second latches associated with the first shell portion, wherein the first and second latches respectively engage the first and second catches when the package is in the closed position for releasably latching the first shell portion and the second shell portion together in the closed position;

wherein, the first and second latches each includes an actuator that is displaceable to move the first and second latches between a distended position and a depressed position, and wherein a button assembly in said second shell portion is interfaced with the first and second latches and which requires activating said button assembly simultaneously to move the first and second latches between the distended position and the depressed position which disengages the first and second latches from the first and second catches, while driving the second shell portion away from the first shell portion to move the package from the closed position to the closed position;

said second shell portion including a lid ramp, and wherein the first and second latches each include a latch ramp that engages the lid ramp to drive said second shell portion away from said first shell portion; and

the lid ramp including an upper sloping surface and the latch ramp including a lower sloping surface that mates with the upper sloping surface; and

wherein said button assembly moves between a locked position and an unlocked position, and wherein said button assembly blocks displacement of the first and second latches when in the locked position.

14. The package of claim 13, wherein the latch ramp moves laterally with respect to the lid ramp when the first and second latches move between the distended position and the depressed position, and the lower sloping surface translates lateral movement of the latch ramp to an upward force applied to the upper sloping surface, to force the lid ramp away from the latch ramp and move the package into the opened position.

15. The package of claim 13, wherein said button assembly comprises a tab that blocks the displacement of the first and second latches when in the locked position, and a cavity that aligns with the first and second latches when in the unlocked position, wherein the cavity receives a portion of said first and second latches when the first and second latches are in the depressed position.

16. The package of claim 13, wherein said button assembly comprises a spring that biases said button assembly to the locked position.