The invention relates to a closure for a container where it is necessary to restrict access to the contents of the container.

Restricted access closures are known in the field and normally function by providing a degree of physical difficulty or requirement for interaction with the closure in order to gain access to the contents of the container.

Various closures are known. Examples include caps or lids which can be screwed or snap fitted on to the container or corks or stoppers which can be pushed in to the orifice or opening of the container. Other types of closure will also be familiar to the skilled person. There are, however, examples of closures which have been modified to provide an increased level of safety. These safety features can be targeted toward child-proofing or spill-proofing for example. Such modifications provide restricted access closures which can be exemplified by, for example, medicine containers which have safety caps held in place with a lip with markers on the lid and container which must be aligned to allow access. "Squeeze and twist" caps, include a physical barrier preventing the cap from being unscrewed, the cap being flexible so that squeezing in the appropriate place allows the cap to resiliently deform to allow it past the barrier. "Push and twist" caps require relatively large physical force to push down the cap to release it before the cap may be unscrewed, such that the cap must be unscrewed when in the depressed position. Such modifications or improvements to closures offer varying degrees of difficulty to gain access.

Other types of cap will also be familiar to the skilled person and offer varying degrees of difficulty to gain access.

However, while these caps may provide child safety, they can prohibit use by the elderly or manually impaired adults. Furthermore once the container is opened, the contents can be accessed freely by anyone. A further factor is complexity and cost of manufacture of closures. Often the safety closures disclosed in the prior art are either expensive or are complicated to manufacture or both.

i The invention is set out in the claims. In one aspect a closure is biased in a closed position. The closure may only be opened when an opening device or trigger device is positioned near to the closure. The closure is opened or moved to an open position by magnetic forces arising from the proximity of the trigger device. The opening device or trigger device does not have to be in physical contact with the closure mechanism to operate it. For example if the entire closure mechanism is contained within the neck of the bottle, it may be opened from the exterior of the bottle. The closure of the invention is moved from a closed position to an open position by magnetic forces arising from the proximity of the opening device or trigger device but not necessarily by physical contact of the opening device or trigger device or the operator. The proximity of the opening device or trigger device allows or causes the closure to open by magnetic forces.

In order to overcome problems identified with restricted access closures known in the art, there is provided a safety closure that is physically easy to open, remains challenging for children and can reseal itself automatically. The resealing closure ensures that there is not free access to the contents if the container is left unattended. This is solved by the invention disclosed herewith.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the drawings, of which:

Figure 1 : Shows a cap (primary seal) on bottle

Figure 2: Shows a bottle neck with insert

Figure 3: Shows a bottle neck with magnetic flap

Figure 4: Shows a bottle neck with magnetic flap in closed position

Figure 5: Shows a bottle neck with magnetic flap in open position

Figure 6: Shows a bottle with spoon, open position

Figure 7: Shows a flap biasing

Figure 8: Shows a spring bias in closed position

Figure 9: Shows a spring bias in open position

Figure 10: Shows a cap opening

Figure 11 : Shows a cap opening with spring, closed

Figure 12: Shows a cap opening with spring, open mistakenly removed by someone if the bottle is left without its primary cap. It will be noted that magnetic materials used can be either inherently magnetic or soft or impermanent magnets requiring an extended magnet field for magnetisation.

The closure of the invention can also be implemented as a primary closure. For example a cap or lid can be fitted with a flap which is normally held or biased in a closed position but can be opened or moved to an open position by a trigger device in a fashion similar to that described above.

Figure 1 shows a bottle (1) with a screw cap (2) fitted over the opening. The cap could also be a non-screw cap closure such as push on caps (not shown). The cap may be of any suitable kind for the bottle in question. Figure 2 shows a similar bottle (1) with the cap removed. Located in the neck (3) of the bottle (1) there is a closure mechanism that includes a neck fitting (4) restricting the passageway of the contents from the interior of the bottle to the exterior. The neck fitting (4) fits snugly in the neck of the bottle around its circumference. The fitting has an orifice (5) through which the contents of the bottle may pass. The orifice is of suitable size to allow the contents of the bottle to pass when there is no obstruction to the orifice. Moveably attached to the neck fitting is a flap (6) that covers the orifice (5) of the fitting. The flap (6) is movable between closed and open position but is normally biased in a closed position. The flap is attached to the neck fitting at a point (7) on the circumference of the fitting, thereby fixing one side of the flap (6). The other side of the flap is free. The flap is shown in a closed position blocking the orifice (5) of the neck fitting, preventing the contents of the bottle from being removed.

Figure 3 shows the bottle (1) with the neck fitting (4) and the covering flap (6) of figure 2 in an open position. In the open position the flap pivots around its attachment point (7) towards the interior of the bottle so that the closure mechanism is not accessible by the user and ensuring that it will be biased closed by the contents if the container is inverted, preventing spills. When in the open position the contents of the bottle are able to pass through the orifice (5) of the neck fitting to the exterior of the bottle. Attached to the flap is a dipole magnet (8). The magnet may be in any position on the flap, but here it is shown opposite the point where the flap is attached to the neck fitting. The magnet can be attached to the flap by any suitable means, or can be embedded in the flap.

Figure 4 show a cross-section of the bottle with the neck fitting (4) and flap (6). The flap is shown in a closed position. The neck fitting has an orifice (5) of suitable size to allow the contents of the container to be removed. As shown in the figure, the orifice is located to one side of the neck, opposite the point where the flap is attached (7) to the neck fitting, however, the orifice could be located in any position in the neck fitting. It could also be of any size within the circumference of the neck fitting dependent on the content to be dispensed. The flap is positioned under the orifice surface of the neck fitting, in close proximity to a lip (9) around the circumference of the bottle neck defining the orifice of the neck fitting.

The flap is held in a place by a hinge (10) on one side and is attached to the neck fitting of the bottle. The point of attachment (7) is shown opposite the position of the neck fitting orifice, however, it could be any point around the circumference of the neck fitting. The flap is of a complementary size that is able to move freely in the neck of the bottle and covers the orifice of the neck fitting to prevent the contents of the bottle from being removed when the flap is in a closed position. The figure shows a magnet attached to the hinged flap in a position away from the hinge and under the orifice of the neck fitting, however, the magnet may be in any suitable position.

Figure 5 shows a cross-section of the bottle with the neck fitting and flap, similar to that shown in figure 4. In this figure the flap is shown in an open position. The flap is pivoted open on the hinge, moved away from the neck fitting allowing the passage of the bottle contents through the neck fitting orifice.

Normally the flap will be biased in a closed position. The flap will only be opened when a user desires to remove the contents from the container. This has the advantage that when the standard cap is removed, but the container is not in use, the container is closed. As the closure mechanism is contained in the neck of the bottle, it is not possible to mistakenly obtain access to the contents. This also means that if the bottle is accidentally knocked over, it will not spill as the contents are prevented from being removed.

In order to open the flap the user must use a trigger device. With reference to the figures described above we now describe a method of operation where the trigger device is related to a magnetic force operation.

Figure 6 shows a bottle, according to the description herein, in use. In this case a trigger device is used to operate the closure mechanism. The trigger device may be any magnetic device. For example, a magnet embedded (11) in a spoon (12), provides a magnetic force which repels or moves the magnet in the closure mechanism. As shown, when brought into proximity with the closure mechanism, the force between the two magnets is repelling. The magnet of the closure mechanism is arranged so that once the force is great enough to overcome the force biasing the flap in a closed position, the repelling force moves the flap from a closed position to an open position. Once in the open position, the contents of the bottle may be poured, through the neck fitting orifice into the spoon located below the bottle. When the magnetic force is removed, by removing the spoon from proximity to the bottle neck, the flap automatically closes again under its bias blocking the orifice and preventing the contents of the bottle from being removed. The spoon may also be a measuring spoon, such as one supplied with liquid medicine bottles.

The closure mechanism may be operated by any magnetic material which is in close proximity to the bottle neck in the correct orientation. Any suitable arrangement using multiple magnets, magnetic materials, paramagnetic materials and or ferrous material located either in the mechanism or trigger device may be used. For example, this may be where both the trigger and the mechanism contain magnets, where the trigger contains a magnet and the mechanism is a ferrous material or where the trigger is a ferrous material and the mechanism contains a magnet or any suitable combination of materials mentioned. The mechanism may also be operated by either a repulsive or attractive force between the magnet in the closure mechanism and the trigger device depending on the relative orientation and position of the magnets. Figure 13 show an alternative trigger device (13). The trigger magnet (11) is embedded in the cap (2) of the bottle. As before, when the cap is removed, the flap (6) is biased in a closed position, preventing the contents of the bottle from being removed even when the cap has been removed. The flap is associated with a magnet (11) and is attached to a neck fitting that fits snugly in the container neck. The container neck has an orifice, which is covered by the flap when in a closed position. To move between the closed and open positions, an exterior magnetic force is required. This is provided by a trigger device (13) - the cap (2) in this case. The cap could be any cap containing a magnet, but it is convenient if the cap is the same cap as for the bottle. When the user wants to remove the contents of the bottle, the cap must be placed in close proximity to the neck to move the flap into the open position. This is shown in figure 14. In order to ensure that the bottle and cap are aligned correctly, there may be indicators (not shown) on the bottle neck fitting and cap to indicate in which position the correct force will exist between the flap magnet and the cap magnet. The cap may be rotated 360 degrees relative to the container, the orifice being opened only when the cap and the magnet are aligned for the repulsion of the magnetic force to occur. Hence, the cap and or the container may be marked in some way to alert the user as to where to bring the cap and the container together to allow the orifice to open. The marking could be a visible marker or an indentation or protrusion on one or both surfaces. This adds a further level of security as the child must align the cap and the container prior to the release of the contents.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that the closure mechanism can be fitted into the neck (13) of any container (1) which has an opening and to any position in the container where it can restrict access. The closure mechanism is made from a suitable material that is compatible with the container and the contents of the container. Alternatively, the closure mechanism can in part be incorporated directly into the neck of an opening of the container during the fabrication of the container. Such fabrication methods are known in the field and will not be described here.

Figures 15 and 16 show a bottle with neck fitting closure mechanism suitable for use with tablets (14). The neck fitting is shaped to have a recessed (15) flap (6) that is biased closed. The recess is positioned centrally within the neck opening but could be positioned anywhere within the opening. The flap has a magnetic component (8), and operates according to similar principles as those described hereinabove. The cap for the bottle is modified from a standard screw cap. The cap is shaped to include a receptacle or cup (16) that is shaped to fit into the flap recess of the neck fitting. As the recess for the flap is located centrally, this allows the receptacle or cup to move gradually into the recess as the cap is screwed onto the bottle.

Embedded in the base of the receptacle or cup of the cap there is a magnet (11). In this case the magnet in the cap is the trigger device. The magnet in the cap and the magnet of the flap are such that when the cap is fitted on the bottle the two magnets repel and the flap is moved into an open position. The receptacle or cup is located within the flap recess. The orifice of the neck fitting is large enough to allow one tablet (or the desired number of tablets) into the receptacle or cup. When the cap is removed the single tablet is free to be removed, but the user is prevented from accessing any more tablets until the cap is reinstated on the bottle. Thus the closure mechanism allows only a fixed, predetermined, metered or controlled number of tablets to be removed from the bottle at a time.

Alternatively, where the contents of the bottle are liquid, the trigger device could be a syringe (not shown). The syringe would include a magnet or be of ferrous material. When inserted into the recess (15) the flap (6) would open due to repulsion between the magnet (8) and the syringe. The user could then draw the appropriate volume of the liquid into the syringe. Such an arrangement could be used in conjunction with bottles that are sealed by a single use frangible seal, such as a foil. The bottle would then be returned to a safe condition when the syringe was removed if biasing means were used to return the flap (6) to a closed position. Various biasing mechanisms are described in more detail below.

Various biasing mechanisms are available. The flap may be of relevant material and integral with the fitting providing an inherently biased "living hinge". Alternatively, figure 7 shows the closure mechanism in the neck (3) of a bottle (1) with a large orifice (5). The flap is attached by a hinge (10) and is held in a closed position by a resilient member (17) which is cantilevered from a side of the fitting and exerts a force to hold the flap in the closed position. The hinge connects the flap to the neck fitting. The resilient member is attached to the neck fitting below the hinged flap and extends at an angle towards the hinged flap and is in contact with the flap. As also possible in other embodiments the neck fitting has a lip (18) opposite the hinge. When in the biased closed position the flap fits under the lip. The resilient member is arranged such that it provides a force to bias the flap in the closed position. When the trigger device is applied to move the flap to an open position, the resilient member deforms to allow movement of the flap. When the external trigger force is removed, the resilient member returns the flap to the closed position.

Figure 8 shows a closure mechanism in the neck of a bottle where the neck fitting extends down into the neck. The neck fitting fits snugly into the neck of the bottle and has an orifice (5) (not numbered) to allow the contents of the bottle to be removed. The orifice is blocked by a gate member (19) to prevent the contents of the bottle from being removed. The gate member is slideably moveable generally in the opposite direction to the flow of the contents, and biased in a closed position away from the fitting base towards its top by a compression spring (20). Other biasing means may be used. Attached to the neck fitting is a spring housing (21). The spring is attached to the bottom of the gate and at the closed end of the spring housing. The gate is of suitable size so that it may fit into the spring housing. When the spring is under compression the gate member moves away from the neck fitting and the orifice is unobstructed. This allows passage of the contents of the bottle through a passage adjacent the gate member communicating with the orifice and hence through the opening, as shown in figure 9. The gate member can be any appropriate shape that firmly blocks the orifice in the closed position.

Figures 10, 11 and 12 show an alternative sliding gate arrangement where the gate slides to close an orifice in the neck fitting located to one side of the bottle neck, as shown in figure 10. The closure gate (19) is located on the interior of the bottle. The neck fitting (4) is shaped to include a spring housing (21) which the gate can move into. The gate is slideable between an open and closed position shown in figures 12 and 11 respectively. The operation of the gate (19) between open and closed positions is by magnetic means. When in the position shown in figure 11 , a magnet in the vicinity of the gate (19) interacts with the gate (19) for example with a repulsive force to cause it to slide to the open position shown in figure 12. Alternatively the closure in the embodiments described may be biased closed by the magnet itself. The neck fitting can contain an additional piece of ferrous metal that is arranged such that that flap is attracted to it and is positioned so that it is closest when the flap is in a closed position, where the force between the flap magnet and the trigger device is greater than the force between the flap magnet and the biasing metal. Further to any of the foregoing embodiments, the container and closure system may be provided with a collar (100) and counter (200). The collar (100) and counter (200) are shown in figures 17 to 20. The counter (100) may be positioned on the neck (3) of the bottle (1) or in any suitable position to record each of the dispensing events from the bottle.

The counter (200) comprises a display (300), an alarm indicator (400), means for programming the counter (500), a magnetic detector (600), an inversion detector (700) and a suitable power source and circuitry (800). Figure 17 shows the collar (100) and counter (200) on the neck (3) of the bottle (1). Figure 18 shows programming means (500) for programming the counter (200). Figure 19 shows the position of the components within the collar (100) and counter (200). The components may be positioned in any appropriate arrangement to detect a dispensing event. Figure 20 shows the bottle (1) with the collar (100) and counter (200) with a trigger device (900). The bottle is partially inverted.

Magnetic detector (600) may be a simple inductor circuit or a magnetically-actuated switch, a magnetically-actuated mechanical release for the inversion detector or some other means of detecting proximity of the trigger. The magnetic detector (600) can provide a "wake up" call to the detection unit circuitry (800) when placed in proximity to the magnetic closure actuator.

Inversion detector (700) is a means of detecting whether the bottle (1) is inverted or placed at an angle relative to a stable vertical position where the contents may be removed from the bottle (1). The inversion detector (700) could be a solid state accelerometer, a gravimeter, a simple damped weight and spring mechanism or other suitable means of detecting bottle inversion. The display (300) displays how many times the bottle has been inverted. Such a display could be liquid crystal (LCD), electrochromic (bistable) or any other suitable display.

The alarm indicator (400) is used to indicate an alarm condition. Such a condition may be when the power supply is low or if the bottle (1) inverted above a threshold number of times.

Circuitry (800) provides means for performing a number of electronic functions. These include but are not limited to recording and storing how many times the bottle is inverted, determining the time since device initialisation to enable tracking inversion events in time, providing a display of inversion events, and providing alarm indications as appropriate.

The Programming means (500) allows the counter (200) to be programmed. The counter device (200) may be programmed at initialisation to calibrate or reset the inversion detector, set the device clock and or reset the inversion event counter. The programming means (500) may also be used to download through a programming interface a record of inversion events or a record of alarm conditions. Such a programming interface could be wired through a series of contacts (shown in figure 18), using a standardised interface means e.g. RS232C or USB, or wireless e.g. Bluetooth, infrared or other contact-based or contactless connection means.

The counter device (200) may be triggered by the same trigger device as the flap or any suitable device for recording a dispensing event from the container. Each time a portion of the contents of the container is dispensed the counter will be incremented.

In order to detect dispensing from the bottle the counter may be incremented by a number of possible events. For example, possible events may include detecting the proximity of the trigger device (12, 13) when it is used to operate the flap (6), detecting inversion of the container, or detecting the dispensing of the contents through the container orifice (5) itself. Two or more of these events may be used to confirm that contents from the container were actually dispensed. For the most accurate results all possible means for recording a dispensing event may be used and correlated/cross-checked. However, one event may be enough to record the dispensing event from the container (1) by the counter.

In an embodiment, the collar (100) holds the detection device (600, 700) in close proximity to the bottle. The counter (200) may be secured to the bottle using any suitable additional fixation means such as an adhesive pad. In addition, the means for fixing the counter (200) to the bottle (1) may further comprise tamperproof or tamper- evident devices known in the art, such that removal of or tampering with the counter (200) can be monitored.

The electronic components and the inversion detector (700) may be activated by the magnetic detector (600). When a trigger device is brought into proximity to the magnetic detector (600), this is triggered and the other components of the counter (200) are activated from a stand-by mode. In the stand-by mode the electronic components are inactive to conserve energy. The counter device may remain active for a pre-set time period from detection of the magnetic trigger or the counter device may return to a standby mode when the trigger device is removed. Having the magnetic detector (600) located in the collar means that the counter device can be activated regardless of the position of the trigger device near the opening.

An inversion detected by the inversion detector (700) causes a dispensing event to be recorded by the counter (200). Preferably the time and date of the dispensing event is also recorded. The record of dispensing events is stored in a memory included in the counter device (200). Inversion of the bottle can preferably only be detected when the trigger device is also detected. Therefore, a dispensing event will not be recorded when the bottle is inverted but the bottle is closed.

The inversion detector (700) may also be able to detect the angle of inversion and the duration of inversion. In such an embodiment, when the contents of the bottle (1) are a liquid, it is then possible to calculate the amount of liquid dispensed at each dispensing event. Alternatively, the counter device (200) can be configured to display the dispensing history, i.e. the time and/or date on which each dispensation was made. Alternatively the display (300) may not be included. The dispensing history may be downloadable to an external device via known means such as Bluetooth or infrared interface

The counter device (200) can provide a guide, for example, as to how much medicine has been removed from the container at any point in time. This is useful if a child is found in possession of a container of medicine. If an adult is aware of the number of actuations that had previously been made, they will be able to deduce how many doses of the medicine the child has accessed. Alternatively, the adult will be able to see when the actuations have occurred, and therefore how many actuations the child has recently made. The counting means may be of benefit to adults who need to take medication at regular intervals and who need assistance in tracking their intake of medication. This may be particularly useful in cases where the person taking the medication has impaired memory function, for example, the elderly or those with certain neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's Disease. The counter may be configured to provide such persons with an alarm reminder to take their medication and enables a carer to monitor the person's intake of medication. Such a counting means may also be of benefit during clinical trials of pharmaceuticals, as it will provide an indication of the quantity of contents that have been removed from the container and the time at which they were removed. During clinical trials, it may be important to establish patient adherence to a certain treatment regimen, by ensuring that the patient has made use of the pharmaceutical at the appropriate time and in the appropriate quantity. This information may be downloadable from the counter, and may or may not be visible to the user of the container (i.e. the patient).

The skilled reader would understand that there are many alternative arrangements for the closure mechanism, and it is not limited to those described here. It could be any arrangement where a moveable item can be manipulated between a blocking (closed) and open position, such as a ball bearing, a rod, a sliding or rotating flap or a rocking attachment and with or without an additional "safety" closure. The contents could be anything where restriction or control is required in removal or use. Such substances include, but are not limited to drugs, detergents, bleaches, petrochemicals, paint, radioactive substances, biological substances, acids, alkalis, beverages, medicines, cooking oils, solvents and sweets. Furthermore the substances could be either a solid or liquid.

The closure can be used in conjunction with other closure devices, and it may be retrofitted to bottles with existing closures. However, the closure may also be used on its own to provide an automatic closure device or as a primary closure.

Furthermore, additional or alternative trigger devices could be a syringe, a medication cup, a ring, a key, a jug, a beaker, a flask, or a rack or holder, a permanent fixture e.g. on a fridge door, or any device comprising a magnet or ferrous material or other magnetic or paramagnetic material or have such materials incorporated into them. If the magnet is contained in the cap, then a non-magnetic spoon or other utensil could be used in conjunction with the cap, where the utensil is placed onto the cap and then the container brought into the vicinity of the utensil to allow the contents to be dispensed onto the utensil. The utensil could be a spoon.