Tamper evident closure

1 . A child-resistant closure, comprising:

an inner shell and an outer shell;

wherein the inner shell includes at least one inner lug;

wherein the outer shell includes at least one outer lug;

wherein the outer lug is movable relative to the inner lug between an engaged position and a disengaged position;

wherein in the disengaged position the outer lug is able to rotate past the inner lug when rotated in an opening direction;

wherein in the engaged position the outer lug engages the inner lug when rotated in an opening direction to cause opening direction rotation of the inner shell; and

an annular band disposed on the inner shell between an inner shell top panel and a shelf;

wherein the shelf is disposed axially lower than the inner shell top panel;

wherein the at least one inner lug extends upwardly from the shelf,

wherein the at least one inner lug extends upwardly to a highest point at a tip, and wherein the tip is aligned in a vertical direction with a top surface of the annular band such that the tip is flush with the top surface of the annular band.

2 . The closure according to claim 1 , in which a plurality of equidistant inner lugs are arranged around the perimeter of the inner shell, with a cam or angled first face and a relatively vertically or axially oriented second face and an inner tip at the intersection of the first face and the second face.

3 . The closure according to claim 2 , in which inner lugs have an angled outer surface, which angles radially inwardly as it extends axially upwardly.

4 . The closure according to claim 1 , in which a transition surface is provided between the annular band and the shelf, and the transition surface is angled to allow the inner skirt to be shorter and/or include less material to allow a lighter weight closure.

5 . The closure according to claim 1 , in which the inner shell includes an internal thread for rotation engagement of an external thread of a container, so that the closure and/or the inner shell may be rotationally removed from and/or attached to an underlying container.

6 . The closure according to claim 1 , in which the outer shell includes a top panel with an outer skirt depending axially downwardly therefrom toward an outer shell bottom.

7 . The closure according to claim 1 , in which the outer shell includes an outer bead to retain the inner shell in a nested position within the outer shell.

8 . The closure according to claim 7 , in which the inner shell bottom end flares outwardly to engaged with the outer bead so the inner shell is retained within the outer shell.

9 . The closure according to claim 1 , in which the outer shell includes a plurality of outer lugs that have an angled first face and a relatively vertical second face, with an outer tip disposed between first face and second face.

10 . The closure according to claim 9 , in which outer lugs extend radially inwardly from an outer edge to an inner edge.

11 . The closure according to claim 1 , in which the inner shell comprises inner lugs and the outer shell comprises outer lugs, the inner and outer ramps are configured such that a first face of the inner lugs and a first face of the outer lugs pass one another when in a resting condition and when the outer shell is rotated relative to the inner shell in a direction that would remove it from an underlying container.

12 . The closure according to claim 11 , in which user input pushing the outer shell downward toward the inner shell with a predetermined force for the outer lugs to engage the inner lugs allows rotation of the inner shell by rotation of the outer shell.

13 . The closure according to claim 11 , in which the outer lug second face and/or inner lug second face are relatively vertical in the axial direction compared to the outer lug first face and/or inner lug first face such that no camming occurs and rotation of the inner shell in an attachment direction to an underlying container causes rotation of the inner shell whether a downward push force is present or not.

14 . The closure according to claim 1 , in which a recess between outer bead and outer top panel is axially longer than a height of the inner lug such that inner shell floats axially within outer shell.

15 . The closure according to claim 1 , in which when inner shell is all the way up in the axial direction relative to outer shell, as the case may be when outer shell is pushed down into an unlocked position, the inner shell bottom is separated an axial distance from the outer bead.

16 . The closure according to claim 1 , in which the inner shell comprises inner lugs and the outer shell comprises outer lugs, in which the outer shell includes an outer bead to retain inner shell in a nested position within outer shell, in which when inner shell is all the way down in the axial direction relative to outer shell and/or when inner bottom contacts outer bead, the outer lugs and the inner lugs are spaced apart such that they do not engage, which provides a locked position in which rotation of outer shell do not cause rotation and/or removal of inner shell from an underlying container.

17 . The closure according to claim 1 , in which a plurality of equidistant inner lugs are arranged around the perimeter of the inner shell, with a cam or angled first face and a relatively vertically or axially oriented second face and an inner tip at the intersection of the first face and the second face, in which the outer shell includes a plurality of outer lugs that have an angled first face and/or a relatively vertical second face, with an outer tip disposed between first face and second face, in which the first face of each outer lug is angled and/or the first face of each inner lug is angled to facilitate a camming action or passing of the outer lugs past the inner lugs in the absence of a sufficient down force, and in which in the opposite direction, the relatively vertical second face of the outer lugs and the relatively vertical second face of the outer lugs provide a mechanical stop sufficient to cause rotation of inner shell by rotation of outer shell in a direction that cause the second face of the inner lugs and the second face of the outer lugs to abut.

18 . A child-resistant closure comprising

an inner shell and an outer shell, the inner shell has at least one lug, the outer shell has at least one lug, the inner shell is nested within the outer shell and the closure is configured to allow axial movement of the inner shell relative to the outer shell such that the inner shell floats axially within the outer shell and in which when the outer shell is moved downwardly relative to the inner shell into an unlocked position, a user may rotate the outer shell to cause rotation of the inner shell and/or removal of the inner shell from an underlying container, in which when the outer shell is moved upwardly relative to the inner shell into a locked position, the outer shell is disengaged from the inner shell such that the outer shell rotates freely relative to the inner shell and/or does not cause rotation of the inner shell and/or removal of the inner shell from an underlying container, in which to facilitate moving between the locked and unlocked positions, the inner shell includes a plurality of inner lugs and the outer shell includes a plurality of outer lugs which can selectively engage one another,

wherein an entirety of the outer shell is configured to move between the locked position and the unlocked position.