Lockable cap for medical prescription bottle
A lockable cap, is a security feature for a medical prescription bottle. There is a three dial locking mechanism that is attached to the cap and the dial locking mechanism and the cap can be attached or removed from the bottle only when the user has the correct combination on the dial lock.
1. A cap lock attachable to a bottle comprising:
a housing having a cap portion and a base portion, said cap portion having an upper surface with a plurality of first gaps therein, said housing including:
an alignment spacer device mounted within said housing;
a rotatable dial lock mounted within said alignment spacer device, said rotatable dial lock having cogs and cams in mechanical relationship with each other to allow the cogs to spin independently and be settable to a plurality of settings, wherein the cogs are held in place by the plurality of first gaps;
a dog plate, mounted to said housing for free rotation in the housing, said dog plate having at least one point of contact with a locking plate to exert sufficient tension to remove the cap portion;
the locking plate being pivotally mounted to said alignment spacer device and movable between a locked position and an unlocked position, the locking plate being in the unlocked position when the cogs are set to a predetermined setting, and being in the locked position when the cogs are set to a settings other than the predetermined setting; and
the locking plate having an extension that can be placed into engagement or disengagement with said dog plate, said locking plate being placed in said locked position comprising at least one of said cams placing said extension into disengagement with said dog plate whereby said cap cannot be removed from said bottle.
2. The cap lock of claim 1 wherein said alignment spacer device is mounted to said housing by a snap fit.
3. The cap lock of claim 2 wherein said alignment spacing device has at least one channel for guiding said cogs into alignment with said plurality of first gaps.
4. The cap lock of claim 3 wherein said at least one channel provides non-rotation permanent mounting of said alignment spacer device in said housing.
5. The cap lock of claim 1 wherein said base portion is permanently attached to said housing by an interlocking fit between said base portion and said housing.
6. The cap lock of claim 5 wherein said interlocking fit is a snap fit.
7. The cap lock of claim 1 , wherein the dog plate further comprises a set of gear teeth that are engageable with the extension of the locking plate.
8. The cap lock of claim 7 , wherein the position at which the extension connects to said set of gear teeth depends the position of said rotatable dial lock with relation to said dog plate.
9. The cap of claim 7 , wherein said set of gear teeth slip when said locking plate is in said locked position.
10. The cap of claim 7 , wherein said set of gear teeth cannot slip when said locking plate is in said unlocked position.
11. The cap lock of claim 7 , wherein said set of gear teeth of said dog plate rotate horizontally with respect to the upper surface of said cap portion.
12. A method for operating a cap lock attached to a bottle, the cap lock having a housing having a cap portion and a base portion, the cap portion having an upper surface with a plurality of first gaps therein, an alignment spacer device mounted within the housing, a rotatable dial lock, mounted within the alignment spacer device, having cogs and cams in mechanical relationship with each other to allow the cogs to spin independently and be settable to a plurality of settings, a dog plate attachable to said bottle and having free rotation in the housing and allowing at least one point of contact for a locking plate to exert sufficient tension to remove said cap and a locking plate pivotable mounted to said alignment spacer device and the locking plate being movable between a locked position and an unlocked position, the method comprising:
moving the locking plate to the unlocked position when the cogs are at a predetermined setting;
pivoting the locking plate, when the locking plate is in the unlocked position, to engage the dog plate to exert sufficient tension to remove the cap;
moving the locking plate to the locked position when the cogs are not at the predetermined setting; and
moving an extension of the locking plate, using at least one of the cams, into disengagement with said dog plate whereby said cap cannot be removed from said bottle.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein pivoting the locking plate further comprises pressing an extension of the locking plate into engagement with the locking plate to exert sufficient tension to remove the cap.
14. The method of claim 12 further comprising allowing a set of teeth of the dog plate to rotate with respect to the locking plate when the locking plate is in the locked position.
15. The method of claim 12 further comprising rotating a set of gear teeth of the dog plate horizontally with respect to the upper surface of said cap portion.