Safety dispensing closure

Claim 1

In a dispensing closure having a closure body and a spout, said closure body having a top with a cavity having walls, said cavity being located in said top for receiving said spout, said cavity having an opening leading from its interior through said top and mounting means for rotatably mounting said spout, said top including support means for engaging said mounting means so that said spout is rotatably mounted on said closure body, said closure body being resilient, said spout having a passage extending therethrough and being capable of being rotated with respect to said closure body between an open position in which said passage is aligned with said opening and a closed position in which said spout seals off said opening, the improvement which comprises: a recess located in said closure top adjacent to said cavity, said recess being spaced from the periphery of said top, a groove extending between said recess and said cavity, a lip formed on said spot which will extend across said groove and into said recess when said spout is in a closed position, said cavity and said groove being large enough to receive all of said spout with said lip extending across said groove and into a portion of said recess adjacent to said groove, first detent means located in the walls of said cavity at the sides of said spout and second detent means on the sides of said spout, said detent means being capable of coacting with one another so as to hold said spout in said closed position, whereby said spout is only capable of being rotated from said closed position by engagement of said lip within said recess so as to apply force to said lip and said spout so as tO rotate said spout, said coacting detent means serving to oppose rotation of said spout from said closed to said opened position and being capable of releasing one another as a result of temporary material deformation during such rotation so as permit such rotation, said spout and said lip having a surface positioned in the same plane as the upper surface of said top when said spout is in said closed position.