Child-resistant plastic canister for nicotine products comprising a flexible portion
The child-resistant nicotine canister addresses the challenge of child access by using a deformable side wall and rotatable lid, ensuring adult convenience and safety through a deformable side wall and interlock features.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- WO · WO
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- MODULPAC
- Filing Date
- 2025-12-02
- Publication Date
- 2026-06-11
AI Technical Summary
Existing nicotine product canisters are not adequately child-resistant, allowing easy access to children while maintaining consumer convenience, and lack features to prevent accidental opening by children.
A child-resistant plastic canister with a flexible side wall portion that requires a specific deformation force for access, combined with a rotatable lid and interlock features, ensuring adult accessibility and child safety without visual cues.
The canister effectively prevents children from opening it while allowing adults easy access, maintaining convenience and safety through a deformable side wall and rotatable lid design.
Smart Images
Figure SE2025010042_11062026_PF_FP_ABST
Abstract
Description
[0001] CHILD-RESISTANT PLASTIC CANISTER FOR NICOTINE PRODUCTS
[0002] Field of the invention
[0003] The present invention relates to a child-resistant plastic canister for nicotine products.
[0004] Background
[0005] Nicotine products, and particularly orally consumed nicotine products, including snuff and snus as well as other nicotine products in portion pouches or in loose form, are typically packaged in pocket-sized canisters having a wide opening which enables the consumer to pick the nicotine product via the opening using two or more fingers. The canister should preferably be easy to open and the nicotine product contained therein should preferably be easy to access. At the same time, nicotine products should be kept out of reach of children.
[0006] Summary
[0007] It is an object of the present invention to solve, or at least mitigate, parts or all of the above mentioned problems. To this end, there is provided a child-resistant plastic canister for nicotine products, the canister being pocket-sized and having a height-to-width ratio H / W between 0,2 and 0,5, the canister comprising a container comprising a bottom wall and a side wall, an upper edge of the side wall defining, when the canister is open, a container opening facing in an opening direction along an opening axis; and a main lid configured to close the container opening, the main lid comprising a main lid mantle, wherein the side wall of the container comprises a lid engagement portion configured to be received in the main lid mantle when the canister is closed, and a side wall shoulder positioned below a lower edge of the main lid mantle when the canister is closed, wherein the side wall shoulder extends radially, in relation to the opening axis, outwards to at least the radially outermost edge of the lower edge of the main lid mantle along the length of the lower edge of the main lid mantle, thereby preventing access to the lower edge of the main lid mantle when the side wall is in an undeformed state. The side wall further comprises a flexible portion adjacent to the main lid mantle, which flexible portion is resiliently finger-depressible in a direction towards the centre of the container, such that depressing the flexible portion of the side wall clears the access to the lower edge of the main lid mantle. The lack of access to the lower edge of the main lid mantle without deforming the side wall gives no indication to a child as to how to open the canister, which increases child safety. At the same time, the height-to-width ratio still provides easy access by enabling the consumer to pick the nicotine product via the container opening with two fingers. Preferably, the finger-depressible flexible portion which enables access to the lower edge of the main lid mantle extends along the entire length of the lower edge of the main lid mantle. Thereby, the consumer can quickly and easily open the canister by depressing the side wall at an arbitrary circumferential position. By way of example, the finger-depressible flexible portion which enables access to the lower edge of the main lid mantle may extend in a closed loop about the entire perimeter of the side wall, save for any hinge connecting the main lid to the container. The canister may be free from any colourings or markings indicating a specific location for opening the canister, since this is not needed. Such lack of visual opening guidance increases the child-safety of the canister even further. The opening axis defines a cylindrical coordinate system, and thereby also defines a radial direction and a circumferential direction in relation to the opening axis, which directions are referred to herein. The opening axis also defines an upwards-downwards direction oriented such that the main lid is positioned above the bottom wall of the container. Suitable exemplary dimensions of the canister may be, for example, a height along the opening axis of between 12 mm and 38 mm, and a width in a plane perpendicular to the opening axis of between 45 mm and 95 mm. According to embodiments, the lower edge of the main lid mantle meets the container along an interface line, wherein a height of the container below the interface line is at least 2 / 3 of the total height of the canister; thereby, depression of the flexible portion is facilitated. Preferably, the container is oval as seen along the opening axis, wherein circular is intended as a special case of oval; thereby, the flexible portion of the side wall may more easily be given a uniform wall thickness along its circumferential length, such that the pressing force towards the centre of the container, required for opening the canister, may be uniform along the length of the flexible portion. By way of example, the container may have a circular shape concentric with the opening axis, and said direction towards the centre of the container may be a radial direction of said circular shape.
[0008] According to embodiments, the main lid may be rotatable on the container about the opening axis when the canister is closed. By allowing the main lid to be rotated on the container, a child receives no feedback that it attempts to open the canister in the wrong way. Instead, the main lid is likely to be mistaken for a screw lid, and the child may occupy itself with trying to unscrew the main lid from the container until it catches the attention of an adult. According to embodiments, the main lid may be rotatable on the container, with the lid engagement portion received in the main lid mantle, against a rotation resistance torque of between 0,1 Nm and 2,0 Nm, and more preferably, of between 0,1 Nm and 1 ,0 Nm.
[0009] According to embodiments, the child-resistant plastic canister may be circular- cylindrical. Such canisters are generally used for orally consumed nicotine products. Thereby, such canisters may easily be recognized as canisters potentially containing products unsuited for children, which even further increases adult awareness and thereby also child safety.
[0010] According to embodiments, said flexible portion may have a wall thickness of between 0,65 mm and 0,95 mm.
[0011] According to embodiments, said flexible portion may be resiliently finger- depressible in said direction towards the centre of the container, to clear the access to the lower edge of the main lid mantle, provided that the pressing force towards the centre of the container exceeds a deformation limit force of between 20 N and 60 N. Such a deformation limit force is difficult for a child to exceed, yet easy for an adult to attain. More preferably, the deformation limit force may be between 30 N and 50 N.
[0012] According to embodiments, the container may be made of a plastic material having a Young’s modulus of between 1000 MPa and 1500 MPa, and more preferably, between 1300 MPa and 1450 MPa. According to embodiments, the container may be made of polypropylene. Likewise, the main lid may be made of polypropylene.
[0013] According to embodiments, an inner width of the container at the lid engagement portion may be smaller than an inner width of the container below the lid engagement portion. Thereby, the lid engagement portion may be given a wall thickness which is thicker than or similar to the thickness of the side wall below the lid engagement portion. This enables obtaining a mechanically strong lid engagement portion, resulting in a high resistance to any opening attempts, while still enabling the flexibility of the flexible portion to be freely tuned for an optimal pressing force to clear access to the lower edge of the main lid mantle. For a circular container, this means that the inner diameter of the container is smaller at the axial position of the lid engagement portion than at an axial position below the lid engagement portion.
[0014] According to embodiments, an outer face of the lid engagement portion may comprise a lid interlock feature, and an inner face of the main lid mantle may comprise a container interlock feature configured to interlock with the lid interlock feature when the canister is closed. According to embodiments, the container and lid interlock features may be at least partly releasable from each other by depressing the flexible portion of the side wall the centre of the container. According to embodiments, any or each of the lid interlock feature and the container interlock feature may form a closed loop about the container opening when the canister is closed. Any or each of the lid interlock feature and the container interlock feature may comprise a respective interlock ridge, which may be intermittent or continuous. According to embodiments, the interlock features may be configured to snap into engagement with each other when closing the canister.
[0015] According to embodiments, any axial distance between the side wall shoulder and the lower edge of the main lid mantle may be shorter than 0,2 mm, and more preferably, shorter than 0,1 mm. Such a distance prevents a finger nail from even slightly entering any gap between the side wall shoulder and the lower edge of the main lid mantle.
[0016] According to embodiments, the radially outer face of the side wall may be flush with the radially outer face of the main lid mantle when the canister is closed. Thereby, even less indication is given to a child as to where the canister is intended to be opened.
[0017] According to embodiments, a lowermost section of the main lid mantle may be bevelled to an angle of less than 45° in relation to the opening axis. A slight bevel at the lower edge of the lid mantle may ascertain that the lower edge of the main lid mantle does not protrude radially outside the side wall shoulder due to, e.g., deviations within manufacturing tolerances. At the same time, a bevel inclination angle of less than 45° is generally not sufficient for getting a grip of the lower edge of the main lid mantle to open the canister. Preferably, the bevel extends to a radial depth, relative to a non-bevelled portion of the main lid mantle, of less than 0,3 mm.
[0018] According to embodiments, each of an outer face of the lid engagement portion and an inner face of the main lid mantle may comprise a respective polished sealing section, the polished sealing sections sealingly engaging with each other when the canister is closed. The polished sealing sections maintain the flavour and humidity of the nicotine product in the canister. The polished sealing sections may be defined by the container and lid interlock features defined hereinabove.
[0019] According to embodiments, the main lid may define a secondary container for used nicotine product, wherein the child-resistant canister may further comprise a secondary lid closing the secondary container. According to embodiments, a top face of the secondary lid may be flush with an upper edge of the main lid.
[0020] It is noted that embodiments of the invention may be embodied by all possible combinations of features recited in the claims.
[0021] Brief description of the drawings
[0022] The above, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the present invention, will be better understood through the following illustrative and nonlimiting detailed description of preferred embodiments of the present invention, with reference to the appended drawings, where the same reference numerals will be used for similar elements, wherein:
[0023] Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a pocket-sized child-resistant plastic canister for nicotine products seen obliquely from above;
[0024] Fig. 2 is a plan view of the canister of Fig. 1 as seen from the side;
[0025] Fig. 3 is an exploded view of the canister of Figs 1-2 in approximately the same perspective as that of Fig. 1 ;
[0026] Fig. 4 is an exploded view of the canister of Figs 1-3 seen obliquely from below;
[0027] Fig. 5 is an exploded view of the canister of Figs 1-4 in section, the section taken along the line V-V in Fig. 2;
[0028] Fig. 6 is a section of the canister of Figs 1-5 in a closed state, the section taken along the line V-V in Fig. 2;
[0029] Fig. 7 is a section of the canister of Figs 1-6, the section corresponding to that of Fig. 6, wherein a container side wall of the canister is locally depressed; and
[0030] Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the canister of Figs 1 -7 with the container side wall in the locally depressed state of Fig. 7.
[0031] All the figures are schematic, not necessarily to scale, and generally only show parts which are necessary in order to elucidate the embodiments, whereas other parts may be omitted.
[0032] Detailed description of the exemplary embodiments
[0033] Fig. 1 illustrates a pocket-sized child-resistant plastic canister 10 for pouches of orally consumed nicotine products such snuff, snus or non-tobacco nicotine products. The canister comprises a container 12 for holding new nicotine pouches, a main lid 14 closing the container 12, and a secondary lid 16 closing a secondary container (not visible in Fig. 1) for used nicotine pouches, which secondary container is arranged within the main lid 14. The secondary lid 16 also defines a top face 10a of the canister 10. The canister 10 is circular-cylindrical about a symmetry axis A, which also defines an opening axis along which the main lid 14 is initially moved to open the container 12. A recess 18 in a top edge 19 of the main lid facilitates gripping a radial edge 20 of the secondary lid 16 for opening the secondary container. A top face 16a of the secondary lid 16, which also defines the top face 10a of the canister 10, is flush with the top edge 19 of the main lid 14.
[0034] Now referring to Fig. 2, the canister 10 has a total height H of about 23 mm and a total width W of about 70 mm, resulting in a height-to-width ratio H / W of about 1 / 3. As the canister 10 is circular-cylindrical, the total width W is equivalent to the diameter of the canister 10. The main lid 14 comprises a main lid mantle 22, which has a lower edge 22a meeting the container 12 along an interface line L. A height H1 of the main lid 14 above the interface line L is about 25% of the total height H of the canister 10, whereas a height H2 of the container 12 below the interface line L is about 75% of the total height H of the canister 10.
[0035] Figs 3 and 4 illustrate, from two different perspectives, the canister 10 with the main lid 14 separated from the container 12, and the secondary lid 16 separated from the main lid 14. The container 12 comprises a bottom wall 24 and a side wall 26. The upper edge 26a of the side wall 26 defines a container opening 28 facing in an opening direction D along the opening axis A. The upper edge 26a of the side wall 26 extends in a plane perpendicular to the opening axis A.
[0036] The side wall 26 of the container 12 comprises a lid engagement portion 26b configured to be received in the main lid mantle 22 when the canister 10 is closed (Fig. 1), and a side wall shoulder 26c below the lid engagement portion 26b, the side wall shoulder 26c extending radially outwards in relation to the lid engagement portion 26b. When the container 12 is closed by the main lid 14 (Fig. 1 ), the side wall shoulder 26c is positioned immediately below the lower edge 22a of the main lid mantle 22, along the interface line L (Fig. 2).
[0037] As pointed out above, the main lid 14 defines a secondary container 15, which comprises a bottom wall 15a and a circular-cylindrical secondary-container side wall 15b. The secondary lid 16 comprises a circular-cylindrical main lid engagement collar 16b configured to, when the secondary container 15 is closed by the secondary lid 16, extend into the secondary container 15 and engage with an interlock feature of the secondary-container side wall 15b. Fig. 5 illustrates the canister 10 in the section indicated by V-V in Fig. 2. At least a portion 26d of the side wall 26, adjacent to the main lid mantle 22, is flexibly and resiliently finger-depressible in a press direction P towards the centre of the container 12. For the purpose, the side wall 26 is made of a flexibly resilient material, and has a wall thickness adapted to facilitate flexing the flexible portion 26d of the side wall 26 inwards. In the illustrated example, the container 12 is injection-moulded of polypropylene having a Young’s modulus of about 1350 MPa, and the side wall 26 has a wall thickness di of about 0,8 mm. The combination of Young’s modulus and side wall thickness di results in a deformation limit force, which needs to be exceeded to press the flexible portion 26d in the press direction P towards the centre of the container 12, and clear access to the lower edge 22a of the lid mantle 22, of about 40 N.
[0038] The flexible portion 26d of the side wall 26 extends around the entire circumference of the side wall 26, such that the side wall 26 can be finger-pressed inwards at any circumferential position thereof. The main and secondary lids 14, 16 are also made of polypropylene with similar dimensions and properties.
[0039] The lid engagement portion 26b has a thickness d2, adjacent to side wall shoulder 26c, of about 0,8 mm, i.e. it has substantially the same mechanical strength as flexible section 26d of the side wall. The main lid mantle 22 has a thickness ds, at its lower edge 22a, which does not exceed the radial width d4 of the side wall shoulder 26c immediately below; thereby, the radially outermost edge 22b of the lower edge 22a of the main lid mantle 22 does not need to protrude radially beyond the radial extent of the side wall shoulder 26b when the canister 10 is closed. In the illustrated embodiment, the radial thickness ds of the main lid mantle 22, at its lower edge 22a, is about 0,7 mm, and the radial width d4 of the side wall shoulder 26c is about 0,8 mm. An inner width W1 of the container 12 at the axial position of the lid engagement portion 26b is smaller than an inner width W2 of the container 12 at an axial position below the lid engagement portion 26b.
[0040] Fig. 6 illustrates the canister 10 in closed state; a magnified portion of the canister is indicated by 6A. The radially outer face 26d of the side wall 26 is, along the interface line L, flush with the radially outer face 22c of the main lid mantle 22. Accordingly, access to the lower edge 22a (Fig. 5) of the main lid mantle 22 is prevented. The lower edge 22a (Fig. 5) of the main lid mantle 22 abuts the side wall shoulder 26c (Fig. 5), even though a slight axial gap (not illustrated), preferably not exceeding 0,2 mm, might be permitted without jeopardizing the child-resistant character of the canister 10.
[0041] Referring again to Fig. 5, the outer face of the lid engagement portion 26b has a lid interlock feature 30 comprising an interlock ridge 30a and an interlock groove 30b. Similarly, the inner face of the main lid mantle 22 has a container interlock feature 32, which likewise comprises an interlock ridge 32a and an interlock groove 32b. When closing the canister 10, the interlock ridge 30a of the lid interlock feature 30 of the side wall’s 26 lid engagement portion 26b is configured to be received, with snap action, in the interlock groove 32b of the interlock feature 32 of the lid mantle 22. Similarly, the interlock ridge 32a of the lid interlock feature 32 of the lid mantle 22 is configured to be received, with snap action, in the interlock groove 30b of the interlock feature 30 of the side wall’s 26 lid engagement portion 26b.
[0042] Fig. 6 illustrates the canister with engaging interlock features 30, 32. The interlock features 30, 32 extend uniformly about the entire circumference of the canister 10, such that the main lid 14 can be rotated on the container 12 about the opening axis A. The interlock features 30, 32 are dimensioned to provide a rotation resistance torque, about the opening axis A, of about 0,3 Nm. The top of the interlock ridge 30a (Fig. 5) of the side wall’s 26 lid engagement portion 26b radially abuts with the bottom of the interlock groove 32b (Fig. 5) of the main lid mantle 22. In order to increase the flavour tightness of the engagement, the top of the interlock ridge 30a and the bottom of the interlock groove 32b are polished.
[0043] The magnified portion 6A illustrates the engagement between the main lid 14 and the container 12. A second magnified portion 6B illustrates an alternative embodiment, according to which radially outermost edge 22b of the lower edge 22a of the main lid mantle 22 is slightly bevelled by a bevel angle a of about 20° in relation to the opening axis A. This allows the outer face 22c of the main lid mantle 22 to extend radially beyond the outer face 26d of the side wall 26, while still allowing the lower edge 22a of the main lid mantle 22 to remain within the radial extent of the side wall shoulder 26c (Fig. 5).
[0044] Fig. 7 illustrates how to open the canister 10. While Fig. 6 illustrates the canister 10 with the container 12 in an undeformed state, Fig. 7 illustrates the canister 10 with the flexible portion 26d of the side wall 26 depressed in the press direction P towards the centre of the container 12, by a pressing force F, for example using the thumb of a hand gripping the lid 14. This clears the access to the lower edge 22a of the main lid mantle 22, and also locally releases the interlock features 30, 32 (Fig. 5) from each other. The lower edge 22a of the main lid mantle 22 can thereafter be pulled upwards by the finger, e.g. thumb, depressing the flexible portion 26d, to pull the lid 14 open in the opening direction D.
[0045] Fig. 8 illustrates the local deformation of the flexible portion 26d in perspective. The invention has mainly been described above with reference to a few embodiments. However, as is readily appreciated by a person skilled in the art, other embodiments than the ones disclosed above are equally possible within the scope of the invention, as defined by the appended patent claims. For example, even though the invention has been described with reference to a canister 10 having a main lid 14 which is completely removable from the container 12, the teachings are also applicable to canisters having a main lid 14 which is tethered to the container 12 via a hinge. The opening axis A should be construed as the axis along which an initial opening movement of the main lid takes place, i.e. the opening axis of a hinged main lid extends in the same direction as that of a non-hinged main lid, even though the hinge directs the main lid to deviate from the opening axis after the initial opening movement. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality.
Claims
Claims1 . Child-resistant plastic canister (10) for nicotine products, the canister (10) being pocket-sized and having a height-to-width ratio (H / W) between 0,2 and 0,5, the canister (10) comprising a container (12) comprising a bottom wall (24) and a side wall (26), an upper edge (26a) of the side wall (26) defining, when the canister (10) is open, a container opening (28) facing in an opening direction (D) along an opening axis (A); and a main lid (14) configured to close the container opening (28), the main lid (14) comprising a main lid mantle (22), wherein the side wall (26) of the container (12) comprises a lid engagement portion (26b) configured to be received in the main lid mantle (22) when the canister (10) is closed, and a side wall shoulder (26c) positioned below a lower edge (22a) of the main lid mantle (22) when the canister is closed, wherein the side wall shoulder (26c) extends radially outwards to at least the radially outermost edge (22b) of the lower edge (22a) of the main lid mantle (22) along the length of the lower edge (22a) of the main lid mantle (22), thereby preventing access to the lower edge (22a) of the main lid mantle (22) when the side wall (26) is in an undeformed state, and the side wall (26) further comprises a flexible portion (26d) adjacent to the main lid mantle (22), which flexible portion (26d) is resiliently finger- depressible in a direction (P) towards the centre of the container (12), such that depressing the flexible portion (26d) of the side wall (26) clears the access to the lower edge (22a) of the main lid mantle (22).
2. The child-resistant plastic canister according to claim 1 , wherein the flexible portion (26d) of the side wall (26) extends along the entire length of the lower edge (22a) of the main lid mantle (22).
3. The child-resistant plastic canister according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the main lid (14) is rotatable on the container (12) about the opening axis (A) when the canister (10) is closed.
4. The child-resistant plastic canister according to claim 3, wherein the main lid (14) is rotatable on the container (12) against a rotation resistance torque of between 0,1 Nm and 2,0 Nm.
5. The child-resistant plastic canister according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the child-resistant plastic canister (10) is circular-cylindrical.
6. The child-resistant plastic canister according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said flexible portion (26d) has wall thickness (di) of between 0,65 mm and 0,95 mm.
7. The child-resistant plastic canister according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said flexible portion (26d) is resiliently finger-depressible in said direction towards the centre of the container (12), to clear the access to the lower edge (22a) of the main lid mantle (22), provided that the pressing force (F) towards the centre of the container (12) exceeds a deformation limit force of between 20 N and 60 N.
8. The child-resistant plastic canister according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the container (12) is made of a plastic material having a Young’s modulus of between 1000 MPa and 1500 MPa, and more preferably, between 1300 MPa and 1450 MPa.
9. The child-resistant plastic canister according to any of the preceding claims, wherein an inner width of the container (12) at the lid engagement portion (26b) is smaller than an inner width of the container (12) below the lid engagement portion (26b).
10. The child-resistant plastic canister according to any of the preceding claims, wherein an outer face of the lid engagement portion (26b) comprises a lid interlock feature (30) and an inner face of the main lid mantle (22) comprises a container interlock feature (32) configured to interlock with the lid interlock feature (30) when the canister (10) is closed.11 . The child-resistant plastic canister according to any of the preceding claims, wherein any axial distance between the side wall shoulder (26c) and the loweredge (22a) of the main lid mantle (22) is shorter than 0,2 mm, and more preferably, shorter than 0,1 mm.
12. The child-resistant plastic canister according to any of the preceding claims, wherein a radially outer face (26d) of the side wall (26) is flush with the radially outer face (22c) of the main lid mantle (22) when the canister (10) is closed.
13. The child-resistant plastic canister according to any of the preceding claims, wherein a lowermost section of the main lid mantle (22) is bevelled to an angle (a) of less than 45° in relation to the opening axis (A).
14. The child-resistant plastic canister according to any of the preceding claims, wherein each of the outer face of the lid engagement portion (26b) and the inner face of the main lid mantle (22) comprises a respective polished sealing section (30a, 32b), the polished sealing sections (30a, 32b) sealingly engaging with each other when the canister (10) is closed.
15. The child-resistant plastic canister according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the main lid (14) defines a secondary container (15) for used nicotine product, wherein the child-resistant canister (10) further comprises a secondary lid (16) closing the secondary container (15).