LID-LESS, squeeze-to-open, self-closing, pill-box

Abstract

An improved hand held thermoplastic multi-purpose lid-less airtight container, that can be squeezed open by the same hand for dispensing when up-ended, and automatically self-closes upon release of the manual squeeze effort, thus restricting exposure to contaminants, bugs, germs etc. and removal of contents by others; depending upon its ultimate usage, said container may be provided with a suitable tamper evident closure as follows: 1/ for pharmacies when filling prescription pills a child resistant tamper evident protection closure is made simply by overlapping the elongated curved slotted outlet of said lid-less container with the self-adhesive prescription paper label presently used by pharmacies for tear-off by the customer 2/ for other than prescription filling, a simple tack-weld at the closure outlet lips for separation by the customer's initial squeeze to open operation 3/ for purchase by the customer for temporary storage of vitamins, drugs, aspirin, usually kept in pockets or purses for quick withdrawal, of the likes of Bayer aspirin towards possibly warding off heart attacks.

Description

CROSS REFERRENCE TO THE RELATED APPLICATION

This application relates to the “Self-Closing Valve With Tamper Evident Lip Seal Tab” Ser. No. 07/08/88, U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,267, granted Apr. 17, 1990 and a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/033,640.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The purpose of this improved novel apparatus is to provide pharmacies with a less costly child resistant tamper evident closure for faster filling of prescription drugs into a LID-LESS all plastic, squeeze-to-open, self-closing airtight pill-box, which always stays closed, unless re-opened by squeezing, thereby preventing withdrawal ofpills by children or entry of contaminants, moisture, germs, bugs etc. Using the LID-LESS pill-box, not only eliminates seal caps and usual storage and handling problems, but provides a simple and positive way to form a child resistant tamper evident closure by merely overlapping the outlet lips of said lid-less pillbox with a modified version of the bar coded self-adhesive paper label portion shown on the 8½″×11″ computer formats presently used by pharmacies, thereby providing the pharmacist with an in-house tamper evident lip seal closure, and the consumer, at-home protection against tampering by children.

Samples of the LDPE plastic pill-box along with copy of this patent's preceding provisional application No. 60/553,327 (filing date Mar. 16, 2004) were sent to FDA's Consumer Product Safety Commission for acceptance in pharmaceutical prescription packaging applications. Obviously, this improved apparatus can be used for other than pharmaceutical products. Details, along with an alternate tack-welded, indented lip seal tamper evident closure for larger multi-purpose pouches, are described hereinafter

2. Description of the Prior Art

Prior art for overlapping the outlet lips of a lid-less pillbox using present pharmaceutical type prescription self adhesive paper labels to form a child resistant tamper evident closure as proposed herein, appears to be non-existent, however, prior art does exist for my “Self-Closing Valve With Tamper Evident Lip Seal Tab” per U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,267 conceived, designed and built from standard cylindrical plastic bottles with conventional threaded outlets, made from flexible LDPE, Low Density Polyethylene Chevron PE5104 resin. The bottles were cut at the shoulder line for removal of the threaded outlet nipple, to form t vial having an opening the same as that of the bottle width diameter for easy clamping, heating and post-forming of the novel squeeze-to-open, self-closing elongated curved outlet lips. The unit was market tested at local pharmacies, for direct purchase by customers; not by pharmacists for prescription filling, as proposed herein. Initially, the tests showed a demand for the novel self-closing pill-box. Later on however, repeat orders were limited because of the durability of the self-closing outlet with a life expectancy of 5 to 10 years. As presently produced, the squeeze-to-open, self-closing dispenser is too costly to replace present drug store prescription bottles; therefore this patent application with novel cost reduction improvements described in the Summary of the Invention.

The possibility of infringements were abandoned after review of the prior arts listed in U.S. Patent Documents references cited in U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,267 (LAVERDURE). Please note most of the listed prior art references are for storing liquids in thin plastic film bags, except one for viscous material per U.S. Pat. No. 3,773,233 (SOUZA) in a containers and another U.S. Pat. No. 3,342,318 (RUEKBERG) for restricted flow, gasket sealed, single tablet dispenser without tamper evident or child resistant protection, whereas the pill-box of this invention pertains to dispensing various products, in various amounts without restriction to flow; and provided with tamper evident and child resistant dispensing. Subsequent to the above, U.S. Pat. No. 5,727,593 (DUER) discloses a cylindrical bottomless apparatus (not intended for storing products) used only as a self-closing valve, having a curved elongated outlet exactly as defined in LAVERDURE's U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,267 but made of different material and for different purpose i.e. to prevent back-flow into city streets from flooded rivers that may be built as six feet or more in diameter, and therefor not intended to be built as a squeeze-to-open portable hand held container.

The following describes what is considered to be improvements over prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The experience gained making and selling the Lid-less elongated curved outlet dispensers, per my previous aforementioned patent, ascertains they could be formed in an even simpler, more effective and economical manner per the following.

Instead of post-forming the elongated curved outlet from precut plastic bottles, make said elongated curved outlet integrally, as part of the original item. The mold for making said item shall be cored for cooling according to conventional practice, and heated for melting the plastic resin to form said Lid-less pill-box's cylindrical walled outlet until it outwardly tapers to an adjoining, widened, flattened, smooth curved quadrant slot; said discharge slot having opposed nested walls substantially in face to face contact when self-closing into its normal position, said curved discharge slot retains its structural shape and self-closing by cooling and compression prior to release from the mold used for thermoforming, said opposing walls of the curved quadrant discharge slot have a thickness to insure self-closing snap-back stress upon application of digital force at the exterior of the broadened outwardly tapering sides adjoining the widened, flattened curve discharge slot portion of the self-closing Lid-less pill-box.

Blow-molding appears to be the preferred method for forming the nested curved portion of the elongated airtight closure using, A/ mechanical means, such as adjustable clamps for compressing the remaining free space between the curved male and female lip portions, formed within the mold housing from 212F to ambient temperature, or B/ eject said unsealed curved elongated outlet, for post forming and final compression using Vertrod, or equal electric impulse water cooled heater or C/ apply ambient 15 psi atmospheric air for compressing said curved outlet into a nested airtight closure while under vacuum per the following:

Apply vacuum within said pill-box's chamber walls, to cause standard 15 psi external atmospheric air to compress the outer portions of the male and female elongated curved outlet lips into a nested self-closing airtight closure, at 212 F the softening point of LDPE. Vacuum may be obtained by using 5 psi steam, at the final stage of the blow-molding cooling cycle to maintain the 212F softening point temperature of LDPE, and for condensing said steam by heat transfer via the blow-molding cooling water. A compression time of 4 seconds at 212F is required for shaping, and 2 seconds cooling time at ambient temperature for establishing a permanent set or shape for the Lid-less elongated curved outlet, before release from the blow mold housing. External air may be introduced within the blow mold housing via the clamping device normally used to cut-off the paragon. Initially, the usual blow mold compressed air temperature of 350F is used for melting the LDPE plastic resin, at which point 125 psi high pressure steam is injected until the blow mold cooling temperature reaches 212F, at which point the compressed air blowing stream is shut-off and high pressure 125 psi steam pressure is reduced to 5 psi, for maintaining the mold temperature at 212F the softening point of LDPE, while shaping the elongated curved outlet during said 5 psi steam condensation. The advantages doing the above are: a/ uses less plastic material b/ uses less labor and tools, eliminates the saw cutting and clamping for reshaping the outlet neck portion of the aforementioned plastic flexible bottles, c/ the condensed low pressure steam creates a sanitized germ free airtight closure upon release from the mold.

d/ should inspection reveal insufficient “snap-back” in the self-closing elongated curved outlet, rather than recycling through the blow molder, such can be corrected by clamping the curved portion of the elongated outlet into a modified Vertrod model 4H or equal, electric impulse heater which can be provided with water cooling. Further major advantages are gained when using the novel elongated curved airtight closure, rather than conventional cylindrical outlets:

A/ Said novel tamper evident closure eliminates caps and their storage and handling problems, and the integrally molded lip seal tab shown on my my U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,267.

B/ A much simpler tamper evident closure is obtained by merely overlapping a portion of the typical 8½″×11″ self-adhesive prescription label used by pharmacists, over the pill-box's air tight curved elongated outlet shown in drawings Sheet 2 and 3; said closure is more child resistant, and much simpler to manipulate, than the usual snap-on child resistant cylindrical cap.

The cost for making this novel pill-box can possibly be paid within one year, from repeat sales of a portion of the nation's 55,000 drug stores that normally average 1000 prescriptions per week, half requiring 2 ounce and under size pill-boxes. Assuming a profit of one cent per pill box when selling to only 27,000 drug stores could yield seven million dollars per year.

Adhering to the same LDPE plastic material, wall thickness, outside diameter and inside radius of the elongated curved outlet slot used for making the original patented self-closing dispenser, guarantees an improved Lid-less pill-box, as summarized below:

1/ The closure lips of the Lid-less elongated curved dispenser outlet, when at ambient temperatures, maintains a dust and air-tight seal for several years. They withstood an original test of 1000 continuous opening and closing cycles.

2/ The standard natural finish of LDPE plastic, has an opaqueness that resists ultra-violet rays better than the amber colored vials used by pharmacies.

3/ LDPE plastic can be tinted using BPI molecular catalytic pink, made by Brain Power, Inc. Additives such as Titanium Dioxide can not be used for coloring, it will negate the plastic's flexibility and “snap-back” needed for self-closing.

4/ The {fraction (1/32)} inch wall thickness and the {fraction (9/32)} inch inside radius of the curved quadrant elongated outlet, normally used for effortless squeezing, can be altered for making it easier to open for arthritics, or more difficult for children, by lengthening the radius and/or thinning the wall for arthritics, and conversely for children. The method of applying prescription adhesive labels as heretofore mentioned and detailed in FIGS. 1F, 1G, 1H, 1I and 1J offers sufficient resistance to make it improbable for opening by children, under 5 years of age in compliance with FDA regulations.

5/ The dispenser outlet, may be made liquid tight, depending on conditions, such as viscosity, porosity, differential pressure via air-transport etc., by providing a separate elongated slip-on compression clip, to fit over and compress the flexible nested lips of the elongated curved dispenser outlet, when in the closed position.

6/ For small volume business the packaging supplier may use a simple hot water bath and vise clamping tool for shaping and compressing the outlet walls of a plain vial to form contact with one another into a curved elongated outlet for immersion in the hot water bath, at the plastic's softening point for several seconds; then dip in max. 90 F temperature water for establishing its set shape, for a few seconds, prior to release from the clamping tool.

7/ For item 6 above consider converting existing molds, used for plastic bottles such as Classic Containers, Inc.'s Item no. 010300-022001 One Ounce Tall Natural LDPE plastic into molds for making vials, by blanking out the generally cylindrical threaded outlet portion of said bottle molds.

8/ For item 6 above, consider converting the amber colored molds, presently used by pharmacies, having approx. 1 inch outside diameters for the 13 and 16 dram sizes, by eliminating said vial's cap outlet connections, and using Chevron's PE 5104 LDPE molding resin or equal. Note the 16 dram vial has the same capacity as the one ounce mentioned in item 7 above.

9/ Other options for making the closure outlet lips air-tight are, blow-mold the container with preformed curved outlet lips, having minimum allowable clearance between said outlet lips, for a/ post-forming said outlet lips by heating and compression clamping by others, or b/ do the final nesting of the curved outlet within the blow mold housing as previously specified, or shrink-fit the metal mold housing during its cooling down period. Special alloys such as used by Uniloy for the aerospace industries may be needed.

10/ When output production demands it, consider using ultrasonic energy for softening and shaping the LDPE plastic. Operate the ultrasonic unit at the plastic's softening point which is approx. 200 degrees F. to prevent melting thereof.

11/ Regarding Tamper Evident Closure: Presently, standard caps for cylindrical round bottles used by pharmacies are not tamper proof, but should be, for protection against tampering, particularly when left overnight for later pick-up by tardy customers; furthermore, different caps, ratio being 2 to 1 in favor of “Child-Resistant” over “Not Child Resistant” are required, both unfriendly to elderly and arthritics; whereas, simply overlapping this unique pill-box, as shown per FIG. 1F on drawings Sheets 1, 2 and 3, forms a combination child resistant tamper evident closure, for easy access to the pill-box curved elongated slotted outlet for dispensing. Standard prescription self-adhesive paper labels, presently used by pharmacies can be used without physical changes thereto, other than normal pre-printing of form for addition of data including a simple printed fold line portion for item 28, for folding atop said pill-box slotted outlet, and outline of pull-tab item 29 with easy tear guides as shown on FIG. 1G drawing Sheet 3

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a cross sectional view of the self-closing curved quadrant shaped outlet in its shipping position.

FIG. 1B is a side view of FIG. 1A. It shows arrows where digital force is applied for opening the closed outlet for discharge of pills, capsules, solids, etc, when upended.

FIG. 1C is a top view of FIG. 1A showing a tack-weld for an alternate tamper evident closure.

FIG. 1D shows cross section of possible liquid tight closure assembly.

FIG. 1E is a perspective view showing the pill-box, without tamper evident closure, being squeezed manually to open for discharge of pills etc., when upended.

FIG. 1F is a partial cross-sectional isometric projection of FIG. 11B showing in-house tamper evident protection for prescription drugs packaged by and sold by the pharmacists using pharmacy's standard prescription bar coded self-adhesive paper labels, or equal.

FIG. 1G Plan view of a typical 8½″×11″ format presently used by pharmacies for computer printing bar coded self-adhesive paper prescription labels for small 13 and 16 dram capacity pill-boxes; per this invention, said label is intended to be used for making a tamper evident seal closure for a lid-less squeeze to open self closing pillbox.

FIG. 1G1 shows cross section of the portion released from the 8½″×11″ adhesive protective liner for making said tamper evident seal closure.

FIG. 1H Bent side view of FIG. 1G1, showing Steps 1, 2 and 3 for bonding the self-adhesive paper portion of the tamper evident seal closure to the lid-less pillbox.

FIG. 1I Front view of the bar coded printed prescription portion of the self-adhesive paper label mounted atop the convex curved portion of the pill-box's elongated slotted outlet and it's tapered front body, full length terminating at it's outward bottom portion, for clear observation of the pharmacist's computer typed prescribed medicine, dosage, count etc as required by the state's Board of Pharmacies. Section “A-A” is a cross sectional view of FIG. 1I showing the pull tab 29, for tear-off opening per pre-printed instructions to the customer for dispensing pills.

FIG. 1J is a perspective view showing the pill-box being squeezed manually to open for discharge of pills etc., after pull tab removal of the tamper evident seal closure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1A and 1B FIG. 1A is a cross sectional view of the multi-purpose container 10, and FIG. 1B is the back side elevation of FIG. 1A. The inwardly tapering sides 20, and 21, starting at the bottom 11, of container 10, and the outwardly tapering sides 20, and 21, are formed by pressure applied to the curved outlet portion 12, which comprises the beginning of the dispenser outlet for the apparatus. The valve apparatus is self-closing, as will be discussed below. As heat and pressure are applied to form the curved dispenser outlet 12, the container 10, is flattened and broadened to define the outwardly tapering sides 20, and 21. The heat forming specifically provides for opposing walls 14, and 15, which comprise continuation of the outwardly tapering walls 20, and 21, respectively, and also comprise the nested walls defining lidless self-closing elements of the apparatus of the present invention. The opposing walls 14, and 15, curve, and said curve may be defined as a curved quadrant 12, which has a predetermined radius extending from the slotted outlet 13, to outer lips 16. The heat and pressure applied in forming the nested opposing walls 14, and 15, is not sufficient to weld them together, but is sufficient to impart into the thermoplastic material a memory after set cooling prior to release from the thermoforming tool which causes the walls to nest against each other and form the tapering sides 20, and 21, and 20, and 21, and the slotted outlet 13, and the walls 14, and 15, to the outlet lips 16. When product filling is completed, the container 10, self-closes automatically upon release of the manual, or pre-set holding clamp tool squeeze-to-open effort.

FIG. 1C Should tamper evident protection be required for stored product other than pharmaceutical pills, such can be provided by heat forming a tack-weld melted indent 22, which when cooled at ambient temperatures sets, for joining and sealing the upper and lower outer lip portions 16, of the elongated curved quadrant outlet 12, Upon application of the initial squeeze-to-open product dispensing operation, said tack-weld 22, breaks and separates due to the squeeze-to-open effort applied by the consumer. See FIG. 1F for the preferred self adhesive paper pharmaceutical tamper evident protection, for pill-boxes.

FIG. 1D is a cross sectional view showing the lips 16, of the curved outlet 12, of container 10, compressed together to form a liquid tight seal by seal clip housing 19, individually molded of resilient plastic having a hollow core for a push slide fit over said outlet lips 16, and provided with outer reinforcement 23 joining the sides 24, and 25. An inwardly beveled portion 26, acts as a housing guide for compressing the outlet lips 16, towards forming the liquid tight seal.

FIG. 1E is a user's hand 2, shown holding the container apparatus 10, without tamper evident closure, in upended position, with a thumb 3, applying pressure to the outwardly tapering side 21′, and a finger 4, applying pressure to the outwardly tapering side 20′. This results in the opening of the outlet lips 16 to allow material 6 to be dispensed.

FIG. 1F is a partial cross-sectional isometric projection of FIG. 1B showing tamper evident protection for prescription drugs, packaged by and sold by the pharmacist, using a modified version of the pharmacy's typical 8½″×11″ computer format prescription bar coded self-adhesive paper labels, for sealing outlet lips 16 as follows: upon filling pill-box 10, the required prescription data is computer typed and bar coded on self-adhesive prescription label 27; after removal from its protective self-adhesive liner it is immediately fastened, by the pharmacist to pill-box 10, with printed fold line portion 28 centrally aligned atop with the elongated curved convex outlet 14 adjacent to but not in contact with outlet lips 16 for their exposure only when said printed fold line portion 28 is removed by the customer; the remaining portion of label 27 is centered with said pill-box outlet lips 16, and over the outer portion of the opposed, nested elongated curved outlet walls 14 and 15, for unglued outer edges 30 and glued outer edges 31 to bond (making for a quicker glue set than if both edges were adhesive covered) and overlap for complete wrap around the pill box 10 mid section, with front portion of prescription label 27 terminating at the bottom of said pillbox, whereas, the opposing far side unglued portion 27′ terminates at the pillbox mid-section where the unglued tab portion 29 is lifted from its die cut portion 29′ for easy pulling along perforated seams 28′ within ½″ of the printed fold line portion 28 atop the elongated pillbox outlet portion; the remaining ½″ when torn by other than the customer is visual evidence that the pillbox outlet slot has been tampered with for return to the pharmacy. See FIG. 1G for details such as Customer Instructions 35, showing how to open and squeeze pillbox for dispensing pills and Pharmacy Usage 36 extra space for special instructions which can later be separated from label 27 by tear-away seam 28″.

Note the self-adhesive prescription paper label 27, initially, is manually pressed against the concave portion of the elongated curved opposing wall 15 thus offering resistance to flex, making it more difficult, if not impossible for a child to squeeze open pillbox 10. Said arrangement gives an in-house tamper evident protection that allows the pharmacist to perform other duties prior to contacting the customer for direct sale. Rather than tearing off the label from its printed fold line portion 28 atop the elongated outlet lips 16 of pillbox 10, the customer, has the option of merely pulling it back for dispensing or reapplication for further protection against tampering, possibly by children.

FIG. 1G is the plan view of a typical 8½″×11″ format presently used by pharmacies for computer printed bar coded self-adhesive paper prescription labels with liner 34 showing preprinted portion 27 and 27′ sized and shaped via die cutting for release from liner 34 for making the tamper evident closure wrap-around for 13 and 16 dram capacity pill-box 10; said preprinted front portion 27 outlines data that the pharmacist computer types in, including bar coding to comply with the State Board of Pharmaceuticals, whereas the back portion 27′ is completely preprinted with Customer Information 35 on how to open the pill-box for dispensing pills, by first pulling on the unglued pull tab portion 29 where arrow 32 is shown, and later disposal by using tear-away seam 28′″.

FIG. 1G1 is the cross section of the above dimensioned plan view version of FIG. 1G paper label, after its removal from its 8½″×11″ adhesive protective liner 34, said label is dimensioned for a 1¼″ long pillbox slotted outlet and shows the preprinted bar coded computer typed glued front portion 27 separated from the preprinted customer instruction back side unglued shaded portion 27′ by the printed fold line portion 28.

FIG. 1H The purpose of this exhibit is to show, presumably the pharmacist, a simple method for aligning the self adhesive printed label 27, with the elongated outlet lips 16, of the lid-less pillbox 10 as follows:

STEP 1 bend self adhesive label 27 at its tear-away seam 28, for alignment and centering of said label with outlet lips 16 and then bonding the convex top portion of said elongated lips and the remaining portion of 27 to the front portion of the lid-less pillbox 10

STEP 2 continue wrapping portion 27′ at the separation fold line 28 and bend said portion 27′ for wrapping the concave portion of the curved elongated outlet as described in FIG. 1F.

STEP 3 is a cross-sectional view of lid-less pillbox 10 bonded with self-adhesive label 27 full length of front of the pillbox, whereas the back portion 27′ is shown in phantom for pulling out by the customer's thumb 3 and finger 4 for tear-off and exposure of pillbox outlet for dispensing pills.

FIG. 1I and section “A-A” thereof show the pairing of 27 the prescription label and 27′ wrapped around pill-box 10 with particular attention to joining outer ½ inch portions 30 and 31

FIG. 1J shows the customer's thumb 3 and finger 4 squeezing pill-box 10 for dispensing with the prescription label 27 atop outlet lip 16 while bottom lip portion 16 shows portion 27′ and its pull tab 29 removed

While the principles of the invention have been made clear in illustrative embodiments employing specified materials, there will be immediately obvious to those skilled in the art many modifications of structure, arrangement, proportions, the elements, materials, and components used in the practice of the invention, and otherwise, which are particularly adapted to specific environments and operative requirements without departing from those principles. The appended claims are intended to cover and embrace any and all such modifications, within the limits of only the true spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A small low density polyethylene (LDPE) thermoplastic lid-less airtight squeeze-to-open, self-closing container molded to form a small hand held manually squeeze-able container for dispensing solids or liquids which self-closes upon release of the squeeze effort; when the walled portion of said cylindrical container is formed until it outwardly tapers to an adjoining, widened, flattened, smooth curved quadrant slot; said discharge slot having opposed nested walls substantially in face to face contact when self-closing by cooling and compression prior to release from the mold used for thermoforming, said opposing walls of the curved quadrant discharge slot have a thickness to insure self-closing snap-back stress upon application of digital force at the exterior of the broadened outwardly tapering sides adjoining the widened, flattened curved discharge slot portion of the self-closing container.

2. A small, hand held, lid-less, thermoplastic container, as in claim 1, used for filling prescription drugs by pharmacists, for sale to consumers who can dispense said pills, by manually squeezing open the container's lid-less elongated quadrant curved slotted outlet, which upon release of the squeeze effort, automatically self-closes, thereby eliminating the time consuming, costly and sometime difficult closure capping operation, which oftentimes is neglected by the consumer, thereby exposing the contents of said container to moisture, contamination, spillage and possible withdrawal of pills by others, particularly children.

3 The container of claim 1, wherein said elongated quadrant curved slotted outlet, is provided with a tamper evident seal closure, by overlapping, wrapping and fastening both sides of the outer portions of said elongated quadrant curved slotted outlet and the outwardly tapered portion of the container, with the likes of a typical pharmaceutical bar coded, self-adhesive paper prescription label presently used, which when partially removed or torn off for dispensing product, other than by the consumer, indicates tampering.

4. The container of claim 1, wherein self-adhesive paper prescription label is made thick enough to provide a grooved tear-away joint which can easily be creased by the pharmacist for folding and alignment of said creased joint atop and adjacent to the slotted portion of the container's elongated quadrant curved slotted outlet.

5 The container of claim 1, wherein paper prescription label is made part of a typical mailing envelope with self-adhesive lap for sealing said envelope after insertion of the filled container.

6 The container of claim 1, wherein said thermoplastic is Low Density Polyethylene or equal, provided with standard natural finish, which gives the necessary opaqueness required for Ultra-Violet light resistance, and surface adherence for application of typical pharmaceutical self-adhesive prescription labels, or equal.

7 Stiffer plastics, the likes of Polypropylene may be used, for making a flexible container per claim 1, by forming thinner outlet lips and container walls in accordance with specified melting and softening temperatures.

8 Softer Plastics the likes of Poly-Vinyl-Chloride may be used, for making a flexible container per claim 1, by forming thicker outlet lips and walls in accordance with specified melting and softening temperatures.

9 The container of claim 1, wherein said elongated quadrant curved slotted outlet is post-formed by clamping and heating said generally cylindrical walled outlet of the container, at the softening temperature of the thermoplastic LDPE, or equal material used, then cooling prior to release from the clamping tool to establish or set its permanent molded shape.

10. A small, hand held, multi-purpose lid-less, flexible thermoplastic container, as in claim 1, having a flexible elongated quadrant curved slotted outlet that can be squeezed open for dispensing; which self-closes automatically upon release of the squeeze effort; normally purchased empty by the consumer for temporary storage of various products, such as; a/ hardware; brads, tacks, nuts and bolts etc., b/ jewelry, pairing of ear-rings c/ Ofishing; hooks, lures, weights, bait, acts as a bobbin when afloat d/ candy; jelly beans, mints etc. e/ sewing; beads, pins, needles f/ use as temporary storage in pockets or purses for drugs, vitamins, aspirin etc. while away from home g/ covering the wet end of a tooth brush while away from home, and other applications too numerous to mention.

11 The container of claim 1, wherein said container is filled with product by a packaging company for consumption by others, thereby requiring tamper evident protection for the consumer, by overlapping, wrapping and fastening both sides of the outer portions of said elongated quadrant curved slotted outlet and outwardly tapered portions of the container, with a company bar coded product description self-adhesive paper label, which when partially removed or torn off, other than by the consumer, indicates tampering

12 An alternate to claim 1, wherein said container is filled with product by a packaging company for consumption by others, thereby requiring a tamper evident seal closure for the elongated curved quadrant outlet, by joining and sealing the outer lip portions of said outlet by heat forming a tack-weld melted indent which when cooled at ambient temperature sets, for joining said lips which upon application of the initial squeeze-to-open operation, said tack-weld breaks and separates by the squeeze-to-open effort.

13 The flexible elongated quadrant curved slotted dispenser outlet closure lips, can be made tighter by providing a rigid reinforced plastic elongated housing to slip over and compress said dispenser outlet closure lips.

14 During the blow molding process for forming the LDPE container per claim 1, blow low pressure steam to cool down the thennoplastic to its softening point (212F for LDPE) and condense said steam within the dispenser chamber walls via the blow molding water cooling system, to permit ambient 15 psi atmospheric air to provide the compressive force required to mate the male and female elongated curved dispenser outlet lips into a nested squeeze-to-open self-closing closure.

15 For making the elongated curved closure lips airtight, employ a metal for the blow mold housing that will shrink fit during the cooling down period of 350F to ambient, thereby compressing said lips for closure.

16 Provide, any container having an elongated slotted outlet for dispensing product, with a tamper evident sealed closure made from any pliable material having self-adhesive glue for covering and sealing the lips of said elongated slotted outlet.

17 Provide, any container attachment such as threaded or snap-on caps having elongated slotted outlet, with tamper evident protection as outlined in claim 16.