Child Resistant Packaging and Capping Machines

Take a look at these products:  Aspirin, furniture polish, mouthwash, cosmetics with low-viscosity hydrocarbons.  It might be difficult for many people to quickly figure out how these products are connected, but they are connected.  Each of the products above, along with many others, require "special packaging" under current law.  

Specifically, this type of packaging "...is designed or constructed to be significantly difficult for children under five years of age to open or obtain a toxic or harmful amount of the substance contained therein within a reasonable time and not difficult for normal adults to use properly, but does not mean packaging which all such children cannot open or obtain a toxic or harmful amount within a reasonable time."  Many times, though not always, this special packaging requirement is met by using a screw on type cap that many people refer to as a child-resistant cap, or CRC.

 

When we work with customers that use CRC's, one question that understandably comes up quite often is how the capping machines manufactured by Liquid Packaging Solutions, Inc. handle such closures.  The truth is, when dealing with screw on type closures, very little modification is necessary.  These type of child resistant caps generally need to be screwed on to the bottle or other container in the same manner as any other type of screw on cap. The difference between a child resistant screw on cap and a normal screw on cap is that the CRC will catch, or lock, at the bottom of the seal.  The locking apparatus will then require, in most cases, that the cap be pressed firmly down to "unlock" the seal before twisting to open the container.  If you have ever used a child resistant screw on cap, this makes sense, as the lids are easy to screw on, but more difficult to remove.

 

For this reason, a standard spindle or chuck capper will often work just fine with CRC's.  A spindle capping machine may use a modified stabilizer to position the cap, or the capper may be set slightly lower to ensure a consistent and reliable seal.  Chuck cappers may employ slightly more torque to finish off the "lock" of the CRC, but additional modification is unlikely.  Again, the closing of the container is the simple part, it is how the package is opened that provides the necessary protection.  Of course, not every tamper proof or child resistant cap is created equal, nor do all use a screw on type closure.  Custom capping machinery may be manufactured for unique closures and containers that require a different type of closure or seal.  In addition, the law surrounding special packaging continues to evolve and change over time, meaning that our equipment must do the same. 

 

For more information on special packaging requirements, read Eric F. Greenberg's article "Poison packaging is an ongoing process" at Packaging World and check out the Code of Federal Regulations at 16 CFR 1700.14 for an extensive list of products that will require such packaging.  For more information on capping equipment for products that require special packaging, contact a Packaging Specialist at Liquid Packaging Solutions.