Grinder safety cap

Abstract

The invention involves a grinder safety cap suitable for medicinal items such as herbs or other consumable substances that may be desirably restricted from children, and which may require grinding and/or homogenizing before ingestion. The grinder safety cap is comprised of a cover shell and base shell, wherein the cover shell fits snugly over an upwardly extending top wall of the base shell. The base shell may have upwardly extending grinding protrusions, having sharp and/or serrated edges, capable of grinding, cutting, or otherwise reducing the particle size of a consumable substance. The cover shell may also have downwardly extending grinding protrusions. A consumable substance may be placed within a cavity or receptacle of the base shell, the cover shell may be placed over the top wall of the base shell so as to close the grinder safety cap, and the consumable substance may be ground by turning the cover shell.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A grinder safety cap, comprising:
 a base shell including a top surface and a bottom surface encircled by a wall, wherein:
 an interior of the wall includes child-safety ridges that removably register the base shell directly to a child-safe container; and 
 the top surface is devoid of openings and includes upwardly extending grinding protrusions; and 
   a cover shell removably coupled to the base shell, the cover shell including an interior bottom surface with downwardly extending grinding protrusions, wherein the cover shell is configured to freely rotate about an axis on the top surface of the base shell.   
     
     
         2 . The grinder safety cap of  claim 1 , wherein the base shell further includes a top wall encircling the upwardly extending grinding protrusions to define a receptacle on the top surface of the base shell. 
     
     
         3 . The grinder safety cap of  claim 2 , wherein the top wall encircling the upwardly extending grinding protrusions comprises a smaller circumference than a circumference of the base shell. 
     
     
         4 . The grinder safety cap of  claim 2 , wherein the top wall encircling the upwardly extending grinding protrusions comprises a track along an exterior surface of the top wall. 
     
     
         5 . The grinder safety cap of  claim 4 , wherein the track along the exterior surface of the top wall includes an opening adapted to register with at least one track ridge protruding from the interior bottom surface of the cover shell. 
     
     
         6 . The grinder safety cap of  claim 1 , wherein the cover shell further includes a track along the interior bottom surface of the cover shell. 
     
     
         7 . The grinder safety cap of  claim 6 , wherein the track is defined by a circular ridge extending downwardly from the interior bottom surface, the track configured to receive a portion of the base shell. 
     
     
         8 . The grinder safety cap of  claim 6 , wherein the upwardly extending grinding protrusions on the top surface of the base shell form a complementary plurality of concentric circles adapted to register with the plurality of concentric circles formed by the downwardly extending grinding protrusions on the interior bottom surface. 
     
     
         9 . The grinder safety cap of  claim 1 , wherein the downwardly extending grinding protrusions on the interior bottom surface of the cover shell form a plurality of concentric circles. 
     
     
         10 . The grinder safety cap of  claim 1 , wherein the cover shell and the base shell further include markings that facilitate registering the cover shell to the base shell, and wherein the cover shell can only be removed from the base shell when the markings on each respective shell are aligned. 
     
     
         11 . A grinder safety cap, comprising:
 a base shell including a top surface and a bottom surface encircled by a wall, wherein:
 an interior of the wall includes child-safety ridges that removably register the base shell directly to a child-safe container; 
 the top surface is devoid of openings and includes upwardly extending grinding protrusions encircled by a top wall to define a receptacle on the top surface of the base shell; 
 an exterior surface of the top wall includes a track spanning the circumference of the top wall; and 
 a cover shell removably coupled to the base shell, the cover shell including an interior bottom surface with downwardly extending grinding protrusions, wherein the cover shell further comprises an indentation along an interior surface of the cover shell, wherein the track of the top wall of the base shell registers with the indentation of the cover shell; and 
   wherein the upwardly extending grinding protrusions and the downwardly extending grinding protrusions are configured to grind a consumable substance placed within an interior cavity of the base shell.   
     
     
         12 . The grinder safety cap of  claim 11 , wherein the top wall encircling the upwardly extending grinding protrusions comprises a smaller circumference than a circumference of the base shell. 
     
     
         13 . The grinder safety cap of  claim 11 , wherein the track spanning the circumference of the top wall includes an opening adapted to register with at least one track ridge protruding from the interior bottom surface of the cover shell. 
     
     
         14 . The grinder safety cap of  claim 11 , wherein the downwardly extending grinding protrusions on the interior bottom surface of the cover shell form a plurality of concentric circles. 
     
     
         15 . The grinder safety cap of  claim 11 , wherein the upwardly extending grinding protrusions on the top surface of the base shell form a complementary plurality of concentric circles adapted to register with the plurality of concentric circles formed by the downwardly extending grinding protrusions on the interior bottom surface. 
     
     
         16 . The grinder safety cap of  claim 11 , wherein the cover shell and the base shell further include markings that facilitate registering the cover shell to the base shell, and wherein the cover shell can only be removed from the base shell when the markings on each respective shell are aligned. 
     
     
         17 . The grinder safety cap of  claim 11 , wherein an exterior surface of the cover shell has indentations and grooves. 
     
     
         18 . The grinder safety cap of  claim 11 , wherein grinding the consumable substance is by turning the cover shell clockwise and counter-clockwise around the top wall of the base shell. 
     
     
         19 . The grinder safety cap of  claim 11 , wherein an exterior of the bottom surface of the base shell has indentations and grooves. 
     
     
         20 . The grinder safety cap of  claim 11 , wherein the cover shell is configured to freely rotate about an axis on the top surface of the base shell.