Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
  • G09F—DISPLAYING; ADVERTISING; SIGNS; LABELS OR NAME-PLATES; SEALS
  • G09F3/00—Labels, tag tickets, or similar identification or indication means; Seals; Postage or like stamps
  • G09F3/02—Forms or constructions
  • G09F3/0291—Labels or tickets undergoing a change under particular conditions, e.g. heat, radiation, passage of time
  • G09F3/0292—Labels or tickets undergoing a change under particular conditions, e.g. heat, radiation, passage of time tamper indicating labels
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D33/00—Details of, or accessories for, sacks or bags
  • B65D33/16—End- or aperture-closing arrangements or devices
  • B65D33/34—End- or aperture-closing arrangements or devices with special means for indicating unauthorised opening
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D35/00—Pliable tubular containers adapted to be permanently or temporarily deformed to expel contents, e.g. collapsible tubes for toothpaste or other plastic or semi-liquid material; Holders therefor
  • B65D35/24—Pliable tubular containers adapted to be permanently or temporarily deformed to expel contents, e.g. collapsible tubes for toothpaste or other plastic or semi-liquid material; Holders therefor with auxiliary devices
  • B65D35/32—Winding keys
  • B65D35/34—Winding keys connected to, or associated with, tube holders

Definitions

• This invention relates to tamper indicating packages and labels, and in particular, to packages made of plastics materials, of a type which are commonly used for transporting cash or other valuables, and which are arrange so as to ensure that no tampering with the contents is possible, without such tampering being made immediately obvious on inspection.
• the pattern of the release layer preferably spell out some wording such as "void", and thus, if the ink layer is opaque, and the base film is transparent or.translucent, these words will be revealed, as soon as the seal is pulled apart, and it will then be very difficult for the interrupted areas of ink to be reconstituted in such a way that the wording is no longer visible.
• systems of this kind depend on the fac that the ink has low cohesive strength, and will adhere to whichever surface has the greatest surface energy.
• seals of this kind are useful to prevent openin of the bag by freezing it, which reduces the adhesivity of the adhesive.
• the adhesive layer, and the ink layer are made continuous, and the discontinuities are provided by the silicone release layer.
• such an arrangement does have the disadvantage tha it is necessary to apply three successive coatings to the material, i.e. the release layer, the ink, and the adhesive.
• the present invention therefore seeks to provide a tamper evident sealing system which has improved performanc and at the same time is simpler to manufacture.
• the present invention provides a closure for a security bag or a security label, comprising a seal for two surfaces which can be contacted together, and including an ink pattern and an adhesive pattern, which are so arranged that they overlap, but do not match, at least when the seal is closed.
• the ink pattern is applied first to one of the surfaces to be sealed, and overlaid by the adhesive pattern.
• the ink pattern is applied to one surface and the adhesive is applied to the opposing surface. Because the ink receiving surface must be of low surface energy great care must be used to ensure that the pattern is not damaged by normal handling before the seal is achieved.
• the supporting surface is first treated by corona discharge so as to increase surface energy and the surface is subsequently treated with a coating which reduces the surface energy to a predetermined degree for example, a coating of silicone acrylate or a blend of a silicone copolymer with other polymers or copolymers.
• a similar effect may be achieved more simply by leaving the surface untreated and instead, using an ink which has adequate bonding to the surface.
• These inks include those which are based on nitro-cellulose and polyamides, possibly modified by the addition of wax to obtain the right balance of adhesive and cohesive strengths.
• titanium esters may be added to increase the temperature resistance
• nitro-cellulose urethane inks with titanates may also be utilised.
• ink vehicles may be used including inks which are cured by UV light and use water rather than solvents as their diluent * -.
• the adhesive strips may be in straight lines or i an undulating pattern produced by moving the extruder head across the substrate or conversely moving the substrate across the glue head.
• a seal or closure in which one surface carries at least one initially continuous region of conductive ink covered by a discontinuous layer of adhesive the adhesive being applied in lines such that the continuit of the ink will be disrupted by any attempt to open the package, so that such tampering can be subsequently detecte by measuring the resistivity of the ink pattern.
• Such conductive inks are well known, in various other applications.
• the adhesive pattern is applied first to one of the surfaces and the ink pattern is superimposed on it.
• This adhesive pattern may also consist of straigh or wavy lines of adhesive.
• tamper evidence can be achieve even when the cohesive strength of the adhesive has been diminished e.g. by high temperatures, in addition to the situation at normal and low temperatures. This is because the failure of the seal by cohesive failure still results i ink being transferred from one surface to the other and matching of the pattern becomes extremely difficult.
• the application of the ink over the adhesive surface is best carried out by a non-contacting process suc as an ink jet printer.
• Figure 1 is a plan view of part of a bag closure flap of a first type in accordance with the invention
• Figure 2 is a plan view of a closure of a second type
• Figure 3 is a schematic view of a securiuty bag incorporating a closure of the type shown in Figure 1;
• Figure 4 illustrates a second type of bag incorporating a seal according to the invention
• Figure 5 illustrates a third example of a securit bag
• Figure 6 illustrates a fourth example of a security bag
• Figure 7 is a partial view of an alternative form of seal in accordance with the invention.
• a small section of a sealing flap for a security bag comprising region 2 extending along one edge of the flap, which is adapted to be heat sealed onto a corresponding edge of the bag to be sealed, for example along the top edge of the bag as illustrated in Figure 3.
• the main body of the flap 4 carries a series of transversely extending glue lines, and preferably, as shown, these comprise a number of narrow lines 6, 8, 10 etc, and a broader line 12 which is positioned so that in use, it overlies a slit 14 in the face of the bag, which forms the normal opening.
• the flap Before the lines of glue are applied to the flap, as illustrated, it is printed with a distinctive non matching opaque ink pattern such as, for example, a repeating pattern of concentric circles.
• a distinctive non matching opaque ink pattern such as, for example, a repeating pattern of concentric circles.
• the exposed glued surface is covered with a silicone release tape to protect it, before the bag is closed.
• the release tape is removed and the flap is pressed down over the mouth of the bag to close it, the lines of glue will adhere to the face of the bag, and in particular, the glued area 12 will effectively seal the slit opening 14.
• the ink pattern will become detached from the flap, in those areas that coincide with adhesive lines, whereas the ink will remain on the flap, in the intervening areas, and thus, the printed ink pattern will be clearly disrupted.
• the ink must have a relatively low cohesive strength, so that the pattern will be clearly broken at the interface between the glued and non glued regions.
• the flap illustrated in Figure 2 carries a further area of adhesive on its edge 2a, and otherwise functions in the same way as the flap of Figure 1.
• Figures 4, 5 and 6 illustrate various different ways of arranging the adhesive stripes on the flap, such as lengthwise of the flap as illustrated in Figures 4 and 5, and of arranging the flap itself Figure 6.
• the arrangement may be of the "double seal" type as exemplified by our British Patent No. 2,145,997.
• the flap is first printed with a distinctive ink pattern, and the glue lines are subsequently laid down on top of the ink.
• the arrangement may be "inverted" with lines of adhesive 20 applied first to a corona treated plastics (e.g. polythene) flap surface, and very narrow lines 22 of ink, subsequently laid down on top of the adhesive.
• a corona treated plastics e.g. polythene
• very narrow lines 22 of ink subsequently laid down on top of the adhesive.
• This also has the advantage that a complex and "programmable" pattern can then be laid down under automatic control (for example by computer) and in this way the seal can embody a code which can be automatically read at the receiving end of the package, and which will be unreadable if the seal has been tampered with.
• the pattern could be made to form a "bar code”.
• the surface that the flap is brought into contact with, to form the seal is preferably treated, for example by the known process of corona discharge, so that the adhesive lines will adhere strongly to it, and thus, if a subsequent attempt is made to peel the seal apart, the considerably greater cohesive strength of the lines of adhesive will cause the narrow "bridging" regions of ink to break, thus ensuring, as before, that the overall pattern i visibly disrupted.
• any of the arrangements discussed above coul be modified by incorporating parallel sets of glue lines, comprising adhesive with different operating temperature ranges.
• glue lines comprising adhesive with different operating temperature ranges.
• the glue line having the "colder" operating range must be confined betwee other sets, since, at normal ambient temperatures, they wil be liquid and likely to "run out”. Such an arrangement will, therefore, protect the bag against tampering, even if it is frozen to a very low temperature or heated to a very high temperature, because there will always be one or other set of patterns which is disrupted by the subsequent tampering.
• While the invention is particularly suitable for sealing devices it may also be used for labels where it is desirable that the removal of a label should be evident bot on the label itself and the surface from which it has been removed. This is particulary valuable if the bar code design is incorporated thereby preventing the switching of bar coded labels which may give incorrect specification or price.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
• Bag Frames (AREA)
• External Artificial Organs (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=10710953

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (7)

Families Citing this family (6)

Family Cites Families (8)

• 1992
  • 1992-02-25 GB GB929203931A patent/GB9203931D0/en active Pending
• 1993
  • 1993-02-25 AU AU36387/93A patent/AU3638793A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1993-02-25 DE DE69328925T patent/DE69328925T2/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1993-02-25 ES ES93905474T patent/ES2149808T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1993-02-25 WO PCT/GB1993/000385 patent/WO1993016933A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 1993-02-25 AT AT93905474T patent/ATE194120T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1993-02-25 EP EP93905474A patent/EP0628007B1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1993-02-25 GB GB9416770A patent/GB2279936B/en not_active Expired - Lifetime

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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