EP0658864A1 - Marking device - Google Patents

Abstract

Marking device intended to be detected at the moment of its entry into monitoring regions, and to send out an alarm signal whenever an attempt is made to dismantle it from the article which carries it. The device according to the invention includes an electronic module (13) and a detection ring, an electrical characteristic of which is modified when an attempt is made to withdraw the said marking device from the article which carries it. <IMAGE>

Description

The present invention relates generally to security systems controlling the movement of objects and the illegal transport thereof outside an enclosure, and more particularly marking devices, for example in the form of labels, objects to be monitored.

Most security systems implemented at present use marking devices which are detected when they pass through control zones. This type of system is commonly used in stores where the items for sale are provided with labels, the presence of which is detected during the passage between antennas arranged along the various exit passages, including near the cash desks.

These systems are not completely foolproof since it suffices to detach the label from the article before leaving the store so that the stolen article is not detected.

This is why we see the appearance of increasingly voluminous and increasingly complex marking devices to detach from the object carrying them without specific means and without risking damaging the object thus marked.

Furthermore, these marking devices retain their properties of detecting the object carrying them as long as they have not been removed, which makes them detectable even during a lawful passage through control zones, that is that is, after regularly obtaining them. Many people, having bought an object in a store, go to another store where the object is detected when they leave and causes the precipitous arrival of the surveillance services.

There is therefore a need for marking devices which are not passive and which can only respond at the time of a specific interrogation, for example when passing between antennas in the control area, but active c ' that is to say capable of making known that they are detached or destroyed, and destructible when their role is completed, that is to say when the object has been regularly purchased.

It was proposed in US 3,713,133 issued to Robert L. Nathans a marking device hung on the article by a safety pin which, on the one hand, can be detected by monitoring devices during its passage in a controlled exit zone, the opening of which, for its removal from the article, is detected by monitoring means arranged in the store.

These marking devices allow more effective monitoring since an alarm sounds as soon as an unauthorized person opens the safety pin but are still faulty when the person wishing to steal the object is ready to partially deteriorate it, for example when '' it is a garment by making a slot allowing the pin to be removed without opening it.

The present invention aims to propose a marking device such that it cannot be disassembled from the article on which it has been placed without emitting an alarm signal.

To this end, the marking devices according to the invention comprise a detection ring, an electrical characteristic of which is modified when an attempt is made to separate the device from the object which carries it.

Advantageously, the marking devices according to the invention also allow the management of objects carrying said devices.

• la figure 1 représente une première variante de réalisation du dispositif de marquage selon l'invention,
• les figures 2a à 2e montrent les différentes étapes de fabrication d'une variante de réalisation du dispositif de la figure 1,
• la figure 3 représente une seconde variante de réalisation d'un dispositif de marquage suivant l'invention,
• les figures 4a à 4f montrent les différentes étapes de fabrication d'un dispositif de marquage selon une variante de réalisation de l'invention,
• les figures 5 à 8 représentent d'autres variantes de réalisation du dispositif de marquage selon l'invention,
• les figures 9 et 10 montrent deux exemples de réalisation du circuit électronique du dispositif de marquage.

The invention will be better understood thanks to the description which follows given by way of nonlimiting example with reference to the appended drawings in which:

• FIG. 1 represents a first alternative embodiment of the marking device according to the invention,
• FIGS. 2a to 2e show the different stages of manufacturing an alternative embodiment of the device in FIG. 1,
• FIG. 3 represents a second alternative embodiment of a marking device according to the invention,
• FIGS. 4a to 4f show the different stages of manufacturing a marking device according to an alternative embodiment of the invention,
• FIGS. 5 to 8 represent other alternative embodiments of the marking device according to the invention,
• Figures 9 and 10 show two embodiments of the electronic circuit of the marking device.

In the first alternative embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the marking device comprises an electronic module 13 and a ring 15 for detecting an attempted fraud.

The electronic module is of any form suitable for the commands that it is desired to make it perform, it may include one or more electronic chips, and / or surface components.

The conductor 15 forming the detection ring is a very thin conductor which can easily break. This conductor can be large in area, but very thin so that it can be torn.

This conductor 15 also makes it possible to supply the electronic module 13 with electrical energy by subjecting the marking device to an energy field, preferably a radio-electric field. Such a field created in the area to be monitored induces in the conductor 15 a current which is rectified in a manner known per se to supply said electronic module.

The marking devices are particularly but not exclusively intended for marking with a view to their surveillance of articles such as articles put up for sale displayed in stores. They can also be used in museums or other exhibition places.

Since the areas to be monitored are generally closed premises, it is very easy to create radio fields there ensuring the supply of energy to the marking devices according to the invention.

In the case of stores such as supermarkets, or exhibition spaces, the field created by the multitude of lighting devices found there, may be sufficient to supply the marking devices according to the invention and allow to overcome the need to specially produce energy fields for the supply of said marking devices.

By choosing and programming the electronic module suitably carried by the marking device according to the invention, it is also possible to have said device communicate with a network for controlling stocks and / or prices. To this end, an electronic module capable of storing information and of transmitting and / or receiving information is implemented either alone or through an antenna.

In this embodiment, the detection ring 15 is used as an antenna.

The digital signals emitted by the electronic module can also be coded in order to easily distinguish them from other external parasitic signals.

The marking device according to the invention is intended to be implemented in premises having surveillance systems of the type usually implemented in exit control zones, as well as surveillance systems intended to identify attempted fraud in the room itself.

These fraud attempts are constituted by the fact that one seeks to separate the marking device from the object which carries it.

According to the invention, the electronic circuit carried by the label ensures the emission of a signal as soon as an unauthorized person attempts to separate the label from the object which carries it.

The detection of this attempt to separate the marking device is carried out using the detection ring 15 and it is for this purpose that the conductor used for its production is of very small section in order to weaken it, and to allow its electrical continuity is broken as soon as an attempt is made to separate the marking device from the article carrying it.

In an alternative embodiment, the marking device is produced in the form of an adhesive label intended to be affixed to an article offered for sale or on display.

The marking device being glued by its entire surface to the article to be protected, it is not possible to cut the article to remove said device in order to be able to steal the article thus demarcated because it would be too damaged to still usable.

The only way to obtain the article without risking that it will be detected in the control zones is then to peel off the said label.

However, to do this, it is necessary to deform the said label and to pull on it, which causes the detection ring 15 to be cut at one or more points.

This interruption of the electrical continuity of the detection ring 15 is immediately detected by the electronic module, which causes it to send a signal which is intercepted and interpreted by the monitoring means distributed in the room.

The conducting wire forming the detection ring 15 can be used as the antenna for transmitting this signal.

The surveillance service is thus, thanks to the label according to the invention, immediately warned of the attempted fraud.

Once the attempted fraud signal has been sent, the marking device according to this alternative embodiment can no longer receive power, which makes it mute in the room.

One can however foresee that the electronic module remains fixed to the article after the peeling of the label and is detectable by the surveillance systems arranged in the exit areas of the store to provide a second possibility of intercepting the fraudster believing to have got rid of the means of marking the article.

For this purpose, the label can be produced in several peelable layers so that the detection ring 15 is carried by an external face of the label, it is thus on the one hand very easily broken, and on the other hand removed from the article carrying the marking device, while the electronic module is secured to the adhesive and remains glued to the article.

By way of example, FIGS. 2a to 2e show the steps for manufacturing a device of this type.

During the first step shown in FIG. 2a, a first blank 2 having overall the shape of the label to be produced, but preferably having smaller dimensions, is cut from a ribbon of material 1.

As shown in FIG. 2b, one of the corners of said blank has an L-shaped cutout 5. On this first blank 2 we form conductive metallized portions 3, for example circular, arranged close to the periphery and we fixes an electronic module 5 on the concave edge of the cutout.

A second blank 6 is also cut from the ribbon of material in the step shown in FIG. 2c.

This second blank 6 has a cutout 8 in the corner corresponding to that in which the electronic module has been placed on the first blank 2, as well as openings 7 arranged so as to be opposite the metallized portions when the two are placed blanks 2 and 6 one on the other as shown in Figure 2d.

After positioning the two blanks one on the other with the openings 7 opposite the metallized portions 3 and having secured them by an adhesive layer, the detection ring 9 is formed by positioning on the second blank 6 disposed on the first blank 2 of the conductive tracks which are connected to the metallized portions 3 of said first blank 2.

The electronic module is then overmolded in a pin 101, then there is an adhesive layer covered with a protective sheet on the back of the label.

Said blanks 2 and 6 are fixed to each other by an adhesive having an adhesion strength lower than that of the adhesive used on the back of the label.

Thus, when the label 100 thus produced is affixed to an object and an attempt is made to remove it, the blank 6 disposed on the top is detached, while the blank 2 remains stuck on the object and the 'The continuity of the detection ring is destroyed.

In this embodiment, provision can be made to mark on the blank 6 the useful data such as the price, the bar code, while decoration prints are made on the lower blank 2. The purchaser of the article can then take off the upper blank 6 and leave the lower blank 2 on the article in order to keep the decorations.

The marking device according to the invention of course allows a well-intentioned customer, not seeking to peel off the label, to observe the object, to try it if it is a garment, to rest, without the surveillance system being alerted.

During a lawful passage of the article bearing a label according to the invention to a store cash register, a coded electrical signal is induced in the electronic circuit through the detection ring then operating in the manner of an antenna. This signal is designed with sufficient power to ensure destruction by vaporization of a fuse. This fuse is a fuse integrated in a known and usual manner in the electronic module. This destruction signal can be emitted at the time of reading the bar code carried by the label to define the object and its price.

Thanks to the implementation of an electronic module, it is possible to plan to control the actual destruction of the fuse before validating the recording of the price, which makes it possible to ensure that the deactivation of the marking device according to the invention is indeed carried out.

Thus, the label according to the invention is rendered inoperative after the article has been lawfully removed from the store, which makes it undetectable by other surveillance systems through which the object can be transported after payment.

The energy reserve of such a label can be increased by the use of a capacitor in the electronic circuit, such a capacitor preferably being obtained by direct printing or superposition of conductive layers.

Other means of embrittlement such as embrittlement lines may finally be provided in the label so as to help the occurrence of cuts by causing the label to be torn in several parts, which leads in a sure and unavoidable manner to the breaking of the detection ring 15.

Of course, the above description is given only by way of example, the label according to the invention can be used for many other applications such as the identification of people or objects as they pass by. tags, management of more or less bulky parcels such as packages in postal services, luggage in airports, waste bins in central processing ...

The labels according to the invention would then allow both the identification of persons or things, the detection of any attempted fraud, such as the transfer of a label from an authorized person to an unauthorized person, the removal of 'label to divert packages, and could be rendered inoperative when the person or object carrying the label leaves the exit from the monitored area.

The electronic module can be provided with a memory allowing the storage of any useful data and with a microprocessor for the processing of these data in connection with external means. The marking devices according to the invention can thus be used to carry out sorting of packages.

Alternatively, for specific needs, it is also conceivable to provide external contacts on the label in order to give it other possibilities of dialogue with suitable readers in the manner of smart cards.

In the variant embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the marking device according to the invention comprises, in addition to the detection ring 15, a transmitting / receiving antenna 14.

This embodiment makes it possible to continue to ensure the electrical supply of the electronic module even after the detection ring 15 has been cut off, as long as said antenna is not destroyed.

It is then possible to continue to dialogue with said electronic module after the detection of the attempted fraud, for example to identify the article and / or to carry out its search in the monitored area.

Figures 4a to 4f show by way of nonlimiting example, a method of manufacturing marking devices according to the variant of Figure 3 in the form of adhesive labels intended to be affixed to objects of all kinds.

This manufacturing is done in several stages.

Said labels are, in the example shown, made from a tape of support material such as polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride or ABS. This ribbon can be obtained beforehand by any device for known manufacture such as rolling, casting, extrusion, or injection ... Other materials can of course be used to form said tape such as a polyamide.

This ribbon can be previously decorated on its face intended to be the front of the label. The location of the labels produced is noted by broken lines 10 in the drawing.

During a first manufacturing step, cuts of different shape and nature are made in the tape 1 at suitably chosen locations.

In the embodiment chosen, two such groups of cutouts are provided.

The cuts of the first group represented by the lines 11 are intended to produce areas of weakness of the label. These cuts will, for example, be made in the form of a succession of dots in the manner of the cuts usually made in paper intended for data processing, which will make it possible to obtain labels which are weakened but which remain easy to handle during their manufacture and of their use (placement on objects).

A second cut 12 consists in the removal of a generally L-shaped surface of material.

During the second step, an electronic module 13 is fixed on the ribbon 1 as well as conductors 14 and 15 respectively intended to form a receiving / transmitting antenna and a detection ring. Said conductors 14 and 15 are connected to the electronic module by welding, then said module and the solders are preferably covered with a protective varnish.

As shown in FIG. 4c, the electronic module 13 is placed in the region of the ribbon 1 bordered by the concave part of the blank 12.

These elements are arranged on the face of the ribbon intended to form the back of the label.

As a variant, it is possible to carry out the electronic circuit comprising said conductors and said module separately, for example on a polyamide film which is fixed to the strip 1 by rolling. Care will then be taken to weaken said polyamide film around the detection ring so as not to make the weakening cuts 11 previously made unnecessary.

In the step represented by FIG. 4d, the region of the ribbon carrying the electronic module 13 is deformed in order to move said module away from the rest of the surface of the ribbon. This creates a recess in the concave part of which is placed the electronic module.

The ribbon 1 carrying the electronic circuit is then placed in a mold not shown in the drawing in order to enclose said electronic module in a protective pin 18. At the same time, the conductors 14 and 15 are laminated in the material forming the ribbon 1.

During this overmolding step, the upper face of the ribbon can be decorated if it had not been previously.

The next manufacturing step consists in placing on the back of the label an adhesive film 16 protected by a protective film 17 and in cutting the ribbon of material 1 along the lines 10. In a manner known in only the ribbon is cut while the protective film is kept intact.

Finally, in the step shown in FIG. 4f, the ribbon 1 carrying the finished labels 21 is wound with possible interposition of an interlayer making it possible to absorb the difference in thickness between the pin 18 and the rest of the label.

This tape can then be used in gluing machines of known type.

One could of course manufacture the labels according to another method, for example by repeating the method described in FIGS. 2a to 2e and adding the antenna.

The use of a ribbon of material is of course described by way of example, the labels being obtainable from a support of any other shape such as a plate from which the labels would be cut out in a succession of columns. .

As can be seen in FIG. 4c, the detection ring 15 is placed on the periphery of the label so that it is destroyed before the antenna 14 risks being destroyed. In addition, the weakening lines 11 are arranged in such a way that they do not pass through the antenna 14 in order to limit the risks of deterioration of the latter.

Alternatively, the detection ring 15 is arranged in the shape of an eight so as to make it insensitive to parasitic emissions which may be present in the premises containing the objects to be monitored. It is possible to arrange, in a manner known per se, several such eight-shaped loops.

This rupture of the detection ring is immediately detected by the electronic module and the latter sends, by its antenna 14 used in transmission, a signal interpreted by the internal monitoring network of the store.

The signal emitted by the electronic module of a marking device according to the invention can be a simple alarm signal, but can also carry information giving the exact nature of the object in question.

In the exit area, surveillance means similar to those commonly used today ensure the detection of any object bearing a label whether it is complete or only the part carrying the electronic module remains.

The use of an electronic module with which it is possible to communicate detection means makes it possible to avoid untimely detections in the exit zones.

The pin enclosing the electronic module can be molded in a transparent material in order to allow transmission of information by light signals.

In a manner known per se in the field of manufacture by molding of plastic articles, said marking devices can be decorated at the time of their molding over their entire surface or only partially or can be decorated subsequently, at the request, depending on the destination of the marking devices.

It is also possible to produce, in a single molding operation, the label carrying the electronic detection circuit.

Other alternative embodiments of the marking devices according to the invention are shown in FIGS. 5 to 8.

FIG. 5 represents an alternative embodiment of a marking device according to the invention in the form of an adhesive label in which two receiving / transmitting antennas are provided in order to increase the chances of keeping an antenna capable of transmitting information after a attempt to tear off the label.

It is of course possible to increase the number of said antennas if the dimensions of the label allow it.

In order to improve the breaking capacity of the detection ring, the adhesive surfaces are inverted around its periphery so that it remains at least partially stuck on the protected object when the label is torn off.

By further laminating the antennas 14 in the body of the label in order to ensure that these are not broken during the tearing, the reliability of the label is further improved as regards the detection of 'a grubbing up.

Such an arrangement eliminates the need to form lines of weakness.

FIG. 6 represents another variant embodiment in which the marking device according to the invention takes the form of a thick rigid label hung on an object by the installation of an insert 20 similar to the marking devices often used for the current time for clothing.

Unlike known devices of this type, the device in FIG. 6 contains an electronic module 23, a receiver / transmitter antenna 24 and a detection ring 25. The electrical continuity of this detection ring 25 is ensured by the insert 20 when the latter is in place by the support on its faces of the springs 26.

As soon as said insert is removed, the electrical continuity of said detection ring 25 is broken, which causes a signal to be sent to the monitoring means.

In this embodiment, the insert can be provided so as to be removed in a simple manner, which is not the case with known devices of this type, since any unauthorized removal is detected by the fact that 'it opens the detection ring.

In the variant shown in FIG. 7, the marking device is a bottle cap composed in a manner known per se of a stopper 31 and a crimping ring 30.

This capsule contains an electronic module 33, an antenna 34 and a detection ring 35 embedded in the material. The electronic module 33 and the antenna 34 are completely arranged in the plug 31 as, shown in the figure, or in the crimping ring 30, while the detection ring 35 is partly arranged in the plug 31 and partly in the crimp ring 30.

By such an arrangement, as soon as an attempt is made to open the bottle by separating the cap 31 from the crimping ring 30, the detection ring 35 is broken and the alert is given.

Such an arrangement works with any type of capsule for which the plug must be detached from a crimping ring, either by unscrewing the plug, by pulling on a pull tab on the ring, as well as for the devices. in which the ring separates into several parts when the cap is unscrewed.

FIG. 8 represents a new alternative embodiment of a marking device according to the invention in the form of a label 40 attached to an object, for example luggage or a container, by wires 45.

In this embodiment, the wires 45 form the detection ring. These wires can for this purpose be electrically connected to each other by a conductive pad 49.

The break in one and / or the other wire 45 is detected by the electronic module, not shown, contained in the pin 48, and a signal is transmitted by an antenna, also not shown, contained in the pin 48.

The detection can note the rupture of the continuity of the circuit as described in the previous examples, but can also note a modification of the electrical characteristics of the detection circuit.

In the case where only the break in continuity is detected by the electronic module, an ill-intentioned person could join the wires in the middle of their length so as to form a new closed detection ring, then cut the wires near their end to remove the label.

To detect this type of fraud, the electronic module is provided so as to be able to detect a variation in the resistance of the circuit due, here, to the shortening of the wires.

Provision may also be made to examine the conductance or inductance of the detection ring.

The label 40 can be of any known form or be made as a device according to the invention, that is to say also contain a detection ring allowing the detection of a tear.

Figures 9 and 10 show two embodiments of the electronic circuit for marking devices according to the invention.

In these drawings, the electronic component used is represented by box 53 or 63.

It receives information on the state of the marking device by the detection ring 55 and is in relation to a surveillance system by the antenna 54.

In the nonlimiting exemplary embodiments of these Figures 9 and 10, the antenna is unique and ensures the reception and transmission of messages on the same carrier frequency.

In the examples shown, a coil 50 provides the energy supply to the electronic module, it can be constituted by the detection ring or any other coil included in the device, for example the antennas 14 of FIGS. 3 and 5.

This energy is rectified and stabilized in the receiver-rectifier 70.

A fuse 71 is disposed between the coil 50 and the receiver-rectifier 70.

A circuit 72 receives and demodulates the information received by the antenna 54 and sends this information to a data processing device 74.

Said data processing device 74 also receives a clock signal from circuit 75.

From the information received either from the reception and demodulation circuit 72 or from the detection ring 55, this data processing device 74 delivers to the circuit 73 a signal which is modulated and transmitted by the antenna 54.

When such a device passes between the transmitting / receiving antennas of the surveillance system arranged at the exit from the monitored zone, it receives from the surveillance system a call signal, for example in the form of modulation of the carrier frequency.

The data processing device 74 identifies this call signal and triggers the transmission of a response signal by the circuit 73.

These call and response signals can of course be coded, for example by the use of different modulation frequencies.

When an attempt is made to tear off the marking device from the object carrying it, the data processing device 74 receives the information from the detection ring 55 and triggers the emission of a signal.

In a third case, that in which the article is brought to the cashier by a buyer, a significant energy supply is made, leading to the destruction of the fuse 71.

The embodiment shown in Figure 10 differs from that shown in Figure 9 in that it includes a security module 76 formed by a computer and a memory 77 accessible only by this security module.

This embodiment makes it possible to establish a dialogue between the surveillance system and the label. The memory can contain data specific to the product, the store, etc.

Claims (13)

1. - Marking device intended to be detected at the time of its passage in surveillance zones and to emit an alarm signal as soon as an attempt is made to disassemble it from the article which carries it, characterized in that it includes an electronic circuit having an electronic module (13, 23, 33) and a detection ring (15, 25, 35, 45) whose electrical characteristic is modified when an attempt is made to remove said marking device from the article that wears it. 2. - Marking device according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises fuses destructible by a destruction signal induced in the electronic circuit. 3. - Marking device according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that a capacitor provides a reserve of energy. 4. - Marking device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the detection ring (15) is arranged on the periphery of the label. 5. - Marking device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said detection ring (15, 25, 35) is in the form of an eight. 6. - Marking device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the electrical continuity of the detection ring is destroyed when an attempt is made to remove said marking device from the article which carries it. 7. - Marking device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the electronic module detects the variation in resistance of the detection ring when an attempt is made to remove said marking device from the article who wears it. 8. - Marking device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises lines (11) of embrittlement. 9. - Marking device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises at least one receiving / transmitting antenna (14, 24, 34). 10. - Marking device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is in the form of an adhesive label. 11. - Marking device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that it is in the form of a thick rigid label hung on an object by the installation of an insert (20) ensuring the closure of the detection ring (25). 12. - Marking device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that it forms a bottle cap composed of a stopper (31) and a crimping ring (30), the ring detection (35) is arranged partly in the plug (31) and partly in the crimping ring (30). 13. - Device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that it is in the form of a label (40) attached to an object by son (45) forming the detection ring.

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