EP1391858A1

EP1391858A1 - Security method for protection of articles, security tag for use there in and system for production of security tags

Info

Publication number: EP1391858A1
Application number: EP02388056A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Tom Ellingsen
Original assignee: Balance Holding AS
Current assignee: Balance Holding AS
Priority date: 2002-08-21
Filing date: 2002-08-21
Publication date: 2004-02-25

Abstract

The novel security method for protection of articles against unauthorized removal from a protected area, comprises the steps of affixing a security tag (1) to each article (3) by application and curing of a fluid medium (4) that is curable to form the tag (1) as a label adhering to the article (1). The curable medium (4) comprises a responding material (5), e.g. suspended as particles or fibres, responsive to an interrogation signal for generation and emission of a detectable signal.

Description

The present invention relates to a security method for protection of articles against unauthorized removal from a protected area, comprising the steps of affixing to each article to be protected a security tag comprising means for generation and emission of a detectable signal in response to an interrogation signal emitted at a location adjacent at least one exit from the protected area and detection of a signal emitted from a protected article passing through said exit in response to said interrogation signal.
The most commonly used security systems for the protection of articles, such as commercial items, from unauthorized removal from a protected area, e.g. in retail trade, rely on electromagnetic detection of a signal emitted by a security tag attached to an article passing through an exit from the protected area in response to an interrogation signal emitted by an antenna configuration positioned at the exit.
In systems of this kind as disclosed e.g. in EP-A1-0561 062, EP-A2-1 008 972 and US-A-5,406,262 the security tags to be attached to articles to be protected comprise a resonant circuit tuned to the frequency of electromagnetic radiation transmitted from the antenna configuration at an exit from the protected area or easily saturable magnetic material responding to emitted electromagnetic radiation of a first frequency by transmission of electromagnetic energy of a second frequency. Customary the tags form solid physical objects provided with locking means for attachment to the articles to be protected, typically clothes items, so as to enable removal of the tags for reuse only by authorized staff e.g. at a sales stand within the protected area.
In view of the large number of tags in actual use in retail trade and the need for manual handling of the tags both at attachment to the articles to be protected and at removal from such articles in the course of regular sales transactions these systems and the tags used therein are quite cumbersome and expensive and put heavy demands on financial and staffing resources.
In addition tags of this type may be difficult or even impossible to attach to certain types of articles such as items packed in various types of commercial packages made of cardboard, plastic or similar materials, metallic objects and the like.
On this background it is the object of the invention to remedy these inconveniences and provide a novel security method and security tags for use therein, by which such tags are disposable and can easily be affixed to almost any type of article, for which protection against unauthorized removal such as shoplifting is desired.
According to the invention the novel security method is characterized in that said affixing step comprises application to said article to be protected or to a carrier member to be connected therewith of a fluid medium that is curable to form said tag as a label adhering to said article, said medium comprising said generation and emission means in the form of a responding material responsive to said interrogation signal for generation and emission of said detectable signal, and curing of said fluid medium.
By forming the tag as a disposable label adhering to the article to be protected and formed thereon by application of a curable fluid medium containing a responding material a significant cost reduction may be obtained both in respect of production of the tags and affixing them to articles to be protected and through elimination of the need for reuse of the tags and the manual handling caused thereby.
In a preferred form of the method the responding material may be contained in the fluid medium, from which the tag labels are produced, in the form of particles and/or fibres.
In one further preferred implementation of the method the interrogation signal may comprise electromagnetic radiation such as a radio signal of predetermined frequency and the responding signal may be capable of energy emission in response to the radiation of the interrogation signal. The responding material may thereby comprise a material such as Ferro-chromium capable of becoming magnetized and demagnetised and of energy emission when in a magnetized state.
Alternatively, the interrogation signal may be emitted as IR radiation and the responding material may comprise a saline or chrystalline material such as quartz capable of emission of thermal energy in response to the IR radiation.
As a still further alternative the emission of the interrogation signal as electromagnetic radiation may comprise emission of environmentally acceptable radioactive radiation and the responding material may be responsive to such radiation.
As a still further implementation of the method the interrogation signal may comprise emission of an acoustic signal, preferably in a non-audible range such as ultrasound and the responding material may be capable of reflection of such an acoustic signal.
The curable fluid carrier medium used for forming the tag labels may in one preferred form comprise a curable resin such as polymer resin, which may be curable by exposure to UV radiation. In this form the fluid medium may be affixed directly to a defined area of an article to be protected by coating using state of the art spraying or painting techniques.
Alternatively, the fluid carrier medium for the responding material may comprise a wax-like compound capable of being affixed to articles to be protected by a thermo transfer process.
In conformity with the method as outlined above the invention further relates to a security tag for use in the method, which is capable of being affixed to a commercial article to be protected against unauthorized removal from a protected area or to a carrier member to be connected with such article and comprising means for generation and emission of a detectable signal in response to an interrogation signal.
According to the invention the security tag thus defined is characterized by comprising a label adhesively bonded to said article or carrier member by application and curing of a curable fluid medium, said fluid medium containing said generation and emission material in the form of a responding material responsive to said interrogation signal for generation and emission of said detectable signal.
As an advantageous alternative to the security tag label being affixed directly to the physical article to be protected the invention offers the possibility of affixing the security tag label to a carrier member, which is as such separate from the article to be protected, but while still being disposable may be attached to such articles by conventional means as known in the art. Thereby the security tag of the invention may be used also for protection of articles, for which direct affixing to the article itself is difficult or even impossible.
Preferred embodiments of the security tag are stated in dependent claims 13 to 19.
For efficient and cost-saving production of security tags as outlined above the invention further relates to a system, which is characterized by comprising conveyor means for conveying commercial articles to be protected along a predetermined path of propagation and processing stations arranged along said propagation path for application of said curable fluid medium to each of said articles and curing of said fluid medium.
In the following the invention will be further explained with reference to the accompanying schematical drawings, wherein
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a security tag according to the invention affixed to part of a surface of an article to be protected;
Fig 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the security tag shown in fig. 1;
Fig. 3 shows principal components of a system for the production of security tags as illustrated in figs. 1 and 2; and
Fig. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of practical use of the invention
As an illustrative example only fig. 1 shows a security tag in the form of a label 1 adhesively bonded to a surface part 2 of an article 3 to be protected. Whereas the article 3 is shown in this example to have a regular box-like shape a security tag as provided by the invention may be affixed to a variety of articles of varying form or shape including curved or otherwise irregular surface parts.
As partly illustrated by the sectional view in fig. 2 the security tag 1 is affixed to the article 3 by application and curing of a curable fluid medium 4 containing a responding material capable of responding to an interrogation signal emitted into a surveillance zone to be passed by a person carrying the protected article or commodity 3, such as a customer leaving a retail trade area through a protected exit. The responding material may typically be incorporated in the curable medium or compound 3 in the form of particles and/or fibres 5, which are substantially evenly distributed with in the medium 4.
In one preferred, although non-limiting form of the invention, the curable medium 4 used for provision of security tags 1 may comprise a curable resin such as a polymer resin curable by exposure to UV radiation. Such polymer resins are well known in the art. The responding material 5 incorporated into the curable medium 4 may, in one preferred form, be a material responsive to an interrogation signal comprising emission of electromagnetic radiation by being capable of emission of energy in response to such radiation. As an example, by use of an interrogation signal comprising electromagnetic radiation in the form of a radio signal of predetermined frequency the responding material 5 may comprise a material capable of becoming easily magnetized into a magnetic saturated state. As one preferred example, a responding material of this kind may comprise particles 5 of Ferro-chromium suspended in a polymer resin curable by UV radiation.
As schematically illustrated in fig. 3 a system for the production of the security tags 1 may comprise conveyor means such as a movable conveyor belt 6 for conveying articles 3 to be protected along a predetermined path of propagation, along which processing stations are arranged. In a preferred form for production of security tags as explained above, such processing stations may comprise

an application station 7 in which the curable medium 4 such as polymer resin is applied to an article 3 in fluid form with the responding material in the form of substantially evenly suspended particles of Ferro-chromium, e.g. by a spraying arrangement 8 receiving the curable medium from a supply container 9 via a hose conduit 10;
a magnetizing station 11 at which the Ferro-chromium particles 5 suspended in the the curable medium 4 are magnetized to a saturation level by exposure to a magnetic field 12; and
a curing station 13 comprising an UV radiation source for curing of the curable polymer resin and forming a strong adhesive bond of the security tag to he article.

As a typical example, the security tags of the invention will be affixed to an outer packing of an article to be protected. In case of articles like many types of clothing, which are usually not presented or displayed to customers in an outer packing, the security tags may be applied to a separate carrier member attached to the article by conventional means.
In an abbreviated form the security method and system of the invention may be illustrated by the flow diagram in fig. 4. Articles 3 to be protected are conveyed through a tag production system, e.g. as illustrated in fig. 3, in which a security tag in the form of an adhesively bonded label 1 is affixed to each article, the finished security tag 1 comprising responding material substantially evenly suspended in the cured compound. This process may be conducted already during the production of the articles to be protected, so that articles are supplied to retailers in a protected form, but may alternatively be conducted at the premises of the retailer.
In a protected self-service retail trade area 14 a protected article is now picked-up by a customer. In the course of normal shopping activity the customer will proceed to a sales stand 15 to complete the sales transaction by regular payment and subsequently leave the protected area 14 through an exit passage 16, at which a tag detection system is installed, which as known in the art may comprise transmission and antenna means for emission of the interrogation signal into the surveillance zone covered by the tag detection system, receiver and detecting means for receiving and detection of a response signal generated and emitted by a security tag affixed to an article passing through the surveillance zone, e.g. carried by a customer which has not completed a regular sales transaction at the sales stand 15, and signal processing means for analysing response signal received and detected from articles passing through the surveillance zone for generation of an alarm signal, when specified alarm conditions are met.
For the generation and emission of an interrogation signal and the receipt and detection of a response signal by the tag detection system a variety of transmission and detection schemes, which as such do not form part of the present invention, have been proposed in the prior art, as disclosed e.g. in EP-A1-0 561 062 or US-A-5,406,262.
By the use of the present invention the security tags, when affixed directly to protected articles by a relatively strong adhesive bond, will not normally be physically removed from articles in the course of a regular sales transaction. To avoid alarm generation resulting from tag detection of a protected article passing through the surveillance zone at the exit 16 after having completed a regular sales transaction inactivation of the responding material incorporated in the security tag may be performed at the sales stand 15.
Thus, in the case of a responding material containing a magnetizable material like Ferro-chromium, inactivation may be conducted by demagnetising the responding material.
As an alternative, by use of a security tags containing a responding material which by itself may not be capable of inactivation of its responding characteristics, the inactivation at the sales stand may be performed by affixing an additional tag or label to the protected article containing a material responding to the interrogation signal or some other signal emitted into the surveillance zone by generation and emission of a detectable cancellation signal, by the detection of which generation of an alarm signal by the signal processing means will be prevented.
Whereas invention has been explained in the foregoing by means of a single preferred embodiment comprising a security tag formed by a polymer resin curable by exposure to UV radiation and incorporating responding material in the form of suspended particles or fibres of a material like Ferro-chromium that can be easily magnetized and demagnetised, a variety of modifications will be possible within the scope of the invention.
Thus, the curable fluid medium used for application of security tags to articles to be protected may alternatively comprise e.g. a wax-like compound that can be applied to articles by a thermo-transfer process.
With respect to the responding material to be incorporated in the security many different options will be readily available to persons skilled in the art. Thus for use in connection with an interrogation signal comprising electromagnetic radiation in the form of IR radiation the responding material may comprise a saline or chrystalline material, e.g. chrystalline quartz which by exposure to IR radiation will generate and emit heat energy detectable by an IR sensor or a heat-sensitive camera. Another alternative mat comprise use of an interrogation signal in the form of an acoustic signal, e.g. in a non-audible range, such as an ultra-sound signal together with a responding material capable of reflection of such a signal. Yet another alternative may involve the use of environmentally acceptable radioactive radiation as interrogation signal and of a responding material, which is responsive to radioactive radiation.

Claims

A security method for protection of articles against unauthorized removal from a protected area, comprising the steps of affixing to each article (3) to be protected a security tag (1) comprising means for generation and emission of a detectable signal in response to an interrogation signal emitted at a location adjacent at least one exit (16) from the protected area (14) and detection of a signal emitted from a protected article passing through said exit in response to said interrogation signal, charac terized in that said affixing step comprises application to said article (3) to be protected or to a carrier member to be connected therewith of a fluid medium (4) that is curable to form said tag (1) as a label adhering to said article, said medium comprising said generation and emission means in the form of a responding material (5) responsive to said interrogation signal for generation and emission of said detectable signal, and curing of said fluid medium (4).
A security method as claimed in claim 1, cha racterized in that said responding material (5) is contained in said fluid medium (4) in the form of particles and/or fibres.
A security method as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said interrogation signal comprises emission of electromagnetic radiation and that said responding material (5) is capable of emission of energy in response to said radiation.
A security method as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that said emission of electromagnetic radiation comprises emission of a radio signal of predetermined frequency and that said responding material (5) comprises a material capable of becoming magnetized and demagnetised and capable of emission of energy in response to said radio signal when in a magnetized state.
A security method as claimed in claim 1 or 2. characterized in that said responding material (5) comprises Ferro-chromium.
A security method as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that said emission of electromagnetic radiation comprises emission of IR radiation and that said responding material (5) comprises a saline or chrystalline material capable of emission of heat energy in response to said IR radiation.
A security method as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that said responding material (5) comprises chrystalline quartz.
A security method as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said interrogation signal comprises emission of an acoustic signal, preferably of a non-audible frequency and that said responding material (5) is capable of reflection of said acoustic signal.
A security method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that said curable fluid medium (4) comprises a curable resin.
A security method as claimed in claim 9, characterized in that said resin (4) comprises a polymer resin curable by UV radiation.
A security method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that said affixing step comprises thermo-transfer of a wax-like compound.
A security tag for use in the method claimed in any of claims 1 to 11, said tag (1) being capable of being affixed to a commercial article (3) to be protected against unauthorized removal from a protected area (14) or to a carrier member to be connected with such article and comprising means for generation and emission of a detectable signal in response to an interrogation signal, characterized in that said tag (1) comprises a label adhesively bonded to said article (3) or carrier member by application and curing of a curable fluid medium (4), said fluid medium containing said generation and emission material in the form of a responding material (5) responsive to said interrogation signal for generation and emission of said detectable signal.
A security tag as claimed in claim 12, characterized in that said responding material (5) is contained in said fluid medium in the form of particles and/or fibres.
A security tag as claimed in claim 12 or 13, characterized in that said curable fluid medium (4) comprises a curable resin.
A security tag as claimed in claim 14, characterized in that said resin (4) comprises a polymer resin curable by UV radiation.
A security tag as claimed in claim 13, cha racterized in that said curable medium comprises a wax-like compound.
A security tag as claimed in any of claims 12 to 16, characterized in that said responding material (5) is capable of emission of energy in response to electromagnetic radiation.
A security tag as claimed in claim 17, characterized in that said responding material (5) comprises a material capable of becoming magnetized and demagnetised and capable of emission of energy in response to a radio signal of predetermined frequency when in a magnetized state.
A security tag as claimed in claim 18, characterized in that said responding material (5) comprises Ferro-chromium.
A system for production of security tags as claimed in any of claims 12 to 19, characte rized by comprising conveyor means (6) for conveying commercial articles to be protected along a predetermined path of propagation and processing stations (7,1,13) arranged along said propagation path for application of said curable fluid medium to each of said articles and curing of said fluid medium.
A system as claimed in claim 20, charac terized in that said application station (7) comprising means (8) for spraying said fluid medium onto a surface part (2) of each article (1) to be protected.
A system as claimed in claim 20, charac terized in that said application station (7) comprising means for painting said fluid medium onto a surface part of each article to be protected.
A system as claimed in any of claims 20 to 22 for production of a security tag as claimed in claim 15, characterized in that said curing station (13) comprises an UV radiation source.