EP1768080A1

EP1768080A1 - Security seal with incorporated chip

Info

Publication number: EP1768080A1
Application number: EP04742045A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Jaume Baucells Granell
Original assignee: Brooks Todo Seguridad en Espana SA
Current assignee: PRECINTIA INTERNATIONAL SA
Priority date: 2004-07-05
Filing date: 2004-07-05
Publication date: 2007-03-28
Also published as: WO2006013217A1; WO2006013217A9

Abstract

The invention concerns a flexible tie (4), terminated in a widened portion provided with a passage (12) through which the tie may be inserted, the passage comprising means for retaining the tie, arranged inside a housing, and the seal comprises a control chip (3) for verifying the identification of the seal or of the related product. It further comprises a box-shape container (3) capable of containing the chip and of receiving the chip and the housing of the retaining means and provided with means for introducing the passage of the tie (4) simultaneously through the passage (12) and the container (3). When the tie passes through the passage and the housing, the container is maintained in its operating position and when the tie is cut off, the container can be extracted for use in another seal. The chip can be recovered and reused after said seal has been broken.

Description

Technical field of the invention

The present invention refers to the technical sector of seals designed to maintain the inviolability of articles transported or handled and to store and provide information on the article itself and on the background of the same. More specifically, the present invention refers to a security seal of the kind made up of a flexible tie made of plastic or similar, which ends in a widening with a passage through which the tie may be introduced from its free end, with the passage including means of retention of the tie which are placed within a housing to such effect, and with the seal including a control chip for the identification of the seal or of the product associated to the same.

Background of the invention

Known within the technical sector of security seals are closing devices of the type similar to a cable tie, that include an elongated and flexible strip that closes forming a loop over itself and which is retained in said position of closure by means of a toothed coupling formed on the strip and an abutment placed in the slot into which the strip is introduced when the seal is closed. This kind of closing device allows for the guarantee of the inviolability of the content of the sealed article or container. When the sealed material is received with the closing device intact, the receiver has the security that no modifications have been made to the articles since the device was closed because, as is known, the device is not reusable. In the present document, these security devices are denominated as seals.
From utility models ES-U-1027598 and ES-U-1030846 , in the name of the present applicant, are known respective security seals, made up of a flexible tie made of plastic or similar, which ends in a widening with a passage via which the tie may be introduced from its free end, with the passage including means of retention of the tie, placed within a housing to such effect.
Now that the problem of the protection of the content of the sealed merchandise has been substantially solved, the clients of these seals demand new characteristics such as the immediate availability of information relating to the merchandise awaited or in relation to the incidents suffered by such merchandise during transportation. This requisite, commonly known as "traceability", has been partially solved by the inclusion of labels, for example with bar codes, that bear information on the physical characteristics of the product, its date of manufacture, and any other data of interest for the receiver or the intermediaries via whom the said product passes before reaching its destination. The same applicant of the present patent has registered, for example, the document ES-U-1052518 ("Improved seal") which describes a seal with a section intended for the exhibition of information referring to the sealed product.
The same applicant also has utility model ES-U-1055019 referring to a seal that incorporates a chip in which information on the articles sealed may be recorded or read. The advantage of this seal is that new information can be added as from when the product is sealed up to when it reaches the destination, for the identification of the seal or of the product associated with the same. In this manner, the receiving client can have information on the route taken by the merchandise, for example, time and dates of entrance into and exit from warehouses, time it remains in warehouses or transportation vehicles, possible incidents occurring during the transportation, confidential information of the manufacturer accessible exclusively via a password, etcetera.
The main drawback of the existing seals is that the chip is incorporated to the device from the factory, inserted in the mass of plastic making up the seal itself, and cannot be extracted from the box containing it; they are consequently considered as single-use chips, since when the tie is cut the seal remains inoperable, and along with the seal the chip itself, this being undesirable from the economic and waste management point of view, given the difficulty of recycling of the plastic with the chip embedded.
The present invention aims to an improvement in relation to the mentioned seals with chips in such a manner that once the article or merchandise received has been unsealed, the client may easily recover the chip, and the latter may be stored as an information support with reference to the said article or may be used again in new shipments or batches. In addition, the seal guarantees the integrity of the chip, and allows the information to be repeatedly read and written on said chip.

Explanation of the invention

For such purpose, the object of the present invention is a security seal with an incorporated chip, which in its essence is characterised in that it includes a receptacle, essentially in the form of a box, adapted to contain the chip and to receive the widening and the housing for the means of retention, and provided with means for the pass-through introduction of flexible tie simultaneously through the passage and the receptacle, all of this adapted in such a manner that when the tie passes through the passage and the housing, the receptacle is retained in its operational position and, when the tie is cut, the receptacle may be extracted to be used later in another seal, such that said chip may be recovered and reused after said seal has been unsealed.
Said means for the pass-through introduction of the tie preferably include openings made on opposite sides of the receptacle, which are aligned with the passage in the operational position of housing of the widening.
Preferably, the material of said receptacle will present sufficient mechanical resistance to withstand blows, vibrations, forces, loads and compressions that may be caused during the handling, transportation and storage of the articles to which the seal is applied in such a manner that the integrity of the said chip is guaranteed.
According to another characteristic of the present invention, the material of the receptacle is transparent to the signals emitted by data writing / reading means designed to write / read data on said chip.
According to yet another characteristic of the present invention, the chip is of the kind on which data may be repeatedly written / read.
Another characteristic of the present invention is that the seal includes a tray that may be firmly housed in the receptacle in such a manner that once it is inside said receptacle, it is substantially protected against external aggressions, it is provided with a recess adapted to receive and retain the chip in a substantially fixed position.
According to another characteristic of the present invention, the material of the receptacle is transparent, so that it allows for the objects housed inside the same to be seen and for any inscriptions made on said objects to be read.
Finally, the material of the receptacle of the chip may vary depending on the necessities of the environment. For example, it may be an anti-corrosive material if it is expected to be exposed to chemically aggressive agents.

Brief description of the drawings

In the attached drawings, some embodiments of the security seal with incorporated chip which is the object of the invention are shown by way of nonlimiting example. In said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the seal of the present invention, in a non-operational position;
Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the same embodiment of the seal shown in Fig. 1, and;
Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the seal in Fig. 1, in its sealing operational position forming a loop.

Detailed description of the drawings

In said drawings, a preferred embodiment of the security seal 1 of the present invention may be appreciated.
In Fig. 1, the assembled seal 1 may be seen with all the elements introduced in a receptacle or box (3) through a mouth (9) thereof. The essential components of said seal (1) are a tie (4), the receptacle (3), a chip (2) and a tray (5) for the support of the chip (2).
The tie (4) is of those known, for example although not exclusively, from utility models ES-U-1027598 and ES-U-1052518 , and is made up of a strip, which is circular in cross section in the example shown, ending in an essentially flat widening (7) that has a passage (12) through which the strip of the tie (4) may be introduced from its free end and passed-through across the whole passage, as is appreciated in Fig. 3.
The passage (12) includes means of retention of the tie (4) that allow for the introduction of the same in one direction and prevent its movement in the opposite direction. Said means of retention are placed inside a housing (11) formed to such effect, for example by means of a casing produced in the widening (7) of the tie (4).
Said means of retention may be of any kind, for example those cited in utility models ES-U-1027598 and ES-U-1030846 of the same applicant, which foresee that in the passage (12) is mounted a transversal metallic armour (not shown) that is provided with an opening; approximately radial grooves or cuts stem out from the outline of this opening, and they delimit flexible intermediate tabs or tongues with sharpened edges, which are slightly inclined in one same direction from their root. The internal edge of these tongues delimits a passage (12) having a minimum outline approximately equal to that of the section of the lengths of the tie (4). The cited tongues or tabs flex in the direction of their inclination, in order to allow for the passage of the tie, while they act in the opposite direction as latching retention anchorages, preventing its withdrawal.
As may be observed in said Figs. 1 and 3, in the operational position of seal 1 the remaining elements (10, 2 and 5) are housed inside the receptacle (3). The chip (2) may be of any kind that allows for the writing and reading of data and, in a preferred embodiment, allows for data to be repeatedly written. Also in a preferred embodiment, the chip (2) is introduced into the receptacle (3) to protect the chip (2) by means of a tray (5). Said tray (5) has a recess (6) adapted to receive the chip (2) and with a shape appropriate to retain said chip (2) in a substantially fixed position with no play, in order to avoid sudden displacements or blows of the chip (2) inside the tray (5), and even prevent the extraction of the chip (2).
The chip (2) may be embedded in the recess (6) by means of a "hotmelt" process.
The mentioned tray (5) is introduced into receptacle (3) by sliding and is extracted in a similar manner; this can be appreciated more clearly in Fig. 2. The chip (2) could be housed in the receptacle (3) in any manner different to that described, provided that a fixing of the position of said chip (2) is achieved, the integrity of the same is guaranteed, the reading and writing of the mentioned data is permitted and the substantially simple extraction of the said chip (2) is made possible.
As has been mentioned previously, once the corresponding elements (2, 5 and 10) have been introduced into the receptacle (3), the aspect of the seal (1) is that shown in Fig. 1 and the same is now ready to seal any article or merchandise desired.
For this, the receptacle (3) is provided with means for the pass-through introduction of the tie (4), made up of openings (8) adapted such that in the operational position of introduction of the widening (7) in the receptacle or box (3), they remain aligned with the passage (12) of the widening (7) of the tie (4).
The manner in which the seal (1) is closed is that common to this type of devices and consists of introducing the free end (finished in a point in the embodiment shown in Fig. 1) of the tie (4) in the opening (8) that, in fact, is the opening (8) of the receptacle (3) shown in Fig. 2 and another opening of the tie (4) that, in the position of Fig. 1, coincides with said opening (8). The tie (4) itself is provided in the region of the opening (8) with a system for retention of the closing position, such that once the tie (4) has been introduced into said opening (8), it may not then be opened without the seal (2) being broken. As may be observed, the tie (4) itself, through the opening (8), maintains the receptacle (3) closed, that is, it maintains the mouth (9) of the receptacle (3) retained, and therefore the tray (5) with the incorporated chip (2) remains in a secure position within said receptacle (3).
It is important for the material of the said receptacle (3) to be transparent to the signals emitted by means for reading and writing data on the chip (2). At the point of origin, the manufacturer or seller of the product sealed with said seal (1) may introduce any information desired or required by the client into the chip (2). Characteristics of the product or of the sealed packaging may be introduced, such as the weight, volume, number of individual units contained in the packaging, technical or physical characteristics of the product, date of manufacture, date of exit from the warehouse, etcetera, as well as other data that may optionally be introduced during the route of the merchandise up to arrival at its final destination, in order to be able to carry out a following-up of the possible incidents occurring during transportation. Part of these data, or the totality of the same, may be accessible only if a password set by the seller or the client is known, such that the confidentiality of the information sent in said chips (2) is guaranteed.
In some cases, the sealed articles contain substances potentially corrosive for the receptacle (3), or the warehouses or transportation means through which said articles travel may store this kind of substances, due to which, in another embodiment of the invention, it is advisable for the material of said receptacle (3) to be substantially anti-corrosive in order to guarantee the integrity of the chip (2). In addition, this material of the receptacle (3) must be sufficiently resistant in order to resist the blows and loads to which it may be submitted during transportation, handling and storage of the articles.
On the other hand, the widening (7) that projects from the end of the tie (4) opposite the pointed end has a size appropriate to remain housed into the receptacle (3) and has a surface adapted for the placement of indications, inscriptions, bar codes, magnetic bands or any other annotations that may complement the information contained in the chip (2). For example, these indications or annotations may be simply the logo or the commercial address of a company.
The system of retention of the seal (1) through the opening (8) is that common to this type of devices and, specifically, may be that normally used in the seals provided by the applicant of the present invention and technically known.
The receptacle or box (3) includes an upper parallelepiped casing (10), set to receive the casing (11) which houses the passage (12) and that receives one of the cited openings (8). The upper casing (10) and the openings (8) may have the minimum dimensions sufficient in order to house different types of pre-existent seals.
The receptacle (3) may therefore be manufactured independently from the ties (4) and may be utilized in different tie types and configurations.
The nature of the present invention, as well as the manner to put it into practice being sufficiently described, it is hereby stated that all that which does not alter, change or modify its fundamental principle may be subject to variations in its details.

Claims

Security seal with incorporated chip, of the type consisting of a flexible tie (4), made of plastic or the like, which ends in a widening provided with a passage (12) through which the tie may be introduced from its free end, the passage including means for retention of the tie which are placed inside a housing to such effect, and the seal comprising a control chip (2) for the identification of the seal or of the product associated therewith, characterized in that it comprises a receptacle (3), essentially in the form of a box, adapted to contain the chip and to receive the widening and the housing for the retention means, and provided with means for the pass-through introduction of the tie (4) simultaneously through the passage (12) and the receptacle (3), all of this adapted in such a manner that when the tie passes through the passage and the housing, the receptacle is retained in its operational position, and when the tie is cut, the receptacle may be extracted to be used later in another seal, such that said chip may be recovered and used again after said seal has been unsealed.
Security seal incorporated, according to claim 1, characterized in that said means for the pass-through introduction of the tie (4) comprise openings (8) made on opposite sides of the receptacle (3), that are aligned with the passage (12) in the operational position of housing of the widening.
Security seal incorporated, according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that the material of said receptacle (3) presents the sufficient mechanical resistance to withstand blows, vibrations, forces, loads and compressions that may be caused in the handling, transportation and storage of the articles to which the seal is applied, in such a manner that it guarantees the integrity of the said chip.
Security seal (1) with incorporated chip (2) according to any of the previous claims, characterized in that the material of the receptacle (3) is transparent to the signals emitted by means for writing/reading data intended to write/read on said chip (2).
Security seal (1) with incorporated chip (2) based on claim 4, characterized in that the chip (2) is of the type on which data may be repeatedly written / read.
Security seal (1) with incorporated chip (2) according to any of the previous claims, characterized in that it includes a tray (5) to support the chip (1) that may be firmly housed in the receptacle (3) in such a manner that once it is inside said receptacle it remains substantially protected against external aggressions, is provided with a recess (6) adapted to receive and retain the chip (2) in a substantially fixed position.
Security seal (1) with incorporated chip (2) according to any of the previous claims, characterized in that the material of the receptacle (3) is transparent so that it allows for the objects (2 and 5) housed inside the same to be seen and for any inscriptions made on the said objects to be read.
Security seal (1) with incorporated chip (2) according to any of the previous claims, characterized in that the material of the receptacle (3) is anti-corrosive.