EP4094236A1

EP4094236A1 - Electronic article surveillance devices

Info

Publication number: EP4094236A1
Application number: EP21743716.9A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Alain Favier
Original assignee: All Tag Corp
Current assignee: All Tag Corp
Priority date: 2020-01-23
Filing date: 2021-01-22
Publication date: 2022-11-30
Also published as: EP4094236A4; WO2021150868A1; CN115210787A; CA3165517A1

Abstract

There is disclosed an improved disposable electronic article surveillance keeper ("Keeper") that has no locking or unlocking mechanism and which is of a reduced size. The Keeper may comprise a rigid casing that substantially corresponds to the shape of a product and adapted to cover at least one side of the product but not fully enclosing the product; a security element attached to the casing and adapted to be inaccessible to a consumer when the keeper is attached to the product; and a flexible adhesive support attached to the casing and adapted to wrap around the product.

Description

ELECTRONIC ARTICLE SURVEILLANCE DEVICES

RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims benefit of U.S. provisional application Serial No. 62/964,736, filed January 23, 2020, entitled "Electronic Article Surveillance Labels," which application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates to electronic article surveillance devices. More particularly, the invention relates to electronic article surveillance keepers with means to be attached onto high value hard goods such as, but no limited to, battery packs, USB memory cards, razor blade packs, medicine boxes, perfumes, health^¬ care items, wines, alcohols, DIY (Do It Yourself) accessories and the like ("Hard Goods").

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Electronic article surveillance keepers ("Keepers") are generally known in the art, including as disclosed in U.S. Patent 6,676,175 which is incorporated herein by reference. Since the advent of Keepers in the 1980s, retailers have applied millions of these Keepers to Hard Goods in order to prevent shoplifting. Keepers initially emerged to protect very high value Hard Goods like CDs and audiocassettes where the traditional EAS (Electronic Article Surveillance) adhesive label was no longer effective as easily identified and neutralized by a shoplifter. Keepers have proven to be a very effective way of combatting shoplifting of high value Hard Goods but have always presented a number of challenges and drawbacks such as but no limited to:

1. Keepers are generally made of clear polycarbonate that is perfectly transparent when they are new but slowly get scratched when the store clerks remove them at the point of sales, pile them up and recirculate them to be used again and again. Progressively these scratches, including through the friction caused by one blister pack placed over another, become so serious they alter the visibility of the Hard Goods inside them and its inscriptions such as the barcode or important product information for medicines for example which slow the checkout process and impact revenue.

2. Keepers tend to accumulate dirt and dust as they can be used well over five years by a retailer making the visibility of a protected product even worse.

3. Keepers are by nature far bigger in total volume and size than the Hard Goods they are protecting as they encase the Hard Goods they protect and need means to be locked and unlocked which require additional volume.

This additional volume is in general from 20 to 35% of the Hard Goods without the security Keepers which proportionally decreases the number of products to be displayed, thus impacting sales revenue for retailers as less product is displayed (20 to 35%) to the eyes of potential customers in a self-service environment.

4. Some product manufacturers such as batteries or razor blades purchase these keepers branded with their names to deliver them to specific retailers to help combat shrinkage and avoid retailers from locking their Hard Goods behind a counter that in turn kills sales revenues. These retailers use for example: Keepers purchased by manufacturer A to be used on their batteries for other products such as cosmetics from other brands as these Keepers are big enough to fit a large variety of high theft items. This creates a double problem for manufacturer A: its Hard Good will not be properly secured as many will be left without Keepers generating losses because shoplifting will increase and financial burden as manufacturer A purchased Keepers being used for other products and brands.

5. Some popular Keepers designed to secure Hard Goods such as batteries with a cardboard backing and razor blades packs do not encase the entire product package leaving out of the Keeper the upper flap of the package where the peg-hole is located and used to hang the packs on self-service display systems. The Keepers add extra weight for which the packs were not designed thus easily breaking and falling off the displays. Also, these peg-holes not being incased by the keeper make it easy for a shoplifter to break off the packs out of self-service display systems.

6. With the advent of self-checkouts in the retail environment, especially in super and hyper markets, Keepers are a nuisance as customers cannot remove them needing the assistance of a store sales clerk which goes in total opposition to the essence of a self-checkout where a customer is intended to checkout a product without store assistance.

7. Keepers are a very labor-intensive security device for retailers as they need to be removed at the checkout counter, sorted by type, recycled to the back of the store, sorted by model and used again to encase and secure a new Hard Good.

8. In the event a shoplifter succeeds in stealing a Hard Good inside a Keeper, he may purchase online a specific detacher device to remove the product from the Keeper without causing any damage to it thus making it very easy to resell on the black-market.

In summary: Keepers are a good solution to combat theft but present numerous drawbacks affecting the shoppers purchasing experience and nuisances to retailers.

[0004] As seen above, the current Keepers for Hard Goods and other items have various shortcomings. An improved Keeper is highly desirable. These and other shortcomings of these known Keepers are addressed by the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] In order to solve the above challenges with current Keepers, the invention is directed to an improved Keeper made of a rigid and generally transparent Keeper casing with a transparent adhesive means of attachment which is to be used in conjunction with known de- activatable EAS labels, including RF and acousto-magnetic labels such as manufactured or sold by All-Tag Corporation USA and Sensormatic, a division of Johnson Controls USA, and re-programable RFID label inlays manufactured or sold by Avery Denison USA.

[0006] A primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved EAS Keeper ("Keeper"). The "Keeper" of the present invention is intended to include:

1. A casing made of a rigid material such as, but not limited to, polycarbonate plastic, non-transparent ABS plastic or an eco-friendly biodegradable material that will not totally encase a product or product packaging (collectively "product") as a traditional Keeper would do. The Keeper is designed to, in general, be positioned on the front side of a product over the location on a packaging where the Hard Good is visible or accessible and circling the peg-hole hook of the packaging when applicable. The Keeper structure may alternatively be positioned to the back side of a product but will not fully encase it.

2. A flexible and generally transparent support permanently attached to the Keeper with a strong glue meant to be wrapped around the product and the Keeper casing to hold the Keeper structure securely attached to a product preventing a shoplifter from removing it by hand or accessing the area where the Hard Good is located. The flexible support may have a peel-off paper for ease of application and pre-printed instructions and/or warning messages and/or a printed/opaque area to mask selective areas of the product.

3. At least one RF and/or AM EAS label and/or RFID inlay is affixed to the Keeper casing and/or to the flexible support.

[0007] Another primary object of the invention is to provide an improved Keeper for use with high value Hard Goods.

[0008] Another primary object of the invention is to provide an improved Keeper which does not include a locking mechanism and, therefore, the Keeper will not be required to be removed at the point of sale. Upon checkout the de- activatable EAS label or re-programmable RFID inlay will be deactivated or turned-off to allow a paying customer to leave the store without triggering the EAS Security Gates. This feature will save substantial time and money to retailers and will allow customers to pay using self checkouts without the assistance of sales staff to unlock or remove the Keepers, thereby expediting the checkout process. The paying customer will then remove the improved Keeper at home using, for example, a pair of scissors.

[0009] Another primary object of the invention is for the improved Keeper and its attached flexible transparent support to destroy the product's packaging when removed to extract the product inside it to avoid a shoplifter from reselling it on the black market. This feature will deter shoplifting.

[00010] Another primary object of the invention is to provide an improved Keeper that adds a minimal additional volume to a Hard Good or its packaging when affixed to it. In opposition to traditional Keepers which add 15 to 30% more volume, the Keeper of the invention will not impact the number of products on display in a self-service environment. This feature will increase sales as more Hard Goods will be exposed in comparison to traditional Keepers. [00011] Another primary object of the invention is to provide an improved Keeper that in addition to the above- mentioned improvements brings a physical reinforcement to the peg-hole of a carboard package to deter a shoplifter from pulling a Keeper with a cardboard package off a store display by tearing it off (breaking the cardboard peg- hole). This reinforcement will be most effective on secured store displays such as the T100 or Helix device from In-View Systems, a Charlotte, North Carolina company, that prevents a shoplifter from pulling out several items at the same time from a display system. This feature will help reduce theft.

[00012] A variant of the invention is to provide an improved Keeper that perfectly matches the geometry/morphology of a specific section of a specific Hard Good packaging thus reducing the possibility of it being used on other Hard Goods it was not designed for. As an example: an improved Keeper can be made to match the geometry/morphology of a pack of AA batteries of Brand A that would not match the geometry/morphology of a pack of AA batteries of Brand B as for example the peg-hole of the AA battery pack of Brand B would be obstructed by the Keeper made for Brand A.

[00013] A variant of the invention is to provide an improved Keeper that matches the geometry/morphology of a specific Hard Good A and includes a very specific opaque printing area on its clear flexible support that would mask very specific information of a very similar Hard Good B which would make Hard Good B in a Keeper for Hard Good A very difficult or impossible to sell. As an example: an improved Keeper can be made to match the geometry/morphology of a pack of AA batteries of Brand A whereas the opaque printing area does not mask important information when wrapped around it but when used on a very similar pack of AA batteries of Brand B would partially or totally mask the barcode or other critical information making it very difficult or impossible to sell as the barcode will not be read by the barcode reader at the checkout point and/or critical legal information will be masked.

[00014] The invention is directed to an improved Keeper comprising a rigid casing that substantially corresponds to the shape of a product and adapted to cover at least one side of the product but not fully enclosing the product; a security element attached to the casing and adapted to be inaccessible to a consumer when the Keeper is attached to the product; and a flexible adhesive support attached to the casing and adapted to wrap around the product.

[00015] The invention is further directed to a Keeper comprising a rigid casing that substantially corresponds to the shape of a product and adapted to cover at least one side of the product but not fully enclosing the product; a security element attached to the casing and adapted to be inaccessible to a consumer when the Keeper is attached to the product; and a two-sided adhesive extending around the perimeter of the casing, one side of the two-sided adhesive attached to the casing and the second side of the two-sided adhesive adapted to attach to the product to secure the Keeper to the product.

[00016] These primary and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments of the invention and from the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [00017] The following detailed description of the specific non-limiting embodiments of the present invention can be best understood when read in conjunction with the following drawings, where like structures are indicated by like reference numbers.

[00018] Referring to the drawings:

[00019] FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the improved Keeper of the present invention with an AM label.

[00020] FIGURE 2 is a back view of the improved Keeper of Figure 1 having the flexible adhesive support with its pre cut holes connected to arrow shape barbs and the AM label. [00021] FIGURE 3 is an enlarged side view of the top of the Keeper of Figure 1.

[00022] FIGURE 4A is a partial view of a side wall of the Keeper showing the arrow shaped barbs and the connection to the flexible adhesive support having perforations.

[00023] FIGURE 4B is an enlarged side view of the arrow shaped barb. [00024] FIGURES 5A-5D are views of the Keeper, with an AM label, being attached to a product and showing the steps of attaching the Keeper to the product.

[00025] FIGURES 6A and 6B represent a comparison of an identical product on display using the improved Keeper in Figure 6A wherein X and Y for four products is less than X' and Y' of Figure 6B using a prior art Keeper because the improved Keeper requires less space on a retail display. [00026] FIGURES 7A-7D show the improved Keeper affixed to two similar products from two different brands wherein the improved Keeper has a pre-defined cover-up print section designed to selectively mask information to guarantee that a specific improved Keeper with a specific pre-defined cover-up area will only be usable on a specific product from a specific brand.

[00027] FIGURES 8A-8D show a comparison of use of the Keeper, wherein Figures 8A and 8B show the improved Keeper in place on Brand A protecting the peg-hole from being broken and Figures 8C and 8D show the same Brand A product without the improved Keeper allowing it to be broken by a shoplifter.

[00028] FIGURES 9A-9C represent an alternative means of attachment for the improved Keeper wherein the flexible adhesive support is replaced by a double-side glue label to protect the product on one side only.

[00029] FIGURES 10A-10D represent an alternative method of attaching the improved Keeper to a product wherein a standard roll of clear tape is used instead of the flexible adhesive support.

[00030] FIGURE 11A-11B illustrate two improved Keepers on a product, one on the top and one on the bottom. Referring to Figure 11A, the top Keeper has a peg-hole for a product with a peg-hole. Figure 11B is similar to 11A but the two Keepers are the same and the top Keeper does not have a peg-hole.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [00031] Referring to Figures 1-4, there is shown the improved keeper 10 comprising a rigid casing 12, a flexible adhesive support 14 affixed to the casing 12 via the pre^¬ cut perforations on the flexible support 14 and the arrow shape barbs on the casing 12 as described below. The casing 12 includes a security device 16.

[00032] The casing 12 includes a frame 20 which may be of different shapes to conform to the Hard Good upon which the Keeper 10 is to be attached. The frame 20 shown in Figures 1-4 is rectangular as this is a common shape of Hard Good products. Frame 20 includes a top wall 22, bottom wall 24 and side walls 26, 28. Extending from top wall 22 is an upwardly extending support 30. Support 30 includes an elbow 31 which allows the support to be placed through a Hard Good product peg-hole as shown, for example, in Figures 5 and 6. Support 30 includes an opening 33 which corresponds to a Hard Good package peg-hole for hanging the Hard Good product on a display rack in a store.

[00033] Referring to Figures 4A and 4B, the frame 20 side wall 26 may include arrow shaped barbs 34 for attachment of flexible adhesive support 14 as discussed below. Referring to Figure 2, side wall 28 is adapted to receive a security element 16 which may be adhered to side wall 28 by any suitable means such as an adhesive. The security element 16 is not accessible to consumers such that it cannot be removed and preferably cannot be seen. Case 12 may include one or more apertures A in the walls to provide for a lighter weight Keeper and to require less material in the manufacture of the Keeper, thereby saving cost in manufacture.

[00034] Frame 20 further includes an open window 36 shown, for example, in Figures 1 and 2. This represents an area of the rigid casing 12 with no material and which matches the geometry and the position of the Hard Good.

The Keeper 10 thereby reduces the total amount of material required and produces a lighter and cheaper antitheft solution. The Keeper 10 fits in place to surround a product 80.

[00035] The rigid casing 12 may be manufactured from a transparent material such as, but no limited to, polycarbonate plastic; a non-transparent ABS plastic; or an eco-friendly biodegradable material. While the preferred embodiment is for casing 12 to be transparent, a translucent or an opaque casing may be used, including a casing using the trade dress of the Hard Good product to be secured.

[00036] The flexible adhesive support 14 comprises a clear tape 40 with a strong glue and a peel-off paper backing 42. The clear adhesive tape 40 is meant to wrap around the package of a product and the Keeper 10 to hold all together by the strong glue of tape 40. Support 14 further includes a plurality of perforations 44 for mating with arrow barbs 34 and attaching the support 14 to casing 12.

[00037] The flexible support 14 may be manufactured from a clear plastic material such as, but not limited to, polypropylene or an eco-friendly biodegradable material. A presently preferred strong glue on tape 40 is UPM Permanent adhesive that will destroy printed matter on the back of a product's packaging if removed by a shoplifter, making the product hard to resell.

[00038] The security element 16 may include one or a combination of an EAS label; an antenna; or a security device or electronic label such as an RFID element/antenna for the purpose such as, but not limited to, one or multiple traceability, merchandising, marketing, pricing or inventory purposes.

[00039] Referring to Figures 1 and 2, there is disclosed a presently preferred shape and dimensions of the improved Keeper 10. However, it is understood that other shapes and dimensions may be utilized without departing from the scope of the invention. Specifically, the improved Keeper 10 of the invention preferably will correspond to the shape of the Hard Good being secured, including, but not limited to, rectangular, square, oval or the like.

[00040] Figures 5A-5D show a pack of batteries 80 secured with an improved Keeper 10 having an acousto-magnetic label 16 wherein the transparent flexible adhesive tape 40 is wrapped around the pack of batteries 80. After the product 80 has been wrapped, the batteries are no longer accessible without forcing the package open. The strong permanent adhesive on transparent tape 40 will destroy the printed material 82 on the pack of batteries 80 if forcefully removed. Referring to Figure 5A, there is shown the Keeper 10 being attached to a package of batteries 80. Support 30 is placed through the peg-hole of the batteries 80. The flexible adhesive support 14 is pulled out and away from the casing 12. Referring to Figure 5B, support 30 is seen through the peg-hole of batteries 80 and the top thereof is adjacent to the top of the batteries 80. Peel-off layer 42 is pulled back from flexible adhesive support 14 exposing tape 40 with the strong permanent adhesive. Referring to Figure 5C, the clear tape 40 is wrapped around the back of the battery pack 80 and all product information may be read and does not cover it. Referring to Figure 5D, the clear tape 40 is now completely wrapped around the battery pack and covering the open area 36 of casing 12 and the Keeper is fully attached to the battery pack 80 and the Keeper and the battery pack 80 constitute one unitary product. Thereafter, a customer may purchase the battery pack 80 at a cashier with the barcode, as shown in Figures 5B and 5C, visible for a cashier to scan the product. Similarly, at the checkout, the AM security element 16 may be deactivated by the cashier and the customer takes the product home.

The customer thereafter may remove or cut the clear tape 40.

[00041] Figures 6A and 6B show a comparison of Keeper 10 in Figure 6A and prior art Keepers K in Figure 6B. Figure 6A shows a series of improved Keepers 10, protecting a series of identical battery packs 80 hanging off a retail display fixture F. Figure 6B shows display fixture F with identical battery pack 80 in a prior art Keeper K. The lines X and Y in Figure 6A will always be less for the same number of products than the lines X' and Y' in Figure 6B as the new improved Keeper 10 will need less space on retail display fixtures F. For the same quantity of battery packs 80, typically, X with the improved Keeper will be from 15 to 30% less than X' with the prior art Keepers and Y will be from 5 to 15% less than Y'.

[00042] Figures 7A-7D represent the improved Keeper 10 affixed to product 80 from Brand A and product 80' from Brand B, wherein the transparent adhesive tape 40 of support 14 has one or more pre-defined cover up sections 70. Referring to Figures 7A and 7B, cover up section 70 does not mask any critical information of the section 84 of the product 80 from Brand A. Figures 7C and 7D show the same improved Keeper 10 and the same transparent adhesive tape 40 of support 14 on product 80' from Brand B similar to Brand A, wherein the same clear adhesive tape 40 of support 14 has the same pre-defined cover up printed section 70 that masks critical information 84' of the product 80', thus product 80' of Brand B cannot be sold with Keeper 10 designed for Brand A as the critical information, e.g. a barcode, is covered and cannot be scanned.

[00043] Figures 8A and 8B show the improved Keeper 10 upper section 30 of the casing 12 perfectly fitting/matching the area of the product 80 packaging peg- hole in order to meet two criteria: (1) the upper section

30 of the casing 12 matches the peg-hole of the Brand A's packaging; and (2) the upper section 30 reinforces the peg- hole typically made of cardboard in order to keep shoplifters from pulling/ripping out one or several products from a retail display fixture by breaking the cardboard peg-hole from product 80' as shown in Figures 8C and 8D.

[00044] Figures 9A-9C represent an alternative means of attachment for another embodiment of the improved Keeper 100 wherein the flexible adhesive support 14 is replaced by a double-sided glue 140 with peel-off paper 142. The glue 140 is located on the perimeter of the improved Keeper 100 in order to attached it onto a product 80 protecting only one side of the product 80. Figure 9C represents this alternative embodiment 100 with the peel-off paper 142 totally removed and in the process of being glued onto the product packaging 80. The other parts of Keeper 100 are substantially the same as Keeper 10.

[00045] Figures 10A-10D show an alternative Keeper 210 which is substantially similar to Keeper 10 except that it does not include the flexible adhesive support 14. The Keeper 210 is attached to the product 80 using a standard roll of clear tape 160 as shown in Figures 10A-10D. Referring to Figure 10A, there is shown a package of batteries 80. Referring to Figure 10B, there is shown a Keeper 210 with support 30 placed through the peg-hole of the batteries 80. Referring to Figures IOC and 10D, the clear tape 240 is wrapped around the front and then the back of the battery pack 80. All product information may be read and is not_, covered. Referring to Figure 10D, the clear tape 240 is now completely wrapped around the battery pack and a scissors or similar instrument are used to cut the excess clear tape 240. Thereafter, a customer may purchase the battery pack 80 at a cashier with the barcode, as shown in Figure 10D, visible for a cashier to scan the product. Similarly, at the checkout, the AM security element 16 may be deactivated by the cashier and the customer takes the product home. The customer thereafter may remove or cut the clear tape 142.

[00046] Figures 11A and 11B illustrate the use of two Keepers 310 and 410 at the top and bottom of a Hard Good 180 and a clear adhesive member 190 is wrapped around the Hard Good to hold the Keepers 310 and 410 in place. Figure 11A shows Keeper 310 having a peg-hole for holding the Hard Good. Figure 11B shows the Keeper 310 without a peg-hole. [00047] The exemplary embodiments herein disclosed are not intended to be exhaustive or to unnecessarily limit the scope of the invention. The exemplary embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principles of the present invention so that others skilled in the art may practice the invention. As will be apparent to one skilled in the art, various modifications can be made within the scope of the aforesaid description. Such modifications being within the ability of one skilled in the art form a part of the present invention and are embraced by the appended claims.

Claims

IT IS CLAIMED:

1. An electronic article surveillance ("EAS") Keeper comprising a rigid casing that substantially corresponds to the shape of a product and adapted to cover at least one side of the product but not fully enclosing the product; a security element attached to the casing and adapted to be inaccessible to a consumer when the keeper is attached to the product; and a flexible adhesive support attached to the casing and adapted to wrap around the product.

2. The EAS Keeper of claim 1 wherein the flexible adhesive support comprises a transparent tape with a permanent glue and a peel-off backing material.

3. The EAS Keeper of claim 1 wherein the casing further includes a plurality of arrow-shaped barbs for attaching the flexible adhesive support to the casing and the flexible adhesive support includes a plurality of perforations for engaging the plurality of arrow-shaped barbs.

4. The EAS Keeper of claim 3 wherein the flexible adhesive support comprises a transparent tape with a permanent glue and a peel-off backing material.

5. The EAS Keeper of claim 1 wherein the casing includes a top wall, a bottom wall, a first side wall and a second side wall forming an open frame, the casing adapted to fit around the perimeter of the product.

6. The EAS Keeper of claim 1 wherein the casing further includes an upward extending support having a peg- hole.

7. The EAS Keeper of claim 6 wherein the casing includes a top wall, a bottom wall, a first side wall and a second side wall forming an open frame.

8. The EAS Keeper of claim 6 wherein the upwardly extending support is adapted to fit through a peg-hole on the product and to prevent tearing of the product peg-hole.

9. The EAS Keeper of claim 7 wherein at least one of said walls of said Keeper includes one or more apertures.

10. The EAS Keeper of claim 1 wherein the EAS Keeper shape is selected from the group consisting of rectangular, square and oval.

11. The EAS Keeper of claim 1 wherein the security element is selected from the group consisting of an EAS label, an antenna, an RFID element and antenna and a combination of an EAS label and an RFID element.

12. The EAS Keeper of claim 1 wherein the flexible adhesive support includes a transparent tape having an opaque section adapted to mask an information section of a product which is not adapted to be used with the EAS Keeper.

13. An electronic article surveillance ("EAS") Keeper comprising a rigid casing that substantially corresponds to the shape of a product and adapted to cover at least one side of the product but not fully enclosing the product; a security element attached to the casing and adapted to be inaccessible to a consumer when the keeper is attached to the product; and a two-sided adhesive extending around the perimeter of the casing, one side of the two-sided adhesive attached to the casing and the second side of the two-sided adhesive adapted to attach to the product to secure the Keeper to the product.

14. The EAS Keeper of claim 13 wherein the casing includes a top wall, a bottom wall, a first side wall and a second side wall forming an open frame, the casing adapted to fit around the perimeter of the product.

15. The EAS Keeper of claim 14 wherein the casing further includes an upward extending support having a peg- hole.

16. The EAS Keeper of claim 15 wherein the upwardly extending support is adapted to fit through a peg-hole on the product and to prevent tearing of the product peg-hole

17. The EAS Keeper of claim 16 wherein at least one of said walls of said Keeper includes one or more apertures.

18. The EAS Keeper of claim 13 wherein the EAS Keeper shape is selected from the group consisting of rectangular, square and oval.

19. The EAS Keeper of claim 13 wherein the security element is selected from the group consisting of an EAS label, an antenna, an RFID element and antenna and a combination of an EAS label and an RFID element.

20. The EAS Keeper of claim 1 wherein the Keeper is disposable.

21. The EAS Keeper of claim 13 wherein the Keeper is disposable.

22. The EAS Keeper of claim 1 wherein the Keeper includes no locking or unlocking mechanism.

23. The EAS Keeper of claim 13 wherein the Keeper includes no locking or unlocking mechanism.

24. The EAS Keeper of claim 20 wherein the Keeper includes no locking or unlocking mechanism.

25. The EAS Keeper of claim 21 wherein the Keeper includes no locking or unlocking mechanism.