GB2339234A - Time-locked container - Google Patents

Description

2339234 A portable firne-locked contairurnent Maratus This invention

relates to a Man-portable time-locked containment apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a portable containment apparatus having containment means within which one or more items may be secured until a future date at which the items secured therein may be released.

There are many examples of portable lockable containers within the prior art, ranging from children's savings containers ('piggy' banks) through such items of luggage such as suitcases, to the more secure types of container such as petty cash boxes and the safety deposit boxes incorporated in the type of armoured security van operated by security companies such as those trading under the names of Securicor, Group 4, etc. Some of the cited prior art examples of portable lockable containers incorporate a time -element into the locking system, and this is especially common in those containers which are used to store highly valuable items such as cash, jewellery and the like. An example of such a container would be a time-lock safe such as those that might be included in the type of armoured security van mentioned previously. Such a safe includes a timing element which allows the safe to be opened only at certain predetermined times of the day, or in accordance with a predetermined cycle. Thus even if the otherwise correct opening sequence is followed to open the safe, the safe will remain locked until such a time as the timing element indicates that the safe can be opened.

Such time-locked locking mechanisms of the above described prior art are usually employed in those applications where a high level of security is required.

The containers to which such time-locks are applied tend to be of heavy construction so that it is only possible to open the container by using the lock. As a result such containers tend to be portable only when fixed into a vehicle such as an armoured security van. Furthermore, such high-security application containers are intended for 2 repeat use over a long if not indefinite product lifetime. The timing mechanisms are designed to provide for a cyclic operating schedule whereby the time-lock may be operated on a regular repeatable basis.

The present invention provides a novel man-portable time-locked container for items for which a relatively low level of security is required. The time locking mechanism operates to keep the container locked until a set future date or time which may be preset or may be selectable. The container will thus remain locked until the set future date or time upon which the locking mechanism will disengage and the container is able to be opened. It is thus possible for one person to select an opening date for the container and to pass the container on to a second person who will be unable to gain access to the contents until the opening date selected by the first person. The present invention may thus find application in many areas, and in particular within the area of the packaging of gifts, for instance for birthdays, for Christmas, or for other such dates of celebration of public importance such as the turning of the millennium. Other uses may be found in the area of providing secure packaging or bindings for items such as parcels, letters, or other such objects which are subject to transport by third parties, and to which a degree of security must be applied.

According to the present invention there is provided a portable time locked containment apparatus for securing at least one item substantially therein until at least one future date when said item is to be releasable therefrom, said apparatus comprising:

containment means within which said item is to be secured; locking means for preventing said containment means from being opened to allow said item to be releasable; time-programming means for allowing said future date to be arbitrarily set; and 3 timing means for determining whether said future date has been reached, and for releasing the locking means.

The future date may be set by entering information relating to the future date directly, or by entering a predetermined period of time to run from an arbitrary date, e.g. the current date.

The apparatus may include a closed container or any other arrangement for securing a package, such as a strap fitted with a lock.

In addition, the apparatus may contain all of the locking, timing and time-programming means internally within the container so that once the container has been closed it is no longer possible to access any of the said means.

Furthermore, the apparatus may be single use or multiple use.

Further advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following descriptions of particular embodiments thereof, and from reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure I shows a flow chart of the actions required by a user of any of the embodiments of the present invention; Figure 2 shows a container of a second preferred embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3 shows a third preferred embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4 shows a fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention; and Figure 5 shows a fifth preferred embodiment of the present invention.

A first embodiment of the present invention will now be described, with reference to Figure 1.

An item to be secured is placed within suitable contairoment means, and the containment means secured close(L Locking means are provided to ensure that the containment means remain closed until the future date or time that they are to be 4 opened. The locking means are responsive to timing means, which indicate to the locking means when the containment means are to be unlocked. The timing means are set by a date set means which allow the date at which the container is to open to be set. The methodology for so doing is outlined in Figure 1, and will be further discussed below.

The date set means 'include date set enabling means to allow the date set means to be enabled, whereby the future opening date of the containment means can be set. The purpose of the date set enabling means is to prevent any third party into whose possession the containment apparatus may pass from being able to reset the future opening date using the date set means in order to open the apparatus earlier or later than originally intended.

Having enabled the date set means the future opening date of the containment means is set and then the date set means must be disabled to prevent the future opening date from being changed in the manner described above. Following the setting of the future opening date the timing means may be engaged to begin timing towards the future opening date. The container can then be given to a third party or may be retained, but in any case will remain locked until the set future opening date.

The containment means may be of any convenient shape, for example a rectilinear cuboid, but other shapes such as spheres, pyramids or other polyhedral shapes are to be considered to fall within the scope of the present invention.

Furthermore, the containment means need not completely enclose the item, but may only partially enclose it, provided that the item remains secured within or to the container. A fully enclosed container may also contain viewing portions to allow the contents of the container to be viewed from the outside. The containment means may be made out of any suitable material, such as lightweight metal such as aluminium, plastic, pressed card, or any combination thereof. The containiment apparatus should not be of such substantial construction so as not to be man-portable, but may otherwise be made to be as secure as is required.

The timing means of the present invention may be mechanical, electrical, electronic or electromechanical and are required to keep a track of the passing of time so that it can be determined that the set future opening date has been reached.

The present embodiment may be varied in a number of ways, with respect to how the future date may be varied once it has been set, and as to how many times the container may be used.

As one variant of the present embodiment; it may be possible for the future date to be reset once a first future date has already been set. This will be achieved in the same manner as the initial setting of the first date, by enabling the date set means using the date-set enabling means, setting the new date, and then disabling the date set means and engaging the timing means.

As another variant the future date may only be set once, and once set and the timing means engaged it becomes no longer possible to change the date. This might be prefer-red where the container is required for items which require a higher level of security than items to which the first variant may be used.

A third variant that may be applied to the first embodiment is the re usability of the invenfion. The timing means and /or locking means may be arranged so that once the container has been used once, and has performed its fiinction by opening automatically then it is not possible to re-use the container. This may be achieved by prevenfing either the timing means or the locking means from being re engaged, or from preventing some other essential element from being re- used, such as the date set means.

A fourth variant refers to the future date at which the container may be opened. The future opening date could be set by the manufacturer, or it could be set 6 by another person such as a vendor or ultimate user of the present invention. A manufacturer could set those dates which are of public importance, such as the Millennium, or Christmas or Easter celebrations, for which there may be a high demand for containers preset with such dates.

The present invention is therefore highly suitable for giving gifts which are not to be opened until a set date to other people, as the presentor of the gift may set the date upon which the container will open enabling the presentee to retrieve the gift.

A second specific embodiment will now be described, with reference to Figure 2.

Within Figure 2, an enclosed container 10 provides containment for at least one item. A lid 101 is arranged to fit onto the end of the container 10 in order to fully enclose the container. The lid 101 is secured closed by virtue of locking means Which are internal to either the container or the lid, and are thus neither visible nor accessible from the outside once the lid of the container has been closed. An opening 120 is provided in the lid 10 1, through which a display 121 is visible which displays either the set opening date of the container, or displays a countdown in an arbitrary time base of the time left until the container can be opened. The display 121 is responsive to internal date-set means and/or internal timing means, neither of which are visible or accessible from the outside once the container has been closed. Within this particular embodiment the opening 120 is of circular shape and is incorporated into the lid 101, although it is to be understood that the opening may be of any convenient shape, and may instead be incorporated in the body of the container 10 where appropriate. Furthermore, the display 121 is epitomised in this particular embodiment by a digital display, but the display 121 could also be an analogue display, or a combination of digital and analogue displays depending on the information which is required to be displayed.

7 The present embodiment therefore provides a container according to the present invention in which the locking and timing elements are located within the apparatus so that once the container has been closed they are no longer accessible from the outside. Thus once the future opening date has been set and the date set means disabled and timing means engaged by closing the lid, it becomes impossible to alter the opening date. The container will therefore remain locked until the future opening date first set, regardless of any contrary intention of any user of the invention.

A third specific embodiment will now be described, with reference to Figure 3 Within Figure 3, an enclosed container 10 provides containment for at least one itern, which is placed by a user of the invention within the container 10. More than one item may be deposited within the container. Within this particular embodiment the container 10 is shown to be of rectilinear cuboid shape.

The container 10 is provided with a hinge 12 to allow a side of the container to open to permit a user to place the item within. The hinge 12 is of standard construction to allow the container to be opened, but may also incorporate a sprung element to either keep the container shut or to automatically open the container when the container becomes unlocked. In order to facilitate locking of the container a mechanical lock 13 is provided which may be of any known type suitable for securing containers closed. A suitable locking mechanism might be of the type that can be found on lockable prior art containers such as suitcases. To distinguish the present invention over the prior art, however, the present invention, provides a further timing element 14 and future-opening date set element 15 incorporated into the locking element 13. The future date set element 15 includes a number of tumblers upon which a date can be set by selecting the appropriate future date to be shown on the tumblers.

The user must set the future date at which the locking mechanism will 8 disengage and hence allow the container to be opened once more. In order to provide a secure container in which the locked period can be set by the first user only (hereon referred to as a privileged user), a key-hole 16 is provided as the date set enabling means. To enable the future opening date to be set the privileged user must insert the appropriate key into the key-hole 16. Having enabled the date set functions, the user can then select the future opening date of the container by selecting a date using the tumblers on the future date element 15. For example, the date may be chosen to be I January 2000, in which case the container will remain locked until the turn of the millennium. A two digit field may be used for storing the year without causing any cross-millennium problems such as those contemporaneously referTed to as the millennium bug', as the present invention does not perform any cross- millennium calculations on the present date and future date, but rather performs a simple comparison operation to check whether they are the same.

Once the future opening date of the container has been set, the privileged user must disable the date set functions. Within the present embodiment this is achieved by removing the key from the key-lock 16. The timing element 14 is then engaged. The privileged user may then give the locked container to a third party., who will only be able to access the contents when the container automatically unlocks on the set future date.

A fourth specific embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to Figure 4.

An item I I is secured within containment bindings 21 as the containment means, and which each surround the item I I in one plane. Although the present embodiment shows two such bindings placed at right angles to each other, it is to be understood that the present invention covers the case where only a single binding is used, or where more than two bindings are used. An example of a single binding being used could be where the present invention is applied to a luggage strap 9 for suitcases. In order to keep a suitcase securely fastened for the duration of its transport, the present invention could be used to provide time-locked securing means which only allow the suitcase to be opened after a set amount of time after which the suitcase should have reached its destination.

The bindings 21 are made from a lightweight material which should be highly resistant to being cut. Suitable materials may be light weight metals, plastic, or reinforced pressed card. Where each of the bindings would meet on the top of the item there is a locking element 13, designed to receive the ends of each of the bindings therein and to secure them in place until such future time or date as the locking element is to be disengaged. In this particular embodiment the locking element 13 is an electromechanical element controlled by an electronic circuit which performs the timing and future-date setting functions. The locking mechanism may be of any conventional type, but a preferred type may be by the use of one or more electromagnets arranged to retain the binding elements in the locking means. In order to conserve power the electromagnetic arrangement may include electromagnet control means arranged to energise semi-permanent magnets to keep the containment bindings in the locking element.

The locking element further includes a display screen 23 which may be of any known type such as an LCD or LED display, and which is used to display any appropriate information such as the ftiture date and/or time at which the container will be opened, or the cur-rent date and /or time. There is further provided a keypad 22 which is used to enter appropriate information into the electronic circuit.

In operation, the locking means, and timing and future date setting means are used in the same manner as in the previous embodiments of the present invention, that is, the date must be set by following the flow chart of Figure I. The use of an electronic control circuit to control the locking and timing elements provides additional fle)dbility and accuracy, however, and it may be possible to set a specific opening time as well as an opening date. In addition, it should be possible for the user to alter or set the present time and date if required, although this may normally be performed by the manufacturer or vendor.

In order to set the opening date of the containment bindings, the privileged user must first enable the date to be set. This is achieved by entering a numeric code into the electronic circuit by means of the keypad 22. Once this has been entered, the privileged user may then set the opening date and/or time at which the locking means will disengage by entering the appropriate values on the keypad.

These values may then be displayed on the display screen 23 to ensure that the appropriate values have been entered. Once the correct values have been entered the user must disable the date setting process, and then engage the timing elements. This can be achieved by providing suitable control buttons on the keypad 22, and providing the appropriate fimctionality within the electronic circuit. It must be noted that generic timing and data storage digital electronic circuits are available within the prior art, and these may be suitable for use in the present invention.

The variants which apply to the earlier embodiments apply equally to this embodiment, and should in fact be easier to implement due to the increased flexibility of implementing the present invention using an electronic circuit.

As an addition to the above described embodiments, signalling means which provide a signal to the user when the locking means disengage and the containment means are able to be opened may also be provided. The signalling means may take any form, and may be in the form of lights, sounders or buzzers, bells, or motors to cause the apparatus to vibrate. In the case of lights, there may be one or more lights which may flash periodically or in sequence, or in any other combination.

In the case of sounders or buzzers, one or more sounders or buzzers may be employed to alert the user, and may further be used so as to play an alerting tune, or to produce simple signalling tones. In the case of motors, one or more motors may be used to I I discreetly alert the user by vibrating the apparatus, in a manner analogous to those of contemporary telephonic paging devices. This last alternative may be particularly attractive where the user has to be alerted discreetly, and the use of flashing lights or buzzers would not be appropriate. It is to be understood that any one or more of the different types of signalling means can be used in combination with each other, and that the signalling means include the appropriate signalling control means which are required to operate each of the different signalling means.

With respect to the timing elements in the previously described embodiments, two different arrangements may be made, which will now be described.

A first arrangement incorporates a future date memory to store the date set by the privileged user at which the container is to open. By 'memory', it is not implied that the timing element be electronic in nature, but simply that there are some means to record the future date, either electronically or mechanically. A present date determining means are also included to keep a track of the present date, an initial reference date having been set previously, by the manufacturer or vendor. Date compare means are further included to keep a constant or periodically intermittent check on the similarity of the present date with the future date. Once the two values match, then the date compare means determines that the future date has been reached and signals the locking means that the container should be released. The date compare means may perform a check constantly so that as soon as the two dates match the locking means will be released, or may perform a periodic intermittent check, for instance at the same time every 24 hours. Reference has been made above to comparing dates, but it is also to be understood that where the opening date includes an opening time, the present time will also be compared with the opening time. In this case, there is no need to perform intermittent checks, and the two values should be compared constantly.

A second arrangement of the timing element of the present invention 12 incorporates ftiture date count means to store an arbitrary count value calculated either by the timing means or by the user to represent the date at which the container is to be opened. An arbitrary time-base may be used, such as minutes, days, or even weeks. For instance, if the container is to be opened on a particular date which is in seven days time, a future date count of seven may be set if the time base being used is that of days. Altematively, if, for example, the time base is minutes, the future date count may be set to be 8880, that being the number of minutes in seven days. If the container is to be opened in seven days time less half an hour, then the count could be set to be 8850.

A counter then counts up 'in the arbitrary time base used, and the current count is constantly compared with the set count by count compare means When both the count values are equal, then the future opening time has been reached and the locking means are signalled to open, Alternatively, it may be possible to do without the count compare means by simply setting the calculated future date count value as a start value in the counter, and counting down to zero. When the count reaches zero then the future opening date has been reached and the locking means are signalled to open.

It is important to note that in this second an-angement the time base may be arbitrary, but that the choice of time base will affect the resolution of time with which it will be possible to specify an opening time. For instance, if a time base of one week is chosen, then it will only be possible to set a future opening date to the accuracy of one week.

A fifth exemplary embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to Figure 5, and which makes use of the second alternative timing arrangement described above.

A container 10 includes a hinged top 101 upon which are mounted fastening means 102 to enable the container to be fastened shut. The hinge (not 13 shown) may include a sprung element to automatically open the top when the fastening means are released. A locking element 103) is arranged to act like a padlock to secure the fastening means shut and to prevent the container from being opened.

The locking element 103) includes a rotatable dial 105 which includes a handle 104 to allow said dial to be rotated. Gradations 106 are etched either onto the dial 105, or onto the locking element 103. A key-hole is provided in the bottom of the locking element 103 to act as the date-set enabling means. Incorporated inside the locking element 103 is a timing element to keep track of the passage of time.

In operation a privileged user enables the date set functions by inserting a key into the key-hole. A future opening time is then set by turning the dial to select the amount of time for which the container is to be locked shut. The gradations on the locking element 10') or on the dial 105 represent the time base of the internal timing element which may be days, weeks, or even months. The key is then removed to disable the date set functions, and to enable the timing element.

The timing element counts down the time, slowly rotating the dial to show the remaining time left until the lock will open. Once the dial reaches the start position the locking means are signalled to open, and hence automatically disengage, allowing the fastening means to be removed, and the container to be opened.

The timing element within the locking means may be electrical, mechanical, or electromechanical., but must be able to provide continuous timing for the duration of the locked period. After use, the apparatus may be reused, or may be discarded, depending on its intended lifetime.

An emergency override mechanism which may be used with any of the previously described embodiments will now be described with reference to Figure 3.

It may be that in extreme circumstances a third party may wish to retrieve the item from the containment apparatus before the future date set by the privileged user. In such a case it must be possible for a third party to break into the 14 container using reasonable force. To this end it may be possible to provide weak points in the contairiment means which will break open upon the application of a reasonable amount of force. One such arrangement is where a thin groove is cut out of the inside of the surface of a container 10 to provide a strip of thinner material running around the inside of the container. Although not visible from the outside, the groove acts as a weak point in the material of the container along which the container can fracture should enough force be applied to it. By providing the groove along an entire inner perimeter of the container the container will be able to break cleanly into two pieces along the groove, thus enabling the contents to be retrieved.

A second arrangement to provide emergency access to the contents of the container involves perforating a perimeter which encloses an area of the surface of the container which will be removable, as shown by the panel 19 in Figure 3. By applying force to the enclosed area, the perforations will break, thus allowing the panel to be removed to provide access to the contents of the container. This is similar in arrangement to the perforated area which enables soft drinks cans to be opened, but the area involved may need to be larger to facilitate easy access to the contents.

The present invention thus provides a time-locked container in which an opening date of the container may be set, and the container may then be given to a d-drd party who will be able to open the container to gain access to the contents only on the set date. The privileged user who can set the opening date may be an original purchaser of the apparatus, a vendor of the apparatus who will set the date for the customer, or a manufacturer of the apparatus. The last case may be particularly applicable where the opening date is to be the same for a large number of containers.

This may be the case when the date set is of public importance, such as the millennium.

In addition to the above, it is to be understood that the presentinvention is not to be limited to the features presented in combination in each of the previously descn'bed embodiments, and that features from one embodiment may be combined with features from other embodiments to produce further embodiments. Thus, as an example, it may be possible to combine the electro-mechanical or mechanical locking, timing and date setting means of the third embodiment with the containment bindings of the fourth embodiment. Similarly, it may also be possible to combine the electronically controlled locking element 13 of the fourth embodiment with the enclosed container 10 of the second or third embodiments. Other combinations which are not explicitly stated herein are also to be understood as to fall within the scope of the present invention, with regard to the accompanying claims.

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Claims (21)

CLAIMS:

1. A portable time-locked containment apparatus for securing at least one item substantially therein until at least one future date when said item is to be releasable therefrom, said apparatus comprising:

containment means within which said item is to be secured; locking means for preventing said containment means from being opened to allow said item to be releasable; time-programming means for allowing said future date to be arbitrarily set; and timing means for determining whether said future date has been reached, and for releasing the locking means.

2. A portable time-locked containment apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said timing means fin-ther comprise present time determining means for determining a present date; and time-comparing means for comparing said present date with said future date.

3. A portable time-locked containment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said timing means fiu-ther comprise counting means for arbitrarily counting to said future date; and counter-compare means for comparing said count with a predetermined count value corresponding to said future date set using said time- programming means.

4. A portable time-locked containment apparatus according to any of the preceding claims, and further comprising 17 signalling means arranged to signal that said containment means can be opened and said item is releasable therefrom.

5. A portable time-locked containment apparatus according to claim 4 wherein said signalling means ftirther comprise any one of or a combination of lights, buzzers, sounders, vibrators or bells, together with appropriate controlling means thereto.

6. A portable time-locked containment apparatus according to any of the preceding claims wherein said containment means further comprise an at least partially enclosed structure within which said item is at least partially enclosed whereby said item may be substantially secured therein.

7. A portable time-locked containment apparatus according to any of claims I to 5 wherein said containment means are comprised of one or more bindings arranged to at least partially surround said item whereby said item may be substantially secured therein.

8. A portable time-locked containment apparatus according to claims 6 or 7 wherein said containment means further include opening means arranged to automatically open said containment means when it has been determined by said timing means that said future date has been reached.

9. A portable time-locked containment apparatus according to any of the preceding claims wherein said apparatus is constructed of lightweight materials and is of such a size so as to be easily man-portable.

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10. A portable time-locked containment apparatus according to claim 9 wherein said lightweight materials may be any one of or a combination of plastics, metal or such other suitable material.

11. A portable time-locked containment apparatus accordmig to any of the preceding claims wherein said locking means further comprises:

one or more electromagnets for securing said containment means shut; and electromagnet controlling means arranged to control said electromagnets in accordance with said timing means to allow said containment means to be opened at said future date.

12. A portable time-locked containment apparatus according to any of the preceding claims wherein said time-programming means is further arranged to allow said set future date to be reset to be another date during the period of time before said set future date has been reached.

13. A portable time-locked containment apparatus according to any of claims I to I I wherein said time-programming means is arranged to allow said set future date to be set only once.

14. A portable time-locked containment apparatus according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said time-programming means is further arranged so that once said future date has been reached no further future dates may be set whereby said apparatus may be used only once.

15. A portable time-locked containment apparatus according to any of 19 claims I to 13, wherein said time-programming means is farther arranged so that once said future date has been reached, further future dates may be set, whereby said apparatus may be reusable.

16. A portable time-locked containment apparatus according to any of the preceding claims wherein said time-programming means further comprises future date lock means to prevent any third party from setting or resetting said future-date.

17. A portable time-locked containment apparatus according to any of the preceding claims wherein said future date may only be set by a privileged user who may be any one of or a combination of a vendor of the apparatus, a purchaser of the apparatus or a manufacturer of the apparatus.

18. A portable time-locked containment apparatus according to any of the preceding claims wherein said containment means further Micludes emergency override means to allow said containment means to be opened before said future date and/or time has been reached, wherein said emergency override means comprise a weak section in said containment means whereby said containment means may be opened by applying a force to said weak section.

19. A portable time-locked containment apparatus according to any of the preceding claims wherein said future opening date also encompasses a specific future opening time on said future opening date.

20. A portable time-locked containment apparatus according to any of the preceding claims wherein said locking means, time-programming means, and timing means are contained within said containment means so as to be externally inaccessible once said item has been secured M' said containment means.

21. A portable time-locked containment apparatus according to any of the preceding claims wherein at least one of said time-programming means or said timing means further includes display means for displaying said future opening date.