GB2477119A

GB2477119A - Evidence Bag

Info

Publication number: GB2477119A
Application number: GB1001019A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Phillip Ravell
Original assignee: TETRA SCENE OF CRIME Ltd
Current assignee: TETRA SCENE OF CRIME Ltd
Priority date: 2010-01-22
Filing date: 2010-01-22
Publication date: 2011-07-27
Anticipated expiration: 2030-01-22
Also published as: GB2477119B; GB201001019D0

Abstract

A bag for containing scene of crime evidence and a method of closing the bag. The bag is made from front and rear overlying faces 10,11 formed from outer and inner plies 21,22 of paper or similar material. The outer ply of the rear face 11 has a flap 20 which extends beyond the inner ply at the mouth 15 of the bag and also beyond the corresponding edge 16 of the front face 10 of the bag at the mouth. A first band 24 of exposable adhesive extends along the outer surface of the front face adjacent the mouth and a second band 25 of exposable adhesive extends along the inner surface of the flap adjacent the bag mouth. Sealing of the bag is performed by exposing the first band of adhesive 24 by peeling a release strip 26 and folding down the inner ply of the rear face to be adhered thereby, whereafter the second band of adhesive 25 is exposed by peeling a release strip 27 and the flap 20 is folded down to adhere to the front face. Before performing the first step, triangular corner regions 30,31 of the front face and the inner ply 22 of the rear face may be folded inwardly to seal the corner region of the bag.

Description

EVIDENCE BAG

This invention relates to a bag having a security seal for a mouth thereto.

In its preferred embodiments, this invention relates to a generally rectangular bag intended for accommodating evidence in connection with forensic proceedings and where a tamper-evident seal is required for the bag, following the insertion of one or more items thereinto.

Increasingly, evidence presented in the course of court proceedings is subject to challenge. It is therefore very important that when evidence is collected from a scene of crime, that evidence is stored in such a way that it can be demonstrated beyond doubt that the evidence has not been tampered with in some way, before the evidence is required for use in the court proceedings.

The standard UK police issue evidence bag comprises a rectangular paper bag having a window in one face and a mouth along one edge of the bag, the mouth being sealed by folding over the material of the bag to close the mouth and then a strip of self-adhesive tape is used to seal the folded-over material closing the bag. A police officer then signs over the seal of the closed bag such that should an attempt be made to remove the adhesive tape, the signature will become corrupted.

Despite the reasonable quality of the seal of a bag as just described above, evidence is still challenged on the basis that it might have been possible for an unauthorised person to gain access to the interior of the bag, either by wholly opening the bag and re-sealing it with a fresh signature, or by opening a corner region of the sealed margin by the mouth to an extent sufficient for whatever access is required to tamper with the evidence. There is consequently a need for an evidence bag which has a tamper-evident security seal of a sufficient quality to make it impossible to gain access to the interior of the bag without it immediately being evident that there has been tampering with the bag.

In view of the above, a first aspect of this invention provides a bag having a security seal for a mouth thereto, the bag comprising front and rear overlying faces joined together around their respective edges except along one corresponding end edge of the faces thereby defining the mouth to the bag, at least the rear face being formed of inner and outer plies of material and the outer ply of said rear face having a flap which extends beyond the inner ply thereof and beyond the adjacent edge of the front face at the bag mouth, and said security seal comprises a first band of exposable adhesive extending along the outer surface of the front face adjacent the bag mouth and a second band of exposable adhesive extending along the inner surface of said flap adjacent the bag mouth, whereby in use the first band of adhesive is exposed, the edge margin of front face together with the edge margin of the inner ply of the rear face are folded over to be adhered to the first band, and then the second band of adhesive is exposed and said flap is folded over the already folded-over edge margins of the front face and the inner ply of the rear face so as to adhere to the front face.

According to a second but closely related aspect of this invention, there is provided a method of sealing in a tamper-evident manner a bag of this invention as defined just-above. Thus, this second aspect of the invention provides a method of sealing a bag having front and rear overlying faces joined together around their respective edges except along one corresponding end edge of the faces thereby defining the mouth to the bag, at least the rear face being formed of inner and outer plies of material and the outer ply of said rear face having a flap which extends beyond the inner ply thereof and beyond the adjacent edge of the front face at the bag mouth, there being a first band of exposable adhesive extending along the outer surface of the front face adjacent the bag mouth and a second band of exposable adhesive extending along the inner surface of said flap adjacent the bag mouth, which method comprises the steps of: -exposing the first band of adhesive; -folding over the edge margin of front face together with the edge margin of the inner ply of the rear face to be adhered to the first band; -exposing the second band of adhesive; and -folding said flap over the already folded-over edge margins of the front face and the inner ply of the rear face so that the second band of adhesive adheres to the outer surface of the front face.

The bag of this invention is made of a two-ply material such as two-ply craft paper though other paper or paper-like materials (such as of plastics) could be used. The two plies are not bonded together other than where the edges of the bag are joined together so that the two plies are relatively separable. The bag is preferably formed from one piece of the selected two-ply sheet material, folded to define the front and rear faces of the bag and having a sealed seam at the end of the bag opposed to the mouth, thereby to close that end. The seam advantageously is made in the course of manufacture of the bag and so is essentially permanent and cannot be opened without destroying the bag. Preferably, and as with known evidence bags, the front face of the bag has a transparent window -for example of a plastics material -secured over an opening in the front face so that the contents of the bag may be viewed following sealing of the bag.

Each of the first and second bands of adhesive conveniently comprise a layer of adhesive on the respective face together with a removable release strip overlying the band of adhesive, whereby the adhesive is protected during storage and handling of the bag before use. The adhesive of each band of adhesive may be high-tack and pressure-sensitive, covered with a removable release strip coated with a silicone release agent. Such adhesive and release strip bands may be in the form of double-sided adhesive tape applied to the bag faces during manufacture and advantageously a relatively aggressive adhesive is employed such that the bond between the adhesive and the material of the bag has a greater strength than that of the bag material. In this way, opening is possible only by cutting or tearing the material of the bag. The release strip may be configured such that it may not be removed and replaced without indicating that this has been done. Such techniques are known in the art and typically may display suitable wording -such as "void" -in the event that the strip is removed and then replaced.

As with known evidence bags, it is envisaged that the bag of this invention will ordinarily have the front and rear faces of rectangular shape, with the mouth of the bag being defined along the full length of one of the edges of the faces. The opposed end edge may be sealed during manufacture as discussed above, and the side edges between the mouth edge and end edge may be formed by folding the material of the bag to define the front and rear faces, as is conventionally performed in the bag-making art.

In performing the tamper-evident security seal for the bag, it is preferred that triangular corner regions of the front face and the inner ply of the rear face are folded over, before the folding over of the edge margin of the front face together with the edge margin of the inner ply of the rear face. Those folded-over triangular corner regions will be adhered to the exposed first band of adhesive so as to seal the corner regions between the side edges of the bag and the mouth thereof.

Preferably, the folding over of the edge margin of the front face together with the edge margin of the inner ply of the rear face is performed along a crease line so as to leave a part of the first band of adhesive exposed beyond the folded-over edge margins of the front face and the inner ply of the rear face.

Then, the already folded-over edge margins may be folded over a second time so that the double-folded edge margins adhere to the part of the first band of adhesive left exposed following the first folding of those edge margins. This then wholly encloses the triangular corner regions previously folded inwardly.

In order to allow the above folding over of the edge margins at the bag mouth, the side edges of the bag adjacent the mouth edges of the front and rear faces are cut through from the mouth edge towards the opposed sealed end of is the bag, with the cuts terminating substantially in alignment with the edge of the first band of adhesive nearer the opposed sealed end of the bag.

The folding of the flap carrying the exposed second band of adhesive is performed about a crease line running parallel and adjacent the folded-over edge margins, so that on folding the flap to overlie the outer surface of the front face following the folding over of the edge margin thereof together with the inner ply of the rear face, the second band of adhesive adheres to the outer surface of the front face of the bag. This then encloses the seal already performed by the folding over of the edge margins which in themselves close the bag but the flap then adds to that a tamper-evident seal on which an authorised person -such as a police officer -may add a signature, date and other annotations to give authenticity to the sealed bag.

By way of example only, one specific embodiment of an evidence bag arranged in accordance with this invention and having a tamper-evident security seal will now be described in detail, reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which:-Figure 1 is a front view of the bag in its initial condition; Figure 2 shows a first stage of sealing the bag; Figures 3 to 7 show subsequent stages of sealing the bag; and Figure 8 is a perspective view of the mouth region of the sealed bag, showing the different plies and configuration of the adhesive bands.

The evidence bag of this embodiment is provided with a tamper-evident seal such that once the bag has been sealed when containing one or more items, it will be wholly apparent if the bag has subsequently been opened by an unauthorised person. The bag has generally rectangular front and rear faces and 11, joined together around three edges 12, 13 and 14, with a mouth 15 formed between the fourth edges 16 of the two faces. The side edges 12 and 14 are defined by folds in the material of the bag whereas end edge 13 opposed to the mouth 15 is provided with a glued seam 17, formed by folding over the material of the bag and then gluing together the overlying parts of the bag with a glue stronger than the material of the bag, such that an attempt to open that seam inevitably will damage or tear the material of the bag.

In this embodiment, the material making up the faces of the bag comprise two-ply brown or white craft paper of an appropriate strength for the size of the bag and its likely contents, but with a clear polyethylene window 18 bonded to the material of the bag to form a part of the front face 10. Thus, the principal areas of the faces 10,11 are made up from a single piece of the two-ply craft paper folded round but with a gap between the long edges 19 thereof, the window 18 then being bonded to the marginal regions along those long edges 19, whereafter the seam along end edge 13 is formed as described above.

At the mouth 15 of the bag, the rear face has a flap 20 extending beyond the fourth (mouth) edge 16 of the front face 10. In this embodiment, that flap 20 is formed in the outer ply 21 of the rear face 11, the inner ply 22 of the rear face being cut to the same length as the front face 10 of the bag. A first band 24 of pressure sensitive adhesive is provided on the outer ply of the front face 10, parallel to and adjacent the mouth edge 16 of that face. A second band 25 of pressure sensitive adhesive is provided on the inside face of the outer ply 21 of the rear face 11 of the bag, defining the flap 20. Each band 24,25 of adhesive is covered with a removable silicone release strip 26,27 such that when the strip is pulled away from the band, the adhesive is exposed ready to adhere to material pressed thereon. For convenience in manufacture, the bands of is adhesive may be formed from double-sided adhesive tape with one side of that tape covered with the release strip.

Band 24 of adhesive may be of conventional high-tack adhesive and covered with a simple release strip 26. Band 25 may also be of high-tack adhesive but covered with a release strip 27 configured such that in the event the strip has been removed and an attempt is then made to replace it, suitable wording is displayed along the length of the strip. As is known in the art, this may display the word "void" or similar wording.

The side edges 12 and 14 of the bag are cut through, from the mouth edge 15 towards the closed end edge 13, for a distance approximately equal to the width in that direction of the adhesive bands 24, as shown in Figure 8 such that the inner ply 22 of the rear face 11 may be folded separately from the outer ply of the rear face, as will be described below.

In order to close the evidence bag as described above in a tamper-evident manner, the following steps are performed, referring to Figures 2 to 7 of the drawings.

Figure 2 -the silicone release strip 26 is peeled away from the adhesive first band 24, provided on the outer ply of the front face 10 along the mouth edge 16 thereof. This exposes the adhesive.

Figure 3 -the corner regions 30,31 of both plies of the front face 10 together with the corresponding corner regions of the inner ply 22 of the rear face 11 are folded inwardly on to the exposed adhesive of the first band 24, thereby closing off access to the interior of the bag from the side edges 12 and 14 thereof.

Figure 4 -the marginal regions of the two plies of the front face 10 and the inner ply of the rear face 11 are folded over along a crease line extending parallel to the mouth edge 15 so as partially to overlie the first band 24 of adhesive. The width of those folded-over marginal regions is smaller than the width of the first band of adhesive, such that a part 32 of the width of the first band is still exposed beyond the folded-over marginal regions.

Figure 5 -a second fold in the front face 10 and inner ply 22 of the rear face 11 is performed parallel to the mouth edge 15 along the edge of the already folded-over marginal regions, such that the folded-over regions are then adhered to the still exposed part 32 of the first band 24 of adhesive. With the performance of this second fold, the entire second band 25 of adhesive on the flap 20 is exposed.

Figure 6 -the release strip 27 covering the second band 25 of adhesive is pulled away, so exposing the adhesive of that second band.

Figure 7 -the flap 20 of the rear face 11 is folded over the previously folded marginal regions of the front face and the inner ply of the rear face, such that the adhesive overlies and bonds to the front face, so enclosing those folded-over marginal regions.

The bag when sealed in this way eliminates all access to the interior of the bag unless the material of the bag is torn or cut in some way, to give that access. If however the bag is torn or cut, that will immediately be evident on inspecting the bag before it is opened by an authorised person who requires access to items within the bag. Moreover, the folded-over corners are adhered in their folded-over condition, as described above particularly with reference to Figure 3, such that there is no access to the interior at the top of the side edges 12,14. This eliminates the possibility of something being inserted into the bag following its sealing. -10-

Claims

CLAIMS1. A bag having a security seal for a mouth thereto, the bag comprising front and rear overlying faces joined together around their respective edges except along one corresponding end edge of the faces thereby defining the mouth to the bag, at least the rear face being formed of inner and outer plies of material and the outer ply of said rear face having a flap which extends beyond the inner ply thereof and beyond the adjacent edge of the front face at the bag mouth, and said security seal comprises a first band of exposable adhesive extending along the outer surface of the front face adjacent the bag mouth and a second band of exposable adhesive extending along the inner surface of said flap adjacent the bag mouth, whereby in use the first band of adhesive is exposed, the edge margin of front face together with the edge margin of the inner ply of the rear face are folded over to be adhered to the first band, and then the second band of adhesive is exposed and said flap is folded over the already folded-over edge margins of the front face and the inner ply of the rear face so as to adhere to the front face.
2. A bag as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the first and second bands of adhesive comprise a layer of adhesive on the respective face and a removable release strip overlying the band of adhesive.
3. A bag as claimed in claim 2, wherein each band of adhesive comprises a pressure-sensitive adhesive covered with a removable release strip of a silicone release material.
4. A bag as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein each band of adhesive provides a bond to the material of the bag of greater strength than that of the material of the bag.
5. A bag as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the mouth is defined by the full lengths of the edges of the faces whereat the mouth is formed.
6. A bag as claimed in claim 5, wherein the side edges of the bag adjacent the edges defining the mouth are cut through from the mouth edge towards the opposed end of the bag with the cuts terminating substantially in alignment with the edge of the first band of adhesive nearer the opposed end of the bag.
7. A bag as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the flap and second band of adhesive are configured so that on folding the flap over the front face following the folding over of the edge margin thereof, the second band of adhesive adheres to the outer surface of the front face of the bag.
8. A bag as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein both the front and rear faces of the bag are formed from two-ply paper or paper-like sheet material.
9. A bag as claimed in claim 8, wherein the bag is formed from one piece of two-ply sheet material, folded to define the front and rear faces and having a sealed seam at the end opposed to the mouth thereby to close that end.
10. A bag as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the front face had a substantially transparent window secured over an opening in the front face.
11. A bag substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
12. A method of sealing a bag having front and rear overlying faces joined together around their respective edges except along one corresponding end edge of the faces thereby defining the mouth to the bag, at least the rear face being formed of inner and outer plies of material and the outer ply of said rear -12 -face having a flap which extends beyond the inner ply thereof and beyond the adjacent edge of the front face at the bag mouth, there being a first band of exposable adhesive extending along the outer surface of the front face adjacent the bag mouth and a second band of exposable adhesive extending along the inner surface of said flap adjacent the bag mouth, which method comprises the steps of: -exposing the first band of adhesive; -folding over the edge margin of front face together with the edge margin of the inner ply of the rear face to be adhered to the first band; -exposing the second band of adhesive; and -folding said flap over the already folded-over edge margins of the front face and the inner ply of the rear face so that the second band of adhesive adheres to the outer surface of the front face.
13. A method as claimed in claim 12, wherein the corner regions of the front face and the inner ply of the rear face are folded over in a triangular formation, to be adhered to the exposed first band of adhesive before the folding over of the edge margin of the front face together with the edge margin of the inner ply of the rear face.
14. A method as claimed in claim 12 or claim 13, wherein the folding over of the edge margin of the front face together with the edge margin of the inner ply of the rear face is performed so as to leave a part of the first band of adhesive exposed beyond the folded-over edge margins aforesaid.
15. A method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the already folded-over edge margins are folded over a second time so that the folded-over edge margins adhere to the exposed part of the first band of adhesive. -13-
16. A method as claimed in claim 15, wherein the folding of the flap carrying the exposed second band of adhesive is performed so that on folding the flap over the front face following the folding over of the edge margin thereof together with the inner ply of the rear face, the second band of adhesive adheres to the outer surface of the front face of the bag.
17. A method as claimed in claim 16, wherein the folding of the flap is performed about a crease line extending parallel to and adjacent the edge of the front face at the mouth of the bag, following the folding of the edge margin of the front face.
18. A method as claimed in any of claims 12 to 17 and substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.