GB2479887A

GB2479887A - Bag with Flap Forming First and Second Tamper Evident Closures

Info

Publication number: GB2479887A
Application number: GB1006999A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ronald Glyn Jones; Alan William Rea
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2010-04-27
Filing date: 2010-04-27
Publication date: 2011-11-02
Anticipated expiration: 2030-04-27
Also published as: GB201006999D0; GB2479887B

Abstract

A bag or envelope 1 with tamper evident closure comprising a flap (3, figure 1) adjacent to and foldable over an opening 2 and adhesive 4 e.g. finger lift tape applied to the flap, end portions 5 of the flap extending beyond the bag at either side foldable to form secondary tamper evident closures. The flap may be 2-20mm wider than the bag and may be folded back on itself or on the bag (figure 4), secured with adhesive. The flap may be secured to the bag using PVA, cold starch or hot melt glue. The envelope may be a single folded paper sheet joined by stitches, staples, adhesive or a transparent plastic strip providing a window 7. There may be two open ends or a closed block bottom end 6 for free standing. An additional tamper-evident closure may be provided for re-sealing the bag after initial opening. Identification or barcodes may be printed on the bag. The bags may be used for secure storage of police items.

Description

A TAMPER-EVIDENT BAG OR ENVELOPE

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to packaging, and in particular tamper-evident bags or envelopes for providing secure storage of important items such as police evidence.

Background of the Invention

There is always a need for ways to restrict access to sensitive documents or items when such are being transported, stored Or otherwise handled.

Tamper-evident bags (or envelopes) provide one such way of restricting access to any documents or items placed therein. Once a sensitive document or item has been placed into a tamper-evident bag and the bag has been sealed, it should not be possible for anyone to access the contents of the bag without leaving evidence that the bag has been opened.

One important application of tamper-evident bags is in the storage of police evidence. It is vital that evidence collected at a crime scene is not tampered with and thus tamper-evident bags are essential to deterring tampering or at very least provide an alert when tampering has occurred At present the evidence bags used by police are sealed by folding the opening of the bag over and using adhesive tape to secure the bag in the closed position. This process of folding the bag, tearing off a piece of tape from a roll and sticking it to the bag can become time consuming, especially when a large number of evidence bags are being processed.

In order to speed of the process bags have been developed with closure means already provided on the bag One example of this is provided by the police evidence envelope described in GB2315732. The tamper-evident envelope described which is primarily intended to be formed from plastic, is provided with at least one tamper evident seal that [5 located on the main body of the envelope adjacent to the envelope opening.

I

In a number of situations, such as when the evidence to be stored in the evidence bag is wet clothing, for example, the use of paper evidence bag is preferred, mainly due to the breathable nature of the materiaL Another important application of tamper-evident bags is in the storage of confidential documents which are destined for secure destruction. Once again it is vital that any tampering is identifiable.

There is a need for increasing the tamper resistant qualities of tamper-evident bags without greatly increasing the manufacturing costs of, what is essentially, disposable packaging.

Summary of the hivention

The present invention provides a tamper-evident bag or envelope according to claim 1.

The end portions of the flap provide a secondary level of security to the bag or envelope by restricting access to the tamper-evident closure formed between the bag and the flap from the sides of the bag. Any party seeking to circumvent the tamper-evident closure would find it even more difficult to do so as a result of the secondary tamper-evident closures at the sides of the bag or envelope.

It is important to note that the term bag' used through the specification is considered to cover packaging of varying sizes, including amongst others bags, sacks, envelopes and pouches, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Preferably each of said secondary tamper-evident closures is formed when an end portion of the flap is folded back on itself and secured with adhesive. Alternatively, or additionally, each of said secondary tamper-evident closures is formed when an end portion of the flap is folded back on the bag or envelope and secured with adhesive.

Preferably the bag or envelope also comprises a window. By providing a window in the bag or envelope users can quickly check the contents without having to open the bag or envelope. This is important for police evidence bags in particular where large numbers of evidence bags are stored together.

Preferab'y the tamper-evident bag or envelope may comprise a main body formed from a sing'e sheet of a material, which is preferably paper, folded to bring two opposing edges thereof into connectable proximity so that --I I Al. -l 1 laboratory so that the contents could be tested, after which the contents would be returned to the same bag and re-sealed u&ng the additional closure means.

Preferably the bag or envelope may be provided with a unique identifying means, such as an alpha-numeric code or a bar-code. This provides a further level of security to enable the life of tamper-evident bag to checked and monitored as it passes through whatever secure system it is part of The same unique identifier code may be provided at various locations on the bag.

The present invention also provides a method of manufacturing the tamper-evident bag or envelope of the present invention, wherein said method is according to claim 13.

Preferably the connecting means attached between the two opposing edges of the sheet may comprise a transparent plastic strip. Further preferably the plastic strip may be glued to said two opposing edges.

Preferably the bag or envelope is formed with two openings and a secure closure means is provided on both openings of the bag or envelope by repeating the step of providing a flap on the bag or envelope at each of said openings.

Alternatively the bag or envelope is formed with two openings and the second opening of the bag or envelope is closed by securely folding the main body of the bag or envelope. Further preferably the fold may be secured using adhesive, stitching, staples or a combination thereof Preferably the method of the present invention may further comprise the step of applying an additional tamper-proof closure means to the main body of the bag or envelope.

Preferably the method of the present invention may further comprise the step of printing a unique identifier code at one or more locations on to each bag or envelope.

Brief Description of the Drawings

By way of example, preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference, where appropriate, to the drawings, wherein: Figure 1 shows a first embodiment of the tamper-evident bag in both the open state and the closed state; Figure 2 shows a review view of the bag of Figure 1; Figure 3 shows a second embodiment of the tamper-evident bag in both the open state and the closed state; and Figure 4 shows a reverse view of the bag of Figure 3.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments

The tamper-evident bag (or envelope) of the present invention will now be described by way of reference to two preferred embodiments, The bags of the present invention are primarily intended to be constructed from paper (for example kraft paper). However it is anticipated that the arrangement of the tamper-evident closure means described hereinafter may also beneficial for bags made form other materials, such as plastic, Figures 1 and 2 show the first embodiment of the tamper-evident bag 1. The bag 1, which is preferably made of paper, has an opening 2 at one end thereof, adjacent to which is attached a flap 3. The flap 3, which is also preferably made of paper, is attached to the bag 1 so that about half of the flap 3 is free from the bag 1. It is appreciated that the flap 3 may be attached to the bag 1 in a variety of secure ways, which include gluing and stitching for

example.

It is also appreciated that, provided the minimum amount of the flap 3 surface area is attached to the bag, the amount of the flap which extends from the bag can vary.

The portion of the flap 3 which extends from the bag I is provided with adhesive 4. Preferably the adhesive 4 is provided by a tamper evident finger lift tape.

The length of the flap 3 is such that it also extends beyond the sides of the bag I, such extensions shall be referred to a end portions 5. The end portions preferably extend at least 2 to 20mm from the sides of the bag. As with the rest of the flap 3, the end portions are provided with adhesive 4, again preferably in the form of tamper evident finger lift tape.

Figure 1 show the tamper-evident bag I in both the open position, where items or documents can be inserted into the bag 1 via the opening 2, and the closed position, where the opening 2 has be closed over by the flap 3 and the contents of the bag are inaccessible.

In order to close the bag I the flap 3 is folded across the opening 2 and stuck to the other side of the bag 1 using the adhesive 4, thus forms a tamper-evident closure, i.e. between the flap 3 and the bag 1. In addition a secondary tamper-evident closure is provided at each end of the flap 3 by the action of folding the end portions 5 back on themselves. The adhesive 4 on the end portions 5 ensures that each end portion 5 comes together to form a tamper-evident closure.

Without the presence of the secondary tamper-evident closures the first tamperevident closure would be more vulnerable to attempts to ease open' the closure from the sides. By providing the secondary closures this type of tampering is reduced, at the very least because it provides more places where evidence of tampering can be manifested.

In a further preferred feature not shown in the figures, the back of the end portions 5 could be provided with a further application of adhesive so that the end portions can be folded round and attached to the back of the bag 1. I.t is anticipated that the adhesive could be located on either the back of bag or on the back of the end portions 5.

Figure 2 shows the reverse view of the first embodiment of the tamper-evident bag 1. From Figure 2 other preferred aspects of the bag I can be appreciated.. Opposite the open end of the bag I there is provided a closed end 6, preferably such end is provided with a block bottom so that the bag 1 is free standing. Alternative closed end are anticipated, as is the possibility that the bag I could have an opening 2 with tamper-evident closure means at both ends thereof.

The tamper-evident bag I is also preferably provided with a window 7 so that the contents of the bag I can be viewed without having to open such.

Although the window 7 shown in Figure 2 extends the length of the bag 1 it is anticipated that alternative forms of window could also be used.

The tamper-evident bag 1 is also preferably provided with some sort of expansion means 8 so that the total volume of the bag I can be expanded as required. One way n which the expansion means can be provided is by providing fcds in the paper bag I during the manufacture thereat Figure 3 and 4 show a second embodiment of the tamperevident bag lfl 44- L--l--The adhesives used to attach the flap to the bag can be a combination of tamper proof PVA glue, cold starch glue, hot melt glue. Whereas the adhesive used to enable the flap to be securely attached across the bag opening is a tamper resistant adhesive finger lift tape.

There are various ways of forming bags which have an opening at either end thereof and the present invention is not necessarily limited to any particular one. It is appreciated by the inventors that the method of manufacturing the tamper evident bags of the present invention can be used to apply a tamper evident closure to a variety of bag designs including those with only one opening.

One way in which the method of the present invention produces the tamper evident bags of the present invention is by applying a flap to the bag adjacent to an opening thereof The off-set manner in which the flap is attached to the bag provides the tamper evident benefits that have already been mentioned above.

A flap is added to the top, or both ends, of the bag by means of extending the cap further from the edge of the bag. This facilitates the attachment of the adhesive that facilitates the formation of a tamper evident closure over the opening. The flap is also extended past the width of the bag by increasing the length of the flap. Caims

Claims

1 A bag or envelope having tamper-evident closure means, said closure means comprising: a flap running adjacent to an opening in the bag or envelope, said flap being foldable to close said opening, an adhesive provided on the flap so that, when the flap is folded to close the opening, the flap can adhere to a portion of the bag or envelope and form a tamper-evident closure; and wherein the flap has end portions that extend beyond the opening at either side of the bag or envelope, said end portIons bring securab1e to form secondary tamper-evident closures at the sides of the bag or envelope.

2. The bag or envelope of claim 1, Wherein each of said secondary tamper-evident cJosures is formed when an endS portion of the flap is folded back on itself and secured with adhesive.

3. The bag or envelope of claim 1 or 2, wherein each of said secondary tamper-evident closures is formed when an end portion of the flap is folded back on the bag or envelope and secured with adhesive

4. The bag or envelope of claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the bag or envelope also comprises a window

5. The bag or envelope of claim 1 2, 3 or4, wherein said bag or envelope comprises a main body formed from a single sheet of a material, which is preferably paper, folded to bring two opposing edges thereof into connectable proximity so that such opposing edges can be joined by connecting means 6 The bag or envelope of claim 5, wherein the connecting means compnse a transparent plastic strip that provides a window into tfle bag or envelope.7. The bag or envelope of claim 5, wherein the connecting means comprise adhesive, stitching, staples or a combination thereof.8. The bag or envelope of any of claims I to 7, wherein the bag or envelope comprises a closed end at the opposite end of the bag or envelope to the opening, such closed end comprising a block bottom that allows the bag or envelope to be free standing.9. The bag or envelope of any of the preceding claims, further comprising an additional closure means provided on the bag or envelope to permit the re-closing thereof after the main tamper-evident closure means has been broken, preferably such secondary sealing means is also tamper-evident.10. The bag or envelope of any of the preceding claims, wherein the bag or envelope is provided with a unique identifying means, such as an alpha-numeric code or a bar-code, at one or more locations thereon.11. A bag or envelope having tamper-evident closure means that is substantially as described herein with reference to the drawings.12. A method of manufacturing a bag or envelope with tamper-evident closure means that enable the contents of the bag or envelope to be enclosed in such a way that they cannot be accessed without leaving evidence that the bag or envelope has been tampered with, said method comprising the steps of: a) forming a bag or envelope with at least one opening; b) providing the bag or envelope with a flap, having adhesive thereon, that runs adjacent to said at least one opening and extends beyond the opening at either side of the bag or envelope.13. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of forming a bag or envelope comprises folding a single sheet of paper to bring two opposing edges thereof into connectable proximity with one another; and attaching a connecting means between the two opposing edges to form a main body having a first opening and a second opening located at opposite ends thereof.14. The method of claim 13, wherein the connecting means attached between the two opposing edges of the sheet comprises a transparent plastic strip.15. The method of claim 14, wherein the plastic strip is glued to the two opposing edges.16. The method of claim 12, 13, 14 or 15, wherein the bag or envelope is formed with two openings and step b) is repeated on both openings.17. The method of claim 12, 13, 14 or 15, wherein the bag or envelope is formed with two openings and the second opening of the bag or envelope is closed by securely folding the main body of the bag or envelope.18. The method of claim 17, wherein the fold is secured using adhesive, stitching staples or a combination thereof.19. The method according to any of claims 12 to 18, further comprising the step of applying an add itional tamper-evident closure means to the main body of the bag or envelope.20. The method according to any of claims 13 to 19, further comprising the step of printing a unique identifier code at one or more locations on each bag or envelope.21. A method of manufacturing a bag or envelope with tamper-evident closure means, said method substantially as described herein with reference to the drawings.