WO2008056058A2

WO2008056058A2 - Safety device for detecting the unauthorized manipulation of an item to be protected

Info

Publication number: WO2008056058A2
Application number: PCT/FR2007/001760
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bruno Bouan
Original assignee: Fors France
Priority date: 2006-10-24
Filing date: 2007-10-24
Publication date: 2008-05-15
Also published as: FR2907580B1; WO2008056058A3; FR2907580A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a safety device (1) for detecting the unauthorized manipulation of an item to be protected, comprising a housing interacting with at least one strapping strip (2) surrounding the item and containing an alarm generator that is triggered in case of unauthorised manipulation. The housing comprises a first portion (3) that can be arranged between said strapping strip (2) and at least one surface of the item to be protected, and a second portion (4) co-operating with the first portion (3) for blocking the housing on said strapping strip (2) in a locked position. The housing includes at least one sensor (6) outputting an information for actuating the alarm generator in case the housing is separated from the surface of the item and/or the strapping strip (2), wherein the housing also includes means for preventing the output of said actuation information when the first (3) and second (4) portions are in an unlocked position.

Description

Security device for detecting fraudulent manipulation on an article to be protected

The invention relates to a security device for detecting a fraudulent manipulation of an article to be protected. The invention relates more particularly to a security device for detecting attempts to steal an article from a sales area.

In the prior art, it is known to have strapping bands around an article to protect in order to prevent potential fraudsters to easily access said article. The strapping bands have the advantage of strengthening the packaging of these articles and to prevent its opening, to represent a relatively small cost and to adapt to articles of all sizes. However, the strapping bands can be broken or moved relatively easily and thus do not allow satisfactory protection of said articles.

In order to improve the protection of said articles, there are notably anti-theft housings equipped with a locking system in which the items to be protected are housed. However, these housings do not allow the protection of a large article and the housing of articles in the housings requires long and complex manipulations.

There are also devices comprising a net disposed around the article to be protected. The net is composed of wiring means and the device contains an alarm which is actuated when unauthorized actions are performed on the wiring means. Devices of this type are described in particular in US patent application US 2006/0137409. These devices thus make it possible to prevent a fraudster from accessing the article. In addition, the device is equipped with a detection label of the article to be protected preventing a possible fraudster from taking the article out of a surveillance zone.

However, these devices require relatively long and complex handling during their installation or removal of the net that must be arranged around the article. In addition, these devices are complex and have a large number of parts.

The invention aims to remedy these problems by proposing a safety device to prevent fraudulent manipulation on items of any size, easy and quick to implement and having a limited cost.

For this purpose, and according to a first aspect, the invention proposes a security device for detecting a fraudulent manipulation of an article to be protected, comprising a casing interacting with at least one strapping band surrounding the article and containing a generator. alarm triggered in case of fraudulent manipulation. The housing comprises a first portion adapted to be interposed between said strapping band and at least one surface of said article to be protected, and a second part cooperating with the first part to lock the housing on said strapping band in a locked position. The housing comprising at least one probe delivering, in case of separation of the housing from the surface of the article and / or the strapping band, an activation information of the alarm generator. In addition, the housing also includes means inhibiting the delivery of said activation information when the first and second parts are in an unlocked position.

Probe means an element detecting contact with an adjacent surface by mechanical, electromechanical, light, sound or equivalent means.

In addition, the term "strapping band 2" is understood to mean any means of surrounding the product to be protected in order to consolidate a packaging and prevent its opening, such as, for example, strips made of metal, polypropylene, polyester or any other other suitable materials.

According to the invention, if a fraudster attempts to break or move the strapping band, the probe delivers alarm activation information. Under these conditions, the strapping bands thus allow satisfactory protection of the articles.

In addition, the device is simple and easy to implement because it comes directly and easily attach to a strapping band that has been installed around the article to be protected during a pre-conditioning operation.

Moreover, during the checkout, when the device is uninstalled, the packaging of the article is not weakened because the strapping bands can remain in place on the article.

In one embodiment of the invention, the probe has at least one contact position when in contact with a surface of the article to be protected and / or the strapping band and a rest position when is not in contact with said surface, said probe delivering said activation information when in its rest position. Thus, the detection means are simple and inexpensive. • '

In one embodiment of the invention, the probe is an infrared distance detector disposed opposite a surface of the article to be protected and / or the banding band.

Thus, the probe is accurate and the threshold travel distance of the housing for which an alarm generator activation information is delivered can also be chosen very accurately to avoid unwanted alarm triggers.

In one embodiment, the first and second housing parts are hinged relative to one another in translation. In another embodiment, the first and second housing parts are hinged relative to each other by pivoting.

Advantageously, the first part comprises a sole having a leading edge in bevel allowing its introduction between the strip of strapping and the surface of the article. Thus, the device is ergonomic and its implementation is simple.

In one embodiment, the soleplate comprises at least two bearing surfaces on said article, the two bearing surfaces being inclined relative to each other so as to allow the contact of said soleplate with two adjacent faces. of that article. Advantageously, the two bearing surfaces are inclined at an angle close to 90 °. In this embodiment, the device is more firmly held on the article and the probe is disposed near the edge. Thus, this particular placement of the probe allows additional detection accuracy and therefore the alarm triggering trigger not justified, because the amplitude of the deformation of the packages is generally lower near their edges.

Advantageously, at least one of the two parts of the housing has at least one impression for locking at least one strapping band. In one embodiment; at least one of the two parts comprises an X-shaped fingerprint for locking two strapping bands at their crossing.

Thus, the movement of the strapping band relative to the housing is limited which reduces the risk of triggering an unwanted alarm.

Advantageously, the housing is equipped with a changeable power supply and a charging indicator of the power supply.

Advantageously, the device comprises a detection tag. Thus, the device is an anti-theft device for preventing the exit of articles from a surveillance zone. In addition, this anti-theft device is particularly effective because, in the absence of an appropriate unlocking tool, it can not be detached from the article to be protected without activating an alarm generator. . _f

Advantageously, the device also comprises a sound alarm actuated by the alarm generator and means for controlling the audible alarm.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description, made with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view from above of a safety device according to a first embodiment of the invention, the two housing parts being shown in the unlocked position;

FIG. 2 is a detailed view of zone II of FIG. 1;

Figure 3 is a side perspective transparent view of a safety device according to a second embodiment of the invention, the two housing parts being shown in the unlocked position;

Figure 4 is a side perspective transparent view of a safety device according to a second embodiment of the invention, the two housing parts being shown in the locked position;

Figure 5 is a bottom view of the device shown in Figures 3 and 4;

- Figure 6 is a front view of the device shown in Figures 3 to 5;

Figure 7 is a side view of the device of Figures 3 to 6;

- Figure 8 is a longitudinal sectional view of the device of Figures 3 to 7 according to one embodiment of the invention.

Figure 1 shows a general view of a safety device set up under two crossed strapping bands. The safety device 1 is consists of a housing comprising two parts 3, 4. The first part 3 is able to be interposed between the surface of the article to be protected and a strapping band 2 and the second part 4 is movable relative to the first part 3 between an unlocked position and a locked position in which it cooperates with the first part 3 to lock the housing on the strapping band 2. In order to allow the movement of the second part 4 between its locked and unlocked positions, the second part 4 can be mounted movably on the first part 3 by translation or by pivoting.

In order to facilitate the introduction of the first part 3 between the strapping band 2 and the surface of the article, the first part 3 comprises a sole 7 whose leading edge 8 is made in bevel with an acute angle, preferably less than 30 °.

The housing furthermore comprises at least one probe delivering an activation information of an alarm generator when it is separated from the surface of the article to be protected and / or from the strapping band 2.

In the embodiment shown, the probe 6 has a position of contact with a surface of the article and / or the strip 2 and a rest position when the probe is not in contact with said surface. The probe 6 delivers the activation information when it is in its rest position.

In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, the feeler 6 comprises a stud which projects from a lower bearing surface 10 of the housing. In the absence of fraudulent manipulation, the probe 6 is in the contact position in which the pin bears against a surface of the article to be protected. Thus, the nipple is at least partially retracted. During an attempted fraud, if the housing is moved and raised relative to the article to be protected, the pin is no longer supported against a surface of the article. In this case, the pin is moved by return means to its rest position in which it is erect. When the nipple is erect, it acts on an electric switch to deliver the activation information of the alarm generator. In the embodiment shown in Figure 5, the probe 6 is mounted on a flexible blade 13 which is rotatably mounted relative to the housing along an axis substantially parallel to the surface of the article. The free end of the blade 13 is pushed by return means to the surface of the article. Thus, this blade 13 reduces the sensitivity of detection to reduce the risk of triggering an unwanted alarm.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the probe consists of a blade 13 acting directly on a contactor delivering an activation message of the alarm generator when said blade 13 is no longer in contact with the article. to protect.

In one embodiment of the invention not shown, the device comprises one or more probes such as infrared distance sensors. Said distance sensor then delivers an alarm generator activation information when the detected displacement θ is greater than a trigger distance.

Furthermore, it will be noted that the feelers can also be placed in front of the strapping band 2 so as to detect a movement of the strapping band 2 with respect to said case, for example during a pressure on it or when it's broken.

Thus, it will be noted that the device may optionally include feelers for detecting a contact of the housing with the strip 2 and / or feelers for detecting a contact of the housing with the article.

It should also be noted that the device according to the invention is particularly suitable for use on items whose packaging is flexible. For this purpose, when the probe 6 is disposed against a surface of the article, the probe stroke or the release distance must be sufficient, of the order of a few centimeters, to avoid triggering unwanted alarms. On the contrary, when the probe 6 is disposed in contact with the strapping band 2, its stroke or release distance is more restricted, of the order of a few millimeters.

The safety device 1, according to the embodiment shown in Figures 1 and 2, is more particularly intended to be blocked on two strapping bands 2, at their crossing. For this purpose, the sole 7 is provided with X-shaped fingerprints 11, arranged to receive and block the strapping bands 2 at their crossing.

The second part 4 is mounted to move in translation in slides, not shown, formed in the first part 3, and when the second part 4 cooperates with the first part 3, it covers the indentations 11 in order to prevent the movement of the strapping bands. 2.

For reasons of ergonomics, the second part 4 is provided with gripping means 14. In addition, the housing is also equipped with return means 5, illustrated in Figure 2, for automatically recalling the second part 4 to its position. unlocked when the locking means are released and abutment means 20 for stopping the movement of the second part 2 during its recall.

The second embodiment, illustrated in Figures 3 to 8, is more particularly intended to overlap an edge of the article to be protected. For this purpose, the sole 7 forming the first part 3 comprises at least two bearing surfaces 9, 10 inclined with respect to each other. The angle of inclination between the two bearing surfaces 9, 10 is chosen so as to allow contact of the bearing surfaces 9, 10 with two adjacent faces of said article. Advantageously, the angle of inclination is close to 90 °. Thus, the device is held in position against the edge of said article by the strapping band 2 which plates the bearing surfaces 9, 10 against the adjacent faces of the article. In this embodiment, the probe (s) are arranged near the edge which is an area of greater rigidity which avoids inadvertent tripping of the alarm. This provision is all the more necessary as the article to be protected has a flexible packaging.

In the embodiment shown, the second support face 9 has an extension 15 projecting towards the front of the device 1 and ending in a point. Thus, this particular form of the second face 9 allows the guiding of the first part 3 in order to have a satisfactory ergonomics during the introduction of the first part 3 between the article and the strapping band 2.

The sole 7 is also equipped with an impression 12 making it possible to block the strapping band 2. The second part 4 of the case is a slide guided in translation in a recess 16 formed in the first part 3 and stop means allow stop the movement of said slide relative to the first portion 3. When the second portion 4 is in the locked position, shown in Figure 4, it covers the cavity 12.

The device according to the invention is also equipped with locking means 17 for immobilizing the second part 4 on the first 3. The locking means 17 may be any known means suitable for locking one part to another. The locking means 17 are preferably means that can be unlocked quickly, such as the locking means 17 used by large retailers.

The housing according to the invention further comprises means inhibiting the delivery of said activation information when the first 3 and the second 4 parts are in an unlocked position. Indeed, it is necessary that no alarm is activated as the housing is not blocked on the strapping band 2.

The inhibiting means may be composed of mechanical or magnetic means for maintaining the probe in its contact position when the two parts 3, 4 are in the unlocked position or a closed switch to allow the delivery of the activation information when the two parts 3, 4 are in the locked and open position when unlocked.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the inhibiting means are composed of abutment means 18 carried by the second part 4 and cooperating with complementary abutment means 19 integral with the plate 13, constituting the feeler, when the two parts are in the unlocked position. Thus, the plate 13 is held in the contact position when the two parts 3, 4 are in the unlocked position.

The device is further provided with a detection tag which is housed in the housing. The detection tag may in particular be an RF tag, an RFID tag, an RF ferrite, an electromagnetic tag or a magneto-acoustic tag.

^• the device according to the invention is equipped with an alarm generator which may comprise wireless transmission means of the activation information to an alarm and / or an alarm integrated into the housing. Preferably, the alarm is integrated in the housing to allow easier localization of the fraudulent manipulation.

In order to allow the disabling of the alarm without having to unlock the first and second parts, the device may include alarm control means to stop it quickly. The control means can in particular be remote control means, for example by radio frequency.

The device is also equipped with a power supply for supplying said alarm. Advantageously, the power supply is a removable battery housed in the housing and the device comprises a battery charging indicator. Thus, when the indicator indicates that the battery is discharged, the user can replace it when the first and second housing parts are in their unlocked position. In order to improve detection and security against fraud by inhibiting the probe, an advantageous embodiment consists in providing a second probe that detects the reduction in the tension exerted by the strapping.

Claims

1. Safety device (1) for detecting a fraudulent manipulation of an article to be protected, comprising a housing interacting with at least one strapping band (2) surrounding the article and containing an alarm generator triggered in case of manipulation fraudulent, characterized in that said housing comprises a first portion (3) adapted to be interposed between said strapping band (2) and at least one surface of said article to be protected, and a second part (4) co-operating with the first part (3) for locking the casing on said strapping band (2) in a locked position, the casing including at least one probe (6) providing, in case of separation of the casing from the surface of the article and / or the strapping band (2), an alarm generator activation information, the case further comprising means for inhibiting the delivery of said activation information when the first (3) and the second (4) p arties are in an unlocked position.

2. Device (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the detection means comprise at least one probe (6) having at least one contact position when in contact with a surface of the article. to protect and / or the strapping band (2) and a rest position when not in contact with said surface, said feeler (6) delivering said activation information when in its position of rest.

3. Device (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the probe is an infra-red distance detector disposed opposite a surface of the article to be protected and / or the strapping band.

4. Device (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the first (3) and second (4) housing parts are hinged relative to each other in translation.

5. Device (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 3 characterized in that the first (3) and second (4) housing parts are hinged relative to each other by pivoting.

6. Device (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the first part (3) comprises a sole (7) having a leading edge (8) beveled allowing its introduction between the band strapping (2) and the surface of the article.

7. Device (1) according to claim 6, characterized in that said sole (7) comprises at least two surfaces (9, 10) bearing on said article, the two bearing surfaces (9, 10) being inclined relative to each other so as to allow the contact of said sole (7) with two adjacent faces of said article.

8. Device (1) according to claim 7, characterized in that the two bearing surfaces (9,10) are inclined at an angle close to 90 °.

.

9. Device (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that at least one of the two parts (3, 4) of the housing has at least one cavity (11, 12) for blocking at least one strapping band.

10. Device (1) according to claim 9, characterized in that at least one of the two parts comprises an imprint (11) in the form of X for locking two bands (3) strapping at their crossing.

11. Device (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the housing is equipped with a power supply.

12. Device (1) according to claim 11, characterized in that it comprises a charging indicator of the power supply.

13. Device (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that it comprises a detection tag.

14. Device (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that it comprises a sound alarm actuated by the alarm generator.

15. Device (1) according to claim 14, characterized in that it comprises means for controlling the audible alarm.