WO2010099562A1 - Wristband dispenser - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates generally to a dispenser for an identification bracelet that is attachable around an extremity of an animal, including a person, said dispenser being provided with a supply of a plurality of single, discontinuous identity bands that are adapted to become a bracelet by having a first portion of said band affixed to a second portion to form a continuous loop around said extremity.

Description

WRISTBAND DISPENSER

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for dispensing identity bands to an extremity of a person or animal, such as for applying a wristband to the arm of a person. In particular, the present invention relates to a container for storage, transportation and facilitation of the application of wristbands. Preferably, the wristbands contain an information bearing serialised ID or RFID transponder.

BACKGROUND ART

Traditionally, a wristband carrying some identification information, such as a colour or logo, barcode, serial number or RFID inlay, for example, is provided in sheeted form with 10 wristbands provided on a sheet. Such a wristband operates to identify the person wearing the wristband in a venue, such as in an amusement park, at a ski-lift and so on. It permits the person wearing the band to enter the venue or access a ride, and so on. These types of wristbands normally function as a form of non-removable identification, to be retained on a wrist, for instance, so as to mark a person authorised to enter a venue such as a concert, sports match, theme park, or the like. Accordingly, the wristband is normally constructed to be difficult or impossible to remove, without damaging or otherwise making the act of removal or tampering noticeable. This tamper evident construction improves its security function, to prevent the identification band being swapped or given to another person once fixed around the first person's wrist.

Commonly, such a band is provided at the entrance to the venue, or when purchasing a ticket, in the form of a pre-printed strip of tough paper or plastic type of material, which is of a size suitable for being looped around a wrist. The wristbands sometimes have an adhesive patch at one end, which can be adhered to the surface of the other end of the band to form a firm-fitting bracelet around the wrist. The fit preferably should not be so loose as to allow the wristband to be slipped over the hand and be removed.

Normally, the adhesive patch has a removable siliconised liner cover that must be removed to expose the adhesive area prior to it being fixed to the other end of the band. This cover material must then be disposed of, which creates waste and create a hazard if not disposed of correctly.

The area containing the adhesive, and possibly the area the adhesive is affixed to, is often deliberately weakened, such as by distressing the area with a number of slits in the material, so that an attempt to unfasten the band once affixed, further damages or destroys that portion of the material. This usually renders the band's tampering noticeable, and will usually prevent the band from being re-joined. Normally, the wristband has an adhesive that cannot easily be re-joined after its initial mating, and if the adhesive is also positioned over a distressed or weakened area, this area will be damaged if an attempt is made to open the band once it has initially been fixed together. Tampering with the band, once applied, should therefore be noticeable, and would usually destroy the integrity and utility of the wristband.

Regarding the technical field of RFID inlay identification information, the conventional construction of such inlays comprises a small single-crystal silicon CMOS integrated circuit (IC) die that is flip-chip bonded to the antenna element and supporting substrate. This method of RFID circuit realisation is often too expensive for incorporation into many highly cost sensitive mass consumer type applications for RFID technology, such as disposable single-use and short life cycle wristbands used for event ticketing and entertainment venue access control or for short-lived stored value e.g. monetary or privilege credits.

In addition, it is normally important to maximise the security of such a band to ensure that the wristband is fastened closely around a person's wrist, so as to prevent it being removed by being slipped off the wrist over the hand. A person trying to subvert the security of the wristband may try to fasten the band loosely around their own wrist, to allow it to be slipped off, and passed on to another person. The issuing authority will want to ensure a tight fit around a wrist, to prevent the band being slipped off, and passed to another person. But this is hard to arrange, when the user must apply the band to their own wrist. To ensure a tight enough fit, with the conventional system, often security staff will need to be employed at the initial entry point to visually inspect the fit of the band. Any loosely fitted bands will then need to be reallocated which adds to the cost and complexity of the entry process.

In amusement parks, for instance, there may be a problem if one entry band is purchased and passed around a number of persons who share the band to take part in a number of different rides, instead of each person purchasing their own wristband. As well as reducing income to the amusement park owner in this instance, there may be safety and public liability issues, if a band is coded to admit the wearer only to rides appropriate to their age and height. If bands can be swapped to other people, then these safety restrictions can be avoided or subverted.

It is therefore often difficult for the issuer of the wristband to make sure that the band is attached closely and tightly enough to the wrist of a person so as to prevent it being removed without having to be pulled apart. In some instances, personnel have to be supplied by the event organisers to assist patrons with applying the wristbands. It is necessary to take into account the possibility of a person attempting to subvert the purpose of the band by fastening it too loosely around their own wrist, in order to allow it to be easily removed by slipping it from their wrist, over their hand. Or else, a person may accidentally attach the wristband too loosely, which can easily allow it to fall off and be lost. Or there may be other innocent explanations to cause this problem, such as applying the band over gloves, wristwatches or other clothing or jewellery, which can allow the band to be able to be removed easily from a wrist, without destroying its physical integrity.

Fraud by attendees is a big issue for most Theme Parks and other operators relying on wristband identification. This is because the bands have been indiscriminately torn from the sheets of 10 into single bands, and as a result they often become disorganized and scattered. It can then be difficult, if not impossible, to reconcile the number of bands that have been dispensed.

Using a dispenser, the bands remain in their intended sequential order, which provides an ideal way to verify the number of bands that have been dispensed by the attendant during a specified time or event. At the end of the specified time or event, when the cartridge is returned to management, the number of bands sold can easily be identified merely by inspecting the next available band in the dispenser.

It would also be useful to provide a wristband dispenser that can retain the adhesive portion, which would otherwise need to be disposed of. Such adhesive closures have in the past been recognised as a major problem in regard to waste disposal and occupational safety. For instance, this may occur where the removable cover strip is discarded indiscriminately to cause serious safety issues if patrons should walk and slip on the exposed slippery silicone surface of the discarded cover strips.

Another common complaint from event organisers is the time it takes to separate the wristbands into single devices. Normally each venue operator would hire extra staff prior to the commencement of the event for the express purpose of separating the bands into single devices. Given the propensity for the majority of patrons to arrive at a venue just before the scheduled starting time for an event, then this additional delay in separating the individual wristbands from the sheets can create a large crowd and undesirable delays.

It would therefore be useful if the wristband could be provided as a single device in a dispenser or cartridge that would enable the wristbands to be quickly dispensed in sequential order.

This would help event organisers, by reducing or eliminating the expense of calling in staff prior to the event starting, often at over-time rates in order to tear or separate the bands from the sheets into single devices. It would therefore be an advantage if a dispenser for wristbands could be provided that would overcome at least some of the disadvantages discussed above, or would provide a useful alternative. In particular, it would be useful to provide either a manual or automated system of quickly dispensing the wristbands.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

These and other advantages are met with the present invention, a broad form of which is set out below.

According to one aspect the present invention there is provided a dispenser for one or more identification bracelets that are attachable around an extremity of an animal, including a person, said dispenser being provided with a plurality of single, discontinuous identity bands, each one being adapted to form none of the identification bracelets by having a first portion of said band affixed to a second portion thereof to form a continuous loop around said extremity.

Preferably, said animal is a person, and said extremity is a wrist.

Preferably, each of the identity bands is manually retrieved from the dispenser prior to being attached to the person.

Preferably the dispenser for one or more identification bracelets further comprises a tear away portion to allow one or more of the identity bands to be manually retrieved therefrom.

Preferably, the dispenser is adapted to be installed in an apparatus for automatically dispensing and applying the identity bands to an extremity of the animal including a person, the apparatus being adapted for the extremity to be positioned within a receptacle in the apparatus, to permit the identity band to be wrapped closely around the extremity by band fixing means of the apparatus, and fixed to itself to form a bracelet, so as to prevent its removal from the extremity without damaging the integrity of said bracelet. Preferably, the apparatus is adapted for each of the identity bands to be self dispensed by the person.

Preferably, the apparatus includes a positioning means, to ensure the extremity is optimally positioned within the apparatus, so that the band is applied around the correct area of the extremity.

Preferably, the positioning means is a hand grip, so arranged that by holding the grip, the extremity of the person is properly positioned with the apparatus to receive the band.

Preferably, the dispenser is substantially made of cardboard.

Preferably, the dispenser for one or more identification bracelets further has locking tabs at each end thereof, which are adapted to be adhered together to form a substantially rectangular container.

Preferably, the dispenser for one or more identification bracelets further comprises a substantially transparent section allowing visual inspection of at least one of the identity bands therein.

Preferably, the transparent section allows a machine reader to identify at least one identity bands unique identifying marker.

Preferably, the unique identifying number is one of a barcode, a serial number or an RFID functional inlay component.

Preferably, each one of the plurality of identity bands that is placed into the dispenser includes a sequential number and each of the identity bands are placed in the dispenser in sequential order, with each additional identity band being placed on top of the immediately preceding band in the dispenser.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The invention is now discussed with reference to drawings, by way of example only, where: FIG 1 shows a wristband fastened together (but without displaying a wrist around which it normally would be positioned);

FIG 2 shows one embodiment of a wristband before it is fastened together;

FIG 3 shows an alternate view of the wristband of Figure 2 as a continuous strip;

FIGS 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 show a variety of different wristbands that can be used with the dispenser of the present invention, positioned around a wrist;

FIG 11 shows a perspective view of the dispenser according to the present invention for dispensing the wristbands shown in FIGS 1 to 10; and

FIG 12 shows a perspective view of a transportation container for housing a plurality of the dispensers shown in FIG 11.

BEST MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

In the drawings, FIG 1 shows a wristband for use in the present invention. This is shown in the form as it would be fixed around a wrist, but the wrist is not shown.

In FIG 1, the bracelet or wristband (1) is composed of a band having a length suitable for going around a wrist of a person, and having two ends (2 & 3) which overlap. These ends may be held together by a seal (4). The identification bracelet (1) contains information on its outer surface, such as text (5) or a barcode (6). These two ends (2 & 3) may overlap, by one end being juxtaposed on top of the other end, or else the two ends may be juxtaposed side by side. An end may be overlapped with the same side of the band, i.e. the outer-side of the band over or alongside the outer-side of the other end of the band, or the inner sides of the band, i.e. the inner side of one end affixed to the inner side of the other end. The band is preferably laid flat around the extremity, but may be twisted, such as a by a half turn, or a full turn, in some situations where this is desirable.

If weakened or distressed areas are utilised with the wristband, then these areas may be preformed in the band material. Alternatively, the band material may be distressed by the machinery that is to apply the band around the wrist. If a separate seal is used to hold the band together, then this may also, or instead, be weakened or distressed. The distressed region, which is commonly a number of overlapping perforation slits or cuts, often in a star shape, may be applied to the seal material at the time of its application, or else preformed in the material. Often the distressed area will , sit on a removable and undamaged backing layer, which is pealed- away, before the ends of the band are joined together, with the adhesive sections overlapping mostly with the distressed area or areas.

It is preferred that the identity bracelet is able to go around a human wrist, but it may be utilised for identifying any animal, and as such, it is able to be fitted around the extremity of such an animal. It may also be fitted around any extremity, such as an arm, a leg, a neck, or even an ear. For example, it may otherwise be fitted around the hoof of a horse, or the ankle of a person, instead of around a person's wrist.

Another alternative to the band is shown in FIGS 2 and 3. In FIG 2, there is a weakened and scored area (7) located at one end of the strip (2). This area may have a number of slits, and, as one alternative, this area may be covered with contact adhesive, in the traditional manner. Textual material (5) that may be details of the venue with which the bracelet is to be associated, images and logos or third-party advertising material, and preferably some unique identification such as a barcode (6) can be placed on the outer surface of the band at the time of issuance of the band. Or there may be an RFID tag / inlay (8), printed or included on, or incorporated within the material of the band. This RFID tag or inlay may be pre-printed or incorporated into (or attached to / laminated into) the band material beforehand, or at the time of the band's processing through the machine (1). As one alternative, the traditional band as shown in FIG 2 may be utilised with the present invention. Alternatively, and preferably in accordance with the present invention, the band may be formed into a bracelet using a separate seal (4) which overlaps with two sections of the band material, affixing them together, as shown in FIG 1. If desired, both approaches may be utilised together.

One such separate seal may be used, or else two or more may be used on the one band. Two seals may be used, with one on each side of the band material. The seal may also be folded around the ends of the band material. The band material may be further folded onto itself, and the same, or another seal may be applied to further bind the material to itself, to form a closely held wristband.

In FIG 3, another alternative of the invention is shown, where the identity bands (1) are provided in a continuous strip. There may be perforated sections separating an end (2) of one strip from the other end (3) of another strip. Such weakened areas (7) may be pre-formed in the original stock, or else cut into the strip within the attachment machinery. Otherwise, the strips may be cut apart when they are applied, taking the material from a long roll. This allows the strips to be cut to size by the apparatus for producing and dispensing the identification bracelets.

Preferably, the strips fit closely around the wrist. The most preferred arrangement is for the wristband to fit tightly enough so that it cannot be removed by allowing it to be slipped over the hand. However, in some situations, the strip may be permitted to hang loosely around the wrist, or other extremity. As the wristband must be able to be applied on different sized wrists, from those of children to large adults, there is ideally a method of their application which easily allows for this.

As one approach, the strips that are formed into the bracelets may be of a standard length, in which case they are overlapped by differing lengths, so as to fit closely around different sized wrists. This approach works best for non-continuous bands, or with continuous strips that have preformed features on them, such as text or weakened areas. Otherwise, they may be cut to size, as they are applied to a person's wrist, which maximises the number of strips that fit on a continuous roll, and minimises wastage. It is also possible to combine both approaches, by having a standard size strip that is cut shorter upon being fitted around a wrist, or by having a standard sized section, optionally containing pre-printing, and a tail section that may be shortened upon application.

A variety of different arrangements for a wristband that can be applied by a machine to a person's wrist is shown in FIGS 4 to 10.

In these FIGS, a wristband (1) is shown affixed to itself, and positioned around a wrist (9). In these examples, the band is joined to itself after having been arranged appropriately around the wrist by means of a seal (4), which is affixed to both ends of the band material to then hold it in place.

In FIG 4, the band (1) is wound around the wrist, and the two ends are positioned side by side, allowing the seal (4) to sit across both sections near to the two ends. FIG 5 shows another alternative, where the wristband material is wide, and has a lengthwise slit or cut created along a significant portion of its length. The wrist is positioned within this slit, with one side of the band appearing on each side of the wrist. A seal (4) is used to join the open ends of the band together.

FIGS 6 and 9 show the ends overlapping, and sealed together. In FIG 6, the inner sides of the band material are positioned against each other, and a seal (4) is applied across the edge of the shorter end, to adhere to the other end, in the style of a cufflink. In FIG 9 the more traditional arrangement is shown, (as in FIG 1), where the inner side is positioned across the outer side of the other end, and the seal (4) overlaps both.

In FIGS 7 and 8, another alternative is shown, where the band is joined as in FIG 6, but using a longer seal (4), which firstly, as in FIG 7, joins the shorter end to the longer portion with some excess portion of the seal then used to allow the joined ends to be folded back against the remainder of the band, and to be adhered thereto. FIG 9 shows another approach, where the seal (4) is folded twice around the two ends of the band, and allowed to adhere to itself.

The seal used in these examples, may itself contain unique identification, in addition to, or instead, of that appearing on the wristband. For example the seal may have a barcode printed on it, or it may contain the RFID tag. Preferably, the seal is made tamper evident, such as by being weakened, or distressed, so that attempts to loosen the adhesion, once affixed, will be readily apparent, and damage the wristband.

FIG 11 shows the dispenser (10) of the present invention. The dispenser (10) is manufactured from cardboard, having locking tabs at each end, which are adhered together to form a highly durable, preferably rectangular container. The dispenser (10) also includes a tear off tab or tear away portion (11) at or near a lower corner thereof. This is best shown in FIG 12. This tear away portion (11) allows an attendant to access and retrieve the identity wristbands (1) from the dispenser. The configuration of the tear off tab or tear away portion (11) allows either a single wristband (1) or several wristbands to be removed/retrieved at the one time. The dispenser (10) is adapted to store 250 wristbands (1) when full. In this way, if the dispenser (10) is opened when full, all 250 separate, discontinuous individual wristbands (1) are available for immediate use (i.e. application to a person), without the need to separate the individual wristbands from a sheet comprising joined together wristbands.

The wristbands (1) are placed into the dispenser (10) in sequential order, with each additional identity band being placed in the dispenser on top of the preceding band so that it is easy to identify how many wristbands are removed from the dispenser during a specified time, such as the duration of an event. This minimises the possibility of fraud by attendants by providing free wristbands that cannot later be accounted for, and easily tracked and monitored by management or business owners.

To assist with the monitoring of the wristbands (1), the top section of the dispenser (10) includes a clear window (12) that allows for visual inspection of the uppermost wristband, particularly to allow the unique identity number located on each of the wristbands to be viewed. If the wristbands (1) also include a unique identification barcode, RFID chip or some other machine readable marker, the clear window (12) will also allow the machine reader to scan the identification marker without the need to remove the wristband from the dispenser (10).

The dispenser (10) can be utilised as a "cartridge" in a suitable wristband dispensing apparatus. Suitable types of wristband dispensing apparatus are disclosed in the applicant's own International PCT patent application no. PCT/AU2008/001385 entitled "Wristband Applicator", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

As shown in 12, the dispensers (10) are boxed together in groups of four within a shipping container (13) for ease of transportation and to lower the costs involved in transporting the dispensers (10) from their place of manufacture to their final destination. Of course it should be understood that any number of dispensers (10) can be placed in a suitably sized shipping container (13).

Similarly, whilst the embodiment of the dispenser (10) shown in the accompanying drawings is adapted to store 250 wristbands when full, it should be understood that in other embodiments, any number of wristbands can be stored in the dispenser when full.

The word "comprising", or similar words, is generally intended to be interpreted in an inclusive sense, rather than exclusively, unless specifically indicted otherwise, and would normally allow other examples or features to be included.

It will be apparent that obvious variations or modifications may be made in accordance with the spirit of the invention that are intended to be part of the invention, and any such obvious variations or modification are therefore within the scope of the invention. INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The invention can be utilised in connection with security or other wrist bands, and to a system of storing, transporting and applying such wristbands to people.

Claims

1. A dispenser for one or more identification bracelets that are attachable around an extremity of an animal, including a person, said dispenser being provided with a plurality of single, discontinuous identity bands, each one being adapted to form one of the identification bracelets by having a first portion of said band affixed to a second portion thereof to form a continuous loop around said extremity.

2. A dispenser for one or more identification bracelets of claim 1 wherein said animal is a person, and said extremity is a wrist.

3. A dispenser for one or more identification bracelets of claim 2 wherein each of the identity bands is manually retrieved from the dispenser prior to being attached to the person.

4. A dispenser for one or more identification bracelets of claim 3 further comprising a tear away portion to allow one or more of the identity bands to be manually retrieved therefrom.

5. A dispenser for one or more identification bracelets of claim 2 wherein the dispenser is adapted to be installed in an apparatus for automatically dispensing and applying the identity bands to an extremity of the animal including a person, the apparatus being adapted for the extremity to be positioned within a receptacle in the apparatus, to permit the identity band to be wrapped closely around the extremity by band fixing means of the apparatus, and fixed to itself to form a bracelet, so as to prevent its removal from the extremity without damaging the integrity of said bracelet.

6. A dispenser for one or more identification bracelets of claim 5 wherein the apparatus is adapted for each of the identity bands to be self dispensed by the person.

7. A dispenser for one or more identification bracelets of claim 6 wherein the apparatus includes a positioning means, to ensure the extremity is optimally positioned within the apparatus, so that the band is applied around the correct area of the extremity.

8. A dispenser for one or more identification bracelets of claim 7 wherein the positioning means is a hand grip, so arranged that by holding the grip, the extremity of the person is properly positioned with the apparatus to receive the band.

9. A dispenser for one or more identification bracelets of claim 1 wherein the dispenser is substantially made of cardboard.

10. A dispenser for one or more identification bracelets of claim 9 further having locking tabs at each end thereof, which are adapted to be adhered together to form a substantially rectangular container.

11. A dispenser for one or more identification bracelets of claim 1 further comprising a substantially transparent section allowing visual inspection of at least one of the identity bands therein.

12. A dispenser for one or more identification bracelets of claim 11 wherein the transparent section allows a machine reader to identify at least one identity bands unique identifying marker.

13. A dispenser for one or more identification bracelets of claim 12 wherein the unique identifying number is one of a barcode, a serial number or an RFID functional inlay component.

14. A dispenser for one or more identification bracelets of claim 12 wherein each one of the plurality of identity bands that is placed into the dispenser includes a sequential number and each of the identity bands are placed in the dispenser in sequential order, with each additional identity band being placed on top of the immediately preceding band in the dispenser.