Reusable bolt electronic seal module with GPS/cellular phone communications and tracking system

• US 10,497,289 B2
• Filed: 10/12/2016
• Issued: 12/03/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/05/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: E J Brooks Company
• Original Assignee: E J Brooks Company
• Inventors: Debrody, Robert, Ruth, Donald, Lundberg, George, Dreisbach, Richard
• Primary Examiner(s): Merlino, Alyson M
• Application Number:
  US15/291,705
• Publication Number:
  US 20170032710A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,147 Days
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 39/005 Locks with means for tracking the location of locked items, e.g. freight containers
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 39/02 with destructible seal closures or paper closures
• CPC Class Codes: G09F 3/03 of security seals means for indicating unauthorised opening of container closures B65D, e.g. B65D27/30, B65D55/02; theft deterrent tags E05B73/0017
• CPC Class Codes: G09F 3/0317 having bolt like sealing means means for preventing relative axial movement of a pin, spigot, shaft or the like and a member surrounding it F16B21/00
• CPC Class Codes: G09F 3/0335 using RFID tags
• CPC Class Codes: G09F 3/0376 using a special technique to detect tampering, e.g. by ultrasonic or optical means

Abstract

An electronic security bolt seal for locking a hasp includes an electronic module that has a circuit board disposed at an interior cavity of a housing. The housing includes apertures aligned with each other, such that a bolt is configured to be inserted through the apertures and through the interior cavity to engage the circuit board and complete an electronics circuit. When the bolt is inserted through the apertures of the housing, a locking device engages a tip region of the bolt that protrudes from the housing to secure the electronic module to the bolt. Responsive to a determination of breaking the electronics circuit, the circuit board is operable to generate a seal tamper signal. The locking element can be unlocked by a user to disengage the locking device from the bolt to permit the bolt to be removed from the electronic module and disengaged from the hasp.

Claims

1. An electronics security bolt seal for locking a hasp, the electronics security bolt seal comprising:

a reusable electronic module having a housing that includes a cavity, wherein a first portion of an electronics circuit is disposed in the cavity;

a bolt having a head and an elongated shank that is configured to pass through the cavity of the housing for engaging the hasp between the head and the housing, wherein a second portion of the electronics circuit is disposed along the elongated shank;

wherein, when the bolt is inserted through the cavity, the second portion of the electronics circuit engages a pair of spaced apart electrical contacts of the first portion of the electronics circuit to complete the electronics circuit, and wherein the elongated shank includes a stop element that engages an inlet aperture of the housing for preventing further insertion of the elongated shank into the cavity;

a bolt locking device having a locking element that is configured to engage a tip portion of the elongated shank, wherein, when the elongated shank is inserted through the cavity such that the tip portion protrudes from the housing at a location opposite the head, the bolt locking device engages the tip portion to prevent the bolt from being removed from the housing;

wherein the bolt locking device includes a thermoplastic shell with a collar that extends from a locking body and toward the housing of the electronic module to limit movement of the electronic module along the elongated shank of the bolt;

wherein, when the bolt is inserted through the cavity, and responsive to the electronics circuit being interrupted by the bolt being severed or removed from the housing, the electronics circuit generates a tamper signal; and

a tracking and communications system disposed in the cavity of the housing that is electrically connected with the first portion of the electronics circuit and is operable to wirelessly communicate the tamper signal and a location of the electronic module to a communications center.

2. The electronic security bolt seal of claim 1, wherein the stop element includes a conical shape that engages the inlet aperture to form a contamination seal between the cavity and an ambient region outside the housing.

3. The electronic security bolt seal of claim 1, wherein the bolt locking device surrounds the elongated shank and extends to the housing of the electronic module to prevent the electronic module from moving along the elongated shank of the bolt.

4. The electronic security bolt seal of claim 1, wherein the tip portion of the bolt includes a groove that is engaged by the locking element of the bolt locking device.

5. The electronic security bolt seal of claim 1, wherein, when the bolt is inserted through the cavity, first and second electrically conductive portions forming the second portion of the electronics circuit on the bolt respectively engage the spaced apart pair of electrical contacts of the first portion of the electronics circuit.

6. The electronic security bolt seal of claim 5, wherein the first and second electrically conductive portions are in electrical contact with each other at a first region of the bolt and are in electrical isolation from each other in a second region of the bolt.

7. The electronic security bolt seal of claim 1, wherein the tracking and communications system comprises a GPS receiving unit disposed at the cavity of the housing and coupled to the electronics circuit for receiving and processing seal positioning signals from GPS satellites corresponding to the location of the electronic module.

8. The electronic security bolt seal of claim 1, wherein the tracking and communications system comprises a cellular phone communications unit disposed at the cavity of the housing and is coupled to the electronics circuit to communicate the tamper signal to the communications center via cellular towers.

9. The electronic security bolt seal of claim 1, wherein the tracking and communications system comprises a GPS tracking system and a cellular phone tracking system coupled to the electronics circuit, and wherein the tracking and communications system comprises a controller that is configured to select one of the GPS and cellular phone tracking systems to track the location of the electronic module.

10. An electronic security bolt seal for locking a hasp, the electronic security bolt seal comprising:

an electronic module comprising a circuit board disposed at an interior cavity of a housing, wherein the housing of the electronic module includes first and second apertures aligned with each other;

a bolt having a head and an elongated shank configured to be inserted through the first and second apertures of the housing and through the interior cavity, wherein the bolt comprises an electrically conductive element;

wherein, when the bolt is inserted through the first and second apertures, the electrically conductive element of the bolt is configured to engage two contacts electrically connected to the circuit board to complete an electronics circuit;

a locking device having a locking element that is configured, when the bolt is inserted through the first and second apertures of the housing and when the bolt is engaged with the hasp to be locked, to engage with a tip region of the bolt that protrudes from the housing to secure the electronic module to the bolt and to be locked to the bolt to thereby place the locking device in a locked state at the tip region of the bolt;

wherein the locking device includes a thermoplastic shell with a collar that extends from a locking body and toward the housing of the electronic module to limit movement of the electronic module along the elongated shank of the bolt;

wherein, when the bolt is engaged with the hasp to be locked and with the locking device when the locking device is in the locked state at the tip region of the bolt, the locking device precludes removal of the electronic module from the elongated shank of the bolt; and

wherein, when the bolt is engaged with the hasp to be locked and with the locking device when the locking device is in the locked state at the tip region of the bolt, and responsive to a determination of breaking the electronics circuit, the circuit board is operable to generate a seal tamper signal, and wherein the seal tamper signal is transmitted to a communications center for tracking a location of the electronic module.

11. The electronic security bolt seal of claim 10, wherein the tip region of the bolt includes a groove that is engaged by the locking element of the locking device.