Electronic security seal
First Claim
1. An electronic security seal comprising:
- a housing having a cavity;
a cable locking device in the cavity;
a cable having a hollow core and a first sealed free end and a second end, the second end being secured fixedly secured in the cavity, the first free end for selective insertion into engagement with the received locking device to lock the free end in the cavity;
an electrical conductor in the cable hollow core, the conductor having a given resistance R, the conductor forming a loop within the cable and extending adjacent to the cable sealed first end, the loop terminating in a second free end with the conductor forming a pair of conductors extending beyond the cable at the cable second end and electrically connected to a first circuit;
the first circuit located in the housing cavity including a signal generating circuit for generating a first signal manifesting a first cable locked state indicating that the cable free end is locked, the first circuit being responsive to a sensed tamper condition of the conductor for generating a second signal manifesting the sensed tampered condition of the locked cable; and
a resistance measuring circuit for periodically measuring the resistance value of said electrical conductor loop, the first circuit being responsive to the measuring circuit for generating the second signal when the resistance value of the conductor loop differs from a predetermined reference value to provide a detected tamper condition.
11 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A battery operated cable security seal for cargo containers and the like includes a housing with a transparent cover for visual inspection of illuminated internal green or red LEDs, the red LED representing a tampered state of a stranded metal locking cable, which has a length sufficient to secure the keeper bars and hasp of a cargo container door. The cable has an internal conductor whose conductivity, e.g., resistance, manifests a tampered condition when severed and also if reattached, e.g., by a solder or spliced joint and so on. The electrical continuity of the conductor is monitored by a circuit in one embodiment for a severed state, i.e., tampering, and whose resistance is monitored in a second embodiment correlated optionally to either or both ambient temperature and a battery output voltage. The seal housing has two compartments one being hermetically sealed and contains the circuitry and the other containing a cable locking device for receiving and locking the cable to the seal. The circuit includes an RFID tag which may be part of a mesh network configuration with other tags.
216 Citations
38 Claims
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1. An electronic security seal comprising:
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a housing having a cavity;
a cable locking device in the cavity;
a cable having a hollow core and a first sealed free end and a second end, the second end being secured fixedly secured in the cavity, the first free end for selective insertion into engagement with the received locking device to lock the free end in the cavity;
an electrical conductor in the cable hollow core, the conductor having a given resistance R, the conductor forming a loop within the cable and extending adjacent to the cable sealed first end, the loop terminating in a second free end with the conductor forming a pair of conductors extending beyond the cable at the cable second end and electrically connected to a first circuit;
the first circuit located in the housing cavity including a signal generating circuit for generating a first signal manifesting a first cable locked state indicating that the cable free end is locked, the first circuit being responsive to a sensed tamper condition of the conductor for generating a second signal manifesting the sensed tampered condition of the locked cable; and
a resistance measuring circuit for periodically measuring the resistance value of said electrical conductor loop, the first circuit being responsive to the measuring circuit for generating the second signal when the resistance value of the conductor loop differs from a predetermined reference value to provide a detected tamper condition. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An electronic securing seal for securing a cargo container door having keeper bars and a hasp comprising:
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a housing having a cavity;
a cable locking device in the cavity;
a cable having a hollow core and a first sealed free end and a second end, the second end being secured fixedly secured in the cavity, the first free end for selective insertion into engagement with the received locking device to lock the free end in the cavity, the cable having a length sufficient to secure the keeper bars and hasp of the cargo container door; and
an electrical conductor in the cable hollow core, the conductor having a given resistance R, the conductor forming a loop within the cable and extending adjacent to the cable sealed first end, the loop terminating in a second free end with the conductor forming a pair of conductors extending beyond the cable at the cable second end and electrically connected to a first circuit;
the first circuit located in the housing cavity including a signal generating circuit for generating a first signal manifesting a first cable locked state indicating that the cable free end is locked, the first circuit being responsive to a sensed tamper condition of the conductor for generating a second signal manifesting the sensed tampered condition of the locked cable. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22)
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23. An electronic security seal comprising:
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a housing having first and second compartments, the first compartment being in communication with the ambient atmosphere and the second compartment being hermetically sealed from the ambient atmosphere;
a cable receiving and locking device in the first compartment;
a cable having a hollow core and having first and a second ends, each end for being secured fixed to the locking device in the first compartment, the first end for selective insertion engagement with the locking device to lock the first end in the first compartment such that only tampering of the cable will defeat the seal;
an electrical conductor in the cable hollow core;
a first circuit located in the second compartment electrically connected to the conductor and responsive to the electrical conductivity value of the conductor, the first circuit including a signal generating circuit for sensing the conductivity value of the conductor and for generating a first signal manifesting a cable locked state indicating the cable is locked to the locking device and tamper free when the conductor has a first conductivity value and for generating a second signal manifesting a cable tampered condition in response to sensing a change of conductivity of the conductor from the first conductivity value. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. An electronic security seal for securing the keeper bars and hasp of a door securing a cargo storage space to provide evidence of tampering when the seal is tampered, the seal comprising:
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a housing having a cavity;
a tamper monitoring circuit in the housing;
a cable locking device in the housing for permanently locking a received cable thereto; and
a cable having an internal conductor, the conductor coupled to the circuit and having at least one electrical attribute that changes in response to tampering, the circuit for monitoring the at least one electrical attribute of the conductor and for generating a tamper indicating signal when the monitored attribute manifests a tampered state, the cable for locking connection to the locking device, the circuit for transmitting the tampered state when present, the cable having a length sufficient to secure the keeper bars and hasp of the cargo door.
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Specification