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

• US 9,472,125 B2
• Filed: 05/18/2011
• Issued: 10/18/2016
• 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 MARIE
• Application Number:
  US13/110,313
• Publication Number:
  US 20110273852A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,980 Days
• Field of Search: 292322-324, 292/307.A, 292/307.B, 292/329, 340/5.7, 340/551, 340/545.6
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 electronics circuit first portion is entirely within an electronics module housing, sensing and transmitting a tamper condition of a normally locked bolt. The bolt comprises a second portion of the electronics circuit. The seal electronics circuit first portion comprises a seal monitoring, tracking and communications system. The bolt passes through the module housing and is secured with a locking device external the module such that the module is reusable when the bolt is severed. The bolt and module housing include a cooperative contamination sealing arrangement for sealing the bolt to the housing. The electronics circuit first portion includes RFID tamper detection circuitry, GPS, Wi Fi and cell phone communication and tracking technologies. The cell phone technology tracks the seal using cell phone towers and Wi Fi access points and communicates the seal tracked position and seal status data to a cell phone communications center.

Claims

1. An electronic security bolt seal with a reusable electronics module for locking a hasp comprising:

an electronics circuit having first and second portions;

an electronic module comprising a housing having a cavity, the first portion of the electronics circuit being entirely in the cavity for monitoring a tamper status of the seal;

a bolt having a head and an elongated shank engaged with the housing cavity, the bolt including the second portion of the electronics circuit engaged with the first portion of the electronics circuit, the bolt for carrying a current from and to the first portion of the electronics circuit for completing the electronics circuit and for engaging the hasp to be locked;

the bolt and module being arranged such that the bolt passes through the module;

a bolt locking device engaged with and locked to a tip region of the bolt that protrudes from the module to secure the module to the bolt in a locked state and to lock the bolt to the hasp, wherein the bolt locking device includes a thermoplastic shell with a collar that spans between a locking body and the housing of the electronic module for preventing the electronic module from moving along the elongated shank of the bolt;

a conical sealing element on the bolt forming a tapered region surrounding the bolt;

the module housing having a first inlet aperture for receiving the bolt, the bolt for extending through the cavity in the locked state;

the tapered region being engaged with the first inlet aperture forming a contamination sealing arrangement for sealing the module housing cavity from ambient region contamination in the locked state;

the locked state for locking the tapered region so as to seal the first inlet aperture;

wherein when the bolt is in the locked state, the electronics circuit senses the integrity of the bolt, manifesting the seal tamper status, and the bolt has an exposed region external to the module for selective severing of the bolt at the exposed region to interrupt the electronics circuit second portion while unlocking the seal from the hasp and releasing the module from the bolt for subsequent reuse of the module;

a tracking and communications system employing the electronics circuit first portion attached to the module for communicating the seal tamper status and the seal'"'"'s position to a communications center.

2. The electronic security bolt seal of claim 1 wherein the tracking and communications system comprises a GPS system comprising a GPS receiving unit coupled to the electronics circuit first portion for receiving and processing seal positioning signals from GPS satellites.

3. The electronic security bolt seal of claim 1 wherein the tracking and communications system comprises a cellular phone communications unit coupled to the electronics circuit first portion and which unit communicates with the communications center via cellular towers.

4. The electronic security bolt seal of claim 1 wherein the tracking and communications system detects and tracks the geographic position of the seal via a cellular phone tracking system coupled to the electronics circuit first portion, the tracking and communications system comprising a cellular phone communications unit which sends seal tamper status data from the electronics circuit first portion and seal tracking data from the tracking system to the communications center via the communication unit and cellular towers.

5. The electronic security bolt seal of claim 1 wherein the seal tracking and communications system comprises a GPS tracking system and a cellular phone tracking system coupled to the electronics circuit first portion and a controller for selecting one of the GPS and cellular phone tracking systems to track the position of the seal.

6. The electronic security bolt seal of claim 5 wherein the tracking and communications system includes a cellular phone communications unit for communicating to the communications center via cellular towers.

7. The electronic security bolt seal of claim 1 wherein the seal tracking and communications system comprises a cellular phone tracking system coupled to the electronics circuit first portion, the cellular phone tracking system comprising an electronic arrangement for inputting cellular tower location data identifying the location of each of a plurality of towers adjacent to the seal for computing the location of the seal by triangulation computation of the inputted plurality of tower location data.

8. The electronic security bolt seal of claim 1 wherein the seal tracking and communications system comprises a cellular phone tracking system coupled to the electronics circuit first portion, the cellular phone tracking system comprising an electronic arrangement for inputting Wi Fi access points location data identifying the location of each of a plurality of Wi Fi access points adjacent to the seal for computing the location of the seal by triangulation computation of the inputted plurality of access points location data.

9. The electronic security bolt seal of claim 1 wherein the seal tracking and communications system comprises a cellular phone tracking system coupled to the electronics circuit first portion, the cellular phone tracking system comprising an electronic arrangement for inputting Wi Fi access points and cellular tower locations data identifying the location of each of a plurality of towers and Wi Fi access points adjacent to the seal for computing the location of the seal by triangulation computation of the inputted plurality of tower locations or Wi Fi access points data.

10. The electronic security bolt seal of claim 1 wherein the tracking and communications system comprises a GPS system comprising a GPS receiving unit coupled to the electronics circuit first portion for receiving seal positioning signals from GPS satellites, the electronics circuit first portion for processing the received GPS positioning signals to track the position of the seal.

11. The electronic security bolt seal of claim 1 wherein the bolt includes first and second electrically conductive members in electrical contact with each other at one region of the bolt and in electrical isolation from each other in a further bolt region forming the second circuit portion and ohmically engaging the electronics circuit first portion to form a circuit path to the electronics circuit first portion.

12. The electronic security bolt seal of claim 1 wherein the first and second circuit portions of the electronics circuit comprise mating electrical contacts, the tapered region for aligning the contacts when the bolt is in the locked state.

13. The electronic security bolt seal of claim 1 wherein the tip region and the locking device are arranged to lock the locking device to the tip region, and wherein the cavity in the housing includes an egress aperture that has a contamination sealing arrangement around the elongated shank of the bolt for sealing the module cavity from contamination from the ambient region.

14. The electronic security bolt seal of claim 1 wherein the bolt is dimensioned to pass through the housing in a compartment in the cavity from the first inlet aperture and egress the housing at a second aperture, the tip region of the bolt protruding from the housing through the second aperture, the tip region and the locking device being arranged to lock the locking device to the tip region, and wherein a contamination sealing arrangement includes a grommet on the housing at the second aperture and the conical sealing element on the bolt which seals the first inlet aperture when the bolt is in the locked state, the grommet and the conical sealing element together sealing an interior of the module from ambient external contamination.

15. The electronic security bolt seal of claim 1 wherein the housing has a sealing element for engaging the tip region and sealing the cavity at the tip region.

16. The electronic security bolt seal of claim 1 wherein tapered region of the conical sealing element surrounds the bolt at a location intermediate the bolt head and the tip region of the bolt, the housing having a second sealing element for engaging the bolt at the tip region, the module being secured in a region that is generally between the conical sealing element and the second sealing element.

17. An electronics security bolt seal for locking a hasp, said electronics security bolt seal comprising:

a reusable electronic module having an electronics circuit and a housing that includes a cavity, wherein a first portion of the electronics circuit is disposed entirely in the cavity for monitoring a tamper status of the seal;

a tracking and communications system at least partially contained in the housing that employs the first portion of the electronics circuit and wirelessly communicates the tamper status and a locational position of the seal to a communications center;

a bolt having a head and an elongated shank that engages and passes through the cavity of the housing for engaging the hasp between the head and the housing, wherein the elongated shank engages a pair of electrical contacts on the first portion of the electronics circuit when the bolt is engaged in a locked state in the cavity, and wherein the elongated shank includes a conical element surrounding the bolt that engages an inlet aperture of the housing in the locked state for preventing further insertion of the elongated shank into the cavity and contamination in the cavity from an ambient region outside the housing;

a bolt locking device having a locking body engaged with and locked to a tip portion of the elongated shank protruding from the cavity of the housing opposite the head to secure the bolt in the locked state;

a thermoplastic collar that surrounds the elongated shank and is disposed between the locking body and the housing of the electronic module to prevent the electronic module from moving along the elongated shank of bolt, wherein the thermoplastic collar provides an exposed region of the bolt that is configured to be severed; and

wherein, when the bolt is in the locked state, the electronics circuit senses the integrity of the bolt and manifests the seal tamper status, wherein the electronics circuit generates a tamper signal when the first portion is interrupted by the bolt being severed or removed from the housing to unlock and release the seal from the hasp.

18. The electronic security bolt seal of claim 17, wherein, when the bolt is engaged in the locked state in the cavity, the first and second electrically conductive portions respectively engage spaced apart first and second electrical contacts on the first portion of the electronics circuit.