Anti-theft method for detecting the unauthorized opening of containers and baggage
First Claim
1. For an apparatus having an aperture capable of being closed and opened by moving first and second closure members together and apart, respectively, an improved security device for signalling whether the aperture is opened, comprising:
- (a) an elongated electrical conductor having first and second ends, the conductor extending between the two closure members and being attached to both the first closure member and the second closure member so that the two closure members cannot be moved apart more than a predetermined amount to open the aperture without breaking the conductor; and
(b) an RFID transceiver, connected to the two ends of the conductor, including an electrical circuit for detecting when electrical continuity between the two ends of the conductor is broken and subsequently transmitting a radio frequency alarm signal.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A simple trip-wire or magnetic circuit associated with a shipping container provides continuity, which is detected electrically. Simply, if continuity is disabled by a forced entry of the container, electrical detection means, such as a radio-frequency-identification (RFID) tag, will alert the owner or monitoring station. The trip-wire concept would require the replacing of a broken trip wire (resulting from forced entry), while the magnetic circuit concept can be reused repetitively. In a second embodiment a magnetic circuit and the detection device (RFID tag) are embedded into the shipping article during manufacturing. The preferred detection device, an RFID tag, could also be a battery backed transceiver type on which a replaceable or rechargeable battery could be mounted on the inside of the shipping container during manufacturing. The RFID tag would communicate with an interrogator unit, which could be connected to a host computer. The interrogator and/or the host computer and/or other alarm devices would then monitor the shipping container'"'"'s status (opened or closed).
19 Citations
51 Claims
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1. For an apparatus having an aperture capable of being closed and opened by moving first and second closure members together and apart, respectively, an improved security device for signalling whether the aperture is opened, comprising:
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(a) an elongated electrical conductor having first and second ends, the conductor extending between the two closure members and being attached to both the first closure member and the second closure member so that the two closure members cannot be moved apart more than a predetermined amount to open the aperture without breaking the conductor; and (b) an RFID transceiver, connected to the two ends of the conductor, including an electrical circuit for detecting when electrical continuity between the two ends of the conductor is broken and subsequently transmitting a radio frequency alarm signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. For an apparatus having an aperture capable of being closed and opened by moving first and second closure members together and apart, respectively, an improved security device for signalling whether the aperture is opened, comprising:
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(a) an electrical device, mounted on the apparatus adjacent the aperture, for detecting whether the aperture is open or closed; and (b) an RFID transceiver which transmits a radio frequency alarm signal after said device detects the aperture has been opened. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. For an apparatus having an aperture which is selectably closed and opened by moving first and second closure members together and apart, respectively, an improved security device for signalling whether the aperture is opened, comprising:
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(a) an electrical device, mounted on the apparatus adjacent the aperture, for detecting whether the aperture is open or closed, wherein the electrical device includes; (i) first and second electrical contacts mounted on the first closure member, and (ii) a third electrical contact mounted on the second closure member at a position such that, when the two closure members are moved together so as to close the aperture, the third electrical contact mates with both the first and the second contacts so as to complete an electrical continuity between the first and second contacts; and (b) an RFID transceiver which transmits a radio frequency alarm signal in response to said electrical continuity being broken.
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12. A secure apparatus for signalling whether an aperture of the apparatus is opened, comprising:
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an apparatus having first and second closure members and having an aperture capable of being closed and opened by moving the two closure members together and apart, respectively; an electrical device, mounted on the apparatus adjacent the aperture, for detecting whether the aperture is opened; and an RFID transceiver which transmits an alarm signal after said device detects the aperture has been opened. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method for signalling whether an aperture is opened, comprising the steps of:
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providing an apparatus having first and second closure members and having an aperture capable of being closed and opened by moving the first and second closure members together and apart, respectively; detecting whether the aperture is opened; and in response to detecting that the aperture is opened, transmitting a radio frequency alarm signal. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A method for signalling whether an aperture is opened, comprising the steps of:
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providing an apparatus having first and second closure members including at least a door, and having an aperture capable of being closed and opened by moving the first and second closure members together and apart to close and open the door, respectively; after the door is closed, attaching an electrical detection device to the door, the detection device having an RFID device mounted via adhesive and having a wire arranged to form a circuit which is to be irreversibly disrupted if the door is opened, the RFID device to store information identifying the apparatus; detecting whether the aperture is opened, based on whether the circuit is disrupted, using the RFID device; interrogating a plurality of RFID transceiver tags for an alarm status using an interrogator unit that communicates with the RFID transceiver tags wirelessly via radio frequency interrogation signals; and in response to detecting that the aperture is opened, transmitting the stored information identifying the apparatus in response to the radio frequency interrogation signals and transmitting a radio frequency alarm signal from the RFID transceiver tags to the interrogator unit if the aperture is detected to have been opened. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A secure container system for signalling whether an aperture of the apparatus is opened, comprising:
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a container having first and second closure members and having an aperture capable of being closed and opened by moving the two closure members together and apart, respectively; an electrical detection device, mounted on the apparatus adjacent the aperture, for detecting whether the aperture is opened, the electrical detection device comprises an RFID transceiver tag and an electrical circuit, the electrical circuit to be irreversibly disrupted when the aperture is opened to access interior of the container, the RFID transceiver tag sealed inside a package and attached to the container via adhesive, the RFID transceiver tag having an antenna and having memory to store identification information of the RFID transceiver tag and having a circuit to receive and transmit radio frequency signals via the antenna; and an interrogator wirelessly coupled with the RFID transceiver tag via radio frequency signals, wherein in response to a command from the interrogator the RFID transceiver tag transmits the identification information of the RFID transceiver tag to the interrogator and transmits an alarm signal to the RFID interrogator after the electrical circuit detects the aperture has been opened. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
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48. For a secure container having an aperture capable of being closed and opened by moving first and second closure members together and apart, respectively, an improved security device for signalling whether the aperture is opened, comprising:
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(a) an electrical device, mounted on the apparatus adjacent the aperture, for detecting whether the aperture is open or closed, the electrical device comprising a circuit to be irreversibly disrupted when the aperture is opened to access interior of the secure container; and (b) an RFID transceiver tag sealed inside a package and attached to the secure container via adhesive, the RFID transceiver tag coupled to the electrical device to determine whether the circuit is disrupted, the RFID transceiver tag having an Integrated Circuit (IC) chip and an antenna, the IC chip having memory to store identification information of the RFID transceiver tag and having a circuit to receive and transmit radio frequency signals via the antenna, wherein when an interrogation command is received via the antenna, the RFID transceiver tag transmits the identification information of the RFID transceiver tag and transmits a radio frequency alarm after the electrical device detects the aperture has been opened. - View Dependent Claims (49, 50, 51)
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Specification