AU2001278312B2 - Security device - Google Patents

Description

WO 02/13650 PCT/AU01/01009 -1- SECURITY DEVICE Field of the Invention This invention relates to a security device for a slide fastener and relates particularly, though not exclusively, to a security device for reuseable security envelopes typically used for cash, currency and document transport.

Background of the Invention Re-useable security envelopes are commonplace for the transportation of documents or articles between various offices of a business or government departments. The envelope is made from a sturdy material e.g. plastics, canvas, etc which is sealed around the edges. A slide fastener closes an opening in the envelope to allow entry to the envelope. Articles are placed in the envelope and the slider is drawn across the chain of teeth fitted to the tapes of the slide fastener to close the envelope. In order to prevent tampering of the contents of the envelope a security device is fitted to both the chain and the security envelope to prevent, or make evident, any unauthorised access to the envelope. Typically, the security device is fitted to secure the slider and includes a disposable numbered identification tag which must be broken to release the slider. Any tampering is clearly visible if the tag has been broken. It is not possible to substitute a tag that has been broken to avoid suspicion that the security of the envelope has been compromised as each tag has its own unique number with a no repeat in six million numbered combinations.

Examples of such devices are shown in US Patent Nos.

4112990, 4008914, 4602405 and 3955842. These devices have proved popular as the disposable tags or plugs that provide visual evidence of tampering are cheap to mass produce and provide a certain degree of security. Unfortunately these devices can be easily manipulated using dexterity and lock picks to release the disposable tag or plug without damage thereto. The slide fastener can then be released and the WO 02/13650 PCT/AU01/01009 -2contents of the envelope taken or substituted. The tag or plug can then be re-inserted in the usual manner and there will be no evidence of tampering. The applicant has determined that the major problem is the external exposure of both the slider and the security device. This allows the thief ready access using lock picks and similar tools.

Summary of the Invention It is an object of the present invention to provide a security device for a slide fastener that provides enhanced security over the prior art.

A further object of the invention is to provide a security device for a slide fastener where the slider of the slide fastener is hidden when in use.

With these objects in view the present invention provides a security device for a slide fastener, said security device including a housing adapted to be fitted to an object to which the tapes of said slide fastener are attached or to the tapes themselves, said housing substantially surrounding the slider of said slide fastener in its fully closed position, a closure member adapted to co-operate with said housing which, in use, covers said slider to prevent access thereto and a frangible locking element adapted to link said housing to said closure member, said locking element being resiliently yieldable and slidably insertable into said closure member but not retractable therefrom without fracturing said frangible locking element.

Preferably said closure member is attached at one end to a puller and said puller is attached to said slider. In a preferred embodiment said closure member can pivot about said housing and block exit of said slider from said housing in its closed position.

In a practical embodiment said housing includes a guide member which aligns with a slot in said closure member in its closed position and said frangible locking element includes barbs which lock behind said guide member to prevent extraction of said frangible locking element from said housing and said closure member.

WO 02/13650 PCT/AU01/01009 -3- Preferably said housing includes a spreader which spreads said barbs apart during insertion of said frangible locking element into said closure member to further assist in preventing extraction of said frangible locking element from said housing and said closure member.

Brief Description of the Drawings In order that the invention may be more readily understood and put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Fig. I is a perspective view of a security envelope having attached thereto a security device made in accordance with the invention shown in the locked position; Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view of the security device shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the security device shown in Fig. 1 in the open position; Fig. 4 is a similar view to that of Fig. 3 in the almost closed position; Fig. 5 is a similar view to that of Fig. 3 in the closed position prior to insertion of the locking element; Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view along and in the direction of arrows 6-6 of Fig. 2; Fig. 7 is a similar view to that of Fig. 6 with the locking element being broken; Fig. 8 is a similar view to that of Fig. 7 in the open position with part of the locking element still inside; Fig. 9 is a plan view of the housing of the security device shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 10 is a cross-sectional view along and in the direction of arrows 10-10 shown in Fig. 6; and Fig. 11 is a perspective view of the locking element shown in Fig. WO 02/13650 PCT/AU01/01009 -4- Detailed Description of the Invention In the drawings there is shown a security envelope 10 which is closed by a conventional slide fastener 12. Slide fastener 12 has tapes 14 with respective chains of teeth 16. A slider 18 slides along the chains of teeth 16 to either close or open the slide fastener. A puller 20 is swingably or pivotally attached at one end to slider 18 by bridge 22. A housing 24 is fixed to security envelope 10 using studs, glue, screws or other suitable fixing means. In the preferred embodiment illustrated fixing holes 25 are located in the floor of housing 24 for studs (not shown). For additional security, a base member 30 is provided which matches the shape of the floor of housing 24. Base member 30 is located on the inside of security envelope 10 and has co-operating fixing holes 32 to receive the studs (not shown). Housing 24 is basically rectangular in shape but can be any desired shape to suit the application. A rectangular cut out 26 extends a certain distance along the floor of housing 24 to allow slider 18 to enter housing 24. The rectangular cut out 26 will end adjacent the top end piece (not shown) of slide fastener 12 which prevents slider 18 from being pulled from teeth 16 when at its closed position. Cut out 26 has a peripheral Ushaped wall 28 extending upwardly into housing 24.

Housing 24 has a pair of guide members 34 mounted on the floor and each guide member 34 has a groove 36 therein. A small front wall (not shown) links guide members 34. A gap 37 is left between guide members 34 and U-shaped wall 28. A pair of side walls 38 run the length of housing 24. A pair of arcuate bearing surfaces 40 are provided on end walls 41 to join U-shaped wall 28 and close off one end of the housing 24 whilst the other end 42 is open to provide a ledge 44.

A lid or closure member 46 is adapted to fit on housing 24. Lid 46 has a pair of longitudinal side walls 48 and an end wall 50. At the other end there is an intermediate end wall 52 located between a pair of offset hinge members 54. Hinge members 54 have a complementary shape to arcuate bearing surfaces 40 to provide a hinging action when WO 02/13650 PCT/AU01/01009 assembled. The other end of puller 20 is pivotally secured to intermediate end wall 52 to join lid 46 to slide fastener 12. A roof 56 completes the external construction of lid 46. A flange 58 will, in the locked position, abut ledge 44. For additional security a U-shaped interior wall 60 fits within the confines of U-shaped wall 28. A slot 62 in end wall 50 co-operates with grooves 36, when aligned, for reception of a frangible locking element 64.

Frangible locking element 64 has a rectangular tab 66 with a pair of arms 68 attached thereto. Arms 68 are of a width that they can be readily fractured along the join line with rectangular tab 66. Barbs 70 on arms 68 are adapted to.engage behind guide members 34 to prevent withdrawal of locking element 64 when fitted. A further set of arms 72 are attached to a head member 74 and angle downwardly relative to arms 68. Arms 68 will also assist in preventing withdrawal of locking element 64.

The use of security device will now be described. The sequence of operations can also be seen in Figs. 3 to 8. The open position is shown in Fig. 3. In order to lock the security envelope 10, the slider 18 is pulled to the right (Fig. 3) by grasping lid 46. Slider 18 enters cut out 26 and abuts, or is adjacent, the base of U-shaped wall 28 of housing 24. Lid 46 is pulled backwardly to cause puller 20 to pivot backwardly.

Offset hinge members 54 of lid 46 are then mated with the arcuate bearing surfaces 40 of housing 24 as shown in Fig. 4. Lid 46 is then closed over housing 24 to be flush therewith as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 5. Thus slider 18 will not be visible and intermediate wall 52 of lid 46 will prevent withdrawal of slider 18 from housing 24. Slider 18 will also be surrounded by the U-shaped wall 28 of housing 24 and the U-shaped interior wall 60 depending from underneath roof 56 which will be located within the U-shaped wall 28. Access to slider 18 is prevented ensuring that lock picks cannot be used. Flange 58 will overly ledge 44 and slot 62 will be aligned with grooves 36. It is preferred that the height of both grooves 36 and slot 62 are the same as the thickness of locking WO 02/13650 PCT/AU01/01009 -6element 64. This will leave no gap through which lock picks can be inserted. Arms 68 of locking element 64 are pushed through slot 62 and along grooves 36. It is preferred that arms 68 are flexed inwardly as they travel along grooves 36 and will spring open to allow barbs 70 to lock behind the ends of guide members 34 in gap 37. Arms 72 will flex upwardly to lie inside arms during initial insertion of locking element 64.

Once the free ends of arms 72 are inside housing 24 they will spring downwardly as shown in Fig. 6 and fall behind the front wall linking guide members 34. Tab 66 will sit on ledge 44 and occupy the full length and width of ledge 44. It will not be possible to pull the locking element 64 from the security device as barbs 70 will prevent such action, as will arms 68 abutting the front wall linking guide members 34.

Any substantial tug of locking element 64 will fracture arms 68 from tab 66 which will clearly indicate tampering has occurred. It will also not be possible to pull lid 46 from housing 24 because of the hinging action of hinge members 54 at one end and the interference fit of locking element 64 at the other end. Any attempt to prise open lid 46 by forcing a pick between flange 58 and ledge 44 will also cause fracturing of locking element 64. To open the security device tab 66 is simply bent upwardly to fracture locking element 64 as shown in Fig. 7. Lid 46 can then be pivoted to the open position as shown in Fig. 8. Arms 72 and 68 can then be simply removed and thrown away to enable re-use of the security envelope.

The invention provides a simple but effective solution to ensuring the security of such envelopes. It will be extremely difficult to tamper with the security device as there is no access to the slider. Although the preferred embodiment has been described with reference to its use with security envelopes the invention is not so restricted. The invention can be used on any application using a slide fastener e.g. suitcases. For additional security a spreader may be used between guide members 34 to outwardly spread apart arms 68 to ensure that barbs 70 will be forced behind guide members 34 in a wedging action. The number, shape and WO 02/13650 PCT/AU01/01009 -7orientation of guide members 34 can vary to suit other types of locking elements 64 other than the one depicted in the preferred embodiment.

Locking element 64 may have a smaller tab 66 which does not fully cover ledge 44. The numbers and positions of arms 68 and barbs may vary as well. The invention is not limited to the preferred embodiment shown as the shape and configuration can be readily changed to suit requirements.

The invention will be understood to embrace many further modifications as will be readily apparent to persons skilled in the art and which will be deemed to reside within the broad scope and ambit of the invention, there having been set forth herein only the broad nature of the invention and certain specific embodiments by way of example.

Claims (12)

1. A security device for a slide fastener, said security device including a housing adapted to be fitted to an object to which the tapes of said slide fastener are attached or to the tapes themselves, said housing surrounding the slider of said slide fastener _in its fully closed position, a closure member adapted to co-operate with said housing 00 which, in use, covers said slider to prevent access thereto and a frangible locking element adapted to link said housing to said closure member, said locking element being resiliently yieldable and slidably insertable into said closure member but not retractable therefrom without fracturing said frangible locking element.

2. The security device of claim 1, wherein said closure member is attached at one end to a puller and said puller is attached to said slider.

3. The security device of claim 1 or 2, wherein said closure member can pivot about said housing and block exit of said slider from said housing in its closed position.

4. The security device of any one of the preceding claims, wherein said housing includes a guide member which aligns with a slot in said closure member in its closed position and said frangible locking element includes barbs which lock behind said guide member to prevent extraction of said frangible locking element from said housing and said closure member.

5. The security device of claim 4, wherein said housing includes a spreader which spreads said barbs apart during insertion of said frangible locking element into said closure member to further assist in preventing extraction of said frangible locking element from said housing and said closure member.

6. The security device of any one of the preceding claims, wherein said closure member and said housing in the closed position form a barrier to limit movement of said slider. 13/04/07.12243 new claims set,8

7. The security device of any one of the preceding claims, wherein said closure Smember includes an aperture through which a part of said frangible locking element passes to engage with said housing.

8. The security device of claim 7, wherein said housing includes a ledge which in the closed position is overlaid by an abutting flange which projects from an end 00 wall of said closure member and said aperture is located in said end wall of said N closure member. NI 10 9. The security device of claim 8, wherein said frangible locking element includes a tab which its inserted position overlays said flange of said closure member. A seal enclosure for use with a tamper evident frangible seal for securing a file having a zippered opening; the enclosure including a housing permanently affixed to said file adjacent said zippered opening; a closure member pivotally and releasably attached to said housing and forming a selectively closed barrier around said seal to prevent access to said seal without first breaking said seal.

11. The seal enclosure as claimed in claim 10, wherein said closure member includes an aperture for receiving said seal,

12. The seal enclosure as claimed recited in claim 10 or 11, wherein said zippered opening includes a slider and wherein said closure member is attached to said slider for movement along said zippered opening for opening said file.

13. The seal enclosure as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein said closure member and said housing each include a frame or barrier for entirely surrounding said seal. 13/04/07,12243 new claims set,9 S14. The seal enclosure as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 13, wherein said closure member and said housing each include a barrier for substantially surrounding said slider.

15. A security device for a slide fastener; the security device including a housing having fasteners to be fitted to an object to which the slide fastener is 00 attached, the housing surrounding a slider of said slide fastener in its fully closed N' position; a closure member cooperating with said housing to selectively prevent O access to said slider, a locking element being resiliently yieldable and slidably C 10 insertable into said closure member, but not retractable from said closure member without first fracturing the locking element. 18/04/07,12243 new claims set