GB2480062A

GB2480062A - Luggage security lock with alarm

Info

Publication number: GB2480062A
Application number: GB1007389A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Christopher Little
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2010-05-04
Filing date: 2010-05-04
Publication date: 2011-11-09
Anticipated expiration: 2030-05-04
Also published as: GB201007389D0; GB2480062B

Abstract

A luggage security lock 12 comprises a tag 19 suitable for interacting with a monitoring barrier and means for selectively enabling and disabling said tag. The lock may incorporate a casing 14 and a holder 18 which may selectively hold the tag in an exposed position (fig 2a) and a position located within the housing (fig 2b). The holder may take the form of a drawer which may further incorporate an adhesive surface to which the tag may be adhered. The casing may form a shield which may interfere with the interaction of the tag with an electromagnetic monitoring barrier when the tag is located within the casing. The casing may be formed of one or more layers of aluminium. The lock may further comprise a controller for activating and/or deactivating the tag wherein the tag may be in the form of a resonant circuit incorporating a coil and a capacitance and the circuit may have a first portion and a second portion, wherein the circuit is selectively open and/or closed dependent upon the position of said first and second portion.

Description

LUGGAGE SECURITY LOCK

Field of the Invention

The invention relates to luggage security locks.

Background to the Invention and Prior Art Known to the Applicant Conventional luggage security locks incorporate a loop for threading through adjacent zipper ends, so that when the loop is locked in position relative to the housing it acts at least as a deterrent for a would-be thief opening up a bag to assess its contents. Even the most sophisticated versions of these locks can be readily broken once the entire piece of luggage is taken off site and readily available tools are employed. Once the piece of luggage is taken off site, a thief will simply tear into the wall without even attempting to break the lock open.

The Customs often require access to luggage. It is therefore considered advantageous for luggage security locks to appear relatively secure and difficult to open, whilst at the same time being rapidly broken by trained Customs Officers. Equipping the luggage security locks with self-contained alarms, and/or active tags is an option but these may inadvertently trigger the alarm during transportation to and from an airplane. If an alarm were to sound on an item of luggage, the item may be required to be investigated and there would therefore be the real risk of an item not departing with a passenger on a particular plane. Due to these considerations, luggage security locks are therefore relatively simple devices which are primarily passive. The invention seeks to address a number of technical problems by improving these relatively simple luggage security locks.

One of the problems which the invention seeks to address is how to allow an item of luggage to be detected when transported though a monitoring barrier by an unauthorised person. Another problem addressed by the invention is how to improve the control of the activation and deactivation of a tag which would be integrated into a luggage security lock.

A further problem which the invention wouLd seek to address may be how to improve a luggage security lock for triggering a remote alarm, particularly when the lock is passed through an electromagnetic field. Another object of the invention would be to allow the tag to be activated and deactivated in a relatively simple format which would be readily understood by the average traveller. A further objective of the invention would be to provide a platform which may be employed with a variety of passive tags.

These are only a few of the problems and objectives with which the invention is concerned. Further problems and/or objectives may be deduced from any aspect of the

description which follows.

Summary of the Invention

In a first broad independent aspect, the invention provides a luggage security lock comprising a tag suitable for interacting with a monitoring barrier and means for selectively enabling and disabling said tag. This configuration is particularly advantageous since it allows the traveller to activate the security lock prior to allowing the item of luggage to enter the transportation system, whilst allowing the traveller to deactivate the tag when the item of luggage is returned, for example, when retrieving the item of luggage from the baggage reclaim belt.

In a subsidiary aspect in accordance with the invention's first broad independent aspect, said lock incorporates a casing and a holder for selectively holding said tag in an exposed position, and a position located within said casing. This configuration is particularly advantageous because it would allow the traveller to immediately identify whether the security lock is enabled or disabled.

In a subsidiary aspect, said tag incorporates an adhesive surface and said holder takes the form of a drawer presenting a surface onto which said adhesive surface of said tag adheres.

In this configuration, the tag may be enabled by placing and securing it onto an appropriate surface. The tag may simply be disabled by removing the tag from the surface and disposing of the tag. Each luggage security lock may be provided as a kit of parts with a number of adhesive tags for placing onto the drawer as appropriate.

In a further subsidiary aspect, said casing forms a shield for interfering with interaction between an electromagnetic monitoring barrier and said tag, when said tag is located within said casing. This configuration is particularly advantageous since it allows the tag to be deactivated or disabled by adjusting the position of the tag relative to the shield. It is also particularly advantageous since it would be readily re-usable.

In a further subsidiary aspect, said shield is formed by one or more layers of aluminium.

This configuration is particularly advantageous since it will allow the tag to be isolated and thus preventing it to act as a resonator for an electromagnetic signal.

In a further subsidiary aspect, the luggage security lock further comprises a controller for activation and/or deactivating said tag; said tag being in the form of a resonant circuit incorporating a coil and a capacitance; said circuit being formed of a first portion and a second portion; and said controller controlling the relative position of said first and second portions; whereby said circuit is selectively opened and/or closed dependent on the position of said first and second portion. This configuration is particularly advantageous because it allows improved control of the activation and/or deactivation of the tag. It would also provide a particularly precise form of control.

In a second broad independent aspect, the invention provides a luggage security lock substantially as described and/or illustrated in any appropriate combination of the text and/or figures.

Brief Description of the Figures

Figure 1A shows a luggage security lock in perspective view with a drawer extended from the casing.

Figure 1 B shows a conventional radio frequency tag in perspective view.

Figure 1C shows the closed Luggage security lock in perspective view.

Figure 2A shows a further embodiment of a luggage security lock in perspective view in its enabled configuration.

Figure 2B shows a luggage security lock in perspective view with a security tag in its disabled configuration.

Figure 3 shows a control mechanism of a luggage security lock.

Figure 4 shows a further control mechanism for a luggage security lock.

Detailed Description of the Figures

Figure 1A shows a luggage security lock 1 with a conventional U-shaped closure mechanism 2. The closure mechanism is reLeased dependent upon the position of rotary wheels, such as wheel 3. When an operator arrives at the correct numerical combination, the closure mechanism is open, allowing the U-shaped loop to be opened and rotate about one of its ends. In this embodiment, when the correct combination of numbers is achieved, drawer 4 which would otherwise be locked within the casing 5, is allowed to be drawn out as shown in Figure 1A. A surface 6 is provided for securing the tag 7 as shown in Figure 1 B. Drawer 4 incorporates rims 8 and 9 on opposite sides of the drawer which are provided to protect the delicate edge of a passive tag 7. The passive tag may be a so-called [C circuit which is an arrangement of coils (L) 10 and a capacitance (C) 11. Passive tag 7 may have on one side an adhesive surface to allow it to be secured on surface 6 of the drawer 4. Other retention means may be envisaged to secure the tag onto the drawer.

When the drawer is returned into the casing 5 and when the closure mechanism is in its locked position i.e. when the rotary wheels show an incorrect combination, the tag remains within the casing. When the closure mechanism is secured to the ends of a zipper, this configuration would prevent the zipper from being opened. In a further embodiment, the lock is configured to attach to the handle of an item of luggage. In the embodiment of figure 1, casing 5 may be of a material which would allow interaction between the tag inside the casing and an electromagnetic monitoring barrier. The electromagnetic barrier envisaged may be of known kind as supplied in retail outlets. These commonly generate a field at an appropriate frequency in order to detect a dip.

As shown in Figure 1C, the luggage security lock when secured onto an item of luggage would simply have the same appearance as an ordinary padlock.

Figure 2A shows a luggage security lock 12 with a relatively flexible loop 13 which may be opened and closed relative to a housing 14. This lock incorporates a digital display 15 with a number of buttons for user interaction, such as button 16. A user may press the various buttons dependent upon the mode of operation desired. A controller such as a microprocessor may be contained within the luggage security lock. By entering a predetermined code, a closure mechanism may be opened to allow loop 13 to be threaded either through the ends of a zipper of a luggage item or about the handle of a luggage item. A menu may also be provided to allow a user to opt for enabling the enhanced security feature. Housing 14 may incorporate an aperture 17 through which a portion 18 may project. Portion 18 forms a secondary housing for a tag 19. Advantageously, the secondary housing 18 may be of a bright colour in order to assist a traveller in identifying that the luggage security lock is enabled when the secondary housing protrudes from the primary housing 14. Biasing means or another form of actuator may be provided to assist with the displacement of the secondary housing between the exposed position of Figure 2A and the retracted position of Figure 2B. The material of the primary housing 14 may be selected to form a barrier to electromagnetic signals in order to prevent the detection of the tag in the mode of operation shown in Figure 2B. A particularly advantageous configuration may be obtained by a succession of layers of aluminium located around the tag 19, when located in its retracted position as shown in Figure 2B.

In use, in the mode of operation shown in Figure 2A, an item of luggage secured by a lock of this kind would cause a remote monitoring barrier to detect the passage of the lock and sound an alarm. By contrast, in the mode of operation shown in Figure 2B, the item of luggage may be passed through the barrier without causing the alarm to be triggered. In practice, a traveller would cause the secondary housing 18 to be exposed prior to handing over his/her item of luggage and would then disable the security feature by retracting the secondary housing as per Figure 2B, when retrieving his/her item of luggage prior to exiting the baggage reclaim area. The secondary housing may be of a plastic material in order to allow the passive tag to be detected by the monitoring barrier.

Figure 3 shows a further means for selectively activating and deactivating a tag. In this instance an LC circuit is provided between portion 21 and 22. By providing actuators 23 and 24, portions 21 and 22 may be spaced apart as shown in the Figure, or placed adjacent one another to allow contact between the otherwise separated coil portions 25 and 26.

When separated, the coil portions disable the tag, whilst when brought together the actuators close the circuit thus allowing the [C circuit to act as a tag once more. A controller 27 may be provided and arranged to be responsive to a user interface. When a user enters the enabling command, actuators 23 and 24 draw portions 21 and 22 together whilst when the user enters the disable command, the reverse takes place. A controller may also be provided to operate the lock 28. The actuators may be magnetic, electrical or mechanical such as a screw thread. In this embodiment, the active tag may be fully enclosed in the housing of the luggage security lock.

Figure 4 shows a further embodiment with some similarities with the embodiment of Figure 3. In this embodiment, it is the capacitance 29 and its supporting portion 30 which is displaceable relative to coils 31 and their supporting portion 32. The displacement of the portions relative to one another may be achieved by actuation similar to the actuation described in the previous Figure.

Instead of incorporating an [C circuit, further embodiments are envisaged where the tag takes the form of a strip of amorphous metal. Instead of this configuration, an accousto- magnetic tag may be employed with a couple of strips, one being a strip of magneto-restrictive, ferromagnetic amorphous metal and another being a strip of magnetically semi-hard metallic strip.

When in combination with any of the preceding systems, a non-linear element such as a diode may be provided for coupling to a microwave and an electrostatic antenna. In this embodiment, the tag will act as a mixer for re-emitting a combination of signals from both fields. A shield may be employed for each one of these kinds of tags.

The luggage security lock may be available at an airport at a variety of locations such as an airport retail outlet. It may alternatively be offered as a promotion by airlines and/or at the weighing points. Once obtained, the traveller would enable the device by for example entering his/her pin number or would then attach the lock to the handle of an item of luggage. Upon arrival or whenever required, the traveller can deactivate the security lock by entering his/her pin number prior to passing through the detecting barriers which would preferably be provided at customs.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A luggage security lock comprising a tag suitable for interacting with a monitoring barrier and means for selectively enabling and disabling said tag.
2. A luggage security lock according to claim 1, wherein said lock incorporates a casing and a holder for selectively holding said tag in an exposed position and a position located within said casing.
3. A luggage security lock according to claim 2, wherein said tag incorporates an adhesive surface and said holder takes the form of a drawer presenting a surface onto which said adhesive surface of said tag adheres.
4. A luggage security lock according to either of the preceding claims, wherein said casing forms a shieLd for interfering with interaction between an electromagnetic monitoring barrier and said tag when said tag is located within said casing.
5. A luggage security lock according to claim 4, wherein said shield is formed by one or more layers of aluminium.
6. A luggage security lock according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising a controller for activating and/or deactivating said tag; said tag being in the form of a resonant circuit incorporating a coil and a capacitance; said circuit being formed of a first portion and a second portion; and said controller controlling the relative position of said first and second portions; whereby said circuit is selectively open and/or closed dependent upon the position of said first and second portion.
7. A luggage security lock substantially as hereinbefore described and/or illustrated in any appropriate combination of the accompanying text and/or figures.