US1424976A - Box-strap seal - Google Patents

Description

S. BARUCH.

BOX STRAP SEAL. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 25, 1921.

Patented Aug. 8, 1922.

y Arron/vir SAMUEL BARUCH, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

BOX-STRAP SEAL.

Specification of Patented Aue. 8, 1h22.

Application filed February 535, 1921. Serial No. 447,892.

To all whom t may concern le it known that l, nanna Brunori, citizen et the TJnited States, andrresident et New York, in the county or N ew York, State of hcw York, have invented cert-ain new and useful lmprovements in Box-Strap Seals, of which the following is speciication.

T his invention is an improved sealing device adapted Jfor use in connecting strap ends such as are commonly used'in connection with a box to prevent the box from being opened by unauthorized persons or to leave tell-tale evidence oit the tact that the box has been opened. In my improved construction atubular member is employed, into or through which the ends or' the strap may be extended, portions ot one wallot the tube being adapted to be deformed or bent 'into locking engagement with the .strap so to normally prevent the withdrawl of the strap therefrom.

its the important tea-ture et my invention, I provide two or more annular upstanding beads in the upper or outer wall of the tube and encircling the portions which are to be bent or deformed into locking engagement with the strap. By means of. a special tool, all of the portion encircled by each bead may be forced downwardly into or through the strap so that the bent portion will lie substantially tangential to the bead and without deforming or mutilating the latter. 'tf the outer wall ot the tube be pried or forced away from the strap end so as to permit the withdrawal oi the latter, it will not be possible to again force the parts bacl-z into the original sealed condition witl out mutilating or otherwise detorming the bead so as to leave tell-tale evidence ot the tact that the seal has been tampered with. As the deformed portion has lbeen bent from a position at an angle to the side of the bead to a position tangential thereto, any attempt to bend the deformed portion back to its original position will cause a bending at some other point than at the point where the original bending took place, and a deforming of the bead will result. any attempt to torce the deformed portion back into the strap by hammering` will also tend to flatten or mutilate the bea-d. The bead .tor-ms a well delined boundary for the deformed portion, and ot delinite diameter so that the parts cannot be resealed by 'forcing the metal'wall farther into the strap to destroy evidence oi" tampering as would be the rase were thebe'ad omitted.

ln the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a perspective view ot a tubular member embodying my invention,

Figure@ is a central longitudinal section showing the device sealed to one strap end, and

.liigure 3 is a transverse section on the line 3 3 of Figure 2 on a greatly enlarged scale.

In the specific form illustrated I empio. a tubular member formed orP sheet metal, and formed with opposite walls 10 and 11 disposed substantially parallel and spaced. apart to a distance permitting of the convenient insertion ot a strap end at each end oli the tubular member to spaced, abutting or overlapping position. The drawing illustrates a device on a somewhat larger scale than would ordinarilyvbe used in practice as the device may be made in such size as to conveniently receive metal strap ends 12 and 13 of a width in the neighborhood oli threeeighths or one halt an inch. Obviously the device may be made toreceive wider or narrower straps. Although the tubular member may be made ot seamless tubing, l have shown it as having a seam 14 which may be in either the upper or lower wall, but preferably in the wall intended to lie adjacent to the wall of the box or other device in connection with which the sealing straps are used. y

The outer wall 10 of the bor; has two or more annular outwardly extending beads 15 each encircling a iiat portion 16 in the plane ot the remainder of the wall. This encircled portion preferably has a central aperture 17. lVhen it is desired to employ the device -for sealing together a pair ot strap ends, these ends are inserted into opoosite ends el' the tubular member, either as s iown in Figure 2, or so as to overlap, and the portion 16 is forced downwardly into or through the strap by means o'l a special tool, as shown in Figure 3. This tool 18 is provided with a flat portion 19 adapted to engage with the outer surface of the tubular member, an annular groove 20 adapted to receive the bead 15, and a central conical projection 21 extending tangential to the groove 20. The point of the tool is placed in the aperture 1'?, and by pressure or blows the portion 16 encircled by the bead, is Jforced down wardly to substantially the tapered annular strap, prevents the witlnlrawal of the strap.k

If any thin instrument be inserted between the upper wall ofthe tube and the strap in an effort to bendthe portiony 16@L back to its original form, it will result in a mutilation or deformation of the bead, and any attempt to bend the portions back to the position shown in Figure 2 will also result in a bending, flattening or other mutilation of the bead. Thus the use of this bead in its relationship to the portion to be deformed insures freedom from tampering and the certain indica-,tion of tampering should the latter occur.

1t will of course be evident that the tubular member may serve not only to connect and seal the strap ends, but may also be used as a name-plate by embossing the outer wall with the name of the shipper, or with any other identification mark. For instance the devices may bear embossed serial numbers, so that the shipper may notify the consignee of the numbers of the seals on the package, and thus prevent the entire removal of the seal and substitution of a new one by a personwhohas broken into the Abe evident that it may be used for sealing or viously the metal ofl the tube may be suchy that nails may be driven directly through the tubular member and strap when the parts are in position, to hold them rigidly in position on the box.

'vlaving thus described. my invention., what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: f

1. A seal for strap ends including` a tubular member adapted to receive the strap ends, and having its outer and inner walls, each provided with a portion adapted to be deformed into locking engagement withv the strap, said outer wall having an annular outwardly extending bead encircling` the portion thereof to be deformed.

2. A seal for strap ends including a tubular member adapted to receive the strap ends, and having' its outer surface provided with a portion adapted to be deformed into locking engagement with the strap and a bead encircling and defining the limits of said first mentioned portion.

3. A -device of the class described, including a tubular member having one wall pr0- vided with an outwardly extending' .annular bead encircling a portion normally vlying in the plane of the remainder of the wall, the portion encircled by said bead being adapted to be deformed so as to lie substantially tangential to the surface of the bead.

Signed at New York in the county of New i i York and State of New York this 16th day of February, A. D. 1921.

SAMUEL BARUCH.

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