The present disclosure relates to a lock holder, in particular the Taglock™, which in the context of this document, relates to a multi-purpose protective lock holder used for protection of locks, visibility of luggage while in transit, and the possible integration of a user's personal data and/or tracking devices so as to allow for the identification, detection and security of the user's valuables at all times.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an agency of the United States (U.S.) Department of Homeland Security with the authority over the security of the travelling public in the U.S. The TSA were created in light of a growing security concern within the domestic and international travel industry, leading to the implementation of more rigid customs procedures which were to be enforced by officials, stationed in all transit ports where entry and exit to the U.S. can be accessed. To allow customs officials such as the Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) to service passengers and the general public with greater security measures in place, a means of accessing luggage without damaging passenger's property was required.
In order for customs officials to gain access to passenger's check-in luggage for inspection purposes, customs officials are expected to remove any and all locking mechanism so as to conduct authorised security inspections of passenger goods. Any luggage in transit that is deemed necessary for inspection under the security measures set out within the TSA criteria, is approved for luggage secured by a locking mechanism to be removed by force, damaging and often destroying the lock beyond further use.
To better manage this process, a dual-access locking system was introduced so as to allow pre-approved locks to be manufactured using a special mechanism that would give access to both the passenger and the TSOs. This system was further developed under TSA's Screening Partnerships Program (SPP), so as to allow for TSA to approve private organisations to carry out the same procedures at transit ports both domestic to the U.S. and internationally where TSA's jurisdiction does not apply. To produce such locks, manufacturers are granted approval by licensed TSA partners such as Travel Sentry and Safe Skies, so that they may supply TSA approved locks to customers worldwide. These locks are distinguishable to customs officials by both a special code which denotes a specific master key, as well as a logo symbol that would certify the lock with officials, to be a TSA approved lock.
The dual-access locking system allowed for TSA approved locks to be accessed via two means:
The circumstances at which a customs official is required to open an item of luggage raises two issues:
Firstly, customs officials conduct passenger screening processes in large volumes on a daily basis and as such through human error by means of sizing or unclear visibility of a TSA approved and recognised logo, can often cause a lock to be removed by force. These cases of human error can lead to frustrations from both passengers and airlines, as well as in multiple cases, the damage and or loss of property, costing both passengers and airlines greatly in personal and financial losses.
Secondly, in the event that customs officials are required to conduct an inspection on an individual's check-in luggage, if the luggage does not contain any personal details within it to identify the passenger, luggage deemed ‘prohibited’ would be destroyed with no way of informing the passenger and owner of the luggage as passengers are not present during the inspection process. This can cause both an inconvenience to passengers, as well as the loss of personal property resulting in further personal and financial losses.
In order to solve these issues, the inventor has designed a multi-purpose protective lock holder to house/enclose both a TSA approved lock to secure luggage valuables, protect the lock and provide the dual-access locking system for customs officials, while also providing a large tag area to help passengers identify their luggage while simultaneously providing customs officials with a clear distinguishable product to reduce human error and provide clear identification areas for passengers to be notified when necessary.
To overcome the drawbacks in the prior art, the present disclosure provides a multi-purpose holder fitted to a TSA-approved lock, which holder may present a clear indication to a customs official so as to prevent his/her misjudgment; the holder is further provided with a card zone to help the passenger identify and even track his/her own luggage.
To achieve the object above, the present disclosure adopts technical solutions below:
A holder for a TSA-approved lock, comprising of a holder body; a TSA-approved and recognised logo window provided on at least one of a front face and a back face of the holder body to reveal a TSA approved and recognised logo; and a code zone provided on one side of the holder body to expose a code zone; and a keyhole zone provided at the underside of the holder body to expose a keyhole and a TSA key number, wherein the holder body is further attached with a card case body including a card case bottom wall and a card case top wall, the card case bottom wall and the card case top wall jointly enclosing a cavity inside the card case body; the card case top wall is provided with a framed top wall reinforcing ridge which surrounds a window zone; on the top of the holder body is provided a first limit flange, and at the underside of the holder body is provided a second limit flange.
Preferably, a shackle hole is provided on each of the left and right sides of the first limit flange; or a first shackle-toe hole is provided on one side of the first limit flange and a second shackle hole is provided on the first limit flange.
Preferably, to limit the TSA-approved lock from moving within the holder body, the second limit flange provided at the underside of the holder body has an annular shape, a middle portion of the second limit flange being the keyhole zone; or, the second limit flange provided at the underside of the holder body has a strip shape, two sides of the second limit flange being the keyhole zone.
Preferably, the bottom wall of the card case bottom wall is configured with at least one of air holes, bumps, or sucker discs.
Preferably, the window zone is positioned between the card case top wall and the top wall reinforcing ridge, acting as a closure to hold replaceable items, such as passenger data recording items or tracking items.
Preferably, the window zone is made of a clear material in such situations that further protection of inserted personal details is required.
Preferably, the holder body and the card case body are integrally formed to ensure strength, safety, and visibility of the lock and the lock holder.
Preferably, one side of the card case body distal from the holder body is provided with an open slot for placing an item to be accommodated or taking out the accommodated item. This slot allows for a corresponding card-shape item to be inserted into the card case body, and it is the passenger/user who autonomously decides on inserting or removing the item. The item for example may be a personal data card, a membership card, a discount card, a tracking card, or a tracking device, as well as any other form of decorative sheet or plate, so as to satisfy the passenger's travel needs.
The present disclosure offers the following beneficial effects: helping the customs officials easily identify the TSA-approved and recognised logo so as to confirm that the passenger uses a TSA-approved lock, thereby reducing and preventing the circumstance of destroying the lock by force due to misjudgments; facilitating the passenger to record the names and purposes of internal items, so as to prevent the customs officials from detaining a checked-in eligible item due to misidentifying the item; providing preliminary evidence for the passenger to claim against the service providers or an eligible authority when used in collaboration with an electronic tracking device in the case that the items in the luggage are lost or damaged.
Hereinafter, technical solutions of the present disclosure will be described in a clear and complete manner with reference to the accompanying drawings. Apparently, the embodiments as described herein are only part, rather than all, of the embodiments of the present disclosure. All other embodiments derived by those skilled in the art without exercise of inventive work based on those as described herein all fall within the protective scope of the present disclosure.
As shown in
Please refer to
Those skilled in the art may understand that because the shackle 20 is of an inverted U shape, it includes a fixed end always attached to the lock body and a movable end (the shackle toe) detachable from the lock body, while the shackle hole 19 provided on at least one side of the first limit flange 17 should allow for the fixed end and the movable end of the inverted U-shaped shackle 20 to penetrate through as a whole, and the shackle hole 19 provided at the other side may at least allow for the movable end of the shackle to penetrate through. As a preferred embodiment, the shackle holes 19 can be further divided into a first shackle hole 19a specific for the fixed end of the shackle 20 and a second shackle hole 19b specific for the movable end of the shackle 20. In the meanwhile, as a preferred embodiment of the first limit flange 17, the first limit flange 17 may be arranged with a sheet structure shown in
The holder body 1 further comprises: a second limit flange 18 positioned at the lower portion of the holder body 1; as shown in
Those skilled in the art may understand that since the holder body 1 wraps most part of the TSA-approved lock 2 and specifically exposes the keyhole area 16 for exposing the keyhole 4 and the TSA key number, and the TSA-approved and recognised logo window 10 for revealing the TSA-approved and recognised logo, the customs officials may easily identify the passenger using a TSA-approved lock so as to avoid the circumstance at which the customs officials have to remove the lock by force, often damaging and destroying beyond further use.
The holder body 1 is preferably made of a material with appropriate elasticity and/or strength so as to avoid damaging the holder body 1 when the TSA-approved lock 2 is inserted into the holder body 1 or taken out therefrom. When placing the TSA-approved lock 2 into the holder, the shackle 20 of the TSA-approved lock 2 is first unfastened, and then the TSA-approved lock 2 is inserted into the holder body 1 through the code zone 14 which provides enough space to be accommodated; the unfastened shackle 20 may penetrate out through the shackle hole 19 on at least one side of the first limit flange 17, and the upper end face of the body part of the TSA-approved lock 2 is stopped by the first limit flange 17, while the lower end face of the TSA-approved lock 2 is exactly supported by the second limit flange 18, and meanwhile the keyhole zone 16 on two sides or middle portion of the second limit flange 18 may just expose the keyhole 4, the corresponding key number, and other information. When it is needed to take out the TSA-approved lock 2, the shackle 20 of the TSA-approved lock 2 is first unfastened; then, the shackle 20 is rotated to a position not affecting the removal, such that the TSA-approved lock 2 may conveniently be withdrawn through the code zone 14 so as to be finally removed from the holder body 1.
To further integrate a typical luggage information card and/or a specific electronic positioning/tracking device to the structure of the holder body 1, the holder body 1 may transversely extend to be attached with a card case body 12; preferably, the holder body 1 and the card case body 12 are integrally formed. As shown in
Those skilled in the art may understand that on the card case bottom wall 120 is configured with at least one of air holes 128, bumps 129, or suction discs (not shown). As changes to flight altitude would cause air pressure changes in the cabin, provision of the air holes 128 enables the air pressure inside and outside of the cavity 126 to be automatically balanced. Provision of the bumps may increase the frictional force between the item accommodated in the cavity 126 and the cavity 126 proper such that if the item accommodated is relatively small, the item does not sway freely inside the cavity 126. Additionally, some smaller suction disc structures may be used in place of part of all of the bumps 129 to make the item accommodated in the cavity 126 more stable, such that the item will not move freely.
A card positioned in the card case body 12 may record some luggage information and personal information which need to be presented to the customs officials. The card case body 12 may also be used for accommodating an electronic luggage tracking device (with a note-like or card-like shape). The electronic tracking device may record longitude-latitude coordinates of the luggage at regular intervals, such that the passenger may obtain, via a mobile phone or other means, the coordinate information recorded by the electronic tracking device, and then determine whether his/her luggage is at a corresponding location based on the stay duration and coordinate information, and in the case of losses or damage to the items inside, such information may serve as preliminary evidence to claim against service providers. Additionally, a card-type proximity device with a near-distance positioning/automatic alarm function may be further included in the card case body 12 so as to facilitate the user to quickly locate or find his/her own luggage or item. As the electronic tracking device and the card-type proximity device are not inventive points of the present disclosure, they will not be detailed here.
Those skilled in the art may understand that the holder for a TSA-approved lock is made of a flexible material such as rubber, which may effectively absorb the impact occurring during luggage transit and thus provide protection to the TSA-approved lock and other accommodated items such as the electronic tracking device; or be made of metal, so as to further protect the device and content. Preferably, the card window zone 124 made of a clear material may be positioned between the card case top wall 121 and the top wall reinforcing ridge 122 to hold it tightly. The passenger may open the card window zone 124 to insert the information card and/or the card-shaped electronic tracking device into the cavity 126 and then close the card window zone 124. Of course, an open slot (not shown) for placing an item to be accommodated or removing the accommodated item may be arranged on one side of the card case body 12 distal from the holder body 1, such that a hard card or other card-type electronic device may be conveniently inserted from the open slot.
Additionally, the holder body 1 and the card case body 12 may also be provided separately (not shown), for example, a through-hole may be provided on the card case body 12, such that the shackle 20 of the TSA-approved lock 2 may penetrate through the through-hole to be securely locked. In this way, the holder body 1 and the card case body 12, which are originally provided separately, may be locked to each other via the TSA-approved lock 2.
The embodiments above do not constitute limitation to the protection scope of the technical solution. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, and improvements within the spirit and principle of the embodiments above should be included within the protection scope of the present disclosure.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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201921691166.7 | Oct 2019 | CN | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/CN2020/120008 | 10/9/2020 | WO |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2021/068893 | 4/15/2021 | WO | A |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20240090638 A1 | Mar 2024 | US |