Patent Grant
9472125
This invention relates to electronic security seals of the type including a bolt and a locking body for securing a hasp of a container or cargo area door. The seals include electronics for sensing the locked state of the bolt and for transmitting the locked and tampered states. The seals employ GPS locating and cellular telephone communications & tracking systems for tracking the seal utilizing RFID seal tampering technology.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,005,883, 5,127,687, 4,802,700, 5,347,689, 5,413,393, 6,265,973 ('973), 6,407,666 ('666), 6,097,306 ('306), 7,239,238 ('238) and others are commonly owned and disclose various seals including electronic seals ('973, '666 and '238)(a programmable seal '306) including shackles made of stranded metal wire ('238), steel bolts ('666 and '973) and still other arrangements, all incorporated by reference herein.
Of interest are US Publication 2009/0066503 filed Nov. 29, 2007 in the name of Lien-Feng Lin published Mar. 12, 2009 and claiming priority on TW 096133563 Sep. 7, 2007 and TW 096135554 Sep. 21, 2007 and US Publication 2009/0072554 filed Sep. 11, 2008 in the name of Paul. R. Arguin published Mar. 19, 2009 claiming priority on U.S. provisional application No. 60/993,599 filed Sep. 13, 2007, all incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
The Lin publication discloses a system for monitoring containers with seals and includes a seal, an electronics monitoring device and a communications center. The monitoring device is connected to the seal which locks the doors. The device detects the seal status and also detects the seal's position using a GPS locating system communicating the data via cell phone technology. The related seal data is sent to a communications center which determines the position of the related container and whether the doors have been tampered with and opened. The seal contains RFID data identifying the seal. A plug is inserted into a socket and detained by a detaining device in the socket. The seal plug is first inserted through a buckle of a door engaged with a buckle of another door, through the seal shell containing the electronics and then into the socket. The monitoring system communicates with a communications center, preferably a mobile phone such as a GPS cell phone through one or more stations and communicates with the communication center through GSM stations.
A detection unit detects the presence of the plug using a micro-switch, a spring-biased switch, or a reed switch. When the plug is torn or cut, the switch detects this and changes the electrical status. In the alternative, a photo-breaker may be used to optically detect the presence of the plug. When the plug is removed by cutting or tearing, the optical path is no longer broken to the optical detector and the seal's tampered state is indicated.
When a reed switch is used, a magnet is also required. The seal plug may be designed to be reused and inserted and pulled from the socket many times. Therefore, in this mode the plug is not permanently locked to the socket.
The Arguin publication discloses a pin (bolt) style cargo seal with a removable tracking module. A pin is inserted into a barrel portion, which is removeably secured to a tracking module wherein the structure coupling the tracking module electronically and mechanically to the barrel and pin is not shown or described. The pin is fixed to the barrel and must be cut with bolt cutters or the like to remove the pin from the barrel. The tracking module includes an optional RFID component which deactivates upon tampering or cutting the bolt. The electronics in the tracking module includes an RFID circuit, which may be active, passive or semi-passive. The electronics includes GPS and cellular technology. The cellular technology is typically Global System for Mobil Communications (GSM) or can be Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) or other technologies including General Packet Radio Service (GPRS). The GSM system uses TDMA for communication between a mobile phone and a base station, wherein several callers may share the same channel. GPRS can be used for Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) access, short Message Service (SMS), Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) and internet communication services such as email and World Wide Web. The tracking module includes software with scanning of RFID to verify the seal is valid and not tampered with. However, no electronics structure is shown electrically connecting the tracking module to the pin (bolt) for detecting the state of the pin (bolt) or how the tamper state of the bolt is detected.
Containers are widely employed in the cargo industry. The containers have doors which are locked shut with hasps and secured with locking seals, particularly employing bolts. The bolts typically are steel having a head and shank which is locked to a locking device comprising a body having a shank locking mechanism. Such a device and mechanism are shown for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,700. When the shank is inserted into the body, a locking collet or other structural arrangement permanently locks the shank to the body. Further examples of such seals and locking devices are included in the above referenced US patents.
Cargo containers are shipped via land, sea and air transportation. Hundreds of containers may be on a single ship. When the containers are unloaded they may be subject to tampering and vandalism. It is important that such tampering be immediately noted to preclude theft of valuable cargo. To assist in such theft and tampering prevention, prior art seals are assigned serial numbers. These seals are then assigned and locked to the assigned container. The serial number, container number, the carrier, and the location of the cargo are entered into a local computer. The entry then is manually made to show that the container is being shipped out of that location. Should a seal be tampered with, this most likely will occur at a different time and different location.
An electronic tagging device is commercially available that is programmable and which transmits information that is programmed, such as tagging identification serial numbers and other information as desired. This is referred to as radio frequency identification (RFID) which is well known in the art. Generally, an RFID tag will have a radio frequency (RF) transmitter, an RF receiver, an RF modulator, and a memory. The memory retains the digital code manifesting the identification number. The RF modulator extracts the digital code representing the identification number as a modulated signal, which is applied to the RF transmitter. The RF receiver receives interrogation and control signals which manifest a request for the identification number.
Such systems provide security tagging for high value merchandise as it is transferred from the manufacturer to the consumer. Other applications include tagging of animals, humans and vehicles such as trucks and their cargo containers. Other applications include automatic toll collection systems.
The RFID tag 218′ has an antenna 236′ and a receiver 238′ to receive the interrogation command signal 230′ from the interrogator 216′. The receiver 238′ transfers the received command signal to a controller 240′. The controller 240′ interprets the command and extracts the corresponding identification number (ID) from memory 242′. The extracted identification number is then transferred by the controller 240′ to transmitter 244′ which transmits the ID to antenna 234′ which broadcasts the signal 232′.
In active RFID tags, power 246′ is provided by a battery system. In passive systems, the power is induced from the received signal. The signal 232′ transmitted by the RFID tag 218′ is modulated back scatter of the original signal transmitted by the interrogator 216′.
The controller 240′ may have an interface, not shown, to receive data from external transponders such as temperature sensors, pressure sensors, global positioning sensing and other telemetric measurement data.
Commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 6,265,973 discloses an electronic security seal which is used with a steel bolt having an insulating coating thereon and a metallic coating on the insulating coating. The metallic coating is in ohmic contact with the bolt head to form a continuous conductor with the bolt shank. A pair of electrical contacts engage the shank and metallic coating to form a circuit path between the contacts. The contacts are coupled to the circuit for sensing a break in the path manifesting a tampered condition wherein the bolt may have been severed opening the path.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,239,238 discloses an electronic security seal using a stranded cable shackle having an internal conductor whose resistance manifests the tampered state of the device and which resistance is monitored by the circuit. This exhibits a similar problem as the '973 patent discussed above. When the shackle is destroyed to open the seal, the entire assembly needs to be discarded. This too is costly.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,407,666 discloses an electrical connector for a cylindrical member such as a steel bolt. Disclosed are a pair of spaced apart rings or similar shaped contacts that make contact with the bolt for completing the circuit between the bolt and sensing circuit. The circuit is for generating a signal manifesting a tampered state of the bolt when the bolt is severed breaking the circuit. The bolt in this device if severed to open the seal results also in the entire assembly being discarded, a costly system.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,042,354 (which includes a family of U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,778,083, 6,791,465, and US publications 2006/0170560 and 2006/0109111) discloses a tamper resistant electronic security seal. The seal comprises a bolt shank, a head which houses the seal circuitry and a bolt locking device which mates with a groove in the bolt shank similar to prior art locking devices. Such a device is shown for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,802,700 and 5,005,883. To open the seal sealed with such a bolt, the bolt needs to be severed and the entire assembly is discarded as the locking device is permanently attached to the bolt via a groove in the bolt. This presents the same problem of cost in using this seal as the seals described above.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,747,558 ('558) to Thorne describes an electronic bolt type security seal using two adjacent magnetic fields as bolt sensors. The fields are generated by two corresponding coils located in corresponding two adjacent arms extending from an electronic seal module housing the rest of the circuitry. The bolt passes through the arms and coils. A locking device is attached to the bolt to secure the bolt to a hasp. When the bolt is severed, the seal module and arms may be reused. However, this design is different than the commercially available modules of the prior art seals discussed above, which seals require that the electronic modules be discarded when the bolts are opened and also discarded. This patent does not solve the problem with those other prior art electronic bolt seals, because it uses a different circuitry than the prior art circuitry commonly used.
The present inventors recognize a need for use of an electronic module that employs prior art circuitry wherein the bolt forms a secondary portion of the circuitry to form a low cost seal and a communication system that is versatile and can communicate continuously as well as track the seal during its travels in the locked state. The use of a low cost seal system represents a problem not addressed by U.S. Pat. No. 6,747,558. The relatively small coil portion of the circuitry (not used in conventional seal tamper evident circuits) is housed in arms separate from the electronics circuitry housing for the majority of the involved circuits etc. That is, the detection circuitry is not entirely within a single housing and makes the system more costly than a single module system.
Further, the bolt is not part of the circuit, but is used only to transmit magnet fields somewhat in a similar manner to a switch. When the bolt is present the magnetic field of one coil is transmitted to a second coil of the detection circuit, which coil normally can not detect the field without the bolt being present. The detection circuit detects the magnetic field in this second coil. The two coils are in separate housings that are attached to an arm. The arm is attached to the main circuit module housing. When the bolt is inserted through the two coils it is also inserted into the hasp for locking the hasp. The two coils form a part of the detection circuit, but are in costly separate housings. This is more costly than a single housing as desired by the present inventors.
The Lin publication does not use a bolt that completes the detection circuit and does not form a part of the detection circuit, but rather includes switches and optical devices, which mechanically open and close the circuit in response to the presence of a bolt. No circuit is employed in the disclosed bolts, which are only used to physically activate a switch when present. When the bolt is absent, the switches have one on/off state manifesting the tampered unlocked state and when the bolt is present, the switches switch to their other state manifesting the normal locked condition.
The U.S. Pat. No. '558 also describes seals with reusable housings and disposable bolts. These seals are not described as being electronic. In this description, an end of the bolt is locked inside the seal housing not otherwise described. To open the seal the bolt is cut with a bolt cutter. The end of the bolt inside the housing can then be removed by sliding the remaining bolt portion out of the housing in the same direction as the insertion direction. This seems to require the housing to be opened to access the bolt fragment to remove it from the housing. No drawing or reference document is cited by the '558 patent showing the particular device being described therein. While this device may solve the problem of providing a reusable housing, it does not seem to be directed to electronic seals.
The cited circuit housing described by '558 appears to be needed to be opened to remove the remnant of the cut bolt from inside the housing. In electronic seals, opening the housing is not desirable as the electronic circuitry inside the housing may become contaminated and unusable. The present inventors recognize a need for a low cost electronic seal module that is both reusable and which need not be opened to reuse the module and thus avoid contaminating the interior circuit. A need is also recognized for a reusable electronic seal module for use with conventional tamper evident circuits and conventional bolt locking devices and indicative security seals which are not as robust as a bolt seal, are lower cost and provided mainly to show tamper evidence. Such tamper evidence further reduces the cost of the system as recognized by the present inventors.
The latter seals are of the strap, padlock and similar arrangements typically made of thermoplastic and are low cost. They are used to indicate tampering with various hasps such as used on electric or gas meters, mini bars as used in hotels and airlines, and a host of other applications where tamper evidence is desired rather than a robust secure locking device as provided by bolt seals in particular.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,650 discloses an electrically conductive synthetic resin bolt.
German document DE 010322648 discloses plastic fixing screws for door lock cylinders with embedded conductive strips to operate an alarm if the bolt is deformed by tampering.
Int'l application WO 2006/074518 discloses a transponder bolt seal and a housing for a transponder. An actuator is actuated upon engagement of the sealing mechanism to render the transponder operable. Insertion of a locking member into a receptacle causes the actuator to actuate. The device has a curved shape with a convex side facing away from the sealing mechanism and a concave side facing the sealing mechanism. A cover is used and if the bolt is removed, the cover is damaged, and thus this seal is not reusable if the bolt is removed to open the seal. This application does not address the need for a less costly seal system employing a reusable electronic seal module for use with conventional bolts and locking devices.
The present inventors also recognize a need for a low cost electronic seal that uses GPS and cell phone communication and tracking technology to enhance seal tracking and also to enhance efficient and real time reporting of tampered seals and their locations.
In one embodiment, an electronic security bolt seal with a reusable electronics module for locking a hasp comprises an electronics circuit having first and second portions; an electronic module comprising a housing having a cavity, the first portion of the electronics circuit being entirely in the cavity for monitoring the tamper status of the seal; a bolt having a head and an elongated shank engaged with the housing cavity, the bolt including the second portion of the electronics circuit engaged with the first portion of the electronics circuit for completing the electronics circuit and for engaging the hasp to be locked; a bolt locking device engaged with and locked to the bolt external the module to secure the module to the bolt in the locked state and to lock the bolt to the hasp, the electronics circuit for sensing the integrity of the engaged locked bolt manifesting the seal tamper state, the locked bolt having an exposed region external the module for selective severing of the bolt at the exposed region to interrupt the electronics circuit second portion while unlocking the seal from the hasp and release the module from the bolt for subsequent reuse of the module; and a tracking and communications system employing the electronics circuit first portion attached to the module for communicating the seal monitored status and the seal's position to a communications center.
In a further embodiment, the tracking and communications system comprises a GPS system comprising a GPS receiving unit coupled to the electronics circuit first portion for receiving and processing seal positioning signals from GPS satellites.
In a further embodiment, the tracking and communications system comprises a cellular phone communications unit coupled to the electronics circuit first portion and which unit communicates with a communications center via cellular towers.
In a further embodiment, the tracking and communications system detects and tracks the geographic position of the seal via a cellular phone tracking system coupled to the circuit first portion, the tracking and communications system comprising a cellular phone communications unit which sends seal status data from the circuit first portion and seal tracking data from the tracking system to a communications center via the communication unit and cellular towers.
In a further embodiment, the seal tracking and communications system comprises a GPS tracking system and a cellular phone tracking system coupled to the electronics circuit first portion and a controller for selecting one of the GPS and cellular phone tracking systems to track the position of the seal.
In a further embodiment, the communications system includes a cellular phone communications unit for communicating to a communications center via cellular towers.
In a further embodiment, the seal tracking and communications system comprises a cellular phone tracking system coupled to the electronics circuit first portion, the cellular phone tracking system comprising an electronic arrangement for inputting cellular tower location data identifying the location of each of a plurality of towers adjacent to the seal for computing the location of the seal by triangulation computation of the inputted plurality of tower location data.
In a further embodiment, the tracking and communications system comprises a GPS system comprising a GPS receiving unit coupled to the electronics circuit first portion for receiving seal positioning signals from GPS satellites, the electronics circuit first portion for processing the received GPS positioning signals to track the position of the seal.
In a further embodiment, the seal tracking and communications system comprises a cellular phone tracking system coupled to the electronics circuit first portion, the cellular phone tracking system comprising an electronic arrangement for inputting Wi Fi access points location data identifying the location of each of a plurality of Wi Fi access points adjacent to the seal for computing the location of the seal by triangulation computation of the inputted plurality of access points location data.
In a further embodiment, the seal tracking and communications system comprises a cellular phone tracking system coupled to the electronics circuit first portion, the cellular phone tracking system comprising an electronic arrangement for inputting Wi Fi access points and cellular tower locations data identifying the location of each of a plurality of towers and Wi Fi access points adjacent to the seal for computing the location of the seal by triangulation computation of the inputted plurality of tower locations and Wi Fi access points data.
In a further embodiment, the bolt includes first and second electrically conductive members in electrical isolation from each other forming the second circuit portion and ohmically engaging the electronics circuit first portion to form a circuit path to the electronics circuit first portion.
In a further embodiment, the bolt passes completely through the module, the bolt and module including a contamination sealing arrangement for cooperatively sealing the module cavity from ambient region contamination external the cavity.
In a further embodiment, the bolt is dimensioned to pass through the housing and includes a tip portion protruding from the housing, the tip portion and the locking device being arranged to lock the locking device to the tip portion, further including a contamination sealing arrangement for sealing the module cavity from contamination from the external ambient region in cooperation with the bolt.
In a further embodiment, the bolt is dimensioned to pass through the housing in a compartment in the cavity from an ingress first aperture and egress the housing at a second aperture, the bolt including a tip portion protruding from the housing through the second aperture, the tip portion and the locking device being arranged to lock the locking device to the tip portion, further including a contamination sealing arrangement comprising a grommet on the housing at the second aperture and a sealing element attached to the bolt for sealing the first aperture when the bolt is in a position for being locked, the grommet and sealing element for sealing the module compartment from ambient external contamination.
In a further embodiment, the bolt has a tip region, and includes a first sealing element intermediate the bolt head and the tip region, the housing has a second sealing element for engaging the bolt at the tip region.
In a further embodiment, the bolt has a tip region, and includes a first tapered sealing element surrounding the bolt at a location intermediate the bolt head and the tip region, the housing having a second sealing element for engaging the bolt at the tip region, the module being secured in a region that is generally between the first and second sealing elements.
In
In
In
When the bolt 6 is attempted to be unlocked by retracting it out of the cavity 20, direction 21 opposite the insertion direction, the ring 26 is compressed further into the groove 18 of the bolt by a smaller diameter step 27′ in the body groove 27. The step 27′ in the body groove 27 and the bolt groove 18 cooperate to lock the ring and bolt to the body 22 to preclude further withdrawal of the bolt from the body bore 20. The locking mechanism 24 permanently locks the bolt 6 tip portion 14 to the body 28 requiring the bolt to be severed to open it.
The locking device 8,
The only way to open the seal 2 is to cut the bolt 6 with a bolt cutter or similar device. For this purpose, the shank 12,
The thermoplastic shell 22 of the locking device 8 has a thermoplastic collar 34 one piece with and extending from the shell. The bolt shank 12 region 32 is substantially covered by the collar. In practice, the shank region 30 between the module 4 and the hasp 31 and the shank region between the hasp 31 and the head 10 is non-existent with a close clearance with the bolt at these regions. Thus a bolt cutter will not have access to the shank 14 in these other regions. In this case, the only access to cut the shank is in the region 32. The locking device collar 34 being plastic is easily severed.
The collar 34 secures the module 4 tightly against the bolt and also in a further embodiment against the hasp 9, 9′ (not shown). This action seals the module 4 interior from the external ambient atmosphere as will be explained. Also this action keeps the module from moving along the bolt shank or vibrating in use in the locked state. This action tends to minimize wear of the contacts to be described below. The shell 22
Once the bolt is cut at the exposed region 32 (or some other region) it can readily be removed from the module 4 and the hasps 9, 9′. This is because there is no locking device internal the module 4 as in some of the prior art electronic security seals. Thus the module 4 is reusable with a new bolt. This reuse is made possible without undesirable opening of the module housing 16 as occurs in some prior art electronic seal systems discussed in the introductory portion.
The bolts 6 are relatively low cost and disposable. The module 4 being relatively costly because it houses the electronics, is saved for reuse and is readily reused after each use. This arrangement provides for users who have high volumes of needs for this type of seal.
To reuse the module 4, a new bolt is inserted through the housing 16 and locked with another relatively low cost locking device, which is also disposable. The electronics, according to a particular implementation employed as known in the prior art, may need to be reprogrammed for each new use in a known way as shown for example below and in certain of the patents noted in the introductory portion. The reprogramming may employ an interrogation unit or other programming arrangement as disclosed in some of the cited patents in the introductory portion. Such programming includes entering the seal unique identification, date and time stamps, location, cargo data, and any other desired data. For example, see several of the patents cited in the introductory portion, which disclose such electronics in more detail such as the '238, 973, 558 and 354 patents among others, and incorporated by reference herein.
In
In
The bolt outer rubber or plastic layer 44 has a tapered conical region 46 which narrows in diameter in a direction toward the tip portion 14. The module 4 housing 16,
This region 46 with its varying diameter along the bolt length relative to the aperture 49 diameter positions the shank 12 tip portion 14 with its metal outer surface and the shank electrical coating 42 in a desired predetermined aligned position in the module interior. This positioning of the bolt coating 42 aligns electrical contacts 56, 58,
These conductive shank conductive portions include the shank 12 which has an outer exposed metal surface electrically conductive portion 48 at the tip portion 14 and the electrically conductive layer 42 aligned with the contacts 56, 58. The insulating coating 36 has an annular region 50 at the shank outer peripheral surface. This region 50 electrically isolates the tip 14 conductive portion 48 of the shank 12 outer surface from the electrically conductive layer 42 along an axial extent of the shank 12.
Thus, when the tapered region 46 is axially displaced toward the module 4 and tightly fitted into the aperture 49 of the module housing 16, the ring contacts 56, 58 of the module 4 become aligned with the respective electrically conductive portions of the bolt 6. Also, the tapered region being formed of rubber or plastic forms a contamination seal for sealing the aperture 49 from the external ambient atmosphere. This is important to ensure the electronics does not prematurely corrode or otherwise fail due to ambient contamination. This sealing action of aperture 49 prevents moisture and other contaminants from entering into the module 4 interior of its housing 16 protecting the internal electronic components. The prior art seals do not recognize this problem or offer a solution.
In
The circuit includes a pair of spaced apart ring contacts 56 and 58 mounted spaced from the board 54, but electrically connected thereto as will be shown below. These contacts 56, 58 are electrically conductively connected to the specified contact pads (not shown) of the board 54.
In
The grommet 60 permits the bolt shank 12 tip portion 14 to slide through the grommet opening 61 and protrude beyond the housing 16 as shown (
A printed circuit board assembly 52, schematically shown in
The circuit (not shown in this figure) on board 54 may be programmed for receiving a seal identification code, i.e., a unique number assigned a particular seal, geographic location where the seal is being deployed, container identification, e.g., a unique number assigned to a cargo container, the shipping carrier for the container, the container port of origin, container destination, inventory of the container and other data. Such a programming circuit is within the skill of one of ordinary skill in the computer programming art.
Resilient ring contacts 56, 58,
The module 4 is shown in exploded view from the bottom toward the top in
The module 4 housing 16 includes a molded thermoplastic bottom housing member 74,
The cover 68 and the walls 76, 82, 84, 86 and 88 of the housing 16 form an interior cavity 90 which is divided into central bolt receiving compartment 64 and outer compartments 91, 92 on either side of compartment 64 and chamber 69. Upper chamber 69,
The walls w of the compartment 64,
The walls 112, 116,
The battery 108,
In
In
Top wall 110,
A representative pin 98 is shown in
A bottom cover 102 encloses the compartment 64 and is attached to the bottom wall 76 by snap fit devices molded into in the cover 102 and bottom wall 76. The bottom cover 102 is complementary to the opening 20′ to the compartment 64. The bottom cover as is all of the housing 16 and top cover 68 comprise molded thermoplastic material.
The bottom cover,
When the shank 14 is received in the module 4, the shank of the bolt 6 makes electrical ohmic connection with the contacts 56, 58. This arms the circuit. Subsequent interruption of a signal in the circuit by breaking the conductor path formed by the bolt 6 is sensed by the circuit in a sensor portion. This changes the codes in the circuit and causes the generation of a “tamper” signal, i.e., a second code. The tamper signal may be the word “tamper” which is generated and transmitted instead of the normal signal or first code. Power is supplied to the circuit after the bolt is inserted by closure of the engaged contacts 56, 58 by the bolt 6.
The circuit of board 54,
Once the circuit is energized, the circuit of
In
If the circuit is interrupted by severing the bolt 6 and/or the electrically conductive coating 42,
The interruption of the circuit 252′ by a tampered bolt 259′ is sensed by the controller 253′ which immediately causes the generation of the second code by generator 260′ and disables the first code generator 256′. Reader 250′ reads the seal data transmitted by transmitter 258′ under control of the controller 253′.
The program of circuit 252′,
In
In operation, in
In
In operation, the insertion of the bolt of any of the disclosed embodiments, which forms a portion of the circuit 252′ completing that circuit by electrically conductively connecting the contacts 56, 58, powering the circuit 248′,
Assume the bolt shank is severed in order to open the seal 2,
If an attempt is made to pull the bolt out of the seal 2 and reprogram the circuit and then reinsert the bolt, the circuit 248′ senses this and transmits the word “tamper.” Any attempt to cut or sever the bolt and its conductor or otherwise open the bolt and remove it from the seal module 4 causes a “tamper” signal to be generated. The tamper signal is repetitively transmitted. Thus it is important that no interruption of the circuit occurs once the circuit is powered on and armed.
Thus it is important that the contacts 56, 58,
The contact arrangements may differ from the disclosed embodiments. Also, the bolts that are shown made of metal may be non-electrically conductive plastic or similar material, or the bolts may be made of electrically conductive plastic, hard rubber or other similar electrically conductive non-steel, non-metal shank material or any combination of such materials. Depending upon the environment in which the seal is used locking devices and/or bolts of any degree of high, robust security or lower level, low security, or any degree therebetween, may be employed.
The tamper signal may comprise any suitable signal recognized as a tampered condition and transmission of the word “tamper” is given by way of illustration. In the claims, the term “locking device” is intended to include any kind of tamper evident device or security seal such as padlock or strap seals using metal or plastic tang devices or temporary seal devices that are disposable, or locking devices that permanently secure hasps and must be destroyed to open.
In
Power supply 286 powers the controller 253′ (
When the mobile communication system comprises a GSM mobile communication system, the communications unit 288 is a GSM communication module to permit the communication unit 288 to communicate pertinent data to the communications center 290 via telephone cellular technology. The communications center 290 may not always be able to receive the data if turned off or interfered with, but can receive the data from nearby towers 292 when the center 290 is turned on or the interference removed and so on. The communications unit 288 may be a GSM communications module used in mobile phone systems such as GR47/48 provided by Sony-Ericsson Company.
In a GPS mode, the controller 253′,
As an option, the monitoring, tracking and communications system 280 can monitor the environment around the seal such as temperature, humidity and so on and also communicate this data. The data can also be recorded if desired by a recording system (not shown). If the seal is tampered with, the monitoring circuit portion 252′ detects this status via periodic monitoring of the seal, e.g., every few seconds or minutes, or any desired time interval according to a given need, and communicates this information to the communications center 290. When not communicating the data, the system is in a sleep standby mode to conserve electrical energy.
The circuit portion 252′,
The cellular phone tracking system 296 may be employed optionally instead of the GPs system unit 284 as a seal 2 tracking system. The cell phone tracking system 296 may be a commercially available system provided by a wireless positioning system. This system is described in the Navizon web site at www.navizon.com. This system uses Wi-Fi access points, such as points 298,
The cell phone location data is collected by such users as they pass near the towers or access points, entered into the Navizon data base by them and thus may later be shared by other Navizon users. As a user's cell phone passes in the vicinity of a cell phone tower or Wi Fi access point, the tower's or the Wi Fi's location is determined by the user's GPS enabled phone and the data is entered into the Navizon data base for use by all Navizon users. The system 296 normally tracks the location of a mobile phone. In
The location of a mobile phone and thus the seal is determined by well known triangulation techniques. The system does not require GPS to be enabled on a mobile device, but simulates virtual GPS on the device providing real time location information, which is stored in the circuit 252′ memory portion of the controller 253′,
The tracking system 296 requires that the cell towers associated with the seal location are within the system's data base of mapped towers. Thus selected ones of the users of the system with GPS activated mobile phones participate in mapping the cell towers, and other cell phones, without GPS, and in the instant case, the seal, utilizes the Navizon tracking system for determining its locations from the system 296.
ATT also has an application program that is downloadable to mobile phones. This program displays a map on a mobile phone's display indicating the location of that cell phone without using GPS, but rather cellular towers. Such a system may also be utilized to track the seal if desired, for example.
It will occur to one of ordinary skill that various modifications may be made to the disclosed embodiments given by way of example and not limitation. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the appended claims. The various tracking systems are given by way of example as other systems may be utilized, now known, or later developed. Also, the locking mechanisms, the power source, the bolt configuration, the information stored and transmitted, the use of a movable door and a transparent housing may be changed according to a given implementation.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/997,858 filed Oct. 5, 2007 in the name of Robert Debrody et al. and is a continuation-in-part of commonly owned U.S. utility application Ser. No. 12/239,869 filed Sep. 29, 2008 in the name of Robert Debrody et al., both of which applications are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3093761 | Case | Jun 1963 | A |
| 3951443 | Barnaby | Apr 1976 | A |
| 4626009 | Burnett et al. | Dec 1986 | A |
| 4802700 | Stevenson et al. | Feb 1989 | A |
| 5005883 | Guiler | Apr 1991 | A |
| 5127687 | Guiler | Jul 1992 | A |
| 5152650 | Kitagawa | Oct 1992 | A |
| 5347689 | Georgopoulos et al. | Sep 1994 | A |
| 5413393 | Georgopoulos et al. | May 1995 | A |
| 5774056 | Berry et al. | Jun 1998 | A |
| 6069563 | Kadner et al. | May 2000 | A |
| 6097306 | Leon et al. | Aug 2000 | A |
| 6265973 | Brammall et al. | Jul 2001 | B1 |
| 6357266 | Van Buren | Mar 2002 | B1 |
| 6407666 | Debrody et al. | Jun 2002 | B1 |
| 6464269 | Wilhelm et al. | Oct 2002 | B1 |
| 6550829 | Dobson | Apr 2003 | B1 |
| 6747558 | Thorne et al. | Jun 2004 | B1 |
| 6778083 | Auerbach et al. | Aug 2004 | B2 |
| 6791465 | Blagin et al. | Sep 2004 | B2 |
| 6962376 | Palzkill et al. | Nov 2005 | B2 |
| 7042354 | Auerbach et al. | May 2006 | B2 |
| 7098784 | Easley et al. | Aug 2006 | B2 |
| 7178841 | Moreno | Feb 2007 | B1 |
| 7226095 | Huang | Jun 2007 | B2 |
| 7239238 | Tester et al. | Jul 2007 | B2 |
| 7336170 | Auerbach et al. | Feb 2008 | B2 |
| 7375619 | Auerbach et al. | May 2008 | B2 |
| 7400247 | Hopman et al. | Jul 2008 | B2 |
| 7411495 | Auerbach et al. | Aug 2008 | B2 |
| 7438339 | Abraham | Oct 2008 | B2 |
| 7557706 | Brown | Jul 2009 | B2 |
| 7597253 | Lin et al. | Oct 2009 | B2 |
| 7649455 | Easley et al. | Jan 2010 | B2 |
| 7702358 | Meyers | Apr 2010 | B2 |
| 7740292 | Fattori et al. | Jun 2010 | B1 |
| 7828342 | Terry et al. | Nov 2010 | B2 |
| 7828343 | Terry et al. | Nov 2010 | B2 |
| 7828344 | Terry et al. | Nov 2010 | B2 |
| 7828345 | Terry et al. | Nov 2010 | B2 |
| 7828346 | Terry et al. | Nov 2010 | B2 |
| 7884711 | Bao et al. | Feb 2011 | B2 |
| 7916016 | Auerbach et al. | Mar 2011 | B2 |
| 7990270 | Mostov | Aug 2011 | B2 |
| 8058985 | Dobson et al. | Nov 2011 | B2 |
| 8666664 | Chiu | Mar 2014 | B2 |
| 20040041705 | Auerbach et al. | Mar 2004 | A1 |
| 20040113782 | Auerbach et al. | Jun 2004 | A1 |
| 20050195101 | Stevens et al. | Sep 2005 | A1 |
| 20050206520 | Decker et al. | Sep 2005 | A1 |
| 20060055552 | Chung et al. | Mar 2006 | A1 |
| 20060109111 | Auerbach et al. | May 2006 | A1 |
| 20060152366 | Sironi et al. | Jul 2006 | A1 |
| 20060170560 | Auerbach et al. | Aug 2006 | A1 |
| 20070007776 | Beard | Jan 2007 | A1 |
| 20080094173 | Zhou | Apr 2008 | A1 |
| 20080218353 | Fellows et al. | Sep 2008 | A1 |
| 20080229792 | Maple et al. | Sep 2008 | A1 |
| 20090066503 | Lin | Mar 2009 | A1 |
| 20090072554 | Arguin | Mar 2009 | A1 |
| 20090102652 | Diener et al. | Apr 2009 | A1 |
| 20090121877 | Henderson | May 2009 | A1 |
| 20090179757 | Cohn | Jul 2009 | A1 |
| 20090210098 | Nielsen et al. | Aug 2009 | A1 |
| 20090322510 | Berger et al. | Dec 2009 | A1 |
| 20100013635 | Berger | Jan 2010 | A1 |
| 20100117802 | Easley et al. | May 2010 | A1 |
| 20100332359 | Powers et al. | Dec 2010 | A1 |
| 20110037591 | Easley et al. | Feb 2011 | A1 |
| 20110246067 | Markham et al. | Oct 2011 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 10322648 | Dec 2004 | DE |
| WO 2006074518 | Jul 2006 | WO |
| Entry |
|---|
| “Mobile phone tracking”, Wikipedia. |
| “Peer-to-peer wireless positioning”, Navizon.com. |
| “Mobile Navigator iPhone”, Navigon.com. |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20110273852 A1 | Nov 2011 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60997858 | Oct 2007 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 12239869 | Sep 2008 | US |
| Child | 13110313 | US |
