Security anchoring and electronic sensor system

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6285283
  • Patent Number
    6,285,283
  • Date Filed
    Friday, August 20, 1999
    25 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, September 4, 2001
    23 years ago
Abstract
A security anchoring system comprising a security anchor having an aperture therethrough and a plurality of flexible wings extending outward. There is an adhesive layer attached to the bottom surface of the anchor for adhering the anchor to the article. A security wire is threaded through the aperture in the anchor and is held securely within the aperture of the anchor. A diode is connected to an end of the security wire threaded through the aperture. A switch is located the end of the security wire near the diode. The switch is closed when the anchor is adhered to the article. The switch is opened when the anchor is removed from the article. There is a security monitoring system connected to an end of the wire not threaded through the aperture, which sounds an alarm when the switch is opened. The alarm will sound if a thief attempts to steal the article either by cutting the wire or by prying off the anchor.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




This invention relates to a security anchoring and electronic sensor system that readily adapts to curved surfaces of an article. In particular, the invention relates to such a security anchoring and electronic sensor system that is connected to an electronic alarm system for monitoring theft and vandalism of the article.




2. The Prior Art




It is known to attach an anchor to an article to be protected against theft by adhering the anchor to the article and attaching one end of a cable or cord to the anchor. The other end of the cable or cord is attached to a fixed support so that the article can only be moved a limited distance from the fixed support. The anchor is usually plastic and has an adhesive backing layer to attach the anchor to the article. The adhesive is strong enough so that a thief cannot readily peel the anchor from the article to detach the cable from the article. If the anchor cannot be readily peeled away from the article within 30-60 seconds, then this deters most thieves from trying to remove the anchor and steal the article.




Many prior art security anchors only work well on flat surfaces of an article, because the anchor is rigid and stays in one plane parallel to the surface of the article. If the article has a curved surface, the anchor can be pulled off with much less force. In addition, the non-resilient nature of the anchor urges the anchor to remain in its normal flat condition. Since the anchor cannot be flexed to adapt to curved surfaces, the nonresilient forces keep portions of the anchor away form the curved surface.




A solution to this problem has been proposed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,699,591 to Kane. This patent shows a security anchor that is adapted to adhere to curved surfaces without the anchor being peeled away. While this anchor solves the problem of attachment to curved surfaces, it suffers from the drawback of all of the prior art anchors in that the article can still be easily stolen if the thief cuts the cable attached to the anchor.




Another solution has been proposed by Product Theft Deterrent, which markets a sensor having a ribbed, flexible anchoring member connected to a diode and a switch. When the anchor is tampered with, the switch is triggered, which activates the diode and sends out an alarm. This device prevents tampering on some devices, but the one-way ribbed structure of the anchor prevents its use on irregular or spherical surfaces.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a security anchoring system that can be adhered to both flat and curved surfaces.




It is another object of the present invention to provide a security anchoring system that sounds an alarm if any part of the anchor or cord is tampered with.




It is another object of the present invention to provide a security anchoring system that is simple to manufacture and install.




These and other objects of the invention are accomplished by a security anchoring system comprising a security anchor having an aperture therethrough, and an adhesive layer attached to the bottom surface of the anchor for adhering the anchor to the article. A security wire is threaded through the aperture in the anchor and is held securely within the aperture. A presence detection diode is connected to an end of the security wire threaded through the aperture. A switch is located at the end of the security wire near the diode. The switch is closed when the anchor is adhered to the article. The switch opened when the anchor is removed from the article. There is a security monitoring system connected to an end of the wire not threaded through the aperture, which sounds an alarm when the switch is opened or if the wire is cut. This way, the alarm will sound if a thief attempts to steal the article either by cutting the wire or by prying off the anchor.




The security monitoring system can be any type of system that accomplishes this purpose, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,821,857 to Rand, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference.




The anchor preferably comprises a plurality of flexible wings surrounding the aperture. Each wing is separated by a wing slot. One wing slot communicates with the aperture. There is a hinge area for each wing located between the adjacent pair of wing slots to allow one wing to flex independently of another wing.




The wire is optionally coated with a flexible sheath made of an elastomeric material.




The wire is preferably maintained in the aperture by an assembly comprising an upwardly extending wall surrounding the aperture on the anchor and having a slit along one side. The slit extends out to the edge of the anchor to allow the wire to be inserted in the aperture through the slit. There is an enclosure surrounding the switch and diode. The enclosure has a lower portion extending through the aperture and disposed within the wall, and an upper bifurcated portion extending beyond the wall. A retainer cone surrounds the wire, above the wall. The retainer cone has an internal circumference slightly smaller than the circumference of the bifurcated portion of the enclosure, so that sliding the retainer cone over the enclosure squeezes the enclosure inward and holds the wire within the anchor. The lower portion of the enclosure has a longitudinally extending protrusion that fits within the slit in the wall to fill in the gap created by the slit and give added mechanical rigidity.




The aperture, enclosure and wall are preferably hexagonal in shape. This shape is ideal for providing six wings on the anchor, which is an optimal amount for adhering the anchor to a curved article. In addition, the hexagonal shape also prevents rotational movement of the elements within the wall of the anchor.




The adhesive preferably has an aperture extending therethrough, which is smaller than the aperture of the anchor. There is a ring-shaped ledge mounted on a bottom end of the enclosure, that extends partially into the aperture in the adhesive. The purpose of the ledge is to provide an additional deterrent to a thief. Sliding a knife between the anchor and the adhesive will not release the anchor from the article, because the knife will abut the ring-shaped ledge and prevent further insertion of the knife.




The switch is preferably a detector switch that is activated by a plunger located on its bottom surface. Adhering the anchor to an article depresses the plunger, and removing the anchor from the article releases the plunger, thus triggering the alarm. Cutting the wire also triggers the alarm.




There is preferably a bi-color LED connected to the system to indicate the status of the anchor. This LED is preferably located on the enclosure and lights up green if the switch is closed and red if the switch is opened.




In an alternative embodiment, the wire is connected to the enclosure by a connecting system similar to a telephone jack. The female portion of the jack is mounted on the enclosure and is electronically connected to the diode and switch. The security wire is then connected to a male portion of the jack, which then snaps into the female portion to connect the wire to the switch and diode.




With this embodiment, the anchor is hinged on one side and has a locking clasp on the other side to allow the anchor to be mounted around the enclosure. The anchor locks closed after it is mounted, and cannot be re-opened.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed as an illustration only and not as a definition of the limits of the invention.




In the drawings, wherein similar reference characters denote similar elements throughout the several views:





FIG. 1

shows an exploded view looking from the top of the security anchoring system according to the invention;





FIG. 2

shows an exploded view looking from the bottom of the security anchoring system according to the invention;





FIG. 3

shows an enlarged exploded view of the means for keeping the wire in place according to the invention;





FIG. 4

shows a cross-sectional view of the security anchoring system according to the invention;





FIG. 5

shows a perspective view of the enclosure component of the security anchoring system according to the invention; and





FIG. 6

shows an exploded view of an alternative embodiment of the security anchoring system according to the invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




Referring now in detail to the drawings and, in particular,

FIGS. 1 and 2

, there are shown two exploded views of the security anchoring system according to the invention. The system comprises an anchor


10


, which consists of a wall portion


11


and a plurality of wings


12


separated by wing slots


13


. There is a slit


14


extending into the wall portion


11


to provide a way to insert a wire therein. Wall portion


11


has an aperture


15


extending therethrough.




An adhesive pad


20


is affixed to the bottom of anchor


10


. Adhesive pad


20


has double-sided adhesive so that it adheres to both anchor


10


and the surface of an article (not shown). Adhesive pad


20


has an aperture


21


therethrough. Aperture


21


is larger than aperture


15


of anchor


10


.




A security wire


30


encased in an elastomeric coating


31


is inserted through slit


14


to extend through aperture


15


. The end of wire


30


is connected to a diode


32


and to a switch


33


. Switch


33


has a plunger


34


located on the bottom to trip the switch when pressure is applied to plunger


34


. Wire


30


is retained in place. within aperture


15


by an enclosure


35


, which consists of a hexagonal lower portion


36


and a bifurcated upper portion


37


. Hexagonal lower portion


36


fits snugly within wall portion


11


of anchor


10


and keeps the end of wire


30


with switch


33


from pulling out of anchor


10


. The inner surface of lower portion


36


conforms to the shape of diode


32


and switch


33


so that these elements are firmly retained within enclosure


35


. Lower portion


36


has a longitudinal protrusion


38


that fits within slot


14


.




A bi-color LED


45


is connected to wire


30


and is arranged on enclosure


35


. LED


45


indicates the status of the anchoring system. LED glows green when switch


33


is closed and active, and glows red when switch


33


is opened, indicating an alarm situation.




A retainer cap


40


is slid down wire


30


and placed over bifurcated upper portion


37


to hold wire


30


in place. As shown in

FIG. 4

, retainer cap


40


squeezes bifurcated upper portion


37


inward to securely grip wire


30


in between. Cap


40


thus has an inner diameter that is smaller than the diameter of bifurcated upper portion


37


.




This arrangement keeps wire


30


with switch


33


and diode


32


securely retained within anchor


10


. As shown in

FIGS. 4 and 5

, enclosure


35


has a protruding ring-shaped ledge


39


disposed on its bottom surface. Ledge


39


fits into aperture


21


of adhesive pad


20


. As shown in

FIG. 4

, ledge


39


extends only partially into aperture


21


, so as not to disrupt the seal between adhesive pad


20


and the article to be secured. Ledge


39


prevents a thief from prying enclosure


37


and thus anchor


10


away from adhesive pad


20


to steal the secured article. A knife inserted between enclosure


35


and adhesive pad


20


will be stopped by ledge


39


before it can be inserted sufficiently to remove anchor


10


from adhesive pad


20


.




As shown in

FIG. 4

, wire


30


is connected to a central alarm control box


50


, which sends an audible alarm throughout the premises if the anchoring system is tampered with. The system works as follows: After the system is assembled as shown in

FIG. 4

, it is mounted to an article to be secured. Pressing anchor


10


onto the article causes plunger


34


to be depressed, thus causing switch


33


to close.




Central alarm control box


50


is programmed to send an audible alarm at any time that switch


33


is opened, which opens the circuit to the central alarm control box. This will happen if wire


30


is cut, or if anchor


10


is removed from the article, thus releasing plunger


34


. Several security anchoring systems may be connected to a single control box


50


, which can monitor multiple articles.




An alternative embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG.


6


. Here, wire


30


encased in coating


31


is connected to a plug


43


, and enclosure


35


is connected to a socket element


41


having a receiving aperture


42


. Plug


43


and socket


41


are similar to a telephone jack connection, and electrically connect wire


30


to switch


33


and diode


32


.




In this embodiment, anchor


10


has a hinge


19


along one side, and a clasp


17


which locks into holes


18


on an opposite side.




This allows anchor


10


to be opened wide to fit around enclosure


35


to attach anchor


10


to the system. Clasp


17


then closes anchor


10


once it is in proper position. Other methods of closing anchor


10


could also be used.




Accordingly, while only a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it is obvious that many changes and modifications may be made thereunto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.



Claims
  • 1. A security anchoring and electronic sensing system for connection to a monitoring system having an alarm for preventing theft of an article, comprising:a security anchor having an aperture therethrough, said anchor having a top surface and a bottom surface; an adhesive layer attached to the bottom surface for adhering the anchor to the article; a security wire having an end threaded through the aperture in the anchor; means for maintaining the security wire in the aperture, comprising: (a) an upwardly extending wall surrounding the aperture on the anchor, said wall having a slit along one side, said slit extending out to the edge of the anchor to allow the wire to be inserted in the aperture through the slit; (b) an enclosure surrounding a switch and a diode, said enclosure having lower portion extending through the aperture and disposed within the wall, and an upper bifurcated portion extending beyond the wall; and (c) a retainer cone surrounding the wire and slidable thereon, said retainer cone having an internal circumference slightly smaller than the circumference of the bifurcated portion of the enclosure, such that sliding the retainer cone over the enclosure squeezes the enclosure inward and holds the wire within the anchor; the diode connected to the security wire; and the switch coupled to the security wire near the diode, said switch closing when said anchor is adhered to the article and opening when said anchor is removed from the article, wherein opening the switch triggers the alarm.
  • 2. The security anchoring system according to claim 1, wherein the anchor further comprises:a plurality of circumferential wing slots surrounding the aperture to divide the anchor into a corresponding plurality of wings, each wing being defined between an adjacent pair of wing slots, one wing slot communicating with the aperture; and a hinge area for each wing located between the adjacent pair of wing slots to allow one wing to flex independently of another wing.
  • 3. The security system according to claim 1, wherein the wire is coated with a flexible sheath.
  • 4. The security anchoring system according to claim 1, wherein the lower portion of the enclosure has a longitudinally extending protrusion that fits within the slit in the wall.
  • 5. The security anchoring system according to claim 1, wherein the aperture and wall are hexagonal in shape.
  • 6. The security anchoring system according to claim 1, wherein the adhesive has an aperture extending therethrough and further comprising a ring-shaped ledge mounted on a bottom end of the enclosure, said ring shaped ledge extending partially into the aperture in the adhesive.
  • 7. The security anchoring system according to claim 2, wherein there are six wings.
  • 8. The security anchoring system according to claim 1, wherein the switch has a plunger that is depressed when the anchor is adhered to the article, and wherein release of the plunger triggers the alarm.
  • 9. The security anchoring system according to claim 1, further comprising a bi-color LED connected to the switch, said LED glowing one color when the switch is closed and another color when the switch is opened.
  • 10. The security anchoring system according to claim 1, further comprising a plug connected to the security wire and a socket connected to the switch and diode, wherein the plug inserts into the socket and electrically connects the security wire to the switch and diode.
  • 11. A security anchoring and electronic sensing system for connection to a monitoring system having an alarm for preventing theft of an article, comprising:a security anchor having an aperture therethrough, said anchor having a top surface and a bottom surface, and having a hinge along one side and a slit along an opposite side, and further comprising a latching mechanism along the slits; an adhesive layer attached to the bottom surface for adhering the anchor to the article; a security wire having an end threaded through the aperture in the anchor; means for maintaining the security wire in the aperture a diode connected to the security wire; and a switch coupled to the security wire near the diode, said switch closing when said anchor is adhered to the article and opening when said anchor is removed from the article, wherein the anchor opens along the hinge to mount the anchor around the switch and diode, and wherein the anchor is closed thereafter via the latching mechanism, and wherein opening the switch triggers the alarm.
US Referenced Citations (7)
Number Name Date Kind
5172098 Leyden et al. Dec 1992
5341124 Leyden et al. Aug 1994
5543782 Rothbaum et al. Aug 1996
5565848 Leyden et al. Oct 1996
5699591 Kane Dec 1997
5726627 Kane Mar 1998
5995003 Rogers Nov 1999