Patent Application
20120187003
n/a
n/a
The present invention relates generally to security devices and more specifically to a security device made of flexible material.
Shoplifting continues to be a major concern of retail stores. Particularly with regard to electronic and other high-priced items, retailers continue to try and find effective product theft deterrents. However, wrongdoers are constantly coming up with methods of circumventing the latest theft-prevention devices offered by retailers. Consequently, retailers are coming up with new ways to protect goods from theft. For example, some retailers have introduced theft deterrent devices such as cables, also known as “spider wraps” that are wrapped around a product and that sound an alarm when there is an unauthorized attempt to remove the product from the wrap before it has been purchased. Other “safer” or “keeper” devices house the product but require at least some additional labor for their application and removal.
Each of these types of protection devices offer only limited sizes and shapes to conform to the many different sizes and shapes of products. Safers take up a great deal of space and spiders are only limited to box-shaped items. In addition, safers and spiders require a large amount of tooling and shipping containment. Some include alarms, some are more or less transparent, and some are even intended to be taken home with the customer along with their purchased product. There is also the option of using a hard tag coupled with a lanyard.
Many major retail store chains use rigid plastic electronic security keepers that provide electronic security protection for items such as ink cartridges, computer memory, and computer peripheral devices. These rigid keepers can be costly to build as they require complex injection molded tooling. Since the keepers are essentially rigid containers, many sizes are required for different size products. The keepers are intended to be used many times over for several years, but the polycarbonate material scratches and provides decreased visibility to the product contained within. Due to the high cost, the retailer may only purchase several sizes and, in many cases, not have the correct size available when needed. Consequently, retailers seek an easier solution by which they can effectively display their items for sale, prevent the unauthorized removal of items within the package, decrease in-store labor for the application and removal of these protective devices, and trigger an alarm as soon as the package seal is broken.
The present invention advantageously provides a method and apparatus for securing different sized products in a flexible housing, where the housing includes conductive material and an alarming device. When the housing is opened without deactivation of the alarming device, a seal is broken and the electrical circuit formed by the conductive material and alarming device is opened, thus initiating activation of the alarming device. In this fashion, shoplifters attempting to remove the product from within the flexible housing will break the seal, opening the electrical circuit and activating the alarming device.
According to one aspect of the invention, a security device is provided where the security device includes a container formed of flexible material. The container is adapted to house a product therein and includes an inner surface and an outer surface. The security device also includes conductive material disposed on at least one of the inner surface and the outer surface of the container, the conductive material forming a closable electrical circuit.
According to another aspect of the invention, a security device is provided that includes a pouch for housing a product therein, the pouch having an inner surface and an outer surface, conductive material disposed on at least one of the inner surface and the outer surface of the pouch, and at least one conductive pad connected to the conductive material to form a closable electrical circuit. The conductive material further includes locations to removably receive an alarming device to close the electrical circuit.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, a security device is provided where the security device includes a foldable housing adapted to secure a product therein, the foldable housing having an interior surface and an exterior surface, conductive material affixed the interior surface of the foldable housing, the conductive material forming a closable electrical circuit, and an alarming device to close the electrical circuit. The alarming device is triggered when the electrical circuit is opened.
A more complete understanding of the present invention, and the attendant advantages and features thereof, will be more readily understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:
Before describing in detail exemplary embodiments that are in accordance with the present invention, it is noted that the embodiments reside primarily in combinations of apparatus components and processing steps related for providing a security device made of a flexible material into which a product may be sealed whereby unauthorized removal of the product triggers a security alarm.
Accordingly, the system and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.
As used herein, relational terms, such as “first” and “second,” “top” and “bottom,” “internal” and “external”, “inside” and “outside”, and the like, may be used solely to distinguish one entity or element from another entity or element without necessarily requiring or implying any physical or logical relationship or order between such entities or elements.
One embodiment of the present invention advantageously provides a security device for housing a product, where the security device is made of flexible material to house the product and also includes conductive material disposed along the flexible material where the conductive material forms a closed electrical circuit. When there is an unauthorized attempt to remove the product from the flexible material during, for example, a shoplifting attempt, the electrical circuit is opened and an alarming device triggered.
Referring now to the drawing figures in which like reference designators refer to like elements, there is shown in
Pouch 12 can operate in a locked or sealed orientation where product 14 is not accessible to customers. Lock 16 can secure a fold-down tab 16 to pouch 12 and thereby prevent unwanted entry into pouch 12. Lock 16 can be a magnetic lock similar to the type used in hard tags which can be opened using existing detachers. Pouch 12 includes conductive material 18, such as a conductive ink, which is formed from a series of interlocking electrical conductors forming a grid. The grid serves as an “electric fence” to ward off customers who may wish to remove product 14 from within 12 without paying for the product 14. Conductive material 18 can be transparent or virtually transparent so that customers cannot see the conductive material 18 and believe that pouch 12 is a simple product storage bag instead of an alarmed security device. Conductive material 18 can be a serial conductive trace around the perimeter and along the surface of pouch 12. Conductive material 18 can include a single, serial electrical trace or include multiple traces. Alternately, pouch 12 can include a visible ink pattern, for example, the visible cross-hatched pattern as shown in
Conductive pads 20 are connected to the electrical conductors of conductive material 18. If a customer somehow removes or breaks lock 16 and then attempts to remove product 14 by lifting fold-down tab 16, the electrical conductors break their connection with one or both of conductive pads 20 forming an open electrical circuit. This can trigger an alarming device 22, which can be situated anywhere on security device 10 provided it is in electrical communication with conductive pads 20. Thus, when product 14 is being inserted into pouch 12 by a salesperson, alarming device 22 is not activated. After product 14 is inserted within pouch 12, alarming device 22 is activated and can only be deactivated when the product has been legitimately purchased at a point of sale (“POS”) or when an employee of the retail store wants to gain access to within pouch 12 such as, for example, to replace product 14 with a different product, perhaps a product that is on sale.
Product 14 can also include an EAS tag or label 26. By affixing EAS tag 26 on product 14, opening pouch 12 to remove product 14 from within apparatus 10 without deactivation of the label 26 will trigger alarming device 22. Similarly, security device 10 can include an RFID element such as a sensor 28. Inclusion of RFID sensor 28 can provide real-time information to a store owner about the identity of product 14 contained within pouch 12.
Carton 30 can be die-cut and prepared as using industry standard folding carton technology. The design of folding carton 30 can vary according to the style required for specific customer needs. The embodiment shown in
Continuing to refer to
While certain features of the embodiments have been illustrated as described herein, many modifications, substitutions, changes and equivalents will now occur to those skilled in the art. It is therefore to be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit of the embodiments.
It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to what has been particularly shown and described herein above. In addition, unless mention was made above to the contrary, it should be noted that all of the accompanying drawings are not to scale. A variety of modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention, which is limited only by the following claims.
