Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6731212
-
Patent Number
6,731,212
-
Date Filed
Wednesday, May 15, 200222 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, May 4, 200420 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
- Hofsass; Jeffery
- Pham; Lam
Agents
- Armstrong, Kratz, Quintos, Hanson & Brooks, LLP
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 340 5729
- 340 5721
- 070 63
- 070 571
- 070 30
- 070 49
- 070 18
- 070 53
- 070 2787
-
International Classifications
- G08B1314
- E05B7300
- E05B6500
- E05B6552
-
Abstract
In a tag device wherein a wire 2 has a base end 21 fixed to a tag body 10 and a forward end 23 connected to the tag body 10 as releasably locked thereto, the wire 2 is provided at its forward end 23 with a lock pin 22. The tag body 10 comprises a case 1 having a pin insertion hole 13, and a latch member 3 engageable with the lock pin 22. The latch member 3 comprises a main body 31 supported inside the case 1 and a spring piece 32 provided on the main body 31. The latch member 3 prevents the thick rod portion 26 from slipping off when moved in one direction to a limit position, and allows the thick rod portion 26 to slip off when moved in the other direction to a limit position.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to tag devices to be attached to articles such as bags for preventing the article from being stolen or unlawfully brought out of a predetermined monitoring area.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Tag devices of the type mentioned already known comprise a tag body and a wire having a base end fixed to the tag body and a forward end provided with a lock pin which is connected to the tag body as releasably locked thereto. The tag device is attached to an article by unlocking the lock pin from the tag body, winding the wire around the article and thereafter locking the lock pin to the tag body.
When an attempt is made to bring out the article having the tag device thus attached thereto from a predetermined monitoring area (for example, from a store), the tag device receives radio waves (alarm actuating signal) emitted from an entrance-exit gate, whereupon a buzzer in the tag body goes on, giving notice of the occurrence of theft. Alternatively if it is attempted to cut the wire of the tag device attached to the article and bring out the article only from the monitoring area, the break in the wire is detected by the tag body, whereupon the buzzer in the tag body goes on, giving notice of the occurrence of theft.
With the conventional tag device, the lock pin attached to the forward end of the wire is locked to the tag body by pushing the lock pin into a metal latch member to thereby engage the latch member with the lock pin, and is released from the tag body by elastically deforming the latch member with use of an unlocking member and thereby disengaging the latch member from the lock pin. In order to lock the lock pin to the tag body by the latch member reliably, therefore, the portion of the latch member to be engaged with the lock pin needs to be as high as possible in rigidity (difficulty of elastic deformation) so as not to elastically deform easily under the action of an impact or the like.
Nevertheless, giving high rigidity to the portion of the latch member to be engaged with the lock pin requires a great force for unlocking the lock pin with use of the unlocking member, entailing the problem of making the unlocking member difficult to use. Even if the unlocking member is driven by a solenoid or the like, there arises the problem of necessitating a great electric power. Additionally, the higher the rigidity of the engagement portion of the latch member for the lock pin, the greater is the elastic repulsive force involved in the engagement. Since the elastic repulsive force acts toward the direction unlocking, there is a likelihood that the lock pin will be unlocked when subjected to a small impact.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a tag device which is adapted to realize a reliable locked state and yet which ensures facilitated unlocking.
The present invention provides a tag device comprising a tag body
10
and a wire
2
fixed at a base end
21
thereof to the tag body
10
and having a lock pin
22
attached to a forward end
23
thereof. The lock pin
22
has a thick rod portion
26
at an outer end of a thin rod portion
25
. The tag body
10
comprises a case
1
having a pin insertion hole
13
permitting the lock pin
22
to pass therethrough, and a latch member
3
disposed inside the case
1
and engageable with the lock pin
22
as inserted through the hole
13
.
The latch member
3
comprises a main body
31
supported inside the case
1
and reciprocatingly movable in directions orthogonal to the direction of insertion of the lock pin
22
, and a spring piece
32
provided on the main body
31
and elastically shiftable in a direction intersecting the direction of insertion of the lock pin
22
. The latch member
3
permits the spring piece
32
to be opposed to the thin rod portion
25
of the lock pin
22
in an inserted position to prevent the thick rod portion
26
from moving in a slipping-off direction when moved in one direction to a limit position, and permits the spring piece
32
to be positioned away from the thin rod portion
25
of the lock pin
22
in the inserted position to allow the thick rod portion
26
to move in the slipping-off direction when moved in the other direction to a limit position.
According to the tag device of the invention, with the latch member
3
moved in the above-mentioned one direction to the limit position, the lock pin
22
is pushed into the latch member
3
through the pin insertion hole
13
in the tag body
10
, whereby the thick rod portion
26
of the lock pin
22
is moved past the spring piece
32
of the latch member
3
, positioning the thin rod portion
25
as opposed to the spring piece
32
. In this process, the spring piece
32
of the latch member
3
is elastically deformed by sliding contact with the outer peripheral surface of the thick rod portion
26
and is thereafter opposed to the outer peripheral surface of the thin rod portion
25
to elastically restore itself. As positioned in proximity to the outer peripheral surface of the thin rod portion
25
, the spring piece
32
prevents the thick rod portion
26
from moving in the slipping-off direction (locked state). Accordingly, even if an external force acts in a direction to withdraw the lock pin
22
from the tag body
10
, the thick rod portion
26
bears on the spring piece
32
of the latch member
3
, whereby the lock pin
22
is prevented from slipping out of the tag body.
When the lock pin
22
is to be lawfully handled for removal from the tag body
10
, the latch member
3
is moved in the other direction to the corresponding limit position, and the lock pin
22
is thereafter pulled out from the tag body
10
. The movement of the latch member
3
moves the spring piece
32
away from the thin rod portion
25
of the lock pin
22
, permitting the thick rod portion
26
to move in the slipping-off direction, so that the lock pin thick rod portion
26
moves without being restrained by the spring piece
32
, slipping out of the pin insertion hole
13
of the tag body
10
.
The movement of the latch member
3
between the locking position and the unlocking position merely involves slight frictional resistance offered to the latch member
3
by the neighboring members. The latch member
3
can therefore be driven reciprocatingly without requiring any great force.
Stated more specifically, the thick rod portion
26
of the lock pin
22
is provided at an outer end thereof with a tapered face
27
for elastically shifting the spring piece
32
of the latch member
3
by pushing with the insertion of the lock pin
22
. Accordingly, while the lock pin
22
is being pushed into the latch member
3
, the tapered face
27
of the lock pin
22
comes into pressing contact with the spring piece
32
of the latch member
3
and elastically shifts the spring piece. Thus, the thick rod portion
26
of the lock pin
22
is brought into sliding contact with the latch member spring piece
32
.
Further stated more specifically, the tag body
10
has incorporated therein a solenoid
5
for reciprocatingly driving the latch member
3
by an attracting/releasing movement of a rod
51
, and a control circuit for controlling the operation of the solenoid
5
. The latch member
3
can then be reciprocatingly moved between a locking position and an unlocking position by the rod
51
attracting/releasing movement of the solenoid
5
.
The solenoid
5
as unenergized retains a locking operative state, for example by virtue of the magnetic force of a permanent magnet incorporated therein, to hold the latch member
3
moved to a lock pin
22
locking position. Accordingly, no electric power is required for holding the latch member
3
in the locking position, hence a reduction in power consumption.
The solenoid
5
is provided with a spring
53
for biasing the rod
51
from the locking operative state toward an unlocking operative state. Accordingly, the force required for moving the latch member
3
from the locking position to the unlocking position is partly provided by the elastic restoring force of the spring
53
.
Further stated more specifically, the tag body
10
has a switch
6
for detecting the movement of the latch member
3
from the lock pin locking position to the unlocking position where the lock pin
22
is unlocked, and the control circuit commands the solenoid
5
to perform a locking operation upon detecting the unlocking operative state based on a detection signal from the switch
6
. Accordingly, even when the latch member
3
or the solenoid
5
in the locking position or state is subjected, for example, to a great impact to bring the rod
51
of the solenoid
5
into the unlocking operative state and release the lock pin, this situation is detected by the switch
6
, whereupon the solenoid
5
is given a command to perform a locking operation. The latch member
3
is therefore driven to the locking position immediately after unlocking to resume the locking state.
Further stated more specifically, the control circuit holds the solenoid
5
in an unlocking operative state only for a specified period of time in response to an unlocking signal. Accordingly, when the lock pin
22
is to be removed from the tag body
10
by a lawful procedure, an unlocking signal is sent to the tag body
10
, and the lock pin
22
is thereafter pulled out of the tag body
10
before the lapse of the specified period of time.
Further stated more specifically, the tag body
10
has a buzzer
8
incorporated therein, and the control circuit gives an alarm command to the buzzer
8
upon receiving an alarm actuating signal or upon detecting a break in the wire
2
, with the lock pin
22
locked by the latch member
3
. The buzzer
8
actuated then gives notice of a wrongful act.
Further stated more specifically, the control circuit gives an alarm stop command to the buzzer
8
upon receiving an alarm cancel signal during alarming or when alarming continues for a predetermined period of time. The buzzer
8
is then brought out of operation by sending the alarm cancel signal to the tag body
10
during alarming or by allowing the alarming operation to continue only for the predetermined period of time.
Further stated more specifically, upon the control circuit receiving an alarm actuating signal or detecting a break in the wire
2
, with the lock pin
22
locked by the latch member
3
, the control circuit wirelessly emits an alarm information signal giving notice of the situation. An unlawful act can then be found by monitoring the reception of an alarm information signal, for example, in a monitoring room.
The tag device embodying the invention as described above is adapted to realize a reliable locking state by using a locking mechanism wherein the spring piece
32
of the latch member
3
is deeply engaged with the lock pin
22
, also realizing a facilitated unlocking procedure by using an unlocking mechanism wherein the latch member
3
is moved away from the lock pin
22
.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1
is a perspective view of a tag device of the invention;
FIG. 2
is a perspective view showing the tag device as attached to an article;
FIG. 3
is a perspective view partly broken away and showing the tag device;
FIG. 4
is an enlarged perspective view of a latch member and a lock pin;
FIG. 5
is a front view partly broken away and showing the main construction with the lock pin positioned away from a tag body;
FIG. 6
is a front view partly broken away and showing the main construction with the lock pin locked in the tag body;
FIG. 7
is a front view partly broken away and showing the main construction with a solenoid in unlocking operative state;
FIG. 8
is a front view partly broken away and showing the main construction with the lock pin removed from a tag body;
FIG. 9
is a block diagram showing the circuit construction of the tag device;
FIG. 10
is a flow chart showing the first half of a procedure for controlling the tag device;
FIG. 11
is a flow chart showing the second half of the procedure for controlling the tag device; and
FIG. 12
is a flow chart showing interrupt processing to be executed during the control procedure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENT
An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The tag device embodying the invention comprises a tag body
10
and a wire
2
fixed at a base end
21
thereof to the tag body
10
and having a lock pin
22
attached to a forward end
23
thereof as shown in FIG.
1
. The tag body
10
is in the form of a rectangular parallelepipedal case
1
comprising a case body
11
having an open side and a closure
12
covering the opening. The case body
11
has an upper wall provided with a pin insertion hole
13
for inserting the lock pin
22
therethrough.
With reference to
FIG. 2
, the wire
2
is wound around an article A, and the lock pin
22
is pushed into the tag body
10
through the hole
13
, whereby the tag device is attached to the article A with the lock pin
22
locked to the tag body
10
. If it is attempted to unlawfully bring out the article A having the tag device attached thereto from a predetermined monitoring area (for example, from a store), radio waves (alarm actuating signal) emitted from an entrance-exit gate are received by the tag body
10
, whereupon a buzzer (not shown) incorporated in the tag body
10
goes on, giving notice of the occurrence of theft. Alternatively if the wire
2
attaching the tag device to the article A is cut in an attempt to unlawfully bring out the article A only from the monitoring area, the tag body
10
detects the break in the wire
2
, whereupon the buzzer in the tag body
10
goes on to giving notice to the occurrence of theft.
The monitoring clerk manipulates a tag control unit when bringing the tag device out of the alarming operation, or when unlocking the lock pin
22
. As will be described later, the tag device receives an alarm cancel signal or unlocking signal wirelessly transmitted from the tag control unit to stop the alarming operation or unlock the lock pin
22
.
With the tag device of the present invention, the lock pin
22
is an integral piece shaped from a metal and comprises a first thick rod portion
24
, thin rod portion
25
and second rod portion
26
each in the form of a solid cylinder and aligned on the same axis as shown in FIG.
3
. The second thick rod portion
26
has an outer end provided with a tapered face
27
. Provided inside the case
1
of the tag body
10
is a resin frame
14
which is positioned below the pin insertion hole
13
and molded integrally with the case
1
. The frame
14
has a first guide wall
15
and a second guide wall
16
which are horizontal. Disposed between the two guide walls
15
,
16
with suitable play is a latch member
3
which is made from a metal plate by press work and which is so supported as to be reciprocatingly slidable in horizontal directions. As shown in
FIG. 5
, the first and second guide walls
15
,
16
have a first through hole
17
and a second through hole
18
, respectively, which are circular and permit the passage of the second thick rod portion
26
of the lock pin
22
therethrough.
With reference to
FIG. 4
, the latch member
3
comprises a main body
31
including a horizontal wall
31
a
and vertical walls
31
b
,
31
b
projecting downward from the respective wide edges of the wall
31
a
, and a pair of spring pieces
32
,
32
extending horizontally from the respective vertical walls
31
b
,
31
b
of the main body
31
, each of the spring pieces
32
extending from one end of the wall
31
b
toward the other end thereof as bent inward. The main body
31
has formed therein a slit
33
for the upper end of a lever
4
to be described later to fit in, and a U-shaped cutout
30
permitting the passage of the lock pin
22
therethrough. The pair of spring pieces
32
,
32
are spaced apart by a distance smaller than the diameter of the second thick rod portion
26
of the lock pin
22
, and have extended ends which are positioned inwardly of the U-shaped cutout
30
of the main body
31
.
Therefore, in the process for pushing the lock pin
22
into the latch member
3
, the second thick rod portion
26
of the lock pin
22
first enters the U-shaped cutout
30
of the latch member
3
, with the tapered face
27
of the rod portion
26
brought into sliding contact with the two spring pieces
32
,
32
. As the lock pin
22
is further pushed in, the tapered face
27
pushes the spring pieces
32
,
32
open, bringing the second thick rod portion
26
into sliding contact with the spring pieces
32
,
32
. When the lock pin
22
is further pushed in, the second thick rod portion
26
moves past the spring pieces
32
,
32
, positioning the thin rod portion
25
as opposed to the spring pieces
32
,
32
. This elastically restores the spring pieces
32
,
32
toward each other, causing the spring pieces
32
,
32
to clamp the thin rod portion
25
therebetween. As a result, an end face
26
a
of the second thick rod portion
26
bears on the two spring pieces
32
,
32
, which prevent the rod portion
26
from moving in a slipping-off direction.
As shown in
FIG. 3
, the lever
4
extending vertically along a side wall of the case body
11
has an upper end joined to the latch member
3
and a lower end having joined thereto the outer end of a rod
51
of a solenoid
5
fixed to the case body
11
. Accordingly, a rod attracting/releasing movement of the solenoid
5
reciprocatingly moves the latch member
3
in horizontal directions.
The solenoid
5
is of the self-holding type, such that the magnetic force of a permanent magnet (not shown) incorporated therein holds the rod
51
in an attracted position. The rod
51
is provided at an intermediate portion thereof with a flange
52
and carries a coil spring
53
interposed between the flange
52
and the solenoid body. By changing the polarity of energization, the solenoid
5
can be changed over between the attracting operation of moving the rod
51
from a released position to the attracted position against the coil spring
53
and the release operation of moving the rod
51
from the attracted position to the released position against the magnetic force.
A circuit board
7
disposed in the interior of the case
1
has mounted thereon a buzzer
8
and an electronic circuit for controlling, for example, the attracting/releasing movement of the solenoid
5
and the alarming operation of the buzzer
8
. The case
1
has further formed therein a cell chamber
19
to be loaded with a dry cell serving as a power source for the solenoid
5
and the electronic circuit. A switch
6
having an actuator
61
projecting toward the base end of the lever
4
is provided in the case
1
. The switch
6
detects two operating states of the solenoid
5
, i.e., a locking operative state wherein the solenoid
5
attracts the rod
51
to lock the lock pin
22
by the latch member
5
, and an unlocking operative state wherein the solenoid
5
releases the rod
51
for the latch member
5
to release the lock pin
22
.
Further provided inside the case
1
is a metal connector pin
9
having a bifurcated upper end and mounted on the bottom of the frame
14
. The connector pin
9
has a base end connected to an input port of a microcomputer by a pull-up signal line on the circuit board
7
as will be described later. When the lock pin
22
is pushed into the latch member
3
, the second thick rod portion
26
of the lock pin
22
is clamped by the bifurcated upper end of the connector pin
9
, whereby the lock pin
22
is electrically grounded via the connector pin
9
.
FIG. 9
shows the construction of the electronic circuit provided on the circuit board
7
in the tag body
10
. The circuit comprises a receiving circuit
72
provided with a receiving antenna
71
for receiving an alarm actuating signal, alarm cancel signal and unlocking signal wirelessly transmitted from outside, the above-mentioned microcomputer
73
for executing various control operations in response to the received signals, an alarm circuit
74
for driving the buzzer
8
in response to a control signal from the microcomputer
73
and transmitting an alarm information signal via a transmitting antenna
75
, and a solenoid drive circuit
76
for driving the solenoid
5
in accordance with a control signal from the microcomputer
73
.
The base end
21
of the wire
2
is electrically connected. When the lock pin
22
is pushed into the latch member
3
, the second thick rod portion
26
of the pin
22
is clamped by the bifurcated upper end of the connector pin
9
, whereby the forward end
23
of the wire
2
is connected to the input port of the microcomputer
73
via the signal line
77
having a pull-up resistor connected thereto, and the input port of the microcomputer
73
is grounded via the wire
2
. Accordingly, when the lock pin
22
is locked as pushed into the tag body
10
, the signal to be input to the microcomputer
73
changes from high to low, whereby the locked state of the lock pin
22
, i.e., the closed state of the wire
2
, is detected. If the wire
2
is cut by an unlawful act, the signal to be input to the microcomputer
73
changes from low to high, whereby the unlawful act is detected.
One end of the switch
6
is connected to the microcomputer
73
by the signal line
78
having the pull-up resistor connected thereto. The other end of the switch
6
is grounded. Accordingly, when the rod
51
of the solenoid
5
moves from the locking position to the unlocking position to turn off the switch
6
, the signal to be input to the microcomputer
73
changes from low to high, whereby the movement of the solenoid
5
to the unlocking position is detected.
FIGS. 10 and 11
show the control operation of the microcomputer
73
.
FIG. 12
shows the interrupt processing to be executed periodically during the control operation. Step S
20
is performed on condition that the switch
6
is off, commanding the solenoid to perform an attracting movement (locking).
First,
FIG. 10
, step S
1
permits an interrupt, and an inquiry is made in step S
2
as to whether the wire is in the closed state. If the answer is affirmative, step S
3
follows to inquire whether an alarm actuating signal has been received or whether the wire is open. If an attempt is made to bring out the tag device along with an article from the monitoring area, the alarm actuating signal emitted by the entrance-exit gate is received, and the inquiry is answered in the affirmative. An affirmative answer is also given in the event of a break occurring in the wire.
When the inquiry of step S
3
is answered in the affirmative, step S
4
follows to start an alarming operation, i.e., actuation of the buzzer
8
and transmission of an alarm information signal. Step S
5
thereafter inquires whether an alarm cancel signal has been received. If the answer is negative, step S
6
follows to inquire whether the alarming operation has been continued for a predetermined period of time (e.g., for 5 minutes). When the answer is negative, step S
5
follows again. This continues the alarming operation. When the answer to the inquiry of step S
5
is thereafter found to be affirmative, or if the inquiry of step S
6
is answered in the affirmative, the alarming operation is discontinued in step S
7
, and the sequence returns to step S
2
.
If the inquiry of step S
3
is answered in the negative, on the other hand,
FIG. 11
, step S
8
follows to inquire whether an unlocking signal has been received. When the answer is negative,
FIG. 10
, step S
2
follows again. Conversely, if the answer is affirmative, the sequence proceeds to
FIG. 11
, step S
9
to permit no interrupt. Subsequently step S
10
commands the solenoid to operate for releasing (unlocking movement), and a 3-sec timer is thereafter set in step S
11
. Subsequently, the solenoid is commanded to operate for attraction (locking movement) in step S
12
, followed by
FIG. 10
, step S
1
again.
FIGS. 5
to
8
show a sequence of operations of the tag device.
FIG. 5
shows the lock pin
22
as removed from the tag body
10
, and the solenoid
5
as operated for attraction holds the latch member
5
in the locking position at the limit position of rightward movement. In this state, the solenoid
5
is unenergized, holding the rod
51
in the attracted position by the magnetic force. The switch
6
has its actuator pressed by the lever
4
and is held on.
The lock pin
22
is lowered toward the pin insertion hole
13
of the tag body
10
as indicated by an arrow and pushed into the frame
14
, whereby the second thick rod portion
26
of the lock pin
22
is moved past the first through hole
17
of the frame
14
and passed through the second through hole
18
to reach a position below the spring pieces
32
of the latch member
3
. The rod portion
26
is in engagement with the connector pin
9
as shown in FIG.
6
. In this state, the pair of spring pieces
32
,
32
of the latch member
3
are elastically restored as opposed to the thin rod portion
25
of the lock pin
22
, preventing the second thick rod portion
26
of the lock pin
22
from slipping off. Accordingly, even if it is attempted to pull out the lock pin
22
to remove the article from the tag body
10
, the second thick rod portion
26
of the pin
22
bears on the spring pieces
32
,
32
of the latch member
3
, preventing the pin from slipping out.
When the monitoring clerk is to unlock the lock pin
22
in this state, he manipulates the tag control unit to transmit an unlocking signal to the tag body
10
. The unlocking signal is received by the receiving circuit
72
shown in
FIG. 9
, with the result that the solenoid operates for releasing. Thus, the solenoid
5
advances the rod
51
as indicated by an arrow in
FIG. 7
, moving the latch member
3
(leftward) away from the frame
14
. Consequently, the spring pieces
32
,
32
of the latch member
3
are removed from the lock pin
22
, reaching the unlocking position at the limit position of leftward movement and unlocking the lock pin
22
. The lever
4
also moves away from the actuator
61
of the switch
6
to turn off the switch
6
. Incidentally, the power needed for moving the latch member
3
corresponds only to the frictional resistance produced between the latch member
3
and the frame
14
and is therefore very small in magnitude.
After transmitting the unlocking signal to the tag body
10
, the monitoring clerk pulls out the lock pin
22
from the tag body
10
as indicated by an arrow in
FIG. 8
before the lapse of three seconds. With the spring pieces
32
,
32
of the latch member
3
positioned away from the lock pin
22
at this time, the lock pin
22
can be easily pulled out since there is nothing impeding the movement of the pin
22
. Upon the lapse of three seconds after the releasing operation of the solenoid
5
, the solenoid
5
operates for attraction, resuming the position shown in FIG.
5
.
Even if the rod
51
of the solenoid
5
projects as shown in
FIG. 7
under the action of an impact or the like, unlocking the lock pin
22
which is locked to the tag body
10
as seen in
FIG. 6
, the switch
6
which is on is turned off to thereby execute the interrupt processing described above for the solenoid
5
to perform an attracting operation, locking the lock pin
22
to the tag body
10
again as seen in FIG.
6
. Accordingly, the pin
22
is unlocked only for a moment, and there is no likelihood of the lock pin
22
slipping out of the tag body
10
, hence safety.
If the wire
2
is cut by an unlawful act with the lock pin
22
locked to the tag body
10
as shown in
FIG. 6
, the signal to be input from the wire
2
shown in
FIG. 9
to the microcomputer
73
changes from low to high, whereby the unlawful act is detected and reported. Alternatively if it is attempted to bring out an article and the tag body
10
from the monitoring area, with the lock pin
22
locked to the tag body
10
as shown in FIG.
6
and with the tag body
10
attached to the article, the receiving circuit
72
shown in
FIG. 9
receives the alarm actuating signal emitted by the entrance-exit gate, with the result that the buzzer
8
goes on to give notice of the wrongful act.
When the monitoring clerk is to turn off the buzzer
8
, the clerk manipulates the tag control unit to transmit an alarm cancel signal to the tag body
10
. As a result, the buzzer
8
is brought out of alarming operation.
Even if a great pulling-out force acts on the lock pin
22
as locked to the tag body, the pair of spring pieces
32
,
32
of the latch member
3
shown in
FIG. 4
are in deep engagement with the lock pin
22
, with the end face
26
a
of the second thick rod portion
26
reliably bearing on the spring pieces, hence no likelihood of unlocking.
The resistance offered to the latch member
4
in the course of reciprocating movement is limited only to very small frictional resistance given by the frame
14
of the tag body
10
, and the lock pin
11
offers no resistance, so that there is no need for great electric power for driving the solenoid
5
. Moreover, there is no need to energize the solenoid
5
for holding the lock pin
22
in the locked position as shown in FIG.
6
. Even if a dry cell of small capacity is used as the power source, a long service life is available therefore.
The connector pin
9
in contact with the lock pin
22
as shown in
FIG. 6
to connect the pin
22
to the input port of the microcomputer
73
has a bifurcated structure for clamping the second thick rod portion
26
of the lock pin
22
in the locked position, and is therefore unlikely to exert any force acting to push up the lock pin
22
, i.e., acting to unlock the pin
22
. This realizes a more reliable locked state.
Claims
- 1. A tag device comprising a tag body and a wire having a base end fixed to the tag body and a forward end connected to the tag body as releasably locked thereto, the wire being provided at its forward end with a lock pin having a thick rod portion at an axially outer end of a thin rod portion, the tag body comprising a case having a pin insertion hole permitting the lock pin to pass therethrough, and a latch member disposed inside the case and engageable with the lock pin when the lock pin is inserted through the hole, the latch member comprising a main body supported inside the case and reciprocatingly movable in directions orthogonal to the direction of insertion of the lock pin, and a pair of opposed resilient spring pieces integrally formed on the main body and being elastically oppositely shiftable in directions intersecting the direction of insertion of the lock pin permitting the spring pieces to engage the thin rod portion of the lock pin in an inserted position to prevent the thick rod portion from moving in a slipping-off direction when moved in one direction to a limit position, and means operative to move the latch member in the reciprocatingly movable directions for moving the spring pieces thereon away from the thin rod portion of the lock pin to allow the thick rod portion to move in the slipping-off direction when moved away from the limit position.
- 2. A tag device according to claim 1 wherein the thick rod portion of the lock pin is provided at an outer end thereof with a tapered face for laterally biasing the spring pieces of the latch member upon insertion of the lock pin.
- 3. A tag device according to claim 1 wherein said means incorporated in the tag body for reciprocatingly moving the latch member by an attracting/releasing movement of a rod comprises a soleniod and a control circuit for controlling the operation of the solenoid.
- 4. A tag device according to claim 3 wherein the solenoid as unenergized retains a locking operative state to hold the latch member moved to a lock pin locking position.
- 5. A tag device according to claim 4 wherein the solenoid is provided with a spring for biasing the rod from the locking operative state toward an unlocking operative state.
- 6. A tag device according to claim 4 wherein the tag body has a switch for detecting a movement of the latch member from the lock pin locking position to an unlocking position where the lock pin is unlocked, and the control circuit commands the solenoid to perform a locking operation upon detecting an unlocking operative state based on a detection signal from the switch.
- 7. A tag device according to claim 3 wherein the control circuit holds the solenoid in an unlocking operative state only for a specified period of time in response to an unlocking signal.
- 8. A tag device according to claim 3 wherein the tag body has a buzzer incorporated therein, and the control circuit gives an alarm command to the buzzer upon receiving an alarm actuating signal or upon detecting a break in the wire, with the lock pin locked by the latch member.
- 9. A tag device according to claim 8 wherein the tag body has a connector pin of metal for clamping the thick rod portion of the lock pin with the lock pin locked by the latch member, the connector pin being connected to the control circuit by a pulled-up signal line, the wire having its base end grounded, and the control circuit detects a break in the wire based on a signal to be input from the pulled-up signal line.
- 10. A tag device according to claim 8 wherein the control circuit gives an alarm stop command to the buzzer upon receiving an alarm cancel signal during alarming or when alarming continues for a predetermined period of time.
- 11. A tag device according to claim 3 wherein upon receiving an alarm actuating signal or upon detecting a break in the wire, with the lock pin locked by the latch member, a control circuit wirelessly emits an alarm information signal giving notice of the situation.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
2001-146749 |
May 2001 |
JP |
|
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