DESC:FIELD
The present disclosure relates to the field of tamper-proof seals.
BACKGROUND
The background information herein below relates to the present disclosure but is not necessarily prior art.
Typically, anchor type seals are used to prevent tampering of high-value and sensitive products. The anchor seals consist of two parts. These two parts are supposed to be assembled at the point of installation by the end user. However, both the parts of the anchor seal stand completely exposed to tampering. Any unauthorized person can tamper, alter, or manipulate seal parts to steal, hack, or contaminate the high value and sensitive product such as gold, diamonds, jewelry, electronic parts, or medicines and the like.
This leaves the conventional seal design vulnerable to pre-tampering by filing/grinding down the anchors before assembly. The seal can then be easily disassembled since the interference of the anchors is reduced due to filing/grinding. Therefore, the conventional seal is not able to prevent tampering by someone skilled in the art of pre-tampering.
There is, therefore, felt a need of a tamper-proof seal that alleviates the above mentioned drawbacks.
OBJECTS
Some of the objects of the present disclosure, which at least one embodiment herein satisfies, are as follows:
An object of the present disclosure is to provide a tamper-proof seal.
Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a seal that is protected against pre-tampering.
Other objects and advantages of the present disclosure will be more apparent from the following description, which is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
SUMMARY
The present invention envisages a tamper-proof seal for securing high value articles. The tamper proof seal comprises a hollow cylindrical main body which is having a flange formed at one end and ratchets formed on its outer surface adjacent to the flange, a PCB disposed at bottom portion of the main body, an insert configured to be inserted into the main body, and an outer cap having a through hole configured thereon and configured to be fastened on the main body for sealing the article. A wire is also provided for sealing the article wherein one end of the wire is soldered with the PCB while the free end of the wire is configured to be wound around a high value article and further configured to be inserted through the through hole to be further wounded into the seal to form a secure tamper loop. External flaps are provided on the insert.
In an embodiment, undercuts are provided on the outer cap.
In another embodiment, the seal comprises an internal housing-capsule having unidirectional notches defined on the inner surface of the main body, wherein the capsule is configured to receive the PCB.
In another embodiment, a slot is defined along the surface of the main body, the slot being parallel to the axis of the main body and configured to permit the passage of the wire when the PCB and the capsule is received by the main body.
In yet another embodiment, external threads are formed on the external surface of the main body.
In another embodiment, a tab is provided on the insert to facilitate placing and turning of the insert inside the seal such as to wound the wire and thereby providing sealing of an article.
In another embodiment, a radial hole is provided on the insert wherein the hole is configured to permit passage of the wire therethrough.
In another embodiment, a slot is provided in the capsule to provide space for the wire when the PCB is received into the capsule.
In another embodiment, a plate is fastened to the flange for providing identification marks such labelling, barcode, and QR code.
In another embodiment, a hole is provided on circumferential surface of the outer cap for allowing passage of the wire in an assembled configuration.
In another embodiment, the material of components of the seal is plastic.
In another embodiment, the wire is an electrically conductive wire, wherein the wire is selected from the group consisting of multi-strand metal wires, NFC tags with tamper loops, RFID tags with tamper loops, and NFC+RFID tags with tamper loops.
In yet another embodiment, the lower half portion of the capsule has a retaining feature that helps to secure the capsule to the main body and prevents the capsule from rotating when the insert is rotated while sealing an article.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMPANYING DRAWING
The tamper-proof seal of the present disclosure will now be described with the help of the accompanying drawing, in which:
Figure 1 shows an isometric view of a tamper-proof seal in an assembled configuration, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 2 shows an isometric cut-section view of the tamper-proof seal of Figure 1;
Figure 3 shows a step of assembling a PCB inside an internal housing-capsule;
Figure 4 shows an isometric view of a PCB inserted inside the internal housing-capsule of Figure 3;
Figure 5 shows a step of assembling a sub-assembly of Figure 4 into a main body;
Figure 6 shows an isometric view of a PCB and capsule sub-assembly of Figure 5 positioned inside the main body;
Figure 7 shows a step of assembling an insert inside the sub-assembly of Figure 6;
Figure 8 shows an isometric view of an insert placed inside the main body; and
Figure 9 shows a step of placing an outer cover over the insert and the main body of Figure 8.
LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS USED IN DETAILED DESCRIPTION AND DRAWING
100 – Tamper-proof seal
105 – PCB
110 – Wire
115 – Internal housing-capsule
116 – Unidirectional notches
125 – Insert
125a – Hole on the insert
126 – Tab
128 – Flaps
130 – Main body
131 – Ratchets
130a – Slot
135 – Outer cap
136 – Second opening on the outer cap
135a – Hole on the outer cap
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Embodiments, of the present disclosure, will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing.
Embodiments are provided so as to thoroughly and fully convey the scope of the present disclosure to the person skilled in the art. Numerous details are set forth, relating to specific components, and methods, to provide a complete understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to the person skilled in the art that the details provided in the embodiments should not be construed to limit the scope of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, well-known processes, well-known apparatus structures, and well-known techniques are not described in detail.
The terminology used, in the present disclosure, is only for the purpose of explaining a particular embodiment and such terminology shall not be considered to limit the scope of the present disclosure. As used in the present disclosure, the forms "a,” "an," and "the" may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly suggests otherwise. The terms "comprises," "comprising," “including,” and “having,” are open ended transitional phrases and therefore specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, modules, units and/or components, but do not forbid the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. The particular order of steps disclosed in the method and process of the present disclosure is not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance as described or illustrated. It is also to be understood that additional or alternative steps may be employed.
When an element is referred to as being "mounted on," “engaged to,” "connected to," or "coupled to" another element, it may be directly on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other element. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed elements.
The terms first, second, third, etc., should not be construed to limit the scope of the present disclosure as the aforementioned terms may be only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another component, region, layer or section. Terms such as first, second, third etc., when used herein do not imply a specific sequence or order unless clearly suggested by the present disclosure.
Terms such as “inner,” “outer,” "beneath," "below," "lower," "above," "upper," and the like, may be used in the present disclosure to describe relationships between different elements as depicted from the figures.
A tamper-proof seal 100, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated with the help of Figure 1. The components of the seal 100 and the steps involved in the assembly of the seal 100 are illustrated with the help of Figure 2 through Figure 9.
The tamper-proof seal 100 includes on an undercut (not seen in figures) in an outer cap 135 to retain a rotating insert 125. The seal 100 hereinafter can also be referred to as ‘roto-seal’. The insert 125 is pushed into the body and is held in place by interference between the undercut in the outer cap 135 and an edge of the rotating insert 125.
In an embodiment, multiple edges and undercuts can be provided to increase the retaining strength of the seal 100.
The proposed tamper-proof seal 100 can be used with a variety of tamper evident wires 110 (to secure the article of interest). The tamper evident wires 110 can be multi-strand metal wires, NFC tags with tamper loops, RFID tags with tamper loops, and NFC+RFID tags with tamper loops.
In an embodiment, the seal 100 includes a PCB 105, a wire 110, an internal housing-capsule 115, a main body, an insert 125, and an outer cap 130. The PCB 105 includes the conductive tamper evident wire 110 connected to tamper leads of a chip (not seen in the figures). The wire 110 is soldered together at the other end to form a tamper loop.
The internal housing-capsule 115 is a cylindrical component having an upper half and a lower half divided by an internal wall in the middle of the cylindrical portion. The upper half is configured to receive the insert 125 and the lower part is configured to receive the PCB/inlay with the tamper loop. The upper half has multiple unidirectional notches 116 that allow the insert 125 to be rotated only in one direction. The lower half has a notch, a flat surface, or any such retaining feature that will help to secure the internal housing-capsule 115 to the main body 130 and prevent the capsule 115 from rotating when the insert 125 is rotated while sealing an article. Further, external threads (130b) are formed on the external surface of the main body (130).
In an embodiment, the main body 130 has at least one ratchet 131 provided on the outside (as shown in Figure 5). The main body 130 also has a slot 130a formed on one side to accommodate the wire 110 during assembly. The insert 125 has an opening in the form of a hole 125a on one side to accept the exposed end of the wire 110 of the tamper loop. The insert 125 further includes flaps 128 at one end while a tab 126 is provided at the other end. The flaps 128 allow the insert 125 to be rotated only in one direction after the insert 125 is assembled into the main body 130 of the seal 100. The tab 126 facilitates griping for rotating the insert 125 during the assembly. The tab 126 is required to be broken off after assembling the insert 125 inside the main body 130, to prevent further tightening.
In an embodiment, the insert 125 can be provided with an edge which is positioned to fit under the undercut of the internal housing capsule 115.
A tamper loop is provided around a first opening (not clearly shown in figures) near the bottom of the outer cap 135. A hole 135a is provided on one side of the outer cap 135. The hole 135a is configured to allow the passage of the exposed end of the wire 110 of the tamper loop. The position of the hole 135a is such that it aligns with the hole 125a of the insert 125 after assembly of the seal 100 is complete. The outer cap 135 has a second opening 136 on the top end such that the tab 126 of the insert 125 can pass through the opening and is available for gripping.
In an embodiment, the first opening of the outer cap 135 is wider than the second opening 136.
The steps of assembling the seal 100 are described with the help of Figure 2 through Figure 9. The PCB 105 with a tamper loop of wire 110 is soldered to the tamper leads of PCB inlay/circuit. The PCB 105 is received by the opening defined in the lower half portion of the internal housing-capsule 115. The PCB 105 is thus embedded and sealed into the internal housing-capsule 115 as shown in Figure 4.
The above mentioned PCB 105 embedded in the capsule 115 is then inserted into the open end of a main body 130 through the lower portion of the main body 130. The wire 110 passed through a slot 130a provided in the main body 130.
In an embodiment, the internal housing-capsule 115 can be provided with at least one flat surface or at least one notch on the outside portion, such as to prevent the capsule 115 from spinning after the capsule 115 is assembled into the main body 130.
The insert 125 is then lowered into the above assembly (as shown in Figure 6) until the insert 125 is housed in the upper half portion of the internal housing-capsule 115. The hole 125a and the tab 126 of the insert 125 are aligned such that the hole 125a can be easily aligned with the slot 130a of the main body 130 during assembly.
In an embodiment, the capsule 115 can be provided with an undercut to retain the insert 125 as an added security measure. The undercut also facilitates holding of the insert 125 securely during assembly operations.
The outer cap 135 is then screwed onto the assembly shown in Figure 8 with flaps on the tamper ring completely locked against the unidirectional ratchets 131 of the main body 130. The complete assembly of tamper-proof seal 100 is shown in Figure 1.
The outer cap 135 provides a much larger undercut above the edge of the insert 125. The outer cap 135 is needed to be unscrewed to disassemble the seal 100 which results in the breakage of the tamper ring provided on the outside of the outer cap 135. This helps is detecting the tampering of the packaging of high value and sensitive articles.
When the seal 100 is to be used, the open end of the wire 110 of the tamper loop is wound around the high value article to be secured and then the open end of the wire 110 is inserted through the hole 135a on the side of the outer cap 135. Further, the open end of the wire 110 is pushed all the way through the insert 125. The thread start position of the outer cap 135 is aligned such that the hole 135a provided on the side surface of the outer cap 135 aligns with the slot 130a of the main body 130 and the hole 125a of the insert 125. Once the wire 110 is completely inserted, the insert 125 is rotated using the tab 126. The rotation of the insert 125 winds the wire 110 into the seal 100 and secures the high value article via a tamper loop.
In another embodiment, the seal 100 can be provided with RFID, barcode, or any other NFC tags. If the seal 100 is read using an RFID reader or an NFC phone, the status of the tamper loop can be easily revealed. In case the wire 110 is cut in an attempt for tempering, the loop remains open and the status of the seal is revealed as ‘tampered’.
In another embodiment, if a multi-strand metal wire is used in the seal 100, any cut in the wire 110 will be visually evident.
In this case there will be one additional hole provided below the hole 125a of the insert 125. One end of the multi-strand wire will be inserted into the PCB 105 and the insert 125 is rotated using the tab 126. This will anchor one end of the wire 110. The other end of the wire 110 is left open to be used to secure any high value article.
A plate 140 is fastened to the flange 130c for providing identification marks such labelling, barcode, and QR code.
The advantage of the proposed design of the seal 100 is that, the seal 100 is completely assembled by the manufacturer and thus it cannot be pre-tampered as was possible in conventional anchor type seals.
The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided for purposes of illustration and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Individual components of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but, are interchangeable. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the present disclosure, and all such modifications are considered to be within the scope of the present disclosure.
TECHNICAL ADVANCES AND ECONOMICAL SIGNIFICANCE
The present disclosure described herein above has several technical advantages including, but not limited to, the realization of a tamper-proof seal that:
• prevent pre-tampering of the seal;
• simple in construction; and
• is easy to install.
The foregoing description of the specific embodiments so fully reveals the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the embodiments as described herein.
Throughout this specification the word “comprise”, or variations such as “comprises” or “comprising”, will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element, step, or group of elements, steps, but not the exclusion of any other element, step, or group of elements, integers or steps.
The use of the expression “at least” or “at least one” suggests the use of one or more elements or ingredients or quantities, as the use may be in the embodiment of the disclosure to achieve one or more of the desired objects or results.
While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the components and component parts of the preferred embodiments, it will be appreciated that many embodiments can be made and that many changes can be made in the preferred embodiments without departing from the principles of the disclosure. These and other changes in the preferred embodiment as well as other embodiments of the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure herein, whereby it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the disclosure and not as a limitation.
,CLAIMS:WE CLAIM:
1. A tamper proof seal (100) for securing high value articles, said seal (100) comprising:
a. a hollow cylindrical main body (130) having a flange (130c) formed at one end and ratchets (131) formed on its outer surface adjacent to said flange (130c);
b. a PCB (105) disposed at bottom portion of said main body (130);
c. an insert (125) with external flaps (128) configured to be inserted into said main body (130);
d. an outer cap (135) with a through hole (135a) configured thereon, said outer cap (135) configured to be fastened on said main body (130) and thereby sealing the seal (100); and
e. a wire (110), one end of said wire (110) soldered with said PCB (105) and free end of said wire (110) configured to be wound around a high value article and further configured to be inserted through said through hole (135a) to be further wounded into said seal (100) to form a secure tamper loop.

2. The tamper proof seal (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein undercuts are provided on the outer cap (135).
3. The tamper proof seal (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said seal comprises an internal housing-capsule (115) having unidirectional notches (116) defined on the inner surface of said main body (130), said capsule (115) configured to receive said PCB (105).
4. The tamper proof seal (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein a slot (130a) is defined along the surface of said main body (130), said slot (130a) being parallel to the axis of said main body (130) and configured to permit the passage of said wire (110) when said PCB (105) and said capsule (115) is received by said main body (130).
5. The tamper proof seal (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein external threads (130b) are formed on the external surface of said main body (130).
6. The tamper proof seal (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein a tab (126) is provided on said insert (125) to facilitate placing and turning of said insert inside said seal (100) such as to wound said wire (110) and thereby providing sealing of an article.
7. The tamper proof seal (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein a radial hole (125a) is provided on said insert (125), said hole being configured to permit passage of said wire (110) therethrough.
8. The tamper proof seal (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein a slot (115a) is provided in said capsule (115) to provide space for said wire (110) when said PCB is received into said capsule (115).
9. The tamper proof seal (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein a plate (140) is fastened to said flange (130c) for providing identification marks such labelling, barcode, and QR code.
10. The tamper proof seal (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein a hole (135a) is provided on circumferential surface of said outer cap (135) for allowing passage of said wire (110) in an assembled configuration.
11. The tamper proof seal (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the material of components of said seal (100) is plastic.
12. The tamper proof seal (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said wire (110) is an electrically conductive wire.
13. The tamper proof seal (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said wire (110) is selected from the group consisting of multi-strand metal wires, NFC tags with tamper loops, RFID tags with tamper loops, and NFC+RFID tags with tamper loops.
14. The tamper proof seal (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the lower half portion of said capsule (115) has a retaining feature that helps to secure the capsule (115) to the main body (130) and prevent the capsule (115) from rotating when the insert (125) is rotated while sealing an article.