DESC:FIELD
The present disclosure relates to the field of seals.
BACKGROUND
The background information herein below relates to the present disclosure but is not necessarily prior art.
Generally, logistics and e-commerce industries use seals for sealing packaging units. The seals can also be used in the utilities industry for sealing gas or power meters after calibration, for sealing chemical drums and for other purposes. Each seal has a unique identity in the form of a printed code (2D, liner code etc.) or an electronic ID in the form of near field communication (NFC) or radio frequency identification (RFID).
The seal typically comprises a feature that leaves behind a clear evidence of any attempt of tamper since no seal is tamper-proof, but can only be tamper evident. Conventional seals are generally difficult to install. Further, they can be pre-tampered before installation in such a way that leaves no visual evidence of any tampering being done thereon. If a seal is pre-tampered, it becomes easy for the seal to be easily unlocked and re-locked. Additionally, there are some seal configurations that can be tampered easily after locking even without the need for pre-tampering, and which leave no visual evidence of any tamper attempt.
There is, therefore, felt a need for a seal that alleviates the above mentioned drawbacks.
OBJECT
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-evident seal.
Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a tamper-evident seal which can be easily assembled.
Yet another object of the present disclosure is to provide a tamper-evident seal which cannot be tampered before being installed.
Still another object of the present disclosure is to provide a tamper-evident seal which has a configuration that prevents tampering after installation.
SUMMARY
The present disclosure envisages an anchored-wire seal. The seal comprises a housing, an insert, and an anchoring wire. The housing has a pair of opposite wide walls, and an opening configured on an operative top portion of the housing. The housing has at least one pair of apertures defined in front of each other on the opposite walls. The housing further has an inner serrated profile configured on side walls thereof. The insert is defined by a collapsible core. The insert has at least two pairs of locking tabs including an operative front pair of locking tabs and an operative rear pair of locking tabs along the direction of insertion. Each locking tab has an outer serrated profile configured thereon complementary to the inner serrated profile of the side walls of the housing. The anchoring wire is attached to the insert, and has a length that allows insertion of the anchoring wire through the apertures. The operative front pair of the locking tabs is configured to lock against the serrated inner profile of the housing in a configuration in which the insert is pushed in the housing to a first predetermined depth. The insert is configured to allow passing of the anchoring wire through the apertures at the first predetermined depth of insertion in the housing. The operative rear pair of the locking tabs is configured to lock into the serrated inner profile of the housing in a configuration in which the insert is pushed in the housing to a second predetermined depth. The insert is configured to cause the anchoring wire, that is passed through the apertures, to be pulled inwards in a bent configuration as well as to cause unlocking of the operative front pair of locking tabs and locking of the operative rear pair of locking tabs against the serrated inner profile of the housing, thereby anchoring the anchoring wire for tamper-proofing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING
An anchored wire seal of the present disclosure will now be described with the help of the accompanying drawing, in which:
Figure 1 illustrates an isometric view of a housing of the seal;
Figure 2 illustrates an isometric view of the insert of the seal;
Figure 3 illustrates a front view of the insert of the seal;
Figures 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d and 4e illustrate front view of various embodiments of the insert of the seal; and
Figure 5a, 5b and 5c illustrates a schematic view of the steps of insertion of the insert in the housing of the seal.
LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS
100 – seal
105 – housing
110 – insert
115 – wire
120 – tubular protrusion
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, elements, modules, units and/or components, but do not forbid the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
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.
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.
An anchored-wire seal 100, of the present disclosure, will now be described with reference to Figure 1 through Figure 5c.
The anchored-wire seal 100 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the seal 100’) comprises a housing 105, an insert 110, and an anchoring wire 115. The housing 105 has a pair of opposite wide walls, and an opening configured on an operative top portion of the housing 105. The housing 105 has at least one pair of apertures defined in front of each other on the opposite walls. The housing 105 further has an inner serrated profile configured on side walls thereof. The insert 110 is defined by a collapsible core. The insert 110 has at least two pairs of locking tabs including an operative front pair of locking tabs and an operative rear pair of locking tabs along the direction of insertion 110. Each locking tab has an outer serrated profile configured thereon complementary to the inner serrated profile of the side walls of the housing 105. The anchoring wire 115 is attached to the insert 110, and has a length that allows insertion 110 of the anchoring wire 115 through the apertures.
The operative front pair of the locking tabs is configured to lock against the serrated inner profile of the housing 105 in a configuration in which the insert 110 is pushed in the housing 105 to a first predetermined depth. The insert 110 is configured to allow passing of the anchoring wire 115 through the apertures at the first predetermined depth of insertion 110 in the housing 105. The operative rear pair of the locking tabs is configured to lock into the serrated inner profile of the housing 105 in a configuration in which the insert 110 is pushed in the housing 105 to a second predetermined depth. The insert 110 is configured to cause the anchoring wire 115, that is passed through the apertures, to be pulled inwards in a bent configuration as well as to cause unlocking of the operative front pair of locking tabs and locking of the operative rear pair of locking tabs against the serrated inner profile of the housing 105, thereby anchoring the anchoring wire 115 for tamper-proofing. The sliding friction exerted during assembly of the insert 110 in the housing 105 forces the core towards the centre and allows the oversized locking tabs of the insert 110 to pass through without much pressure.
A portion of the insert 110 is configured to cover the apertures at the second predetermined depth of insertion 110 of the insert 110 in the housing 105 and thereby block the apertures from each other.
In a preferred embodiment, the insert 110 includes a hollow portion between the operative front pair of locking tabs and the operative rear pair of locking tabs. The hollow core of the insert (110) allows the insert (110) to collapse inwards while the insert (110) is pushed into the housing (105). The sliding friction exerted during assembly of the insert (110) in the housing (105) forces the core towards the centre and allows the oversized locking tabs of the insert (110) to pass through without much pressure. The surface texture of the housing (105) and the insert (110), and the angle of the hinges is optimized to reduce the pressure required for assembling the seal (100).
Further, the insert 110 includes a pair of hinges provided thereon. The hinges are configured to allow the insert 110 to flex inwards when the insert 110 is being pushed in the housing 105. The angle of the hinges is optimized to reduce the pressure required for assembling the seal 100.
The insert 110 includes at least one break-away section configured to break-away if tampering forces beyond a predetermined value are applied while pulling-apart the insert 110 from the housing 105. More specifically, the break-away section is configured to withstand compressive forces exerted on the insert 110 while the seal 100 is being locked or assembled. In an embodiment, if an attempt is made to pull apart an assembled either pre-assembled or fully assembled seal 100, the forces exerted will be considerably higher and these weak points of the break-away section will break-away. The break-away section parts cannot be put back together without leaving a visual evidence of tampering, thus alerting the handlers about the tampering.
The housing 105 includes a first plurality of grooves configured on the walls thereof. The insert 110 includes a plurality of grooves configured on operative edges of the insert 110 complementary to the first plurality of grooves. The grooves of the housing 105 and the insert 110 are configured to securely hold therebetween the anchoring wire 115.
In an embodiment, the insert 110 includes at least one frontmost pair of locking tabs defined by projections and attached to the insert 110 with the help of hinges. The frontmost pair of locking tabs is configured to remain unaffected when tampering forces beyond a predetermined value are applied on the insert 110, to allow collapsing of the core.
In an embodiment, the insert 110 includes at least one support structure having a first end thereof attached to the insert 110 and a second end disjointed. The support structure is configured to ensure straight alignment of the insert 110 into the housing 105. The support structures further relieve the vertical pressure exerted on the break-away sections and the hinge itself during assembly which thereby prevents failure. Additionally, if there is an attempt to dislodge the insert 110 from the housing 105 by pulling them apart, the support structure does not reinforce the break-away legs or the hinges and allows failure, which again provides evidence of tampering. Moreover, the support structures control the vertical movement of the core during assembly since, it is desirable that the core moves horizontally toward the centre to avoid being compressed vertically.
In an embodiment, the housing 105 includes a tubular protrusion 120 provided around the outer surface of each aperture configured on the housing 105. The tubular protrusion 120 allows an additional bend in the wire 115 when an attempt is made to forcefully pull it free. The tubular protrusion 120 further gives additional visual tamper evidence if an attempt is made to cut the wire 115 near the aperture and re-insert the cut end into the aperture. Thus, it is ensured that the wire 115 within the housing 105 cannot not be retracted or be pushed further into the housing 105 to create space to re-insert the cut end.
In each embodiment, the apertures on the outer housing 105 are blocked by a portion of the insert 110 once the seal 100 is fully assembled. This will prevent any attempt to cut away a portion of the wire 115 and re-insert the cut end into the aperture.
In one embodiment, the housing 105 and the insert 110 are manufactured from polycarbonate, tritan, polyethylene terephthalate, or polypropylene. In another embodiment, the housing 105 is manufacturing by injection moulding.
In an embodiment, the anchoring wire 115 is a multi-strand metal wire 115 which is configured to allow proper assembling of the seal 100. The metal wire 115 is either insert 110 moulded across the top of the insert 110 and housing 105, or is pre-assembled with the insert 110. The wire 115 is anchored through the aperture on the housing 105 during assembling of the seal 100. The wire 115 is then securely located in the grooves configured in the housing 105 and the grooves configured on the insert 110. The grooves ensure that the wire 115 is securely held therein, and prevents pulling of the wire 115 after assembling the seal 100. The grooves further ensure that that the wire 115 is not held so firmly that an excessive pressure is required to lock the seal 100.
During assembling, a first end of the wire 115 is inserted 110 through the aperture configured on the front surface of the housing 105 and through the hollow portion of the insert 110, then wound around the asset to be sealed and finally is inserted back into one or more of the apertures configured on the back surface of the housing 105 and through the insert 110, while the insert 110 is pushed in the housing 105 upto the first predetermined depth. The insert 110 is then pushed through to anchor the wire 115 upto the second predetermined depth. The insert 110 is thereafter pushed through the locking tabs of the housing 105 to complete the assembling of the seal 100. Once pre-assembled, there is no way to access the locking tabs for pre-tampering of the seal 100 since the insert 110 is completely concealed by the extended housing 105. The operator thereafter presses the insert 110 fully into the housing 105, until the top of the insert 110 is flush with the top of the housing 105. As a result, the open end of the wire 115 is anchored into the seal 100 thus forming a secure loop around the asset. The wire 115 has to be cut in order to release the asset. The part of the wire 115 embedded inside the seal 100 cannot be released even after cutting, thus ensuring that the seal 100 cannot be reused.
The dimensions and material used for manufacturing the housing 105 and the insert 110 can be optimized to suit different applications and environments.
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 ADVANCEMENTS
The present disclosure described herein above has several technical advantages including, but not limited to, the realization of an anchored-wire seal, which:
• includes features that break away at more than one location to improve tamper evidence;
• has flexible or collapsible core design for easier assembly;
• has an extended housing to block access to locking mechanism and prevent pre-tampering of the seal; and
• has an increased life and performance of components of the seal.
The embodiments herein and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained with reference to the non-limiting embodiments in the following description. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments herein may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein.
The foregoing description of the specific embodiments so fully reveal 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.
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. An anchored-wire seal (100) comprising:
• a housing (105) having a pair of opposite wide walls, and an opening configured on an operative top portion of said housing (105), said housing (105) having at least one pair of apertures defined in front of each other on said opposite walls, said housing (105) having an inner serrated profile configured on side walls;
• an insert (110) defined by a collapsible core, said insert (110) having at least two pairs of locking tabs including an operative front pair of locking tabs and an operative rear pair of locking tabs along the direction of insertion (110), each locking tab having an outer serrated profile configured thereon complementary to the inner serrated profile of said side walls of said housing (105); and
• an anchoring wire (115) attached to said insert (110), and having a length that allows insertion (110) of said anchoring wire (115) through said apertures;
wherein said operative front pair of said locking tabs is configured to lock against said serrated inner profile of said housing (105) in a configuration in which said insert (110) is pushed in said housing (105) to a first predetermined depth, said insert (110) is configured to allow passing of said anchoring wire (115) through said apertures at said first predetermined depth of insertion (110) in said housing (105),
wherein said operative rear pair of said locking tabs is configured to lock into said serrated inner profile of said housing (105) in a configuration in which said insert (110) is pushed in said housing (105) to a second predetermined depth, and said insert (110) is configured to cause said anchoring wire (115), that is passed through said apertures, to be pulled inwards in a bent configuration as well as to cause unlocking of said operative front pair of locking tabs and locking of the operative rear pair of locking tabs against said serrated inner profile of said housing (105), thereby anchoring said anchoring wire (115) for tamper-proofing.
2. The seal (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein a portion of said insert (110) is configured to cover said apertures at the second predetermined depth of insertion (110) of said insert (110) in said housing (105) and thereby block said apertures from each other.
3. The anchored-wire (115) seal (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said insert (110) includes a hollow portion between said operative front pair of locking tabs and said operative rear pair of locking tabs.
4. The anchored-wire (115) seal (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said insert (110) includes a pair of hinges provided thereon, said hinges configured to allow said insert (110) to flex inwards when said insert (110) is being pushed in said housing (105).
5. The anchored-wire (115) seal (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said insert (110) includes at least one break-away section configured to break-away if tampering forces beyond a predetermined value are applied while pulling-apart said insert (110) from said housing (105).
6. The anchored-wire (115) seal (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said housing (105) includes a first plurality of grooves configured on the walls thereof, and said insert (110) includes a plurality of grooves configured on operative edges of said insert (110) complementary to said first plurality of grooves, said grooves of said housing (105) and said insert (110) configured to securely hold therebetween said anchoring wire (115).
7. The anchored-wire (115) seal (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said insert (110) includes at least one frontmost pair of locking tabs defined by projections and attached to said insert (110) with the help of hinges, said frontmost pair of locking tabs configured to remain unaffected when tampering forces beyond a predetermined value are applied on said insert (110), to allow collapsing of said core.
8. The anchored-wire (115) seal (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said insert (110) includes at least one support structure having a first end thereof attached to said insert (110) and a second end disjointed, said support structure configured to ensure straight alignment of said insert (110) into said housing (105).
9. The anchored-wire (115) seal (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said housing (105) and said insert (110) are manufactured from polycarbonate, tritan, polyethylene terephthalate, or polypropylene.
10. The anchored-wire (115) seal (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said anchoring wire (115) is a multi-strand metal wire (115).