US3790198A - Self-locking safety seal and method of identifying tampering therewith - Google Patents

Self-locking safety seal and method of identifying tampering therewith Download PDF

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Publication number
US3790198A
US3790198A US3790198DA US3790198A US 3790198 A US3790198 A US 3790198A US 3790198D A US3790198D A US 3790198DA US 3790198 A US3790198 A US 3790198A
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US
United States
Prior art keywords
seal
main parts
holding device
identification marks
loop
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
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English (en)
Inventor
A Hagen
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
GES fur KERNFORSHUNG MBH DT
KERNFORSHUNG MBH GES
Original Assignee
KERNFORSHUNG MBH GES
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Application filed by KERNFORSHUNG MBH GES filed Critical KERNFORSHUNG MBH GES
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Publication of US3790198A publication Critical patent/US3790198A/en
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Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
    • G09F—DISPLAYING; ADVERTISING; SIGNS; LABELS OR NAME-PLATES; SEALS
    • G09F3/00—Labels, tag tickets, or similar identification or indication means; Seals; Postage or like stamps
    • G09F3/02—Forms or constructions
    • G09F3/03—Forms or constructions of security seals
    • G09F3/0376—Forms or constructions of security seals using a special technique to detect tampering, e.g. by ultrasonic or optical means
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
    • Y10T292/00—Closure fasteners
    • Y10T292/48—Seals
    • Y10T292/494—Interengaging shackle ends, inclosing housing

Definitions

  • ABSTRACT A self-locking safety seal composed of a body, a holding device, a holder and a loop.
  • the body includes two main parts made of light transmitting material with one of the main parts supporting the holding device and the other main part supporting the holder.
  • the holder engages and locks with the holding device in the assembled condition of the body.
  • the loop includes a corrugated tube which has two ends secured in the holding device.
  • the method of detecting tampering with a self-locking safety seal including placing identification marks on inner parts of the body, photographically recording by means of an original photograph, the identification marks, photographically recording the identification marks during inspection of the seal and comparing the photographs.
  • the present invention relates to a method of identifying tampering with self-locking safety seals used for the protection of containers holding valuable objects, e.g., fissile nuclear materials, and consisting of a body of the seal with a loop run through eyes firmly attached to individual parts of the containers to be sealed and with ends extending into the body seal, the restoration of which loop after breaking can be effected only by a replacement of components of the seal with some or all of the components of the seal equipped. with identification marks.
  • valuable objects e.g., fissile nuclear materials
  • seals serves mainly two different objectives.
  • the main concern is proof of the genuine nature of an object, the seal in this case guaranteeing this genuine condition.
  • seals are used for the protection of objects, i.e., to discover unallowed tampering with these objects.
  • These seals which also constitute the subjectv of the present invention, are used as safety seals.
  • Sealing is one of several possibilities of protecting valuable objects. However, relative to other measures of protecting objects, e.g., alarm systems, safes, or guards, sealing is a simple passive means which, however, will indicate unallowed tampering with the objects to be protected only after inspection. It does not provide any prevention of or resistance against such tampering. For this reason, the main attention will be concentrated on damaging or breaking the seals in cases of tampering with the objects contained within the sealed enclosure, because broken seals will provide easier access to the objects than opening of the enclosure by force. In order to render such tampering with the seal unidentifiable, anyone attempting to break the seal will try to restore the seal to its original condition after having broken it. Since, in general, this is possible only by the use of exchange components of the seal, it is important to apply such identification marks to the components of the undamaged sea] as to make their determination or falsification futile.
  • the loop surrounding the components of a container to be protected consists of a bimetallic wire which is introduced into a body of the seal and glued into it by means of synthetic resin glue together with the more than two components of the body of the seal which are partly screwed together.
  • the synthetic resin glue (two component resin) contains admixtures of metal particles. The fabrication of these seals is very time consuming because the synthetic resin glue takes at least a few hours to cure without application of heat in a furnace.
  • the present invention offers a method of sealing and identification of tampering with the seal which is characterized by the application of identification marks to inner components of the body of the seal, by photographically recording the relative positions and the structure of the identification marks by means of an original photograph through the light transmitting wall of the body of the seal, and by another photograph of the identification marks taken during inspection of the seal and its comparison with the original photograph.
  • An extension of the present invention provides for a device for the execution of the method which is characterized by the loop being made of a corrugated tube, whose two ends can be fastened in a holding device installed within the body of the seal, and enclosing, e.g., a wire which can be tied up within the body of the seal, and by the body of the seal consisting of two transparent main parts, a holder being attached to one of the two main parts which, in the assembled condition of the body of the seal, locks in a holding device arranged in the second main part.
  • the identification marks are made of colorless varnish containing various sizes and shapes of metal particles which can be recorded photographically by means of a Polaroid camera.
  • the main parts of the body of the seal may be made of Plexiglas or any other transparent plastic, while the wire inside the corrugated tube of the loop, which may also be transparent, can be composed of several strands.
  • the present invention makes it impossible even to experts in sealing techniques to restore a seal once broken to its original condition without being detected.
  • the inspection of a seal can be carried out by any layman after short instruction.
  • FIG. 1 is a side view, partly in cross section, of the body and part of the loop of the seal of one embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 2 is a side detail view of one element of the holding device of FIG. 1.
  • FIG. 1 shows part of the loop 13 and the body of the seal 14 in a sectional view.
  • the loop 13 consists of a corrugated tube 2 made of metal or plastic with metallike properties which surrounds a wire 1.
  • the wire 1 may consist of several intertwined strands of metal, e.g., copper.
  • the loop 13 may be run, e.g., through eyelets (not shown) which are fixed to components of a container for shipping or storing expensive materials, e.g., FISSILE MATERIAL all parts of the container are not shown).
  • the corrugated tube 2 may have a small diameter of a few millimeters, e.g. 10 millimeters, and can be commercially obtained in that form.
  • the two ends 15, 16 of the corrugated tube 2 including the wire 1 are introduced into the interior 19 of the body of the seal 14 through two openings 17, 18 of the second main part 3 (upper lid).
  • the edges 21, 22 of the slots 11 engage into the recesses 23, 24 between two successive bulges of the corrugated tube 2 and, in the assembled condition of the body of the seal 14, hold the ends l5, 16 of the loop 13.
  • ends 25, 26 of the wire 1 also extend into the interior 19 of the body of the seal 14 and can be firmly tied (knot In this connection, it is advisable to design the inner diameter of the corrugated tube 2 in such a way that the knot 5 cannot be run through.
  • the body of the seal 14 proper consists essentially of the one main part 8 (lower lid) and the other main part 3, each of which can be designed as a cylinder with a closing lid 27 and 28, respectively.
  • a ring 6 may be glued to the inner wall 31 in the second main part 3 in such a way that part of the ring 6 stands out beyond the edge 30 of the second main part 3 and, with the body of the seal 14 in the assembled condition, is attached to the inner wall 29 of one main part 8 in a positive connection, thus centering the two main parts 3, 8 relative to each other.
  • An eye 33 of metal or plastic is attached to the inner surface 32 of the closing lid 27, for instance by gluing, which is part of the holder 9 just as the pin 7 with the head 34, which holder 9 together with the holding device 4 keep the two main parts 3, 8 in place.
  • the pin 7 is made of plastic or metal and is expanded at its lower end 35 and supported in the eye 33.
  • the length of the pin 7 and, especially, the distance between the inner surface 32 of the main part 8 and the lower edge of the head 34 adjacent to the pin 7 is dimensioned so that in the closed position of the body of the seal 14 the support blades 12 (cf. also FIG.2) of the holding device 4 engage behind the head 34.
  • the two main parts 3 and 8, the holding device 9 and the ring 6 may be made of a light transmitting Plexiglas or transparent plastic material.
  • FIG. 2 is a more detailed representation of the holding device 4 as shown in FIG. 1. It consists of the area 20 in which the slots 11 are arranged radial to each other. At the junction of the two slots 11 there is an opening for introduction dimensioned so that the ends 15, 16 of the corrugated tube 2 can just be passed through.
  • Two springs 36, 37 with a slight prestress (slightly bent) protrude from the area almost at right angles, their ends shaped into bent ends 38, 39 from which the two support blades 12 are bent away in an acute angle in the direction of the area 20.
  • Their ends 40, 41 form a narrow slot through which the head 34 of the holding device 9 (according to FIG. 1) slides during assembly of the two main parts 3 and '8 of the body of the seal 14 but cannot be retracted without tearing off the support blades 12 from the holding device 4 at the bent ends 38 and 39.
  • the holding device 4 may be made of metal or plastic material.
  • the body of the seal 14 is assembled as follows: First, the two ends 15, 16 of the corrugated tube 2 are introduced into the interior of the body of the seal 14 through the openings 17, 18 of the second main part 3. Afterwards, the ends 15 and 16, respectiveoy are successively run through the entrance opening 10 of the holding device 4 and slid sideways into one each of the slots 11. The edges 21 and 22 of the slots 11 hold the ends l5, 16 of the corrugeted tube 2 in a positive connection. Then the holding device 4 is forced into the interior of the main part 3 and the bent ends 38, 39 of the springs 36, 37 are locked in ashoulder 42. This shoulder 42 is constituted by the inner wall 31 of the main part 3 and the edge of the ring 6.
  • the two openings 17, 18 in the closing lid 28 and the slots 11 of the holding device 4 complete the radial fixation of the two ends l5, 16 of the corrugated tube 2.
  • the two ends 25, 26 of the wire 1 are combined in a knot 5 within the body of the seal 14.
  • the head 34 of the pin 7 is slid through the slot constituted by the two ends 40, 42 of the support blades 12.
  • the identification marks are applied to the parts of the body of the seal 14 which are no longer accessible after assembly of the body of the seal 14 without breaking it, e.g., the inner surfaces 31 and/or 32 of the main parts 3 and 8.
  • the identification marks (they are not shown in FIGS. 1 or 2) can be applied with a simple paint spray gun or even by means of a brush. In these cases, the metal particles in the varnish are arranged in a strictly random way.
  • the position of the identification marks relative to each other, e.g., on the two main parts 3 and 8, and the structure of the identification marks and the identification marks on other parts of the body of the seal 14 are then recorded after assembly (or before) of the body of the seal 14 by means of an original photograph taken at a specific distance from the body of the seal 14 with a modified Polaroid camera. Modification of the photograph means that this camera is able to produce negatives (originals) of a reasonable size (DIN A 5) instead of prints on paper. Moreover, it is advantageous to set the camera (which also is not shown on FIGS. 1 and 2) on a support, possibly with a lighting fixture, in such a way that an equal distance to the body of the seal 14 is ensured for all photographs taken of identification marks.
  • the camera it is possible to set the camera to specific identification marks in the body of the seal 14 so that all photographs can be taken from the same position.
  • a particular advantage in photographing identification marks by means of a camera lies in the fact that the inspection of the body of the seal 14 also can be carried out by means of photographs and that it can be performed at any place. Photographing the identification marks within the body of the seal 14 is possible because the materialof which at least the main parts 3 and 8 are made is a light transmitting plastic (Plexiglas). However, another possibility would be photographing the identification marks prior to assem bly of the body of the seal 14 (however, in that case excluding their position relative to each other).
  • Inspection of the body of the seal 14 is simple and can be performed almost anywhere. First, all components of the seal are visually inspected for damage (traces of breaks)(period) If the corrugated tube 2 is suspected of having been replaced after breaking, the wire 1 in the loop 13 can be inspected after disassembly of the body of the seal 14. If there has been a replacement of the corrugated tube 2, at least the wire 1 must have been replaced also or newly tied or joined in some other way and some other place after the break. However, replacement of the corrugated tube 2 results in the body of the seal 14 or at least the holding device 4 being damaged or, if the ends 15, 16 have been removed from slits 11, being deformed.
  • a self-locking safety seal comprising, in combination: a body including two transparent main parts; means connecting said main parts together; said connecting means comprising a holding device installed within one of said main parts and a holder attached to the other of said main parts; and a loop comprising a corrugated tube, said tube having two ends which are secured in said holding device, and said two main parts being sealed together when said holder engages and locks with said holding device.
  • identifiaction marks made from colorless

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Computer Security & Cryptography (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
  • Packages (AREA)
  • Quick-Acting Or Multi-Walled Pipe Joints (AREA)
  • Bag Frames (AREA)
  • Burglar Alarm Systems (AREA)
US3790198D 1970-06-11 1971-06-02 Self-locking safety seal and method of identifying tampering therewith Expired - Lifetime US3790198A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
DE19702028672 DE2028672A1 (de) 1970-06-11 1970-06-11 Verfahren zur Identifizierung von Angriffen auf selbstschließende Sicherheitssiegel

Publications (1)

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US3790198A true US3790198A (en) 1974-02-05

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US (1) US3790198A (de)
AT (1) AT302886B (de)
CH (1) CH528120A (de)
DE (1) DE2028672A1 (de)
GB (1) GB1320462A (de)
LU (1) LU63310A1 (de)
NL (1) NL7108085A (de)

Cited By (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0018198A3 (en) * 1979-04-24 1981-04-22 European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) System for the identification of objects, for example nuclear fuel elements
FR2535092A1 (fr) * 1982-10-25 1984-04-27 Ca Atomic Energy Ltd Dispositif garantisseur de l'inviolabilite d'un contenant, a exploration ultrasonique
FR2591013A1 (fr) * 1985-12-04 1987-06-05 Commissariat Energie Atomique Sceau a cable multibrins et procede de controle de ce sceau
US6165542A (en) * 1998-12-23 2000-12-26 United Technologies Corporation Method for fabricating and inspecting coatings
US20050023844A1 (en) * 2003-07-30 2005-02-03 Itw Limited Sealing device
US20150063634A1 (en) * 2012-06-11 2015-03-05 Hi-Tech Solutions Ltd. System and method for detecting cargo container seals

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
RU2124234C1 (ru) * 1996-04-18 1998-12-27 Российский федеральный ядерный центр - Всероссийский научно-исследовательский институт технической физики Оптическая пломба и способ контроля ее целостности
RU2121167C1 (ru) * 1996-09-10 1998-10-27 Российский федеральный ядерный центр - Всероссийский научно-исследовательский институт технической физики Способ контроля целостности

Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US1700496A (en) * 1927-04-28 1929-01-29 Heitzler Frank Method of identifying precious stones
US1909203A (en) * 1931-05-09 1933-05-16 Frederick T Macklin Seal
US1952085A (en) * 1933-07-22 1934-03-27 Mayer Jacques Azarias Metallic sealing device
US1977301A (en) * 1932-12-16 1934-10-16 Andrew O Bradford Seal
US2360325A (en) * 1942-03-18 1944-10-17 Durochrome Co Inc Method and means for insuring sabotage detection
US3221428A (en) * 1963-03-19 1965-12-07 Robert M Fischler Transparent encasement for documents and the like

Patent Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US1700496A (en) * 1927-04-28 1929-01-29 Heitzler Frank Method of identifying precious stones
US1909203A (en) * 1931-05-09 1933-05-16 Frederick T Macklin Seal
US1977301A (en) * 1932-12-16 1934-10-16 Andrew O Bradford Seal
US1952085A (en) * 1933-07-22 1934-03-27 Mayer Jacques Azarias Metallic sealing device
US2360325A (en) * 1942-03-18 1944-10-17 Durochrome Co Inc Method and means for insuring sabotage detection
US3221428A (en) * 1963-03-19 1965-12-07 Robert M Fischler Transparent encasement for documents and the like

Cited By (11)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0018198A3 (en) * 1979-04-24 1981-04-22 European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) System for the identification of objects, for example nuclear fuel elements
US4359903A (en) * 1979-04-24 1982-11-23 European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) System for the identification of objects, for example nuclear fuel elements
FR2535092A1 (fr) * 1982-10-25 1984-04-27 Ca Atomic Energy Ltd Dispositif garantisseur de l'inviolabilite d'un contenant, a exploration ultrasonique
FR2591013A1 (fr) * 1985-12-04 1987-06-05 Commissariat Energie Atomique Sceau a cable multibrins et procede de controle de ce sceau
EP0229551A1 (de) * 1985-12-04 1987-07-22 Commissariat A L'energie Atomique Plombe mit mehradrigem Draht
US6165542A (en) * 1998-12-23 2000-12-26 United Technologies Corporation Method for fabricating and inspecting coatings
US20050023844A1 (en) * 2003-07-30 2005-02-03 Itw Limited Sealing device
US7226095B2 (en) * 2003-07-30 2007-06-05 Itw Limited Sealing device
US20150063634A1 (en) * 2012-06-11 2015-03-05 Hi-Tech Solutions Ltd. System and method for detecting cargo container seals
US9330339B2 (en) * 2012-06-11 2016-05-03 Hi-Tech Solutions Ltd. System and method for detecting cargo container seals
US20160247268A1 (en) * 2012-06-11 2016-08-25 Hi-Tech Solutions Ltd. System and method for detecting cargo container seals

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
DE2028672A1 (de) 1971-12-23
GB1320462A (en) 1973-06-13
CH528120A (de) 1972-09-15
LU63310A1 (de) 1971-09-13
NL7108085A (de) 1971-12-14
AT302886B (de) 1972-10-25

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