EAS device with elastic band

Abstract

An electronic article surveillance apparatus for monitoring boxes and other items comprises a base, an electronics housing, and an elastic band. The base has posts and spring loaded pins proximal to the posts. The elastic band has two ends and an aperture at each end. The electronics housing has apertures that align with the spring loaded pins and that give access to switches within the housing. When the base is installed on an item and the elastic band is wrapped around the item with its apertures over the posts, the band restrains the spring loaded pins. When the housing is installed on the base, the band keeps the pins from actuating the switches. If the band has its tension relaxed, by tampering for example, the band ceases to restrain the pins which then actuate the switches. The electronics monitor the switches for tampering and can signal alarms.

Claims

1. An electronic article surveillance (EAS) device comprising: a housing comprising a first attaching interface and comprising a top, a bottom, and at least one side connecting said top and bottom of said housing to define an interior of said housing, said bottom of said housing comprising an access aperture; electronic article surveillance (EAS) electronics located within said interior of said housing, said EAS electronics comprising a tamper switch within said interior, said tamper switch positioned to be accessible through said access aperture; a base comprising a second attaching interface and comprising a top surface and a bottom surface, said first attaching interface and said second attaching interface being configured to releasably attach said housing to said base with said bottom of said housing facing said top surface of said base, said base comprising a post and a biased pin, each extending from said top surface of said base, said biased pin aligning with said access aperture when said housing is attached to said base; and, an elastic band having a first end and a second end, each end having a post aperture through it; wherein, when said base is attached to an object and said elastic band is wrapped around the object and each post aperture of said elastic band is placed over a post and said housing is attached to said base, said elastic band aligns with said biased pin and restrains said biased pin, preventing said biased pin from contacting said tamper switch in said interior of said housing.

2. The EAS device of claim 1, further comprising: an adhesive element on said bottom surface of said base, said adhesive element attaching said base to the object.

3. The EAS device of claim 1, wherein: said base is attached to the object by said elastic band.

4. The EAS device of claim 1, further comprising: a plurality of access apertures in said bottom of said housing and a plurality of tamper switches in said interior, each said tamper switch aligning with an access aperture; a plurality of biased pins extending from said top surface of said base, each said biased pin aligning with an access aperture when said housing is attached to said base; wherein, when said base is attached to an object and said elastic band is wrapped around the object and each post aperture of said elastic band is placed over a post and said housing is attached to said base, said elastic band aligns with said biased pins and restrains said biased pins, preventing said biased pins from contacting a respective tamper switch in said interior of said housing.

5. The EAS device of claim 1, further comprising: a plurality of elastic bands.

6. The EAS device of claim 1, wherein: said EAS electronics further comprise a microprocessor, wireless communication elements, and a battery; said microprocessor monitoring said tamper switch.

7. The EAS device of claim 5, wherein: said wireless communication elements comprise radio frequency communication circuitry.

8. The EAS device of claim 5, wherein: said wireless communication elements comprise an optical port and a light emitting diode.

9. The electronic article surveillance apparatus of claim 1, wherein: said second attaching interface comprises at least two fixed hooks on said base, and said first attaching interface comprises at least one hook receiving slot in said housing and a latch hook slideably mounted on a sliding latch in said housing, wherein, said at least one hook receiving slot receives a respective fixed hook and said latch hook slideably engages a respective fixed hook to maintain said housing on said base.

10. The electronic article surveillance apparatus of claim 1, wherein: said EAS electronics further comprise an assembly switch extending from said bottom of said housing; and said base further comprises a switch aperture through said base; said assembly switch and said switch aperture aligning when said housing is attached to said base.

11. An electronic article surveillance (EAS) device comprising: a housing comprising a top, a bottom, and at least one side connecting said top and bottom of said housing to define an interior of said housing, said bottom of said housing comprising an access aperture; electronic article surveillance (EAS) electronics located within said interior of said housing and comprising a tamper switch, said tamper switch positioned to be accessible through said access aperture; a base comprising a top surface and a bottom surface and a post and a biased pin, said post and biased pin extending from said top surface of said base; an elastic band having a first end and a second end and a post aperture through each said end; said housing and base being configured to releasably attach to each other with said bottom of said housing facing said top surface of said base and said biased pin of said base aligning with said access aperture; wherein, when said base is attached to an object and said elastic band is wrapped around the object and each said post aperture is placed over a post and said housing is attached to said base, said elastic band aligns with said bias pin and restrains said bias pin from contacting said tamper switch.

12. The EAS device of claim 11, further comprising: an adhesive element on said bottom surface of said base, said adhesive element attaching said base to the object.

13. The EAS device of claim 11, said base is attached to the object by said elastic band.

14. The EAS device of claim 11, further comprising: a plurality of access apertures in said bottom of said housing and a plurality of tamper switches in said interior, each said tamper switch aligning with an access aperture; a plurality of biased pins extending from said top surface of said base, each said biased pin aligning with an access aperture when said housing is attached to said base; wherein, when said base is attached to an object and said elastic band is wrapped around the object and each post aperture of said elastic band is placed over a post and said housing is attached to said base, said elastic band aligns with said biased pins and restrains said biased pins, preventing said biased pins from contacting a respective tamper switch in said interior of said housing.

15. The EAS device of claim 11, further comprising: a plurality of elastic bands.

16. The EAS device of claim 11, wherein: said EAS electronics further comprise a microprocessor, wireless communication elements, and a battery; said microprocessor monitoring said tamper switch.

17. The EAS device of claim 16, wherein: said wireless communication elements comprise radio frequency communication circuitry.

18. The EAS device of claim 16, wherein: said wireless communication elements comprise an optical port and a light emitting diode.

19. The electronic article surveillance apparatus of claim 11, wherein: said housing comprises a first attaching interface and said base comprises a second attaching interface; said second attaching interface comprises at least two fixed hooks on said base, and said first attaching interface comprises at least one hook receiving slot in said housing and a latch hook slideably mounted on a sliding latch in said housing, wherein, said at least one hook receiving slot receives a respective fixed hook and said latch hook slideably engages a respective fixed hook to maintain said housing on said base.

20. The electronic article surveillance apparatus of claim 11, wherein: said EAS electronics further comprise an assembly switch extending from said bottom of said housing; and said base further comprises a switch aperture through said base; said assembly switch and said switch aperture aligning when said housing is attached to said base.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

(1) Additional utility and features of the invention will become more fully apparent to those skilled in the art by reference to the following drawings, which illustrate some of the primary features of preferred embodiments.

(2) FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of the housing, base, and elastic band of an embodiment of an EAS device.

(3) FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view of the housing of an embodiment of an EAS device with elastic band.

(4) FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a base of an embodiment of an EAS device on a box and an elastic band next to the box.

(5) FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a base of an embodiment of an EAS device attached to a box and elastic bands attached to the base and box.

(6) FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an embodiment of an EAS device attached to a box.

(7) FIG. 6 is perspective view of an embodiment of an EAS device showing the housing hinging onto the base.

(8) FIG. 7 is a side view of an embodiment of an EAS device attached to a box with a section view of one end of the EAS device.

(9) FIG. 8 is an enlargement of the section of FIG. 7 with an elastic band in place.

(10) FIG. 9 is an enlargement of the section of FIG. 7 with an elastic band severed.

(11) FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of a housing of an embodiment of an EAS device.

(12) FIG. 11 is a perspective view of an embodiment of an EAS device being armed by an external device.

(13) FIG. 12 is a perspective view of an embodiment of an EAS device being detached by application of a magnet.

(14) FIG. 13 is a bottom perspective view of an embodiment of a base of an EAS device having an adhesive element on it.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

(15) FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of the housing 20, base 30, and elastic band 40 of an embodiment of an EAS device 10. Elastic band 40 has two ends 42, each end 42 having an aperture 44 through it. Base 30 has posts 33 topped with caps 34. The size of apertures 44 and the elasticity of elastic band 40 allow apertures 44 to fit over caps 34 onto posts 33. Base 30 is placed on an item, such as a box. Elastic band(s) 40 are wrapped around the item, and caps 34 and posts 33 are inserted through apertures 44 at ends 42 of elastic band 40. Once elastic band 40 is installed on posts 33, caps 34 maintain elastic band 40 on posts 33. In some applications, the flexibility of elastic bands 40 allow quick attachment of base 30 while also maintaining base 30 in position.

(16) Proximal to posts 33, base 30 has spring loaded pins 35 extending upward from its top surface. When elastic bands 40 are attached to base 30 on an item, spring loaded pins 35 are compressed, or restrained, by elastic bands 40. As will be discussed below, this compression of spring loaded pins 35 prevents pins 35 from actuating switches as long as elastic bands 40 are in place.

(17) In addition to posts 33 and spring loaded pins 35, base 30 has mounting hooks 31 and switch aperture 32. Mounting hooks 31 interface with complementary attaching elements of housing 20 to attach housing 20 to base 30. Switch aperture 32 aligns with a switch that extends from the bottom of housing 20.

(18) Still referring to FIG. 1, housing 20 has several features visible on its top surface. Sound apertures 23 allow sounds produced within housing 20 to be more audible. Optical apertures 24 allow exposure of optical elements of the electronics within housing 20. Button aperture 25 and slide aperture 26 expose features of a sliding latch located within housing 20 to allow manipulation of the latch, while dome 21 provides a target for the application of a magnet to housing 20 to release the latch.

(19) FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view of housing 20 of an embodiment of EAS device 10 with elastic band. Housing 20 has several apertures in its bottom surface. Latch pockets 27 house latch hooks 56 and are at the bottom of housing 20 to allow interfacing of latch hooks 56 with some of mounting hooks 31 of base 30. At the back of the bottom of housing 20 in FIG. 2 are hook receptacles 22. Hook receptacles 22 are positioned to receive a set of mounting hooks 31 on base 30 to attach housing 20 to base 30. Other apertures are associated with switches. Tamper switch access apertures 28 provide access to tamper switches 62. When housing 20 is attached to base 30, tamper switch access apertures 28 and tamper switches 62 align with spring loaded pins 35 on base 30. When elastic bands 40 are in place, elastic bands 40 compress spring load pins 35 and prevent them from contacting tamper switches 62. Arming switch aperture 29 allows arming switch 61 to extend from inside of housing 20. When housing 20 is attached to base 30, arming switch aperture 29 and arming switch 61 align with switch aperture 32 in base 30. Arming switch 61 is sufficiently long enough to reach all of the way through base 30. This allows arming switch 61 to contact the item to which EAS device 10 is attached. This changes the state of arming switch 61 which indicates that EAS device 10 is attached to an item. Tamper switches 62 and arming switch 61 are in electrical continuity with electronics within housing 20 and the electronics use the state of the switches to determine the status of EAS device 10.

(20) FIGS. 3-5 illustrate the steps of installing EAS device 10 on an item. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of base 30 of an embodiment of EAS device 10 on a box 101, and elastic band 40 near box 101. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of base 30 of an embodiment of an EAS device 10 attached to a box 101 and elastic bands 40 attached to base 30 and box 101. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an embodiment of EAS device 10 installed on box 101 with housing 20 attached to base 30, and elastic bands 40 wrapping around box 101. Referring to FIG. 4, elastic bands 40 pass over spring loaded pins 35. The tension in elastic bands 40 provide sufficient force to compress spring loaded pins 35. Referring back to FIG. 2, spring loaded pins 35 align with tamper switch access apertures 28 and tamper switches 62.

(21) FIG. 6 is perspective view of an embodiment of an EAS device 10 showing housing 20 hinging onto base 30. In FIG. 6, a set of mounting hooks 31 on base 30 engage with hook receptacles 22 in housing 20. From this position, housing 20 pivots downward onto base 30 for installation. Once housing 20 is hinged down onto base 30, button 54 can be pushed to slide the latch within housing 20 and engage the latch with complementary hook 31 on base 30. Slide 52 allows the latch to be slid in the opposite direction when EAS device 10 is disarmed and removed from an item.

(22) FIG. 7 is a side view of an embodiment of EAS device 10 attached to a box with a section view of one end of the EAS device 10. FIG. 8 is an enlargement of the section of FIG. 7 with elastic band 40 in place. In FIG. 8, spring 36 biases spring loaded pin 35 upward. However, elastic band 40 compresses spring loaded pin 35 and keeps it from contacting, or actuating, tamper switch 62, which remains fully extended in FIG. 8. FIG. 9 is an enlargement of the section of FIG. 7 with elastic band 40 severed. Being severed, elastic band 40 loses the tension to restrain spring loaded pin 35 which, in FIG. 9, extends and actuates tamper switch 62. This changes the state of tamper switch 62, providing a signal to the electronics within housing 20.

(23) FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of housing 20 of an embodiment of EAS device 10. In FIG. 10, housing 20 is split into an upper and lower shell. In the lower shell, some of the features shown in FIG. 2, such as hook receptacles 22, latch pockets 27, tamper switch access apertures 28, arming switch aperture 29, and button aperture 25, may be seen from the inside of housing 20.

(24) In FIG. 10, circuit board 60 provides a mount for several electronic components, including tamper switches 62 and arming switch 61 which align with their respective apertures when circuit board 60 is in housing 20. Arming switch 61 is visible in FIG. 2, while tamper switches 62 are visible in FIGS. 2, 7, 8 and 9. Other elements that may be housed within EAS device 10 include microprocessor 63, infrared communication port 64, audible alarm generator 65, light emitting diode 66, battery 67, and radio frequency communication circuitry 68, many of which may mount directly to circuit board 60. Some electronic elements on circuit board 60 align with apertures in the top of housing 20. Infrared communication port 64 and light emitting diode 66 align with optical apertures 24, and audible alarm generator 65 aligns with sound apertures 24. Additionally, housing 10 may also carry a core and coil passive electronic article surveillance element 69.

(25) Circuit board 60 and microprocessor 63 are capable of storing machine readable instructions and are programmable to monitor the status of EAS device 10 and to communicate with remote programs and other elements of an EAS system. Circuit board 60 and microprocessor 63 may be programmed or reprogrammed via communication with other elements of an EAS system. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 10, circuit board 60 and microprocessor 63 can communicate via infrared communication port 64 and LED 66 or radio frequency communication circuitry 68 and also receive programming instructions. Audible alarm generator 65 is capable of generating an audible alarm when EAS device 10 is tampered with, for example, in an attempted forced separation of housing 20 and base 30 or by the tearing or cutting of elastic bands 40. If elastic bands 40 lose tension, such as by being cut or torn, spring loaded pins 35 will actuate tamper switches 62, leading to an alarm condition. Audible alarm generator 65 may also be used to indicate the status of EAS device 10 as it is assembled, for example, when arming switch 61 has been actuated through assembly of housing 20 and base 30 onto an object. Similarly, LED 66 can be used to provide visual cues for the status of EAS device 10. Battery 67 generally provides power for the electronic components of EAS device 10.

(26) EAS element 69 is a passive element compatible with prior art EAS systems. These EAS systems generate what is called an interrogation field at a given frequency. These interrogation fields will build up a small amount of stored energy on passive EAS elements brought into the zone. When the interrogation field is turned off and the EAS system listens for a response, the passive EAS elements dissipate their energy and generate a signal at a designed frequency. The EAS system is capable of detecting the signal as an indication of the unauthorized presence of the passive elements and can generate an alarm based on the signal. The EAS elements 69 contained within the embodiment of EAS device 10 in FIG. 10 is compatible with prior art and legacy systems providing an addition security mechanism. In addition to the prior art system detection of the passive EAS element 69, in some embodiments circuit board 60 and microprocessor 63 can monitor the status of passive element 69 and issue an alarm as well. If microprocessor 63 or circuit board 60 detects energy storage and dissipation activity in the coil, then audible alarm generator 65 may be instructed to generate an alarm or the communication capabilities of the electronics may be employed to broadcast a signal to respective receivers in the broader EAS system to generate an alarm.

(27) Still referring to FIG. 10, latch 50 is also located within housing 20, fitting over latch pockets 26. Latch 50 has latch hooks 56 on its bottom and is capable of sliding back and forth within housing 20. Button 54 aligns with button aperture 25 in housing 20, and slide 52 aligns with slide aperture 26 in housing 20. Button 54 and slide 52 are thus externally accessible, allowing slide 50 to be manually moved back and forth to engage and disengage latch hooks 56 with respective complementary mounting hooks 31 on base 30.

(28) Some embodiments of EAS device 10 have a blocking mechanism to keep latch 50 in a latched position once EAS device 10 is installed, and latch 50 is engaged. In the embodiment of FIG. 10, blocking pin 70, cup 71, and spring 72 provide the blocking mechanism to keep latch 50 engaged. Cup 71 keeps blocking pin 70 and spring 72 in position on latch 50, and spring 72 biases blocking pin 70 against latch 50. When latch 50 is moved to engage latch hooks 56 with mounting hooks 31, pin aperture 58 moves into alignment with blocking pin 70, and spring 72 moves blocking pin 70 into pin aperture 58. This provides an automatic blocking mechanism when latch 50 is engaged.

(29) When an authorized person desires to remove EAS device 10 and has disarmed EAS device 10, blocking pin 70 can be moved from its blocking position. Blocking pin 70 is at least partially constructed of magnetically attractable material. Blocking pin 70 aligns with dome 21 in housing 20 which gives an externally visible indication of the location of blocking pin 70. Application of a magnet to dome 21 pulls blocking pin 70 against spring 72 and withdraws blocking pin 70 from pin aperture 58 in latch 50. Latch 50 can then be slid to disengage latch hooks 56 from respective mounting hooks 31. Slide 52 provides the external purchase to manually move latch 50 from the latched position.

(30) FIG. 11 is a perspective view of an embodiment of EAS device 10 being armed by external device 100. In FIG. 11, base 30 and elastic bands 40 have been attached to box 101, housing 20 has been attached to base 30, and latch 50 has been engaged. In FIG. 11, button 54 has been pushed to engage latch 50 and slide 52 is moved as well. With EAS device 10 thus installed on box 101, arming switch 61 has contacted box 101 and has had its state changed as a result of that contact. In some embodiments, this is enough to arm EAS device 10. However, in FIG. 11, external device 100 is used to communicate with EAS device 10 to actually arm EAS device 10. External device 100 may wirelessly communicate with EAS device 10 optically, such as via infrared communication port 64 and LED 66, or with wireless signals, such as via radio frequency communication circuitry 68. If not all posts 33 on base 30 are utilized when EAS device 10 is attached to an item 101, i.e. if fewer than the total possible elastic bands 40 are used, this will result in some tamper switches 62 being contacted at the time of installation. The electronics within housing 20 can establish a baseline at the time of arming and account for the number of tamper switches 62 and their individual states.

(31) Once armed, the electronics of EAS device 10 monitors arming switch 61 and tamper switches 62 for changes of state in the switches. If arming switch 61 has a change in state without EAS device 10 being disarmed, the electronics may interpret that as indicating that housing 20 has been detached from the item 101 to which it had been attached. Whether housing 20 and base 30 are still attached to each other or separated from each other, arming switch 61 will still lose contact with box 101. If either of bands 40 are cut or torn to remove EAS device 10 or to gain direct access to the interior of box 101, bands 40 will lose their tension. This will release the respective spring loaded pins 35 and allow them to contact tamper switches 62, changing their state. The electronics of EAS device 10 monitoring tamper switches 62 will register the change in state of tamper switches 62 and determine that EAS device 10 is being tampered with and that an alarm condition exists.

(32) EAS device 10 can communicate an alarm by several means. Audible sound generator 65 may generate an audible alarm to alert persons nearby. EAS device 10 may also communicate an alarm to the broader EAS system with radio frequency communication circuitry 68 or with infrared communication port 64 and LED 66.

(33) FIG. 12 is a perspective view of an embodiment of EAS device 10 being detached by application of a magnet 104. In FIG. 12, magnet 104 is combined with an external communication device that is coupled via cable 105 with the larger EAS system. This external communication device can communicate with EAS device 10 and disarm EAS device 10 in the same ways that hand held remote device 100 of FIG. 11 communicates with EAS device 10. Once EAS device 10 is disarmed, magnet 104 is applied to dome 21 of housing 20 (See FIG. 11, and also FIGS. 1, 5, 6, and 10). Referring to FIG. 10, application of magnet 104 to dome 21 attracts blocking pin 70 and withdraws it from pin aperture 58. This allows latch 50 to be disengaged from mounting hooks 31, which allows housing 20 to be disassembled from base 30. In FIG. 12, slide 52 has been moved to the left, disengaging latch 50 which has extended button 54.

(34) In some applications, elastic bands 40 will be the mechanism by which EAS device 10 is attached to an item. In other applications, embodiments of EAS device 10 may employ supplementary elements to facilitate attachment of EAS device 10 to an item. FIG. 13 is a bottom perspective view of an embodiment of a base 30 of EAS device 10 having adhesive element 37 on it. In the embodiment of FIG. 13, switch aperture 32 is more centered and rectangular shaped. A respective arming switch 61 would be located to align with switch aperture 32. Adhesive element 37 on the bottom of base 30 would assist a user by initially fixing base 30 in place while the user installs elastic bands 40 on base 30. Elastic bands 30 then restrain pins 35 and assist in monitoring the security of installed EAS device 10.

(35) It is to be understood that the embodiments and claims are not limited in application to the details of construction and arrangement of the components set forth in the description and illustrated in the drawings. Rather, the description and the drawings provide examples of the embodiments envisioned, but the claims are not limited to any particular embodiment or a preferred embodiment disclosed and/or identified in the specification. The drawing figures are for illustrative purposes only, and merely provide practical examples of the invention disclosed herein. Therefore, the drawing figures should not be viewed as restricting the scope of the claims to what is depicted.

(36) The embodiments and claims disclosed herein are further capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways, including various combinations and sub-combinations of the features described above but that may not have been explicitly disclosed in specific combinations and sub-combinations. Accordingly, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which the embodiments and claims are based may be readily utilized as a basis for the design of other structures, methods, and systems. In addition, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purposes of description and should not be regarded as limiting the claims.