WO2000059759A1

WO2000059759A1 - Seal and sealing method

Info

Publication number: WO2000059759A1
Application number: PCT/EP2000/002898
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ludger Voss; Herbert Meyerle
Original assignee: Simons & Voss Identifikationssysteme Gmbh
Priority date: 1999-03-31
Filing date: 2000-03-31
Publication date: 2000-10-12
Also published as: DE19914729A1; AU3558700A

Abstract

The aim of the invention is to provide a seal, preferably a leaden seal, which comprises a transmitter, preferably an emitter for emitting waves, and comprises a receiver for receiving said waves. The emitter and receiver are connected via a conductor that serves to conduct the waves. If the conductor becomes damaged, a disturbed or interrupted transmission of the waves ensues. According to the invention, an evaluation device is provided in order to identify whether the waves have remained unchanged or undisturbed along the conductor or have been disturbed or have not been conducted at all. Based on the result, it can be determined if the conductor was destroyed or damaged.

Description

Seals and sealing procedures

The invention relates to a seal and sealing method for sealing objects and containers, in particular containers.

Seals are known which essentially consist of a wire loop and a seal attached to the two brought together ends of the wire loop. The wire loop wraps around the elements to be secured against each other. In addition, seals are known which essentially consist of a T-shaped bolt which is anchored in a glass vessel with a sealing fluid. If an attempt is made to remove the bolt, the glass vessel is damaged at the same time and the sealing fluid clearly reacts with the ambient air.

The object of the present invention is to provide an improved sealing and sealing method.

The object is achieved with a seal or a seal and a method according to the features of the corresponding patent claims.

The invention is based on the idea of providing a seal or a seal which has a transmitter or emitter for emitting waves and a receiver for receiving the waves. The emitter and receiver are connected by a conductor for guiding the waves. If the conductor is damaged, there is a disturbed or interrupted transmission of the waves. An evaluation device is provided in order to recognize whether the waves are guided along the conductor unchanged or undisturbed or else disturbed or not at all. It can be concluded from this that the conductor was destroyed or damaged.

The sealing method according to the invention accordingly has the following steps: sending or emitting waves, receiving the waves, guiding the waves between emitting and receiving and detecting whether the waves are conducted essentially unchanged or undisturbed.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, the emitter, the receiver and the evaluation device are located in one component at one end of the conductor. At the other end of the conductor, a reflection device is arranged, which can simultaneously represent a thickened locking device. Thus, the conductor and your reflection device form an essentially T-shaped bolt.

Preferably, only a few wave trains long, pulsed ultrasonic waves in the range of> 200 kHz with 50-100 ms long intervals are emitted, transmitted through the conductor, reflected and brought to the receiver. The pulsing of such ultrasonic waves saves energy, but the time interval between the pulses is short enough to immediately indicate that the conductor is destroyed. When using ultrasonic waves, the conductor is preferably made of aluminum or plastic and is hollow. The wall thickness is chosen so that the seal has other loads endures, but is sensitive enough to attempts to destroy it.

In principle, all materials can be used for the conductor that conduct the corresponding waves, such as the preferred ultrasound waves, in a suitable manner. Such materials are also gases, liquids, etc. It is also possible to provide a hollow conductor made of aluminum or plastic with a gas or a liquid in the hollow area, in order to additionally destroy or damage the seal by escaping gas or liquid and if necessary, to mark a corresponding change in the wave characteristics.

The conductor and the reflection element are detachably latched into a component which preferably has the emitter, the receiver and the evaluation orientation.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, the component furthermore has a transmitting device for the remote interrogation of the state of the seal. Such a transmission device means that visual contact, as is required with seals according to the prior art, is no longer absolutely necessary. For example, this is a great advantage when using the seals at container stations, where containers are often in close contact with one another and stacked so that visual contact is very difficult or even impossible.

When sealing, a seal according to the invention is preferably programmed with a password. In the case of a bidirectionally functioning transmission device prefers that the system periodically polls whether it is called.

The "Challenge Response System" is particularly preferably used. The interrogator sends a random number, which is coded in the seal with the password and sent back. If the seal is breached, the sealing device sends a different signal, preferably with a stronger one. Power to clearly overlay other signals from neighboring seals. The so-called waiting cycles or "wake-up cycles" make it possible to add a time component regarding the time since the seal was damaged, even when sending. In particular, the number of "wake-up cycles" is added. A seal and sealing method according to the invention is preferably used for sealing containers.

With the seal or method according to the invention, further data were preferably stored in a storage device, such as electronic freight papers, data about the container, etc. More preferably, this storage device or its content can be queried remotely.

The figures show exemplary preferred embodiments of the invention. Show it:

1 shows a seal with a straight conductor, reflection device at one end of the conductor and emitter and receiver at the other end of the conductor and Figure 2 shows a bent conductor with an emitter at one end and a receiver at the other end of the conductor.

FIG. 1 shows a particularly preferred embodiment of a seal 1 according to the invention. This seal positively connects elements 8 and 9, such as opposite eyes of a container. At the upper end of the conductor 1 in the figure, a reflection element 2 is provided which is at the same time large enough to prevent the seal from slipping through the upper eye 8. A conductor 3 is attached to it in such a way that the reflection device 2 and the conductor 3 form a substantially T-shaped bolt. At the other end of the conductor 3, this is provided, for example, with catches so that the conductor can be detachably latched into a component 4. The release of the conductor 3 from the component 4 should only be possible by authorized persons with known and suitable measures. The locking shown is only one way to represent a detachable connection.

In the preferred embodiment shown, there is an emitter / receiver element 5 in the component 4, in which an emitter 6 and a receiver 7 are integrated. As already mentioned above, emitter 6 emits a pulse, as is shown by way of example in FIG. 1 by curved lines. This pulse is brought by the conductor 3 to the reflection device 2 and is reflected back there to the component 4. The receiver 7 then perceives the input of this pulse.

Ultrasound waves with a frequency of at least 200 kHz with a pulse that is only a few wave trains long at a time interval of 50 are preferred by the emitter β

emitted up to 100 ms. This helps to save energy. After the pulse has been received, an evaluation device (not shown), for example, measures the time between emitting and receiving the pulse. If the conductor 3 has been broken or seriously damaged so that its wall has deformed, this is immediately determined by a different duration and / or length of the pulse.

The conductor 3 is preferably made of a suitable aluminum alloy or a suitable plastic.

More preferably, a component (not shown) is located in component 4, which temporarily or permanently makes it possible to remotely query the state of seal 1. According to a preferred embodiment, a password is initialized, which can be institution-dependent, for example dependent on the responsible customs office. As already mentioned, the transmitter can work unidirectionally or bidirectionally via radio.

FIG. 2 shows a further embodiment of a seal 1 'according to the invention. A conductor 3 'connects an emitter 6' and a receiver IX. The functional principle is essentially the same as that described with reference to FIG. An evaluation device and transmitting device are preferably arranged in the region of the receiver 7 ', but are not shown. In the illustrated embodiment, the emitting of a pulse of a certain duration in a certain frequency in the emitter 6 'is preferably controlled. The receiver 7 'and the evaluation device then make any changes could indicate a break or a defect in the conductor 3 ', true. However, the emitter 6 'and the receiver 7' could also be coupled or structurally integrated. Furthermore, they could also be arranged at one end of the bent conductor 3 ', a reflection device then having to be provided at the other end of the conductor 3'.

Claims

Claims:

1. Seal with:

an emitter (6) for emitting waves, a receiver (7) for receiving the waves, a conductor (3) for guiding the waves from the emitter (6) to the receiver (7), and

an evaluation device for detecting whether the waves are guided along the conductor essentially unchanged and whether the conductor is thus essentially undamaged.

2. Seal according to claim 1, wherein the emitter (6) of the receiver (7) and the evaluation device are arranged in one component (4) at one end of the conductor (3) and at the other end of the conductor (3) is a reflection device (2 ) is arranged.

3. Seal according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the waves are ultrasonic waves, preferably with a frequency of ≥ 200 kHz.

4. Seal according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the waves are pulsed and are more preferably between adjacent pulses between 50 and 100 ms.

5. Seal according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the conductor (3) is substantially straight and the reflection device (2) at one end of the conductor (3) is arranged so that the conductor (3) and the reflection device (2) form a substantially T-shaped bolt.

6. Seal according to one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the conductor (3) is bent.

7. Seal according to one of claims 3 to 6, wherein the conductor is made of an aluminum alloy and / or a plastic and is hollow.

8. Seal according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the seal can be queried remotely.

9. Seal according to claim 8, wherein the seal has a transmitting device.

10. Seal according to claim 9, wherein the transmission device is integrated in the component (4).

11. Seal according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the transmission device makes use of the so-called "challenge response system", and codes and transmits a random number with an entered password as long as the seal is undamaged.

12. The seal of claim 11, wherein in "wake-up cycles" the seal listens for whether a remote query is requested.

13. Seal according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the seal transmits on request or independently with increased performance, should it have been damaged.

14. Seal according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the seal has a storage device for additional information, such as freight data, and this storage device can preferably be queried remotely.

15. A method for sealing, in particular with a seal according to one of the preceding claims, with the method steps:

Emitting waves,

Receiving the waves,

Guiding the waves between emitting and

Receive and

Evaluate to detect whether the waves are guided essentially unchanged.

16. Use of a seal according to one of claims 1 to 14 and a method according to claim 15 for the sealing of containers.