Secure holder for collectibles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing collectible holders can be vulnerable to counterfeiting as they may be opened and tampered with, allowing counterfeit items to be inserted, despite having security features like ultrasonic welding.
Innovation Solution
A collectible holder design featuring interlocking housings with a locking structure that engages when fully assembled, making it impossible to disassemble without destruction, thereby ensuring the authenticity and grading indicia remain with the original item.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If ultrasonic welding is used to seal the holder, then the holder is intended to prevent opening and stop collectible replacement, but the holder can still be carefully defeated and re-welded by counterfeiters
Solution Approach 1:
The holder is divided into multiple segments including a first housing, a second housing, and a separate locking structure with locking members on each housing. This segmentation allows the locking mechanism to be distributed across multiple components, making it more difficult for counterfeiters to defeat the seal without destroying the holder structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking structure is designed to automatically engage and lock the housings together during the assembly process, before any potential tampering can occur. The locking members are positioned and configured to engage automatically when the housings are brought together, preventing opening without destruction.
2Reliability
If a permanent seal is applied to prevent holder opening, then collectible authenticity is protected, but the holder cannot be opened for legitimate verification or access
Solution Approach 1:
The holder structure incorporates specific local features such as locking members, engagement surfaces, and structural interfaces at critical locations where opening would occur. These localized structural qualities ensure that any attempt to open the holder results in destruction at these specific points, while the rest of the holder remains intact for verification purposes.
3Reliability
If the holder structure is made more complex to prevent tampering, then counterfeiting resistance improves, but manufacturing cost and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The locking structure is integrated with the housings through merging, where locking members are formed as integral parts of or permanently attached to the housing structures. This combining of the locking function with the existing housing components avoids the need for separate, complex locking mechanisms, thereby maintaining ease of manufacture while achieving tamper resistance.
Data Source
AI summary
A holder for storing a collectible, such as a stack of banknotes, having a first housing assembled with a second housing and defining an enclosed space therein. A collectible receiving structure is disposed within the enclosed space and spaced from an outer perimeter wall. A locking structure disposed within the enclosed space, the locking structure having a first locking member formed with the first housing and a second locking member formed with the second housing and configured so that before the first housing is assembled with the second housing the first locking member is movable relative to the second locking member.