Reusable Electronic Module for Bolt Security Seal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electronic security seals require the entire assembly to be discarded when the bolt is severed, leading to costly replacements and potential contamination of the reusable electronic module if the housing is opened.
Innovation Solution
An electronic security seal with a reusable electronics module that does not need to be opened to remove the bolt, featuring a bolt with a protruding tip portion locked by a locking device, allowing the bolt to be severed for removal while keeping the module intact for reuse, and employing conventional tamper-indicating circuitry.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the entire seal assembly is discarded when the bolt is severed, then security and tamper evidence are maintained, but cost increases due to replacement of the reusable electronic module
Solution Approach 1:
The seal is divided into two independent parts: a disposable bolt and a reusable electronic module. The bolt can be severed to indicate tampering while the electronic module remains intact and can be reused with a new bolt, eliminating the need to discard the entire assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The electronic module is extracted from the bolt and housed in a separate housing. This allows the bolt to be removed and discarded independently while the electronic module remains in the housing for reuse, separating the disposable security element from the reusable electronic component.
2Ease of operation
If the housing is opened to remove the bolt, then the bolt can be replaced, but the internal circuitry may become contaminated
Solution Approach 1:
The bolt is extracted from the housing through a dedicated opening without requiring the housing to be disassembled. The bolt passes through the housing cavity and can be removed from the opposite end, allowing replacement while keeping the housing sealed and protecting the internal circuitry.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of removing the bolt from the same end it was inserted, the bolt is designed to pass through the housing and be removed from the opposite end. This inversion of the removal process allows bolt replacement without opening the housing.
3Ease of repair
If conventional tamper-indicating circuitry is used, then the electronic module can be reused, but the bolt must be designed to work with the sensing circuit
Solution Approach 1:
The mechanical bolt is designed with conductive elements that interact with the electronic sensing circuitry. The bolt's physical state (intact or severed) directly affects the electrical circuit, replacing complex mechanical sensing mechanisms with simpler electrical conductivity-based detection.
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic circuit senses and transmits a tamper condition of a bolt seal locked with a locking device external the module on a side of the module opposite the bolt head. The module is reusable intact when the bolt/locking device, which is conventional, is opened. In various embodiments, a tang type metal/plastic or plastic tamper indicative seal may be attached through a hole in the bolt tip region that has a narrowed diameter tip or attached in a one way clutch action on the tip, or which mates in a bolt groove at the bolt tip region and/or a conventional tamper evident seal is attached to the surface of the bolt shank at the bolt tip region in a clutch action. Different bolt embodiments comprise non-electrically conductive or electrically conductive plastic or steel shanks with juxtaposed electrical conductors along the shank connected to external conductors formed by coatings or axially spaced cylindrical sleeves forming contact regions which engage the circuitry contacts inside the module.