Secure Cash Storage Interlocking Cover Plate
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current cash storage solutions at point-of-sale terminals are not adequately secure, as they can be tampered with and are expensive to produce, with existing containers being prone to tampering and not providing sufficient protection against unauthorized access.
Innovation Solution
A secure cash storage apparatus featuring a cover plate and receptacle with interlocking formations that prevent removal in a direction transverse to the major surface, enhancing security by requiring significant force that causes tamper-evident damage, and incorporating a lock mechanism to irreversibly secure the cover plate.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a rigid box container with slotted barrier and plunger mechanism is used, then documents can be stored securely, but the container is expensive to produce and not adequately tamper proof
Solution Approach 1:
The container is divided into a rigid frame and a flexible pouch, allowing the complex security features to be concentrated in the frame while the pouch provides a simple, low-cost containment structure. This segmentation enables cost-effective manufacturing while maintaining high security standards.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using a traditional rigid box with internal mechanisms, the invention inverts the approach by using a flexible pouch within a rigid frame, where the frame provides the structural security and the pouch provides the containment, reversing the conventional design paradigm.
2Reliability
If a rigid box container with slotted barrier is used, then documents can be stored, but money behind the slotted barrier is still accessible through the opening and can be fished out using adhesive tape
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible pouch acts as a tamper-evident barrier that seals the documents inside. Unlike a rigid box with slots that can be bypassed, the flexible pouch requires breaking or significant force to access contents, making tampering evident and difficult.
3Ease of operation
If a plunger mechanism is used to push notes through the slot, then documents can be deposited, but the clumsy plunger mechanism can trap fingers and damage nails
Solution Approach 1:
The dangerous plunger mechanism is completely removed from the design. Instead, documents are deposited through a slot that leads directly into the flexible pouch, eliminating the mechanical plunger that caused finger trapping and nail damage while maintaining the document deposition function.
4Ease of operation
If the cover plate is made removable for access, then documents can be retrieved, but the container is not adequately tamper proof
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible pouch serves as a tamper-evident seal that must be broken to access documents. This provides both security and functionality: the pouch can be intact during storage and transport (preventing tampering) but can be opened when legitimate access is needed, unlike rigid locks that may prevent all access.
Data Source
AI summary
Apparatus for securely retaining documents, the apparatus (1) comprises a cover plate (4) and a receptacle (10), the receptacle (10) comprising a frame (3) and a pouch (2), the frame (3) comprising an opening (O) to access the pouch (2), the frame (3) further comprises at 5 least one channel (31a, 31b) for receiving an edge (4c, 4d) of the cover plate (4) in use to cover the opening (O) of the frame (3) and to prevent access to the interior of the pouch (2) of the receptacle (10) when the cover plate (4) is in a closed position, wherein the frame (3) and the cover plate (4) each comprise engageable lock portions to prevent the cover plate (4) from being removed from the receptacle (10) when in the closed position, and wherein 10 the frame (3) comprises a first formation (32a, 32b) located remotely from the at least one channel (31a, 31b) located between the at least one channel (31a, 31b) and the opening, the cover plate (4) comprises a second formation (42a, 42b) located remotely from the edge (4c, 4d) of the cover plate (4), the first formation (32a, 32b) and second formation (42a, 42b) are shaped to interlock to resist removal of the cover plate (4) in a direction transverse 15 and/or perpendicular to the major surface of the cover plate (4).