Secure Item Storage Receptacle with Structural Integrity Alarm System
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Solution Overview
Problem
Venue sites such as concert halls and exhibition centers face issues with the loss, theft, or damage of personal items stored in cloakrooms, despite being under supervision.
Innovation Solution
A secure item storage device with a receptacle, a lock mechanism, and an alarm system that detects any compromise in structural integrity, using conductive pathways to prevent unauthorized access and ensure the integrity of the storage area.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If items are stored in cloakrooms under supervision, then items can be stored in publicly accessible areas, but items are still prone to loss, theft or damage
Solution Approach 1:
The storage system divides the cloakroom into individual sealed receptacles, each with its own lock mechanism and alarm system. This segmentation allows public accessibility while ensuring each item is protected in isolation, resolving the contradiction between ease of access and security reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces conductive pathways as an intermediary monitoring system between the receptacle structure and the alarm system. These pathways detect structural compromises and trigger alarms, providing an additional layer of security that maintains public accessibility while enhancing item protection reliability.
2Reliability
If a lock mechanism is used to secure the receptacle, then unauthorized access is prevented, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional complex mechanical locking systems with a simplified lock mechanism that integrates directly with the receptacle structure. The conductive pathways provide monitoring functionality that would otherwise require separate sensors, reducing overall device complexity while maintaining access security reliability.
3Reliability
If conductive pathways are embedded in the receptacle to detect structural compromise, then security monitoring is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The conductive pathways are integrated directly into the receptacle structure during manufacturing, merging the monitoring function with the structural component. This consolidation improves security monitoring reliability while actually simplifying manufacturing by eliminating the need for separate sensor installations and reducing assembly steps.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution effectively prevents unauthorized access and protects the stored items from loss, theft, or damage by providing an alarm output when the structural integrity of the receptacle is compromised, ensuring secure storage in publicly accessible areas.
Implementation Method 1
the alarm system comprises at least one conductive pathway running along and/or within the body of the receptacle
Data Source
AI summary
An item storage device for securely storing items comprising: a receptacle defining a storage area for receiving an item to be stored; a fastener for opening and closing the receptacle and which operably cooperates with a lock mechanism for selectively securing the fastener in a closed position and for unsecuring the fastener for allowing the fastener to be set from the closed into an open position; and an alarm system which is operably coupled with the receptacle and which may be armed when the fastener is secured, the armed alarm system providing an output responsive to detecting that the structural integrity of the receptacle is compromised.