GB2137162A

GB2137162A - A security sack

Info

Publication number: GB2137162A
Application number: GB08406854A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Graham David Francis Sharp
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1983-03-25
Filing date: 1984-03-16
Publication date: 1984-10-03
Also published as: GB8406854D0; GB2137162B

Abstract

A security sack (2) has a body portion (4), an opening (6) in the body portion (4) for enabling valuables to be inserted into the body portion (4), a fold-over flap (8) for closing the opening (6), a first set of eyelets (10) in the body portion (4), a second set of eyelets (12) in the flap (8), and a security seal passing through the two sets of eyelets (10, 12) when the flap (8) is folded over the body portion (4) and the two sets of eyelets (10, 12) are in registry. The eyelets (10, 12) are elongate eyelets having their longitudinal axis extending in the longitudinal direction of the sack (2) whereby the security seal is caused to extend transversely of the sack (2) from side to side when the security seal is passed through both sets of eyelets (10, 12) and pulled tight and sealed. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A security sack This invention relates to a security sack.

Security sacks are well known. They are primarily for holding money but they can also be used for holding other valuables such as jewellery and bonds. The security sacks have a body portion and an opening in the body portion for enabling valuables to be inserted into the body portion. The opening must be fairly large in order to enable the valuables easily to be inserted in and removed from the sack. When the valuables have been inserted in the sack, the sack has to be closed with a security seal so that there is no access to the valuables inside the sack.

Security personnel in charge of security sacks containing valuables often have the sacks available to them for extended periods of time, for example overnight whilst the security personel are guarding the sacks in a secure installation such as a vault. Particularly with security sacks containing money, there is an opportunity for the security personnel to tamper with the security sacks in an endeavour to leave the seal intact but still gain access to the money inside the sack. It will be apparent that with security sacks containing many thousands of pounds, a few pounds removed from each sack in such a manner that the security seal is left intact often goes unnoticed or is not investigated by the person or firm receiving the security sack.

It is the aim of the present invention to provide a security sack in which the possibility of gaining access to the sack after it has been sealed and without breaking the seal is substantially eliminated.

Accordingly, this invention provides a security sack having a body portion, an opening in the body portion for enabling valuables to be inserted into the body portion, a fold-over flap for closing the opening, a first set of eyelets in the body portion, a second set of eyelets in the flap, and a security seal passing through the two sets of eyelets when the flap is folded over the body portion and the two sets of eyelets are in registry, the eyelets being elongate eyelets having their longitudinal axis extending in the longitudinal direction of the sack whereby the security seal is caused to extend transversely of the sack from side to side when the security seal is passed through both sets of eyelets and pulled tight and sealed.

Because the security seal extends transversely of the sack from side to side and is of an appropriate length, it is substantially impossible to pull the seal towards the top of the sack so that the seal then extends in the longitudinal direction of the sack. If the seal extends in the longitudinal direction of the sack over the top of the sack, then access can sometimes be gained to the sack and it is for this reason that the eyelets are chosen to be elongate eyelets having their longitudinal access extending in the longitudinal direction of the sack to cause the security seal to extend transversely of the sack from side to side.

The distance from the top of the sack to the eyelets when the sack is sealed with a seal of appropriate length is advantageously designed to be so long as to cause difficulty in pulling the seal up and over the top of the sack to thus reveal the fold-over flap of the sack. This distance should also be so long as to cause difficulty for a person using either their finger or a probe to try and gain access to the sack.

In order to further hinder tampering with the sack, the body portion is advantageously reinforced adjacent the opening.

The body portion may be reinforced adjacent the opening with a plastics stiffener. The plastics stiffener may be a polypropylene material or geothene.

In order to further hinder unauthorised tampering with the security sack, the inside of the body portion may be provided with interlocking plastics material adjacent the opening for releasably closing the opening. With such plastics material, the two sides of the sack can be pulled apart to open up the body portion when the seal is removed. However, a relatively strong force is required for this and this force cannot be achieved with the seal in position. Thus thin probes pushed past the seal cannot easily separate the interlocking plastics material and virtually certainly cannot extract valuables and especially money from the inside of the sack.

The interlocking plastics material is advantageously in two strips which are sewn to the inside of the body portion. Usually, the interlocking plastics material will be Velcro (Registered Trade Mark).

The sack may be one in which the stitching of at least the bottom part of the body portion is not externally visible, whereby the stitches cannot be cut from the outside and then resewn. This stitching may be such that the sack is French seamed.

The security sack may include a flexible handle.

The handle may be such that it lays flat when the sack is empty but is extendible over the top of the sack when the sack is sealed.

Advantageously, the opening is a restricted opening which does not extend across the entire width of the sack, the restricted opening being formed by sewing the body portion together adjacent the ends of the opening. This prevents persons gaining access to the inside of.the sack by approaching the opening of the sack from the side.

The sack may be formed of a variety of materials. Presently preferred materials are polyvinylchoride, nylon and canvas.

The eyelets may also be formed of a variety of materials. The eyelets are preferably metal eyelets.

A typical metal eyelet is a brass eyelet.

The security sack may be used with a variety of security seals that are currently available. Metal or plastics security seals may be employed.

Preferably the security seal is a flat elongate member.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described solely by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a front perspective view of an open security sack in accordance with the invention, the sack being provided with a first seal.

Figure 2 is a rear perspective view of the open security sack shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a rear perspective view of the security sack shown in Figure 2 but in a closed position; Figure 4 shows part of an alternative type of sealing arrangement; and Figures 5 and 6 show further alternative designs for the end of the sealing device shown in Figure 4.

Referring to Figures 1 to 3, there is shown a security sack 2 having a body portion 4 and an opening 6 for enabling valuables such as paper money to be inserted into the body portion 4. A fold over flap 8 is provided for closing the opening 6. The body portion 4 has a first set of eyelets 10.

The flap 8 has a second set of eyelets 12. A flat elongate metal security seal 14 is provided for passing through the two sets of eyelets 10, 12 when the flap 8 is folded over the body portion 4 and the two sets of eyelets 10, 12 are in registry.

It will be seen most clearly from Figures 1 and 2 that the eyelets 10, 1 2 are elongate eyelets having their longitudinal axis extending in the longitudinal direction of the sack 2 whereby the security seal 14 is caused to extend transversely of the sack from side to side, as shown in Figure 3, when the security seal is passed through both sets of eyelets 10, 12. When the security seal 14 is passed through both sets of eyelets, it is pulled tight to close the top end of the sack 2 and to form a neck 16 as shown in Figure 3. The ends 18, 20 of the security seal 14 are then bent towards each other and the end 1 8 is inserted into the end 20.It will be noticed that the end 1 8 is provided with a shaped aperture 22 which forms a female aperture for receiving a male member (not shown) in the end 20 of the security seal 14. In the closed position of the security seal 14, the security seal 14 cannot be reopened without it being obvious that the security seal 14 has been so opened. This is designed to prevent unauthorised tampering as will be appreciated.

The flap 8 is stitched along lines 24, 26, 28 as shown. The flap 8 is formed of two thicknesses of material which sandwich between them a reinforcing plastics stiffener which may be made, for example, of geothene.

A strip 30 of interlocking plastics material in the form of Velcro (Registered Trade Mark) is stitched as shown to the inside of the front wall 32 of the body portion 4. Similarly, a strip 34 of interlocking plastics material in the form of Velcro (Registered Trade Mark) is stitched to the inside of the rear wall 36 of the body portion 4. When the sack 2 is closed and sealed in the manner indicated in Figure 3, then the strips 30, 34 are brought together and a considerable force is required to part them. Thus in the event of someone endeavouring to insert a probe underneath the security seal 1 4 and into the opening 6, the probe will still encounter the strips 30, 34 and it will probably not be strong enough to force them apart.Even if the probe is thin enough and strong enough to force the strips 30, 34 apart, it will not be possible using the probe to force the strips 30, 34 sufficiently apart to remove cash from the sack 2.

The body portion 4 of the sack 2 beneath the strips 30, 34 is French seamed. Thus the stitching occurs on the inside of the sack 2 and the stitching is not visible from the outside of the sack 2. This prevents the possibility of persons endeavouring to undo the stiching in the lower part of the body portion 4, remove some money and then resew the stitching.

Figure 2 illustrates that the sack 2 is provided with a handle 38. The handle 38 is stitched at its ends 40, 42 to the outside of the rear wall 36 of the body portion 4. The handle 38 is such that it lays flat when the sack 2 is empty, thereby facilitating easy flat storage of a plurality of the sacks 2, and the handle 38 is such that it extends over the top of the sack 2 as shown in Figure 3 when the sack 2 is sealed. Thus the handle 38 enables the sack 2 is easily be carried. The end 40 of the handle 38 is provided with a metal D-ring 44 which can be used to attach an identification tag to the sack 2 or which can be used for other purposes as desired.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the opening 6 is a restricted opening which does not extend across the entire width of the sack 2. The restricted opening 6 is formed by sewing the front and rear walls 32, 36 respectively together by stitching 46 as shown in Figures 1 and 2. This stitching 46 is rectangular and, when the flap 8 is folded over, there is no possibility of getting to the opening 6 between the folded over flap 8 and the body portion 4.

The sack 2 is preferably a polyvinylchoride, nylon or canvas sack. If desired the sack 2 can be made of other materials. The eyelets 10, 12 are preferably metal eyelets such for example as brass eyelets. They are usually pressed in position, appropriate holes having first been cut in the material of the sack 2. The holes can be singly or simultaneously cut in the sack 2 and the eyelets can also be singly or simultaneously pressed into the sack 2.

The security seal 14 is preferably a flexible metal seal but is could be a plastics seal if desired.

In Figure 4, there is shown an alternative type of security seal part 48 to the security seal 14 shown in Figure 3. The security seal part 48 is basically of T-shaped construction so that it has a shank portion 50 and a cross-head portion 52. The shank portion 50 is provided with a longitudinal extending slot 54 and, as shown, the slot 54 extends into a somewhat pointed lead-in portion 56 of the shank portion 50. The cross-head portion 52 is also provided with a slot 58 and it will be seen that the slot 58 is longer than that slot 54 and extends at right angles to the slot 54.

The distance between the two slots 54, 58 is constructed to be exactly the distance to be a tight fit when the shank portion 50 is threaded through the eyelets 1 0, 12. A seal (not shown) can be passed through the slot 54 to tightly secure the sack 2. The seal that passes through the slot 54 can be any known type of suitable seal.

The slot 54 is a longitudinally extending slot 54 as shown, since it is then difficult to tease the part 48 back through the eyelets 10, 12 if the eyelets 10, 12 should have become worn. However, the slot 54 can be replaced by a circular hole 60 as shown in Figure 5 to receive a padlock, or by a circular hole 62 as shown in Figure 6, the circular hole 62 having four peripherally positioned slits 64. In this case, the hole 62 can accept a padlock and/or the slits 64 can accept a seal.

The slot 58 can receive webbing attached to the security sack 2, whereby the part 48 is always secured to the security sack 2.

It is to be appreciated that the embodiments of the invention described above have been given by way of example anly and that modifications may be effected. Thus, for example, the sack 4 can be produced in different shapes to the shape shown and it can also be produced in a variety of sizes.

Claims

1. A security sack having a body portion, an opening in the body portion for enabling valuables to be inserted into the body portion, a fold-over flap for closing the opening, a first set of eyelets in the body portion, a second set of eyelets in the flap, and a security seal passing through the two sets of eyelets when the flap is folded over the body portion and the two sets of eyelets are in registry, the eyelets being elongate eyelets having their longitudinal axis extending in the longitudinal direction of the sack whereby the security seal is caused to extend transversely of the sack from side to side when the security seals passed through both sets of eyelets and pulled tight and sealed.

2. A security sack according to claim 1 in which the distance from the top of the sack to the eyelets when the sack is sealed with a seal of appropriate length is so long as to cause difficulty in pulling the seal up and over the top of the sack to thus reveai the fold-over flap of the sack.

3. A security sack according to claim 1 or claim 2 in which the body portion is reinforced adjacent the opening.

4. A security sack according to claim 3 in which the body portion is reinforced adjacent the opening with a plastics stiffener.

5. A security sack according to any one of the preceding claims in which the inside of the body portion is provided with interlocking plastics material adjacent the opening for releasably closing the opening.

6. A security sack according to claim 5 in which the interlocking plastics material is in two strips which are sewn to the inside of the body portion.

7. A security sack according to any one of the preceding claims in which the stitching of at least the bottom part of the body portion is not externally visible, whereby the stitches cannot be cut from the outside and then resewn.

8. A security sack according to any one of the preceding claims and including a flexible handle.

9. A security sack according to claim 8 in which the handle is such that it lays flat when the sack is empty but is extendible over the top of the sack when the sack is sealed.

1 0. A security sack according to any one of the preceding claims in which the opening is a restricted opening which does not extend across the entire width of the sack, the restricted opening being formed by sewing the body portion together adjacent the ends of the opening.

11. A security sack according to any one of the preceding claims and which is made of polyvinylchloride, nylon or canvas.

12. A security sack according to any one of the preceding claims in which the eyelets are metal eyelets.

1 3. A security sack according to any one of the preceding claims in which the security seal is a flat elongate member.

1 4. A security sack according to claim 13 in which the security seal is provided with an aperture at each end.

1 5. A security sack substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.