Security Deposit Bag

Europaisches Patentamt 19 European Patent Office Office europeen des brevets (n) Publication number: 0 403 532 B1 12 EUROPEAN PATENT SPECIFICATION @ Date of publication of patent specification © int. ci.5 : B65D 33/34, B65D 33/20 03.06.92 Bulletin 92/23 (21) Application number : 89903342.7 (22) Date of filing : 03.03.89 @ International application number : PCT/US89/00822 (87) International publication number : WO 89/08586 21.09.89 Gazette 89/23 @ SECURITY DEPOSIT BAG. @> Priority : 07.03.88 US 159431 @ Inventor : HOLCOMB, Bruce, A. P.O. Box 33427 Saint Paul, MN 55133 (US) @ Date of publication of application : Inventor : MCCRACKEN, Shaun, D. 27.12.90 Bulletin 90/52 P.O. Box 33427 Saint Paul, MN 55133 (US) _ Inventor : MCGINNIS, Bryan, J. (45) Publication of the grant of the patent : p.o. Box 33427 03.06.92 Bulletin 92/23 Saint Paul, MN 55133 (US) @ Designated Contracting States : (g) Representative : Baillie, lain Cameron et al DE FR GB IT c/o Ladas & Parry, Altheimer Eck 2 W-8000 Miinchen 2 (DE) (56) References cited : US-A- 4 709 396 (73) Proprietor : MINNESOTA MINING AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY 3M Center, P.O. Box 33427 St. Paul, Minnesota 55133-3427 (US) CO CM CO If) CO o 1 Note : Within nine months from the publication of the mention of the grant of the European patent, any o person may give notice to the European Patent Office of opposition to the European patent granted. Notice of opposition shall be filed in a written reasoned statement. It shall not be deemed to have been UJ filed until the opposition fee has been paid (Art. 99(1) European patent convention). Jouve, 18, rue Saint-Denis, 75001 PARIS EP 0 403 532 B1 Description TECHNICAL FIELD 5 This invention relates to a security deposit bag and to an adhesive closure strip according to the preambles of claims 1 and 7, respectively (US-A-4709396). BACKGROUND ART 10 Security deposit bags have been devised in the past to securely store and transport valuable articles such as documents, including cash and currency, checks, jewelry, bank deposits, securities, criminal investigation evidence and the like. Such security deposit bags include bags or envelopes constructed from sewn fabric, plastic film, or laminates thereof with a zippered closure. The zippered closure may be secured with a lock or seal. However, such conventional security deposit bags are bulky, expensive, and although enable reuse, also 15 generate a recurring expense in transporting the security deposit bag back to the sender for reuse. Security deposit bags have also been developed that are constructed of disposable material and that are adhesively secured and sealed. U.K. Patent No. GB 2 145997A entitled "Tamperproof Bag" and issued to Inter- poly Limited, illustrates one such design and includes a bag constructed of polyethylene. An adhesive strip is applied to an inside surface of the bag adjacent the opening and is temporarily covered by a liner. Once the 20 bag has been filled, the liner is removed and the bag sealed by the adhesive strip. The bond of the adhesive strip exceeds the strength of the plastic film used to construct the bag. Any unauthorized attempt to open the bag will result in destruction or visible distortion of the bag material, thus indicating that the bag has been opened. The security deposit bag disclosed in British Patent No. 2,145,997, although an improvement over other conventional security deposit bags, still exhibits several undesirable characteristics. Once the bag is 25 reopened by rupturing the material of the bag, whether or not by authorized personnel, the contents of the bag are exposed to environmental conditions. It is then difficult if not impossible to reseal the bag. Further, it is incon- venient to limit the materials used to construct the bag to those having a relatively low strength. A visually perceptible distortion in the bag material is not in itself an unambiguous indication that the bag has been opened. The bag may have been merely subjected to external forces that distorted the bag material. 30 Another problem associated with security deposit bags having adhesive closure strips is that the bond strength of pressure sensitive adhesives tends to decrease as the temperature of the adhesive is reduced. If the adhesives are sufficiently cooled, the adhesive closure strip may be detached from the bag without apparent damage to the adhesive strip or to the bag material. After access to the contents of the bag is attained, the bag may be reclosed after the adhesive closure strip is allowed to warm. The unauthorized access to the contents 35 of the bag may thus escape detection. By way of an example, a temperature of -20°F is easily attained by exposing pressure sensitive adhesives to a spray of pressurized Freontm , commonly available in hardware stores or the like. Many common pressure sensitive adhesives become brittle and lose all tackiness at that temperature. A prior art that is of interest is US-A-4 709 396. The problem to be solved in this prior art is the provision 40 of an envelope that cannot be reasealed without leaving evidence in form of a printed message once the seal has been broken. This is achieved by providing a pouch, formed from at least one sheet of impact resistant material sealed along all but one edge so that said one edge defines an access opening. Thus the access opening is defined by two opposite surfaces of the pouch where they face each other along said one edge, said two facing surfaces being hereinafter referred to as a first inner surface and a second inner surface respect- 45 ively. The first inner surface is covered with a translucent anchor coating and the second inner surface is also covered with a translucent anchor coating but in a pattern defining said printed message by means of void reg- ions in said coating. Both of these anchor coatings are covered with a translucent cohesive layer, so that when these layers are pressed together the pouch is sealed. The cohesive layer covering said pattern has a greater so affinity for the cohesive layer associated with said first inner surface than with the patterned anchor coating on said second inner surface, the arrangement thus being such that when the envelope is opened the cohesive layer covering the patterned anchor coating is torn away from the patterned anchor coating and the message depicted by the patterned anchor coating is then revealed. In this prior art there is the draw back that two lots of closure means have to be provided, one on the first 55 inner surface and the other on the second inner surface of the bag opening. Not only does this render the closure more expensive to produce but when the pouch is filled to capacity the person sealing the bag may not take sufficient care to ensure that the two lots of closure means are accurately aligned with each other. The invention is also concerned with a closure strip comprising all the closure strip components described 2 EP 0 403 532 B1 above. Disclosure of the Invention 5 The security bag of the present invention has closure means mounted on only one of a first panel and a second panel that form the bag. The closure means that is adapted to secure said panals together, so as to close the opening of the bag, includes tamper indicating means having a layer of adhesion material for creating indicia visually perceptible externally of the bag when the bag is opened after having been sealed. The adhesion material is a low adhesion material mounted on the first panel; or on the second panel; or on a film backing w strip mounted on the first or the second panel; and its adhesive strength is less than the adhesive strength of the remainder of the adhesive closure means to the first panel; or to the second panel; or to the film backing strip mounted on the first or second panel. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING 15 The present invention will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawing wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts in the several views, and wherein: Fig. 1 is an isometric view of a security deposit bag constructed according to this invention with an adhesive closure strip adhered to the front surface of the rear panel. 20 Fig. 2A is a cross sectional view along plane 2A-2A of Fig. 1 Fig. 2B is a cross sectional view of the portion of the security deposit bag in Fig. 2A with the rear panel secured to the front panel by the closure strip. Fig. 2C is a cross sectional view of the security deposit bag of Fig,. 2B with the rear panel detached from the front panel. 25 Figure 3 is a front view of a portion of the security deposit bag of Figure 2B. Figure 4 is a front view of the portion of the security deposit bag of Figure 3 in which the rear panel has been secured to the front panel and then partially detached. Figure 5 is a front view of a portion of the security deposit bag of Figure 4 in which the rear panel has been resecured to the front panel by the closure strip, forming indicia. 30 Figure 6 is an alternative embodiment of the security deposit bag shown in Figure 5 in which the indicia formed by the closure strip include alphanumeric characters. Figure 7A is a cross sectional view of a portion of a security deposit bag with an alternate embodiment of the closure strip having tamper indicating means formed within the closure strip and adjacent the front surface of the rear panel.

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