Antitheft device

Details Antitheft device Antitheft device

2001-08-13

2002-11-05

Ho, Tan (Department: 2821)

Locks

Special application

For antitheft signaling device on protected article

C363S150000, C340S572100, C340S572900

Reexamination Certificate

active

06474117

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to antitheft devices for use as attached to commodities for preventing the commodity from being stolen, and more particularly to antitheft devices comprising a tag performing the function of preventing theft occurring upon escaping from a control area, and a member for attaching the tag to the commodity.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
FIGS. 9
to
15
show an antitheft device already proposed (Japanese Patent No. 2849048). The device comprises a tag
15
having a flat housing
16
composed of a lower half segment
17
and an upper half segment
18
, and a member
2
for attaching the tag
15
to a garment or like commodity
9
as shown in FIG.
9
.
With reference to
FIG. 10
, the housing
16
of the tag
15
has enclosed therein a sensor
40
which performs a specified theft preventing function when the tag
15
as affixed to the commodity is to be brought out of the store past a gate to actuate a theft alarm device installed in the gate.
With reference to
FIG. 15
, the attaching member
2
comprises a button
22
in the form of a disk, and a pin
21
projecting from the rear side of the button
22
. A pinhole
18
a
is formed in the upper half segment
18
constituting the housing
16
for inserting therethrough the pin
21
of the attaching member
2
as shown in FIG.
11
. As seen in
FIG. 12
, the lower half segment
17
constituting the housing
16
is provided with a cylindrical portion
17
a
for the outer end of the pin
21
of the attaching member
2
to fit in (see FIG.
10
).
With reference to
FIG. 14
, a spring clamp member
3
made of sheet metal is disposed inside the housing
16
of the tag
15
. As shown in
FIG. 13
, the spring clamp member
3
includes a main body
31
in the form of a flat plate and provided with a pair of clamp pieces
32
,
32
for clamping the pin
21
of the attaching member
2
therebetween. The clamp pieces
32
,
32
have outer end faces providing a clamp portion
34
. The main body
31
has a circular hole
35
formed therein and a spring piece
36
projecting therefrom.
As shown in
FIG. 12
, the housing lower half segment
17
has a stepped cylindrical portion
17
b
positioned away from the cylindrical portion
17
a.
The spring clamp member
3
is rotatably supported on the housing lower half segment
17
by the stepped cylindrical portion
17
b
fitting in the circular hole
35
as seen in FIG.
14
. The clamp member
3
has its spring piece
36
retained at the outer end thereof on the lower half segment
17
by engagement therewith. The spring piece
36
is elastically deformed by counterclockwise rotation of the main body
31
, giving a clockwise repulsive force to the main body
31
.
Referring to
FIG. 9
, a small opening
13
is formed in the housing
16
of the tag
15
. The opening
13
communicates with the space wherein the clamp member
3
is installed through an inlet passage
14
formed in the housing lower half segment
17
as shown in FIG.
14
. With the tag
15
attached to the commodity
9
by the attaching member
2
as seen in
FIG. 9
, the pin
21
of the attaching member
2
is clamped by the spring clamp member
3
(see FIG.
10
), whereby the attaching member
2
is prevented from being pulled out.
If the tag
15
as attached to the commodity is to be brought out of the store past the gate, the sensor
40
incorporated in the tag
15
receives a radio signal (e.g., lines of magnetic force) from the theft alarm device installed in the gate, and transmits a radio signal (e.g., altered magnetic field) to a theft preventing system in response to the received signal. Consequently, an alarm incorporated in the system is actuated, notifying salesclerks of the theft. When the pin
21
is to be released from the clamp member
3
for the salesclerk to remove the tag
15
from the commodity, an unclamping probe
7
shown in
FIG. 9
is used.
With reference to
FIG. 15
, the forward end of the probe
7
is inserted into the clamp member accommodating space from the housing opening
13
through the inlet passage
14
to push the main body
31
of the clamp member
3
with the probe end against the elasticity of the spring piece
36
. This rotates the clamp member
3
counterclockwise, thereby disengaging the clamp portion
34
of the clamp member
3
from the pin
21
of the attaching member
2
to unclamp the pin
21
. As a result, the attaching member
2
can be removed.
However, since the pin
21
of the attaching member
2
clamped by the clamp member
3
as shown in
FIG. 10
can be cut at its base portion with a simple tool, the antitheft device has the problem of suffering an incident in that the tag
15
as attached to the commodity
9
is separated therefrom by cutting the pin
21
of the attaching member
2
to bring the commodity
9
only out of the store unlawfully.
Accordingly, it appears useful to take a countermeasure by providing a sensor on the tag
15
for detecting the separation of the tag
15
from the commodity by the cutting of the pin
21
. Although it is required that the tag
15
for use as attached to the commodity be compacted to the greatest possible extent, there arises the problem that the provision of the sensor makes the tag
15
larger in size.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide an antitheft device which is capable of reliably preventing the foregoing wrongful act and which is nevertheless made compact.
The present invention provides an antitheft device which comprises a tag
10
for performing a theft preventing function upon an escape from a specified control area, and an attaching member
2
for attaching the tag
10
to a commodity
9
. The attaching member
2
comprises a button
22
, and a pin
21
projecting from the button
22
and movable into a housing
1
of the tag
10
through a pinhole
12
a
formed in the housing
1
.
Arranged inside the housing
1
of the tag
10
are a clamp member
3
for clamping the pin
21
of the attaching member
2
as moved in through the pinhole
12
a,
an on-off switch
8
to be depressed by the button
22
of the attaching member
2
, and a theft alarm operable under the control of on-off signals from the on-off switch
8
.
The clamp member
3
has a clamp portion
34
for the pin
21
of the attaching member
2
to be inserted therethrough for clamping the pin
21
unremovably. The clamp member
3
is rotatably supported by a pivot provided inside the housing
1
, permits the clamp portion
34
to be disengaged from the pin
21
when rotated about the pivot in one direction and is given an elastic repulsive force against the rotation.
The housing
1
is provided with an inlet passage
14
for an unclamping probe
7
for pushing the clamp member
3
into rotation toward the above-mentioned one direction. The on-off switch
8
comprises an actuator
82
having an outer end projecting outward from the housing
1
through a hole
12
b
formed in the housing
1
, and a cylindrical guide portion
83
formed around a base end portion of the actuator
82
and providing the pivot for the clamp member
3
.
The stepped cylindrical portion
17
b
provided in the conventional antitheft device for rotatably supporting the clamp member
3
thereon is omitted from the antitheft device of the present invention, while the on-off switch
8
is disposed at the corresponding position for the cylindrical guide portion
83
of the switch
8
to rotatably support the clamp member
3
. When the tag
10
as attached to the commodity
9
is to be brought out of the specified control area, the salesclerk is notified of the situation by the antitheft function of the tag
10
as is the case with the conventional device.
The unclamping probe
7
is used for the salesclerk to remove the tag
10
from the commodity
9
as in the prior art. Stated more specifically, the forward end of the probe
7
is inserted into the space wherein the clamp member
3
is provided by way of the inlet passage
14
of the housing
1
to push the clamp member
3
with the forward end against the elastic

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