Telephonic communications – Terminal accessory or auxiliary equipment – Protective structure
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-03
2001-05-08
Chiang, Jack (Department: 2642)
Telephonic communications
Terminal accessory or auxiliary equipment
Protective structure
C379S437000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06229892
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to portable electronic devices that are sealed to prevent unauthorized tampering with components disposed within the device housing. More particularly, the present invention relates to a novel system and method for detecting if an unauthorized person has accessed or attempted to access components disposed within the housing of a portable electronic device.
II. Description of the Related Art
Some portable electronic devices such as secure mobile telephones are disposed within a housing that should not be opened by persons other than authorized service personnel. In order to maintain the security of such devices, it would be desirable to have a system that could be inexpensively implemented, and that could be used to determine whether an unauthorized person had attempted to gain access to the interior of the device by, for example, attempting to unscrew a fastener used to hold the housing together. The implementation of such a system would be useful not only for detecting unauthorized access attempts to the device housing, but also for deterring such unauthorized activities from occurring in the first place.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a system and method for detecting an unauthorized attempt to access components in a housing of a portable electronic device. The housing is secured in a closed state by a mechanical fastener that couples a first portion of the housing to a second portion of the housing. The mechanical fastener has a top end disposed within a recess in the housing. A ball bearing is first disposed within the recess above the top end of the fastener, after which at least a portion of the recess is filled with a curable resin. Later, a portion of the housing proximate the recess is visually inspected. In response to the visual inspection, a determination is made as to whether there has been an unauthorized attempt to access components in the housing. In a preferred embodiment, a determination is made that there has been an unauthorized attempt to access components in the housing if marks left by a drill bit are found in the visual inspection on the portion of the housing proximate the recess or if the ball bearing is found to be absent from the recess in the visual inspection.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4178490 (1979-12-01), Boenecke
Johnson Paul
Tidwell Steve
Chiang Jack
Ogrod Gregory D.
Qualcomm Inc.
Thibault Thomas M.
Wadsworth Phillip R.
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