Abstract: Disclosed is a reusable locking unit and a one time use electrically conductive molded thermoplastic shackle loaded with carbon black particles and having a linear resistance that is periodically monitored. The locking unit includes an integrated circuit for measuring shackle impedance through terminals capacitively coupled to the shackle. The terminals allow for adjustment of the length of the seal shackle in the locked secured state. The terminals and shackle form an RC network having a complex impedance that manifests the locked adjusted shackle length. Two AC signals at two different frequencies are used to measure impedance, which is compared with an initially determined or continually generated reference impedance to determine a tampered state of the shackle. Temperature compensation is also disclosed. A time stamp is stored for noting the tampering time of occurrence.

Abstract: A cable seal lock assembly including a housing having a top end and a bottom end with at least two openings in each end. A generally cylindrical-shaped cable sleeve is located in the housing and has a bore therethrough, and ends of the bore are aligned with respective openings in the top and bottom ends of the housing. A clip sleeve is located at least partially within the housing and has a bore of non-uniform diameter extending therethrough, and one end of the clip sleeve extends through one of the openings in the top end of the housing, with the bore at the other end of the clip sleeve aligned with one of the openings at the bottom end of the housing. A locking clip is located in the clip sleeve, and a backing plate is located in the housing with holes that are aligned with the openings at one end of the housing.

Abstract: A battery operated cable security seal for cargo containers and the like includes a housing with a transparent cover for visual inspection of illuminated internal green or red LEDs, the red LED representing a tampered state of a stranded metal locking cable, which has a length sufficient to secure the keeper bars and hasp of a cargo container door. The cable has an internal conductor whose conductivity, e.g., resistance, manifests a tampered condition when severed and also if reattached, e.g., by a solder or spliced joint and so on. The electrical continuity of the conductor is monitored by a circuit in one embodiment for a severed state, i.e., tampering, and whose resistance is monitored in a second embodiment correlated optionally to either or both ambient temperature and a battery output voltage. The seal housing has two compartments one being hermetically sealed and contains the circuitry and the other containing a cable locking device for receiving and locking the cable to the seal.

Abstract: A bi-directional locking socket for use with a seal device which includes a shackle having a plurality of locking elements on a surface thereof. The socket comprises a locking insert forming a locking arrangement including a body defining a chamber therein. The locking insert further includes opposing top and bottom ends where the top end defines a top opening communicating with the chamber, and the bottom end defines a bottom opening communicating with the chamber. A plurality of mirror image spaced fingers define a passageway extending through the chamber. The plurality of fingers allow passage of the locking elements as a free end of the shackle is pulled through the passageway via either the top or the bottom openings in opposite insertion directions, and lock with a locking element of the shackle when the shackle movement is in an opposite direction to the insertion direction. In the alternative, the socket has a chamber with the locking arrangement formed one piece therewith.

Abstract: A molded thermoplastic body is formed with a rectangular cavity. A molded thermoplastic insert is welded to the body in the cavity and has a top cross member, a stem member and a bottom member. The stem member has a plurality of molded fingers cantilevered on opposing sides inclined relative to the stem member longitudinal axis in one embodiment. The stem member forms the cavity into two channels. A wire shackle which may be round or square in section, a wire or molded plastic, is U-shaped with two legs. One leg is formed with notches to receive the tips of the fingers in one channel and the other leg is formed with a reversibly bent barb which engages the fingers in the other channel on the opposite side of the cavity. The bottom member limits the insertion depth of the legs. The notches and barb engage the fingers and lock the shackle to the body.

Abstract: A prior art security seal is molded one piece thermoplastic having a flag for receiving indicia such as serial number and so on and a strap extending from the flag. A locking socket depends from the flag at the junction with the strap. One or more projections extend from the flag from a surface opposite to the socket. The flag is too small for certain implementations which require a flag for receiving large labels. A large flag capable of receiving such labels is attached to the seal via the seal flag and projection. The flag has a channel for receiving the seal flag in an axial direction parallel to the plane of the flags and an opening for receiving the one or more projections, the opening having a contour that matches that of the projection(s). Snap fit latches secure the seal at flanges thereof as the projection(s) is inserted in the opening in a direction normal to the plane of the flags. The seal flag is releasably held in two normal directions to the large flag.

Abstract: A tote bin seal for securing sheet material lids via aligned lid apertures includes a flange forming an ID flag attached to a locking device having a hollow core body at one body end and two semi-circular arrays of tangs at the other body end, the tangs formed of stems and reverse hooks or barbs. The body is somewhat oval with a rectangular central portion, the tangs depending from each arcuate end of the oval. Each of the tangs and the body have an interior axially extending triangular stiffening rib. An insert with a head and a bifurcated shank is attached to the flange opposite the body and may be sheared from the flange for insertion into the body core. The shank forms a locking opening which captures a web in the body core for securing the insert locked to the body. The insert prevents the tangs from compressing inwardly to open the seal. The flange has a living hinge so it can be folded over to permit reading ID data from the flange in stacked bins.

Abstract: A filament seal for use with stranded or solid metal or thermoplastic filaments comprises a segmented housing defining a chamber in which a locking insert element is positioned, the insert comprising a thin circular disk of hardened stainless steel with a plurality of radially inwardly extending resilient cantilevered fingers each terminating with a tapered sharp pointed tip in abutting or closely space relationship defining a space substantially smaller than the diameter of the filament. The inserted filament bends the fingers and is softer than the insert, the tips digging into the filament during use. When the filament is withdrawn, the finger tips dig further into the filament severing it. If the filament is rotated in an attempt to thread the filament out of the insert, the insert rotates with the filament due to the digging action of the tips into the filament, precluding filament withdrawal from the insert.

Abstract: A robust rigid block forming a fastener and tamper evident seal attaches a cover to a tote bin. The seal is formed partially into a C-shaped locking device for insertion into aligned bores in the tote bin cover and bin. The C-shaped device is inserted to an insertion position and then displaced to a locking position with the legs of the device overlying the cover and bin members at the bores fastening the cover to the bin and capable of withstanding high shock loads. A locking element connected to the device by a frangible web has a camming surface that engages an edge of the cover for camming the device during insertion of the element in the bores to the insertion position at which time the web is fractured. The element has a flange plate attached to the element body by a weak web for selective removal of the plate. A resilient tang is attached to the element for engaging a mating locking recess in the body for locking the element to the device and to the bin and cover in the insertion position.

Abstract: A flag seal comprises a thermoplastic socket, flag and shackle molded one piece. A metal locking tang element may optionally be molded into the socket. The shackle has a weakening groove. A finger gripping loop member extends about the flag both of which are flexible for receiving a finger. The gripping loop member provides enhanced finger gripping of the seal to pull on the seal to fracture the seal at the shackle weakening groove with an increased tensile load than otherwise possible.

Abstract: A housing has a rotor receiving chamber with filament receiving bores lying in a plane normal to the rotor axis of rotation, a rotor being rotatably received in the chamber. The rotor and housing have complementary locking shoulders for axially locking the rotor in the chamber. The rotor has a pair of filament receiving bores aligned with the housing filament receiving bores. The rotor has an annular rib in the plane of the bores defining upper and lower rotor sections. The locking shoulders are in the lower section of the rotor and are located between the plane and the closed end of the chamber, at which end the rotor and housing have a complementary ratchet and pawl mechanism for allowing only one way rotation of the rotor relative to the housing for securing the filament to the rotor.

Abstract: A seal and lock mechanism employs a cable and a mechanism for securing a free end of the cable to the seal by a wedging action within a tapered housing bore employing wedging means such as balls and the like. The wedging action is enhanced by roughening the surface of the wedging means or otherwise improving their resistance to displacement with respect to the surface of the cable.

Abstract: Locks for the transportation industry are programmable with a keypad and with handheld activators, the activators being programmable by a central system and activators via IR transmitters and receivers. Operator PIN numbers and access codes manifesting the supervisory level of authority are encoded in each lock which are programmed to open a given number of times in a given time period with or without entry of a code and include a lockout feature for disabling the lock in case of invalid code entry. Each lock has a log history containing the number of complete and incomplete opening transactions, when they occurred and the operator codes associated therewith. The locks are opened by IR transmission of the appropriate codes or by keypad entries. One or more individuals at different levels of authority may open one or more locks in a given time frame a given number of times. Each lock records its transaction history which is displayed and downloaded for system evaluation.

Abstract: Locks for the transportation industry are programmable with a keypad and with handheld activators, the activators being programmable by a central system and activators via IR transmitters and receivers. Operator PIN numbers and access codes manifesting the supervisory level of authority are encoded in each lock which are programmed to open a given number of times in a given time period with or without entry of a code and include a lockout feature for disabling the lock in case of invalid code entry. Each lock has a log history containing the number of complete and incomplete opening transactions, when they occurred and the operator codes associated therewith. The locks are opened by IR transmission of the appropriate codes or by keypad entries. One or more individuals at different levels of authority may open one or more locks in a given time frame a given number of times. Each lock records its transaction history which is displayed and downloaded for system evaluation.

Abstract: A thermoplastic housing has a chamber open at one end and a bottom wall at the other end. A thermoplastic rotor is locked axially in the chamber by a snap fitting ridge and groove. A one or more bores are in the housing bottom wall in communication with the chamber. The rotor has a central boss with one or more bores aligned with the housing bores in an initial position of the rotor and includes an outer ring with axially depending radially flexible pawls which engage housing ratchet teeth in the chamber. The pawls and teeth rotationally lock the rotor relative to the housing in one direction while seal filament segments inserted in the aligned bores are twisted about each other or about a post in the cavity. The rotor is rotated relative to the housing manually by finger gripped-flanges attached to the rotor and to the housing. The rotor ring and boss are spaced by a weakening groove which causes the boss to permanently separate from the ring when the filament is pulled in an attempt to defeat the seal.

Abstract: A thermoplastic housing has a chamber open at one end and a thermoplastic rotor is locked axially in the chamber by snap fit ridges and grooves. Two pairs of bores on opposite sides; of the chamber are aligned, with one pair connected by a transverse slot. The rotor has two bores aligned with the housing bores and includes flexible pawl teeth which engage ratchet teeth in the chamber. The teeth rotationally lock the rotor relative to the housing in one direction while a seal filament inserted in the bores is wrapped about the rotor as the rotor is rotated in the other direction. The slot permits the filament to be fixed to the rotor when the rotor is rotated 180.degree. causing the filament to traverse the slot and permit the remaining adjacent bores in the same plane as the fixed filament to be aligned and free to receive the filament free end.

Abstract: A rigid base interconnects a pair of spaced legs, one of the legs being resiliently hinged to the base. A locking socket with a cavity is secured to an end of one of the legs distal the base and a locking stud is secured to the end of the other leg distal the base, the stud for manual resilient insertion into the socket cavity. The stud is rectangular having a wide transverse dimension and includes a locking tip with at least one barb which extends along the width. A U-shaped spring steel female locking member is secured in the socket cavity and has at least one locking tang to engage the at least one barb. The U-shaped member comprises any one of a plurality of different tang arrangements each for engagement with the same given barb configuration and are randomly assembled to the sockets of different seals.

Abstract: A preferably cast zinc housing has a chamber for receiving a metal stranded cable 1/16 inch in diameter which is swaged at one end to the housing in the chamber. The housing has a conical bore in communication with the ambient about the housing via apertures at opposing ends of the housing. A channel having a depth of about one half the cable diameter is in the bore surface aligned with the apertures to form a continuous cable insertion path with the apertures. A relatively weak coil spring and a pair of different diameter steel balls are in the conical bore. The cable free end is inserted into the path through the housing with minimal insertion resistance from the balls and spring. Withdrawal of the cable wedges the balls uniformly against the cable deforming it and locking the cable to the housing. The balls each uniformly stress the cable to spread the stress of the wedging action. This reduces stress concentration on the cable at each ball so that the cable fails only at its maximum tensile load.

Abstract: Integral one piece molded thermoplastic male and female housing segments are interconnected by a bridge member via living hinges, The female segment has a sheet metal insert with a locking aperture. A wire or other member is inserted in passages in the two segments in an unfolded position forming a loop whose ends are passed through the passages. An edge of the insert is adjacent to the passages in the female segment. The male housing segment has a locking stud extending therefrom and engaged with the insert locking aperture locking the male segment in a recess in the female housing segment. The bridge member encloses a housing end and the passages at that end. The folded over segments cause the wire to bend sharply in a 180.degree. bend about the insert edge. The edge digs into the wire upon withdrawal of the wire from the passages, severing the wire. Different embodiments are disclosed.

Abstract: A serpentine shaped wire clip is disposed in a tapered bore of a housing for axial displacement in the bore and has in a preferred embodiment three U-shaped loops interconnected by end portions. The clip has a bore dimensioned for receiving a cable or rod in radial resilient compressive engagement along the clip entire length which engagement causes the clip to axial displace with the displacement of the cable or rod. The axial displacement of the clip in the tapered bore wedges the clip to the housing and cable or rod locking the elements. The clip may have any number of loops and wire diameter. Also, the housing may have a cylindrical bore and the tapered region may be formed on a rod or bar. The clip may be locked to smooth and grooved surfaces including threads. The housing and rod each have a different one of a cylindrical surface and tapered surface. The clip radially grips the cylindrical surface while wedging in response to relative displacement of the tapered surface to the cylindrical surface.