ANTI-TAMPER METHOD AND PACKAGING FOR IMPORTANT AND VALUABLE ITEMS

Abstract

A method for preventing unauthorized access to and protection of high-value items protection and in the packaging, the protective means being destroyable upon tampering. The protective means is placed in a structure of monolithically joined layers of packaging material, wherein the mating surfaces of each packaging component are made parallel or inclined at an angle of 0.01°-90.0° to each other and have a lock joint in the form of joined steps between the mating surfaces, and at least one lock joint surface has at least one additional protective means which is destroyed upon tampering. The inventions provide for the manufacture of higher reliability packaging for articles of various forms.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPPLICATION

This application is a divisional patent application of patent application Ser. No. 14/647,131, a national stage patent application arising from PCT/RU2013/001135 filed on Dec. 18, 2013, and referenced in WIPO Publication No. WO2014/104936. The earliest priority date claimed is Dec. 26, 2012.

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

None

SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM

None

BACKGROUND

The invention relates to methods for anti-tamper protection of packaged securities and valuable items sent or transferred from one juridical or physical person to another.

Transferring packaged securities, valuable items, jewelry or money involves a risk that others may attempt to open up the packaging, tamper with security features, or replace packaged items with counterfeits. However, despite these complications transferring such packaged items is still in high demand, thereby requiring reliable anti-tamper protection features, and protection against counterfeiting.

Known is a technology for protection against counterfeiting of, and tampering with, packaged items. See www.apostrof-print.ru. Protective labels with an electronic radio frequency identification code attached to articles makes it possible to monitor and control the movement of packaged items. Moreover, invisible ink can be applied to a bar code identifiable with a scanner, as well as seals.

The known technology has drawbacks because tamper protection is not very reliable and protection against counterfeiting is weak.

Known is a method for protection, and protective packaging, for a precious stone, pearl, coin, postage stamp with philatelic value, and other valuable items. See RF [Russian Federation] utility model patent No. 013589 published Jun. 30, 2009, for the method prototype. The utility model comprises an upper and lower component made of a transparent polymer material, with the upper component having at least one transparent enclosure made, for instance, in the form of a cell designed for placement of at least one of said objects. An ornamental printed impression is located on the outside surface of the packaging upper component. An irreversibly destroyable layer is located on the inside surface of the lower packaging component and made, for instance, in the form of a holographic coating designed for protecting the packaging against counterfeiting and for detecting tampering. The upper and the lower component of packaging are joined adhesively by means of an irreversibly destroyable layer.

Self-adhesive laminated paper is placed between the ornamental printed impression and the outside surface of the upper component. The irreversibly destroyable layer comprises at least one transparent area formed by double laminate and located under the transparent housing of the upper packaging component. The ornamental printed impression and the self-adhesive laminated paper overlap the irreversibly destroyable layer less its transparent area. Herein, the lower packaging component is made of thickened laminate. The self-adhesive laminated paper has protective means comprising an imprint applied using special inks and/or fibers that are visible when exposed to ultraviolet radiation.

Among the drawbacks of the known coded material used for packaging of valuable or important items or documents are the large size of the resulting packaging that exceeds the size of the packaged item due to the larger width of its side walls, and a low degree of protection which makes tampering possible by separating the layers, for instance, by dissolving the adhesive compound.

Known is a packaging in the form of capsules for bullion and coins of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, as well as for other countries' coins, which makes it possible to preserve the original appearance of products for many years. See Albi transparent bubble packaging www.coinbox.ru.—the device prototype.

Capsules for coins are made of high-quality polystyrene. The newest technologies make it possible to provide sufficient transparency of the product, as well as high strength, reliability and durability of the material. The capsule for coins is made in the form of a container with a cylindrical housing of appropriate height, having a bottom and cover. The capsule for bullion is made in the form of a rectangular container with the bottom and cover.

Among the drawbacks of the known design of the capsule are its use for storing low-value coins and its uselessness for storing valuable and expensive coins. This is because it is possible to open the capsule and replace a valuable coin with, for instance, a counterfeit, and then reattach the cover to the capsule housing.

The object of the claimed invention is to develop packaging technology and design that ensures reliable anti-tamper protection.

SUMMMARY

The stated object of the invention is achieved by a combination of known technology features including making the packaging comprised of at least a single-layer material with protective means destroyable upon tampering, and new features. The new features are the following: a protective means destroyable upon opening the packaging is provided on the outside or inside of the packaging material and/or in the structure of monolithically joined layers of packaging material; the surfaces of each packaging component that mate when joined are made parallel or at an angle of 0.01°-90.0° relative to each other, with a lock joint made in the form of at least one step between the mating surfaces; and at least one of the lock joint surfaces has at least one protective means destroyable upon tampering.

For the protective means destroyable upon tampering, including additional protective means, the following are used: images, including a shadow image, of a code, optical lines, waveguides, radio frequency bar codes, deep-etched offset printing including micro-texts, watermarks, filigree and/or superimposed patterns invisible under normal conditions, fluorescent, metallized and magnetic inks and fibers, marks, protective threads and stripes, perforations, diffraction gratings, holograms or marking made using an electric discharge method, a material that oxidizes and changes its color upon tampering, for instance a manganese compound, mechanofore plastic that changes its color under mechanical load, a mixture of iodine alcoholate and dextrin which is applied to a part of mating surfaces and disappears with air access, or combinations thereof.

At least a single-layer packaging material with a protective means is made monolithic by joining the layers by gluing, or by a chemical or thermal joining with at least one transparent area for visual inspection of the packaged item.

The joined mating surfaces of the packaging components with a lock joint are 1.0-100.0 mm wide and made in the form of at least two stripes along the edges of the packaging mating components.

The protective means in the form of additional optical lines destroyable upon tampering is provided at an at least one specified incline angle of 5.0°-90.0° to the plane of the material. In an optional embodiment, the destroyable-upon-tampering protective means in the form of a waveguide or optical lines on the contact surface of the packaging mating surfaces is placed in accordance with a specified algorithm, with the lines intersecting each other at least twice or placed at a specified distance from each other, and/or at an angle to each other, or being wavelike, or forming geometric figures (e.g., a circle, a square, a rectangle, or a regular or irregular rhomb).

For the packaging material, a strong resilient wear-resistant material, for instance biaxially or monoaxially oriented polypropylenes or co-extrusive polyethylenes, is used.

As an additional protective means, necessary information about the item including the logo, the organization name, packaging manufacturing date, the packager, and the sender's and recipient's addresses, is applied to the packaging surface that is comparable to the packaged item's dimensions, using ink invisible under normal conditions.

The stated design object of the invention is achieved by a combination of known features including packaging made of at least a single-layer material with a protective means, and new features: packaging made of at least two layers of material monolithically joined by means of a chemical joint, or gluing, or heat sealing with copolymers or co-extrusive polyethylenes, in the form of a container with a housing, bottom and cover, or in the form of tape used for banding the packaged item, wherein the joined surfaces of packaging components or tape sides are made parallel or at an angle of 0.01°-90.0° relative to each other, with a lock joint made in the form of at least one step between the mating surfaces, and at least one of the lock joint surfaces has at least one additional protective means destroyable upon tampering.

The lock joint on mating surfaces of packaging components is made three-dimensional; its height is 1.5-50 times larger than the thickness of the packaging material, and its cross-section is made in the form of a broken or curved line connecting the levels.

The container bottom, or part thereof, in the form of at least one strip with a width equal to 0.2-0.5 of the bottom diameter or width, is made convex towards the inside of the container in order to prevent the packaged item from moving inside the container during its inspection and transportation.

The lock joint on mating surfaces of the packaging components is made in the form of corrugations inclined at an angle of 10.0°-75.0° relative to each other and, as an additional protective means, incline angles of the corrugations can be made equal, increasing, decreasing or alternating.

The novelty of the method and invention claimed is to provide a destroyable-upon-tampering protective means on the outside or inside of a packaging material and/or in the structure of monolithically joined layers of packaging material, wherein the mating surfaces of each packaging component are made parallel or inclined at an angle of 0.01-90.0° relative to each other, with a lock joint made in the form of at least one step between the mating surfaces, and at least one additional protective means destroyable upon tampering provided on one of the lock joint surfaces.

Thus, providing at least one additional protective means, destroyable upon tampering, on the outside or inside of packaging material or in the structure of monolithically joined layers of packaging material prevents penetration between the layers and through packaging material without damaging the protection because the monolithically joined packaging layers do not allow for opening the packaging without visible damage.

Making the mating surfaces of each packaging component parallel or inclined at an angle of 0.01-90.0° relative to each other, with a lock joint made in the form of at least one step between the mating surfaces, creates even more difficulties for tampering. Thus, upon penetration through the joined surfaces to the lock joint of the surfaces, it is impossible to enter the second level without damaging packaging layers and the protective means. This is because the tampering tool will encounter an obstacle, i.e., the step between the joined surfaces.

The following are additional technology features intended for specific performance of the main features and for achieving the stated technical result of the invention: using, as the protective means, destroyable-upon-tampering, including additional protective means, of images, including a shadow image, of a code, optical lines, waveguides, radio frequency bar codes, deep-etched offset printing including microtexts, watermarks, filigree and/or superimposed patterns invisible under normal conditions, fluorescent, metallized and magnetic inks and fibers, marks, protective threads and stripes, perforation, diffraction gratings, holograms or marking made using the electric discharge method, a material that oxidizes and changes its color upon tampering, for instance a manganese compound, mechanofore plastic that changes its color under mechanical load, a mixture of iodine alcoholate and dextrin which is applied to a part of mating surfaces and disappears with air access, or combinations thereof, providing at least a single-layer packaging material with a protective means that is made monolithic by joining the layers using gluing, a chemical or thermal joint, with at least one transparent area for visual inspection of the packaged item, making the joined mating surfaces of packaging components with a lock joint that is 1.0-100.0 mm wide and in the form of at least two stripes located along the edges of mating components of the packaging, providing the protective means in the form of additional optical lines destroyable upon tampering that are at an at least one specified incline angle of 5.0°-90.0° to the plane of the material, placement of waveguides or optical lines destroyable upon tampering on the contact surface of the packaging mating surfaces in accordance with a specified algorithm and intersecting each other at least twice or placed at a specified distance from each other and/or at an angle to each other, or being wavelike, or forming geometric figures—a circle, a square, a rectangle, or a regular or irregular rhomb, the use of a strong resilient wear-resistant material, for instance biaxially or monoaxially oriented polypropylenes or co-extrusive polyethylenes, as the packaging material, as well as applying to the packaging surface that is comparable to packaged items dimensions, as an additional protective means, the necessary information about the item including the logo, the organization name, packaging manufacturing date, the packager, and the sender's and recipient's addresses using ink invisible under normal conditions.

The novelty of the proposed packaging is the making of at least two layers of material monolithically joined, by means of a chemical joint, or gluing, or by means of heat sealing with copolymers or co-extrusive polyethylenes, in the form of a container with a housing, bottom and cover, or in the form of a tape used for banding the packaged item, wherein the joined surfaces of packaging components of tape sides are made parallel or at an angle of 0.01°-90.0° relative to each other, with a lock joint made in the form of at least one step between the mating surfaces, and at least one of the lock joint surfaces having at least one additional protective means destroyable upon tampering.

Thus, making the protective means monolithic in the structure of the packaging material prevents unauthorized penetration through the packaging, or an attempt to separate the layers, because the means do not allow tools of any design to separate one layer of material welded or glued to another layer, or to penetrate through the material without visible destruction of the material.

Making the joined surfaces of package components at an incline angle of 0.01-90.0° makes it possible to firmly join the container housing and cover, or one tape edge with its other edge during banding, by applying a specified load to them when joining and thus to prevent their loose connection.

Making the joined surfaces of package components with a lock joint made in the form of at least one step between the mating surfaces additionally and securely prevents unauthorized penetration into the packaging because during penetration the tool would encounter an obstacle in the form of a step in the lock joint, and for the tool to penetrate further, damage to packaging and hence to the protection is unavoidable.

The following are additional design features furthering the achievement of the stated object of the invention: making the lock joint on mating surfaces of packaging components three-dimensional, with the height that is 1.5-50.0 times larger than the thickness of packaging material, making the cross-section in the form of a broken or curved line connecting the levels, making the container bottom, or part thereof, in the form of at least one strip with the width equal to 0.2-0.5 of the bottom diameter or width and convex towards the inside of the container in order to prevent the packaged item from moving inside the container during its inspection and transportation, and making the lock joint on mating surfaces of packaging components in the form of corrugations inclined at an angle of 10.0°-75.0° relative to each other, wherein, as an additional protective means, incline angles of the corrugations can be made equal, increasing, decreasing or alternating.

According to patent information retrieval that was conducted, no combination of features proposed as the invention has been found in pertinent art, therefore, the proposed features have novelty.

The combination of the proposed new features and the known ones does not follow expressly from pertinent art and is not obvious, which makes it possible to consider said features as having the level of invention.

The proposed features presented in this application make it possible to make a conclusion of their industrial applicability.

DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a container housing in the shape of a cube, with a cover. In its manufacturing, the proposed method for protecting packaging from tampering is disclosed, with two-level inclined connected surfaces located in the upper section and with protective means in the structure of the entire container material and on joined surfaces.

FIG. 2 shows schematically the levels of the lower inside inclined surface of the container cover and of the upper outside inclined surface of the container housing, with protective means applied to the surfaces.

FIG. 3 shows schematically versions of the lock joint along the packaging perimeter: a) Π-shaped (capital Pi shaped) lock joint with its cross-section in the form of broken lines, b) in the form of convex lines, w), g) and d)—in the form of triangular broken lines.

FIG. 4 shows a cylindrical capsule with a cover for packaging, for instance coins.

FIG. 5 shows a bar code applied along the perimeter of the two-level inclined upper section of the cylindrical capsule housing.

FIG. 6 shows parallel placement of two circular waveguides on the inclined upper section of the housing.

FIG. 7 shows the lock joint on mating inclined side surfaces of the container housing and cover, with the protective means applied between them.

FIG. 8 shows a fragment of the side surface of the container housing, with intersecting optical lines applied along the perimeter of the inclined upper section.

FIG. 9 shows the convex bottom of the container housing.

FIG. 10 shows the convex strip of the bottom of the container housing which prevents a coin from moving during inspection and transportation.

FIG. 11 shows a fragment of packaging material made in the shape of a tape with a protective means applied in its structure.

FIG. 12 shows an additional protective means applied along the tape sides and made in the form of optical lines intersecting in accordance with a specified algorithm.

FIG. 13 shows, on an enlarged scale, the tape cross-section, with a representation of its two-level edges with a step between them.

FIG. 14 shows a cylindrical object packaged using tape.

FIG. 15 shows an item, in the shape of a parallelepiped, packaged using tape.

FIG. 16 shows an item of indeterminate shape packaged using tape.

FIG. 17 shows corrugated mating surfaces of a container housing in the shape of a cube, and its cover, with equal incline angles along the perimeter: a) with different incline angles, b) with decreasing incline angles, w) with alternating incline angles.

DESCRIPTION

The proposed method is carried out using packaging made in the form of, for instance, a container, in the form of a cube, comprising housing 1 made of at least a double-layer material with protective means 2 inserted into its structure. Upper section 3 of housing 1 and lower section 4 of cover 5 are made inclined at an angle of 0.1°-90° and with a lock joint made with at least two-level surfaces 6 and 7 (see FIG. 2), with steps 8 provided along the perimeter between the surfaces. Additionally, at least one protective means 9 is applied on level surfaces 6 and 7. Versions of lock joints are also shown in FIG. 3 where a), b), g), d) are lock joints with their cross-section in the form of broken lines and b) in the form of convex lines.

In cylindrical housing 10 of a container, for instance, for coins, upper section 11 of the housing and lower section 12 of cover 13 are made inclined and at least two-level or with a lock joint—see FIG. 4 and FIG. 7. Dotted lines 14 show possible increase of the container height. Container bottom 15 or part thereof in the form of for instance diametrically located strip 16 the width of which is equal to 0.2-0.5 of the diameter or width of container bottom 15 is made convex, to prevent coin 17 from moving inside the container. The material for packaging items of indeterminate shape is made in the form of tape 18 with two-level strips 19 and 20 along its longitudinal edges or with a lock joint, with additional protective means 21 applied to them made, for instance, in the form of optical lines intersecting in accordance with a specified algorithm and at a specified angle. The additional protective means is applied on the bottom side of strip 19, and on strip 20 the protective means can be applied on its top side. Using tape 18 it is possible to reliably package items with different shapes—cylindrical item 22, item 23 in the shape of a parallelepiped, and item 24 of indeterminate shape, because the tape that envelopes the packaged item follows the item's surface.

Waveguides 25 and optical lines 26 can be made intersecting, parallel, at an angle to each other, or according to a specified algorithm, and can be made in the form of regular and irregular geometric figures. Bar code 27 on at least one of mating surfaces of, for instance, a cylindrical container can be applied using either visible or invisible ink, as well as ink or paint that changes its color or disappears upon tampering. Corrugations 28 on mating surfaces can be made at equal as well as at different incline angles, including their combinations, and making their surfaces two-level with a lock joint makes tampering much more difficult.

The proposed method is implemented as follows. To package valuable and important items, documents, bullion, decorations, first either a container corresponding to dimensions of the packaged item is made or tape is used. In doing so, at least one protective means 2 is applied into the structure of the container or the tape material and/or to its outside surfaces, and additional protective means 9 destroyable upon tampering is applied to mating surfaces of the upper section of housing 1 and the bottom surface of cover 5 that are inclined at an angle of 5.0°-90.0° relative to the plane of the material and made in the form of a lock joint with step 8.

An item is packaged in a container as follows. Depending on artistic embodiment of the packaged item and particular features of images on it, a part of the container, for instance, its side walls, is made transparent for visual inspection without opening the packaging.

After the packaged item is placed in the container and steps are taken to prevent the item, for instance, of coin 17, from moving in container housing 10 using, for instance, convex container bottom 15 or convex strip 16 of the container bottom, a bonding compound is applied to mating surfaces—the outside surface of upper section 3 of the housing of container 1 and inner inclined surface 4 of the bottom section of the cover, and the surfaces are firmly joined to each other using a chemical or thermal joint, or by gluing. Here, two-level surfaces 6 and 7 of the lock joint of the container housing are connected to identical surfaces of the lock joint of the inside inclined surface of cover 5, with tight mating of their steps 8. Likewise, other items—coins, bullion, paintings, bills, etc., are packaged in containers of various shapes and geometries.

Packaging of items using tape is done by successively wrapping (banding) the packaged item with tape 18. During wrapping, protrusion 8 of each subsequent turn of the tape is connected to the protrusion of the preceding turn of the tape using strips 19 and 20. In doing this, a bonding compound can be applied to the surface of strip 19 underneath, and the additional protective means can be applied to surface 20 and vice versa, bonding compound can be applied to the bottom surface of strip 20 and at least one protective means can be applied to top surface 19.

To package fairly heavy items, for instance bullion, containers corresponding to the bullion shape are used, and three-dimensional lock joints with their cross-sections in the form of broken lines or lines with varying curvature are provided along the container perimeter—see FIG. 3 a), b), w), g), d). Anti-tamper protection components can be provided between the surfaces of lock joints.

Best Embodiment of Invention. To package a silver coin, a container corresponding to its dimensions in terms of height and diameter was made of a transparent double-layer material—biaxially oriented polypropylene, and a protective means in the form of bar code 27 was embedded into the monolithic structure of the container using ink invisible under normal conditions. Top surface 11 of the inclined section of container housing 10 and the inside surface of bottom part 12 of cover 13 were made two-level at an angle of 45° and 5 mm wide—each level 2.5 mm wide, with steps 8 formed between the levels. Container bottom 15 was made convex towards the inside of the container. After coin 17 was placed onto container bottom 15 convex towards the inside of the container, the convex bottom elastically pressed coin 17 along the perimeter of the top edge to top inclined section 11 of the container housing, and the coin was not moving during shaking. Adhesive composition of co-extrusive polyethylene was applied to the first, closest to the edge, surface identical to surface 6 of housing 10, and a bar code using invisible ink and adhesive composition was applied to the second, farthest from the edge, surface identical to surface 7 of the outside inclined surface of upper section 4 of container housing 10, then the surfaces were firmly joined to each other.

In doing this, step 8 of the cover was firmly joined with the housing step. When experimental tampering was attempted, the housing and cover steps were damaged, and the bar code applied with invisible ink was also destroyed.

Embodiment of Invention. At the same time, work was performed to package a roll in the form of a cylinder using double-layer tape with protective fluorescent fibers embedded into its structure and made according to a specified algorithm, specifically parallel to each other. A 10 mm wide layer of adhesive composition of co-extrusive polyethylene was applied to the first from the edge inside surface 19, and an image in the form of lines intersecting at a specified angle made using invisible ink, as well as adhesive composition were applied to outside surface 20 of the tape. Successive turns of tape 18 were carefully laid onto each other with their lateral sides, with tight contact between the steps and surfaces 19 and 20 of tape 18. After a 30-minute hold, experimental opening of the packaging was performed.

In doing this, the tape was damaged—its edge was ruptured, the image made with invisible ink was damaged, and steps between surfaces 19 and 20 were also damaged.

Embodiment of Invention. To package a bullion, a rectangular container corresponding to bullion dimensions was used. Originally, the joined surfaces of the container housing and cover were made flat. Two waveguides were placed parallel to each other onto the bottom surface along the container perimeter. Then, after the bullion was placed in the container a Π-shaped lock joint (see FIG. 3a) was formed along the bullion perimeter by means of heat-sealing using a heated mold. As the result of changing the geometry of the container edges the parallelize of the placed waveguides was preserved.

During experimental opening, the container material at the lock joint was damaged, and both waveguides were also damaged.

Industrial Applicability. Housings can also be joined with container covers by gluing or a chemical joint; when doing this, it is first necessary to make a lock joint of appropriate geometry along the perimeter of the joined surfaces.

The use, as the protective means destroyable upon tampering, including additional protective means, of images, including a shadow image, of a code, optical lines, waveguides, radio frequency bar codes, deep-etched offset printing including micro-texts, watermarks, filigree and/or superimposed patterns invisible under normal conditions, fluorescent, metallized and magnetic inks and fibers, marks, protective threads and stripes, perforation, diffraction gratings, holograms or marking made using the electric discharge method, a material that oxidizes and changes its color upon tampering, for instance a manganese compound, mechanofore plastic that changes its color under mechanical load, a mixture of iodine alcoholate and dextrin which is applied to a part of mating surfaces and disappears with air access, or combinations thereof makes it possible in each specific case to create reliable packaging protected from tampering, and the combination of types of protection with making the material at least double-layer and monolithic leaves no room for doubting the reliability of the protection.

Depending on packaged item dimensions, the additional protection means is applied to the lock joint surface in 1.0-100.0 mm wide strips. When a strip width is less than 1 mm, there are fewer options in selecting applied protective means, and applying an additional protective means on a strip wider than 100 mm is impractical because in this case the reliability of protection increases insignificantly.

Making easily damageable optical lines applied at an angle of less than 5.0° is a fairly complicated process.

Making optical lines applied at various angles in accordance with a specified algorithm ensures reliable anti-tamper protection.

Using as packaging material a strong elastic wear-resistant material, for instance, biaxially or monoaxially oriented polypropylenes ensures long-time storage and use of the packaged items. Applying to the packaging surface that is comparable to the packaged item dimensions, as an additional protective means, the necessary information about the item including the logo, the organization name, packaging manufacturing date, the packager, and the sender's and recipient's addresses using ink invisible under normal conditions keeps the packaging transparent, convenient to handle and not burdening when examining the packaged item.

Making at least a two-level joint with various angles of lock joint surfaces ensures reliable packaging of heavy and bulky items.

Making a lock joint with the height that is 1.5-50.0 times larger than the thickness of packaging material does not create unnecessary cluttering of the packaging. Elastic pressing of the packaged item in the container by means of the convex bottom or its part contributes to long-term use of the packaged item.

Providing corrugations along the container perimeter with inclined angles of 10.0°-75.0° in various variations provides additional anti-tamper protection.

The use of the proposed method will make it possible to provide packaging that is reliable and protected against tampering, is made of a synthetic polymer or other material, and will make it possible to reliably use an item packaged using the proposed method in the proposed packaging as a means of payment, and to reflect its real price and value without performing expert examination of the authenticity of the packaged item. Here, the integrity of the packaging and its protection means is checked using appropriate detectors.

A packaged item can stay in circulation for a long time while preserving its protection features and packaging integrity. And the packaging can be made of the same materials that are used for making polymer bills.

The author has developed engineering documentation and performed pilot production of several types of the packaging in the form of containers and using tape with two-level contact surfaces and the simplest protective means. Testing has demonstrated high reliability of protection of items packaged in the proposed containers and wrapped with tape.

Claims

1. A method for anti-temper protection of packaging of important and high value items comprising packaging made of at least a single-layer material with a protective means destroyable upon tampering distinctive in that the protective means destroyable upon tampering is provided on the outside and inside of packaging material and/or in the structure of monolithically joined layers of packaging material, wherein the mating surfaces of each packaging component are made parallel or inclined at an angle of 0.01°-90.0° relative to each other, with a lock joint made in the form of at least one step between the mating surfaces, and at least one additional protective means destroyable upon tampering is provided on at least one surface of the lock joint.

2. The method per claim 1 distinct in that images, including a shadow image, of a code, optical lines, waveguides, radio frequency bar codes, deep-etched offset printing including microtexts, watermarks, filigree and/or superimposed patterns invisible under normal conditions, fluorescent, metallized and magnetic inks and fibers, marks, protective threads and stripes, perforation, diffraction gratings, holograms or marking made using the electric discharge method, a material that oxidizes and changes its color upon tampering, for instance a manganese compound, mechanofore plastic that changes its color under mechanical load, a mixture of iodine alcoholate and dextrin which is applied to a part of mating surfaces and disappears with air access, or combinations thereof are used as the protective means, including an additional protective means, destroyable upon tampering.

3. The method per claim 1 distinct in that at least a single-layer packaging material with the protective means is made monolithic using gluing, a chemical or thermal joint, with at least one transparent area for visual inspection of the packaged item.

4. The method per claim 1 distinct in that the mating surfaces of package components with a lock joint are made 1.0-100.0 mm wide and in the form of at least two strips along the edges of the packaging mating surfaces.

5. The method per claim 1 distinct in that the protective means in the form of additional optical lines destroyable upon tampering is made at least one specified angle of 5.0°-90.0° to the plane of the material.

6. The method per claim 1 distinct in that in an embodiment of the invention the destroyable upon tampering protective means in the form of a waveguide or optical lines on the contact surface of the packaging mating surfaces is placed in accordance with a specified algorithm, with the lines intersecting each other at least twice or placed at a specified distance from each other, and/or at an angle to each other, or being wavelike, or forming geometric figures—a circle, a square, a rectangle, a regular or irregular rhomb.

7. The method per claim 1 distinct in that a strong resilient wear-resistant material, for instance, biaxially or monoaxially oriented polypropylenes or co-extrusive polyethylenes, is used as the packaging material.

8. The method per claim 1 distinct in that the necessary information about the item including the logo, the organization name, packaging manufacturing date, the packager, and the sender's and recepient's addresses is applied as the additional protective means to the packaging surface that is comparable to the packaged item dimensions, using ink invisible under normal conditions.