CA2501789A1 - Automated tamper-resistant container pool - Google Patents
Automated tamper-resistant container pool Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- CA2501789A1 CA2501789A1 CA002501789A CA2501789A CA2501789A1 CA 2501789 A1 CA2501789 A1 CA 2501789A1 CA 002501789 A CA002501789 A CA 002501789A CA 2501789 A CA2501789 A CA 2501789A CA 2501789 A1 CA2501789 A1 CA 2501789A1
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- tamper
- resistant
- gateway
- user
- automated
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Abandoned
Links
Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
- G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
- G07F9/00—Details other than those peculiar to special kinds or types of apparatus
- G07F9/10—Casings or parts thereof, e.g. with means for heating or cooling
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
- G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
- G07F9/00—Details other than those peculiar to special kinds or types of apparatus
- G07F9/002—Vending machines being part of a centrally controlled network of vending machines
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
- G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
- G07F17/00—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services
- G07F17/10—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services for means for safe-keeping of property, left temporarily, e.g. by fastening the property
- G07F17/12—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services for means for safe-keeping of property, left temporarily, e.g. by fastening the property comprising lockable containers, e.g. for accepting clothes to be cleaned
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
- G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
- G07F9/00—Details other than those peculiar to special kinds or types of apparatus
- G07F9/009—User recognition or proximity detection
Landscapes
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Lock And Its Accessories (AREA)
Abstract
The invention provides an automated tamper-resistant user's inventory storing container pool characterized by enclosing non-tamper-resistant containers in a tamper-resistant shell, wherein authorized user access to the containers is provided through tamper-resistant gateways. The container to be accessed is transported from inside the shell to one of the gateways by a transporting device. The shell is controlled by a controller that communicates with the user through a console. The controller authenticates the user, selects the relevant container, and instructs the transporting device to deliver the selected container into the user access gateway.
The invention is ideally suited for providing a fully automated, unguarded, round the clock operating depository for valuable inventory, such as cash, jewellery, documents, and private information in administrative and residential buildings, hotels, and banks.
The invention is ideally suited for providing a fully automated, unguarded, round the clock operating depository for valuable inventory, such as cash, jewellery, documents, and private information in administrative and residential buildings, hotels, and banks.
Description
Automated Tamper-Resistant Container Pool The invention provides an automated tamper-resistant user's inventory storing container pool characterized by enclosing non-tamper-resistant containers in a tamper-resistant shell, wherein authorized user access to the containers is provided through tamper-resistant gateways. The container to be accessed is transported from inside the shell to one of the gateways by a transporting device. The shell is controlled by a controller that communicates with the user through a console. The controller authenticates the user, selects the relevant container, and instructs the transporting device to deliver the selected container into the user access gateway.
The invention is ideally suited for providing the fully automated, unguarded, round the clock operating depository for valuable inventory, such as cash, jewellery, documents, and private information in administrative and residential buildings, hotels, and banks.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention The disclosed invention generally pertains to safety box pools and adjacent locker sets which mean to store valuable inventory. More specifically, the invention relates to the adjacent locker pools with access controlled by a central computer device (or controller) basing on user authentication. The disclosed invention possesses a range of advantages and benefits over the conventional tamper-resistant safety box pools with automated access authorization. In particular, the main idea of the invention is based on enclosing in a tamper-resistant shell a plurality of non-tamper-resistant containers whereto authorized user access is provided through gateways. This minimizes the vulnerability of the whole system. Moreover, because each non-tamper-resistant container is less expensive than a personal tamper-resistant safety box, and since the authorized user access is secure and provided automatically this innovation decreases considerably the cost of the system, as well as ongoing operating, guarding, and maintenance expenses. Also the time of the service being available becomes extended.
The invention is ideally suited for providing a fully automated, unguarded, round the clock operating depository for valuable inventory, such as cash, jewellery, documents, and private information in administrative and residential buildings, hotels, and banks.
The invention is ideally suited for providing the fully automated, unguarded, round the clock operating depository for valuable inventory, such as cash, jewellery, documents, and private information in administrative and residential buildings, hotels, and banks.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention The disclosed invention generally pertains to safety box pools and adjacent locker sets which mean to store valuable inventory. More specifically, the invention relates to the adjacent locker pools with access controlled by a central computer device (or controller) basing on user authentication. The disclosed invention possesses a range of advantages and benefits over the conventional tamper-resistant safety box pools with automated access authorization. In particular, the main idea of the invention is based on enclosing in a tamper-resistant shell a plurality of non-tamper-resistant containers whereto authorized user access is provided through gateways. This minimizes the vulnerability of the whole system. Moreover, because each non-tamper-resistant container is less expensive than a personal tamper-resistant safety box, and since the authorized user access is secure and provided automatically this innovation decreases considerably the cost of the system, as well as ongoing operating, guarding, and maintenance expenses. Also the time of the service being available becomes extended.
The invention is ideally suited for providing a fully automated, unguarded, round the clock operating depository for valuable inventory, such as cash, jewellery, documents, and private information in administrative and residential buildings, hotels, and banks.
2. Description of Prior Art Security for valuables holders has always been of major concern of deposit box systems developers. The safety deposit box pools, specifically those with centralized access control, have long been known. The following patents describe some of the archetypes.
Canadian patent # CA 1322394 "STORAGE SYSTEM WITH ADJACENT BINS
CONTROLLED BY A MICROPROCESSOR DEVICE" describes the pool of safety boxes where access to each of them is controlled by a microprocessor device (a controller).
The controller authenticates the user, selects which particular safety box the user is authorized to get access to, and unlocks the door of this box. This idea has been widely used in the automated banking safety box pools technology.
The above invention is not deprived of a certain disadvantage. As long as a user has access to the premises where the safety boxes are installed, it is important to prevent the user form breaking into somebody else's safety box. Therefore each safety box in the pool is required to be tamper-resistant and equipped with a tamper-resistant door and lock.
Canadian patent CA 1005697 "SAFE DEPOSIT BOX SYSTEM" presents the method of protecting a set of non-tamper-resistant containers placed inside a tamper-resistant shell. This method is devoid of the disadvantage of the previous solution. Each safety box can be non-tamper resistant, because the safety box pool is enclosed in the tamper-resistant shell. However this solution presupposes solely group access to the whole safety box pool.
This makes this solution pointless for the systems that are supposed to provide unattended individual access to the depository for valuable inventory.
Canadian Patent # CA 1207411 "ARTICLE DISPENSER" describes the dispensing machine that stores articles, dispenses them to authenticated cardholders, and returns the articles back for further storing. The disclosed invention compares favourably to the solution presented in the given patent owing to the following features:
~ The disclosed invention is designed for storing not only low-value articles, but valuable inventory.
~ The disclosed invention is equipped with a tamper-resistant shell, whereas the article dispenser described in the above patent is not provided with tamper-resistant means.
~ The disclosed invention is equipped with tamper-resistant gateways whereas the article dispenser is not secured against penetration into the dispenser through its delivery and return gateways.
UK Patent (CIPO patent document # 1314856) "PNEUMATIC CASH TRANSFER
SYSTEMS AND CANISTERS FOR USE THEREIN" describes the applying of the similar approach to transporting cash from a remote cashier to a bank, where the cashier and the bank are located in different security access zones. However, the cash transfer system is not designed for secure storing of valuables other than cash; neither it is designed for the users' inventory dispensing.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Considered broadly, the novelty of this invention constitutes in enclosing the plurality of non-tamper resistant containers in a tamper-resistant shell that is equipped with a transporting device and tamper-resistant gateways. The transporting device is used for transporting the use related container to one of the gateways, through where the user can access the container. The shell is controlled by a controller, which communicates with the users through a console. The controller authenticates the user, selects the relevant container, and instructs the transporting device to transport the selected container into the user access gateway. Upon user access session completion the controller signals the transporting device to return the container back into the shell.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the container pool Fig. 2 is a side plan view of the gateway Fig. 3 is a top plan of the container pool with multiple access zones;
delivery, return, and two-way gateways Fig. 4 is a side plan of the container pool modification DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
With reference to the drawings, the basic principles of this invention are as follows:
Non-tamper-resistant containers (1) are enclosed in a tamper-resistant shell (2). The containers are designed for storing users' valuable inventory. A user can get access to the container through a gateway (3). The container is delivered into the gateway by the transporting device (4). The transporting device and the gateways are controlled by a controller (5).
The controller communicates with a user by means of a console (6) through which the controller gets user authentication data. The console is placed outside the shell. Using these data the controller selects the container to be accessed, detects its location in the shell, and instructs the transporting device to transport the selected container into the selected gateway and to return the container back from the gateway into the shell. The controller can be a computer, and a console can be a keypad or a display device linked to the given computer. As an option, the console can include biometrical sensors and/or electronic ID
data readers, such as smartcard readers.
The gateway is tamper-resistant and means to prevent penetration into the shell through the gateway. The gateway has three working positions. In the first working position it is open for transporting device access and closed for user access from the outside. In the second working position the gateway is open for user access and closed for access from the gateway into the shell. In the optional third working position the gateway is shut for any access.
Fig 2. shows an example of a gateway that possesses two tamper-resistant gates - an internal gate (7) that provides access from inside the shell, and an external gate (8) that provides access from outside the shell. The internal gate is open for the period of the container's being moved into the gateway. The external gate unlocks as soon as the selected container gets into the gateway; meanwhile the internal gate is closed and locked.
After the external gate has been unlocked, the user can get access to the container. Upon the access session completion the user closes the external gate and signals the end of the session.
Then the container is returned from the gateway back into the tamper-resistant shell.
The returning of the container is performed in the following sequence: the controller instructs the external gate to shut and lock; the controller instructs the internal gate to unlock and open;
the controller instructs the transporting device to remove the container from the gateway;
optionally, the controller instructs the internal gate to lock.
As an option, the controller detects the completion of the user access session automatically by container proper positioning, and/or by container's being shut inside the gate, and/or by the external gate being shut.
Apart from the two-way type gateway (3) there can be two more types of gateways. These are delivery gateways (9) for transporting the containers to users and return gateways (10) for returning containers back into the shell.
The disclosed invention can contain more than one user access zones. In that case each access zone has at least one gateway of either type and at least one console.
Fig 3. shows an example of the container pool with the following user access zones:
~ The user access zone ( 11 ) with one console (6), one delivery gateway (9), and one return gateway ( 10) ~ The user access zone (12) with one console (6) and two delivery gateways (9) ~ The user access zone (13) with one console (6) and one return gateway (10) ~ The user access zone (14) with one console (6) and one two-way gateway (3) As an option, the container is a removable capsule that can be carried away by the user. In this case the container can be equipped with an identification token. The identification token can be used by the transporting device and the controller for the following purposes: recognizing the specific container; identifying its user; detecting container location inside the shell.
For security reasons the tamper-resistant shell can have the following embedded systems: fire extinguishing system; explosive materials detection systems; motion detection system; alarm system; TV-camera monitoring system.
To enforce tamper-resistance the gateways can be placed remotely from the tamper-resistant shell, and the shell can be placed inside a restricted zone of the building or in the physically laboured access environment (i.e. underground, as shown in Fig. 4).
Canadian patent # CA 1322394 "STORAGE SYSTEM WITH ADJACENT BINS
CONTROLLED BY A MICROPROCESSOR DEVICE" describes the pool of safety boxes where access to each of them is controlled by a microprocessor device (a controller).
The controller authenticates the user, selects which particular safety box the user is authorized to get access to, and unlocks the door of this box. This idea has been widely used in the automated banking safety box pools technology.
The above invention is not deprived of a certain disadvantage. As long as a user has access to the premises where the safety boxes are installed, it is important to prevent the user form breaking into somebody else's safety box. Therefore each safety box in the pool is required to be tamper-resistant and equipped with a tamper-resistant door and lock.
Canadian patent CA 1005697 "SAFE DEPOSIT BOX SYSTEM" presents the method of protecting a set of non-tamper-resistant containers placed inside a tamper-resistant shell. This method is devoid of the disadvantage of the previous solution. Each safety box can be non-tamper resistant, because the safety box pool is enclosed in the tamper-resistant shell. However this solution presupposes solely group access to the whole safety box pool.
This makes this solution pointless for the systems that are supposed to provide unattended individual access to the depository for valuable inventory.
Canadian Patent # CA 1207411 "ARTICLE DISPENSER" describes the dispensing machine that stores articles, dispenses them to authenticated cardholders, and returns the articles back for further storing. The disclosed invention compares favourably to the solution presented in the given patent owing to the following features:
~ The disclosed invention is designed for storing not only low-value articles, but valuable inventory.
~ The disclosed invention is equipped with a tamper-resistant shell, whereas the article dispenser described in the above patent is not provided with tamper-resistant means.
~ The disclosed invention is equipped with tamper-resistant gateways whereas the article dispenser is not secured against penetration into the dispenser through its delivery and return gateways.
UK Patent (CIPO patent document # 1314856) "PNEUMATIC CASH TRANSFER
SYSTEMS AND CANISTERS FOR USE THEREIN" describes the applying of the similar approach to transporting cash from a remote cashier to a bank, where the cashier and the bank are located in different security access zones. However, the cash transfer system is not designed for secure storing of valuables other than cash; neither it is designed for the users' inventory dispensing.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Considered broadly, the novelty of this invention constitutes in enclosing the plurality of non-tamper resistant containers in a tamper-resistant shell that is equipped with a transporting device and tamper-resistant gateways. The transporting device is used for transporting the use related container to one of the gateways, through where the user can access the container. The shell is controlled by a controller, which communicates with the users through a console. The controller authenticates the user, selects the relevant container, and instructs the transporting device to transport the selected container into the user access gateway. Upon user access session completion the controller signals the transporting device to return the container back into the shell.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the container pool Fig. 2 is a side plan view of the gateway Fig. 3 is a top plan of the container pool with multiple access zones;
delivery, return, and two-way gateways Fig. 4 is a side plan of the container pool modification DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
With reference to the drawings, the basic principles of this invention are as follows:
Non-tamper-resistant containers (1) are enclosed in a tamper-resistant shell (2). The containers are designed for storing users' valuable inventory. A user can get access to the container through a gateway (3). The container is delivered into the gateway by the transporting device (4). The transporting device and the gateways are controlled by a controller (5).
The controller communicates with a user by means of a console (6) through which the controller gets user authentication data. The console is placed outside the shell. Using these data the controller selects the container to be accessed, detects its location in the shell, and instructs the transporting device to transport the selected container into the selected gateway and to return the container back from the gateway into the shell. The controller can be a computer, and a console can be a keypad or a display device linked to the given computer. As an option, the console can include biometrical sensors and/or electronic ID
data readers, such as smartcard readers.
The gateway is tamper-resistant and means to prevent penetration into the shell through the gateway. The gateway has three working positions. In the first working position it is open for transporting device access and closed for user access from the outside. In the second working position the gateway is open for user access and closed for access from the gateway into the shell. In the optional third working position the gateway is shut for any access.
Fig 2. shows an example of a gateway that possesses two tamper-resistant gates - an internal gate (7) that provides access from inside the shell, and an external gate (8) that provides access from outside the shell. The internal gate is open for the period of the container's being moved into the gateway. The external gate unlocks as soon as the selected container gets into the gateway; meanwhile the internal gate is closed and locked.
After the external gate has been unlocked, the user can get access to the container. Upon the access session completion the user closes the external gate and signals the end of the session.
Then the container is returned from the gateway back into the tamper-resistant shell.
The returning of the container is performed in the following sequence: the controller instructs the external gate to shut and lock; the controller instructs the internal gate to unlock and open;
the controller instructs the transporting device to remove the container from the gateway;
optionally, the controller instructs the internal gate to lock.
As an option, the controller detects the completion of the user access session automatically by container proper positioning, and/or by container's being shut inside the gate, and/or by the external gate being shut.
Apart from the two-way type gateway (3) there can be two more types of gateways. These are delivery gateways (9) for transporting the containers to users and return gateways (10) for returning containers back into the shell.
The disclosed invention can contain more than one user access zones. In that case each access zone has at least one gateway of either type and at least one console.
Fig 3. shows an example of the container pool with the following user access zones:
~ The user access zone ( 11 ) with one console (6), one delivery gateway (9), and one return gateway ( 10) ~ The user access zone (12) with one console (6) and two delivery gateways (9) ~ The user access zone (13) with one console (6) and one return gateway (10) ~ The user access zone (14) with one console (6) and one two-way gateway (3) As an option, the container is a removable capsule that can be carried away by the user. In this case the container can be equipped with an identification token. The identification token can be used by the transporting device and the controller for the following purposes: recognizing the specific container; identifying its user; detecting container location inside the shell.
For security reasons the tamper-resistant shell can have the following embedded systems: fire extinguishing system; explosive materials detection systems; motion detection system; alarm system; TV-camera monitoring system.
To enforce tamper-resistance the gateways can be placed remotely from the tamper-resistant shell, and the shell can be placed inside a restricted zone of the building or in the physically laboured access environment (i.e. underground, as shown in Fig. 4).
Claims (13)
1. An automated tamper-resistant container pool comprising:
a tamper-resistant shell;
a plurality of non-tamper-resistant containers enclosed in said tamper-resistant shell;
a tamper-resistant gateway for providing parted access either from outside or from inside said shell;
a transporting device for transporting said containers from inside said shell into said gateway and back;
a controller for authenticating the user, authorizing user access, selecting the user-related container, instructing said transporting device to transport the selected container into said gateway and back; and a console linked to said controller, positioned outside said shell, for establishing communication between said user and said controller.
a tamper-resistant shell;
a plurality of non-tamper-resistant containers enclosed in said tamper-resistant shell;
a tamper-resistant gateway for providing parted access either from outside or from inside said shell;
a transporting device for transporting said containers from inside said shell into said gateway and back;
a controller for authenticating the user, authorizing user access, selecting the user-related container, instructing said transporting device to transport the selected container into said gateway and back; and a console linked to said controller, positioned outside said shell, for establishing communication between said user and said controller.
2. The automated tamper-resistant container pool recited in claim 1, wherein said tamper-resistant gateway includes both an internal and an external gates of which not more than one is unlocked at a time.
3. The automated tamper-resistant container pool recited in claims 1-2, wherein said controller is an electronic computer device.
4. The automated tamper-resistant container pool recited in claims 1-3, wherein said console includes electronic input and output devices for displaying messages to users or maintenance personnel, entering commands, options, and users' or maintenance personnel's authentication data.
5. The automated tamper-resistant container pool recited in claims 1-4, wherein said console includes an Integrated Circuit Card (ICC) acceptance device for user or maintenance personnel authenticating and container selecting.
6. The automated tamper-resistant container pool recited in claims 1-5, wherein said console includes biometrical sensors for scanning user's or maintenance personnel's biometrical data.
7. The automated tamper-resistant container pool recited in claims 1-6, where said console comprises an electronic acceptance device for accepting personal authentication data stored in a magnetic, or electromagnetic, or electronic, or mechanical authentication device.
8. The automated tamper-resistant container pool recited in claims 1-7 including more than one gateway, where each of said gateways is either a delivery gateway for delivering containers to a user, or a return gateway for returning containers into said tamper-resistant shell, or a two-way gateway for both delivery and return.
9. The automated tamper-resistant container pool recited in claim 8 having more than one separate user access zones, wherein each of said access zones includes all or some of the following: said console, said two-way gateway, said delivery gateway, and said returned gateway.
10. The automated tamper-resistant container pool recited in claims 1-9, wherein said container is a removable capsule.
11. The automated tamper-resistant container pool recited in claims 1-10, wherein said container is equipped with a unique container identification token and / or a user identification token, where said token is a magnetic, or electromagnetic, or electronic device.
12. The automated tamper-resistant container pool recited in claims 1-11 equipped with a fire extinguishing system, or an explosive materials detecting system, or a motion detecting system, or a TV-camera monitoring system, or an alarm system.
13. The automated tamper-resistant container pool recited in claims 1-12 wherein said user access zone is located remotely from said tamper-resistant shell placed into a restricted access zone.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA002501789A CA2501789A1 (en) | 2005-03-29 | 2005-03-29 | Automated tamper-resistant container pool |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA002501789A CA2501789A1 (en) | 2005-03-29 | 2005-03-29 | Automated tamper-resistant container pool |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA2501789A1 true CA2501789A1 (en) | 2006-09-29 |
Family
ID=37055024
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA002501789A Abandoned CA2501789A1 (en) | 2005-03-29 | 2005-03-29 | Automated tamper-resistant container pool |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA2501789A1 (en) |
-
2005
- 2005-03-29 CA CA002501789A patent/CA2501789A1/en not_active Abandoned
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| FZDE | Discontinued |