WO2013190519A1

WO2013190519A1 - Anti-theft device, particularly for shop articles and the like

Info

Publication number: WO2013190519A1
Application number: PCT/IB2013/055117
Authority: WO
Inventors: Roberto LAFERLA
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2012-06-22
Filing date: 2013-06-21
Publication date: 2013-12-27
Anticipated expiration: 2014-12-22
Also published as: ITMI20121096A1; EP2864971A1

Description

ANTI-THEFT DEVICE, PARTICULARLY FOR SHOP ARTICLES AND THE LIKE

The present invention relates to an anti-theft device, particularly for shop articles and the like.

As is known, in shops, supermarkets and hypermarkets, the use is increasingly widespread of anti-theft devices which prevent the user from stealing a determined article to which the device is attached, in that, if this should happen, the theft would be detected when passing through adapted barriers which are located at the exit from the shop or sales point in general, that are adapted to detect the presence of the anti-theft device attached to the article.

Conventional devices are generally constituted by two bodies which can be mutually coupled with the interposition of the article to be protected, and the separation of the two bodies can be done only at the cash register, at the time of payment for the article, before passing through the exit barriers.

However, it often happens that the user attempts to fraudulently break the anti-theft device, by separating the two mutually coupled bodies, in this manner "freeing" the article to which the device was attached.

This situation occurs most frequently in the changing rooms, for example for trying on items of clothing and the like, wherein the user can work undisturbed and often succeeds in breaking the anti-theft device, thus being able to pass through the exit barriers without problems.

Besides, it is not possible for the managers of the sales point to install surveillance video cameras either in the changing rooms or in the toilets, since it is specifically prohibited by law.

The weak point of conventional anti-theft devices is precisely the fact that they can be broken by the customer and there is no way of detecting the breakage, which normally occurs in areas where it is not possible to install surveillance video cameras.

The aim of the present invention is to provide an anti-theft device that makes it possible to solve the above mentioned drawbacks, by making it possible to detect the breakage of the device even in places where surveillance by video camera would not be possible.

Within this aim, an object of the present invention is to provide an anti-theft device that makes it possible for the management of the sales point to be informed quickly of an attempt to break the device being committed.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an anti-theft device that, in addition to achieving the above objects, is capable of operating exactly as conventional devices upon passing through the exit barriers of the sales point.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an anti-theft device that can be used to verify that the number of articles freed is the same as the number of articles recorded at the cash register and, as a consequence, paid for by customers.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an anti-theft device that is highly reliable, is relatively simple to provide and has low cost.

This aim and these and other objects which will become better apparent hereinafter are all achieved by an anti-theft device, particularly for shop articles and the like, which comprises a first and a second body which can be mutually coupled, characterized in that one of said first body and said second body comprises an electromagnetic coil and the other one means of interference, said electromagnetic coil and said means of interference being adapted to be mutually coupled as a consequence of the coupling of said first and second body.

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become better apparent from the description of preferred, but not exclusive, embodiments of the anti-theft device according to the invention, illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of an embodiment of the anti-theft device according to the present invention;

Figure 2 illustrates an embodiment of a changing room for use in combination with the anti-theft device according to the invention;

Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view of a further embodiment of the anti-theft device according to the present invention; and

Figure 4 is a block diagram of a system for verifying the number of articles freed with respect to those paid for, using the anti-theft device according to the present invention.

With reference to Figure 1 , a possible embodiment of the anti-theft device according to the present invention, generally designated by the reference numeral 1 , comprises a first body 2 and a second body 3 which are adapted to be mutually coupled after interposition of an article 4 to be protected.

The first body 2 has a reception hole 5 for receiving a pin 6 which is provided at the second body 3.

Normally, the technologies employed to detect anti-theft devices are of the magneto-acoustic type at 58 kHz, or of the radiofrequency type at 8.2 MHz.

The device according to the invention, as illustrated in Figure 1 , has an electromagnetic coil 7 in the body 2 and an electromagnetic coil 8 in the body 3, which, once the two bodies 2 and 3 are coupled, are also mutually coupled and the superimposition of the two electromagnetic coils cancel out their effect (by electromagnetic induction) and they are not globally detected by the detection devices employed at sales points.

In order to also be able to detect the anti-theft device when the two parts that make up the device are still coupled and the customer tries to leave the sales point, at at least one of the two component parts 2, 3 a ferromagnetic material is inserted, such as for example a ferrite 9, which can be detected by the exit barriers of the sales point. Therefore, when the anti-theft device is not separated and the customer tries to leave the sales point, the ferrite 9 is detected and triggers the alarm at the sales point exit.

On the contrary, if the customer tries to fraudulently detach the anti- theft device, by breaking it, thus separating the two component parts 2 and 3, then the two electromagnetic coils 7 and 8 no longer cancel each other out, and this ensures that they can be detected by a detector which can be arranged at a changing room, as will be described in detail below.

The detection of the electromagnetic coils 7 and 8 thus make it possible to detect when the customer attempts to separate the two component parts 2 and 3 of the anti-theft device.

The ferrite 9 and the electromagnetic coils 7 and 8 are not in contact with each other and do not interfere with each other.

Assuming for example that the frequency of the detector at the exit barriers is 58 kHz, then the anti-theft device according to the invention will use a 58 kHz ferrite 9 which is adapted to be detected at the exit from the sales point. On the contrary, the two electromagnetic coils will each have a frequency, for example, in MHz, which is canceled out when the two reels are mutually coupled and superimposed.

It is possible for example to use two 8.2 MHz reels, respectively, which, as said, cancel each other out when they are coupled. However, if the two parts of the device are separated fraudulently, then each of the two reels can be immediately detected by the detector provided at the changing room.

If the frequencies of the two electromagnetic coils are the same, then there will be a double opportunity to detect the fraudulent attempt to break the anti-theft device.

In an alternative embodiment, it is also possible to have two electromagnetic coils 7 and 8 with mutually different frequencies.

If instead, for example, at the exit barriers there is an 8.2 MHz detector, then the ferrite 9 will have a frequency of 8.2 MHz, in order to be able to be detected at the sales point exit, while the two coils 7 and 8 can for example each have a frequency of 4.8 MHz, thus with the same frequency as each other, which is canceled out when they are coupled and superimposed, or with frequencies of 8.2 MHz for one and 4.8 MHz for the other, in this second case still having an overall frequency after coupling which is different from that sensed by the detection devices which are arranged at a changing room.

Naturally the values indicated are purely indicative and illustrative of the operation of the device according to the invention.

With reference to Figure 3, a further possible embodiment of the anti- theft device according to the present invention, which is in part similar to the embodiment described with reference to Figure 1 , comprises a first body 2 and a second body 3 which are adapted to be mutually coupled after interposition of an article 4 to be protected.

In such a different embodiment, the anti-theft device according to the invention has a layer of interference material 13 on the surface of the body 2, in substitution of the electromagnetic coil 7, and an electromagnetic coil 8 in the body 3.

Such layer of interference material, placed in direct contact with the electromagnetic coil 8 inside the body 3 that is superimposed, produces the same result as the substituted coil, canceling out the overall frequency after coupling of the bodies and making it so that the only remaining electromagnetic coil 8 is not detected by the detection devices employed at sales points.

It is furthermore possible to provide the device according to the invention by inverting the positions of the elements, i.e. by applying the interference material on the surface of the body 3 and the electromagnetic coil in the body 2. In order to detect the presence of a separation of the two component parts 2 and 3 of the anti-theft device 1 , the changing rooms, or even, for example, the toilets, can be provided with devices which are adapted to detect the two coils 7 and 8 inserted in the body 2 and in the body 3 respectively of the anti-theft device 1.

The detectors can, for example, be arranged on a wall, in a changing room 10, and, in this case, the detector, designated by the reference numeral 12, could be arranged at such a height as to detect at approximately 90 cm from the ground, or it could be placed at the top of the changing room, i.e. at the ceiling and, in this case, the detector 12, for example in the event of three adjacent changing rooms, might not be provided individually for each changing room but, for example, could use two detectors 12 for three laterally adjacent changing rooms 10. Alternatively it is possible to have two detectors 1 1 for a changing room 10 or three detectors 1 1 for two laterally adjacent changing rooms 10, thus sharing the central detector.

Or, again, the detection device in the changing room can be arranged at the floor thereof.

In the changing room there can also be a light or a buzzer which can be connected to a remote pager, or to a control unit adapted to concentrate, identify, and route the alarm reports, also through devices that are connected by way of a wireless network, for example an indoor Wi-Fi network, so as to alert a security guard that an attempt to tamper with the anti-theft device 1 is in progress.

In order to prevent the sales clerks, accidentally or intentionally, from freeing an article without receiving the corresponding payment from the customer, the tools adapted to detach an anti-theft device 21 from an article can be fitted with a device for detecting the same frequency as the detectors used in the changing rooms. The antitheft device shown in Figure 1 will be detected by the detector device located in the tool for detaching it only if the body 2 and the body 3 are separated from each other, thus ensuring the certainty of detection only in the event of successful separation. The signal generated by the detector device can be connected to a software system 20, which in turn is also connected to the cash register 22, as shown in Figure 4.

Whenever an article 4 is freed from the anti-theft device 1 by way of the adapted tools 21 , these send a signal to the software system 20 connected to them, which registers the operation and increments the counter 24 of freed articles, which is initially set to zero, by one. If subsequently the sales clerk rings up on the cash register 22 a different number of articles from that counted, the software system 20 generates some type of report, such as for example an alarm 23.

Let us assume that the customer goes to the cash register with the intention of purchasing five articles. At this point the checkout assistant frees, by way of the adapted tools 21 , such five articles from the anti-theft devices 1 fixed thereto and the software system 20 connected to these tools 21 counts the five operations, by way of the counter 24.

If the sales clerk rings up on the cash register all five freed articles, and thus if all the freed articles have been paid for, the software system 20 does not produce any form of alert and resets the counter 24 of freed articles.

But if the sales clerk rings up on the cash register fewer than the five freed items, the software system 20 detects that more articles have been freed of anti-theft devices than have been paid for and generates an alert, which can be for example triggering an alarm 23, indicating the incongruity on the display of the cash register 22 and/or registering the data of the operation, such as for example the date, time, sales clerk on duty etc.

In practice it has been found that the device according to the present invention fully achieves the set aim and objects, in that it makes it possible, with the two mutually coupled electromagnetic coils, to try on the item of clothing without the detector arranged at the changing room triggering an alarm. Such alarm is triggered only if the two coils are uncoupled from each other, in this manner being therefore detectable independently.

The presence of a ferromagnetic element in at least one of the two component parts 2 and 3 makes it possible, lastly, to detect the anti-theft device at the sales point exit, if the device is not correctly removed following payment for the article at the cash register, before the exit barriers.

The electromagnetic coils can be embedded in the component parts of the device or they can be arranged on the surface thereof, using for example adhesive labels inside which the coils are arranged.

The device, thus conceived, is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, all the details may be substituted by other, technically equivalent elements.

In practice the materials employed, and the contingent dimensions and shapes, may be any according to requirements and to the state of the art.

The content of Italian patent application no. MI2012A001096, the priority of which is claimed in the present application, is incorporated as a reference

Where the technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference numerals and/or signs, those reference numerals and/or signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly, such reference numerals and/or signs do not have any limiting effect on the interpretation of each element identified by way of example by such reference numerals and/or signs.

Claims

1. An anti-theft device (1 ), particularly for shop articles and the like, comprising a first body (2) and a second body (3) which can be mutually coupled, characterized in that said first body (2) comprises a first electromagnetic coil (7) and said second body (3) comprises means of interference, or vice versa, said first electromagnetic coil (7) and said means of interference being adapted to be mutually coupled as a consequence of the coupling of said first and second bodies (2, 3).

2. The device according to claim 1 , characterized in that said means of interference are constituted by a second electromagnetic coil (8).

3. The device according to claim 2, characterized in that said first and second electromagnetic coils (7, 8) have mutually identical or different frequencies.

4. The device according to claim 1 , characterized in that said means of interference are constituted by a layer of interference material (13) arranged on the surface of said first body (2) or said second body (3).

5. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one ferromagnetic element (9) is arranged at at least one of the first and second bodies (2, 3).

6. The device according to claim 5, characterized in that said ferromagnetic element (9) is a ferrite.

7. The device according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said first electromagnetic coil (7) and said means of interference are respectively embedded in said first and second bodies (2, 3) of the device or arranged on the surface of said bodies.

8. A changing room (10), characterized in that it comprises at least one detector (1 1 , 12) adapted to detect an anti-theft device (1) according to one or more of the preceding claims.

9. The changing room according to claim 8, characterized in that said detector ( 1 1 , 12) is arranged at the floor of said changing room.

10. The changing room according to claim 8, characterized in that said detector (1 1 , 12) is arranged at at least one wall of said changing room (10).

1 1. The changing room according to claim 8, characterized in that said detector (1 1 , 12) is arranged at the ceiling of said changing room (10).

12. The changing room according to claim 8, characterized in that it comprises means for visual and/or acoustic signaling, which are adapted to be connected to a remote pager in order to report that tampering has occurred.

13. The changing room according to claim 8, characterized in that it comprises means for visual and/or acoustic signaling which are adapted to be connected to a control unit that is configured to route the alarm reports through devices that are connected by way of a wireless network.