Apparatus and method for securing a portable electronic device
AssigneeH4 Engineering, Inc.
InventorsScott K. Taylor, Christopher T. Boyle, Alexander G. Sammons, Denes Marton
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Abstract
Anti-theft protection systems and methods for portable devices, such as portable electronic devices, that are unattended during use. The anti-theft protection systems and methods use a combination of measures including mechanical aspects, such as tethering the device to an object that is difficult to move, and electronic aspects that detect unauthorized movement and or alarm the user or other responsible party if unauthorized movement occurs.
Claims21
An apparatus for providing protection against unauthorized movement of an unattended device, said apparatus comprising:
- at least one tether;
- at least one portable anchoring element;
- and at least one locking mechanism;
- wherein said at least one tether connects the device to said at least one portable anchoring element and said at least one locking mechanism prevents removal of said at least one tether.
An apparatus for providing protection against unauthorized movement of an unattended device comprising:
- at least one position sensor associated with the unattended device;
- and
- at least one signaling device;
- wherein said at least one signaling device is configured to provide an alarm signal when said at least one position sensor detects a change of position of the unattended device.
A method of preventing theft of an unattended device, said method comprising the steps of:
- detecting the initial position of the unattended device;
- determining whether the initial position of the unattended device has changed;
- creating an alert when there is detected movement of the unattended device from the initial detected position.
The method of claim 20, further comprising the step of sending a signal to a receiver collocated with a user to alert the user to movement of the unattended device from the initial detected position of the unattended device.
The method of claim 20, further comprising the step of tethering the unattended device to an object that is difficult to move.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.