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AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the United States Department of Energy
InventorMichael J. Ryan
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The invention teaches means for detecting unauthorized tampering or substitutions of a device, and has particular utility when applied on a "seal" device used to secure a location or thing. The seal has a transparent body wall, and a first indicia, viz., a label identification is formed on the inside surface of this wall. Second and third indicia are formed on the outside surface of the transparent wall, and each of these indicia is transparent to allow the parallax angled viewing of the first indicia through these indicia. The second indicia is in the form of a broadly uniform pattern, viz, many small spaced dots; while the third indicia is in the form of easily memorized objects, such as human faces, made on a substrate by means of halftone printing. The substrate is lapped over the outside surface of the transparent wall. A thin cocoon of a transparent material, generally of the same material as the substrate such as plastic, is formed over the seal body and specifically over the transparent wall and the second and third indicia formed thereon. This cocoon is seamless and has walls of nonuniform thickness. Both the genuineness of the seal and whether anyone has attempted to compromise the seal can thus be visually determined upon inspection.
A seal combination for detecting unauthorized tampering or substitution of a secured item, the improvement comprising the seal combination having a transparent wall, a first indicia disposed on the inside surface of the transparent wall, a second indicia provided over virtually all of the outside surface of the transparent wall, said second indicia having a uniformity such that any variation in the uniformity can readily be detected, a third indicia also covering at least part of the outside surface of the transparent wall, said third indicia having a pattern that is readily distinguished and easily committed to memory, and a cocoon of transparent material over virtually all of the outside surface of the transparent wall and over the second and third indicia thereon, and said second and third indicia each being at least in part transparent so as to allow viewing therethrough of the underlying first indicia, whereby a parallax is established when looking at the first indicia from an angle through the second and third indicia.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.