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US 7,726,552 B2Granted
System for secure collection and disposal of large volumes of documents
OwnerMike Chadimainventor
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OwnerMike Chadimainventor
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The invention disclosed herein provides an apparatus and method for securely collecting, storing, and disposing of documents by attaching a reusable, secure, lockable closure to a cardboard receptacle box. The lockable closure has a slot in the top to allow documents to be deposited in the box. Two opposing side surfaces of the lockable closure have an interior lip that engages the box flap in such a way as to prevent the unwanted removal of the closure. The closure can be secured to the box with a locking seal such as a cable tie through locking holes located on the top surface and two opposing sides of the lockable closure as well as the box flaps and box sides. A hole allows removal of the lockable closure by exerting pressure on the flap. The disclosed method provides the steps of providing a single lockable closure, a plurality of receptacle boxes, and a number of locking seals capable of fitting through the holes. The single, reusable, locking closure is placed on a receptacle box, which is sealed, documents are placed into the box through the slot. When the box is full, the locking seals are removed and the box is closed secured with its internal flaps and shipped for destruction or recycling. The same lockable closure is then placed on a different box bottom to repeat the process.
A system for secure document collection and storage comprising:
A system for secure document collection and storage comprising:
A system for secure document collection and storage comprising:
A method of secure document collection comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
This invention relates to an apparatus and method for secure collection, storage, and disposal of documents. In particular, a preferred embodiment of the invention includes a single robust document collection closure sized to fit over a series of disposable document collection boxes adapted to be used with the document collection closure to collect a large number of documents and control access to them until destruction.
An immense volume of paper is generated by working commercial offices. Large fractions of this volume of paper must be securely stored and securely destroyed to prevent theft of information. For example, offices which deal with consumer reports for business purposes in the United States are subject to the requirements of the Federal Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACTA) which requires proper disposal information of consumer reports and records to protect against “unauthorized access to use of the information”. The “disposal rule” as it is known requires entities to follow appropriate measures to dispose of outdated consumer reports and all sensitive information derived from them.
In the prior art, disposal of large volumes of documents is usually accomplished by document shredding services. Document shredding services provide trucks with portable shredding equipment. The trucks transport the portable shredding equipment to the site at which the documents are located. A bonded courier then moves the documents from the office to the truck where they are shredded. The bonded courier can then attest to the secure handling and destruction of the documents once they leave the office.
In the detailed description of the preferred embodiments presented below, reference is made to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is an isometric view of one embodiment of the lockable closure.
FIG. 2 is an isometric view of a receptacle box in an open position showing box flaps and locking holes.
In the descriptions that follow, like parts are marked throughout the specification and drawings with the same numerals, respectively. The drawing figures are not necessarily drawn to scale and certain figures may be shown in exaggerated or generalized form in the interest of clarity and conciseness.
Referring to FIG. 1, a preferred embodiment of lockable closure 100 is shown. Top surface 102 includes two closure top locking holes 104 and document entry slot 106. Lockable closure 100 is composed of a material such as polyethylene or polypropylene to make it light, easy to maneuver, but robust enough to repeatedly engage and disengage from box top end flaps 202. Other materials such as composite fiberglass, waxed corrugated cardboard or Kevlar would also suffice. In extremely secure environments, diamond pattern plate steel or stainless steel may be employed. Two closure major side surfaces 108 each have closure side locking hole 110 aligned with each closure top locking hole 104 on top surface 102. Closure top locking hole 104 and closure side locking hole 110 are spaced to allow a sealing device, such as cable tie to be inserted. Holes 104 and 102 are spaced far enough apart to prevent removal of cable tie 402 by tearing through the material of the lockable closure. Two closure minor side surfaces 112 each have one release hole 114 centrally located and two interior latches 116. Interior latches 116 are located near the bottom edge and horizontally on the interior surface of closure minor side surfaces 112. Interior latches 116 are to engage box top end flaps 202 to secure lockable closure 100 to receptacle box 200 when the invention is in its second position. In other embodiments, the internal latches may be placed on the interior of the major side surfaces or both the major and minor side surfaces to engage the flaps of the receptacle box.
As shown in FIG. 6 document entry slot 106 is of an angle to promote ease of document entry and prevent uneven stacking inside receptacle box 200. The appropriate angle should be in the range of 30 to 60 degrees. Those skilled in the art will also observe the inclined angle of the sides of lockable closure 100. The inclined angle should be between 2 and 20 degrees. The incurred angle of the sides provides a close parallel fit between the inside surfaces of the sides of the lockable closure with the exterior surfaces of the box flaps. The close parallelism between the surfaces prevents unwanted deformation and bending of the flaps if improper removal of the lockable closure is attempted. Hence, the secure attachment of the lockable closure to the bottom box is enhanced.
From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
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About 2 years 2 months of term left · ends 7 Jan 2029 (estimated)
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