Patent ID: 6113163
Filing Date: 2000-09-05
Classification: B65D,E05B,Y10S,Y10T

Abstract:
To securely close a container having at least one door, an improved cargo seal comprising:a lock assembly, said lock assembly being structured to secure the door in a closed orientation and including at least one lock aperture,an elongate segment of substantially strong, generally flexible material, said elongate segment including opposite ends and structured to extend through said lock aperture of said lock assembly so as to restrict movement of said lock assembly and accordingly release of the door from said closed orientation,at least one of said opposite ends of said elongate segment including a mating segment,a pair of lock segments, said lock segments structured to be correspondingly and substantially fixedly disposed at said opposite ends of said elongate segment so as to generally prevent removal thereof without physically damaging said lock segment or said elongate segment and thereby providing visible evidence of tampering,at least one of said lock segments being structured to be securely coupled with said mating segment,each of said lock segments having an increased diameter relative to a diameter of said elongate segment, so as to prevent removal of said elongate segment from said lock aperture, and accordingly movement of said lock assembly to permit opening of the door, without removal of at least one of said lock segments or visibly damaging said lock assembly, thereby providing clear evidence of tampering and opening of said door,said lock assembly including at least a cargo door latch assembly in which said lock aperture is defined, and a tamper evident container door lock,said cargo door latch assembly including a lock rod disposed on the door of the container,said tamper evident door lock including a retention bracket structured to be disposed about said lock rod, and a cross brace structured to generally enclose said retention bracket about said lock rod so as to prevent lateral removal of said retention bracket from said lock rod, andsaid elongate segment structured to extend through said cross brace and said retention bracket so as to maintain said cross brace in retaining, enclosing engagement with said retention bracket.