ANTI THEFT DEVICE ESPECIALLY FOR PORTABLE ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT

Abstract: A security device for portable electronic apparatus such as a portable PC, a video projector, etc., which security device comprises an elongated flexible element, which is terminated at each end for respective connection with the electronic apparatus and with a locking device for securing the electronic equipment to an external structural element. The security device is characterised in that the elongated element comprises a core comprising one or more elongated flexible elements of a material with high tensile capacity in its longitudinal direction, which elements extend separately or together in the longitudinal direction through the entire elongated element between the terminations, which core is surrounded by a number of elongated filaments of asynthetic fibre with a high degree of tensile strength, such as Kevlar or the like, which filaments extend substantially in the longitudinal direction of the elongated element, where the core and the elongated elements of synthetic material are woven together by a filiform filler/binder.

Description: Anti theft device especially for portable electronic equipment The present invention relates to a security device particularly for portable electronic equipment, such as portable PCs, video projectors, small video recorders, various kinds of electronic diagnostic equipment, service modules, etc. The security device consists substantially of an elongated, flexible body with a first and a second end, which is connected at its first end to the electronic equipment that has to be secured, and at its second end is connected to an external structural element or is looped around an external structural element. The body can be divided and joined to a lockable connecting device, or it can be formed into a loop and continue through a locking device, which thereby closes and locks the loop. The present invention also essentially relates to the construction of the flexible body for use with the security device. The invention further relates to various attachment devices connecting the elongated, flexible body to the electronic equipment. As it becomes possible to reduce various types of electronic equipment in size, thereby making them portable, the risk of theft of such equipment also naturally increases. In a great many cases the risk is increased in connection with transport or temporary storage outside a permanent storage location where the equipment is substantially only protected in so far as the owner or user keeps it under constant supervision or locks it in a suitable location. Such a location may, for example, be a hotel room, a car, a case, conference premises, a luggage deposit box or the like. It is a fact, however, that such temporary storage locations are often extremely unsafe since professional thieves over time have acquired easy access to such places. It must therefore be described as extremely risky to carry around very valuable electronic equipment, which is easy to transport, since the equipment is exposed to theft during transport and during both temporary and permanent storage, e.g. while travelling. Particularly in the case of portable computers such as so-called PC laptops, palmtops and various other kinds of communication units with internal memory and storage capacity, theft also entails potential loss of information, sometimes including sensitive information. A portable PC with an average- size hard disc today may contain a great deal of information and in the right hands the value of this information may appreciably exceed the material value of the actual PC. There is therefore a high degree of motivation for securing portable electronic equipment such as PCs, palmtops, laptops and other mobile communication equipment against theft. As other portable electronic equipment such as, e.g. video projectors have obtained an "ordinary" interface to other electronic equipment such as, e.g., video, TV games, PCs, etc., the risk of theft of this kind of equipment also increases. This is often theft purely for profit or amusement where the stolen electronic equipment is sold to amateur users who want professional equipment. Portable electronic equipment is particularly subject to so-called "hit and run" thefts where the actual theft is carried out at great speed and the thief disappears almost instantly without attempting to take any other items. A security device for portable electronic equipment should therefore be specially designed to prevent this type of theft. In particular, this is implemented by preventing a thief from disappearing with the equipment quickly and without hindrance and also by ensuring that the security device can withstand vandalism and rough treatment at least for a short period before giving way. At the same time the security device does not need to be designed to be capable of resisting destruction by tools over a period of time. At the present time relatively few security solutions exist for portable electronic equipment, due in part to the fact that the problem of theft of such equipment is a relatively recent phenomenon. The existing solutions, however, are mostly based on the prior art such as, e.g., the use of wire, chains and the like to connect the portable electronic equipment to a fixed point, e.g. a kind of structure, which is either too large or too heavy to be able to be moved together with the electronic equipment, or which is fixed as a structural element in a wide connection. Commonly known securing devices of the flexible type (wire, chains or the like), however, often offer a challenge with regard to the attachment point connecting the electronic equipment to the security device. A challenge also exists in how the security device is connected to a fixed point such as a structural element or the like. These challenges are substantially solved with ordinary attachment devices where a wire, chain or the like is connected to a suitable attachment point integrated in the "supporting structure" of the electronic equipment. At the opposite'end, for example, the securing device may be locked with a standard securing element such as a padlock, various kinds of cylinder locks, code locks and the like where the security device is releasably and lockably connected to an external structural element, or is connected to itself after having formed a loop around an external structural element such as, e.g., a cycle lock or the like. With these common methods of connecting a security device and electronic equipment, a problem arises when a thief exhibits a greater degree of brutality than expected. It is often very easy to "jerk" a security device such as a wire or the like out of "the supporting structure" in a portable PC or the like. Particularly if the security device permits some latitude of movement from the attachment point, thus enabling the strain on the security device to be relieved and then restored with a jerk, e.g. by a kick, a blow, rapid movement or the like. This is also particularly typical of so-called "hit and run" thefts. Furthermore, the design of the actual flexible elongated body, which forms a substantial part of the security device according to the present invention, represents a considerable challenge. In this case the challenge is to provide a flexible body, which connects the electronic equipment that has to be secured with the structural element and which resists the stresses generated during a typical "hit and run" theft. This means that the body has to resist attempts to sever or cut the element with ordinary tools such as knives, wire cutters, scissors, files, saws or the like over a relatively short period. There will usually be limited access to the use of sophisticated tools requiring external power such as angle grinders, cutting torches etc. so that there is little need to protect the element against this kind of stress. This type of theft requires a greater degree of planning of the operation by the thief, where he has to bring tools, while the operation will not be noiseless and fast. These challenges are therefore less relevant with regard to the design of a security device according to the present invention. However, the element has to be able to resist attempts to burn or melt off the element with an ordinary heat source such as a lighter, etc. In different embodiments, moreover, the construction of the security device can be reinforced in order to safeguard the security device against being severed across the security device's longitudinal direction, as well as safeguarding it against fracture as a result of extremely powerful forces in the security device's longitudinal direction. The design of the attachment point on the security device connecting the security device with the electronic equipment that has to be secured, however, represents a challenge. In particular, it is desirable to overcome the disadvantages associated with previously known solutions, which at present do not provide adequate security in addition to being heavy, cumbersome to use and therefore very little utilised. Thus it is an object of the present invention to provide a security device for portable electronic equipment that provides a substantial degree of increased security against high-speed thefts of the so-called "hit and run" type where a thief makes off easily, quickly and audaciously with electronic equipment that is inadequately secured. The security device according to the present invention should be simple to attach or connect to the electronic equipment, and equally simple to connect to a fixed structural element or the like, which helps to secure the electronic equipment. It is a further object of the present invention that the security device should be able to be designed in a number of different ways in its connecting point to the electronic equipment, thus enabling the security device to be of a uniform design that can be adapted to a number of different portable electronic devices. Similarly, it is an object that the security device should be adapted to be lockingly secured to a number of different structural elements or the like. In order to provide an additional safeguard against breaking of the connection between the security device and the electronic equipment, in an alternative embodiment the security device may also be so designed that the security device in itself prevents rapid extension or movement of the electronic equipment, e.g. by the security device being of a naturally curved or undulating shape, which cannot be instantly straightened out without overcoming an inherent elastic counter force/effect. In general terms it can be said that the security device's elongated flexible body according to the present invention is built up in layers of two or more materials, whereof one or more of the layers are a reinforcing layer with a high degree of resistance against shear forces across the body's longitudinal direction and one or more of the layers are a reinforcing layer with great resistance to axial forces in the body's longitudinal direction. The layered division may include two or more layers placed side by side across the body's longitudinal direction and/or the layered division may include two or more layers placed substantially above one another in the body's longitudinal direction. In different embodiments the security device's elongated flexible body can be constructed in layers with two or more materials of different types such as, e.g., plastics, metals, textiles or the like. It will be natural, e.g., to employ material with different properties in the longitudinal direction and transverse direction of the security device's body. Such properties are obtained particularly by using different types of fibres such as Kevlar, glass fibre, different types of textile fibres, artificial fibres, steel wire, copper wire, etc. Different kinds of layered construction of the security device's body can be provided by placing a number of layers, for example of two or more materials, above one another in the body's longitudinal direction, or side by side across the safety device's longitudinal direction. Based on the above-mentioned objects, and in order to also overcome the disadvantages attached to previously known technical solutions, according to the present invention a safety device is provided for portable electronic apparatus such as a portable PC, a video projector, etc., which security device comprises an elongated flexible element, which is terminated at each end for connection to the electronic apparatus and to a locking device for securing the electronic equipment to an external structural element. The security device is characterised in that the elongated element comprises a core comprising one or more elongated flexible elements of a material with high tensile capacity in its longitudinal direction, which elements extend separately or together through the entire elongated element between the terminations, which core is surrounded by a number of elongated filaments of a synthetic fibre with a high degree of tensile strength, such as Kevlar or the like, which filaments extend substantially in the longitudinal direction of the elongated element, where the core and the elongated elements of synthetic material are woven together by a filiform filler/binder. In the preferred embodiment, the core of elongated material consists of one or more steel wires. Alternatively, other materials with similar properties may be employed. In different embodiments of the elongated element the percentage of synthetic fibre varies from approximately 20% to approximately 80%. This has little effect on the strength and the resistance but the cost structure may be influenced to such an extent that it is necessary/desirable to reduce the percentage of synthetic fibre, such as Kevlar. Other materials than Kevlar, but with similar properties, may also be employed. Kevlar, however, is the preferred choice of material and is used in the preferred embodiment on account of its material properties, which are described in greater detail below. The special property of synthetic fibres such as Kevlar and the like is that they consist of a great many extremely thin filaments, which cannot be split when pressure is applied with a blunt or not particularly sharp object such as a normal knife, scissors, cutter or the like. Thus an exceptionally sharp tool must be employed in order to sever the synthetic fibre. Moreover, a sharp tool of this kind will meet the elongated materials in the core, which are usually preferably steel wire or the like, where a sharp edge will be blunted, thus preventing it from continuing to be employed for severing the thin synthetic fibre filaments. Furthermore, the material cannot be burnt or melted without the application of a very high temperature over a considerable period. In the preferred embodiment the filler/binder is synthetic fibre such as, e.g., a polyester material. This is preferred since it is inexpensive and easy to use for weaving the remaining materials together to form the desired product. In addition it is possible to employ this as a filler that compensates for different contents of, e.g. Kevlar in the different products where the percentage of fibre such as, e.g., Kevlar may vary from around 20% to around 80%. The filiform filler/binder preferably extends both in the longitudinal direction of the elongated element and substantially across the elongated element. The material may, of course, also extend at any angle relative to the element's longitudinal direction. In order to prevent the securing device from being "jerked" out of its attachment to the portable electronic equipment or the attachment to the external structural element, the security device's elongated body may be provided over at least a portion of its longitudinal extension with an elastic element or an elastic material. The material may, for example, be rubber. The elastic material, however, should be equally resistant to vandalism and attempts at theft as the remainder of the elongated body, thus involving the need for reinforcement, amongst other things. In an embodiment, therefore, the elongated flexible body is designed with an initial curvature, which forms an elastic element when the curvature is extended. This may, for example, be composed of a piece of spring steel (leaf steel), which is designed with a curvature. When an attempt is made to steal the electronic equipment, the curvature is extended, providing a gradually increasing resistance as the electronic equipment is moved. Alternatively, other "preformed" elements may be employed that can be elastically deformed in the elongated body's longitudinal direction. Alternatively, the elastic piece may be designed as a longitudinal undulating shape in the elongated body's longitudinal direction. Each or both of the connections may be releasable and lockable and in an embodiment at least one of the connections is releasable and lockable. This permits the electronic equipment to be easily released and moved if necessary, for example by the elongated element forming a loop with the external structural element where one end of the elongated element is terminated in the electronic apparatus and the other end is terminated directly in, or in connection with a locking device by, e.g. passing one of the terminated ends through a locking device that prevents it from being returned. In a further alternative embodiment, particularly suitable for portable PCs such as laptops etc., the first end of the security device is substantially in the form of a T, which is placed between the fold-up screen and the portable PC's upper cabinet between the hinges connecting the cabinet and the screen. If the "T" in the securing device is correctly constructed and designed, it will be capable of providing adequate security against theft according to the object of the present invention. By correct construction and design here we mean that the requirements with regard to strength and requirements necessary to withstand various kinds of stresses in the different directions have been satisfied. In a preferred embodiment this can be implemented by, amongst other things, layered construction with materials with different properties, which together provide the desired technical function with regard to security. Moreover, various other attachment methods may be employed between the security device and the electronic equipment. These methods of attachment include adhesive tape, adhesive, a coupling designed complementarily to an opening in the electronic equipment, etc. The security device for portable electronic equipment may also be designed in such a manner that the security device consists substantially of an elongated, flexible body with a first and a second end, which first end is provided with an attachment device for attaching to the electronic equipment and the second end is provided with an attachment device for attaching to an external structural element and the elongated body is divided at one or more points along its longitudinal extension and designed with two complementarily shaped end pieces on each part of the body that can be releasably and lockably connected. The complementarily shaped end pieces will usually be of the male/female connector type, which is preferably releasable and lockable. Different embodiments of security devices according to the present invention are further exemplified and described in further detail in the following detailed description, with reference to the attached figures: Fig. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a security device according to the present invention for securing a portable PC in a car. Fig. 2 illustrates a further embodiment of a security device according to the present invention for securing a portable PC to a desk. Fig. 3 illustrates a locked version of the security device illustrated in fig. 2. Fig. 4 illustrates a further embodiment of the security device as indicated in fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a plan view from above and a cross section from the side illustrating the construction of an embodiment of the elongated element according to the present invention. Fig. 6 is a perspective view and plan view from the side and from above together with two cross sections illustrating the construction of an embodiment of the elongated element with terminations on the ends according to the present invention. Figs. 1 and 2 illustrate a basic embodiment of the security device according to the present invention for securing a portable PC, such as a laptop or the like, e.g. in a car or to a desk or the like. As can be seen, a portable PC 1 is connected to a security device 2 according to the present invention comprising an elongated body 3 with a first end 4 and a second end 5. The first end 4 is in the form of a "T" and in the embodiment can be mounted between hinges or fulcrums in the transition between the display and the cabinet of a portable PC. Furthermore, in fig. 2 the second end 5 is illustrated in a form that enables it to engage with the end 6 of the attachment point 7 that secures the PC to the desk 10. The attachment point 7 is connected via a flexible or fixed part 8 with a foot or holder 9, which is preferably securely connected to the desk or the structural element 10. As can also be seen in fig. 2, the connection between the second end 5 of the security device 2 and the end 7 is releasable and lockable according to the present invention. In an alternative embodiment the attachment point 9 to the structural element 10 may be omitted and replaced with a loop or other attachment device 12, which is also connected to the end 7 and which can go into locking and releasable engagement with the other end 5 of the elongated flexible body 3 in the security device 2. An alternative embodiment of this kind is used, for example, in fig. 1 where the electronic equipment is secured in a car to a handle or the like. Fig. 3 further illustrates how the security device according to the present invention, as illustrated in fig. 2, works if a thief attempts to steal the portable PC. In an alternative embodiment, which is indicated in fig. 2, the security device's elongated body 3 can be originally deformed or designed in a curved or undulating shape 3a, where choice of material and construction of the elongated body 3 in the area 3a are intended to prevent rapid movement of the portable PC away from the attachment point 9 that secures the portable PC 1. This may be achieved, for example, by incorporating a piece of curved spring steel or the like in the elongated body's construction. Amongst other things, this can help to absorb the forces that may be employed to "jerk" the PC out of the security device. Furthermore, the design and construction of the T-shaped piece in the first end 4 of the elongated body 3 may be designed so as to resist these "jerking forces", which are applied when a thief attempts to steal a portable PC, as illustrated, e.g., in fig. 3. An embodiment similar to that illustrated in figs. 1 and 2 is also illustrated in fig. 4, where the deformed area 3a is also illustrated. Such a deformed area can be produced, for example, by a layered construction of the elongated body 3 where one or more of the layers include preformed elements, for example of metal such as spring steel or the like, which in addition to an original shape also permit flexible and elastic deformation. As illustrated in figs. 1-4, and particularly in fig. 2, the end 7 is provided with a locking device that permits releasable and lockable connection between the structural element 10 and the electronic equipment 1. This locking point can be designed in a number of different ways, including the use of commonly known technical solutions for locking connection of two elements. The technical solution according to the present invention is not appreciably associated with the design of the actual locking element, which is indicated here at the end 7. The locking element, however, should be designed so as to permit individual adaptation of the lock by means of different keys or codes. Various kinds of remote control with electronic equipment may also be used, but this in turn usually requires the provision of an active element such as a battery of the like and thus may be inopportune or unsuitable. Figure 5 is a plan view and cross section illustrating the construction of an embodiment of the elongated element 3 in a security device according to the present invention. The element 3 comprises elongated bodies 13, which in this case are steel wires, polyester fibre 14 that is used to weave the wires 13 together and elongated Kevlar fibres 15. The illustrated embodiment contains approximately 20% Kevlar and 80% polyester. Figure 6 further illustrates an elongated element 3 with end terminations 17 and 16 for connection with the electronic apparatus and in connection with a lock. Here it is intended for the arrangement of a lock, which loops round the element 3 and locks by preventing the end termination 16 from being pulled through the lock. In the above, different embodiments of the invention are set forth in order to exemplify the structural principle of the present invention. The embodiments that are described and illustrated, however, should not be considered to be limiting in relation to the inventive concept, which is further set forth in the attached independent patent claim 1 , with various alternative embodiments indicated in the various dependent patent claims.

Claims: PATENT CLAIMS 1. A security device for portable electronic apparatus such as a portable PC, a video projector, etc., which security device comprises an elongated flexible element, which is terminated at each end for respective connection with the electronic apparatus and with a locking device for securing the electronic equipment to an external structural element, characterised in that the elongated element comprises a core comprising one or more elongated flexible elements of a material with high tensile capacity in its longitudinal direction, which elements extend separately or together in the longitudinal direction through the entire elongated element between the terminations, which core is surrounded by a number of elongated filaments of a synthetic fibre with a high degree of tensile strength, such as Kevlar or the like, which filaments extend substantially in the longitudinal direction of the elongated element, where the core and the elongated elements of synthetic material are woven together by a filiform filler/binder. 2. A security device according to claim 1 , characterised in that the core of elongated material comprises one or more steel wires. 3. A security device according to claims 1-2, characterised in that the percentage of synthetic fibre in the elongated element varies from approximately 20% to approximately 80%. 4. A security device according to claims 1-3, characterised in that the filler/binder is a polyester material. 5. A security device according to claims 1-4, characterised in that the filiform filler/binder extends both in the longitudinal direction of the elongated element and substantially across the elongated element. 6. A security device according to one or more of the above claims, characterised in that the elongated body is provided over at least a portion of its length with one or more pieces of an elastic material. 7. A security device according to claim 6, characterised in that the elastic material has an initial shape that is essentially curved. 8. A security device according to claims 6-7, characterised in that the elastic material is a piece of spring steel. 9. A security device according to one or more of the above claims, characterised in that the connection between the termination in the elongated body's first end and the electronic equipment is releasable and lockable. 10. A security device according to one or more of the above claims, characterised in that the connection between the termination in the elongated body's second end and the external structural element is releasable and lockable.

Inventors: NILSEN TOM MAJLUND, NILSEN, TOM, MAJLUND
Applicants: NILSEN TOM MAJLUND, PROTECTON AS, NILSEN, TOM, MAJLUND
Application year: 2001
Main classification: E05B73
IPC codes: D07B1, E05B73