Abstract:
A mounting spring coil is made to grip and releasably hold a cylindrical periphery of a memory button while transmitting an ID effectively. A memory button held in a coil of the mounting spring can support objects such as tags and keys that are identified by the memory button to account for removal and replacement of the objects being secured.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application relates to and replaces provisional application No. 61/492,390 filed 2 Jun. 2011. 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    Memory button identification and mounting of keys and other security items 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Memory buttons or Dallas ibuttons afford an inexpensive way to provide an ID associated with a security object. The security objects can be keys, cards, and other small and lightweight objects deserving security, such as small medicinal packages of liquids, pills, and capsules. The ID can be read electrically with a signal wire paired with a neutral wire for easy identification. 
         [0004]    The difficulty comes in packaging and mounting the objects to easily read a memory button associated with each object. Prior art suggestions for mounting or packaging memory buttons and security objects have been expensive and cumbersome, resulting in a need for a simpler and less expensive mount. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0005]    Embodiments described in this application meet the need for a memory button mount that is simple, compact, durable, inexpensive, and effective in providing electrically readable IDs for security objects. A good example of objects deserving security measures are keys. Memory buttons can be attached directly to the heads of keys or to tags that are permanently connected to keys to give each key or group of keys an ID. Then the button itself can mount and support the keys or the tag attached to keys so that each memory button can be read electrically and can thereby account for the removal and replacement of keys. 
         [0006]    The mount for the memory button is preferably a coil spring having a gripping coil that can frictionally and releasably hold onto a cylindrical contact surface of a memory button. Such a coil spring can also provide electrical communication with the cylindrical periphery of the memory button. The spring grip on the memory button is strong enough to hold a tag, and one or more keys, or other objects that can be arranged in a security box. The memory button is thus made to serve two purposes: one being an electrically accessible ID associated with each security object, and the other being a mounting function accomplished in cooperation with a coil spring having a gripping coil that fits tightly around a perimeter of a memory button. 
         [0007]    A lighter weight contact spring coil can be arranged within the gripping coil to make electrical contact with a plane face of the memory button so that presence or absence of the memory button and its associated security object can be tracked electrically. Securing the gripping spring and the contact spring to a surface of a circuit board having electrically conductive paths can be done so that a computer or microprocessor communicating with the circuit board can readily detect the presence or absence of any memory button. 
         [0008]    Keys are not the only security object that can be accounted for with a memory button mount such as proposed in this application. Other objects that are sufficiently compact and sufficiently lightweight to be attached to memory buttons or to tags mounting memory buttons can afford the same sort of security as provided for keys. 
     
    
     
       DRAWINGS 
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is a partially schematic plan view of a coil spring mount showing a gripped memory button in broken lines. 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is a partially cut-away and partially schematic view of a coil spring holder for a memory button attached to a key tag. 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  is a side elevational view of the coil spring, memory button, and key tag of  FIG. 2 . 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is a side elevational view of the key tag of  FIGS. 2 and 3 . 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  is a partially perspective view of a key hanging on a wire loop of the key tag of  FIGS. 2 ,  3 , and  4 . 
           [0014]      FIG. 6  is a side elevational view of the combination of a key, key tag, gripping spring, and circuit board to show how compactly a key can be mounted. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0015]    The illustrated embodiments involve a coil spring gripper that releasably holds a memory button, and possibly an asset secured to the memory button, in a configuration especially suitable for keys as the objects to be secured. The coil spring holder is illustrated in  FIGS. 1-3  and the key tag is illustrated in  FIGS. 2-6 . Many variations are possible for mounting memory buttons directly on the heads of keys or on other objects to be secured. 
         [0016]    Coil gripping spring  30  preferably has a conical shape as illustrated, with a base coil  31  having a larger ID than a gripping coil  32  arranged at a top of spring  30 . Top coil  32  can then grip memory button  20  as illustrated in broken lines in  FIG. 1 . Spring  30  is preferably made of a conductive metal, such as music wire so that it electrically communicates with a cylindrical periphery  21  of memory button  20 . It can be made in many configurations, including cylindrical, but the illustrated conical shape is preferred for stability. 
         [0017]    The ends  33  of spring  30  can be cut off square, as shown in  FIG. 1 , or can be machined to tapers that more closely fit a plane surface. Experience has shown that this is not necessary, however. Even cut off square, as shown in  FIG. 1 , gripping coil  32  surrounds about ¼ or about 270 degrees of the cylindrical surface  21  of memory button  20 . This affords a grip strong enough to releasably support both memory button  20  and tags or objects secured to memory button  20 . The grip of spring  30  on memory button  20  is aided by the fact that memory button  20  does not need to be disposed parallel with a support surface  40  to which base coil  31  is secured. Spring  30 , in the simple illustrated configuration, can be made on a fourslide machine, which is preferred for keeping the manufacturing expense low. 
         [0018]    A support surface  40  is preferably a circuit board having established conductive paths  35  and  36 . There are countless ways that electrically conductive paths can be designed on a circuit board  40  or other support to read identities from an array of memory buttons  20 . They all require a single signal line, paired with a neutral line. 
         [0019]    A contact spring  50 , of much lighter gauge than gripping spring  30 , is preferably mounted on circuit board  40  within base coil  31  to extend up to a region within gripping coil  32  to electrically contact a plane face surface  22  of memory button  20 . Contact spring  50  thus contacts an electrode of memory button  20  while gripping spring  30  contacts another electrode of memory button  20  so that ID numbers of memory button  20  can be accessed simply. 
         [0020]    Spring  30 , in addition to providing electrical contact with a cylindrical perimeter  21  of memory button  20 , also grips and releasably holds memory button  20  by the frictional grip of upper coil  32 . The springiness of the wire of spring  30  allows upper coil  32  to expand slightly when memory button  20  is pressed into place within the wrap of coil  32 . This wrap extends around more than half of the cylindrical surface of memory button  20 , and preferably about 270 degrees, to hold memory button  20  securely. Coils of spring  30  preferably contact each other in an unflexed state so that pushing button  20  into gripping coil  32  is resisted by the underlying coils to force gripping coil  32  to expand slightly in diameter to receive button  20 . This assures a secure and reliable grip on button  20  that remains releasable for removing a secured object. 
         [0021]    For security of keys, memory button  20  is preferably secured to a tag  50  that holds a wire  55  on which a key  60  can hang. Tag  50  has slits  51  at an upper end to receive barbed ends of wire  55 . A key  60 , mounted on wire  55  is secured to tag  50  once the barbed ends of wire  55  are inserted into slits  51  from which the wire cannot be extracted. Memory button  20  is secured to one face of tag  50 , and wire  55  is bent to extend into a space on a side of tag  50  opposite button  20 . 
         [0022]    With circuit board  40  oriented vertically and coil spring  30  oriented horizontally, tag  50  can hang vertically from the grip afforded by memory button  20  in the gripping coil  32  of spring  30 . This disposes hanging wire  55  near the top of tag  50  with a loop  56  disposed on a side of tag  50  opposite button  20  where the head  61  of key  60  is disposed above a bottom end  52  of tag  50 . This is shown in  FIGS. 4-6 . This arrangement makes compact storage for an array of keys so that many more keys and tags can be mounted in a security box than if the tags were hung with the wire end downward. This would extend the hanging wire  55  below the bottom of tag  50 , with key  60  extending even farther below tag  50  where it would require much more hanging space. 
         [0023]    Altogether, skillful variations and combinations on the illustrated embodiments can significantly reduce the expense of providing memory button identities to keys and other objects. This can make increased security affordable to many applications that deserve increased security.