Patent Publication Number: US-2023145788-A1

Title: Vehicle equipment seal device

Description:
1. FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     The present disclosure relates too a vehicle equipment seal device and, more particularly, to a vehicle equipment seal device with high security. 
     2. DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART 
     With the development of the economy, the logistics industry is also booming. For the logistics industry, how to deliver the goods safely is one of the most important challenges. To prevent the goods from stealthy substitution or theft during transportation, the door of the container or packing box that contains the goods will generally be locked and sealed to be secured, and the integrity of the seal will be used to judge whether the goods are safe or not. However, prior seals not only may be damaged during transportation, but also may be easily forged, Therefore, the use of prior seals to secure the safety of goods transportation cannot satisfy the actual requirements. 
     Furthermore, with the development of communication and electronic technology, the prior seals are gradually replaced by the electronic seals, wherein the electronic seal has functions such as communication, locking and unlocking, so that electronic seal can be locked and unlocked by means of electronic communication for achieving high security. However, the electronic seal generally makes use of the magnetic reed switch connection as the removal-proof structure. Since the magnetic reed switch is easily affected by external magnetic force, the electronic seal may have a misjudgment and the removal-proof effect becomes invalid. In addition, the electronic seal is generally locked to the container or the packing box by using padlocks, bolts, rope locks and the like without special fixation, which will cause the electronic seal to easily collide with the container or packing box thereby damaging the parts of the electronic seal, and even the electronic seal may be easily shaken and turned over, resulting in poor antenna reception and affecting the communication quality. In addition, the electronic seal generally makes use of the rotation number of the motor as the positioning to lock/unlock the lock device. However, with the increase of use time, the magnetic force of the motor is attenuated, which is easy to cause the reduction of the rotation number. Therefore, the use of the existing electronic seals is not satisfactory. 
     Therefore, it is desirable to provide an improved vehicle equipment seal device to mitigate and/or obviate the aforementioned problems. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present disclosure provides a vehicle equipment seal device, which not only has stable communication quality and is not affected by external magnetic force, but also does not affect the normal locking/unlocking function of the lock device clue to the attenuation caused by the increase in the use time of the motor. 
     To achieve the aforementioned purpose, the vehicle equipment seal device of the present disclosure includes: a main body portion having a connection surface; a bolt portion for being inserted into the main body portion; a metal wire connection portion having one end fixed on the connection surface of the main body portion, and the other end provided with the bolt portion; and a lock structure arranged in the main body portion, wherein the lock structure has a motor and a sensor, so that the sensor is used to position a turning position of the motor thereby determining whether the lock structure locks the bolt portion or unlocks the bolt portion. 
     Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    shows a vehicle equipment seal device of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  2    shows the magnetic attraction surface of the main body portion of the vehicle equipment seal device according to the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  3    shows the second side surface of the main body portion of the vehicle equipment seal device according to the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  4    shows the lock structure in the main body portion of the vehicle equipment seal device according to the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  5    shows a schematic diagram of the lock structure configured to a locked state. 
         FIG.  6    shows a schematic diagram of the lock structure changed to an unlocked state. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG.  1    shows the vehicle equipment seal device of the present disclosure, which includes a main body portion  10 , a metal wire connection portion  20 , and a bolt portion  30 . With reference to  FIG.  1   , as well as  FIGS.  2  and  3    described in details below, the main body portion  10  is substantially a rectangular box constituted by a connection surface  11 , an indication surface  14 , a magnetic attraction surface  13  (shown in  FIG.  2   ) opposite to the indication surface  14 , a first side surface  15 , and a second side surface  16  (shown in  FIG.  3   ) opposite to the first side surface  15 . The metal wire connection portion  20  is formed by a high-strength metal wire, such as a steel wire. One end of the metal wire connection portion  20  is fastened to the connection surface  11  of the main body portion  10 , and the other end thereof is provided with the bolt portion  30 . The bolt portion  30  can be inserted into a bolt hole  101  on the connection surface  11  of the main body portion  10 , so that the bolt portion  30  can be locked to the main body portion  10  to achieve the effect of a seal. 
       FIG.  2    shows the magnetic attraction surface  13  of the main body portion  10  of the vehicle equipment seal device according to the present disclosure, wherein the magnetic attraction surface  13  is provided with at least one magnet  131 . In this embodiment, the magnetic attraction surface  13  is provided with two high-strength magnets  131 . With the high-strength magnets  131 , the vehicle equipment seal device can be attached on the container or the packing box without encountering the problem of collision and overturning, so that the durability of the components of the vehicle equipment seal device can be improved and the communication quality is stable. 
     With reference to  FIG.  1    again, the aforementioned first side surface  15  is provided with an unlock button  151 , which can be pressed to unlock the vehicle equipment seal device when confirming a state of safety, so that the bolt portion  30  can be separated from the main body portion  10  through the bolt hole  101 . 
       FIG.  3    shows the second side surface  16  of the main body portion  10  of the vehicle equipment seal device according to the present disclosure, wherein the second side surface  16  is provided with a USB port  161  for connecting a USB device to perform data transmission or connecting a USB charger to charge the vehicle equipment seal device. 
     With reference to  FIG.  1    again, the aforementioned indication surface  14  is provided with a button  141  and a plurality of indicator lights  142 . The button  141  can be pressed to perform electric related functions such as functional testing and power display, and the indicator lights  142  are used to display the power status, communication status, positioning status and locking status of the vehicle equipment seal device. 
     A lock structure  40  is further provided in the main body portion  10  for locking the bolt portion  30  or unlocking the bolt portion  30 .  FIG.  4    shows the lock structure  40  in the main body portion  10  of the vehicle equipment seal device according to the present disclosure, wherein the lock structure  40  includes a sensor  401 , a motor  402 , a blocking piece  403 , a movable pin  404 , a conduction connection spring  405 , and a latching slider  406 . 
     The blocking piece  403  is arranged on the rotation shaft  4021  of the motor  402 . The motor  402  can rotate and drive the blocking piece  403  to turn with its rotation shaft  4021  and, in cooperation with the sensing of the sensor  401 , enable the blocking piece  403  to be disposed in a first position or a second position. The sensor  401  is arranged to be adjacent to the blocking piece  403  for sensing the movement of the blocking piece  403  and positioning the blocking piece  403 , wherein the blocking piece  403  will block the movable pin  404  from moving toward the motor  402  when the blocking piece  403  is in the first position, and the blocking piece  403  will not block the movable pin  404  from moving toward the motor  402  when the blocking piece  403  is in the second position. 
     The latching slider  406  is arranged corresponding to the movable pin  404  for pushing the movable pin  404  to move. The movable pin  404  is arranged such that one end thereof corresponds to the blocking piece  403  and the rotation shaft  4021  of the motor  402 , and the other end thereof corresponds to the latching slider  406  and is operatively connected to the latching slider  406 . With the elasticity of the movable pin  404 , the latching slider  406  can latch the bolt portion  30  that is inserted into the bolt hole  101 . The conduction connection spring  405  is arranged to enable the bolt portion  30  that is inserted into the bolt hole  101  to be connected with the first conduction point  408 , or to enable the bolt portion  30  to be separated from the first conduction point  408 . 
       FIG.  5    shows a schematic diagram of the lock structure  40  configured to a locked state, wherein the bolt portion  30  is first inserted into the main body portion  10  through the bolt hole  101  so that the bolt portion  30  will be latched by the latching slider  406 , and the end of the bolt portion  30  will press against the conduction connection spring  405 . Since the bolt portion  30  is formed by a conductive metal wire, an electrical connection can be formed between the first conduction point  408  and the second conduction point  409  and, at this moment, the vehicle equipment seal device can be locked through communication setting. By starting the motor  402  to drive the blocking piece  403  to turn, and cooperating with the sensing of the sensor  401 , the blocking piece  403  can be disposed in the first position to block the movable pin.  404 , so that the latching slider  406  cannot be pushed toward the movable pin  404  and the motor  402 . Therefore, the bolt portion  30  is fixed and latched by the latching slider  406  to be in a locked state, so that the bolt portion  30  cannot be removed from the main body portion  10  through the bolt hole  101 , thereby completing the locking and alarm setting for the lock structure  40 . 
     In the locked state of the lock structure  40 , the first conduction point  408  and the second conduction point  409  are conducted through the metal wire connection portion  20 . With the use of the high-strength metal wire for conduction, the lock structure  40  is not easily affected by external influence to cause system misjudgment. In addition, when the bolt portion  30  is removed or destroyed or the metal wire connection portion  20  is cut without turning off the locking alarm, the conduction state between the conduction point A and the conduction point B is destroyed, and thus the vehicle equipment seal device will be triggered to issue an alarm, such as generating a warning sound and notifying the cargo carrier and the remote control center by means of wireless communication, thereby providing better security. 
       FIG.  6    shows a schematic diagram of the lock structure  40  changed to an unlocked state. When the locking alarm of the lock structure  40  is turned off, the motor  402  is activated to drive the blocking piece  403  to turn and, in cooperation with the sensing of the sensor  401 , enable the blocking piece  403  to be disposed in the second position, so as not to block the movable pin  404 , such that the latching slider  406  can move toward the movable pin  404  and the motor  40  thereby breaking off the electrical connection between the first conduction point  408  and the second conduction point  409 . At this moment, the unlock button  151  can be pressed to unlock the vehicle equipment seal device, wherein the unlock button  151  is arranged corresponding to the latching slider  406 . When the unlock button  151  is pressed, the latching slider  406  is pushed to move toward the movable pin  404  and the motor  402 , so that the movable pin  404  also moves toward the motor  40 . Therefore, the bolt portion  30  can be released by the latching slider  406  to present an unlocked state, and the bolt portion  30  can be removed from the main body portion  10  through the bolt hole  101  due to the elastic three of the conduction connection spring  405 . 
     During the turning and positioning of the motor  402  in the locked state and the unlocked state of the lock structure  40 , the sensor  401  is used to sense the turning position of the motor  402 , so as to determine the locking and unlocking of the lock structure  40 . Because of using the sensor  401  for determination, it is able to prevent the normal locking/unlocking function of the lock structure  40  from being affected by the attenuation caused by the increased use time of the motor  402 . 
     The aforementioned embodiments are examples only for convenience of description. The scope of the present disclosure is claimed hereinafter in the claims and is not limited to the embodiments.