Patent Publication Number: US-2013228478-A1

Title: Packing structure including theft prevention electronic tag

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2012-0022485, filed on Mar. 5, 2012 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a packing structure including a theft prevention tag. More particularly, the present invention relates to such a packing structure including a theft prevention tag, in which an anti-theft electronic tag is mounted to a ventilating packing element having contained therein a food-preserving agent such as an oxygen-binding agent, a moisture-proofing agent, or a freshness-keeping agent, which can maintain freshness of food and keep food for a long period of time, and is packed in a product wrapper together with food so as to recognize whether or not there is a theft of the packed product or article. 
     2. Background of the Related Art 
     In general, as an anti-theft device for preventing theft of an article, there are various kinds of conventional anti-theft devices such as a radio frequency (RF) type device, an electronic-magnetic (EM) type device, and an acousto-magnetic technology (AT) type device according to its driving method. 
     The RF type anti-theft device for articles is operated such that it transmits and receives a predetermined frequency to and from transmitter and receiver antennas installed at an entrance and an exit of a bending place such as a department store or a mall. In the case where an article attached with the RF type anti-theft device is taken away from the store via the exit of the store without any permission, the predetermined frequency is transmitted and received between transmitter and receiver antennas disposed at the entrance and the exit of the store and the RF type anti-theft device attached to the item, so that an alarm signal is generated from an anti-theft system for articles, thereby giving the warning the passage of the item through the exit of the store without any person. 
     The EM type anti-theft device for articles is constructed in such a manner that an amorphous metal material is formed in an elongated wire shape or a reinforced magnetic substance is assembled to the wire shape. As such, the anti-theft device for articles is constructed in the wire shape, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost. 
     The AT type anti-theft device for articles is constructed in such a manner that a permalloy material is formed into a strip. However, such an AT type anti-theft device entails a disadvantage in that the manufacturing cost is high and a single frequency is used, and thus there is no compatibility with other types. 
     An anti-theft electronic tag is typically mounted to the outside of the articles to use these conventional anti-theft devices. 
     Such an anti-theft electronic tag has a shortcoming in that it can be damaged artificially. That is, the anti-theft electronic tag mounted to the outside of the articles may be damaged by a third part having a malicious intention. 
     In order to protect the anti-theft electronic tag from this damage, it is preferred that the anti-theft electronic tag is built in the items, which also involves a problem in that the anti-theft electronic tag is difficult to be built in the items and the manufacturing is increased. 
     In particular, in case of food preserved in a packing enclosure (i.e., a packing bag or container made of a nylon, polyethylene or plastic material to avoid the contact with air, there is a risk that food will be spoiled due to damage of the wrapper or the like and thus the anti-theft tag is further difficult to be mounted. 
     For this reason, the store makes much attempt to prevent theft of packed food, but does not obtain a substantial effect. 
     Therefore, in case of packed food, it is urgently required that theft of the article can be prevented while avoiding spoilage of the packed food. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, the present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a packing structure including a theft prevention tag, in which an anti-theft electronic tag is mounted to a ventilating packing element having contained therein a food-preserving agent, and the ventilating packing element is easily built in a product wrapper without causing a damage to the product wrapper, thereby providing convenience in use, and preventing malicious damage of the anti-theft electronic tag, and thus further ensuring safety and security of the product or article. 
     To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a packing structure including a theft prevention tag, including: a ventilating packing element having contained therein at least one food-preserving agent selected from an oxygen-binding agent, a moisture-proofing agent, and a freshness-keeping agent, which can maintain freshness of food and keep food for a long period of time, the ventilating packing element being configured to be hermetically sealed in a product wrapper together with food; and an anti-theft electronic tag mounted to the ventilating packing element and configured to recognize whether or not there is theft of a product. 
     Preferably, in the packing structure according to the present invention, the anti-theft electronic tag may be attached to any one of an outer surface, an inner surface, and a sealing surface of the ventilating packing element. 
     Preferably, in the packing structure according to the present invention, the anti-theft electronic tag may be built in the ventilating packing element together with the food-preserving agent contained in the ventilating packing element. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view illustrating a first example of packing structure including a theft prevention tag according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view taken along the line I-I shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view illustrating a second example of packing structure including a theft prevention tag according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view illustrating a third example of packing structure including a theft prevention tag according to the present invention; and 
         FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view illustrating a fifth example of packing structure including a theft prevention tag according to the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Now, the preferred embodiments of the present invention will be descried hereinafter in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     As shown in the drawings, a packing structure including a theft prevention tag according to the present invention includes a ventilating packing element  12 . The ventilating packing element  12  has a food-preserving agent  10  contained therein to maintain freshness of food and keep food for a long period of time, so that it is hermetically sealed in a product wrapper (not shown) together with food. Herein, the food-preserving agent  10  includes an oxygen-binding agent (i.e., oxygen-absorbing agent), a gas-absorbing agent, a moisture-absorbing agent, a moisture-proofing agent, and a freshness-keeping agent. 
     In addition, the packing structure according to the present invention includes an anti-theft electronic tag  14  mounted to the ventilating packing element  12  so as to recognize whether or not there is theft of a product. Herein, the operation of the anti-theft electronic tag  14  is well known in the art, and thus the detailed description thereof will be omitted to avoid redundancy. 
     As such, the anti-theft electronic tag  14  is mounted to the ventilating packing element  12  in such a manner as to be attached to an outer surface of the ventilating packing element  12  using an adhesive means  16  as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . In this case, the adhesive means  16  may be a double-coated tape or an adhesive. 
     Moreover, the anti-theft electronic tag  14  may be attached to an inner surface of the ventilating packing element  12  using the adhesive means  16  as shown in  FIG. 3 , and may be built in the ventilating packing element  12  together with the food-preserving agent  10  as shown in  FIG. 4 . Particularly, the anti-theft electronic tag  14  may attached to a sealing surface  12   a  of the ventilating packing element  12  as shown in  FIG. 5 . 
     According to the present invention, the anti-theft electronic tag  14  is attached to the outer surface, the inner surface, or the sealing surface  12   a  of the ventilating packing element  12  having the food-preserving agent contained therein, or is built in the ventilating packing element  12  together with the food-preserving agent so that it can be easily received in the product wrapper. 
     As such, when the anti-theft electronic tag  14  is built in the ventilating packing element  12 , it cannot be damaged artificially from the outside, thereby preventing theft of products or articles due to a damage of the electronic tag. 
     As described above, the present invention has an advantageous effect in that anti-theft electronic tag is mounted to the ventilating packing element having contained therein the oxygen-binding agent, the moisture-proofing agent, and the freshness-keeping agent so that it can be easily received in the product wrapper. In addition, the anti-theft electronic tag is disposed in the product wrapper, and thus it cannot be damaged by a third part having a malicious intention. Particularly, since the anti-theft electronic tag can be simply and easily built in the product wrapper, the installation cost of the anti-theft electronic tag is reduced, thereby lowering the manufacturing cost of the product s or articles. 
     While the present invention has been described in connection with the exemplary embodiments illustrated in the drawings, they are merely illustrative embodiments, and the invention is not limited to these embodiments. It is to be understood that various equivalent modifications and variations of the embodiments can be made by a person having an ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, various embodiments of the present invention are merely for reference in defining the scope of the invention, and the true technical scope of the present invention should be defined by the technical spirit of the appended claims.