EP1256916A2

EP1256916A2 - Theft prevention device

Info

Publication number: EP1256916A2
Application number: EP02008081A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Vladimiro Teagno
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-05-08
Filing date: 2002-04-11
Publication date: 2002-11-13
Also published as: ITTO20010428A1; EP1256916A3

Abstract

An anti-theft prevention device is disclosed, that it is composed of at least two different elements (1, 3) with small sizes, in which such elements (1, 3) mutually interact by means of electromagnetic waves and/or low frequency radio waves, one element (1) (or 3) being of the emitting type (for example shaped as a pen) and the other element (3) (or 1) being of the receiving type (for example shaped as a credit card).

Description

The present invention refers to an anti-theft prevention device that provides an alarm and is thereby adapted to signal a current attempt of theft or bag-theft.
The ability of a bag-thief is such as to make practically impossible to be aware of the stealing action in course, so that it is impossible to prevent it and therefore, almost in all cases, the affected person is made aware of the occurred event only afterwards, without being able to do anything to intervene and/or locate the responsible therefor.
The general object of the present invention is providing a prevention device that is capable of perceiving the bag-stealing event currently being done with an acoustic signal that, in addition to warn the affected person about what is happening, discourages the responsible thieve from going on performing his action.
The above and other objects and advantages of the invention, as will appear from the following description, are obtained by an anti-theft device as claimed in Claim 1. Preferred embodiments and non-trivial variations of the present invention are claimed in the dependent Claims.
The present invention will be better described by some preferred embodiments thereof, given as a non-limiting example, with reference to the enclosed drawings, in which the only Figure 1 is a schematic view of a possible practical embodiment of the device according to the present invention.
With reference to Fig. 1, a practical embodiment of the present invention is shown as a non-limiting example, In fact, the inventive device described hereinbelow is obviously adapted to be applied to any pair of transmitting-receiving elements, located into any object that can be placed into a bag, a pocket or another container, or realised in order to be able to be itself connected to bags, pockets, etc.
The device of the invention is substantially composed of two different elements 1, 3 with small sizes, mutually interacting by means of electromagnetic waves and/or low frequency radio waves, of which one element 1 (or 3) is of the emitting type while the other element 3 (or 1) is of the receiving type.
In particular, it is provided that the emitting element 1 is of small sizes, like a pocket gadget, with an emission range limited to 1.5 meters, and is able to be placed into a pocket or a bag or another place adapted for its purpose. In the embodiment shown, the emitting element 1 is placed into a pen, or is realised in order to look like a pen from the outside, however equipped with the typical functions assigned to such emitting element 1.
The receiving element 3 is also of small sizes: in the example shown in Fig. 1, it is realised as a credit card with a minimum thickness, able to be placed into a wallet or another suitable place.
The emitting element 1, that can be activated by the user when it is necessary, interact with the receiving element 3 at a preset distance varying between 0.2 and 1.5 meters max.
When the two elements 1, 3 are moved away, they activate an immediate acoustic signal (by means of suitable sound means, not shown) both in the emitting element 1, and in the receiving element 3, realising the object of the present invention.
The max operating distance is purely an indication, since the chosen range is the one currently deemed as optimum, but the choice is obviously not limiting.
The two elements 1, 3 are finally supplied each by its own battery (not shown) and can be customised with a coupling code, so that they cannot be deactivated by a foreign emitting source.
Some preferred embodiments of the present invention has been previously shown and described: obviously, numerous variations and modifications, functionally equivalent to the previous ones, will immediately appear to the skilled people in the art, such variations and modifications falling within the scope of the invention as pointed out in the enclosed Claims. For example, as already stated, the two elements 1, 3 can be realised in the described shape or in any other shape.
Moreover, it is possible to invert the position and function of the two elements 1, 3, so that, opposite to the example shown in Fig. 1, the emitting element 1 is the credit card and the receiving element 3 is the pen.
Moreover still, the emitting or receiving elements 1 or 3 could be placed into precious objects, such as bracelets, necklaces or other ornamental objects, in order to prevent their theft too.

Claims

Anti-theft prevention device, characterised in that it is composed of at least two different elements (1, 3) with small sizes, said elements (1, 3) mutually interacting by means of electromagnetic waves and/or low frequency radio waves, one element (1) (or 3) being of the emitting type and the other element (3) (or 1) being of the receiving type.
Device according to Claim 1, characterised in that said emitting element (1) and said receiving element (3) have an emission range varying between 0.2 and 1.5 meters, said elements (1, 3) activating a warning of attempted theft or bag-theft when a distance between them exceeds the pre-established emission range.
Device according to Claim 1, characterised in that said emitting element (1) and said receiving element (3) are adapted to be placed into a pocket or into a bag or into another place suitable for their purpose.
Device according to Claim 3, characterised in that said emitting element (1) is placed into a pen and said receiving element (3) is placed into a credit card.
Device according to Claim 3, characterised in that said emitting element (1) is realised in order to look like a pen from the outside and said receiving element (3) is realised in order to look like a credit card from the outside.
Device according to Claim 3, characterised in that said receiving element (3) is placed into a pen and said emitting element (1) is placed into a credit card.
Device according to Claim 3, characterised in that said receiving element (3) is realised in order to look like a pen from the outside and said emitting element (1) is realised in order to look like a credit card from the outside.
Device according to Claim 2, characterised in that at least one, and preferably both, between said emitting element (1) and said receiving element (3) is equipped with acoustic signalling means that are activated when the two elements (1, 3) mutually move away for a distance that is greater than a preset distance.
Device according to Claim 1, characterised in that said emitting and receiving elements (1, 3) are each supplied by its own battery.
Device according to Claim 1, characterised in that said emitting and receiving elements (1, 3) are customised with a coupling code, so that they cannot be deactivated by a foreign emitting source.