Abstrict A desiccant bag for adsorbing moisture from a surrounding space
in a packaged product includes on its inner surface an electronic
article surveillance or EAS tag which enables detection of stolen
products by theft or shoplifter detectors. The EAS tag is not visible
from the outside of the bag or product package, and is thus unlikely
to be detected and removed by a thief. The bag may also be printed
with an invisible message or taggant containing information such
as source or intended destination.
Claims What is claimed is:
1. A sealed desiccant bag made of a material which is pervious
to vapor, and containing a desiccant for absorbing the vapor, and
an EAS tag secured to an inner surface of the bag for detecting
stolen articles in which the bag is packaged.
2. The bag of claim 1 in which the bag is spun-bonded polyolefin
plastic.
3. The bag of claim 1 in which the desiccant is a silica gel.
4. The bag of claim 1 in which the EAS tag is of an acoustic-magnetic
type.
5. The bag of claim 1 and further comprising a taggant printed
on an outer surface of the bag.
6. The bag of claim 1 in which the bag is spun-bonded polyolefin
plastic, the EAS tag is of an acoustic-magnetic type, and further
comprising a taggant printed on an outer surface of the bag.
Description CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
Application 60/251688 filed Dec. 5 2000.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This invention relates to a desiccant bag for adsorbing
water vapor from a surrounding space, and with an enclosed electronic
article surveillance (EAS) tag for activating theft and shoplifting
detectors. The bag is made of FDA-approved material, and is especially
suitable for use in premium pharmaceutical products which are subject
to shoplifting in retail stores. In such applications, the EAS tag
is invisible and within a tamper-proof sealed pharmaceutical bottle
or other package, thus eliminating risk of removal by a shoplifter.
[0003] Desiccant bags of various types and sizes are known, and
commercially available from several commercial sources including
Desiccare, Inc., in Santa Fe Springs, Calif., assignee of the present
invention. Large sizes are useful in high-volume applications such
as product containers transported on container ships. Small sizes
are easily fitted within a container such as a sealed pharmaceutical-product
bottle. Bags of these types are filled with a desiccant (typically
silica gel, molecular sieve, montmorillonite clay, carbon, or mixtures
of these materials) to adsorb moisture vapor and odors from within
the container.
[0004] EAS tags (sometimes called "source tags") are
also well known, and are available in various types such as acoustic-magnetic,
radio frequency, microwave, and electromagnetic, described in numerous
U.S. Pat. Nos. such as 4063229 4510489-490 4660025 5357240
etc. These tags are normally deactivated (typically magnetically)
at a checkout counter, but if not deactivated, a shoplifted product
is detected at the store exit to alert security personnel.
[0005] Use of EAS tags on high-value products is known, but the
tag is typically placed on the product, or on the inside or outside
of a product carton (or on the outside of a product container such
as a pharmaceutical bottle) where it can be detected and surreptitiously
removed by an experienced shoplifter. Placement of an exposed tag
directly within a pharmaceutical bottle, for example, in direct
contact with the product is unacceptable in view of FDA and other
regulations which sharply limit the materials permitted to contact
such products. This invention enables the EAS tag to be effectively
sheathed and hidden within an envelope of FDA-approved material
which also contains a desiccant.
[0006] In an alternative embodiment, normally invisible messages
called taggants can be printed on a desiccant bag, and made visible
by, for example, illuminating with ultraviolet light. The messages
can contain various commercial information such as source, intended
destination (thus enabling detection of diverted shipments), product
characteristics, and the like. Taggants of various types are well
known, and are disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4736425
5139812 5421869 5516362 6174400 6217175 and 6316082.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The desiccant bag of this invention comprises a sealed bag
of a material pervious to vapor, but impervious to liquid and particulates,
a desiccant material in the bag, preferably silica gel, for adsorbing
vapor, and an EAS tag secured to an inner surface of the bag. In
one embodiment, the bag further includes an encoded or invisible
taggant printed on an outer surface of the bag.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a desiccant bag according
to the invention;
[0009] FIG. 2 is a side view on line 2-2 of FIG. 1;
[0010] FIG. 3 is a rear elevation of the bag;
[0011] FIG. 4 is a front elevation of an EAS tag; and
[0012] FIG. 5 is a side view of the tag shown in FIG. 3.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0013] FIGS. 1-3 show an assembly 10 of a desiccant bag 11 with
an enclosed EAS tag 12 the tag being shown in greater detail in
FIGS. 4-5. The bag is made of a porous material which will pass
water vapor, but is impervious to liquid water, dust, and other
particulates. A presently preferred sheet material for the bag is
a spun-bonded polyolefin marketed by E.I. duPont under the trademark
TYVEK.RTM.. This material in a thickness of about 0.4 to 0.7 mils
is satisfactory for bags packaged with pharmaceutical products,
and has good moisture-vapor transmission, while bidirectionally
blocking liquid and particulates.
[0014] The bag is filled with a desiccant which is preferably particulate
silica gel which is highly capillary, and thereby has a large adsorptive
surface area. EAS tag 12 has a rear side 13 which is self-adhesively
secured to an inner surface of a front face 14 of the bag. A suitable
and presently preferred acoustic-magnetic EAS tag is marketed by
Sensormatic Electronics Corporation, Boca Raton, Fla., under the
trademark ULTRA-STRIP III.
[0015] The bag is designed to be made by automatic manufacturing
machines of a known type called "form, fill and seal"
machines. The first step is to draw and cut a flat sheet of the
polyolefin material from a roll of the material. The EAS tag is
then pressed against and adhesively bonded to the side of the sheet
which will form the inner surface of the bag. The sheet is then
machine folded about its length to form a tube which is longitudinally
heat sealed as shown at 15 in FIG. 3. One end of the bag is then
heat sealed to form a first closed end 16 and the bag is then machine
filled with the particulate desiccant. Silica-gel desiccant loads
of about 0.5 to 2.0 grams are typical. The filled bag is then closed
by another heat seal which forms second closed end 17.
[0016] In a typical size suitable for use in a pharmaceutical container,
the assembled bag is about 2-{fraction (7/16)}" long, 7/8"
wide, and 3/8" thick. Larger and smaller sizes are also practical,
depending on the size of the container in which the bag is inserted,
and the amount of desiccant needed to insure adequate adsorption
of water vapor.
[0017] The EAS tag is magnetically deactivated when the protected
product is paid for at a checkout counter. A pilfered product, on
the other hand, will be sensed by commercially available detectors
at the store exits, and an alarm sounded to alert security personnel
to the theft.
[0018] While described primarily in terms of use in pharmaceutical
packaging, the invention is equally useful in a variety of other
applications where moisture control and anti-theft protection are
important. For example, in the packaging of cameras and electronic
products, or of hygroscopic materials. In these typical uses, FDA-approved
materials are usually not required, and other desiccants and bag
materials (such as paper and nonwoven sheets) are satisfactory,
and provide desired EAS-tag security coupled with prevention of
rust and corrosion.
[0019] Another feature of the invention is placement of an invisible
or encoded message or taggant on the outside of the desiccant bag
as discussed above. The taggants can be printed at spaced intervals
on the desiccant-bag material while it is in roll form. Reading
of the taggant is typically done with ultraviolet illumination,
but other types of illumination or decoding can be used. Placement
of a taggant is also useful with desiccant bags of larger sizes,
and which may not include an EAS tag. |