(19)
(11) EP 3 882 419 A1

(12) EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION
published in accordance with Art. 153(4) EPC

(43) Date of publication:
22.09.2021 Bulletin 2021/38

(21) Application number: 19884040.7

(22) Date of filing: 13.11.2019
(51) International Patent Classification (IPC): 
E05B 39/02(2006.01)
E05B 65/52(2006.01)
(86) International application number:
PCT/CN2019/117920
(87) International publication number:
WO 2020/098680 (22.05.2020 Gazette 2020/21)
(84) Designated Contracting States:
AL AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HR HU IE IS IT LI LT LU LV MC MK MT NL NO PL PT RO RS SE SI SK SM TR
Designated Extension States:
BA ME
Designated Validation States:
KH MA MD TN

(30) Priority: 15.11.2018 CN 201811362018

(71) Applicant: Shanghai Hongyan Returnable Transit Packagings Co., Ltd.
Shanghai 200233 (CN)

(72) Inventor:
  • The inventor has waived his right to be thus mentioned.

(74) Representative: Bardehle Pagenberg Partnerschaft mbB Patentanwälte Rechtsanwälte 
Prinzregentenplatz 7
81675 München
81675 München (DE)

   


(54) TAMPER-EVIDENT LOCK CATCH


(57) The application discloses a tamper-evident lock catch. The tamper-evident lock catch includes a handle portion, a limiting portion and a positioning portion. The handle portion is provided with an inserting structure. The limiting portion is provided with a limiting hole, a tearing structure and a limiting body. The positioning is provided with a through hole and a positioning body. The tamper-evident lock catch is arranged such that in a locked state, the positioning portion is folded relative to the limiting portion, the positioning body is inserted into the limiting hole to limit the action of the limiting body, and the handle portion is folded relative to the limiting portion so that the positioning portion is located between the limiting portion and the handle portion. The inserting structure is inserted into the tearing structure via the through hole. The tamper-evident lock catch in this invention can not be restored after broken and can be easily found by visual inspection.




Description

Cross reference to related applications



[0001] This application claims the priority of the Chinese application No. 201811362018.0, titled "Tamper-evident lock catch" filed on November 15th, 2018, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein.

Technical Field



[0002] The invention relates to a lock catch, in particular to a tamper-evident lock catch.

Technical Background



[0003] At present, there are many kinds of disposable lock catches on the market, and the general purpose is to connect two or more parts (products) through the lock catches to achieve the fixing and locking thereof.

[0004] Some of these lock catches also have a tamper-evident effect. For example, Chinese utility model ZL99237860 disclosed a lock catch for a lid of box, which can be inserted into the box so as to connect the box with the lid. In operation, the lock catch can not be opened unless it is broken, so it has a tamper-evident effect. However, after the lock catch is broken, the torn material falls into the box, which is not environment friendly and is not convenient to recycle, and its application range is limited.

[0005] Chinese patent ZL200910042099 discloses another kind of lock catch, which is provided that a buckle of the locking beam is snapped into a locker to achieve the tamper-evident effect. However, this structure has too many parts and is complicated. The mold thereof is costly, and a special tool is needed to break the disposable lock catch when it is opened, which is inconvenient to operate.

[0006] Chinese patent ZL 201510056638 of the same applicant discloses a novel disposable tamper-evident lock catch, where a buckle and a limiting portion are engageable to achieve unlocking and locking. The limiting portion is provided with a tearing device. When the lock catch is to be opened, the handle is pulled to tear the tearing device, the limiting portion is disengaged from the lock catch to unlock it. At the same time, the tamper-evident indicating device connected with the handle is torn, and the tamper-evident indicating device is deformed, thereby realizing the tamper-evident function. However, when the handle and the tamper-evident indicating device are pulled at the same time, the limiting portion can still be disengaged to achieve unlocking. And, after unlocking, it can be assembled again, which makes it difficult to find out whether the tamper-evident lock catch has been unlocked by visual inspection.

[0007] Therefore, it is necessary to have a novel disposable tamper-evident lock catch, which can not only meet the functions of fixing and locking, but also will be irrecoverably damaged when the box (boxed) is opened, and its outer surface (structural form) has obvious changes, and the friction force (other resistance) after assembly cannot be used to restore it.It can be quickly identified by visual inspection so as to realize the tamper-evident function.

Summary



[0008] The object of this invention is to meet the above demand by providing a novel tamper-evident lock catch.

[0009] In order to achieve the above object, the application provides a tamper-evident lock catch, characterized in that the tamper-evident lock catch is provided with a handle portion, a limiting portion and a positioning portion, wherein the handle portion is provided with an inserting structure, the limiting portion is provided with a limiting hole, a tearing structure and a limiting body, and the positioning portion is provided with a through hole and a positioning body, wherein the tamper-evident lock catch is arranged such that in a locked state, the positioning portion is folded relative to the limiting portion , the positioning body is inserted into the limiting hole to limit the action of the limiting body, and the handle portion is folded relative to the limiting portion so that the positioning portion is located between the limiting portion and the handle portion, wherein the inserting structure is inserted into the tearing structure through the through hole.

[0010] In an embodiment, in the locked state, the inserting structure is engaged with the tearing structure

[0011] In an embodiment, the inserting structure and the tearing structure are arranged so that after the inserting structure is inserted into the tearing structure, when pulling the inserting structure out, the tearing structure is broken.

[0012] In an embodiment, the handle portion has a plate-shaped body, and the inserting structure is an inserting post provided on the plate-shaped body of the handle portion; the limiting portion has a plate-shaped body, wherein the upper end of the plate-shaped body of the limiting portion is provided with the limiting hole, the tearing structure is provided below the limiting hole, and the limiting body extends vertically from the plate-shaped body of the limiting portion; and the positioning portion has a plate-shaped body, wherein the positioning body extends vertically from the plate-shaped body of the positioning portion, and the through hole is located on the plate-shaped body of the positioning portion, wherein the extending direction of the limiting body is opposite to the extending direction of the positioning body.

[0013] In an embodiment, the end of the inserting post is provided with a buckle structure, and the tearing structure has a tearing ring, wherein the tearing ring is connected with the plate-shaped body of the limiting portion through a plurality of tearing points, and in the locked state, the buckle structure is snapped with the tearing ring.

[0014] In an embodiment, the end of the inserting post protrudes outward circumferentially relative to the body of the inserting post.

[0015] In an embodiment, a snapping ring is provided on the bottom surface of the tearing ring, and the snapping ring is matched with the buckle structure.

[0016] In an embodiment, the limiting hole is an elongated hole, and the limiting body is a plate-shaped body extending perpendicular to the plate-shaped body of the limiting portion, wherein a buckle structure is provided at the end of the plate-shaped body, and the positioning body is a plate-shaped body extending perpendicular to the plate-shaped body of positioning portion in a direction opposite to the extending direction of the limiting body.

[0017] In an embodiment, the limiting body is located below the limiting hole, and is arranged such that after the positioning body is inserted into the limiting hole, the positioning body abuts against the limiting body.

[0018] In an embodiment, the positioning portion is provided with a notch below the positioning body.

[0019] In an embodiment, the positioning portion has a groove in the rear surface thereof, wherein the width of the handle portion is smaller than the width of the groove, and in the locked state, the handle portion is placed in the groove.

[0020] In an embodiment, the tamper-evident lock catch is an integral member and is sequentially provided with the handle portion, the limiting portion and the positioning portion, one end of the handle portion and one end of the limiting portion are connected by a foldable portion, and the other end of the limiting portion and one end of the positioning portion are connected by another foldable portion.

[0021] In an embodiment, the inserting post is provided on the front surface of the plate-shaped body of the handle portion, and the limiting body is provided on the rear surface of the plate-shaped body of the positioning portion, and the through hole are located above the positioning body.

[0022] In an embodiment, the tamper-evident lock catch is an integral member and is sequentially provided with the handle portion, the limiting portion and the positioning portion, wherein one end of the limiting portion and one end of the positioning portion are connected by a foldable portion, and the other end of the positioning portion and one end of the handle portion are connected by another foldable portion.

[0023] In an embodiment, the limiting portion is provided on the rear surface of the plate-shaped body of the positioning portion, the through hole is provided above the positioning body, and the inserting post is on the rear surface of the plate-shaped body of the handle portion.

[0024] In an embodiment, the foldable portion is a flexible thin-sheet structure.

[0025] In an embodiment, the tamper-evident lock catch is made of plastic integrally.

[0026] The tamper-evident lock catch of the application is a disposable lock catch.

[0027] The tamper-evident lock catch of the present application does not need to utilize special tools when being opened, the torn objects will not be scattered after opening, and the outer surface (structure forms) of the lock catch after opening has obvious changes, which can be quickly identified by visual inspection. The lock catch will not elastically be deformed when under force, and is convenient to operate, has a simple structure, and is convenient to disassemble and assemble.

Description of drawings



[0028] 

Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 are front and rear perspective views of a tamper-evident lock catch according to an embodiment of the present invention respectively.

Fig. 3 is a front view of the tamper-evident lock catch and an enlarged view of a tearing ring according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a side view of the tamper-evident lock catch according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 and Fig. 6 are front and rear perspective views of the tamper-evident lock catch according to an embodiment of the present invention respectively, with a positioning portion thereof partially folded upwards.

Fig. 7 is a side view of the tamper-evident lock catch according to an embodiment of the present invention, with the positioning portion thereof partially folded upwards.

Fig. 8 and Fig. 9 are front and rear perspective views of the tamper-evident lock catch according to an embodiment of the present invention respectively, with the positioning portion folded upwards to overlap with the limiting portion.

Fig. 10 is a side view of a tamper-evident lock catch according to an embodiment of the present invention with the positioning portion thereof folded upwards to overlap with the limiting portion.

Fig. 11 and Fig. 12 are front and rear perspective views of the tamper-evident lock catch according to an embodiment of the present invention respectively.

Fig. 13 is a side view of the tamper-evident lock catch according to an embodiment of the present invention with the handle thereof partially folded downwards.

Fig. 14 and Fig. 15 are front and rear perspective views of the tamper-evident lock catch according to an embodiment of the present invention respectively, with the handle folded downwards to overlap with the limiting portion and the positioning portion.

Fig. 16 is a side view of the tamper-evident lock catch according to an embodiment of the present invention with the handle portion thereof folded downwards to overlap with the limiting portion and positioning portion.

Fig. 17 is a side view of the tamper-evident lock catch according to an embodiment of the present invention mounted at the lid of the box.

Fig. 18 and Fig. 19 are front and rear perspective views of the tamper-evident lock catch according to another embodiment of the present invention respectively.

Fig. 20 is a front view of the tamper-evident lock catch and an enlarged view of a tearing ring according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 21 is a side view of the tamper-evident lock catch according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 22 and Fig. 23 are front and rear perspective views of the tamper-evident lock catch according to another embodiment of the present invention respectively with the positioning portion folded upwards.

Fig. 24 is a side view of the tamper-evident lock catch according to another embodiment of the present invention with the positioning portion thereof partially folded upwards.

Fig. 25 and Fig. 26 are front and rear perspective views of the tamper-evident lock catch according to another embodiment of the present invention respectively, with the positioning portion folded upwards to overlap with the limiting portion.

Fig. 27 is a side view of the tamper-evident lock catch according to another embodiment of the present invention with the positioning portion thereof folded upwards to overlap with the limiting portion.

Fig. 28 is a side view of the tamper-evident lock catch according to another embodiment of the present invention mounted at the lid of the box.

Fig. 29 and Fig. 30 are front and rear perspective views of the tamper-evident lock catch according to another embodiment of the present invention respectively.

Fig. 31 is a side view of the tamper-evident lock catch according to another embodiment of the present invention with the handle thereof partially folded downwards.

Fig. 32 and Fig. 33 are front and rear perspective views of the tamper-evident lock catch according to another embodiment of the present invention respectively, with the handle folded downwards to overlap with the limiting portion and the positioning portion.

Fig. 34 is a side view of the tamper-evident lock catch according to another embodiment of the present invention with the handle portion thereof folded downwards to overlap with the limiting portion and positioning portion.


Embodiments



[0029] The preferred embodiment of this invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, so that the purposes, the characteristics and the advantages of the invention can be more clearly understood. It should be understood that the embodiments shown in the figures are not intended to limit the scope of this invention, but illustrate the essential spirit of the technical solution of this invention.

[0030] In the following description, certain specific details are set forth for purposes of illustrating the various disclosed embodiments to provide a thorough understanding of the various disclosed embodiments. However, those skilled in this art will recognize that embodiments may be practiced without one or more of these specific details. In other instances, well-known devices, structures, and techniques associated with the present application may not be shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the description of the embodiments.

[0031] Unless otherwise desired by context, throughout the specification and claims, the terms "comprising" and variations thereof, such as "containing" and "having", are to be construed as non-exclusive, i.e., to be construed as "comprising, but not limited to"

[0032] Throughout the specification "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Therefore, the presence of "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" at various locations throughout the specification shall not all refer to the same embodiment. Additionally, particular features, structures, or features may be combined in any manner in one or more embodiments.

[0033] The singular forms "a" and "said" as used in the specification and appended claims include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. The term "or" be used in its usual sense including "and/or" unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

[0034] In the following description, for clarity of illustration of the structure and mode of operation of the present invention, various directional terms will be used to describe the present invention, but words such as "front", "rear", "left", "right", "outer", "inner", "outward", "inward", "upper", "lower", and the like, should be understood as convenient terms and should not be construed as limiting terms.

[0035] In order to achieve the above objective, the present invention provides a disposable tamper-evident lock catch 100.As shown in Figures 1-4, the disposable tamper-evident lock catch 100 is an integral member and includes a handle portion 101, a positioning portion 102, and a limiting portion 103. The handle portion 101 and the upper end of the limiting portion 103 are connected by a first foldable portion 108, and the positioning portion 102 and the lower end of the limiting portion 103 are connected by a second foldable portion 107.The handle portion 101, the positioning portion 102, and the limiting portion 103 are plate-shaped and are relatively rigid structures, and the first foldable portion 108 and the second foldable portion 107 are flexible portions.

[0036] As shown in Figs. 1-2, the limiting portion 103 is provided with a limiting structure 104 close to the handle portion 101. The limiting structure 104 has a buckle 1042 and a limiting hole 1041. The buckle 1042 and the limiting hole 1041 are arranged adjacently one above another. And, the limiting hole 1041 is a through hole, preferably an elongated hole. The buckle 1042 can be inserted into the locking hole of the object to be locked (see Figure 17).It should be understood that the buckle 1042 can be replaced by other limiting member capable of realizing the limiting function. In addition, as shown in Fig. 3, the limiting portion 103 is further provided with a tearing hole 1032, and the tearing hole 1032 is a through hole. A tearing ring 1031 is provided in the tearing hole 1032.In particular, the tearing ring 1031 is connected to the inner wall of the tearing hole 1032 at the outer periphery thereof by a tearable connection. The tearable connection can be several tearing points 1031b as shown in the figure. The tearing ring 1031 is connected to the inner peripheral wall of the tearing hole 1032 through each tearing point 1031b. When the tearing ring 1031 is pulled by an external force, the tearing points 1031b at the junction of the inner peripheral wall of the tearing hole 1032 are broken and cannot be restored. In addition, the tearable connection may also be a circumferential weaken line at or near the junction of the tearing ring 1031 and the inner peripheral wall of the tearing hole 1032. When the tearing ring 1031 is pulled by an external force, the weaken line 1031b is broken, and the tearing ring is separated from the inner peripheral wall of the tearing hole 1032 and cannot be restored. A snapping ring 1031 a is provided on the tearing ring 1031.The snapping ring 1031a is provided on the bottom surface of the tearing ring 1031.Here, the bottom surface of the tearing ring refers to a side same as the side where the buckle 1042 is located.

[0037] Returning to Figs. 1 and 2, the positioning portion 102 is provided with a positioning body 1021, and the positioning body 1021 can be inserted into the limiting hole 1041 of the limiting structure 104 to control the buckle 1042 in a locked state or an unlockable state. In the illustrated embodiment, as shown in Fig. 4, the positioning body 1021 is a protruding tab protruding from the positioning portion 102, and the protruding direction thereof is opposite to a direction in which the buckle 1042 protrudes from the limiting portion 102. The cross-sectional shape of the protruding tab corresponds to the shape of the limiting hole 1041, so that it can be inserted into it and abut the buckle 1042. In the illustrated embodiment, as shown in Figs. 5-10, the buckle 1042 is a protruding tab protruding from the limiting portion 103, and the end of the protruding tab is provided with a hook facing downward, as shown in Fig. 4. In this case, the limiting hole 1041 is adjacent to and arranged above the buckle 1042.However, it should be understood that the buckle 1042 can also be provided as a protruding tab with a hook facing upwards on the end thereof, and in this case, the limiting hole 1041 is arranged adjacent to and below the buckle 1042.Therefore, when the positioning body 1021 is inserted into the limiting hole 1041, it can abut the buckle 1042 to lock the buckle 1042 in the locking hole.

[0038] In addition, as shown in Figs. 1-2 and 5-6, the positioning portion 102 is also provided with a channel 1022 which is a through hole. A notch 1024 is also provided at the lower end of the positioning portion 102.The notch 1024 is configured to allow the first foldable portion 108 to pass through in the locked state. The two sides of the notch 1024 form grasping positions 1023.The positioning portion 102 has a groove 1025 on the back surface thereof. The width of the handle portion 101 is smaller than the width of the groove 1025, and in the locked state, the handle portion is located in the groove.

[0039] The second foldable portion 107 is a flexible thin-sheet structure and is made of plastic material, and with the flexibility of the plastic material itself, it allows the positioning portion 102 to be rotated upwards around it relative to the limiting portion 103 from the front side. The tearing hole 1032 and the limiting hole 1041 as well as the channel 1022 and the positioning body 1021 are arranged correspondingly with respect to the second folding part 107 as the axis, so that when locked, the positioning portion 102 is rotated 180 degrees around the second foldable portion 107 upwards from the front side foldable portion, so as to insert the positioning body 1021 into the limiting hole 1041 and limiting the position of the buckle 1042 such that the buckle will not disengaged from a locking hole of an object to be locked. In this state, the channel 1022 and the tearing hole 1032 are aligned with each other, and the grasping positions 1023 extend beyond the upper end of the limiting portion 103, so that it is easy to access when unlocking. When unlocking, the positioning body 1021 is disengaged from the limiting hole 1041, and the position limiting of the buckle 1042 is released, so that unlocking can be realized.

[0040] The handle portion 101 is a plate-shaped body, and its upper end is provided with an anti-slide structure 1011 on the same side as the positioning body 1021; optionally, a coding area 1012 is provided on the opposite side. The lower end of the handle portion 101 is connected to the limiting portion 103.The handle portion 101 is also provided with a T-shaped post 105 protruding from the same side as the anti-slide structure 1011, and the free end of the T-shaped post 105 is provided with a circumferential hook 1051.It should be understood that the T-shaped post may be replaced by an insertion post of other shapes, as long as the end of the insertion post protrudes outward relative to its body.

[0041] The first foldable portion 108 is a flexible thin-sheet structure and is made of plastic material. With the flexibility of the plastic material itself, it allows the handle portion 101 to be rotated around it relative to the limiting portion 103.The T-shaped post 105 and the tearing ring 1031 are arranged correspondingly with respect to the first foldable portion 108 as an axis. After the positioning portion 102 is rotated around the second foldable portion 107 to achieve locking, the handle portion 101 is rotated 180 degrees around the first foldable portion 108, so that the T-shaped post 105 passes through the channel 1022 to reach the tearing ring 1031, and finally the hook 1051 is locked with the snapping rings 1031a, so as to activate the disposable tamper-evident lock catch 100, as shown in Figs. 11-15. The three portions, i.e. the handle portion 101, the positioning portion 102, and the limiting portion 103 of the activated tamper-evident lock catch 100 are overlapped with each other substantially in parallel. The cooperation of the tearing ring 1031 and the T-shaped post 105 restricts the handle portion 101. Therefore, it is impossible to directly operate the positioning portion 102 to unlock the tamper-evident lock catch 100.In addition, preferably, the anti-slide structure 1011 extends beyond the lower end of the limiting portion 103 in this case, so that it is easy to reach and pull the handle portion 101 when unlocking.

[0042] It can be seen from Fig. 17 that after the disposable tamper-evident lock catch 100 is activated, the limiting structure 104 is located in the innermost part (close to a surface of the object to be locked), and the positioning portion 102 is located between the handle portion 101 and the limiting structure 104. The handle portion 101 is located in the outermost part, and the handle portion 101 passes through the positioning portion 102 and is connected to the limiting portion 103.The effect of such a design is that: when the disposable tamper-evident lock catch 100 is opened, the handle portion 101 is pulled to cause the T-shaped post 105 to tear the tearing ring 1031 off, causing the handle portion 101 to be unrestricted and warp obviously due to the toughness of the first foldable portion 108 and no longer align with the positioning portion 102, so that the status of the lock catch can be determined quickly through visual inspection, thereby realizing the tamper-evident function.

[0043] When unlocking the tamper-evident lock catch 100, the handle portion 101 is pulled and opened firstly, then the positioning portion 102 is opened by grasping the grasping position 1023, next the tamper-evident lock catch 100 is shaken gently and pulled outwards to be taken from a mounting groove.

[0044] Figs. 18-34 show a disposable tamper-evident lock catch 100' according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figs. 18-21, the disposable tamper-evident lock catch 100' is an integral member and includes: a handle portion 101', a positioning portion 102', and a limiting portion 103'. The upper end of the handle portion 101' and the positioning portion 102' is connected by the first foldable portion 108', and the positioning portion 102' and the lower end of the limiting portion 103' is connected by the second foldable portion 107'. The handle portion 101', the positioning portion 102', and the limiting portion 103' are plate-shaped and are relatively rigid structures, and the first foldable portion 108' and the second foldable portion 107' are flexible portions.

[0045] As shown in Figs. 18-19, the limiting portion 103' is provided with a limiting structure 104' at the upper end thereof. The limiter structure 104' has a buckle 1042' and a limiting hole 1041'. The buckle 1042' and the limiting hole 1041' are arranged adjacently one above another. And, the limiting hole 1041' is a through hole, preferably an elongated hole. The buckle 1042' can be inserted into the locking hole of an object to be locked (see Fig. 28). It should be understood that the buckle 1042' can be replaced by other limiting member capable of realizing the limiting function. In addition, as shown in Fig. 20, the limiting portion 103' is further provided with a tearing hole 1032', and the tearing hole 1032' is a through hole. A tearing ring 1031' is provided in the tearing hole 1032'.In particular, the tearing ring 1031' is connected to the inner wall of the tearing hole 1032' at the outer periphery by a tearable connection. The tearable connection can be several tearing points 1031b' as shown in the figure. The tearing ring 1031' is connected to the inner peripheral wall of the tearing hole 1032' through each tearing point 1031b'. When the tearing ring 1031' is pulled by an external force, the tear point 1031b' at the junction of the inner peripheral wall of the tearing hole 1032' is broken and cannot be restored. In addition, the tearable connection may also be a circumferential weaken line at or near the junction of the tearing ring 1031' and the inner peripheral wall of the tearing hole 1032'. When the tearing ring 1031' is pulled by an external force, the weaken line is broken, and the tearing ring 1031' is separated from the inner peripheral wall of the tearing hole 1032' and cannot be restored. A snapping ring 1031a' is provided on the tearing ring 1031'. The snapping ring 1031a' is provided on the bottom surface of the tearing ring 1031'.Here, the bottom surface of the tearing ring refers to a side of the tearing ring same as the side where the buckle 1042' is located.

[0046] Returning to Figs. 18-19, the positioning portion 102' is provided with a positioning body 1021', and the positioning body 1021' can be inserted into the limiting hole 1041' of the limiting structure 104' to control the buckle 1042' in a locked state or an unlockable state. In the illustrated embodiment, as shown in Fig. 21, the positioning body 1021' is a protruding tab protruding from the positioning portion 102', and the protruding direction thereof is opposite to the direction in which the buckle 1042' protrudes from the limiting portion 102'. The cross-sectional shape of the protruding tab corresponds to the shape of the limiting hole 1041', so that it can be inserted into it and abut the buckle 1042'. In the illustrated embodiment, as shown in Fig. 21, the buckle 1042' is a protruding tab protruding from the limiting portion 103', and the end of the protruding tab is provided with a hook facing downward. In this case, the limiting hole 1041' is adjacent to and arranged above the buckle 1042'. However, it should be understood that the buckle 1042' can also be provided as a protruding tab facing upwards on the end thereof, and in this case, the limiting hole 1041' is adjacent to and arranged below the buckle 1042'. Therefore, when the positioning body 1021' is inserted into the limiting hole 1041', it can abut the buckle 1042' to lock the buckle 1042' in the locking hole.

[0047] In addition, the positioning portion 102' is also provided with a channel 1022' which is a through hole. A notch 1024' is also provided at the lower end of the positioning portion 102'. The notch 1024' is configured to allow the first foldable portion 108' to pass through in the locked state. The two sides of the notch 1024' form grasping positions 1023'. The positioning portion 102' has a groove 1025' on the back surface thereof. The width of the handle portion 101' is smaller than the width of the groove 1025', and in the locked state, the handle portion is placed in the groove.

[0048] The second foldable portion 107' is a flexible thin-sheet structure, and with the flexibility of the plastic material itself, it allows the positioning portion 102' to rotate upwards around it relative to the limiting portion 103'. The tearing hole' 1032 and the limiting hole' 1041 as well as the channel 1022' and the positioning body 1021' are arranged correspondingly with respect to the second folding part 107' as the axis, so that when locked, the positioning portion 102' rotates 180' degrees upwards from the front side around the second foldable portion 107', so as to insert the positioning body 1021' into the limiting hole 1041' and limiting the position of the buckle 1042' such that the buckle will not disengaged from a locking hole of an object to be locked, as shown in Figs. 22-27. In this state, the channel 1022' and the tearing hole 1032' are aligned with each other, and the grasping position 1023' extends beyond the upper end of the limiting portion 103', so that it is easy to reach when unlocking. When unlocking, the positioning body 1021' is disengaged from the limiting hole 1041', and the position limiting of the buckle 1042' is released, so that the unlocking can be realized.

[0049] As shown in Figs. 18-19, the handle portion 101' is a plate-shaped body, and its upper end is provided with an anti-slide structure 1011' on the opposite side to the positioning body 1021'; optionally, a coding area 1012' is provided on the same side as the positioning body 1021'.The upper end of the handle portion 101' is connected to the positioning portion 102'.The handle portion 101' is also provided with a T-shaped column 105' protruding from the same side as the anti-slide structure 1011', and the free end of the T-shaped column 105' is provided with a circumferential hook 1051'.It should be understood that the T-shaped column may be replaced by an insertion column of other shapes, as long as the end of the insertion column protrudes outward relative to its body.

[0050] The first foldable portion 108' is a flexible thin-sheet structure and is made of plastic material. With the flexibility of the plastic material itself, it allows the handle portion 101' to be rotated around it relative to the positioning portion 102'. The T-shaped post 105' and the channel 1022' are arranged correspondingly with respect to the first foldable portion 108' as an axis. After the positioning portion 102' is rotated around the second foldable portion 107' to achieve locking, the handle portion 101' is rotated 180' degrees downwards around the first foldable portion 108' relative to the positioning portion 102' in an opposite direction from the front side, so that the T-shaped post 105' passes through the channel 1022' to reach the tearing ring 1031', and finally the hook 1051' is locked with the snapping rings 1031a', so as to activate the disposable tamper-evident lock catch 100', as shown in Figs. 29-34. The three portions, i.e. the handle portion 101', the positioning portion 101', and the limiting portion 102' of the activated tamper-evident lock catch 101' are overlapped with each other substantially in parallel. The cooperation of the tearing ring 1031' and the T-shaped post 105' restricts the handle portion 101'. Therefore, it is impossible to directly operate the positioning portion 102' to unlock the tamper-evident lock catch 100'. In addition, preferably, the anti-slide structure 1011' extends beyond the lower end of the positioning portion 102' and the limiting portion 103', so that it is easy to reach and pull the handle portion 101' when unlocking.

[0051] It can be seen from Fig. 28 that after the disposable tamper-evident lock catch 100' is activated, the limiting structure 104' is located in the innermost part (close to a surface of the object to be locked), and the positioning portion 102' is located between the handle portion 101' and the limiting structure 104'. The handle portion 101' is located in the outermost part, and the handle portion 101' passes through the positioning portion 101' and is connected to the limiting portion 102'.The effect of such a design is that: when the disposable tamper-evident lock catch 100' is opened, the handle portion 101' is pulled to cause the T-shaped post 105' to tear the tearing ring 1031' off, causing the handle portion 101' to be unrestricted and warp obviously due to the toughness of the first foldable portion 108' and no longer align with the positioning portion 102', so that the status of the lock catch can be determined quickly through visual inspection, thereby realizing the tamper-evident function.

[0052] When unlocking the tamper-evident lock catch 100', the handle portion 101' is pulled and opened firstly, then the positioning portion 102' is opened by grasping the grasping position 1023', next the tamper-evident lock catch 100' is shaken gently and pulled outwards to be taken from a mounting groove.

[0053] With the disposable tamper-evident lock catch of the present invention, after the tearing ring on the tearing portion is torn, the tearing ring is still connected with the tearing post and does not fall and remains on site, so it is convenient to be recycled, safe and sanitary.

[0054] The positioning portion is covered with the connecting part between the handle portion and the limiting portion, so that it difficult to pull out the entire tamper-evident lock catch.

[0055] The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, but it should be understood that, if necessary, aspects of the embodiments can be modified to adopt aspects, features, and concepts of various patents, applications, and publications to provide additional embodiments.

[0056] Considering the detailed description above, these and other variations can be made to the embodiments. Generally, in the claims, the terms used should not be construed as being limited by the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification and claims, but should be construed to include all possible embodiments together with all equivalents to which these claims entitled.


Claims

1. A tamper-evident lock catch, characterized in that the tamper-evident lock catch is provided with a handle portion, a limiting portion and a positioning portion, wherein the handle portion is provided with an inserting structure, the limiting portion is provided with a limiting hole, a tearing structure and a limiting body, and the positioning portion is provided with a through hole and a positioning body, wherein the tamper-evident lock catch is arranged such that in a locked state, the positioning portion is folded relative to the limiting portion , the positioning body is inserted into the limiting hole to limit the action of the limiting body, and the handle portion is folded relative to the limiting portion so that the positioning portion is located between the limiting portion and the handle portion, wherein the inserting structure is inserted into the tearing structure through the through hole.
 
2. The tamper-evident lock catch according to claim 1, characterized in that in the locked state, the inserting structure is engaged with the tearing structure.
 
3. The tamper-evident lock catch according to claim 1, characterized in that the inserting structure and the tearing structure are arranged so that after the inserting structure is inserted into the tearing structure, when pulling the inserting structure out, the tearing structure is broken.
 
4. The tamper-evident lock catch according to claim 1, characterized in that the handle portion has a plate-shaped body, and the inserting structure is an inserting post provided on the plate-shaped body of the handle portion; the limiting portion has a plate-shaped body, wherein the upper end of the plate-shaped body of the limiting portion is provided with the limiting hole, the tearing structure is provided below the limiting hole, and the limiting body extends vertically from the plate-shaped body of the limiting portion; and the positioning portion has a plate-shaped body, wherein the positioning body extends vertically from the plate-shaped body of the positioning portion, and the through hole is located on the plate-shaped body of the positioning portion, wherein the extending direction of the limiting body is opposite to the extending direction of the positioning body.
 
5. The tamper-evident lock catch according to claim 4, characterized in that the end of the inserting post is provided with a buckle structure, and the tearing structure has a tearing ring, wherein the tearing ring is connected with the plate-shaped body of the limiting portion through a plurality of tearing points, and in the locked state, the buckle structure is snapped with the tearing ring.
 
6. The tamper-evident lock catch according to claim 4, characterized in that the end of the inserting post protrudes outward circumferentially relative to the body of the inserting post.
 
7. The tamper-evident lock catch according to claim 5, characterized in that a snapping ring is provided on the bottom surface of the tearing ring, and the snapping ring is matched with the buckle structure.
 
8. The tamper-evident lock catch according to claim 3, characterized in that the limiting hole is an elongated hole, and the limiting body is a plate-shaped body extending perpendicular to the plate-shaped body of the limiting portion, wherein a buckle structure is provided at the end of the plate-shaped body, and the positioning body is a plate-shaped body extending perpendicular to the plate-shaped body of positioning portion in a direction opposite to the extending direction of the limiting body .
 
9. The tamper-evident lock catch according to claim 1, characterized in that the limiting body is located below the limiting hole, and is arranged such that after the positioning body is inserted into the limiting hole, the positioning body abuts against the limiting body.
 
10. The tamper-evident lock catch according to claim 1, characterized in that the positioning portion is provided with a notch below the positioning body.
 
11. The tamper-evident lock catch according to claim 1, characterized in that the positioning portion has a groove in the rear surface thereof, wherein the width of the handle portion is smaller than the width of the groove, and in the locked state, the handle portion is placed in the groove.
 
12. The tamper-evident lock catch according to any one of claims 1-11, characterized in that the tamper-evident lock catch is an integral member and is sequentially provided with the handle portion, the limiting portion and the positioning portion, one end of the handle portion and one end of the limiting portion are connected by a foldable portion, and the other end of the limiting portion and one end of the positioning portion are connected by another foldable portion.
 
13. The tamper-evident lock catch according to claim 4, characterized in that the inserting post is provided on the front surface of the plate-shaped body of the handle portion, and the limiting body is provided on the rear surface of the plate-shaped body of the positioning portion, and the through hole are located above the positioning body.
 
14. The tamper-evident lock catch according to any one of claims 1-11, characterized in that the tamper-evident lock catch is an integral member and is sequentially provided with the handle portion, the limiting portion and the positioning portion, wherein one end of the limiting portion and one end of the positioning portion are connected by a foldable portion, and the other end of the positioning portion and one end of the handle portion are connected by another foldable portion.
 
15. The tamper-evident lock catch according to claim 4, characterized in that the limiting portion is provided on the rear surface of the plate-shaped body of the positioning portion, the through hole is provided above the positioning body, and the inserting post is on the rear surface of the plate-shaped body of the handle portion.
 
16. The tamper-evident lock catch according to claim 14, characterized in that the foldable portion is a flexible thin-sheet structure.
 
17. The tamper-evident lock catch according to claim 1, characterized in that the tamper-evident lock catch is made of plastic integrally.
 




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Cited references

REFERENCES CITED IN THE DESCRIPTION



This list of references cited by the applicant is for the reader's convenience only. It does not form part of the European patent document. Even though great care has been taken in compiling the references, errors or omissions cannot be excluded and the EPO disclaims all liability in this regard.

Patent documents cited in the description