Resitively Encoded Materials for Secure Carton Systems

The proposed development is an innovative resistively encoded material used either as a layer in a carton box or as a layer in packaging tape. The innovation uses a number of conductive strips, which are randomly conductively connected to form a unique material that can be used to secure cartons and packages. Interrogation of the resistance between the strips allows an electronic ¿signature¿ to be obtained that is unique to the carton and or tape. This unique identification signature will be compressed, encoded and added as a barcode to the package. Any attempts to open or breach the package will change the strip to strip resistances, thus changing the identification signature, which allows security personnel to quickly identify tampered packages. The ¿signature¿ may be monitored and transmitted though RFID technology to a monitor placed inside an ISO inter-modal shipping container. This will allow continuous monitoring of carton containers inside a shipping container. A low cost solution that will protect carton containers against tampering has a huge commercial opportunity. The ¿encoded¿ layer may be easily integrated into cartons or packaging tapes. The cost of these products will be marginally increased, thus facilitating wide acceptance from fabricators, distributors and users.