EP0033926A2

EP0033926A2 - Night-safe depositing system

Info

Publication number: EP0033926A2
Application number: EP81100713A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Leopoldo Conforti
Original assignee: Conforti Sa Officine Elettromeccaniche SpA
Current assignee: Conforti Sa Officine Elettromeccaniche SpA
Priority date: 1980-02-12
Filing date: 1981-02-02
Publication date: 1981-08-19
Also published as: EP0033926A3; ES8204037A1; ES499141A0

Abstract

The invention relates to a «night-safe» depositing system for sealingly packaging and safe keeping valuables. The system comprises a safe (1) having a loading window (2) and withdrawal door, which are preferably provided on opposite sides of the safe (1), thereby the latter may be immured in a bulding such as to present its window (2) facing toward the interior, e.g. of a general store, industrial center, etc., and its withdrawal door facing outwards. The system further includes a bag type of container (21) which can be inserted when empty into the safe (1) through the window (2) and set therein to present its mouth accessible through the window (2) in order to receive objects, which mouth can then be closed and sealed. The container (21) is provided with a means carrying identification and reference data carrying means (55, 60), which, with the bag container (21) in its closed condition, only becomes ac- cessibles by destroying the integrity of the sealed package. The container (21) may be withdrawn, after the sealing thereof, through the withdrawal door.

Description

This invention relates to a "night-safe" depositing system for irretrievably receiving, sealingly packaging, and safe keeping valuables, in particular money, and to a method for the personalized sealing of a container inside the "night-safe".
The safe keeping and conveyance of valuables, such as cash, jewels, etc., implies a satisfactory solution of several problems connected with the organization and operative set-up, as well as with safeguarding in general. Among such problems, there are those concerning the allotment of the responsibilities, e.g. to the consigner, carrier, and consignee of the valuables, or to the personnel in charge of the shipping, transporting, and receiving operations; the workability of the transportation service, which may be conditioned, among others, by the practical possibility or impossibility of carrying out the transportation at low traffic density hours; the accessibility of the safe keeping areas, which may vary, e.g. according to whether such areas can be acceded to from the inside or outside of such premises as banks, insurance offices, general stores, toll motorway gates, industrial and trading centers, etc.. In operations such as these, it is always important that the number of the persons involved, and potentially indictable or likely to be held co-responsible for theft, be reduced to a minimum. For practical reasons, it is also desirable that the transporting personnel be enabled to do their job, specifically to pick up the valuables to be transported, without the attendance of the consigner, or any per- sonnel in charge of the shipment of the valuables.
Known are "night safe" systems which are in general utilized for receiving and safe keeping containers, either of the soft or rigid types, which are usually installed at banks. However, such systems are mainly operated for the mere purpose of receiving and safe keeping valuables which the consigner him/herself is to take to a "night safe" installed at the consignee's.
As is known, parallel to technical advancement, there have been also developed sophisticated methods and devices for carrying out burglarious attacks on valuables safe keeping and transporting means. As an example, it is worth mentioning that even the most perfected of locks can be in some cases violated in a comparatively short time. There also exist a whole collection of devices for reproducing and/or counterfeiting seals, markings, stamps, etc., so that any breach or manipulation can be concealed or disguised, or even referred to totally extraneous parties.
The object of this invention is to provide a "night safe" depositing system, which can irretrievably accept objects loaded therein, even if loosely loaded; enables the objects thus loaded to be packaged from the outside within a sealed container;and can safe keep the thus sealed package until it is withdrawn from the system by the appointed personnel. It is thus achieved that the integrity of the sealed package serves to substantiate the authenticity of its contents.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a "night safe" system enabling a consigner to deposit or deliver valuables to a carrier without leaving its place, which affords the advantage that the moment can be positively settled when the responsibility, and accordingly the risk, connected with the consigner ceases, and those connected with the carrier begin.
Another object is to arrange that the "night safe" system of this invention affords the possibility of closing and sealing a container placed inside a safe, such that a means may be provided of counting the articles or objects as they are loaded into the container.
Another object of this invention is to provide a .method for the personalized sealing of a container, such as to make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to violate it without the violation passing unnoticed upon checking, e.g. upon delivery by the consigner to the carrier or by the carrier to the consignee. This enables a definite and unquestionable division of any responsibilities involved as well as a distribution of the risk for insurance purposes.
Within this general object, it may be arranged that the inventive method requires no complex means for its implementation, can be readily effected, involves no expensive equipment, and is reliable to an almost absolute degree.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a "night safe" depositing system for sealingly packaging and safe keeping valuables, which comprises a safe having a loading window and a withdrawal door, characterized in that it further i comprises a bag-like container adapted for insertion, in an empty condition, into the safe through said window and for arrangement therein such as to present its mouth, accessible for receiving objects and for being closed and sealed through said window, said container being provided with identification and reference data carrying means which is only accessible, once the container has been sealed, by violating the sealed package, and is intended for withdrawal, following the sealing thereof, through said withdrawal door.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for the personalized sealing of a container of valuables, the method comprising the steps of applying at least one signature to a suitable foil-like support and simultaneously reproducing the or each signature by transfer in a plurality of copies, and applying the foil-like support seal-fashion to the closed container such that the container requires for its opening the breaking or alteration of the support, the integrity of the seal being subsequently verifiable by comparing for similarity the or each signature on the support and those on the transfer copy or copies.
The invention will be further described with reference to some embodiments thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view, with some parts removed, of a safe wall formed with a window, whereon a bag type of container is fitted which is located inside the safe;
Figure 2 is an elevational and cross-sectional view taken along the lines II-II of Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1, but having no such bag container;
Figure 4 is a perspective view of a bag type of container suitable for use in the inventive system;
Figure 5 is a reduced scale perspective view of a hopper device for loading objects into a bag container within the safe;
Figure 6 is a perspective view, to an enlarged scale over Figure 5, of another embodiment of a hopper device;
Figure 7 is a schematical view, with some parts removed, which is similar to Figure 3 and shows a door hinged to close the safe window;
Figure 8 shows a removable plug device for closing the safe window;
Figure 9 shows a device for sealing a bag type of container;
Figure 10 is a view from above of the device of Figure 9, which shows the device in its closed position;
Figure 11 is a perspective view of a bag-like sealable container having a support for the application of signatures and alphanumeric information;
Figure 12 shows the container of Figure 11 in its closed and sealed condition;
Figure 13 is a perspective view of a bag-like container in its unfolded condition and having an information-carrying support attached thereto;
Figure 14 is a side view showing the container of Figure 13 closed and sealed; and
Figure 15 shows a further embodiment of an information-carrying support.

With reference to Figures 1 to 6, it may be seen that the system according to the invention comprises a safe 1 having a loading window 2 and a withdrawal door (not shown), preferably provided on facing wall, oppositely located to the wall wherein the window 2 is formed.
Inside the safe, at the bottom edge 3 of the window 2, there is arranged a shelf member 4, which is secured, such as by welding but is preferably anchored through hinge connective elements 5, to the inner surface of the safe.
Advantageously, the shelf member 4 is bent downwardly at its free end 6 and terminated with a serration 7 intended to serve as a trapping or intercepting element for any plucking means actuated from the safe outside in an effort to fish out objects which have already been loaded into the safe.
A loading device, generally indicated at 8, can be inserted through the window 2, which device is of substantially hopper-like configuration.
More specifically, with reference to Figure 5, said hopper device or member 8 may have a substantially parallelepipedal configuration, with upper 9, bottom 10, left 11, and right 12 side walls. The outside dimensions of the hopper member 8 are such as to allow it to be removably inserted through the loading window 2 drawer-fashion. The hopper member 8 has also a front wall 13 wherein a slot 14 is formed which has a size matching that defined by the walls 9 to 12. The wall 13 functions as an abutment stop for the hopper member 8 against the wall of the safe 1. Advantageously, the wall 13 may also function as an element for accommodating and supporting a lock, generally indicated at 15, which is intended for locking the hopper member 8 in its inserted position. Furthermore, the wall 13 may accommodate a counter device 16, which is operative to count the objects or parcels introduced through the slot 14. The counter device 16 may also be associated with identifying and acceptance means effective to identify the types of objects passing through the hopper member and in the affirmative admit them to the safe inside.
In Figure 6, there is illustrated another embodiment of the hopper member 8, which is here provided with but the bottom or lower wall 10. It simply comprises here framing members or elements 17, and has a front wall 13 with a slot 14, similarly to the embodiment shown in Figure 5.
As may be noted from an inspection of Figures 2,5 and 6, the free end of the top wall 9 or of the framing elements 17, as generally indicated at 18, is bent over to extend downwards after the hopper member 8 has been inserted through the slot 14.
The bottom wall 10 of each hopper member extends over a shorter length than the top wall 9 or framing elements 17, and is terminated with a ridge, generally indicated at 19, which has its end also pointing downwards and serrated as at 19a.
As more clearly shown in Figure 2, on the back of the wall 13, the hopper member 8 has stop or retention elements 20 which may be made of rubber, plastics material and the like materials and are intended for blocking the mouth of a bag container 21 between the wall 13 and outer face of the safe wall. The bag container 21 may be formed from any suitable flexible material whereby the bag 21 can be introduced into the safe through the window 2. After inserting the bag 21 through the window 2 such that only the terminating portion of its mouth is allowed to protrude outwardly, one hopper member 8 is fitted in the bag mouth such as to block the bag 21 between the retention elements I 20 and safe 1.
The hopper member 8 performs several functions in addition to that of retaining the bag mouth; namely, it functions as a bag mouth spreading element, and as a guiding element for the articles to be introduced into the bag and therefore into the safe. Owing to the provision of counter means 16, where desired, it also functions as a counter element which penetrates the bag 21 to count the objects or articles introduced therein from the inside thereof.
Where identifying and accepting means are provided, the hopper member 8 further functions as an element for controllably forwarding objects from the outside to the safe. The fact that, after the bag 21 has been filled, it can be withdrawn from the safe to permit the bag 21 to be closed and sealed, enables the counter .1 and accepting means to be disengaged from the bag contents, thereby the bag, after being closed and sealed at or through the loading window 2, can be removed from the safe through the specially provided withdrawal door, which may be accessible, for example, from a building outside.
As shown in Figure 7, following an operation of loading, closure and sealing a container 21, the loading window 2 can be shut by means of a door 40 hinged to the safe as at 41. Advantageously, the door 40 may be provided with a lock 42 for locking the door 40.
Figure 8 shows an alternative means of closing the loading window which comprises a plug member 43 provided with a lock 44 and pulling handle 45, it being insertable drawer-fashion through the window 2.
The sealing of the bag container 21 may be carried out in a variety of manners. For instance, where the bag container 21 has appropriate portions formed from a heat sealable material, the sealing operation may be carried out by heat application, e.g. by means of conventional such devices. Thus, the container 21 may be provided with a flap or tab rigidly attached to the bag inside surface and arranged to protrude through the bag mouth such that it can receive impressions for the identification of the contents and the signature or signatures of the personnel who have completed the loading operation. That flap or tab (not shown in the drawings), prior to the closing of the bag, is put back into the bag, which is then closed and sealed along a seam line such as the one generally indicated at 22 in Figure 4. Transfer copies of the or each signature are kept by the personnel for comparison if necessary.
Figures 9 and 10 show another device for carrying out the sealing, from outside the safe 1, of the mouth of the bag container 21. In this embodiment, the mouth of the bag 21 is purposely provided with suitable tightening cords 23, which are passed through holes 24 into a closing device, generally indicated at 25, which has a box-like body 26 inside which, at the openings 24, there are arranged small rollers 27 effective to guide the cords or strings 23 and block them against a stationary blocking element 28. After the mouth of the container 21 has been tightened and closed, the cords 23 are pulled as far as they allow into the device 25, and then tied into a knot as generally indicated at 29. The box-like body 26 may be closed by means of a cover or lid 30 hinged to the box-like body 26 by means of a hinge 31 and having a snap action latch 32 adapted for engaging a detent 33 on the box-like body 26. The latch 32 is housed in a housing 34, wherein there is also accommodated a resilient element, e.g. a spring, and which is accessible from the top (see Figure 10) of the cover 30 through a slit 35. On its side facing the cover 30, the latch 32 is formed, for instance, with a recess 36 wherein the latch 32 can be engaged, such as by means of a screwdriver, in order to release it from the detent element 33.
On two opposite sides or flanks of the slit 35, and at a distance therefrom, there are provided two longitudinal slits 37 and 38, wherethrough an abutting strap 39 can be passed and closed into a loop, with the cover 30 in the open position, said strap carrying information items for the identification of the contents of the bag 21 as well as one or more signatures of the personnel who have loaded the bag container 21. As may be seen in Figure 10, the width of the strap 39 is such that it completely covers, after it has been closed and sealed on the inside of the cover 34, the slit 35, thereby the recess 36 of the latch can only be acceded to by manipulating or breaking the strap 39 itself. Thus, once the strap 39 has been pre-set through the slits 37 and 38 and sealed on the inside of the cover 34, the cords 29 are knotted together within the box-like body 26, and the cover 30 is closed such that it snaps closed onto the detent 33. At this stage, the bag cannot be re-opened without damaging it or breaking the seal formed by the identification and reference strap 39,
Figures 11 and 12 illustrate a container 21 comprising a tubular body 50 formed from a heat sealable sheet plastics material. The container 21 has its bottom 51 closed and either welded or glued along a seam line 52. After the welding or gluing, the container 21 is turned inside out such that the seam 52 is left entirely on the inside of the tubular body 50. At the opposite end, the container 21 is provided with a tab or flap 53 intended to be folded over and around the mouth 54 of the container 21, when the latter is to be closed.
For the personalized sealing according to this invention, the container 21, in its closed condition, can be sealed by a foil-like supporting element 55 being folded, for example, over and around the mouth 54, optionally above the tab 53, and secured in position by means of rivets 56 passed from one flap of the folded support 55 to the other through the walls of the container 21 and optionally through the tab 53 (Figure 12).
To the support 55, prior to its being affixed as a seal to the container 21, there are applied one or more signatures, and possibly other alphanumeric information items relating to the identity of the container 21 and its contents. The signature(s) is transfer duplicated through the support 55 on a number of copies, e.g. three copies, one copy being left for reference to the person(s) who have written in their signature(s), a second copy being for the carrier of the container 21, and a third copy being intended for delivery to the consignee of the container 21.
Figures 13 and 14 illustrate an embodiment wherein a bag-like container 21 is formed from a sheet of paper which is glued and/or sewn along a longitudinal joining line (not shown in the drawing). The bag 1 can be folded along a transverse fold region 57, thereby it comprises two adjacent segments, a short one indicated at 58 and a longer one indicated at 59. Advantageously, the fold region 57 may include a seam or weld line effective to divide the interior of the container in two compartments having a common bottom and respective access mouths.
The longer segment 59 carries, near its mouth and on its outer wall intended to remain facing the short segment 58 after the bag has been folded, a pouch 60 adapted for containing, for instance, a plurality of paper sheets for transfer writing. The pouch 60 may alternatively be affixed to the corresponding outer wall of the segment 58.
The exterior of the_. pouch 60 may be formed, for example, from a clear or transparent material and may carry pre-printed a number of alphanumeric information items. Moreover, it can receive and retain on itself one or more signatures and other optional identification and personalization marks, and allow them to be duplicated by transfer, e.g. through carbon paper or the like, on the sheets of paper contained in the pouch.
After the person(s) in charge of or responsible for the packaging of the container 21 has introduced into the latter, for example, cash, the same person(s) will apply suitable indications concerning the nature and amount of the contents to the pouch 60, and what is still more important, will write his/her signature, which remains then clearly visible on the exterior of the pouch 60 and duplicated on the copy sheets contained in the pouch. Then, the copies may be withdrawn from the pouch 60 and duly distributed to the consigner, carrier, and consignee.
The bag will be next folded along the fold region 57 until the end of the short segment 58 is brought to rest on and against the pouch 60. At this moment, the free end of the longer segment 59, which projects beyond the shorter segment 58, is folded over and around the end of the segment 58, and secured and/or sealed against it, e.g. by means of rivets 61. Thus, the rivets will engage the segment 59, pouch 60, segment 58, and again the segment 59, together as shown in Figure 14.
Figure 15 illustrates a pouch 62, shown folded in half, which may be formed, for instance, from a plastics material and has at least one wall 63 adapted for receiving and retaining thereon one or more signatures and optional alphanumeric information. The pouch 62, similarly to the pouch 55, may also be utilized with different containers from the ones shown in Figures 11 to 14, and it may serve, for instance, as a personalized seal for a container of the rigid type, e.g. a metal one, since it can be wrapped and riveted around a cover portion, and at the same time around a portion of the container body, thereby the opening of the container implies the violation or alteration of the seal formed by the pouch 62.
The consignee of a sealed container which has been sealed in accordance with the personalized sealing method of this invention, will check that the contents corresponds to the list shown on an accompanying bill. Should the consignee detect any discrepancies, he/she will first verify the authenticity of the signature(s) on the pouch 55, or 60, or 62, and on a transfer copy delivered to him/her, which copy has been obtained simultaneously with the application of the information and signature to the pouch. If the marks and signatures are authentic, any errors and/or manipulations must be attributed to the person who packaged the container, namely the consigner. If on the contrary, the signature(s) are not authentic, then violation and manipulation must have occurred, which are surely the responsibility of the carrier.
Therefore, the method according to the invention affords the possibility of personalizing the sealing of a container such that it becomes readily and positively possible to determine which is responsible for violation or manipulation during, for example, the packaging and transporting operations of a valuables container.
Thus, such a method will eliminate, for transporting valuables, the conventional use of strong and heavy containers, such as armour-plated containers, while simplifying as much as feasible all the checking and container verification procedures.
It will be appreciated that, even where the objects to be transported are of great value, very inexpensive containers may be utilized, e.g. formed from paper, sheet plasticsmaterial, fabric, canvas, and the like, which additionally to being of low cost are also quite light in weight. This because the personalization of the seal removes the need for strong containers, it being in fact possible to retrace immediately and positively to whom belongs the responsibility for any manipulations in handling the container.
Moreover, from the foregoing description, it will be appreciated that, after the bag container 21 has been closed, sealed and pushed farther than the shelf 4 in the safe 1, it can no longer be reached through the loading window 2. Moreover, already during the loading step, thanks to the small dimensions of both the loading window 2 and internal port of the hopper member 8, as well as to the teeth 19a provided at the free edge of the ridge 19 on the bottom wall 10 of the hopper member 8, it becomes exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to fish back or pick up objects from the container 21 after they have been loaded therein. This is specially advantageous as a theft-preventing measure, since a robber will known that it is of no use trying to pick up objects from the container 21 through the window 2 or through the hopper member 8.
This provision is especially advantageous, not only against theft, but also because it serves to cut a clear demarcation of the responsibilities between the consignment and transport operations.
In fact, once the bag has been closed and sealed, and its mouth pushed to fall beyond the shelf 4, any responsibility for possible further manipulations would exclusively belong to the carrier, or anybody who may hold the keys for unlocking the withdrawal door.
An important feature of the invention as stated above is that the means carrying identification and reference information also allow the copying, such as by transfer, of the signature(s) and/or other markings while being applied by the appointed person(s). Thus, it becomes possible to file one or more copies at least of the identifying and reference information for future comparison purposes.
Moreover, since the identification and reference information is either inserted into the sealed bag container 21 or serves itself as a scaling element, it will not be accessible, after the container 21 has been closed, unless the container 21 or its seal are juggled with.
A specific feature of the embodiment of the invention wherein the identification and reference information items are written onto a flap to be inserted into the container prior to the sealing thereof, is that the flap is rigid with the inner wall of the containers Thus, the possibility is ruled out that, in the event of a fraudulent attempt, a container loaded with valuables can be replaced with a similar or even identical one, because in no cases can the identification flap be replaced without patent manipulations (breakage, tearing, re-seaming, welding, etc.).
Furthermore, the fact that the identification and reference elements carry the signatures of the operators in charge of the bag loading constitutes an almost foolproof way of personalization and individual recognition against possible manipulation and forgery.
The invention as described is susceptible to many modifications and variations, without departing from one scope of the instant inventive concept.
Thus, as an example, the shape of the bag-like container 21 may be changed within broad limits. The bag container 21 itself may be either integrally formed from a heat sealable material, such as a plastics material, or made in part of canvas and a heat sealable material or of a fabric, cloth, and the like, throughout.
Furthermore, the hopper member 8 may support by itself the closure door 40 for the window 2. In that case, after using it as a loading device, the hopper member 8 would normally serve as a closure element. To this end, the door 40 may be hingedly connected to the wall 13 and provided, for example, with a spring latch engageable in a recess 42a of the safe 1, whence it may be released by operating with a key the lock 15 of the hopper member 8.
According to yet another embodiment, the door 40 may be hinged as shown in Figure 7 and contoured to rest upon and block the hopper member 8 within the window 2, during the time when no loading operations are effected.
Additionally to the above, and according to a further embodiment, instead of only providing the shelf 4 within the safe, adjacent the window 2 there may be provided a fixed box-like structure (not shown) being preferably apertured to match the inside passageway of the window 2 and extending inwardly to the safe, e.g. over the entire length of the shelf 4. In this manner, access through the window 2 to the safe inside, such as with breaking tools or tools fishing from the safe, is rendered still more difficult.
Quite advantageously, the hopper member 8 may be hinged to the safe 1 either alone or along with the door 40, in which case it would be suitably designed to afford a pivotal movement from a position of withdrawal through the window 2 from outside the safe 1 to a position of introduction through the window 2, and viceversa.
The member 8 may also comprise a monitoring device, such as a display unit, a TV system, a buzzer or sound signalling device, an optical-acoustical signalling device, a warning device, etc., either in situ or remotely located from the objects introduced into a container 21.

Claims

1. A "night-safe" depositing system for sealingly packaging and safe keeping objects, comprising a safe (1) having a loading window (2) and a withdrawal door, characterized in that it further comprises a bag-like container (21) adapted for insertion, in an empty condition, into the safe (1) through the window (2) and for arrangement therein such as to present its mouth, accessible for receiving objects and adapted for being closed and sealed through said window (2), the container (21) being provided with identification and reference information data carrying means (55, 60) which is only accessible, once the container (21) has been sealed, by violating the sealed package, and is intended for withdrawal, following the sealing thereof, through the withdrawal door.

2. A system according to Claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a retaining means (6, 19) effective to prevent objects previously loaded into the container from being picked up through the window (2).

3. A system according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it further comprises a loading device (8) for introducing objects into the container (21) through the window (2).

4. A system according to Claim 3, characterized in that the loading device (8) is removably applies able to the safe (1).

5. A system according to Claim 4, characterized in that the loading device (8) comprises a hopper structure adapted for insertion and withdrawal through the window (2).

6. A system according to any Claim 2 to 5, characterized in that the loading device (8) further comprises a counter means (16) for counting the objects introduced in the container (21).

7. A system according to any Claim 2 to 6, characterized in that the loading device (8) further comprises a means of monitoring in sita and/or remotely any objects passed therethrough for loading into the container (21).

8. A system according to any Claim 2 to 7, characterized in that the loading device (8) further comprises a detector-intercepting means adapted for recognizing the types of objects delivered to the introducing device (8) and for accepting them for forwarding into the container (21).

9. A system according to any of the preceding Claims, characterized in that the means (55, 60) carrying identification and reference data carrying means comprises a foil element adapted for receiving and retaining thereon items of identification of the contents and one or more autographic signatures and suitable for obtaining copies of at least the signature(s) while being applied thereto.

10. A system according to Claim 9, characterized in that the foil element comprises a flap or tab rigid with one portion of the container inner wall, and is arranged for positioning inside the container (21) after the closing and sealing thereof.

11. A system according to Claim 9, characterized in that it further comprises a snap latch device (25) for closing the mouth of the bag container (21), the closing device being anchored or adapted for anchoring to the container and comprising blocking means (32) sealable in the closed position by means of said foil element.

12. A system according to any preceding Claims, characterized in that said retaining means (6, 19) comprises a member (4) extending cantilever-fashion in the form of a shelf toward the safe interior from the bottom edge of the window (2).

13. A system according to Claim 12, characterized in that the free end (6) of the shelf slopes downwards and has a terminating serration (7).

14. A system according to Claim 13, characterized in that the shelf (4) is hinged to the inner wall of the safe (1).

15. A system according to any of the preceding Claims, characterized in that the window (2) can be closed from the outside by means of a lockable and removable plug device (43).

16. A method for the personalized sealing of a bag container of valuables, the method comprising the steps of applying at least one signature to a suitable foil-like support (55, 60) and simultaneously reproducing the or each signature by transfer in a plurality of copies, and applying the foil-like support seal-fashion to the closed container (21) such that the container requires for its opening the breaking or alteration of the support (55, 60), the integrity of the seal being subsequently verifiable by comparing for similarity the or each signature on the support and those on the transfer copy or copies.

17. A method according to Claim 16, characterized in that to the support there are also applied alphanumeric items of information, effective to both identify the container and describe the contents thereof.

18. A method according to either Claim 16 or 17, characterized in that the support is secured to the container (21) by rivet fastening (56, 61).

19. A method according to Claim 18, characterized in that the attachment of the support to the container also includes the application of a sealing means (55) adapted to span both the support and container.

20. A method of sealingly packaging objects in a safe having a loading window and a withdrawal door, characterized by the steps of arranging in a safe (1) a bag-like container (21) such that the bag-like container presents its mouth accessible from outside the window (2), loading objects into the container (21), writing in information items and one or more autographic signatures on information carrying means (55, 60), and closing and sealing the container mouth through the window (2).