Fluorescent security glass
A tamper-evident glass and methods of using the tamper-evident glass are provided herein. The tamper-evident glass comprising at least a first plurality of tamper-evident elements, which may be unique or near unique to each manufacturing of tam per-evident glass. The initial state of tamper-evident glass and positioning of the plurality of tamper-evident elements may be mapped through digital scanning to create a digital file of the current state of the tamper-evident glass. The tamper-evident glass may be scanned again to create a new digital file for comparison and to determine if a tampering event has occurred. The tamper-evident elements may include any combination of inorganic fluorescent material, crystals grown through nucleation and crystallization, or added colorants.
1. A method of detecting tampering of an object having a tamper-evident glass providing a visual indication of tampering, the method comprising:
providing an object comprising at least one piece of tamper-evident glass, the at least one tamper-evident glass comprising:
a first patterning comprising a first plurality of tamper-evident objects dispersed throughout a dimension of the tamper-evident glass, wherein the first plurality of tamper-evident objects comprises inorganic fluorescent objects; and
a second patterning comprising a second plurality of tamper-evident objects dispersed throughout the dimension of the tamper-evident glass, wherein the second plurality of tamper-evident objects comprises crystal objects grown in the tamper-evident glass;
performing a first inspection of the tamper-evident glass to create a baseline of an initial state of the tamper-evident glass,
performing a second inspection of the object comprising the tamper-evident glass to create a later status of the tamper-evident glass; and
comparing the baseline to the later status to determine whether an attempted tampering has occurred, including detecting damage to the at least one piece of tamper-evident glass,
wherein detection of damage to the at least one piece of tamper-evident glass is based at least in part on damage to either the first plurality of tamper-evident objects or the second plurality of tamper-evident objects.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first inspection includes a first digital scanning of the tamper-evident glass to determine a first distribution of the first plurality of tamper-evident objects and the second plurality of tamper-evident objects.
3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
responsive to the first digital scanning, creating a first digital file of the first distribution of the first plurality of tamper-evident objects and the second plurality of tamper-evident objects.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the second inspection includes a second digital scanning of the tamper-evident glass to determine a second distribution of the first plurality of tamper-evident objects and the second plurality of tamper-evident objects.
5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
responsive to the second digital scanning, creating a second digital file of the second distribution of the first plurality of tamper-evident objects and the second plurality of tamper-evident objects.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the comparing includes a comparison between the first digital file and the second digital file.
7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
responsive to a determination that an attempted tampering has not occurred, waiting a length of time, and repeating the performing the second inspection and the comparing.
8. A tamper-evident glass comprising:
a base piece of glass;
a first plurality of tamper-evident elements dispersed throughout a dimension of the base piece of glass and arranged in a first patterning, wherein the first plurality of tamper-evident elements comprises inorganic fluorescent objects;
a second plurality of tamper-evident elements dispersed throughout the dimension of the base piece of glass and arranged in a second patterning, wherein the second plurality of tamper-evident elements comprises crystal objects grown in the base piece of glass; and
wherein a first inspection of the base piece of glass determines an initial status of the base piece of glass,
wherein a second inspection of the base piece of glass determines an updated status of base piece of glass, and
wherein a comparison of the initial status and the updated statues determines whether an attempted tampering has occurred, including a detection of damage to either the first plurality of tamper-evident elements or the second plurality of tamper-evident elements.
9. The tamper-evident glass of claim 8 , wherein the inorganic fluorescent object is a rare earth oxide.
10. The tamper-evident glass of claim 9 , wherein the rare earth oxide is selected from at least one of: yttrium, lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, lutetium, or scandium.
11. The tamper-evident glass of claim 10 , wherein the rare earth oxide is added to a glass powder mixture as a powder during a manufacturing of the base piece of glass.
12. The tamper-evident glass of claim 10 , wherein the rare earth oxide is added to a molten glass mixture during a manufacturing of the base piece of glass.
13. A tamper-evident glass comprising:
a base piece of glass;
a first plurality of tamper-evident elements, wherein the first plurality of tamper-evident elements comprises inorganic fluorescent objects;
a first patterning, wherein the first patterning consists of the first plurality of tamper-evident elements;
a second plurality of tamper-evident elements, wherein the second plurality of tamper-evident elements comprise crystals grown in the base piece of glass;
a second patterning, wherein the second patterning consists of the second plurality of tamper-evident elements;
a third plurality of tamper-evident elements, wherein the third plurality of tamper-evident elements comprise pigmented colorants; and
a third patterning, wherein the third patterning consists of the third tamper-evident elements.
14. The tamper-evident glass of claim 13 , wherein the first patterning is a random distribution of the first plurality of tamper-evident elements.
15. The tamper-evident glass of claim 13 , wherein the second patterning is a random distribution of the second plurality of tamper-evident elements.
16. The tamper-evident glass of claim 13 , wherein the third patterning is a random distribution of the third plurality of tamper-evident elements.
17. The tamper-evident glass of claim 13 , wherein the first patterning, the second patterning, and the third patterning may be identified and mapped via digital scanning.
18. The tamper-evident glass of claim 13 , wherein at least one of the first patterning, the second patterning, or the third patterning is a pre-determined design.