AIA: Fastener Foils Video Thieves
A little over two years ago the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in upstate New York fell victim to a crime spree. The school owns more than 200 video projectors installed on ceiling mounts in classrooms and lecture halls throughout the campus. Over the course of a 6-month period, thieves stole 10 of the projectors. The total value of the school's loss exceeded $50,000. To detach their booty, the thieves had simply used common hand tools to remove the bolts attaching the projectors to their ceiling mounts.
In response, Bob Bancroft, RIT's senior engineer for display systems technology, contacted Richard Campbell, president of Bryce Fastener (Gilbert, AZ), which manufacture's the Keyed-lok fastener. The tamper-proof socket screw features a different, randomly selected socket geometry for every purchaser.
According to Bryce Fasteners, research has yet to show a screw-removal bit on the market that will remove a Keyed-lok screw. Each screw features a lock "keyway" forged into the head. Millions of variations are available and each keyway is licensed to a customer.
As a first step, Bryce Fastener shipped a number of samples to the school, which were then tested for the application. Since that time, RIT has converted all of its projector installations using Keyed-lok screws. Since that time, not a single projector has been stolen.
"The thieves are not going to remove these screws without an electric saw, and I believe that would be a hard way to go because of the case-hardened materials," says Bancroft. "Obviously, [the thieves] don't want to damage the projectors because their goal is to sell them or use them."
Case closed!
For more information, call 800-558-1082 or visit www.keyedlok.com.
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