While you can build a box-style bullet proof deal tray from individual welded sheets of metal, that’s far from the best process: Each of those welded joints is a possible point of failure, and the welding process runs the risk of unpredictably weakening the metal itself. In order to minimize these failure points, top-notch bullet proof companies fabricate their deal trays from a single bent sheet of 18 gauge stainless or armor plate steel.

Currency Tray from Total Security Solutions

THE DEAL TRAY WITH ENHANCED SECURITY

For added security a deal tray can be equipped with a concealed “bullet trap.” In such deal trays a direct shot is meant to pass through the surface of the tray–which deforms the bullet and saps its momentum–so that the projectile can be safely caught in a concealed stainless steel tray.

If a given setting cannot accommodate a full bullet trap, customers might opt for a deal tray with an anti-ricochet scoop. These deal trays are flat-bottomed, instead of having the full parabolic curve of a standard deal tray. This modified scoop makes it much harder for a gun-totting thief to score a lucky “bank shot” past the bullet proof glass.

BUILDING A BETTER DEAL TRAY

Forming a deal tray while minimizing weld points is largely a job for a skilled tradesman using an industrial CNC hydraulic press break with a full set of interchangeable presses and dies. This represents a hefty capital outlay that’s beyond the reach of many small bullet proof companies. Subsequently, they outsource their deal trays, limiting their offerings to the few prefabricated trays stamped out by the hundreds of thousands in a Chinese factory.

Rather than limit themselves to these pre-fab trays, a fledgling bullet proof company in rural Michigan–Total Security Solutions–customized a set of existing hand-operated box-and-pan breaks they already owned. Creating a set of custom jigs and dies, and adding foot-actuated pneumatic air cylinders to power the presses, made it possible for Total Security Solutions to offer competitively priced pro-quality bullet proof deal trays without resorting to offshore manufacturers.

DEAL TRAY SOLUTIONS

As they’ve grown, Total Security Solutions has invested in top-of-the-line computer-controlled equipment, but still retained their older tools and institutional knowledge, which has allowed them to distinguish themselves with fast delivery times and non-nonsense customization. Total Security Solutions can still accommodate cost-conscious customers with standard needs (the concert ticket office, the gas station that needs to pass cartons of cigarettes, an after-hours check casher) while meeting custom demands, and without gouging their clients or adding weeks to a project’s lead time. Total Security Solutions have built everything from extra-deep trays for Motel 6 locations–large enough to pass towels to guests checking in, but still able to keep an armed bandit from slipping a pistol past the barrier–to specialized units for 24-hour pharmacies, police stations, and university offices..

“We’ll make whatever size,” Total Security Solutions vice president Jim Richards assures customers. “We obviously have the recessed and counter-mount deal trays, which come in standard sizes that we’ve stocked for years, but if someone has a specific size tray they need or want us to design, it’s all 18-gauge stainless that we can cut and bend to suit their situation.”

While most businesses–from banks to Kwik-E-Marts–can transact their business through the standard two-foot-square bullet proof package passer, some workplaces demand more. But modern manufacturing–which focuses so sharply on economies of scale, assembly line automation, and interchangeable parts–often forces every business into one of a few prepackaged solutions. Even worse, these solutions are rarely designed with each other in mind: Fast food restaurant trays measuring 12-by-16 are molded by the millions in China, but the largest bullet proof acrylic package passers many companies make is 14-by-14. Tough luck for the lone Burger Palace in a bad part of Baltimore.

GOING SUPER-SIZE WITH PACKAGE PASSERS

“We’ve always been structured to handle the custom work,” explains Total Security Solutions vice president Jim Richards, “so size is kind of irrelevant.” As an example, he recalls the passers they used to install at dry cleaners. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, the bulk of dry cleaners located in urban centers were smaller family run operations. This was prior to the rise of the universally accepted, universally carried credit/debit card. In addition to being high-volume businesses keeping late hours (in order to accommodate their busy clientele) these were also largely cash operations. Bullet proof glass was a must, but there’s no point in dry cleaning and steaming a silk evening gown, or pressing an expensive suit, if you’re just going to cram it through an acrylic package passer the size of a breadbox. So Total Security Solutions developed what were, essentially, bullet proof wardrobes. While some dry cleaners opted for 40-inch tall counter-mounted passers–large enough to hold a hanging sports coat or dress folded over a hanger–most went with floor-mounted units seven feet tall, 40-inches wide, and several feet deep. Just like any other package passer, these bullet-proof wardrobes were mounted in the ballistic glass, and accessed by a pair of interlocked doors, one on the threat-side, and the other on the protected-side. The bulk of these super-sized Level 3 passers were quite attractive: wood-paneled ballistic aluminum, or even gleaming all-acrylic models.

TODAY’S SUPER-SIZED PACKAGE PASSERS

While the age of mandatory dry-cleaning passed with the suit-and-tie office, Total Security Solutions still sees demand for large passers (although nothing as posh as the units they designed for upscale urban dry cleaners). Postal facilities continue to need such large package passers in order to process bulk shipments and accommodate large parcels. These range from slightly-larger-than-stock models to some of the largest package passers Total Security Solutions has ever built: seven-foot-tall, four-foot-wide, four-foot-deep pedal-activated models with flip-down interior shelves. Favoring weatherability and durability over panache, these package passers are almost always kitted out in utilitarian ballistic aluminum and bullet resistant fiberglass paneling, but they can also be expected to operate for decades.

It’s a grim reality that, as the economy suffers, business is booming for America’s pawn brokers. Not only are these shops often operated in high-risk areas, but they have very limited floor space that needs to showcase a challenging range of wares. A pawnbroker’s bullet proof package passer must be prepared to accommodate everything from diamond-stud earrings to guitars and hammer-drills. “They want the biggest passer that they can fit on the counter,” Jim explains, “and that varies from setting to setting, so we’ll design something that will fit for them.”