Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
~2~19S
BACKGROUND OE THE INVENTION
; Technical Field
The present invention relates to product
identification and information tags for merchandise
suspended from horizontally-extending support hooks, and
the like. More particularly, the present invention
relates to such tags which are easily attached to and
removed from the support hooks without being subject to
inadvertent removal and which display the product.
information forwardly of the supported merchandise.
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1~'
2 - ~ 5
Discussion of the Prior Art
In Figures 26 and 27 of my pending Canadian
Application Serial No. 423,652, filed March 15, 1983,
disclose a product identification and information tag
which is formed from a plastic sheet and which displays
the product information forwardly of items suspended from
a horizontally-extending hook. The hook extends from an
apertured board, or the like, and the tag includes a
mounting portion arranged to be temporarily deformed
lU while being attached to and removed from the hook at
a location ad~acent t~le board. An intermediate por-
tion of the tag, formed integrally with the support
portion, pro~ects forwardly ove.r the support hook and
th.e supported merchandise. A display portion, formed
i.ntegrally with the intermediate and support portions,
bends downwardly from t~.e d~stal end of the ~ntermediate
portion and in ~ront of th.e h.ook BO as to displa~ the
desired product identification-and information data.
~; I have discovered a number of practical problems
2Q associated with my above-de~cr~bed produ~t information
tag. One such prob.lem involves th.e inadvertant lateral
hending or ~lexing of the tag along its intermediate
portion by customers, resulting in the display portion
being positioned along the side of the suspended mer-
chandise and therefore out of view of the customers.This bending or flexing can occur when a merchanclise
item is removed from an adJacent hoo~, by a customer
accidently brushing against th.e tag, or in some other
fashi.on. ~he problem is most severe ~n the case of tags
3a h.aving relatively lon~ intermediate portions ~hich are
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inherently more flexible transversely of th.eir lengths.
Another practical prohlem concerning my prior
product information tag relate:s to the mounting portion
wh~ch is not ideally suitable for the double loop
~tyle h.ooks which attach directly to an aperture board.
More particularly, the mounting portion of my prior tag
i.ncludes a single thickness of the plastic sheet ~hich
is apertured in two locations remote from its edge to
receive both legs of the hook. Slots or s.lits extend
lQ ~rom the apertures to the edge of the support portion in
order to provide access to the apert,ures for the h.ook
legs. Th.e slots or slits are laterally spaced by a dis-
tance wh.ich is less than th.e lateral spacing ~etween the
apertures so that the tag must be resiliently deformed
during attachment and removal, thereby assuring that
the tag ~ill not he inadvertantly removed from its
mounting position. When used ~ith.the aforesaid dou~le
loop style hook, h.o~ever~ my prior tag tends to slip
for~-ardly on the hook, ridîng down along the downwardly
2Q curved portions of the hook legs and skewing the inter-
~ediate and display portions of th.e tag.
OBJEGTS AND SUMMARY O~ THE INVENTION
It is th.erefore an ob~ect of the present invention
to provide an improved product identification and infor
mation tag of th.e type described wherein lateral flexture
is minimized so that the information display portion
remains positioned forwardly of the suspended merchandise.
4 _ ~ ~5
It is another obJect of the present invention
to provide an improved product identification and
information tag of the type descri~ed in which th.e
mounting portion is improved to permit the tag to
be reliably positioned for both wireback style hooks
and the double loop style hooks.
Still another o~Ject Or the present invention
ls to provide an improved product identification and
information tag designed for us-e with a variety of
merchandise support hooks wh.ich attach to apertured
boards, ~herein the tag remains positionally stable
once it has been deployed.
rn accordance with one aspect of the present
invention, a small retainer hole is defined in th.e
intermediate portion of the tag at a location to per-
mit the distal end of th.e support hook to pro~ect up-
wardly therethrough. The support hook thereby resists
lateral flexture of the intermediate portion and main-
tains the display portion properly positioned in front
2Q of the merch.andise. ~hen a customer slides a merch.an-
dise item for~ardly along the hook for removal of that
item, th.e intermediate portion of the tag is consequen~
tially flexed upward thereby to permit the item to
pass the distal end of the hook. Once the item has been
removed, the intermediate portion falls back down onto
th.e hook so that the distal end of the hook once again
pro~ects upwardly through the retainer hole. The
retainer h.ole may be configured to specifically match
a particular support h.ook distal end configuration, or
3~ it may be universally contoured for use ~ith a variety
of different supports hooks'distal end configurations.
A further aspect of the present invention involves
providing a three~section mounting portion for the tag.
An end section is separated from a middle section by
a first transverse fold line. The middle section is,
in turn, separated from an inboard section by a second
transverse fold line. The middle and inboard sections
are apertured and slotted or slit so that the apertures
and slots or slits are ali`gned when the middle and
inboard sections are folded against one another along
the second ~old line. The apertures constitute the
mounting holes by which the tag is retained on the
merchandise support hook and the slots or slits produce
the access to the mounting holes for the support legs
from an edge of the tag defined by the second fold
- line. The end section of the mounting portion serves
as a flap and can be folded along the first fold line
to extend forwardly or rearw~rd~y, depending upon the
sty~le of support hook with which the tag is used. ~hen
used with a wireback hook, the flap is folded to extend
forwardly under the intermediate tag section, leaving
the middle and inboard section in close proximity to
~orm a double layer mounting portion of the tag. When
used with the double loop style hook, the flap is folded
to extend rear~ardly so that its outer edge abuts a
further fold line between the intermediate tag portion
and the inboard section of the mounting portion. This
provides a mounting portion of generally triangular
longitudinal cross-section wherein the inboard section
is disposed ad~acent to the apertured board and the
middle sectlon diverges upwardly and for~ardly with
6 ~ 95
respect to th.e inboard section from ~he second fold
line. The triangular cross-section functions as a
structural ~race which prevents the mounting portion
of the tag from slipping downialong th.e support hook.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRA~INGS
These and other obJect, features and many Or the
attendant advantages of the invention will ~e better
understood upon a reading of the following detailed
description when considered in connection with.the
la accompanying drawings wh.erein like parts in eac~ of
the several figures are identîfied ~y~ th.e same refer-
ence numerals, and wherein:
Figure 1 is a view in perspective from above sho~-
ing one form of the product identification and infor-
mat~on tag of the present inventîon deployed for us.ewit~ a particular form of support hook;
Figure 2 is parti.al view in perspective from below
of the product identification and information tag of
Figure l;
Figure 3 is view in plan of a blank from ~hich the
pro.duct identificati.on and information tag of Figure 1
is formed by appropriate folding and punch out o~
die-cut members;
Figure 4 is a view in perspective o~ th.e distal or
forw~ard end of the product i.dentification and informa-
tion tag of Flgure 1 sh.o~n deplo~ed ~ith a second form
of support h.ook;
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Figure 5 is a vIew in perspective from ahoYe
~ho~ing another form of th.e product i.dentification and
information tag of the present invention deployed for
use with still another form of support hook;
Figure 6 is a partial view in perspective rrom
below of the product identification and information
tag of F-Lgure 5;
Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 6 but showing
a different configuration for th.e mounting portion of
lQ the product identification and information tag;
Figure 8 is a view ïn plan of a blank from which
the product identification and information tag of Figure
7 is formed;
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Figure 9 is a partial vie~ in plan of the product
identification and information tag, shoNing an alterna-
tive retainer slot configuration, and
Figure lQ is a partial vie~ in plan of th.e product
identification and information tag, showing another
retainer slot configuration.
2Q DESCRIPTION OF THE P~EFERRh~ h~ODI~ENTS
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Referring specifically to Figures 1, 2 and 3 of
the accompanying drawings, there is illustrated an
apertured board lQ of th.e type wh.ich is conventionally
employed in conjunction wi.th merchandise displays in
retail establishments. Apertures 11 defined through
hoard la are regularly spaced to receive suitable
merchandise support memhers. In th.e embodiment illus-
trated in Figure 1, a support hook 13 has its proximal
end bent downwardly and secured to a bracket member 15.
The bracket member has two spaced horîzontally-extending
arms 17 and 19 wh~ch project through two of the apertures
11 and are bent upwardly behind ~oard 10 ~not shown) so
as to retain the bracket 15 and support hook 13 in place.
The support hook, wh.en th.us retained in place, projects
lQ forwardly from the apertured ~oard 10 in a generally
Kori:zontal orientation so that merchandise, such as
blister packs, with suitable support apertures defined
th.erein may be suspended from th.e hook. In th.e case
of the hook 13 illustrated in ~igure 1, the distal end
thereof has an elbow bend 20 wh.ich points up~ardly to
facilitate retention of the m~rQhandise items on the
hook.
.
The product information and identi~ication tag of
the present invention takes the form Or an elongated
plastic sheet 21 in which suitable fold lines are im~
pressed and appropriate apertures are die-cut. Speci-
fically, sheet 21 is arranged in three distinct portions
positioned at successive longitudinal locations along
the sheet. At the distal end of sheet 21 there is
disposed a display portion 23 wh.ich Joins an intermediate
portion 25 at a fold line 24 Nh.ich extends transversely
across the entire sheet. A mounting portion 27 joins
the other end of intermediate portion 25 at a second
fold line 26 whi.ch.also extends transversely across the
3~ entlre sh.eet 21. Mounting portion 27 constitutes the
proximal end of the displa~ tag. Mounting portion 27
is itself su~divided l.nto three section, namely an
end ~lap section 28, a ml.ddle section 30 and an
inboard section 32. Th.e end ~lap section 2~ ~oins
the middle section 3a at another fold line 29 wh.ich
extends transversely across the entire sh.eet 21.
Likewise, intermediate section 30 ~oins inboard sec-
tion 32 at a further fold line 31 which also extends
transversely across the entire s~eet. The other end
of the inboard section 32 Joins the intermediate por
tion of sheet 21 at fold line 26. Sheet 21~ as de-
scribed, is generall~ rectangular in shape ~ith its
longest dimension extending from its proximal end at
end f-lap 28 to its distal end at display portion 23.
First and second die-cut holes 33 and 34 are
15 defined in transversely spaced relation on opposite
sides Or th.e longitudinal center line o~ sheet 21 in
the in~oard section 32 of mounti:ng portion 27. Third
and rourth. die-cut holes ~5 and 36 are defined in th.e
middle section 30 of mounting portion 27 in transverse
2Q alignment with holes 33 and 34, respectively. ~n
addi.t~on, th.e longitudinal spacing of holes 33 and 34
from fold line 31 is equal to the longitudinal spacing
of h.oles 35 and 36 rrom that fold line. ~herefore,
~h.en middle section 30 and in~oard section 32 are
25 folded toward one another along fold line 31, holes 33
and 35 are in registration as are h.oles 34 and 36. Holes
33, 34, 35 and 36 serve as mounting holes for the pro-
duct ~dentification tag on the horizontally-extending
arms 17 and 19 of ~racket 15. In this regard, the
30 diameter of the mounting holes is made slightl~ larger
than th.e diameter of the arms 17 and 19.
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A slit 27 is defined in sheet 21 and extends
ket~een mounting h.oles 34 and 3~ across fold line 31.
A similar slit 38 is defined between holes 33 and 35,
also extending across fold line 31. Each slit 37, 38
is substantially symmetrical about fold line 31 so
th~t when the sheet is folded along this line, equal
halves of each slit are in registration. The slits
37 and 38 are arcuate and are closest to one another
at their points of intersection with fold line 31.
lQ Thus, as best seen in Figure 2, ~hen the sheet is
folded along fold line 31, the slits 37 and 38 provide
access to the mounting holes from the edge defined by
fold line 31. The intersection points of slits 37 and
38 ~ith fold line 31 are transversely closer together
than are h.oles 35 and 36 or h.oles 33 and 34. The
mounting holes are spaced by a distance equal to the
spacing between apertures 11 in the apertured board 10
and between the arms 17 and 1~ of hracket 15. Th.us,
: in order to deploy the tag on ~racket 15 so that arms
17 and 19 extend through the registered hole pairs 34,
36 and 33, 35, the middle section 30 and inboard section
32 must be deformed at fold line 31 hy bending portions
of these sections out of plane. Similarly, in order to
remove th.e tag from th.e brack.et 15, a deformation at
fold line 31 must be effected in sections 30 and 32.
In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 1, th.e end
flap section 28 is hent to extend for~ardly from fold
line 29 along the underside of intermediate portion 25
of the tag. Middle section 30 is bent along fold line
3Q 31 so as to be positioned suhstantially ad~acent inhoard
section 32, thereby provid~g an effective double thick-
ness in the mounting portion of the tag. This double
thickness effecti.ve mi.n~mizes inadvertant movement
of th.e tag relative to th~.e bracket 15 so th.at the
tag is sta~ly positioned at its proximal end.
As best seen in Figures 1 and 3, the sheet 21
is provided with a longitudinally~extending slot 40
which is die-cut into the intermediate portion 25 at
a longitudinal position proximate fold line 24. Slot
40 is shown extending longitudinally along the longi-
tudinal center line Or sheet 21 and is positioned so
as to register with the upwardly~pointing elbow 20
at the distal end of support hoo~ 13. El~o~ 2a thus
projects through slot 40 and provides sufficient lateral
stability~ for intermediate section 25 so that the tag
: is precluded from flexing laterally and becoming posi-
tioned alongside rather than atop the support hook.13.
If intermediate section 25 were permitted to merely rest
atop elbow 2Q, it may ~e seen that one could pu~h the
distal end of the tag in a lateral direction ~ith.a
relatively small force to a position where the longi-
tudinally-extending edge o~ th.e tag would be forced
~eyond the elbow 2a. The el~ow 20 would then engage th.e
longitudinally-extending edge of the tag and prevént it
from assuming its desired illustrabed position. It is
only in the illustrated position that the display portion
23 of the tag is disposed forwardly of the support h.ook
and the merchandise items suspended therefrom.
~ eferring to Figure 4, the distal end of the tag
Or ~igur~s 1-3 is illustrated in use in con~unction with
a support hook 42 having an upwardly pro~ecting distal
end rather than an el~ow Joint 20. The slot ~lO is posi-
`` ~Z~ 5
tioned to engage the upwardly extending distal end 41of` support hook 42 in the same manner in which it
engages the elbow ~oint 2~'of support hook 13.
Referring now to Figures 5 and 6, the product
identification and information tag of Figures 1-3
is shown deployed with a support hook of the double
loop style. More particularly, the double loop style
support hook is a conventional support hook made from
a single metal or plastic rod ~ent into the desired
configuration. This hook includes two substantially
parallel extensi,on members 43 and 45 which are joined
at their distal ends b,y a transversely extending section
47. Extension sections 43 and 45 are bent slightly up-
ward proximate the distal end of the hook so that trans-
verse section 47 nesides slightly above the rest of thesupport hook. The proximal ends of extension sections
43 are bent to provide generally upwardly extending sec-
tions 48 and 49, respecti~ely. The upwardly extending
sections extend along a short portion of the apertured
2Q board la hefore bending rearwardly and h,orizontally to
define respective arms 50 and 51 wh,ich extend through
respective apertures in the board 10. Arms 50 and 51
are bent upwardly behind hoard 10 to provide the engage-
ment with the rear surface of the board necessary to
support the hook.
When deployed in con~unction with the double loop
style haok of ~igure 5, the end flap section 28 is bent
rearwardly from fold line 2~ so that its remote edge
abuts the fold line 26 between the intermediate and
3 ~2~ 5
mounting portions of the tag. This spaces the ~iddle
section 3a further away from inboard section 32 than
is th.e case with the mounting arrangernent of Figure 1.
The three sections of the mounting portion 27 may be seen in
th~ embodiment of Figure 5 to have a longitudinal
cross section, when deployed, that is triangular. This
triangular cross-sectional configuration provides a
support brace which prevents the mounting portion from
sliding down the vertical sections 48 and 4~ from the
horizontally-extending arms 50 and 51. It will there-
fore be appreciated th.at the tag of ~igure 3 may be
deployed in either of two mouhtîng orientations, depend-
ing upon the nature of the support hook w-ith wh.ich it
is to be used.
The retainer slot 55 employed with th.e embodiment
.~ of Figure 5 extends transversel~ with respect to th.e
elongated sheet 21 rather than longitudinally as is
the case for slot 40. Slot 55 is positioned to receive
the distal end, i.ncluding transverse section 47, of the
2Q double loop style hook. This engagement of th.e distal
end of the support hook by the transversely~extending
slot 55 provides the same type of lateral stability for
sh.eet 21, and particularly intermediate portion 25, as
is provided by slot 40 and its engagement of elbow 20
or end portion 41.
With reference to Figures 7 and 8 of the accompany-
ing drawings, the tag is shown in a modified form at
its mounting portion 27. Specifically, the mounting
holes 33, 34, 35 and 36 and slots 37 and 38 are replaced
3a with two die-cut mounting holes 56 and 57 which are
~zL~
transversely spaced and extend longitudinally between
middle section 30 and inboard section 32. Mounting
hole 56 and mounting hole 57 are disposed on opposite
sides of the longitudinal center li.ne of sheet 21 i.n
5 symmetrical relation. I`n addition, the portion of
mounting hole 56 disposed in the inboard section 32
is symmetrical to the portion of that mounting hole
disposed in middle section 30 ~ith respect to the trans-
versely-extending fold line 31. A similar symmetrical
lQ relationship exists bet~een th.e portions Or mounting
hole 57 residing in sections 30 and 32. The portions
of mounting holes 56 and 57 remote from fold line 31
are contoured to surround and be supported on the spaced
arm portions 50 and 51 ~hen the sheet is folded about
15 fold line 31 in the manner i.llustrated in Figures 5
and 7. From these support portions of the mounting
holes 5~ and 57, the holes diverge toward fold line 31
so that a wide open channel is defined at the fold line
for receiving the respective arms 50 and 51 oY th.e
support hook. This mounting arragnement requires less
deformation of the tag during attachment and removal
of th.e tag with. res:pect to th.e support hook than is the
case for the mounting arrangement illustrated in Figure
6. However, it sh.ould be noted that some deformation is
required because the support holes 56 and 57 are contoured
~ to include pointed projections 60 ~hich are spaced from
: one another in each oY sections 30 and 32 so as to b.lock
direct sliding of the arms 50 and 51 into the end por~
tions of the mounting holes 56 and 57.
3a It is possible to provide a retainer aperture which
can be universaly employed for any of the support hooks
- 15 ~ 9~
.
illustrated i.n Figures 1, 4 and 5. One such confîgura-
tion of retainer aperture is illustrated in Figure 9
and takes the form of a generally T-shaped die-cut
61. The retainer aperture 61 includes a stem portion
5 62 extending longitudinally toward fold li.ne 24 and
terminating in a transversely-extending portion 63.
The stem portion 62 is positioned to receive the elbow
joint 20 or distal end 41 o~ support hooks 13 and 42,
respectively. The transversely-extending slot 63 is
lQ positioned to receive the distal end 47 of the double
loop style hook of Figure 5. The emb.odiment of Figure
10 shows a retainer aperture having a generally H-shaped
slot with two transversely-extending slot sections 64
and 65 spaced by a connecting longitudinally-extending
slot 66. The longitudinally-extending slot is adapted
to receive th.e appropriate portîons of the support hooks
illustrated in Figures 1 and 4. The transversely-
extending slots 64 and 65 are adapted to receive the
distal end of different length double loop style sup-
20 port hooks of the type illustrat~d in ~igure 5. Thus,since double loop style support hooks are currently
sold at 6 and 6 1~2 " leng~hs, th.e retainer slot confi.gura-
tion of Figure 10 may be considered to be useful for
support hooks of both lengths. The retainer slots of
25 Figures ~ and 10 may thus be considered to be "universal"
in application in that they are adapted to receive a
relatively large variety of support hook configurations.
~ rom the foregoing it will be appreciated that the
invention makes available a novel product identification
3 and information display tag of the t~pe wherein the tag
extends forwardly from an apertured board to display the
I ~
information in front of the suspended merchandise ltems
and wherein inadvertant lateral rlexure of the tag is
minimized. In addition, the mo~nting structure for
such a tag is improved to render it useful for a wide
variety of support hooks presently offered commercially.
Having described embodiments of a new and improved
product identification and information tag constructed
in accordance with the present invention, it is believed
that other modifications,variations and changes will be
:10 suggested to those skilled in the art in light of the
above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that
all such variations,modifications and changes are be-
lieved to fall within the scope of the invention as
defined in the appended claims.
It will be seen that the three (3) section Inounting portion
of the tag of the instant invention provides increased strength
relative to prior art construction, reducing the tendency of the
elongated horizontally extending portion to be deflected frorn side
to side without substantially increasing the weight of the ultimate
product.
