Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
~2~5~
HANGER TAB PAD
Technical Field
This invention relate~ to hanger tabs comprising a
5 strip of polymeric material having a coating of pre~sure
sensitive adhesive by which the hanger tab may be adhered to
a package, and a through opening so that the hanger tab may
be positioned over a support pin or hook to suspend the
package from the hook.
Back~round Art
U.S. Patents No's. 3,869,333 and 3,884,4~3
describe hanger tabs of the type described above which
typically may be used to hang packaged commercial product~
15 from a rack in a store. Hanger tabs of the type described in
these patents, however, are difficult to apply to packages,
either because they have individual liners that must be
removed and disposed of, or because they are sold side by
side on a continuous liner that occupies an inappropriate
20 amount of space and also must ultimately be disposed of.
Also, such tabs are not in a convenient form so that a
predetermined number of them can be included in an overwrap
containing a number of packaged products (e.g., 24 video
cassettes) that a merchant may wish to hang from a display
; 25 rack.
Disclosure of the Invention
The present invention provides a plurality of
hanger tabs in the form of a pad so that the hanger tabs are
30 collected in a compact form that can be easily packed with a
number of packages to which they may be applied, while the
individual hanger tabs can easily be peeled from the pad as
they are needed without leaving a liner that mu~t be
disposed of until the entire pad has been used.
,
~75643
Specifically, the invention is a hanger tab pad
comprising a plurality of hanger tabs each comprising a flexible
sheet having first and second opposite major surfaces~ a coating
of pressure sensitive adhesive on the fixst sur~ace of the sheet;
and a reinforcing strip adhered to a portion of the sheet and
extending to adjacent a peripheral edge of the sheet; said hanger
tabs each having an opening through said sheet and said
reinforcing strip; the sheets in said hanger tabs being adapted so
that said aoatings of adhesive will adhere to said second sur~aces
but can be easily peeled away and being disposed with the first
and second surfaces of adjacent sheets opposed to each other with
the pressure sensitive adhesive coatings on portions of said
sheets adhering the sheets together while said reinforcing strip~
separate the other portions of the sheets to facilitate manual
separation of one of the hanger tabs from the pad, which tab may
then be adhered to a package and positioned over a support pin
received in the opening to suspend the package from the pin.
The present invention will be moxe thoroughly explained
with reference to the accompanying drawing where llke numbers
refer to like parts in the several views, and wherein~
Figure 1 is a perspective vlew o~ a hanger tab pad
according to the present invention;
Figure 2 is an enlarged ~ragmentary edge view
illustrating a hanger tab being manually separated ~rom the pad
shown in Figure 1; and
Figure 3 is a perspective view of a hanger tab from the
pad of Figure 1 .suspending a ~ragment of a package from a ~ragment
~.
75~;43
of a support pin or hook.
Referring now to the drawing, there is shown in Figures
1 and 2 a hanger tab pad according to the present invention
generally designated by the reference numeral 10.
The hanger tab pad 10 comprises a plurality of hanger
tabs 11 each comprising a rectangular sheet 12 having peripheral
edges of about the same shape and size as the
2a
~ 27~;43
other sheets 12 in the pad 10, which sheet 12 (Figure 2) has
first and second opposite major ~urfaces 14 and 16, a
coating 18 ~f pressure sensitive adhesive on its first
surface 14 by which coating 13 the hanger tab 11 is adhered
5 to the adjacent hanger tab 11 along the second surface 16 of
its sheet 12 and by which coating 18 the hanger tab 11 may
be adhered to a package 20 (Figure 3), and a coating of low
adhesion backsize on its second surface 16 so that the
hanger tabs 11 may be peeled apart. Each hanger tab 11 also
10 includes a reinforcing ~trip 22 adhered to the coating 18 of
pressure sensitive adhesive ov~er a minor part of the sheet
12 and extending to adjacent a peripheral ed~e 23 of that
sheet 12. The hanger tabs 11 in the pad 10 are disposed with
their peripheries generally aligned and with the first and
lS second surfaces 14 and 16 of the sheets 12 of adjacent
hanger tabs 11 opposed to each other with the coating~ 18 of
pressure sensitive adhesive on major part~ of the sheets 12
releasably adhering the hanger tabs 11 together while the
reinforcing strips 22 separate the minor parts of the sheets
20 12 to facilitate manual engagement and separation of the
hanger tabs 11 from the rest of the pad 10. The hanger tabs
11 each have a circular opening 26 through its sheet 12 and
reinforcing strip 22 (preferably generally centrally located
on the reinforcing strip 22 as illustrated), which openin~
25 26 may receive a support pin or hook 28 from which a package
20 to which one of the hanger tabs 11 is attached can then
be suspended, as is shown in Figure 3. A liner 2~ only about
the size of one of the hanger tab 11 is positioned against
the coating 18 of adhesive on the bottom hanger tab 11 in
30 the pad to protect that coating 18 of adhesive prior to use.
In one preferred embodiment the sheets 12 with
their coatings 18 of pressure sensitive adhesive and
backsize are pieces 10 centi~eters long and 3 centimeters
wide of the tape commercially designated No. 375 available
35 from Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, St. Paul,
Minnesota, which tape has a 1.6 mil biaxially oriented
polypropylene backing coated with an aggressive synthetic
rubber resin adhesive; and the reinforcing strips 22 are
~;:7S6~3
--4--
pieces 2 centimeters long by 3 centimeters wide of about 3.5
mil thick cross laminated white high density polyethylene
film such as that commercially designated "Valeron"
available from Van Leer Plastics, Houston, Texas.
The present invention has now been described with
reference to one embodiment thereof. It will be appreciated
by those skilled in the art that many modifications can be
made in hanger tab pad~ accordling to the present invention
without departing from the spirit of the invention. For
10 example, the sheets may be of any suitable tough flexible
material, may have a shape other than rectangular (e.g.,
generally rectangular with rounded corners or a~ overall
generally oval shape) and may or may not all be of the same
size. The coatings of pres~ure sensitive adhesive preferably
15 extend over all, but could extend over only parts of the
sheets. The term "presqure sen~itive adhesive" as used
herein includes any suitable cold sealing adhesive even if
it might not be included in a strict definition of that
term. The refinforcing strips may be of any tough web-like
20 material such as paper, film, or woven or- non-woven fabric,
and the reinforcing strips in each pad may or may not all be
of the same size and may be disposed at different relative
locations on various heets in the pad (as at different ends
of the pad for different sheets). The reinforcing strips may
25 extend to any position adjacent the edge 23 of the sheet 12,
such as aligned with, slightly past or not quite to that
; edge. The latter extension may provide exposed adhesive
coated edges (e.g., 1/32 inch wide) on the sheet~ that may
adhere together to help hold the pad together prior to use,
30 but may be easily separated by flexing the portions of the
pad including the reinforcing sheets. Also the openings in
the hanger tabs may be other than round, such as triangular
with rounded inner corners, T-~haped, oval or other~ise
elongate. Thus, the ~cope of the present invention should
35 not be li~ited to the structure described in the
specification, but only to the structures recited in the
claims and their equivalents.
