Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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The present invention relates to plastic attachments
and to a device for attaching same and more particularly to a
uniquely configured assembly of attachments which includes
spaced, parallel connecting bars between which attachments
having T-bar ends are situated in parallel, spaced relation and
for a specially design device for attaching same.
Before modern tag attaching systems were
commercialized, tags and the like were attached to garments and
other soft goods by strings or straight pins. However, because
of the vast number of items tagged by manufacturers and retail
merchandisers and because of the relatively large amount of
labor which is required to attach a tag by a string or a pin,
new tagging systems were developed which increased the speed of
the tagging operation and made it more efficient by decreasing
the time and labor required.
The first tagging system was commercialized in
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the 1960's when Dennison Manufacturing Company of
Framingham, Massachusetts began selling an assembly or
clip of plastic attachments and an attacher therefore,
both of which are disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 3,103,666
of September 16, 1963 to Arnold Bone entitled "Attaching
Apparatus". Those attachments included a T-bar end and
an enlarged paddled end connected by a flexible filament
which is stretched to increase its strength. The
attachments are injection moulded in clips or assemblies
of 20 to 50 attachments each. The attachments are held
together by means of a single connecting bar. The T-bar
ends of the attachments are situated in spaced, parallel
relation along the connecting bar.
-5 The attaching device employes a hollow needle
B designed to penetrate the object to be tagged and the
tag. After the needle was properly positioned, a single
attachment was severed from the assembly and the T-bar
end thereof is pushed through the channel in the needle
such that the T-bar end of the attachment is situated on
one side of the garment and the paddle end of the
fastener on the other.
The attachments of the type described in the
Bone patent became widely used in the industry. They
were employed for attaching all kinds of tags and labels
to articles to be sold at retail, where the attachments
proved particularly effective in preventing unscrupulous
shoppers from switching tags, that is, removing a tag
from a low priced article and attaching it to a higher
priced article. They are used as well for securing
groups of articles together, such as shoes in a pair or
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matching tops and bottoms. The attachments were also
useful for many other purposes.
The attachments could be applied at an
extremely rapid rate, even by relatively unskilled
personnel, thus greatly reducing the cost of the tagging
operation. Over the years, other companies have
distributed similar types of attachments and attaching
devices. This type of system has virtually surplanted
all other attaching methods.
be~carn~
As the attachments~bcc~u~c widely used, it was
noticed that the ones with longer filaments especially
had a tendency to become tangled with other attachmen~s
in the assembly and with the attachments in adjacent
assemblies, particularly during shipping and handling.
In order to overcome this problem, a structure was
devised by which the attachments are connected together
at their enlarged paddle ends, as well as at their T-bar
ends. In the comercial embodiment of the so called
"connected paddle" type, the enlarged paddle ends are
connected together directly, instead of indirectly
through the use of a connecting bar. The "connected
paddle" attachment is disclosed in U.S. Patent No.
3,733,657 entitled "Assembly of Attachments and Methods
for Manipulating the Same" issued to Gordon B. Lankton on
May 22, 1973. It quickly became an industry standard.
The Lankton patent also discloses an
embodiment, as far as I know never commercialized, which
utilizes a connecting bar on the paddle end as well as on
the T-bar end. However, unlike the T-bar ends, the
``- 202~9~
enlarged paddle ends are connected directly without
spacing elements, to the connecting bar.
In the 1970's, a new form of attachment and
device for attaching same came into being. Instead of
forming the attachments in clips of twenty or fifty
parallel spaced attachments, strips of continuously
connected co planar attachments are formed by elongated
plastic side members with cross coupling links.- In this
case, the attachments were situated end to end in a
single plane. The ends were connected directly together,
eliminating the connecting bars altogether.
These coplanar attachments are disclosed in
U.S. Patent No. ~,121,~7 to Arnold bone entitled
"Continuously Connected Fastener Attachment Stock" issued
October 2~, 197~. That patent also discloses an attacher
for the coplanar attachments. The commercial attacher
sold by Dennison which uses this type of attachment is
A called the System 1000~ The attachments in the System
1000 ar~ supplied in a roll
Also with the 1970's another form of coplanar
B attachment was invented. The attachments consisted of
two T-bar ends and~1hcrc connected directly together at
the tip of the T-bars to form continuous stock which
could be rolled. These attachments were designed to be
used in a manner similar to that of staples or tacks
because both T-bar ends are situated on one side of the
object to be tagged with the filament on the other side.
In order to accomplish this the attachments were
structured to be dispensed through devices which include
~ ~Q, 1 ~ ~ ~ . r ,1~
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two needles such that the T-bars are fed through the
needles simultaneously. Here again, no connecting bars
are e~ployed. U.S. Patent No. 3,~75,6~ entitled
"Fastener Attachment Apparatus and Method" issued April
~, 1975 to Arnold R. Bone discloses such attachments and
apparatus for attaching same.
The present invention, in general, relates to a
differently configured attachment assembly designed for
uses similar to that of the attachments disclosed in the
Bone patent referred to in the previous paragraph and a
uniquely designed device for attaching the attachments.
The assembly of attachments of the present invention
includes first and second connecting bars between which
attachments are situated in spaced, parallel relation.
Each attach~lent has a first and a second T-bar end. The
ends are joined by a flexible fillament.
Unlike the original Bone fasteners, applicant's
attachments include two connecting bars. Each of the
T-bar ends is connected to a different one of the
connecting bars. Unlike the Lankin converted paddle
fasteners, the attachments of~w~ present invention~ have
T-bars at both ends which are joined to and spaced from
two connecting bars. Unlike the continuous stock
fasteners, the attachments of the present invention
include connecting bars and are situated in parallel,
spaced relation instead of contiguous, coplanar relation.
The attaching device of the present invention
includes a recess which has spaced portions adapted to
accept the connecting bars, respectively. This structure
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permits the attachments to move through the attaching device with
greater precision and reduced chance of jamming. The attaching
device includes simultaneously movable ejector rods, both of which
are connected to a single actuator. In addition, dual indexing
means cooperate with the assemblies, proximate each side thereof,
such that the indexing operation is smooth and reliable.
The system of the present invention is particularly
useful in applying attachments for tacking or stapling labels or
headers to articles or packaging. However, those skilled in the
art will appreciate that there are a multitude of other uses to
which the present invention is suited.
The present invention provides a device for dispensing
attachments of the type having first and second T-bar ends with a
flexible filament therebetween, the attachments being supplied in
an assembly between first and second spaced connecting bars joined
to the first and second T-bar ends, respectively, the device
comprising a housing, a recess in said housing having first and
second spaced sections adapted to receive the first and second
connecting bars, respectively, first and second hollow needles
extending from said housing, each of said needles comprising a
channel through which a different one of the T-bar ends of an
attachment is adapted to move, means within said housing for
pushing the T-bar ends through said needles to dispense an
attachment, means for severing each of the T-bar ends from the
connecting bar to which it is joined as the assembly is advanced
through the housing. Means may be provided for advancing the
assembly of attachments through the housing.
B
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60713-444
The means for pushing the T-bar ends preferably includes
first and second ejector rods displaceable relative to the needles
and means for simultaneously displacing the ejector rods.
The means for simultaneously displacing the ejector rods
includes means mounted for movement relative to the housing
between a first position where the rods are spaced from the
needles and a second position where the rods are situated within
the channels. This means includes depressible means and slide
means operably connected to the depressible means for movement in
response to the actuation of the depressible means. Both rods are
operably connected to the slide means.
The advancing means include second slide means operably
connected to the depressible means and movable in the response to
the actuation of the depressible means. First and second gear
means are located in the housing intersecting the recess. The
first and second gear means are adapted to engage the assembly
proximate first and second connecting bars, respectively. Means
are provided for simultaneously indexing the first and second gear
means in response to the movement of the second slide means.
The first and second needles are substantially
oppositely oriented. The housing has first and second guide means
associated with the first and second ejector rods, respectively.
The invention also provides an assembly of attachments
comprising first and second substantially parallel connecting bars
between which individual attachments are situated in substantially
parallel, spaced relation, each of said attachments comprising
first and second T-bar ends with a substantially flexible filament
2 0 2 7 4 9 4 60713-444
extending therebetween.
To these and such other features which may hereinafter
appear, the present invention relates to an assembly of
attachments and a device for attaching same as disclosed in detail
on the following specification, as recited in the claims and taken
together with the accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals
refer to like parts and in which:
Figure 1 is an isometric view of the attacher of the
present invention showing an attachment anchored in sheets of
material;
Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the internal
mechanism of the attacher of the present invention;
Figure 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the
forward portion of the attacher of the present invention showing
the indexing mechanism before actuation of the trigger;
Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 but showing the
indexing mechanism after actuation of the trigger;
. ~ 8
.
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Fig. 5 is a top cross-sectional view of the
portion of the attacher shown in Fig. 3;
Fig. 6. is a top view of the attacher showing
an attachment being anchored;
Fig. 7 is a top view similar to Fig. 6 but
showing a more advanced stage in the anchoring process;
Fig. ~ is a top cross-sectional view of this
portion of the attacher shown in Fig. ~;
Fig. 9 is an isometric view of an assembly of
attachments in accordance with the present invention.
As shown in the figures, the attacher of the
present invention includes a housing, generally desig-
nated A, which has two halves 10 and 12. The housing
havles 10, 12 are substantially mirror images of each
other and are fastened together by a series of screws 1~.
Housing A is generally pistol shaped and has a
handle 16 with a depressable trigger 1~ extending from
its forward portion. The front of housing A has a pair
of oppositely oriented needles 20, 22 extending therefrom
in spaced parallel relation. The forward portion of
housing A is provided with a recess 2~ which extends
there through in a direction generally perpendicular to
the plane of needles 20 and 22. Recess 2~ has a
generally "H" shaped configuration and includes spaced
portions 26, 2~ adapted to receive the connecting bars
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20~7494
30, 32, respectively, of the assembly of attachments,
generally designated B.
As shown in Figs. 1 and 9, each assembly B of
attachments includes a plurality of attachments 36 situ-
ated in a substantially spaced, parallel relation and
connected between connecting bars 30 and 32. Each of the
attachments includes first and second T-bar ends 3~, ~0.
The T-bar ends are connected by a thin stretched plastic
flexible filament 39.
In order to anchor an attachment to layers of
material ~2, ~, such as a tag and an article of cloth-
ing, the layers are held in face-to-face relation. The
attacher is manipulated such that the material and
attacher are moved relative to each other until needles
20, 22 penetrate the layers. Trigger 1~ is actuated
causing T-bars 3~ and ~0 to move through hollow needles
20 and 22.
As is apparent from Figs. 6 and 7, as the T-bar
ends 3~ and ~0 travel down the channels in needles 20 and
22 they are substantially parallel to each other. As
they release from the channels, the T-bar ends pivot back
to their original orientation, parallel to the surface of
the layers, as filament 39 bows. The T-bar ends
thereafter lodge adjacent the rear surface of the layers,
as shown in Fig. 1. The attacher and material are then
moved away from each other, leaving the attachment
anchored. As Trigger 1~ is released, the internal
indexing mechanism of the attacher advances the assembly
of attachments through recess 2~ in housing A such that
B 1~
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the next attachment in the assembly aligns with needles
20 and 22.
As seen in Figs. 2, 3, ~, 5 and ~, trigger 1~
is pivotally mounted to the housing by pin ~6. Trigger
1~ is pivotally connected to lever ~ by pin 50 located
near the lower end of lever ~ which cooperates with slot
~9 in lever ~ to provide for a lost motion connection.
Lever ~ is movably mounted to housing A proximate its
mid section by pin 52. Lever ~ and thus trigger 1~ are
spring loaded towards the undepressed position shown in
Fig. 2 by means of a tension spring 5~ connected between
lever ~ at point 56 and housing A at point 5~.
b~ rco:~e~
The upper end of lever ~ is~ifuri~atcd, with
the legs ~a and ~b associated hith a different one of
two slides 60a, 60b. Each slide 60a, 60b is situated
between a pair of guides 62 and 6~ on each housing half
10, 12 for movement within housing A. Slides 60a, 60b
have apertures adapted to accept the ends of ejector rods
66, 6~ respectively. Each of the ejector rods 66, 6~ is
bent at a right angle near its rear end so as to fit into
the respective apertures in slides 60a, 60b. It will be
appreciated from Fig. 2 that the upper end of leg ~a of
lever ~ has an elongated opening 70 therein so as to
accommodate the ejector rod and its sleeve as lever ~ is
pivoted about pin 52.
As best seen in Figs. 3 and 5, before trigger
1~ is actuated, ejector rods 66 and 6~ are situated
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behind needles 20 and 22, a distance sufficient to permit
the T-bar ends 3~, ~0 of an attachment to be positioned
in alignment with the channels of the respective needles
20, 22. When trigger l~ is actuated, lever ~ rotates
about pin 52 and slides 60a, 60b move forward. As slides
60a, 60b move forward, ejector rods 66 and 6~ are
simultaneously moved toward needles 20, 22 such that the
rods cause the T-bar ends 3~, ~0 of the attachment to
move through the channels of needles 20 and 22,
respectively.
Each housing half 10, 12 is provided with two
ejector rod guide members 61 or 63. Members 61, 63
function to guide the movement of ejector rods 66, 6~ to
insure accurate movement and to eliminate jamming or
bending of the rods.
Each half 10, 12 of housing A is provided with
a knife blade 72 which is preferably removable from the
housing so that it can be replaced when dull. The
function of knife blade 72 is to sever the T-bar ends of
the attachments from their respective connecting bars as
the ejector rod pushes the T-bar end of the attachment
through the needle.
As best seen in Fig. 9, the T-bar ends 3~, ~0
of the attachments 36 are connected to and spaced from
the respective connecting bars 30, 32 by bridge elements
7L which is relatively thin. Elements 7~ are long enough
to space the T-bar ends from the connecting bar
B
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associated therewith a distance sufficient to permit
engagement of the bridge element by the gear wheels which
make up the indexing mechanism. As seen in Figs. 3 and
~, bridge elements 7~ cooperate with the teeth of
indexing gears 7~ to advance the assembly of attachments
through the housing. Two indexing gears 7~ are provided,
one on each side of the housing. Each cooperates with
the bridge element 7~ on a different side of the
attachment.
The fastener indexing means includes first and
second parallelly situated mechanisms one of which is
illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. For simplicity, the
operation of only one indexing mechanism will be
described, it being understood that both mechanisms are
operated simultaneously by the movement of a single
trigger 1~.
Each indexing mechanism includes an indexing
gear 7~ rotatably mounted to the housing half. Gear 7
cooperates with lower and upper spring loaded pawls ~0,
~2 also mounted in that housing half. Each of the lower
pawls ~0 is pivotably mounted on a portion ~ of slide ~6
by pin ~7. A spring ~1 urges the pawl ~0 clockwise, such
that tooth ~3 normally engages gear 7~. Slide ~6 is
reciprocated relative to the housing as trigger 1~ is
depressed, moving pawl ~0 between the position shown in
Fig. 3 and that shown in Fig. ~.
As best seen in Fig. 2, slide portion ~6 has a
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recessed portion 8~ into which the upper portion of one
of the legs of lever ~ is received forming a lost motion
connection with lever ~ such that a relatively large
amount of movement of lever ~ results in a relatively
small movement of slide ~6 and hence slide portion ~.
At the bottom of slide ~6 is a downwardly projecting
finger 90 which cooperates with a spring loaded lever 92
to limit the movement of the slide. As lever ~ is moved
forward, lever 92 is cammed out of the way so that slide
~6 and slide portion ~ can move forwardly. As slide
portion ~ moves forward, finger ~3 on pawl ~0 is cammed
over one of the teeth of gear 7~, against the action of
spring ~1, until slide portion ~6 reaches its forward
most position, as shown in Fig. ~. During the forward
motion of slide ~6, gear 7~ is held motionless by upper
pawl ~2 which is spring loaded towards the gear by spring
95.
As trigger 1~ is released, lever ~ is rotated
clockwise due to the action of spring 5~, slide ~6 moves
rearwardly. Spring ~1 urges tooth ~3 of pawl ~0 into
engagement with the teeth of gear 7~, and gear 7~ rotates
through an arc sufficient to bring the next attachment 36
into alignment with the needles. This occur because pawl
~2 is cammed against the action of spring 95, allowing
gear 7~ to rotate in the counterclockwise direction.
Upper pawl ~2 normally prevents movement of the
gear 7~ in the clockwise direction unless it is manually
pivoted in a clockwise direction by depression of
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2l)27~
projection 9~. Projection 98 extends above the housing
such that it is manually accessible. When projection 9
is depressed, finger ~5 of pawl ~2 and finger ~3 of pawl
~0 (because extension 96 of pawl ~2 contacts extension 9
of pawl ~0 to rotate the latter in a clockwise direction)
are no longer enmeshed in the teeth of gear 7~, such that
gear 7~ can move freely. This permits the assembly of
attachments to be removed from the housing.
The indexing mechanism and the ejector
mechanism illustrated in the drawings are modified
versions of typical corresponding mechanisms which have
been widely used in single needle attachers. With regard
to the present invention, the important aspect is that
the mechanism provides for simultaneous ejection and
indexing of specially configured attachments with dual
T-bars 3~, ~0.
The present invention relates to an assembly of
attachments which includes attachments with T-bars at
either end. The attachments are situated in sub-
stantially parallel, spaced relation between first and second
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substantially parallel connecting bars.
The attacher of the present invention includes
a recess having spaced sections adapted to receive the
connecting bars and a pair of oppositely oriented, paral-
lel needles extending from the front thereof. Simultane-
ously displaceable ejector rods serve to move the respec-
tive T-bar ends through the needles to dispense an
attachment. Means are provided for indexing the assembly
throu~h the housing as each attachment is dispensed. The
attachments are automatically severed from the connecting
bars as they are dispensed.
While only a limited number of preferred embod-
iments of the present invention have been disclosed for
purposes of illustration, it is obvious that many varia-
tions and modifications could be made thereto. It is
intended to cover all of these variations and modifica-
tions would fall within the scope of the present inven-
tion as set forth in the following claims:
- /b
B
