Assembly of attachments and method of manipulating the same

[57] ABSTRACT

A plurality of attachments, each designed for insertion through an object and comprising enlarged parts connected by a narrow elongated section, are formed into an easily handled assembly by being secured together not only at those ends bearing the part adapted to be inserted through said object but also at the other ends thereof, thereby to prevent the individual attachments from tangling or snarling while they remain a part of the assembly. Preferably the latter securement is of a type more readily frangible in torsion than in tension, thereby to facilitate the separation of a given attachment from the assembly after that attachment has been operatively associated with said object while reliably retaining the attachments secured to one another in the assembly under standby conditions.

Claims, 13 Drawing Figures

PATENTED MY 22IWS

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FIG. 3

PATENTED ί'ΛΥ 2 2 1973

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PATENTED^ 221973

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ASSEMBLY OF ATTACHMENTS AND METHOD OF MANIPULATING THE SAME

This invention relates to attachments of a type designed to be inserted through an object, usually with a view to securing two objects together and quite widely used to secure tags or labels to garments or the like, and to ways of using them. In particular it relates to an assembly of such attachments which greatly facilitates the application of such attachments to the objects with which they are to be associated.

One form of attachment of the type in question is shown in Bone U.S. Pat. No. 3,444,597 of May 20, 1969 entitled “Filament Type Attachment Device and Manufacture of Same,” and Kirk U.S. Pat. No. 3,380,122 of Apr. 30, 1968 entitled “Mold for Making an Attachment Device,” the latter disclosing the mold apparatus by which assemblies of a plurality of such attachments can readily be formed. Both of these patents are owned by the assignee of this application. Such attachments comprise an object-penetrating part at one end thereof, an elongated filament-like section extending therefrom, and a part at the other end of said filament-like section which is enlarged relative to the thickness or diameter of said section. The objectpenetrating part is designed to be passed through a hole in the object with which it is to be associated, that part then remaining on the far side of said object, the elongated section passing through the hole, and the enlarged part remaining on the near side of the object. The object-penetrating part is capable of passing endwise through said hole, but after it has passed through it will assume its normal position substantially perpendicular to the elongated section and thereby prevent the attachment from escaping in one direction from the object in question. Escapement of the attachment in the other direction is prevented by the enlarged portion.

As is disclosed in the cited patents, attachments of the type in question are generally provided in the form of an assembly or “clip” of a plurality of such attachments — a typical clip includes 20 attachments. An attaching device or “gun” such as is disclosed in Bone U.S. Pat. No. 3,103,666 of Sept. 16, 1963 entitled “Tag Attaching Apparatus” and owned by the assignee of this application is employed to form the hole through the object with which the attachment is to be associated, sever a single attachment from the assembly of attachments, and force its object-penetrating part through the hole which it forms in the object in question and to the far side of that object.

Attachments of the type in question used in conjunction with attaching devices such as those shown in the Bone ’666 patent have become extremely widely used in industry, not only for the attachment of tags and labels to articles to be sold on the retail market, where the attachments are particularly effective in preventing unscrupulous shoppers from switching tags — removing a tag from a low-priced article, attaching it to a high-priced article, and then paying only the lower price for the article — but also for securing any group of objects to one another, such as securing together a pair of shoes for the right and left feet respectively. The attachments in question, particularly when used in connection with attaching devices of the type described, permit the attachments to be operatively applied at an extremely rapid rate even by relatively unskilled personnel, thus greating reducing the costs of tagging, labeling, and securing objects to one another in general. Indeed, in many commercial areas attachments of the type in question have virtually supplanted all other attaching methods.

There is, however, a particular problem which has been presented by assemblies of attachments as heretofore very widely used. The individual elongated attachments are secured to one another only at one end, adjacent the object-penetrating parts. Moreover, in order for the attachments to perform their desired function the elongated connecting sections must be at least somewhat flexible. As a result there is a marked tendency for the attachments in a given clip or assembly to become tangled, for the elongated connecting sections of some of the attachments to become wrapped wholly or partially around similar sections of other attachments in a given clip, or in adjacent clips when a number of clips are packed together. It is essential that when a clip is to be used it be readily separable from the mass of other clips with which it is packaged, and that when an attachment is to be separated from the clip it not be tangled with any of the attachments remaining in that clip. It has, of course, been possible manually to untangle the attachments, and that is precisely what the users of the millions of these attachments which have been applied in the past have done, but the untangling process is troublesome and timeconsuming. As has been indicated, attachments of the type under discussion have been very widely used despite this drawback, but the inconvenience involved in the untangling operation has been both a source of aggravation to the individual operators and, because the untangling operation involves time, a source of expense to the businesses involved.

It is the prime object of the present invention to devise an attachment assembly construction which will eliminate the tangling problem.

It is another object of the present invention to devise a construction for a clip or assembly of attachments which will reliably maintain the attachments in proper orientation relative to one another while they remain a part of the clip, resisting relatively strong forces tending to move the attachments from their desired relative positions, while readily permitting the individual attachment operative use of which is desired at a given moment to be completely separated from the clip without having to exert any great force thereon.

It is yet another object of the present invention to secure the individual attachments of a clip together in such a way that they can be pulled apart only with great difficulty but can be twisted apart with relative ease.

It is yet another object of the present invention to devise an attachment clip in which the individual attachments are not only secured together adjacent their object-penetrating parts in the manner taught by the prior art, but are also secured together in a readily frangible manner adjacent their other ends, and preferably at their enlarged parts.

It is yet another object of the present invention to so manipulate a clip of attached-together attachments as to separate the attachment to be used from the clip at its object-penetrating part and forcing that penetrating part through the object with which the attachment is to be associated, as in the prior art, and then so manipulating the clip as to twist the clip relative to the partially

3,733,657 separated attachment, thereby to effect complete separation of that attachment from the clip.

Basically, what is done in order to accomplish these ends is to provide means for securing the attachments together not only adjacent their object-penetrating parts, as in the prior art, but also adjacent the enlarged parts thereof, at the opposite ends of the elongated sections from the object-penetrating parts, the means for securing the attachments together adjacent the enlarged parts thereof being sufficiently strong to maintain the attachments in proper orientation at their enlarged-part ends under normal conditions of storage and manipulation, but being readily frangible so that a given attachment, when it is to be used for its designed purpose, can be separated from the clip at that enlarged-part end while leaving the other attachments well secured to one another.

While the attachments remain secured together at their object-penetrating ends and at their enlarged-part ends they tend to remain substantially parallel to one another. However, when a particular attachment has been separated from the clip at its object-penetrating end it is then free to be moved relative to the other attachments remaining in the clip, and in particular it may be rotated or swung relative to those other attachments. Indeed, the normal operations involved in manipulating a given attachment, as in securing a tag to a garment or otherwise securing two objects together, readily lends itself to the positive and purposeful rotation of the attachment in use relative to the clip. Accordingly, it has been found very advantageous to secure the attachments to one another at their enlargedpart ends by means which resists tension forces relatively strongly but resists torsion forces relatively weakly. A thin and short filamentary connection has this characteristic. So does a layer of relatively weak adhesive. With such a connection between the attachments adjacent the enlarged-part ends the attachments normally are very reliably maintained in position as part of the clip, positively preventing tangling, but each attachment as it is individually used may readily be separated from the clip without requiring any separate action on the part of the operator other than a continuous movement which is part of a normal attaching operation in any event.

The enlarged parts of the attachments are usually spaced from one another by a distance such as to militate against the attainment of such a tension-resistant and torsion-yielding characteristic. Accordingly, special constructions have been devised for providing such a tension-resisting and torsion-sensitive connection in the form of a short thin filament despite the normal appreciable spacing between the enlarged parts of the attachments on the clip. These constructions may be formed very readily, at the same time, and as part of the same process as is involved in the formation of the attachments of the prior art, to wit, a molding operation often combined with a stretching operation. Indeed, according to certain embodiments here disclosed the only modification involved in making attachment clips according to the present invention as compared to making them in accordance with the prior art is in the shaping of the cavities in the molds which are used in any event. Alternatively, clips may be made in the fashion of the prior art and the enlarged parts of the clips can then be moved into engagement with one another and there secured by means of an appropriate relatively weak adhesive.

To the accomplishment of the above, and to such other objects as may hereinafter appear, the present in5 vention relates to the construction and manipulation of an assembly or clip of a plurality of the attachedtogether attachments, as defined in the appended claims and as described in this specification, taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which, 10 FIG. 1 is a three-quarter semi-schematic view showing a clip of attachments constructed in accordance with the present invention being used in conjunction with an attaching device of the type shown in the Bone ’66 patent, with the needle of that attaching device 15 about to penetrate an object, all of the illustrated attachments still being completely secured to one another;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but showing the needle of the attaching device having penetrated the object 20 and the attaching device actuated so as to sever the object-penetrating part of the leading attachment from the clip and move it through the needle and the hole in the object formed by the needle to the far side of said object;

FIG. 3 shows the attaching device having been withdrawn from the object and moved away therefrom, the leading attachment now being associated with that object and rotating with respect to the other attachments still remaining on the clip;

³⁰ FIG. 4 illustrates the condition of the parts just after the condition shown in FIG. 3, with the leading attachment having been twisted off from the clip while the remainder of the clip moves away with the attaching device;

³⁵ FIG. 5 is a fragmentary three-quarter perspective view, on an enlarged scale, of a portion of a clip of attachments in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6 is an end view, on a further enlarged scale, of the attachments of FIG. 5, the view being taken from ⁴⁰ the left-hand end of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view, on a still further enlarged scale, taken along the line 7—7 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7 but illustrating a modification of the structure thereof;

⁴⁵ FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 5 but showing a modi- fication thereof;

FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 5 but showing a different arrangement for securing together the enlarged parts of the attachments;

FIG. 11 is a front elevational view, on a further enlarged scale, of the enlarged-part ends of the attachments of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a view similar to FIG. 5 but showing an alternative embodiment in which the enlarged attachment parts are secured together by adhesive; and

FIG. 13 is a front elevational view of the enlargedpart ends of the attachments of FIG. 12.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 5-8 the attachments themselves are, for purposes of illustration, shown as ^u essentially the same as those disclosed in the Bone ’597 patent. Each attachment comprises a bar-like objectpenetrating part 2 at one end, an enlarged part 4 at the other end, and an elongated filament-like section 6 ₆₅ connecting the parts 2 and 4. Each of the objectpenetrating parts 2 is connected to a rod 8 by means of a narrow neck 10. As is made clear in the Bone ’666 patent, and as is shown in FIGS. 1-4, the attaching gun

3,733,657 penetrating parts 2 of the attachments are secured together, the attachments must remain essentially parallel to one another, and hence the dislocative forces to which they are subjected will primarily be in tension, 5 either longitudinal or shear (shear is here considered as analogous to tension). However, when the objectpenetrating part 2 of the leading attachment has been severed from its neck 10, the clip can then be twisted or rotated with respect to that leading attachment, as 10 is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. Since rotation of the clip relative to the leading attachment can take place simply as a part of the continuous movement of the attaching device away from the object 0 as a part of the attaching operation, if the securing means 22 is readily suscepti15 ble to breaking under torsional forces the leading attachment may be readily separated from the clip as a part of the attaching procedure.

One securing structure which has this characteristic is a thin short filament formed of material sufficiently 20 tough to withstand tension or such bending as it may be subjected to. By reason of the shortness of that filament, however, it can be broken relatively readily when twisted. The normal spacing between attachments in a clip, usually about 0.04 inch, is far too large to produce 25 a connecting mans having that characteristic. Accordingly, and as may best be seen from FIGS. 6 and 7, when the clip is molded or otherwise formed the enlarged parts 4, on their facing surfaces 24 separated from one another by the distance a which may, as indi³⁰ cated, be 0.04 inch, are provided with opposing protrusions 26 the ends of which are separated from one another by the small distance b which may, for example, be 0.005 inch, and a thin neck or filament 28 is provided between those protrusions 26, which filament 28, ³⁵ in one embodiment, may have a diameter of 0.005 inch as well as a length of 0.005 inch. (These values are given with respect to the attachments formed of molded nylon, where the elongated sections have a diameter of about 0.020 inch. It will be appreciated that ⁴θ they are by way of example only, and that different dimensions and shapes will be applicable depending in part on the materials used and in part upon the applications involved and the forces to which the individual attachments are expected to be subjected during use.) ⁴⁵ The protrusions 26 and filamentary neck 28 may be, and preferably are, integrally formed with the other portions of the attachment clip in the course of a single molding operation, it being necessary only to provide cavities in the mold for the protrusions 26 and neck 28 5° in addition to the cavities already provided for the other portions of the clip.

The embodiment of FIG. 8 is similar to that of FIG. 7 except that the protrusions 26' are formed only at the lower half of the enlarged parts 4 and not at the upper half thereof. This type of construction can readily be utilized where the cavities in the mold separate along the axis of the neck 28, by providing cavities for the protrusions 26' and neck 28 only in the lower mold and ₆₀ not in the upper mold.

FIG. 9 discloses an embodiment similar to that of FIG. 5 except that the enlarged parts 4' for the embodiment of FIG. 9 are not paddle-shaped, as in FIG. 5, but instead are bar-shaped, comparable to the enlarged ₆₅ parts 2. However, the bars 4' constituting the objectpenetrating parts in FIG. 9 are secured to one another by securing means 22 comprising protrusions 26 and necks 28 in fully the same manner as in FIG. 5.

generally designated 12 is provided with an objectpenetrating needle 14 having a slot 16 along one side thereof communicating with a slot 16' on the side of the gun proper. The clip is adapted to be inserted into the gun 12 so that the rod 8 passes through the gun along with the object-penetrating parts 2, while the elongated section 6 passes through a slot 18 formed in the side of the gun, until the object-penetrating part 2 of a given attachment is brought in line with the slotted needle 14. Thereafter, when the handle 20 of the attaching device is squeezed, a plunger engages the end of the object-penetrating part 2 of the leading attachment, causes it to move relative to the neck 10 so as to break the latter, and then pushes the object-penetrating part 2 out through the needle 14, the elongated section 6 connected thereto moving along the slots 16' and 16. Thus in order to associate a given attachment with one or more objects, generally designated 0, the operator, after he has inserted a clip of attachments into the attachment device 12, pushes the needle 14 through the object 0, that needle forming a hole in that object in the event that no hole exists there already. Then actuation of the handle 20 separates the object-penetrating part of the leading attachment from the remainder of the clip and pushes that part through the needle 14 and out the tip of the needle, with attachment part 2 then assuming a position substantially at right angles to the surface of the object 0, thus preventing the attachment from disengaging itself from the object 0 when the attaching gun 12 is withdrawn, pulling its needle 14 out from the object 0. This is disclosed in FIGS. 1 and 2.

In the prior art that was the end of the attaching operation. Since the attachments in the clips of the prior art were secured to one another only adjacent the objectpenetrating parts 2, this left the leading attachment presumably completely separated from the clip. However, because the elongated section 6 of that leading attachment might be tangled with the attachments remaining in the clip, the operator had to remain aware of this possibility and to be ready to manually disentangle the leading attachment if that condition existed.

In accordance with the present invention, the individual attachments in the clip are secured together not only adjacent their object-penetrating parts 2, as by the neck 10 and rod 8, but also by frangible securing means generally designated 22 secured between the individual attachments adjacent the enlarged parts 4 thereof. The securing means 22 thus holds the attachments in proper orientation while they remain in the clip, and after the leading attachment has been severed from the clip at its penetrating part end and operatively associated with the object 0, the securing means 22 is then broken in any suitable manner in order to permit attachments remaining in the clip to be moved away from the leading attachment now operatively associated with the object 0.

It is most desirable that the leading attachment by very readily severable from the clip after it has been associated with the object 0. However, the attaching means 22 must be sufficiently strong to withstand dislocative forces to which the attachment may be subjected while it still should remain a part of the clip. Thus the securing means 22 must be both weak and strong, and that presents a problem.

That problem has been solved, in accordance with specific aspects of the present invention, by differentiating between tension and torsion. While the object3,733,657

In the embodiment of FIGS. 10 and 11 the enlarged parts 4 of the attachments, instead of being connected to one another at their facing surfaces 24, and connected to one another at their lower edges by securing means 22 connected between the individual enlarged parts 4 and a rod 30. This arrangement is analogous to that employed for securing together the objectpenetrating parts 2, except that the securing means 22 for the enlarged parts 4 is more readily frangible than the necks 10 for the object-penetrating parts 2. The necks 10 are adapted to be severed by the operation of the attaching device 12, whereas the securing means 22 are adapted to be manually severed. Hence the former may be significantly stronger than the latter. As may best be seen in FIG. 11, it is preferred that the securing means 22 in the embodiment of FIG. 10 also be more sensitive to torsion than to tension (or shear), and consequently such securing means 22 comprises, extending up from the rod 30, protrusions 26α and short thin necks 28α which may, like the necks 28, have a length and a diameter of approximately 0.005 inch.

While in the illustrated embodiments the securing means 22 engage and directly connect the enlarged parts 4 themselves, it will be appreciated that such a relationship is not essential provided that the securing means are located sufficiently remote from the securing means at the other end of the attachments — the rod 8 and necks 10 — to maintain the attachments against relative rotation. For example, the securing means 22 could be located between the elongated sections 6 near the enlarged parts 4, particularly if, as is often the case, those elongated sections are thickened in that area.

FIGS. 12 and 13 illustrate yet another embodiment in which the clip is formed as in the prior art with the enlarged parts 4 initially unconnected to one another, but in a separate step the facing surfaces 24 of those enlarged parts 4 are coated with a layer 32 of relatively weak adhesive, after which the parts 4 are moved into engagement with one another, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13. That adhesive layer relatively strongly resists tension, but will be more yieldable to torsion, thus maintaining the attachments in a non-tangled condition during normal manipulation of the clip itself while still enabling the leading attachment to have its enlarged part 4 readily easily separated from the clip after that attachment has been operatively associated with an object.

As has been indicated, the primary use for an attachment of this type is to secure two objects together — e.g., a tag to a garment or right and left foot shoes to one another — but it can also be used in and of itself to be secured to a single object, as a type of identification or by having appropriate data imprinted on its enlarged part 4, thereby itself to serve as a label or tag. Consequently in FIGS. 1-4 the attachments have been shown in association with only a single object 0, but it will be understood that the attachment can be, and usually is, used in conjunction with more than one such objects. Attachments of the type under discussion are commercially provided with elongated sections 6 of many different lengths, some rather short and some quite long. The particular length of the elongated section 6 here disclosed is by way of example only. Likewise the shapes and sizes of the penetrating parts 2 and enlarged parts 4 may all be relatively widely varied.

By means of the construction of the present invention clips of attachments may be formed with the same facility and relative inexpensiveness as is the case with comparable attachments now on the market, yet the clips thus formed will have the very significant advantage, over those previously available, that tangling of the individual attachments is virtually completely eliminated, and, moreover, in its preferred form this has been accomplished by a structure specifically designed to cooperate with the normal mode of manipulation of the attachments in the process of attaching them to objects so that an attachment when once operatively associated with an object can be completely separated from the clip without requiring any special action on the part of the operator other than movements normally associated with the attaching operation in any event. Indeed, the existence of the securing means 22 will have the effect of checking whether the leading attachment has been properly secured to the object 0 — if it has not, there will not be sufficient resistance to movement on the part of that attachment, the securing means 22 will not break, and the leading attachment will be pulled away from the object 0 along with the attaching gun 12 and the remainder of the clip, thus positively apprising the operator of an ineffective attaching attempt.

In certain embodiments the securing means 22 could be made highly strain-resistant, by increasing its length, thickness and/or using stronger material, so that the individual attachments may be associated with different objects 0 respectively, the strong securing means 22 thus enabling the still-secured-together attachments to assemble those objects 0 into a batch, the individual objects 0 thereafter being individually separable from that batch when desired by breaking the corresponding securing means 22, as by cutting it with a knife or scissors.

While but a limited number of embodiments of the present invention have been here specifically disclosed, it will be apparent that many variations may be made thereunder, all within the scope of the instant invention as defined in the following claims.