Manufacturing container or tube from paper; or other manufacturi – Assembling or disassembling of distinct members – Of tag or label to tether or to article
Reexamination Certificate
2002-07-08
2004-02-10
Sipos, John (Department: 3721)
Manufacturing container or tube from paper; or other manufacturi
Assembling or disassembling of distinct members
Of tag or label to tether or to article
C227S004000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06689039
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to apparatus for automatically attaching preprinted tags of various types to articles and more particularly to an improved apparatus for automatically attaching tags, designed for use with a tag dispensing mechanism such as a tag printer, which includes a simplified tag feed mechanism.
Tags of various types are utilized to label large quantities of many different types of articles, such as clothing. One popular means of attaching tags to articles is by using plastic fasteners. Such fasteners are provided with a T-bar at one end. The T-bar is connected to an enlarged paddle, located at the other end of the fastener, by a thin, flexible filament. The filament is stretched during the fabrication process to give it a high tensile strength.
To attach the tag to an article, a device with a gun-like housing having a protruding hollow slotted metal needle is utilized. The needle is inserted through a pre-punched opening in the tag and penetrates the article to be tagged. The T-bar end of the fastener is then ejected through the needle, such that the T-bar is situated on one side of the tag and article, with the enlarged paddle end on the other side, anchoring the tag to the article.
Hand held tag attaching devices of this type are used widely and commercially available from a number of suppliers. Those devices may be manually operated or power driven, either electrically or pneumatically. Table mounted versions are also commonly utilized, sometimes in conjunction with automatic tag feeding mechanisms which feed separated preprinted tags from a stack to the fastener dispensing device. Circuitry for controlling the tag feed and fastener dispensing operations is provided. See, for example U.S. Pat. No. 3,896,713 entitled “Top-Feeding Automatic Tag-Attaching Machine” issued to Mato on Jul. 29, 1975; U.S. Pat. No. 4,235,161 entitled “Automatic Tag Attaching Apparatus” issued to Kunreuther on Nov. 25, 1980; U.S. Pat. No. 4,718,158 entitled “Automatic Tagging Apparatus and Method Therefor” issued to Charles Block on Jan. 12, 1988; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,781,318 entitled “Tagging Apparatus” issued to Ronald Meyers on Nov. 1, 1988.
Most automatic tagging mechanisms available currently, such as the first three patents mentioned in the previous paragraph, employ a tag feed system which utilizes a pneumatically driven reciprocating slide mechanism. The slide moves preprinted tags, one at a time, from a stack in a hopper to a position where the pre-punched opening in the tag is aligned with the needle. In the Mato and Block mechanisms, the device and hence the needle is advanced toward the tag to insert the needle through the tag opening. In the Kunreuther machine, the attacher is fixed and tag is placed over the needle by moving the slide towards the needle after the tag is aligned.
Another automatic tagging mechanism utilizes a fixed tag attaching device like that of Kunreuther, but employs a moveable suction arm to engage the tag and place it on the needle. The arm carries a suction cup connected to a vacuum. The arm engages a tag in the hopper and transports the tag to the attacher. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,781,318 mentioned above. In the Meyers' apparatus, the vacuum arm is moved thorough a sinuous path that ends in a path section which is parallel to needle of the tag attaching device in order to place the tag over the needle.
The above mentioned automatic tag feed systems require precise adjustment of the vertical and horizontal position of the tag hopper relative to the tag feed means. This is because the opening in the tag is relatively small and the tag must be positioned such that the tag opening aligns exactly with the needle. Because of this, the set up of the machine is time consuming. Each time different size tags are used, readjustment of the hopper position is necessary, requiring considerable machine down time.
In the apparatus with vacuum-type transport means, vacuum as well as electrical power are needed. Further, in a hostile environment, it has been found that tag feeders of this type do not always operate reliably.
An improved vacuum feed mechanism for an automatic tag attaching apparatus is described in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/073,089, filed Feb. 12, 2002, entitled “Improved Automatic Tag Attaching Apparatus”. That tag feed mechanism has a vacuum arm that moves an engaged tag through a simplified path of travel onto a stationary tag support platform. The attacher with its needle is then advanced toward the tag support platform to insert the needle through the tag opening. However, tag hopper positioning is still critical so the hopper is designed to be independently position adjustable in horizontal and vertical directions. A laser light is used to facilitate positioning of the hopper such that the tag is placed on the tag support platform with the opening in alignment with the needle.
Only pre-printed, separated tags can be utilized in systems which feed tags from a stack. In those systems, it is not possible to employ a conventional thermal transfer printer, designed to print tags as needed.
Instead of feeding separate preprinted tags from a stack, some automatic tagging mechanisms are capable of feeding end-to-end connected preprinted tags from a supply roll. However, those machines have the drawback of requiring an automatic cutter or knife to cut the attached tag from the next tag in sequence, before the tagged article can be removed from the machine.
Although using a knife or cutter with sharp blades results in a clean, straight cut, the blades must be continually sharpened. Further, such cutting mechanisms are complicated and may be hazardous to the operator.
Co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/059,066, filed Jan. 30, 2002, entitled “Hangtags For Use In An Automatic Attaching Apparatus” discloses an invention that eliminates the necessity of using an automatic cutter in an automatic tag attaching system where the hangtags are connected end-to-end and supplied on a continuous roll. That system overcomes the positioning problems related to feeding tags from a stack. No vacuum or slide tag transfer mechanisms are required. This is accomplished through the use of hangtags that are connected together in a unique way which permits them to be manually separated.
In that system, the hangtags are removed from the supply roll in a continuous strip. The hangtags are connected end-to-end by connecting elements. The lead hangtag is guided into alignment with the attacher needle and attached to the article by the fastener. The next tag in sequence is held while the attached hangtag is separated by simply pulling the tagged article away from the apparatus. In one embodiment, some of the connecting elements between the attached hangtag and the held hangtag are automatically severed, prior to removal of the attached hangtag, making remnoval of the attached hangtag easier. This hangtag connection system permits the hangtags to be used with a conventional thermal transfer printer that prints blank tags as required, without a cutter. The hangtag can be used with or without an automatic attaching device.
The connecting elements disclosed in that patent application are formed so that they can be severed simultaneously by a pull force transferred through the anchored fastener. That force is directed perpendicular to the hangtag ends. By making the portion of the hangtag surrounding the pre-punched fastener receiving opening stronger than the force necessary to simultaneously sever the connecting elements, the hangtag attached to the article by the fastener can be manually separated from the next hangtag by simply removing the article from the tag attaching apparatus by pulling in a direction perpendicular to the hangtag end. This permits the entire tag printing and attaching processes to be fully automated, utilizing hangtags supplied on a continuous roll, without the necessity of an automatic knife or cutter.
While the system described in application Ser. No. 10/059,066 is a great improvement over systems which feed tags from a
Durand Paul
Epstein Robert L.
James Harold
James & Franklin LLP
Sipos John
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