Reinforcement of hang tags
View Patent ↗Hang tags are provided for mounting on merchandise in a retail setting. The hang tags include a card with a plurality of edges, with a region of reinforcing material located at or adjacent to the top edge of the card, surrounding an aperture through which a fastener is received. The region defines the shape of a pair of intersecting elongated shapes such as ovals or ellipses, thereby positioning the reinforcing material in the locations where it is most needed to prevent theft-based removal of the tag from the merchandise, while omitting reinforcing material from the locations where it is not needed. Also provided is an attachment device, such as an applicator gun, for substantially simultaneously applying the reinforcing material to the tag and fastening the tag to a piece of merchandise.
1. A merchandise hang tag comprising:
a card having a plurality of edges, including a top edge;
a region of reinforcing material disposed on an exterior surface of the card and having RFID properties and located at or adjacent to the top edge, wherein
the region defines the shape of a pair of substantially identical elongated shapes which intersect at an area,
each of said elongated shapes has a major axis, with the respective major axes of the elongated shapes being substantially perpendicular to each other, and
one major axis is generally vertically oriented with respect to the top edge of the card; and
a fastener-receiving aperture positioned within the area where the elongated shapes intersect, the aperture being positioned at a location spaced away from the top edge by a distance greater than midway along the major axis that is generally vertically oriented wherein proportionally more reinforcing material is disposed on the card in a first direction leading from the aperture towards the top edge of the card than is disposed on the card in a second direction leading from the aperture towards any one of the remaining plurality of edges of the card.
2. The merchandise hang tag of claim 1 , the wherein the region of reinforcing material occupies less than a total area of the card, and
wherein the region of reinforcing material contains a RFID-reactive strip and the reinforcing material has RFID properties.
3. The merchandise hang tag of claim 1 , wherein the region defines the shape of a pair of substantially identical, intersecting elongated shapes as ovals.
4. The merchandise hang tag of claim 1 , wherein the region defines the shape of a pair of intersecting ellipses.
5. The merchandise hang tag of claim 1 , wherein the region defines the shape of a pair of substantially identical, intersecting ellipses.
6. The merchandise hang tag of claim 1 , wherein the aperture is positioned farther from the top edge of the card than the intersection of the respective major axes is positioned from the top edge of the card.
7. The merchandise hang tag of claim 1 , wherein the area in which the elongated shapes intersect comprises a multi-layered area.
8. An attachment device for attaching a reinforced hang tag having RFID properties to a piece of merchandise, comprising:
a housing having a handle configured to be gripped by a hand;
a pin extending from the housing;
a supply of fasteners associated with the pin;
a supply of reinforcing material associated with the pin wherein the reinforcing material has RFID properties;
an actuator configured to be operated to substantially simultaneously deploy a fastener and a portion of the reinforcing material to an exterior surface of a card having at least one of barcode or product information to form the reinforced hang tag having RFID properties; and
wherein the supply of reinforcing material is a plurality of individual decals or stickers positioned on a roll of low-adhesion release paper.
9. A method of attaching a reinforced hang tag having RFID properties to a piece of merchandise using an attachment device having a pin and an actuator, comprising:
positioning a card having at least one of barcode or product information adjacent to a piece of merchandise;
pressing the pin of the attachment device through the card and/or the piece of merchandise; and
operating the actuator of the attachment device, thereby substantially simultaneously deploying a fastener and a reinforcing material having RFID properties to an exterior surface of the card to form the reinforced hang tag having RFID properties.
10. An attachment device for attaching a hang tag to a piece of merchandise, comprising:
a card having a plurality of edges, including a top edge;
a region of reinforcing material disposed on an exterior surface of the card and located at or adjacent to the top edge, wherein
the region defines the shape of a pair of substantially identical elongated shapes which intersect at an area and the reinforcing material has RFID properties;
a fastener-receiving aperture positioned within the area where the elongated shapes intersect, wherein proportionally more reinforcing material is disposed on the card in a first direction leading from the aperture towards the top edge of the card than is disposed on the card in a second direction leading from the aperture towards any one of the remaining plurality of edges of the card;
each of the elongated shapes when measured from a center point the aperture to one of the plurality of edges in the first direction, provides reinforcing material least twice that of reinforcing material in a direction transverse to the first direction, and
each of the elongated shapes when measured from a center point of the aperture to one of the plurality of edges perpendicular to the first direction, provides reinforcing material at least one and a half times that of reinforcing material in the direction transverse to the first direction, and
an edge of the elongated shape does not extend to the edge of the card.
11. The attachment device for attaching a hang tag to a piece of merchandise of claim 10 , wherein the region of reinforcing material defines the shape of a first elongated shape member overlying a second elongated shape member to provide a multi-layered region.
12. The attachment device hang tag of claim 10 wherein the force required to rip through the reinforcing material is significantly more than 40 Newtons.
13. The attachment device of claim 10 , wherein a major axis of one of the elongated shapes is substantially perpendicular to the top edge, and a major axis of the other elongated shapes is substantially parallel to the top edge.
14. The merchandise hang tag of claim 10 , wherein the region defines the shape of a pair of wherein each of said ellipses has a major axis, being the longest diameter of the ellipse, and the respective major axes of the ellipses are substantially perpendicular to each other.
15. The merchandise hang tag of claim 14 , wherein each of said ellipses has a minor axis, being the shortest diameter of the ellipse, and the minor axis of one of the ellipses is aligned with the major axis of the other ellipse.
16. The merchandise hang tag of claim 14 , wherein the major axis of one of the ellipses is substantially perpendicular to the top edge, and the major axis of the other ellipse is substantially parallel to the top edge.