Tag attachment member

Abstract

The present invention provides a tag attachment member in which a male part and a female part are engaged to keep a loop-formed material holding a tag in a loop shape, and which prevents defects caused by product damage caused by contact with the male part. Provided is a tag attachment member (1) in which a female part (2) having an insertion hole (3) with an engaging part (4) formed therearound is connected to one end of a linear loop-formed material (1a), while a male part (7) having an engaging part (7c) to engage with the engaging part (4) is connected to the other end of the linear loop-formed material (1a), such that inserting the male part (7) into the insertion hole (3) causes the engaging part (4) and the engaging part (7c) to engage each other and keep the loop-formed material (1a), in which a tag (T) is held, in a loop shape, wherein the engagement of the engaging part (4) and the engaging part (7c) causes the entirety of the male part (7) to be accommodated inside the female part (2).

Description

Tag attachment material

[0001] The present invention relates to a tag attachment member, and more particularly to a tag attachment member for attaching a tag indicating the price, quality, etc. of a product to the product.

[0002] Conventionally, various types of tag attachment members have been used to attach tags indicating the price and quality of products to products (see Patent Document 1). In the tag attachment member (fastener member) shown in Figures 12 and 13 of Patent Document 1, a linear filament has a receiving portion that functions as a female portion connected to one end, and an insertion portion that functions as a male portion connected to the other end. The insertion portion is inserted into an insertion hole formed in the receiving portion, thereby maintaining the filament in a loop shape. The tag is attached to the product by looping the filament holding the tag and attaching the tag attachment member to the product.

[0003] In this type of tag attachment device, the tip of the insertion part is inserted into the insertion hole of the receiving part and locked, but the rear end of the insertion part protrudes from the receiving part. The insertion part has a larger diameter than the filament part. Therefore, there is a risk that the part of the insertion part (male part) protruding from the receiving part (female part) may come into contact with the product, causing damage to the product.

[0004] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2013-109121

[0005] Therefore, in tag attachment devices in which the male and female parts are engaged to form a looped filament for attachment to merchandise, there is room for improvement in order to eliminate the problem of damage to merchandise caused by the male part protruding from the female part, especially for tag attachment devices attached to merchandise made of easily snagged fibers or perishable goods that are easily damaged.

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, the tag attachment member of the present invention comprises a linear loop forming material, a female part connected to one end of the loop forming material, and a male part connected to the other end of the loop forming material, wherein the female part has an insertion hole in which a locking part is formed, and the male part has an engagement part that engages with the locking part, and when the male part is inserted into the insertion hole, the locking part and the engagement part engage, maintaining the loop forming material holding the tag in a loop shape, and is characterized in that when the locking part and the engagement part engage, the entire male part is contained inside the female part.

[0007] According to the present invention, when the locking portion and the engaging portion engage, the loop-shaped member holding the tag is maintained in a loop shape and the tag attachment member is attached to the product, the entire male portion is housed inside the female portion. That is, the entire male portion does not protrude outside the female portion. Therefore, the male portion, which has a larger diameter than the loop-shaped member, is prevented from coming into contact with the product, effectively preventing damage to the product due to contact with the male portion.

[0008] FIG. 1 is a front view illustrating an assembly of an embodiment of a tag attachment member. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a view taken along the line B in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a view taken along the line C in FIG. 3. FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing an enlarged view of the male part in FIG. 3. FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing, in a side view, the state in which the male part of the tag attachment member is inserted into the insertion hole formed in the female part. FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing, in a side view, the state in which the tag attachment member is in use. FIG. 8 is a view taken along the line D in FIG. 7. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line E-E in FIG. 8. FIG. 10 is an explanatory view showing the range of movement of the loop-forming material in FIG. 8. FIG. 11 is an explanatory view showing, in a front view, a modified female part.

[0009] The tag-mounting member of the present invention will be described below based on the embodiment shown in the drawings.

[0010] 1 to 5, an embodiment of the tag attachment member 1 comprises a linear loop-forming material 1a, a female part 2 connected to one end of the loop-forming material 1a, and a male part 7 connected to the other end of the loop-forming material 1a. The X, Y, and Z arrows in the figures indicate the length, width, and thickness directions of the tag attachment member 1, respectively, which are perpendicular to one another.

[0011] 1, 3, and 4 show an assembly in which a plurality of tag attachment members 1 are arranged in parallel at intervals in the Y direction (width direction) between a first runner member 6 and a second runner member 8 and connected to the first runner member 6 and the second runner member 8. More specifically, the female portion 2 of each tag attachment member 1 is connected to the first runner member 6 via a constricted release connecting portion 6a, and the male portion 7 of each tag attachment member 1 is connected to the second runner member 8 via a constricted release connecting portion 8a. The loop-forming material 1a of each tag attachment member 1 extends in the X direction (longitudinal direction). The first runner member 6 and the second runner member 8 extend parallel to each other in the Y direction. The tag attachment members 1, first runner member 6, release connecting portion 6a, second runner member 8, and release connecting portion 8a are integrally molded.

[0012] The loop-forming member 1a in this embodiment is made of nylon that has been stretched and toughened. Twisted yarn or the like can also be used as the loop-forming member 1a. The material from which the tag-attaching member 1 (loop-forming member 1a) is made is not limited to the various resins that have been conventionally used, but recycled resins (such as recycled polypropylene), biomass materials, biodegradable materials, and the like can also be used.

[0013] When using the tag attachment member 1, each runner member 6, 8 is set in a known attachment tool, and the cutter of the attachment tool cuts off each of the detachable connecting portions 6a, 8a. As a result, each tag attachment member 1 is used as a single unit separated from its corresponding runner member 6, 8. When using the tag attachment member 1, the loop-forming material 1a holding the tag T becomes looped, and the tag attachment member 1 is attached to a product.

[0014] The loop-forming member 1a extends between the female part 2 and the male part 7 and is a flexible column with a substantially constant outer diameter d, which is, for example, 0.3 mm to 1.0 mm. The loop-forming member 1a has a smaller diameter than the female part 2 and the male part 7.

[0015] The female part 2 has an insertion hole 3 in which a locking part 4 is formed. In this embodiment, a female part 2 having a rectangular parallelepiped outer shape is used, and a plate-shaped connecting reinforcement part 2a is protruding from one side surface of the female part 2 in the X direction. The outer shape of the female part 2 is not limited to a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and various shapes such as a cube or a cylinder can be used, but it is preferable that there are no sharp corners. In this embodiment, all corners of the rectangular parallelepiped female part 2 are arc-shaped.

[0016] One end of the loop-forming member 1a is connected to a connecting reinforcement part 2a. The connecting reinforcement part 2a is not essential and can be provided optionally. Therefore, one end of the loop-forming member 1a can also be connected directly to the female part 2. Compared to the rectangular parallelepiped-shaped female part 2, the flat, thin-walled connecting reinforcement part 2a is more flexible. Therefore, connecting one end of the loop-forming member 1a to the female part 2 via the connecting reinforcement part 2a as in this embodiment is more advantageous in avoiding excessive stress concentration at one end of the loop-forming member 1a than connecting one end of the loop-forming member 1a directly to the rectangular parallelepiped-shaped female part 2.

[0017] The female part 2 is formed with a recess 2b that opens to the top surface, and an insertion hole 3 extends in the Z direction (thickness direction) from the bottom surface to the top surface. More specifically, the insertion hole 3 extends from the bottom surface of the female part 2 to a position halfway through the depth of the recess 2b. That is, the entrance opening of the insertion hole 3 is located on the bottom surface of the female part 2, and the exit opening is located halfway through the depth of the recess 2b.

[0018] The outlet side of the insertion hole 3 has multiple peripheral walls 4a that taper in diameter toward the outlet opening and are spaced apart in the circumferential direction of the insertion hole 3. That is, the insertion hole 3 has a constant inner diameter on the entrance side and the inner diameter decreases midway in the Z direction, so the entrance opening has a larger diameter than the exit opening. In this embodiment, two peripheral walls 4a are arranged at 180° intervals in the circumferential direction of the insertion hole 3. Each peripheral wall 4a constitutes a locking portion 4. Because each peripheral wall 4a is a protruding piece that protrudes inside the recess 2b, its elasticity allows it to deform and move so as to expand the diameter of the insertion hole 3, and even if it moves and deforms so as to expand the diameter, it can return to its original position.

[0019] A notch 5 is formed on one side surface of the female part 2 in the Y direction. The notch 5 is formed from the underside of the female part 2 to a position halfway in the Z direction and communicates with the insertion hole 3. The opening width W of the notch 5 is smaller than the X-direction dimension of the female part 2 and larger than the inner diameter of the insertion hole 3, for example, 1.3 mm to 3.0 mm. The height h of the notch 5 is approximately 30% to 50% of the thickness of the female part 2, for example, 1.0 mm to 2.0 mm.

[0020] The male part 7 has an engaging part 7c that engages with the locking part 4. More specifically, as shown in Figure 5, the male part 7 has a tip part 7a and a base part 7b, and the base part 7b has a portion that narrows in diameter toward the tip part 7a. The other end of the loop-shaped material 1a is connected to the base part 7b.

[0021] The axial directions of the loop formed material 1a and the male part 7 intersect with each other, and in Figure 5, the respective axial centers of the loop formed material 1a and the male part 7 are indicated by dashed lines. In this embodiment, the axial center of the loop formed material 1a extends in the X direction, and the axial center of the male part 7 extends in the Z direction, with the intersection angle a set to 90°. The intersection angle a can be greater than or less than 90° and is set to a desired value in the range of 45° to 135°.

[0022] The tip 7a is approximately hemispherical, and the base 7b is cylindrical. In this embodiment, the tip 7a widens from the hemispherical shape toward the base 7b at a central angle b, and the bottom surface of the tip 7a forms an end face perpendicular to the axial direction (Z direction) of the male part 7. The central angle b is, for example, 30° to 45°. The step at the boundary between the base 7b and the tip 7a constitutes the engagement portion 7c. In other words, the boundary between the base 7b and the tip 7a is narrowed, and the bottom surface of the tip 7a functions as the engagement portion 7c.

[0023] The maximum outer diameter of the tip portion 7a and the maximum outer diameter of the base portion 7b are set to be roughly the same, for example, 1.0 mm to 2.0 mm. The inner diameter of the entrance side portion (portion with a constant inner diameter) of the insertion hole 3 is set to be slightly (for example, 0.5 mm to 1 mm) larger than the maximum outer diameter of the male portion 7. Furthermore, the inner diameter of the exit side opening of the insertion hole 3 is smaller than the maximum outer diameter of the tip portion 7a (the bottom surface of the tip portion 7a), and in this embodiment, the inner diameter of the exit side opening of the insertion hole 3 is set to be equal to (slightly smaller than) the outer diameter of the base portion 7b at the boundary with the tip portion 7a.

[0024] The male part 7 is not limited to the shape exemplified in this embodiment, and other shapes can also be adopted. The tip side of the tip part 7a is preferably a shape without corners, and it is sufficient that the male part 7 has an engaging part 7c at a position midway in the axial direction that can engage with the locking part 4 of the female part 2 and restrict axial movement of the male part 7 at that engaged position.

[0025] A method for using the tag-mounting member 1 will now be described.

[0026] As shown in Fig. 7, the tag attachment member 1 is used to attach a tag T to a product. Although the product is not shown in Fig. 7, the loop-forming material 1a is looped to attach the tag attachment member 1 to the product. When using the tag attachment member 1, the tag attachment member 1 is separated into a single unit by operating the trigger lever of the attachment tool, and then the male part 7 is inserted into the insertion hole 3 of the female part 2 by further operating the trigger lever, as shown in Fig. 6. Prior to this operation, the loop-forming material 1 is passed through the through-hole Th of the tag T.

[0027] 7 and 8, the male part 7 inserted into the insertion hole 3 engages the locking part 4 with the engaging part 7c as shown in Fig. 9, maintaining the loop-forming material 1 in a loop shape. With the tag T held by this loop-shaped loop-forming material 1, the tag-attaching member 1 is attached to the product.

[0028] 9, as the male part 7 is inserted into the insertion hole 3, the tip 7a pushes apart the peripheral walls 4a, 4a. The peripheral walls 4a, 4a elastically deform, expanding the diameter of the insertion hole 3, allowing the male part 7 to be inserted deeper into the insertion hole 3. When the tip 7a passes through the outlet opening of the insertion hole 3, the pushed apart peripheral walls 4a, 4a return to their original positions. As a result, the outlet opening of the insertion hole 3 fits into the boundary between the tip 7a of the base 7b and the base 7b. Because the locking portion 4 and the engaging portion 7c engage in this way, the male part 7 is restricted from moving axially within the insertion hole 3 and cannot move in the Z direction. This reliably maintains the loop-shaped material 1 in a loop shape.

[0029] In this tag attachment member 1, the locking portion 4 and the engaging portion 7c are engaged, so that the entire male portion 7 is housed inside the female portion 2. That is, because the male portion 7 does not protrude outward from the female portion 2, when the locking portion 4 and the engaging portion 7c are engaged, the amount of retraction g1 of the tip portion 7a from the upper surface of the female portion 2 is 0 mm or more, and the amount of retraction g2 of the base portion 7b from the lower surface of the female portion 2 is also 0 mm or more. The amounts of retraction g1 and g2 are, for example, 0 mm or more and 2 mm or less. In this embodiment, the amounts of retraction g1 and g2 are set to be the same, but the amount of retraction g1 can also be greater or smaller than the amount of retraction g2.

[0030] A notch 5 is formed on the surface of the female part 2, and the loop formed material 1a passes through the notch 5 and extends from the male part 7 to the outside of the female part 2. Therefore, the connecting portion of the loop formed material 1a with the male part 7 (base 7b) is also housed inside the female part 2.

[0031] With the tag attachment member 1 attached to the product in this manner, the entire male part 7 does not protrude outside the female part 2, so the male part 7, which has a larger diameter than the loop forming material 1a, is prevented from coming into contact with the product. As a result, damage to the product due to contact with the male part 7 (its leading or trailing end) can be effectively prevented.

[0032] The products to which the tag attachment member 1 can be attached include, but are not limited to, clothing, fabrics, seafood (fresh fish, crab, etc.), fruit, etc. If the male part 7 protrudes from the female part 2, fibers may get caught on it, and fresh produce (fresh fish, fruit, etc.) may be damaged. Therefore, this tag attachment member 1 is particularly useful when applied to products made of fibers that easily get caught on it or to products that are easily damaged, such as fresh produce.

[0033] In the tag attachment member 1 attached to the product, the loop member 1a extends from the male part 7 to the outside of the female part 2 through the notch 5, but the opening width W of the notch 5 is set larger than the outer diameter d of the loop member 1a. Therefore, as shown in Figure 10, when the locking part 4 and the engaging part 7c are engaged, the male part 7 can rotate around its axis within the insertion hole 3.

[0034] With this configuration, when an external force acts on the loop member 1a, the male portion 7 rotates appropriately around its axis within the insertion hole 3. This prevents excessive load from being applied to the connection portion between the loop member 1a and the male portion 7 (base portion 7b), which is advantageous for preventing unexpected breakage of the loop member 1a. The rotation angle of the male portion 7 around its axis is, for example, 15° or more, more preferably 30° or more. The upper limit of this angle is, for example, 60°. Furthermore, because the connection portion between the loop member 1a and the male portion 7 (base portion 7b) is housed within the female portion 2, there is little risk of an object coming into direct contact with this connection portion. From this perspective, the tag attachment member 1 is also advantageous for protecting the connection portion between the loop member 1a and the male portion 7 (base portion 7b).

[0035] The female part 2 illustrated in Figure 11 differs from the female part 2 of the previous embodiment in the specifications of the peripheral wall 4a of the insertion hole 3, but the rest of the configuration is similar. The outlet side of this insertion hole 3 has four peripheral walls 4a that taper in diameter toward the outlet opening and are spaced apart in the circumferential direction of the insertion hole 3. That is, while in the previous embodiment, two peripheral walls 4a are arranged 180° opposite each other, in this female part 2, four peripheral walls 4a that are arc-shaped in plan view are arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the insertion hole 3. The number of peripheral walls 4a to be arranged can be set to a desired value, for example, in the range of two to four.

[0036] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 tag attachment member 1a loop forming member 2 female portion 2a connection reinforcement portion 2b recess 3 insertion hole 4 locking portion 4a peripheral wall 5 notch portion 6 first runner member 6a detachable connecting portion 7 male portion 7a tip portion 7b base portion 7c engaging portion 8 second runner member 8a detachable connecting portion T tag Th through hole

Claims

1. a linear loop-forming member, a female portion connected to one end of the loop-forming member, and a male portion connected to the other end of the loop-forming member, the loop-forming member having a smaller diameter than the female portion and the male portion; The female part has an insertion hole in which a locking part is formed, the male part has an engaging part that engages with the locking part, In a tag-mounting member, when the male part is inserted into the insertion hole, the locking part and the engaging part are engaged with each other, and the loop-forming material holding the tag is maintained in a loop shape, A tag attachment member in which, when the locking portion and the engaging portion engage, the entire male portion is housed inside the female portion, and the connecting portion of the loop molding material with the male portion is also housed inside the female portion.

2. 2. The tag attachment member according to claim 1, wherein the axial directions of the loop member and the male portion intersect with each other, and the intersecting angle is set to 45° to 135°.

3. A tag attachment member as described in claim 2, wherein a notch portion communicating with the insertion hole is formed on the surface of the female portion, and when the locking portion and the engaging portion are engaged, the loop forming material passes through the notch portion and extends from the male portion to the outside of the female portion.

4. The outlet side of the insertion hole has a plurality of peripheral walls that are spaced apart in the circumferential direction of the insertion hole and whose diameter decreases toward the outlet-side opening, and each of the peripheral walls constitutes the locking portion, A tag attachment member as described in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the male part has a base part connected to the other end of the loop forming material and an enlarged tip part connected to the base part, and a step at the boundary between the base part and the tip part constitutes the engaging part.

5. 5. The tag mounting member according to claim 4, wherein the locking portion is formed by two of the peripheral walls arranged at an interval of 180 degrees in the circumferential direction of the insertion hole.

6. A tag attachment member according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein when the locking portion and the engaging portion are engaged, the male portion is rotatable within the insertion hole around the axis of the male portion.