U.S. patent number 3,628,266 [Application Number 05/004,678] was granted by the patent office on 1971-12-21 for retail price tag and protective envelope assembly.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Federal Business Products, Inc.. Invention is credited to Henry A. Gripekoven, Lester V. Wise.
United States Patent |
3,628,266 |
Wise , et al. |
December 21, 1971 |
**Please see images for:
( Certificate of Correction ) ** |
RETAIL PRICE TAG AND PROTECTIVE ENVELOPE ASSEMBLY
Abstract
A retail merchandise price and data tag suitable for data
processing, the tag being divided by tear lines into an upper
section, a main section, and a lower section, the main section
containing data related to an item of merchandise and being in
coded punch hole or magnetic record form. The tag is partially
inserted in an envelope formed by a rear panel and a transparent
front panel releaseably secured to the rear panel. The upper
section of the tag, which extends outside of the envelope, and the
rear panel of the envelope are permanently attached to the
merchandise. By stripping off the front panel of the envelope, one
then has access to the main section of the tag which may be torn
from the upper section for data processing.
Inventors: |
Wise; Lester V. (Old Westbury,
Long Island, NY), Gripekoven; Henry A. (Bronxville, NY) |
Assignee: |
Federal Business Products, Inc.
(New York, NY)
|
Family
ID: |
21711964 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/004,678 |
Filed: |
January 21, 1970 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
40/654.01;
40/661.09; 40/674 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G09F
3/0289 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G09F
3/02 (20060101); A44c 003/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;40/10,2,158,159,16,122,1D,10 ;226/71,74 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Michell; Robert W.
Assistant Examiner: Contreras; Wenceslao J.
Claims
What we claim is:
1. A retail merchandise tag and envelope assembly comprising:
A. a tag divided by tear lines into at least an upper section and a
main section, said main section bearing data related to an item of
merchandise, and
B. an envelope having a rear panel and a transparent front panel
detachably secured to the rear panel, said tag being partially
inserted in said envelope whereby the upper section is extended
therefrom, and
C. adhesive means bonding the back sides of said upper section and
said rear panel to said item or its wrapper, access to said main
section being had by detaching said front panel from said rear
panel whereby said main section may then be torn from said upper
section which with the rear panel, remains bonded to said item or
its wrapper.
2. An assembly as set forth in claim 1, wherein said data is in the
form of coded holes punched in said main section.
3. An assembly as set forth in claim 1, wherein said data is
recorded on magnetic tape attached to said main section.
4. An assembly as set forth in claim 1, wherein said rear panel is
formed of opaque paper and said front panel of tissue paper.
5. An assembly as set forth in claim 1, wherein said front panel is
marginally secured by releasable adhesive to said rear panel along
the sides and the lower end, whereby the upper end of the envelope
is open to admit said tag and said front panel may be stripped from
said rear panel.
6. An assembly as set forth in claim 5, wherein said front panel is
provided with a tab to facilitate stripping
7. An assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein a pull string is
interposed between said panels to facilitate said detachment.
Description
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
This invention relates generally to retail merchandise price and
data tags which lend themselves to data processing, and more
particularly to a removable tag and envelope assembly which is
attachable to merchandise and is secure against mutilation and
tampering.
In traditional retailing operation, each item of merchandise for
sale carries one or more tags having color, size, style, price and
other relevant information. After a customer has made his choice, a
salesperson is then required to write out the details of the
transaction on a sales slip which is thereafter processed in the
accounting department of the store. Because of errors which may
arise in recording the transaction and because of the time
involved, conventional procedures are highly inefficient and add
substantially to the cost of doing business, not only at the point
of sale but also on the accounting level, for the entries on the
sales slip must later be reentered in a form suitable for inventory
and accounting operations.
In recent years, many large retail establishments and chain stores
have replaced traditional methods with automatic data-processing
systems dictating the use of special tags on which the style,
color, size, price and other relevant data is preentered in the
form of coded punch holes or magnetic tape recordings. When a scale
is made, the data section of the tag is removed for subsequent data
processing wherein the punch holes or magnetic recording are sensed
and converted into electrical signals.
While the data-processing technique represents a marked advance
over traditional methods, it has certain serious drawbacks. Since
the tag is removable from the merchandise, a dishonest person may
be tempted to switch tags and to place on the item he purchases a
tag taken from another item bearing a much lower price. This type
of deception will usually not be detected by an inexperienced
salesperson, and, even where an experienced salesperson is on duty,
the deception may go undetected during busy periods when there is
pressure to expedite sales.
Special price tags have a small upper section connected by a line
of perforation to a large main section having the data encoded
thereon, the small section being permanently affixed to the
merchandise and the larger section being removable therefrom. The
usual practice is to paste the small upper section to the wrapper
of the merchandise. Because of the small area involved, if the
adhesive is carelessly applied, as is sometimes the case, the tag
may not hold and may fall off in the course of handling.
Another problem which arises with data-processing tags is
mutilation, particularly with price tags in which the data is
encoded by punch holes. Since these holes must later be sensed, any
change in the hole pattern will produce false readings. With an
exposed tag, such changes may arise by reason of dust or other
foreign particles trapped in the holes, or because of scratches or
distortions produced in the course of rough handling of the
merchandise.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
In view of the foregoing, it is the main object of this invention
to provide a removable data-processing tag and envelope assembly
which is attachable to merchandise and is secure against mutilation
and tampering.
More particularly, it is an object of the invention to provide an
assembly of the above type wherein the main section of the tag
which contains the data is inserted in a protective envelope, the
upper section extending therefrom, the rear panel of the envelope
and the upper section of the tag being permanently attachable to
the merchandise or its wrapper to afford a large area of contact,
reducing the possibility of dislodgement.
A significant feature of the invention is that the front panel of
the envelope is transparent to reveal the data on the tag, the
front panel being stripable from the rear panel to provide access
to the main section of the tag which is held to the upper section
by a tear line permitting removal of the main section. Also an
object of the invention is to provide a tag and envelope assembly
which may be manufactured and sold at low cost.
Briefly stated, these objects are attained in an assembly
comprising an envelope having an opaque rear panel and a
transparent front panel whose sides and lower end are releasably
adhered to the rear panel whereby the upper end of the envelope is
open. Inserted in the envelope is a data-processing tag which is
effectively divided by two tear lines into a relatively small upper
section, a main section, and a lower section; the upper section
extending from the envelope, the upper section of the tag and the
rear panel of the envelope being permanently affixed to the
merchandise or its wrapper. The main section bears encoded data
related to the merchandise, whereas the lower section bears the
price thereof, both the data and price being revealed through the
transparent front panel.
OUTLINE OF DRAWING
For a better understanding of the invention as well as other
objects and further features thereof, reference is made to the
following detailed description to be read in conjunction with the
accompanying drawing, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a front view of a standard merchandise tag suitable for
data processing, the date being encoded in punch hole form;
FIG. 2 separately shows the main section of the tag;
FIG. 3 is a front view of another form of standard tag in which the
data is recorded on magnetic tape;
FIG. 4 is a rear view of the tag shown in FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an assembly in accordance with the
invention of a price tag of the magnetic tape type and an
envelope;
FIG. 6 shows the assembly with the front panel of the envelope
removed;
FIG. 7 is a longitudinal section taken in the plane indicated by
line 7--7 in FIG. 6; and
FIG. 8 is a back view of the separated main section of the tag
shown in FIG. 6.
DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION
Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown the front face of a
standard merchandise tag, generally designated by numeral 10,
suitable for data-processing applications. The tag is divided by
two perforated tear lines 11 and 12 into a small upper section 10A,
a large main section 10B and a small lower section 10C.
Imprinted on the upper section 10A is the name of the retail
establishment. The main section 10B contains a pattern of small
punch holes 13 which, in coded form, provide data related to the
article of merchandise to which the tag is attached, such as
merchandise number, color, style, size, price, etc. Thus, by
computer techniques, after the main section is separated from the
upper and lower sections, the punch holes may be sensed to produce
signals for data-processing equipment. The size, color and other
data are also imprinted on the main section to provide the
purchaser with pertinent information. On the lower section 10C,
only the price appears.
The usual practice with a tag of the type shown in FIG. 1 is to
affix only the upper section 10A to the goods or its wrapper. Then
when a purchase is made, the main section is torn off the tag, and
the lower section is removed from the main section. The separated
main section, as shown in FIG. 2, is retained for further
processing, and the lower section discarded.
In FIG. 3 and 4 the standard tag 15 is similar to that shown in
FIG. 1, and includes an upper section 15A carrying the store name,
a main section 15B, as shown in FIG. 4, is a strip 15D of magnetic
tape recording material on which the data is stored in signal form
for subsequent playback in the data-processing equipment. This type
of tag is also affixed to the goods in the same manner as a punch
hold type of tag, only the main section being retained after a
transaction is completed. The invention is not limited to the tags
shown and includes any known form of price tag having data thereon
in a form which lends itself to automatic data processing.
As pointed out previously, tags of the type shown in FIGS. 1 to 4
are highly vulnerable and may be tampered with, as well as being
subject to mutilation for lack of protection. To obviate these
disadvantages, the invention provides an assembly as shown in FIG.
5 wherein a tag 15 of the type shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is partially
inserted in an envelope having a rectangular rear panel 16,
preferably of opaque paper, and a matching front panel 17 of
transparent material, such as tissue paper. The front panel 17 is
marginally connected to the rear panel 16 along its sides and
bottom end by lines of releasable adhesive 18 making it possible to
strip off the front panel.
The front face of the main section 15B of tag 15 and the front face
of the lower section 15C are visible through the transparent front
panel 17 of the envelope, whereas the upper section 15A, which
extends above the open end of the envelope, is exposed. In
permanently attaching the tag and envelope assembly to the surface
19 of an article of merchandise or to its box or wrapper, the rear
panel 16 of the envelope and the upper section 15A of the tag are
glued on their back side or otherwise connected to this surface, as
best seen in FIG. 7. Since the front panel of the envelope is
transparent, one is able to see the price and other data appearing
o the portion of the tag lying within the envelope. Thus, even
though the tag is protected by the envelope, it is not obscured
thereby.
Because of the joint connection of the tag and envelope to the
merchandise, detachment thereof will not occur even when subjected
to rough handling. Nor is one able to transfer the tag and envelope
assembly from one article of merchandise to another without
detection, for the large envelope surface is such that even if the
rear panel is carelessly adhered to the goods, some portion thereof
will hold and be torn should a transfer be attempted.
When a sale is made, to obtain access to the data section of the
assembly, one has merely to strip off top panel 17 of the envelope,
thereby exposing the entire tag. One may then readily tear off the
data section 15B from the attached upper section 15A of the tag and
remove the lower section 15C, so that the separated main section
15B shown in FIG. 8 may be used for data processing. To facilitate
stripping, upper panel 17 is provided with a tab 20.
While there has been shown preferred embodiments of the invention,
it is to be understood that many changes may be made therein
without departing from the essential spirit of the invention. Thus
instead of having the front panel releasably secured to the rear
panel of the envelope, it may be permanently secured thereto by a
marginal adhesive connection. In order to open the envelope to
release the tag, a pull string is incorporated in the envelope
along one side thereof, the string being interposed between the
laminated top and bottom panels, such that when the string is
pulled out, it severs the top panel to open the envelope.
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