Tag Attacher

Abstract

There is disclosed apparatus for attaching tags to a variety of articles by means of fasteners. A typical fastener useable in a connection with the apparatus has a bar section at one end, a head or button section at the other end, and these sections are joined by a filament section. The fasteners can be interconnected to provide a unitary fastener assembly. The tag attaching apparatus is illustrated as including a body in which a tubular member such as a needle is mounted. The needle has an elongated bore, a side opening or slot communicating with the bore, a sharp piercing end at one end, a cutting edge at its other end and another slot through which a bar section can enter the bore. The needle has a rack which meshes with a segment of a pinion by which the needle can be driven into or out of the body. The body mounts operating and drive levers, and a one-piece ratchet wheel and feed wheel. A push rod in alignment with the bore is guided for reciprocatable movement in the body and is connected to the drive lever by a pin-and-slot connection. A pawl cooperates with the ratchet wheel and a slide interconnects the pawl with the drive lever. There is a pin-and-slot connection between the drive lever and the slide and there is a pin-and-slot, lost-motion, connection between the slide and the pawl. The slide and the pawl are guided for reciprocatable movement relative to each other and relative to the feed wheel. A spring is used to return the push rod and the levers to their initial positions and to cause the ratchet wheel to be driven to advance the fasteners when the operating handle is released.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to the art of applying fasteners, and specifically to apparatus for attaching tags to articles by means of fasteners.

2. Description of the Prior Art

The U.S. Pat. to C. A. Flood, No. 2,069,878, is typical of patents showing a tag attaching apparatus wherein a tag is applied to an article by means of a fastener having a bar and a string. A hollow needle with a longitudinal slot is used, but only one fastener and tag at a time can be loaded and applied. The U.S. Pat. to M. Epstein, No. 2,952,851 discloses the loading of a multiplicity of fasteners into the tag attaching apparatus so that multiplicity of tags can be applied without reloading the apparatus. A spring-urged slide is used to advance the fasteners. In U.S. Pat. to A. R. Bone, No. 3,103,666, plastic fasteners interconnected to provide a unitary fastener assembly, and a tag attaching apparatus are disclosed. A feed or gear wheel is used to advance the fasteners instead of a spring-urged slide and a pivotally mounted knife is operable in sequence to sever the fasteners from the remainder of the fastener assembly. In addition to operating the knife, a handle operates the pushing or driving rod and the gear wheel. In U.S. Pat. to A. R. Bone, No. 3,470,834, the needle has a cutting edge to sever the fasteners from the remainder of the fastener assembly. French Patent No. 668,545 patented July 15, 1929 discloses an apparatus for attaching tags which uses a fastener assembly, a gear or feed wheel for advancing the fastener assembly, a pawl for advancing the fasteners one at a time, and a plunger or punch operable to sever a fastener from the remainder of the assembly and to apply the fastener, and operating and drive levers for operating the plunger and the pawl. The U.S. Pat. to Flood, No. 2,729,177, applies tags to articles by means of fasteners and string. The U.S. Pat. to Rieger et al. No. 3,185,367 discloses tag attaching apparatus by which a plurality of fasteners can be loaded and successively applied. The bar section which forms part of each fastener has a pointed end. The apparatus includes indexing wheels, a knife wheel, and a push or drive rod operated by means of a knob.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention comprises a tag attaching apparatus having a tubular guide member that can take the form of a needle having a pointed end. The tubular member is not only releasably locked in the body but it can be driven into and out of the body, thereby facilitating assembly and also replacement of the tubular member. The tubular member has a hub or enlarged portion in which a rack with gear teeth is formed as by milling. A segment of a pinion gear meshes with the rack. A handle can drive the pinion and in turn drive the tubular member either into or out of position in the body of the apparatus. Means are provided to releasably lock the handle and hence the gear and the rack in that position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a tag attached to a garment by a fastener;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a tag attaching apparatus according to the invention;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of a portion of the tag attaching apparatus, with one body section removed for clarity;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4--4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary top plan view showing the manner in which a fastener assembly is guided through a guide slot in the body of the tag attaching apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view showing a fragmentary portion of one of the body sections;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line 7--7 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line 8--8 of FIG. 7, showing the needle in its normal locked position in the body;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary view similar to FIG. 8, but showing the needle being removed from the body;

FIG. 10 is a side elevational view showing a fragmentary part of the tag attaching apparatus similar to FIG. 3 but showing the needle as having been pushed through the tag and the garment and the push rod as having pushed the bar section of the fastener through the needle;

FIG. 11 is a side elevational view similar to FIG. 10 but showing the feed wheel, the ratchet wheel, and the pawl completing the advance of the fastener assembly;

FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken generally along line 12--12 of FIG. 10;

FIG. 13 is a sectional view taken generally along line 13--13 of FIG. 11;

FIG. 14 is a view similar to FIG. 13 but showing the bar section of the fastener being pushed out of the needle by the push rod;

FIG. 15 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the manner in which the pinion is mounted on and secured to its respective shaft;

FIG. 16 is a sectional view along lines 16--16 of FIG. 15; and

FIG. 17 is a sectional view showing the manner in which one end of the push rod is guided for reciprocatable movement.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to the drawings, there is shown an apparatus 20 for attaching tags, The apparatus 20 uses fasteners generally indicated at 21 which are interconnected to provide a fastener assembly 22. A typical use of a fastener 21 is illustrated in FIG 1, wherein a tag 23 is shown attached to a garment 24. Each fastener 21 of the assembly 22 includes a bar section 25 and a button or head section 26 joined by a filament or string section 27.

The fastener assembly 22 is preferably constructed of a plastic material such as nylon or the like and can be molded into a unitary construction such that each of the fasteners 21 is integrally connected to a rod or holder 22' by a connector 28 (FIGS. 2, 11 and 12).

With particular reference to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 the tag attaching apparatus 20 is shown to include a body constructed of body sections or side plates 29 and 30. The body section 29 has posts or pivots 31, 32 and 33 molded integrally therewith. The body section 29 has a handle portion 34 which is adapted to fit against the palm of the user's hand. An operating member or lever 35 pivotally mounted by the pivot 31 is engageable by the user's fingers. When squeezed, the lever 35 is pivoted counterclockwise (FIG. 3) and an associated drive lever 36 is also pivoted counterclockwise. The lever 35 is of one- piece molded construction having a pair of spaced apart wall portions 37 and 38 joined by a transverse or end portion 39. A transverse web 40 which interconnects the wall portions 37 and 38 is shown to be in engagement with the lever 36. A tension spring 41 connected at one end to a post 29' molded integrally with the body section and at its other end through a hole 42 in the lever 36. The tension spring 41 urges the lever 36 clockwise (FIG. 3) to its home or initial position and because of its engagement with the web 40 of the lever 35 urges the lever 35 clockwise to its home or initial position. Projections portions 37 and 38 engage the body section 29 at a stop face 44 to limit the clockwise movements of the levers 35 and 36, thereby defining their home or initial positions.

The body section 29 includes a side wall 45 and an end wall 46. Formed integrally with the side wall 45 are a pair of parallel spaced apart stepped guides 47 and 48. In addition to performing a guiding function the guides 47 and 48 because of their flangelike construction serve to strengthen the body section 29. A slide or guided member 49 is shown to be confined for movement in either of two directions in the guide 47. Stepped portions 50 and 51 engage corresponding stepped portions of the guide 47. The slide 49 also includes a reduced diameter portion 52. The portions 50, 51 and 52 are coaxial and a central bore 53 extends through the sections 50, 51 and 52 of the slide 49. The portion 52 is received in an elongated slot 54 at one end of the lever 36. A push or drive rod 55 is constructed of rigid material such as steel and has a bent portion or pin 56 which extends into the bore 53 as best shown in FIG. 17. The drive rod 55 is guided in part by a groove 57 in a guide 58 formed integrally with the wall 45 and is guided in remainder in a groove 59 in a guide 60 formed integrally with the side plate 30. In addition to performing the guiding function, the bar-shaped guide 60 serves to strengthen the side plate 30. A cutout in the guide provides a land 61 which abuts the end of the guide 58. Accordingly, the drive rod 55 is confined for reciprocating movement in the grooves 57 and 59 in the respective guides 58 and 60.

The guide 48 is shown to receive an elongated slide 62 having a wide portion 63 and a narrow portion 64. The slide 62 has an integrally formed pin or projection 65 received in an elongated slot 66 in the lever 36. The post 32 and the elongated slots 54 and 66 are shown to be in alignment with each other.

The slide 62 is shown to have an elongated slot 67 which extends throughout a substantial portion of its length and in a direction parallel to the direction of the guide 48. A pawl 68 has a tooth 69 shown to be in engagement with a ratchet wheel 70. A portion of the pawl 68 is shown to be disposed in a portion of the guide 48 between the slide 62 and the side wall 45. The pawl 68 is urged against one side of the guide 48 and against the ratchet wheel 70 by a spring finger 71. The pawl 68 is fitted in the guide 48 with clearance so that the pawl 68 and the ratchet wheel 70 can cooperate when the pawl 68 is reciprocated relative to the ratchet wheel 70. The pawl 68 has an elongated pin or boss 72 which is received in the elongated slot 67.

The ratchet wheel 70, a fastener feed wheel 73 and an interconnecting hub or spacer 74 are molded to provide a one-piece unitary construction. Accordingly, there is no relative movement between the ratchet wheel 70 and the feed wheel 73. The ratchet wheel 70 and feed wheel 73 are coaxial, there being a central hole 75 which rotatably receives the pivot 33.

As shown in FIGS. 3, 8, 13 and 14, for example, a tubular member, specifically a needle, generally indicated at 76 is mounted at the front end of the body section 29. The needle 76 terminates at a pointed piercing end 77 and has a through bore 78. The needle 76 has a marginal portion 79 with a relatively small outside diameter and an integral hub or enlarged portion 80. The bore 78 terminates at one end in the region of the piercing end 77 and at its other end at a sharp cutting edge 81. The inside diameter of the bore 78 is large enough to pass the bar portion 25 of the fastener 21 through it. An elongated slot 82 in the side of the needle 76, which communicates with the bore 78 as best shown in FIG. 7 is wide enough to allow the string section 27 adjacent the bar section 25 to pass along the slot 82 while the bar section 25 is passing through the bore 78. The enlarged portion 80 has a land 83 which extends in a plane generally parallel to the plane through the slot 82. A slot 84 in the enlarged portion 80 communicates with the bore 78. The slot 84 is as wide as the diameter of the bore 78. The slot 84 is open at its one end adjacent the cutting edge 81 and is closed at its other end 85. The land 83 adjacent the slot 84 is slightly radiused as indicated at 86 to allow easy entry of the bar portion 25 through the slot 84 into the bore 78.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5 the body section 29 is provided with a generally cross-shaped slot 87 in which the fastener assembly is received. The slot can be considered to comprise adjoining zones which accommodate the assembly 22, namely, the zone 88 receives the rod 22' and the connectors 28, a zone 90 receives about one half of each of the bar sections 25, a zone 91 receives the remaining halves of the bar sections 25, and the string or filament sections 27 extend through and beyond a zone 92.

Each time the manually engageable lever 35 is fully squeezed and released, the feed wheel 73, which meshes with the connectors 28 as best shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, feeds the fastener assembly 22 a linear distance equal to the distance between the center line of one bar section 25 to the center line of the next adjacent bar section 25.

As the cutting edge 81 of the needle 76 is disposed at the end of the bore 78 at the end of enlarged portion 80 the particular bar section 25 which is in alignment with the bore 78 is severed and the connector 28 remains attached to the rod 22' as illustrated in FIGS. 2, 10, 11 and 12.

The pitch of the teeth on the feed wheel is equal to the pitch of the connectors 28 so that there is smooth meshing engagement to assure that the feed wheel 73 will advance the assembly 22 through the linear distance mentioned above. A spring finger 93 (FIG 3, shown broken away in FIGS. 10 and 11 for clarity) engages the teeth of the feed wheel 73 to provide a detent or anti-back up device for this purpose. The spring fingers 71 and 93 are formed integrally with a mounting portion 94, the ends of which are held in place by undercuts 95 and 96, the mounting portion 94 and the spring fingers 71 and 93 are stamped out of one piece of flexible resilient material.

With particular reference to FIGS. 7, 8 and 9, the enlarged portion 80 is shown to be provided with a stop face 97 which is adapted to abut a shoulder 98 formed in the hole 99 in which the hub portion 80 is received. This limits the distance which the needle 76 can be inserted into the hole 99. A toothed rack 100 is formed at the enlarged portion 80 opposite the land 83. In FIG. 8 the enlarged portion 80 is shown to be fully inserted into the hold 99 and the teeth of a segment of a gear or pinion 101 are shown to be in meshing engagement with the teeth of the rack 100. The pinion 101 has a hex-shaped center hole which is received by a hex-shaped portion 102 of a shaft generally indicated at 103. Circular portions 104 and 105 of the shaft 103 are shown to be rotatably received respectively in the body sections 29 and 30. An annular groove 106 is formed in the circular portion 105 immediately adjacent the pinion 101 as best shown in FIG. 15. The end of the pinion 101 is provided with three equally spaced apart projections 107 which resiliently snap into the groove 106 thereby locking the pinion 101 against axial movement relative to the shaft 103, and the pinion 101 is prevented from rotating relative to the shaft 103 by the hex-shaped portion 102 which is received in the hex-shaped hole in the pinion 101. A compression spring 106' received about the circular section 104, bears against the body section 29 and the pinion 101, thereby urging a locking projection 107' of a knob 108 into a recess 109 in the body section 29. In order to remove the needle 76, the user pushes on the shaft section 105, thereby compressing the spring 106' until the locking projection 107' is out of the recess 109; in this position, the knob or handle 108 can be rotated counterclockwise from the position shown in FIG. 8, thereby driving the needle 76 out of the hole 99. In this manner, the needle 76 can be readily replaced. While the knob 108 is in the position shown in FIG. 9 the locking projection 107' bears against the outside of the body section 29. When a new needle with a sharp piercing end 77 and a sharp cutting edge is ready to be inserted into the hole 99 it is inserted into the hole 99 until its rack 100 meshes with the pinion 101; thereupon by rotating the knob 108 from the position shown in FIG. 9 to the position shown in FIG. 8, the new needle 76 is driven into the hole 99 to the position shown in FIG. 8. The pinion 101 is shown to have five teeth distributed over substantially less than 360.degree.. In the position shown in FIG. 8 one endmost tooth 101' engages one side of an abutment 110 and in the position shown in FIG. 9 the other endmost tooth 101" en gages the other side of the abutment 110, thereby limiting the rotational movement of the pinion 101.

The side plate 30 has a retainer 111 formed integrally therewith. The retainer 111 terminates at a pair of spaced apart lands 112. When the side panel 30 is assembled onto the body section 29 the lands 112 engage the slide 62 on each side of the slot 67. The space between the lands 112 provides clearance for the elongated pin 72.

Integrally formed with the side plate 30 are pins 113 snugly and matingly received in respective recesses 113', 31' and 32'. The pins 113 cooperate with the posts 29', 31', and 32' to provide strong, rigid mounting means for the spring 41, the lever 35 and the lever 36, respectively. The plastic material of which the side plate 30 is constructed enables its projections 114 to provide a snap fit connection with matching projections 115 formed integrally with the body section 29.

Except for the springs 41 and 106', the piece which includes spring fingers or leaves 71 and 93, the needle 76 and the drive rod 55, the apparatus 20 is constructed entirely of moldable plastic material. Moreover, the apparatus 20 is constructed using a minimum of parts and accordingly can be manufactured on a quantity basis at reasonable cost.

In operation, let it be assumed that a tag 23 is to be applied to some pierceable material 24 such as fabric or the like. The needle is passed through the tag 23 at the desired location and thereupon the needle is pushed through the fabric 24. Squeezing the lever 35 will cause the lever 36 which it operates to be pivoted counterclockwise (FIG. 3) against the force of the tension spring 41. As the lever 36 pivots counterclockwise the push rod 55 is driven to the left as shown in FIG. 3. When the push rod 55 pushes on the end of the bar section 25 of the fastener 21, the cutting edge 81 of the needle 76 severs the bar section 25 from the associated connector 28. Upon continued pivoting of the lever 36 counterclockwise (FIG. 3), the drive rod 55 will push the bar section 25 through the needle bore 78 and out of the enlarged opening near the end of the bore 78 as shown in FIGS. 10 and 14. While the bar section 25 was being moved through the bore 78, its filament section 27 adjacent the bar section 25 passed along the slot 82 until the fastener 21 assumed the position shown in FIG. 10. In this position the lever 36 has moved the slide 62 to a position in which elongated pin 72 has engaged the end of the slot 67 (FIG. 10) thereby driving the pawl 68 to the left over the next adjacent tooth of the ratchet wheel 70. When the user releases the lever 35 the spring 41 returns the levers 36 and 35 to their initial positions (FIG. 3) and causing the drive rod 55 to be returned to its initial position. Just before the lever 36 returns to the position shown in FIG. 3, the elongated pin 72 will engage the other end of the elongated slot 67 as shown in FIG. 11, thereby causing the ratchet wheel 70 and its associated feed wheel 73 to be rotated counterclockwise, thereby advancing the fastener assembly 22 a distance equal to the pitch of the teeth on the feed wheel which is equal to the distance between the center line of one bar section 25 and the center line of the next adjacent bar section 25. As the fastener assembly 22 is being advanced, the part of the next successive bar section 25 in the zone 90 passes through the slot 84 in the needle 76 to a position within the bore 78.

Other embodiments and modifications of this invention will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art, and all such of these as come within the spirit of this invention are included within its scope as best defined by the appended claims.

Claims

We claim:

1. Apparatus for attaching tags using fasteners, each fastener including a bar section and a button section joined by a filament section, said apparatus comprising a body, a tubular member having an enlarged portion, a bore extending lengthwise of said tubular member, a slot in the side of the said tubular member communicating with said bore, means engageable with a bar section for pushing the bar section of the fastener through said bore while its filament section extends through said slot, a hole in said body for receiving said enlarged portion of said tubular member, and means engage able with said enlarged portion for driving said tubular member out of said hole.

2. Apparatus for attaching tags as defined in claim 1, wherein said driving means includes a rack formed on said tubular member and gear means in meshing engagement with said rack.

3. Apparatus for attaching tags as defined in claim 1, wherein said driving means includes rotary means, and means for limiting the rotary movement of said rotary means.

4. Apparatus for attaching tags as defined in claim 1, including a piercing end at one end of said tubular member.

5. Apparatus for attaching tags using fasteners, each fastener including a bar section and a button section joined by a filament section, said apparatus comprising a body, a tubular member having an enlarged portion, a bore extending lengthwise of said tubular member, a slot in the side of said tubular member communicating with said bore, means engageable with a bar section for pushing a bar section of the fastener through said bore while its filament section extends through said slot, a hole in said body for receiving said enlarged portion of said tubular member, and means for releasably locking said tubular member in said hole including a handle, a shaft secured to said handle and rotatably mounted by said body, a spring normally holding said shaft in one position but enabling said shaft to be shifted to a second position, and means for holding said shaft against rotation when shaft is in its first position and for enabling said shaft and its handle to be rotated when said shaft is in its second position.

6. Apparatus for attaching tags using fasteners, each fastener including a bar section and a button section joined by a filament section, said apparatus comprising a body and a tubular member having an enlarged portion, a bore extending lengthwise of said tubular member, a slot in the side of said tubular member communicating with said bore, means engageable with a bar section for pushing the bar section of the fastener through said bore while its filament section extends through said slot, a rack disposed at said enlarged section, and gear means engageable with said rack.

7. Apparatus for attaching tags as defined in claim 6 including a shaft mounted by said body, said gear means including a gear member received on said shaft and locked against rotation relative to said shaft, means formed partly by said gear member and partly by said shaft for preventing said gear member from shifting axially on said shaft, a spring received about said shaft and acting on said body and said gear member to normally urge said shaft into one position, a handle joined to said shaft, means engageable with said handle for holding said handle, said shaft and said gear member against rotation when said shaft is in said one position, said shaft, said handle and said gear member being rotatable when shifted to a second position against the force of said spring.

8. Apparatus for attaching tags using fasteners, each fastener including a bar section and a button section joined by a filament section, said apparatus including a tubular member having an enlarged section, said tubular member having a bore extending lengthwise of said tubular member, and a rack formed on said enlarged portion.

9. Apparatus for attaching tags as defined in claim 8, said tubular member having a piercing end opposite said enlarged portion.

10. Apparatus for attaching tags as defined in claim 8, said tubular member having a cutting edge at its enlarged portion and a piercing end opposite its enlarged portion.