US3608156A - Label holding and dispensing device - Google Patents

Abstract

THE DEVICE IS OF ONE-PIECE CONSTRUCTION AND IS FORMED OF SPRING STEEL PROVIDED WITH A THERMOPLASTIC COATING. THE MAIN BODY PORTION OF THE DEVICE HAS AN ATTACHING PORTION AT ONE END THEREOF COMPRISING A PLUTALITY OF SPACED RESILIENT HOOK-SHAPED PORTIONS ADAPTED TO BE CONNECTED TO AN ASSOCIATED SPINNING SLEEVE. A HOLDING LEG EXTENDS FROM THE OPPOSITE END OF THE MAIN BODY PORTION AND IS RESILIENTLY BIASED TOWARD THE MAIN BODY PORTION FOR HOLDING LABELS BETWEEN THE HOLDING LEG AND THE MAIN BODY PORTION. THIS HOLDING LEG IS PROVIDED WITH A SLOT SO THAT A PERSON''S FINGER CAN ENGAGE THE LABELS TO DISPENSE THE LABELS, AND THE END OF THE HOLDING LEG EXTENDS LATERALLY SO AS TO PERMIT THE HOLDING LEG TO BE READILY MOVED AWAY FROM THE MAIN BODY PORTION.

Description

Sept. 28, 1971 a. G. WARD LABEL HOLDING AND DISPENSING DEVICE Filed April 22, 1969 INVE/VT'OR GUS GRAHAM WARD 3,608,156 Patented Sept. 28, 1971 3,608,156 LABEL HOLDING AND DISPENSING DEVICE Gus Graham Ward, Fayetteville, N.C., assignor to Rohm and Haas Company, Philadelphia, Pa. Filed Apr. 22, 1969, Ser. No. 818,348 Int. Cl. A44b 21/00 US. Cl. 24-81B Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The device is of one-piece construction and is formed of spring steel provided with a thermoplastic coating. The main body portion of the device has an attaching portion at one end thereof comprising a plurality of spaced resilient hook-shaped portions adapted to be connected to an associated spinning sleeve. A holding leg extends from the opposite end of the main body portion and is resiliently biased toward the main body portion for holding labels between the holding leg and the main body portion. This holding leg is provided with a slot so that a persons finger can engage the labels to dispense the labels, and the end of the holding leg extends laterally so as to permit the holding leg to be readily moved away from the main body portion.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The device of the present invention is particularly adapted to hold and dispense labels in the form of identification discs which are commonly employed in the textile industry for identifying yarns.

The yarn is wound upon a spinning sleeve, and the yarn is conveyed through various yarn production stages on the spinning sleeve. From time to time portions of the yarn are removed from the spinning sleeve and placed upon other suitable means such as pirns or the like.

When the yarn is transferred from the spinning sleeve to a pirn or other devices, it is necessary to identify the yarn so transferred, and accordingly, it is desirable to provide identification labels on the spinning sleeve which can be readily dispensed for attachment to a pirn or the like thereby preventing yarn mix problems.

The method commonly employed at the present time for conveying identification discs along with yarn in a textile mill is to secure the discs to the inside wall of the spinning sleeve with adhesive tape. Since the identification discs are carried along with the spinning sleeve and can be removed when desired, the possibility of improper identification is appreciably reduced. However, this type of prior art arrangement has proven to be unsatisfactory since the identification discs are often lost or intermixed because the adhesive tape willnot properly adhere to the oily spinning sleeves.

Molded plastic carriers have also been used, but this type of carrier is relatively heavy and diflicult to handle. Furthermore, such molded plastic carriers have a relatively large initial cost and are not sufiiciently durable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention comprises a label holding and dispensing device of one-piece construction which is formed of spring steel provided with a thermoplasitc coating. The thermoplastic coating is adapted to resist corrosion and is not adversely affected by the heat and humidity conditions to which the device may be subjected at the various yarn production stages. Furthermore, the thermoplastic coating provides a smooth surface such that the identification discs may be readily dispensed therefrom.

The device includes a main body portion having a resilient attaching portion at one end thereof so that the device can be readily attached and held in place on a spinning sleeve. The attaching portion is of such a construction that the device can be removed with ease when so desired and yet ensures that the device will stay in place on an associated spinning sleeve throughout the various manufacturing stages.

A holding leg extends from the opposite end of the main body portion and is resiliently biased toward the main body portion to hold identification discs or labels securely in place between the main body portion and the holding leg.

A slot is formed in the holding leg so that the labels can be readily dispensed by inserting ones finger through such slot to slide one of the labels from the device whereupon it may be attached to a pirn or the like.

The holding leg includes a laterally extending end portion which is adapted to be manually grasped for moving the holding leg away from the main body portion when it is desired to place labels into position in the device.

The use of the holding and dispensing device of the present invention completely eliminates the necessity of employing adhesive tape or the like. The spring steel arrangement is lighter and easier to handle than the molded plastic carriers employed heretofore. Additionally, the initial cost of the present device is much less than that of plastic carriers. Furthermore, the device of the present invention is more durable and will last longer than conventional molded plastic carriers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a top perspective view illustrating the device of the present invention mounted upon a spinning sleeve;

FIG. 2 is a top perspective view of the device according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a top view of the device shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 44 of FIG. 3 looking in the direction of the arrows; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 55 of FIG. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view, similar to FIG. 4, except that the labels are shown in an alternative arrangement, i.e., as strips of labels or discs in layers under the holding leg.

Referring now to the drawing wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional spinning take-up sleeve 10 having a body of yarn 12 disposed thereabout. A label holding and dispensing device according to the present invention is indicated generally by reference numeral 14 and is illustrated as being mounted in operative position upon the spinning sleeve.

The device of the present invention is of one-piece construction and is formed of flat spring steel bent into the finished configuration hereinafter described. The spring steel is provided with a coating of a thermoplastic substance such as nylon or polyvinyl chloride. Alternatively, the coating may comprise a thermosetting resin, for example, one of the urea-formaldehyde or phenolformaldehyde resins.

The device includes an attaching, portion indicated generally by reference numeral 24 at one end of the body portion. This attaching portion includes three spaced resilient generally hook- shaped portions 26, 28 and 30 which are formed on an arc corresponding to the diameter of the associated spinning sleeve so that these attaching portions are adapted to be clamped to the spinning sleeve. It will be understood that the lower ends of these hook-shaped resilient portions are spaced from the body portion a distance less than the thickness of the spinning sleeve so that the attaching portion is adapted to be tightly clamped on the associated spinning sleeve wall.

It should be understood that the curved cross-sectional configuration of the main body portion is preferably such that it is adapted to conform to the inner diameter of the associated spinning sleeve so that it will be snugly held in place thereagainst. It should be further understood that while the hook- shaped portions 26, 23, and 30 are shown in 'FIG. 2 as being spaced apart from one another, these elements can be merged into one continuous hook, particularly in the case of narrow label holding and dispensing devices.

The device includes a holding leg 40 which is interconnected with the main body portion by a resilient bight portion 42 which normally biases the holding leg 40 toward the main body portion .20. As seen in FIG. 5, the holding leg 40 also has a curved cross-sectional configuration substantially complementary to that of the main body portion 20.

An elongated slot 44 is formed through the holding leg 40 for receiving a persons finger so that identification discs may be dispensed from the device. The outer end portion 48 of the holding leg 40 extends laterally from the device at substantially an angle a of approximately 45 with respect to the associated holding leg as will be seen most clearly in FIG. 4. This laterally extending end portion is adapted to be manually grasped for moving the holding leg away from the main body portion so that identification discs may be inserted in place therebetween.

A staok of identification discs is indicated generally by reference numeral 50. These discs may be of any construction, and in a typical example may comprise small discs formed of paper having suitable indicia thereon for identifying the yarn. These labels or discs may be provided with a pressure-sensitive adhesive or other suitable substance for readily attaching the labels to a pirn or the like when dispensed from the device.

It is apparent that when the device is in the assembled position illustrated in FIG. 1, it is adapted to hold a plurality of labels in place within the interior of an associated spinning sleeve. When it is desired to subsequently dispense one of the labels from the stack of labels, a persons finger is inserted through the slot 44, and the top-most label in the stack of labels may be slid out of the device for use as desired.

Alternatively, instead of stacking the labels singularly, they may be arranged in strip form in one or more layers as shown in FIG. 6. When it is desired to dispense one of the labels or discs, the top-most strip is advanced out of the device by the use of a persons finger (usually the thumb) which is inserted through slot 44. Individual labels or discs are then removed from the strip; this is readily facilitated by the use of a strip in which the labels are joined to one another in an easily separable manner, i.e., as by perforations. After the top-most strip is used up, the next succeeding strip may be advanced and labels removed therefrom in a similar manner.

As the spinning sleeve proceeds through the various manufacturing stages, the labels are removed one at a time until all of the identification discs have been dispensed. The device is then detached from the spinning sleeve and returned to the spinning area for reuse.

As this invention may be embodied in several forms Without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof, the present embodiment is therefore illustrative and not restrictive, and since the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims, all changes that fall Within the metes and bounds of the claims or that form their functional as well as conjointly cooperative equivalents are therefore intended to be embraced by those claims.

I claim:

1. A yarn package comprising a sleeve having a generally cylindrical end portion, a label-holding and dispensing device disposed within said sleeve, the device having a narrow main body, resilient hook-like means at one end of said main body to resiliently hold the device to the sleeve, and a holding leg extending from the opposite end of said main body towards the first-mentioned end and resiliently biased towards said main body to hold labels between the leg and the main body, said holding leg having a slot formed therethrough of sufiicient size to permit engagement of the labels by a persons finger.

2. A yarn package according to claim 1 wherein said narrow main body of said label holding and dispensing device has a curved, cross-sectional configuration and said holding leg has a substantially complementary curved cross-sectional configuration.

3. As an article of manufacture, a label holding and dispensing device of one-piece construction comprising a narrow main body having a curved cross-sectional configuration, resilient hook-like means at one end of said main body adapted to resiliently attach the device to a spinning sleeve, a resilient holding leg extending from the opposite end of said main body toward the firstmentioned end and being resiliently biased towards said main body to hold labels between the leg and the main body, said holding leg having a slot formed therethrough of sufiicient size to permit engagement of the labels by a persons finger and having a curved cross-sectional configuration that is substantially complementary to that of the narrow main body.

4. A device as defined in claim 3 wherein said hooklike means comprises a plurality of spaced resilient hookshaped portions.

5. An article of manufacture according to claim 3 wherein the hook-like means is a hook-shaped resilient extension at one end of the main body, is substantially shorter than the holding leg at the other end of the main body, and is disposed on the side of the main body opposite that to which the holding leg is adjacent.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,857,488 5/1932. Weeks 24259PC 2,306,174 12/1942 Mallory 24-81PC 2,411,053 11/1946 Ornsteen 24 81McX 2,478,376 8/1949 n8 Swart 24259PCUX 3,088,268 5/1963 Holschlag 6t al. 57 1s5 3,163,385 12/1964 Lazan 24-81BX 3,438,604 4/1'969 Spicer 2481XR FOREIGN PATENTS 1,124,208 6/1956 France 24-81B DONALD A. GRIFFIN, Primary Examiner

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