WO2016063041A1

WO2016063041A1 - Stationery tag

Info

Publication number: WO2016063041A1
Application number: PCT/GB2015/053129
Authority: WO
Inventors: Joseph Nathan James MCCORMICK
Original assignee: Mccormick Joseph Nathan James
Priority date: 2014-10-24
Filing date: 2015-10-20
Publication date: 2016-04-28
Also published as: GB2531603B; GB2531603A; GB201418964D0

Abstract

A stationery tag (10) for connecting together a bundle (20) of sheets of paper or the like having a hole (25) punched therethrough is made of a rigid plastics material and comprises a pair of substantially rigid elongate cross bars (14) connected together at intermediate points between their ends by a longer and more flexible stem (12). The tag has an advantage over conventional treasury tags in that the relative rigidity of the stem (12) enables the tag to be pushed easily through bundles of sheets having a thickness substantially greater than the length of the cross bars. The tag is preferably injection moulded from a thermoplastic material, the point of injection preferably corresponding to the approximate mid-point of the stem, thereby imparting a slight weakening at that point to enable the tax to be broken at that point if desired.

Description

STATIONERY TAG

This invention relates to a tag for securing together bundles of items such as sheets of paper.

Bundles of paper such as documents or correspondence can be secured together in numerous ways such as by staples or split pins. Thicker bundles can be more conveniently secured together for example by means of treasury tags.

A conventional treasury tag comprises a short piece of string, typically 5 to 12 cm in length, having secured to each end a rigid bar, usually made from a flat strip of metal crimped around the end of the string in such a way that the string extends from the centre of the bar. The tag can then be used to secure together a bundle of papers through which a hole has been punched, the bar at one end of the tag being pushed longitudinally through the hole, drawing the string after it, so that in the secured position the bars at each end of the tag extend transversely to the string and, being substantially longer than the diameter of the hole, cannot be pulled through the hole in either direction to release the papers unless one bar is deliberately threaded back through the hole in its longitudinal direction.

One disadvantage of such treasury tags is that it is difficult to use them to secure bundles of paper that are thicker than the length of the bars at the ends of the tags, since a bar cannot be pushed right through the hole except by using an implement that is longer and thinner than the hole, the string being too limp for this purpose. The tags are also fairly complicated to make, the process involving assembly of three different components.

There is therefore a need for a treasury tag that is cheap and easy to make and can be threaded through bundles of paper thicker than the end bars of the tag without the use of another implement.

The present invention provides a stationery tag comprising a pair of substantially rigid elongate cross bars connected by a longer and more flexible stem extending between the cross bars and connected thereto at intermediate points between the ends of the cross bars, and preferably substantially at their mid-points, the cross bars extending transversely to the stem, wherein the cross bars and the stem are integrally moulded from a plastics material, the cross bars having a length of at least 1 cm and the stem having a length of at least 2 cm.

The tag of the invention is preferably made by injection moulding of a suitable thermoplastic polymer. Preferred polymers include polyolefins such as polyethylene or polypropylene, nylon, polycarbonate, polystyrene or a copolymer such as acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS).

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the tag is injection moulded with the injection point being at a position on the stem spaced from both cross bars, preferably at approximately the midpoint of the stem. This can impart a slight weakening at the point of injection so that the tag can be broken by pulling with sufficient force and will break at the midpoint of the stem rather than adjacent either of the cross bars. The stem needs to be flexible but robust in the vicinity of the cross bars so as to be bendable to enable an end bar to lie approximately parallel to the stem to enable it to be pushed through a hole punched in a bundle of papers.

The lengths of the stem and the cross bars can be comparable to those of conventional treasury tags, for example 1 .5 to 3 cm for the length of the end bar and 2 to 10 cm, preferably 3 to 8 cm, for the length of the stem.

The end bars may also have a thickness comparable to those of conventional treasury tags, e.g. 2 to 4 mm, but the stem can be considerably thinner, suitably 0.8 to 1 .5 mm, a preferred diameter being approximately 1 mm.

As indicated above, the stem should be sufficiently flexible to enable either cross bar to be bent substantially parallel to the stem but should also have sufficient rigidity so that when a cross bar is pushed into a hole in a bundle of papers, it can be pushed through using the stem, without the stem bending. In this way the tag can be pushed through bundles of paper considerably thicker than those that can be easily connected together with a conventional treasury tag, the theoretical maximum thickness being less than the length of the stem by approximately half the length of one of the cross bars, so that when the trailing bar abuts one side of the paper bundle the leading bar will have emerged from the hole and can revert to its transverse orientation and engage the other side of the bundle.

Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:- Figure 1 is an elevational view of a stationery tag in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is a cross sectional view through a bundle of papers with the tag of the invention being pushed through it and

Figure 3 is a schematic representation of an injection moulding process to make a tag in accordance with the invention.

Referring first to Figure 1 , a stationery tag in accordance with the invention, general ly indicated by 1 0, is made of an injection moulded thermoplastic polymer such as polypropylene, and comprises an elongate stem 12, suitably of circular cross-section with a diameter preferably in a range of 0.8 to 1 .5mm, suitably about 1 mm. At each end of the stem is an elongate cross bar 14, which also may suitably be of cylindrical shape and is connected to the stem at right angles, approximately at the mid-point of the bar. Each cross bar preferably has a length of 1 .5 to 3 cm and the diameter is preferably 2 to 3 mm. The length ratio of the stem to the cross-bars is preferably in a range of 2: 1 to 4: 1 .

At approximately the mid-point 15 of the tag is a slight weakening, that is to say a slight reduction in tensile strength, as a result of this point being used as the injection point when moulding the tag. This has the advantage that, although the tag is strong enough to hold a bundle of papers even for example if the bundle is picked-up using one of the cross bars of the tag, if pulled hard enough it will break at this mid-point to release the bundle.

Referring now to Figure 2, a bundle of papers 20, shown in cross section, has a hole 25 punched through it to accommodate a tag 10. The tag is pushed through the bundle by inserting one of the cross bars 14 and pushing it through the hole as far as it can be pushed using one finger. The cross bar can then be pushed right through the hole simply by holding the other cross bar and pushing. The stem 12 of the tag has sufficient flexibility to enable a cross bar to be bent to a configuration almost parallel to the stem, this bending taking place adjacent the cross bar in question, but is sufficiently rigid then to enable the bent end to be pushed through the rest of the hole 25 without the stem buckling. Once through the hole, the cross bar will revert to its transverse position simply by virtue of the resilience of the stem, so that both cross bars extend transversely to the axis of the hole and cannot be pulled through it in either direction simply by pulling on the tag. The tag can be removed only by reversing the process described above or by breaking the stem with a sharp pull.

Referring now to Figure 3, a tag 10 in accordance with the invention is injection moulded in a two-part mould 30 having an injection bore 32 located at approximately the mid-point 15 of the tag being moulded. Molten thermoplastic material 36 can be injected using a conventional injection screw 35 of which only a part is shown.

There can thus be made a stationery tag that can be produced cheaply in large quantities, that can secure bundles of papers up to several centimetres thick, depending on the length of the tag, is sufficiently robust to hold bundles of documents together with a degree of rough handling but which can when required be broken to release the bundle.

A further advantage of the tags of the invention is that they are easier to pick out one by one from a container than are conventional string-based treasury tags that tend to clump together.

Claims

1 . A tag for connecting together a bundle of sheets of paper or the like, comprising a pair of substantially rigid elongate cross bars connected together by a longer and more flexible stem extending between the cross bars and connected thereto at points intermediate the ends of the cross bars, the cross bars extending transversely to the stem, wherein the cross bars and the stem are integrally moulded from a plastics material, the cross bars having a length of at least 1 cm and the stem having a length of at least 2 cm.

2. A tag accord ing to claim 1 made by injection moulding of a thermoplastic polymer.

3. A tag according to claim 2 wherein the thermoplastic polymer is selected from polyolefins, nylon, polycarbonate, polystyrene and copolymers thereof.

4. A tag according to claim 3 made from polypropylene.

5. A tag according to any preceding claim having a weakening of the stem, at an intermediate position between the cross bars.

6. A tag according to claim 5 wherein the position of the weakening corresponds to an injection point during injection moulding of the tag.

7. A tag according to any preceding claim wherein the end bars are 1 .5 to 3 cm in length.

8. A tag according to any preceding claim wherein the stem is from 2 to 10 cm in length.

9. A tag according to claim 8 wherein the stem is 3 to 8 cm in length.

10. A tag according to any preceding claim wherein the cross bars have a thickness of 2 to 4 mm.

1 1 . A tag according to any preceding claim wherein the stem has a thickness of 0.8 to 1 .5 mm.

12. A method of making a stationery tag comprising a pair of substantially rigid cross bars connected together by a longer and more flexible stem extending therebetween, which comprises injection moulding the tag from a thermoplastic material, the point of injection into the mould corresponding to a position on the stem spaced from both cross bars.