The invention is related, in general, to a garment tag, and in particular to a garment tag to display information about the garment, and more specifically to a readily visible garment tag for attachment to a folded garment arranged for sale in a stack of like folded and labeled garments.
Labels and hangtags are well known for the general purpose of identifying various features of garments. However, such labels and hangtags are commonly affixed to the garment in such a manner and location that the information appearing thereon, and even the label or hangtag itself, is usually hidden when the garments are folded and stacked for storage or display. Many types of garments, including shirts, are displayed in stacks of like garments on retail shelves and displays.
In the case of shirts, information about the shirt is commonly displayed on a tag sewn onto the inside of the shirt near the collar and on a hangtag. Moreover, when shopping for such shirts, consumers are often presented with a stack of folded shirts, with the collar and front of each shirt facing up with the collar being farthest away from the eye of the consumer. Such stacks are often placed on a shelf, table, rack, or in a cube-type merchandising display arrangement. Alternatively, the shirts, for example, may be stacked as pairs of folded shirts, where a shirt is stacked on top of another shirt such that the collar of one shirt is opposite from the collar of an adjoining shirt.
By virtue of such stacked configurations, the aforementioned collar tag and/or hangtag are often hidden. As a result, a consumer searching for a particular size of shirt, from among the stack of folded shirts, for example, would have to lift one or more shirts up from the stack in order to access a particular shirt to view the sizing information on the collar tag or hang tag. For example, in searching for a particular size of shirt in the stack, the consumer may spend considerable time and effort removing shirts from a stack, while also inadvertently disturbing the stack, thereby making searching more difficult for other consumers, and requiring the merchant to expend resources to frequently monitor, straighten, and reorganize the stack of shirts.
It is desirable to have a garment tag which will permit a manufacturer or retailer to store and/or display a stack of a plurality of folded garments while maintaining the visibility and legibility of certain garment information appearing on a portion of the garment tag which remains visible at least while the garments are stacked. A garment tag is provided that includes a band having a first opening for attaching to a first fastener of a garment and a second opening for attaching to a second fastener of the garment, the band having a first display portion that displays printed information regarding the garment at a fold in the garment when the garment is in a folded state. The first and second fasteners may be buttons and the first and second openings may be slots. The first display portion may be defined by two creases in the band, the creases being spaced apart by the approximate width of the garment fold. The band may also be pre-folded at the creases.
The garment tag can be made of at least one of paper, paperboard, cardboard, plastic, woven fabric, ribbon, and card stock.
The band may also be configured to be formed substantially in a circular shape, wherein a portion of the band between the fold and the first fastener is substantially semicircular, and another portion of the band between the fold and the second fastener is substantially semicircular. The printed information may display information related to at least one of a: scanning bar code, garment size, brand identifier, manufacturer, garment item number, garment care information, recycling symbol, garment identifier, garment color, garment fit type, and garment style. The garment tag may further include a radio-frequency identification (RFID) chip.
The band openings may be configured to be attached to the fasteners when the garment is in an unfolded state, and wherein the garment is subsequently folded. Moreover, the band openings may be configured to be attached to the fasteners subsequent to the garment being folded. The band also may have a second display portion located between the first opening and the first display portion, and may also have a third display portion located between the second opening and the first display portion.
The first and second openings may be positioned proximate to a longitudinal centerline of the band extending through the first, second, and third display portions. The first and second openings may be positioned at proximal and distal ends of the band. The first and second openings may be slots configured to extend in at least one of the following directions: substantially parallel to the longitudinal centerline, and substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal centerline. The first display portion is positioned approximately midway between the proximal and distal ends of the band.
In another aspect of the invention, a garment tag is provided that includes a band having a first fastener for attaching into a first opening of a garment and a second fastener for attaching into a second opening of the garment, the band having a portion that displays printed information regarding the garment at a fold in the garment when the garment is in a folded state.
In another aspect of the invention, a garment tag is provided that includes a band having a first adhesive area for attaching to a first area of a garment and a second adhesive area for attaching to a second area of the garment, the band having a portion that displays printed information regarding the garment at a fold in the garment when the garment is in a folded state. The first adhesive area and the second adhesive area may include at least one of a permanent adhesive and a non-permanent adhesive. The first adhesive area and the second adhesive area may also include a removable backing that can be removed to expose the adhesive.
In another aspect of the invention, a tagged garment is provided that includes a garment having a first fastener and a second fastener; and a band having a first opening attached to the first fastener of the garment and a second opening attached to the second fastener of the garment. The band has a first display portion that displays printed information regarding the garment at a fold in the garment when the garment is in a folded state.
In yet another aspect of the invention a plurality of tagged garments arranged in a stack is provided. Each garment in the stack has a first fastener and a second fastener, and a band having a first opening attached to the first fastener of the garment and a second opening attached to the second fastener of the garment. The band has a first display portion that displays printed information regarding the garment at a fold in the garment when the garment is in a folded state.
In another aspect of the invention a method of making a garment tag is provided. The method includes the steps of making a band, forming a first opening at a proximal end of the band, forming a second opening at a distal end of the band, creating two creases in the band, the creases spaced apart by the approximate width of a garment when the garment is in a folded state, and applying printed information to a display portion of the band, the display portion of the band located between the two creases.
In another aspect of the invention, a method of applying a garment tag to a garment is provided, the garment tag comprising a band having first and second openings respectively positioned at proximal and distal ends of the band. The band further has a first display portion that displays printed information regarding the garment at a fold in the garment when the garment is in a folded state. The method includes the steps of attaching the first opening to a first fastener of the garment and attaching the second opening to a second fastener of the garment. The method may further include the step of folding the garment so that the display portion of the garment tag folds over the fold in the garment. The method may also further include the step of folding the garment so that the display portion of the garment tag covers at least a portion of the fold in the garment.
Moreover, the method may further include the step of stacking two or more folded garments, each garment having a garment tag applied thereto.
The shirt 2 is folded, such as for retail display, with the collar 3 appearing on a front side 5 and top side 6 of the folded shirt 2. A series of spaced and longitudinally aligned buttons 4 are attached to the shirt 2 and extend downwardly from the collar 3 toward and around the bottom side 7 and up a rear side 8 of the folded shirt 2 (
The garment tag 1 is comprised of a band 9 that is configured to attach to at least first and second buttons 4A and 4B, respectively, of the folded shirt 2. As shown in the embodiment in
The band 9 shown in
The band 9 also includes a second longitudinally extending planar portion 9B extending at least from a second end 11 of the band 9 along the second side 8 of the folded shirt 2, the second attachment means being located proximate to the second end 11. For example, a second slot 15 (
As shown in
The length of the first, second, and third portions, 9A-9C, of the band 9 may be different from each other. As shown in
The formed garment tag 1, shown in
The garment tag 1 shown in
The first and second attachment means, proximate to the corresponding first and second ends, 10 and 11, respectively, are preferably configured to attach to the corresponding first and second buttons, and more preferably, to corresponding button shanks of those buttons. As shown in
The garment tag 1 described above, may be attached to the folded shirt 2 by inserting the first and second buttons 4A and 4B into the respective first and second slots 14 and 15, such that the button shank of each corresponding button is disposed in the entrant regions 14A and 15A thereof, and translating the button shanks toward and into the corresponding enlarged apertures 14B and 15B from the entrant regions 14A and 15A. The garment tag 1 can be retained on the button shanks by the enlarged apertures 14B and 15B at least until a sale of the labeled folded shirt 2 to the consumer, after which the consumer may detach the garment tag 1 prior to using the garment at least by reversing the steps of attaching the garment tag 1 described above.
Various modifications of the embodiments of the garment tag 1 are possible. For example, it will be appreciated that the band 9 may, in alternative embodiments, be arranged to extend around and at least partially cover one or more other sides or folds of the shirt without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, the garment tag may be configured to extend around the top side 6 of the folded shirt 2 so as to wrap around the collar of the shirt 2. Such an embodiment may be useful for displaying indicia on an outer surface of a portion of the garment tag covering the top side 6 proximate to the collar in a case where the labeled shirts are displayed with the top side 6 of the folded shirt 2 viewable by the consumer in a stack of labeled shirts, such as when the shirts are alternately stacked as described earlier. Moreover, while the band 9 has been shown as extending substantially parallel to axis A-A, in at least one alternative embodiment, the band 9 may be configured to extend at an angle with respect to the longitudinal axis A-A. Modifications of the first and second slots 14 and 15 of the band 9 are also possible. For example, in at least one alternate embodiment, the slots 14 and 15 may be configured to omit the enlarged apertures, 14B and 15B, at the end of the respective slots 14 and 15. In such an embodiment, friction between the button shank and the slot, as well as friction between one of the buttons 4A and 4B, the garment tag 1, and the folded shirt 2, facilitate retaining the garment tag 1 in the first and second slots 14 and 15, respectively.
Another embodiment of the garment tag is shown in
While the garment tag 1 has been shown and described above as attached and presented with a folded garment (e.g., a shirt 2), in another embodiment, the garment tag 1 can be configured to be attached to an unfolded garment 2, such as an unfolded shirt shown in
In another alternate embodiment shown in
An alternate embodiment of the garment tag 1 shown in
While the garment tag 1 has been shown in
Moreover, while in a preferred embodiment the garment tag 1 includes openings for attaching to buttons 4A and 4B of the folded shirt 2, in alternate embodiments, the openings may also be configured to attach to other types of fasteners, including, but on limited to, various toggles, clips, hooks, snap closures, and magnetic closures. Also, the attachments may be configured to attach to connections, such as for example, thread, between such fasteners (e.g., buttons) and the folded garment 2.
In yet another embodiment shown in
As shown in
While the present invention has been described with respect to what is presently considered to be the preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. To the contrary, the invention is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
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