Patent Application
20150135570
The present invention relates generally to hanging tags, and more particularly to a stylized gift tag conveying a celebratory message which can be hung from a bottle or other such device having an elongated neck.
The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Gift giving is a year round occurrence, and one of the most popular gifts exchanged between adults is alcohol. Whether it is a bottle of wine, champagne, liquor or beer, nothing conveys friendship, love or concern better than a good bottle of spirits. In this regard, gifts are typically accompanied by a personal message from the gift giver, which most often consists of conventional greeting cards having pre-printed celebratory messages.
Although satisfactory for use with gifts that are enclosed within a protective outer container, greeting cards are not ideally suited for inclusion with bottled gifts. This is because, the card and the bottle can become easily separated, and the only way to secure the two items together is to utilize an adhesive material such as tape. Unfortunately, whenever the card is taped onto a bottle, the resulting amalgamation is aesthetically unpleasing, and the tape itself can cause damage to the bottle label, thereby decreasing the value of the bottle.
Another popular choice is to utilize a gift bag wherein the bottle and the gift card can be placed inside the bag and presented together. Such a process is popular because it removes the need to physically adhere the card to the bottle, and provides a convenient means for carrying both items together. However, placing a bottle within a gift bag severely limits the presentation aspect of the bottle label. Moreover, the widespread use of gift bags, greeting cards and greeting card envelopes is environmentally unfriendly, as the disposal of these onetime-use items generates millions of tons of waste which ends up in landfills and oceans across the globe.
Accordingly, there remains a need for a stylized hanging gift tag which can be easily secured to a bottle without causing damage to the same, and that does not suffer from the drawbacks of the above noted devices.
The present invention is directed to a stylized hanging gift tag for attachment to bottles. One embodiment of the present invention can include a decorative main body that is adorned with indicia that includes shapes, colors, patterns and at least one celebratory message. An elongated tether can be secured to the top end of the main body and can terminate into an expandable bottle attachment loop, and a decorative chain can be disposed along the bottom portions of the main body. The device can be hung around the neck of a bottle via the expandable loop, and the chain can function to prevent the device from spinning or rotating.
Another embodiment of the present invention can include a plurality of beaded elements disposed along one or more of the chain, the tether and the loop. The beaded elements functioning to enhance the aesthetics of the device.
This summary is provided merely to introduce certain concepts and not to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter.
Presently preferred embodiments are shown in the drawings. It should be appreciated, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.
While the specification concludes with claims defining the features of the invention that are regarded as novel, it is believed that the invention will be better understood from a consideration of the description in conjunction with the drawings. As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention which can be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the inventive arrangements in virtually any appropriately detailed structure. Further, the terms and phrases used herein are not intended to be limiting but rather to provide an understandable description of the invention.
Identical reference numerals are used for like elements of the invention or elements of like function. For the sake of clarity, only those reference numerals are shown in the individual figures which are necessary for the description of the respective figure. For purposes of this description, the terms “upper,” “bottom,” “right,” “left,” “front,” “vertical,” “horizontal,” and derivatives thereof shall relate to the invention as oriented in
The stylized hanging gift tag described herein can be sold in retail stores that sell bottles such as alcohol, perfume, and the like which are traditionally given as gifts. Although described for use with bottles, the inventive concepts described herein are not to be construed as limiting in any manner. To this end, the below described device can be utilized with any instrument having a shape and dimension suitable for receiving the device in the manner hereinafter described.
As shown in
As further illustrated in
The indicia 25 can be provided onto the main body in accordance with any known technique and can be imprinted thereon, inlaid onto the main body 20 or can be provided as a raised/protruding element that radiates outward from the main body 20, so as to give a three dimensional effect.
As shown in
Although described above as including a plurality of decorative beads, other embodiments are also contemplated. For example, the elastic core can include a coating so as to give the illusion that it is metal. Additionally, each of the tether, loop section and decorative chain can be secured together or onto the main body utilizing any number of known techniques such as adhesives, or via a plurality of openings through which the elements are securely tied. Moreover, although described above as a chain, element 40 can be constructed from any number of different materials thereby forming a rope or string element suitable for functioning as described above.
As shown in
Although described above as including construction materials such as plastic, beads and elastic, the inventive concepts described herein can be incorporated into an extremely high end gift tag. In this regard, one embodiment of the device 10 can include a main body that is constructed from, or lined with precious metal such as gold or platinum, for example; one or more of the chain 40, tether 31 and loop 35 can be constructed from gold or silver, and a plurality of precious or semiprecious stones can function as the decorative beads 34. Such features being appropriate for adornment onto rare or expensive bottles, for example.
As described herein, one or more elements of the hanging gift tag device 10 can be secured together utilizing any number of known attachment means such as, for example, screws, glue, compression fittings and welds, among others. Moreover, although the above embodiments have been described as including separate individual elements, the inventive concepts disclosed herein are not so limiting. To this end, one of skill in the art will recognize that one or more individual elements may be formed together as one continuous element, either through manufacturing processes, such as welding, casting, or molding, or through the use of a singular piece of material milled or machined with the aforementioned components forming identifiable sections thereof.
As to a further description of the manner and use of the present invention, the same should be apparent from the above description. Accordingly, no further discussion relating to the manner of usage and operation will be provided.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. The description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.
