Fastener assembly and method of making the same

A fastener assembly for use in tagging an article of commerce and in detecting the unauthorized removal of the article from a store or other business establishment. The fastener assembly comprises a plastic fastener comprising an elongated filament having a first end and a second end, a transverse bar disposed at the first end of the elongated filament and a paddle disposed at the second end of the elongated filament. The paddle is shaped to include a recess. The fastener assembly also comprises an electronic article surveillance (EAS) security device which is disposed within the recess of the paddle. A cover is mounted over the recess so as to trap the security device within the paddle. A method of manufacturing the fastener assembly can be accomplished by continuously molding a length of fastener stock to form a plastic fastener having a recess formed therein, disposing a security device within the recess of the plastic fastener and mounting a cover over the recess so as to trap the security device within the fastener.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates generally to a fastener assembly and more 
specifically to a fastener assembly which includes a plastic fastener 
having a cross-bar at one end of an elongated filament. 
Plastic fasteners of the type commonly used, for example, to attach 
merchandise tags to articles of commerce, such as articles of clothing, 
are well known and are widely used in the retail industry. Typically, such 
fasteners comprise an elongated member having a first end shaped to define 
a cross-bar (also commonly referred to as a "T-bar"), a second end and a 
thin filament portion interconnecting the cross-bar and the second end. In 
use, the cross-bar is inserted first through a tag and then through a 
desired piece of fabric. The second end is appropriately sized and shaped 
to keep the tag from being pulled off the filament portion. 
Typically, such fasteners are mass-produced into one of two different forms 
known as fastener stock. One type of fastener stock comprises a plurality 
of fasteners joined together at their respective cross-bars by an 
orthogonally disposed runner bar. The other type of fastener stock 
comprises a plurality of fasteners arranged in an end-to-end alignment, 
the ends of successive fasteners being joined together by severable 
connectors so as to form a length of continuously connected fastener 
stock. 
Both types of fastener stock are commonly mass-produced through a process 
of continuous molding. As an example of continuous molding, there is 
disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,738 to Russel a method of continuous 
extrusion molding of objects using a rotatable molding wheel with 
peripheral orifices in accordance with the objects to be molded. Plastic 
is extruded upon the periphery of the wheel and a knife in substantially 
elipitical contact is used to skive film from the objects being molded. 
Following molding, selected portions of the objects can be selectively 
distended. Suitable distention can be achieved using diverging sprocket 
wheels. When the continuously molded objects are fasteners with 
filament-like portions, the diverging sprocket wheels can be used to 
stretch the filamentary portions and reorient their molecules. 
The dispensing of individual fasteners from fastener stock into desired 
articles of commerce is typically accomplished using an apparatus commonly 
referred to as a tagger gun. Typically, a tagger gun includes (a) a hollow 
needle having a longitudinal slot extending across its length; (b) means 
for separating an individual cross-bar from the remainder of the fastener 
stock; and (c) means for feeding the individual cross-bar through the 
hollow, slotted needle and the desired article of commerce. Connections, 
if any, between the ends of adjacent fasteners are severed by pulling the 
tagger gun away from the article of commerce after the cross-bar of one of 
the fasteners has been inserted thereinto. 
Although plastic fasteners of the type described above work well in the 
attachment of merchandise tags to articles of commerce, it is nonetheless 
known that certain unscrupulous consumers, on occasion, engage in the 
practice of "ticket switching" wherein the price tag for a low-priced item 
is switched with the price tag for a desired high-priced item using the 
plastic fastener from either the low-priced or the high-priced item. 
Various approaches to this problem have been devised, including the 
implementation of tamper-resistant plastic fasteners. 
Although unrelated to the use of plastic fasteners, another common problem 
suffered by merchants is the theft of their merchandise. One approach that 
has been adopted by many merchants is the attachment of theft-detection 
devices, such as electronic article surveillance (EAS) markers, to their 
articles of commerce. Such devices, which are typically quite large and 
conspicuous in appearance, include an activating device such as a magnet, 
a pair of elongated strips of magnetizable material, a miniature 
electronic circuit, a radio frequency transmitter/receiver or the like 
which may be releasably attached to the article. The activating device is 
constructed so as to cause an audible signal or alarm to be emitted from a 
detector if the article is moved past the detector. 
As an example of one type of EAS device, there is disclosed in U.S. Pat. 
No. 4,745,401 to Montean a marker for use in radio frequency electronic 
article surveillance systems where the marker contains an 
inductive-capacitive resonant circuit and is made reversibly deactivatable 
and reactivatable by the addition of a piece of magnetic material and 
means, such as a piece of permanently magnetizable material, for biasing 
the first material to prevent alternating fields induced therein from 
changing the magnetic state of that material, thereby preventing 
hysteresis losses from causing a lowering of the Q of the resonant circuit 
below the point of detection. 
As an example of another type of EAS device, there is disclosed in U.S. 
Pat. No. 5,357,240 to Sanford et al an electronic article surveillance 
(EAS) tag comprising a tag body having a central region, side wall regions 
connected to and integral with the central region and flap regions 
connected to and integral with the side wall regions. The tag body has 
fold lines at the junctions of the side wall regions and the flap regions. 
By folding the tag body along these fold lines and, in the course of the 
folding procedure, inserting a first magnetic element, a substantially 
closed box-like housing with the first magnetic element loosely housed 
therein is formed. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is an object of the present invention to provide a device for use in 
detecting the unauthorized removal of an article of commerce from a store 
or other business establishment. 
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for 
making such a device. 
Accordingly, there is provided a fastener assembly for use in tagging an 
article of commerce, said fastener assembly comprising a plastic fastener 
comprising an elongated filament having a first end and a second end, a 
transverse bar disposed at the first end of the elongated filament and a 
paddle disposed at the second end of the elongated filament, the paddle 
having a recess, and a security device disposed within the recess of the 
paddle. 
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of 
manufacturing a fastener assembly, comprising the steps of providing a 
plastic fastener having a recess, disposing a security device within the 
recess of the plastic fastener, and mounting a cover over the recess so as 
to trap the security device within the fastener. 
Additional objects, as well as features and advantages, of the present 
invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and 
in part will be obvious from the description or may be learned by practice 
of the invention. In the description, reference is made to the 
accompanying drawings which form a part thereof and in which is shown by 
way of illustration an embodiment for practicing the invention. The 
embodiment will be described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled 
in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that 
other embodiments may be utilized and that structural changes may be made 
without departing from the scope of the invention. The following detailed 
description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the 
scope of the present invention is best defined by the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, there are shown enlarged top and front 
views, respectively, of a fastener assembly constructed according to the 
teachings of the present invention, the fastener assembly being 
represented generally by reference numeral 11. 
Fastener assembly 11 comprises a fastener 12 generally of the type which is 
commonly used to attach a tag to an article of clothing. Fastener 12 is 
preferably constructed of a plastic material such as polypropylene or 
nylon through molding techniques which will be described in detail below. 
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, fastener 12 is an elongated unitary plastic 
member shaped to define a thin, flexible filament 13, a transverse 
cross-bar 15 and an enlarged paddle 17, thin filament 13 interconnecting 
cross-bar 15 to paddle 17. 
Cross-bar 15 is connected at its approximate midpoint to one end of thin 
filament 13 to form a T-shaped configuration and is appropriately sized 
and shaped to be dispensed through an article of clothing using a tagger 
gun having a hollow slotted needle. Although cross-bar 15 is shown as 
having a cross-section which is semicircular in shape, it is to be 
understood that the cross-section of cross-bar 15 could be of alternative 
shapes, such as circular or ovaloid, without departing from the spirit of 
the present invention. 
Paddle 17 is connected to the opposite end of thin filament 13 and is 
appropriately sized and shaped to prevent flexible filament 13 from being 
pulled completely through the article of clothing through which cross-bar 
15 has previously been inserted. Enlarged paddle 17 is generally 
rectangular in shape and includes a rectangular recess 19 having an open 
top. Recess 19 is defined by a bottom wall 20-1 and four sidewalls 20-2, 
20-3, 20-4 and 20-5. 
Fastener assembly 11 further comprises a security device 21 disposed within 
recess 19 of fastener 12 which detects against the unauthorized removal of 
the article of clothing to which fastener assembly 11 is attached from a 
store or other business establishment. Security device 21 is positioned on 
top of bottom wall 20-1 and held within recess 19 of paddle 17 by a cover 
23 which is mountable over recess 19. Cover 23 is constructed of any 
material suitable for trapping device 21 within recess 19, such as a 
sealing laminate or a piece of adhesive-backed paper. 
Security device 21 may be any well known electronic article surveillance 
(EAS) tag or marker which is commonly used to prevent shoplifting and 
similar unauthorized removal of articles from a controlled area. For 
example, security device 21 may comprise an activating device such as a 
magnet, an elongated strip of magnetizable material, a miniature 
electronic circuit or a radio frequency (RF) transmitter/receiver or the 
like. Security device 21 can be any EAS tag which is small enough to be 
disposed within fastener 13. 
Security device 21 can be, but is not limited to, EAS tags which make use 
of electromagnetic fields to prevent shoplifting and similar unauthorized 
removal of articles from a controlled area. Electromagnetic EAS tags are 
well-known in the art and typically comprise at least one strip of 
magnetic material enclosed within a plastic container. In use, the 
magnetic material produces detectable harmonic frequencies in response to 
an interrogation signal. Examples of electromagnetic EAS tags of this type 
are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,357,240 to Sanford et al, U.S. Pat. No. 
5,313,192 to Ho et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,622,543 to Anderson, III et al, 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,510,490 to Anderson, III et al and U.S. Pat. No. 4,510,489 
to Anderson, III et al, all of which are incorporated by reference. 
Electromagnetic EAS tags of the type described above may include an active 
marker (a marker which is detected only when magnetized) or a passive 
marker (a marker which is detected only when demagnetized). Furthermore, 
electromagnetic EAS tags of the type described above may be of the type 
which can be readily activated and deactivated. 
It is to be understood that for the purposes of the present invention, the 
security device 21 disposed within recess 19 can be either an entire 
electromagnetic EAS tag of the type described above or simply one or more 
of its component parts, such as a single elongated strip of magnetizable 
material. 
It is also to be understood that security device 21 is not limited to 
electromagnetic EAS tags. Rather alternative EAS tags may be disposed 
within recess 19 of fastener 12. For example, security device 21 may be of 
the type that makes use of radio frequency signals, such as an 
inductive-capacitance resonant circuit of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. 
No. 4,745,401 to Montean, which is incorporated herein by reference. 
Referring now to FIG. 5, fastener assembly 11 can be used in an electronic 
article surveillance (EAS) system 31 in the following manner. For 
simplicity, the present discussion of EAS system 31 is limited to a 
fastener assembly 11 which comprises an EAS security device 21 which is 
made of an electromagnetic material. However, it is to be understood that 
system 31 could be used in conjunction with fasteners having the numerous 
alternative types of security devices noted above. 
Using well-known techniques, security device 21 is activated to produce an 
electromagnetic field 33 of a predetermined frequency about fastener 
assembly 11. Fastener assembly 11 is then secured to a desired article of 
clothing (not shown) by inserting cross-bar 13 through the article. 
Preferably a tagger gun is used to insert cross-bar 13 through the 
article. 
A magnetic field sensor 35, which is commonly located at the egress of the 
room where the article is located or in the aisleway adjacent to the 
cashier or check out station, comprises electronic article surveillance 
(EAS) system components of known type. For example, sensor 35 comprises a 
transmitter 37 and a receiver 39. Although transmitter 37 and receiver 39 
are shown as being housed within a single sensor 35, it is to be 
understood that transmitter 37 and receiver 39 could be housed within 
separate units. 
Transmitter 37 of magnetic field sensor 35 produces a constant 
interrogation signal 38 at a particular frequency. Once security device 21 
of fastener assembly 11 is brought in close proximity to transmitter 37, 
electromagnetic field 33 produced by security device 21 will create a 
reradiation signal 40 of interrogation signal 38, signal 40 having a 
different frequency than signal 38. Reradiation signal 40 of interrogation 
signal 38 is subsequently detected by receiver 39 which indicates that 
security device 21 has not been removed or deactivated by the cashier, and 
that the article bearing fastener assembly 11 may not have been paid for 
or properly checked out. Upon detecting reradiation signal 40, receiver 39 
may cause sensor 35 to emit a visual and/or audio signal to notify of the 
potential theft of the article. To preclude sensor 35 from activating the 
alarm, such as if removal of the article is authorized, security 21 can be 
of the type which can be readily deactivated, such as by using a large 
magnetizable device which alters electromagnetic field 33 produced by tag 
21, so as to prevent it from triggering magnetic field sensor 35. 
It should be noted that although security device 21 is shown in FIGS. 1 and 
2 as being mounted within paddle 17 of fastener 12, security device 21 
could alternatively be located in any other portion of fastener 12, such 
as in filament 13 or in cross-bar 15 without departing from the spirit of 
the present invention. 
Referring now to FIG. 6, there is shown a block diagram for a method of 
constructing a plurality of fastener assemblies 11, the method being 
represented generally by reference numeral 41. In the preferred 
embodiment, method 41 is used to construct a plurality of fastener 
assemblies 11 of the type as described above. However, it is to be 
understood that method 41 is not limited to the construction of fastener 
assemblies having the same size and shape as fastener 12. 
Method 41 comprises the following steps. First, a plurality of plastic 
fasteners 12 are manufactured through a process of continuous molding as 
indicated by block 43. Process 43 of continuously molding a supply of 
plastic fastener stock is well known in the art and may be, for example, 
of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,738 to Russel, which is 
herein incorporated by reference. 
Process 43 of continuously molding fastener stock may be accomplished using 
a continuous molding apparatus 45 of the type shown in FIG. 7. Continuous 
molding apparatus 45 comprises an extruder 47, a manifold assembly (also 
commonly referred to as an extrusion die) 49, a manifold mount 51, a 
rotatable molding wheel 53, a skiving knife and hold-down assembly 55, a 
take-off roll 57, transfer rolls 59 and a windup roll 61. 
In use, continuous molding apparatus 45 produces a plurality of plastic 
fasteners in the following manner. Heated plastic is extruded from 
extruder 47 through orifices in manifold assembly 49 and into cavities in 
the periphery of rotating molding wheel 53. The plastic is any 
thermoplastic such as polypropylene. As shown in FIG. 8, molding wheel 53 
has a top surface 53-1, a cavity 53-2 in the shape of fasteners 12 and a 
plurality of rectangular projections 53-3 which protrude up from the 
bottom surface of cavity 53-2 to a level below the surface of top surface 
53-1. After the heated plastic in cavity 53-2 cools, excess is skived by 
assembly 55. The continuously molded fastener stock is then removed from 
wheel 53 by take-off roll 57 and transfer roll 59, stretched if desired by 
a stretching apparatus 60, and wound onto windup roll 61. FIGS. 3 and 4, 
show top and front views, respectively, of one fastener 12 in the fastener 
stock at this point in method 41. It should be noted that projection 53-3 
on wheel 53 serves to produce rectangular recess 19 in paddle 17 of 
fastener 12. 
In the second step of method 41, a security device 21 is disposed within 
recess 19 of each fastener 12 in the fastener stock, the step being 
indicated by block 66 in FIG. 4. FIGS. 9 and 10, show top and front views, 
respectively, of fastener 12 at this point in method 41. 
In the third step of method 41, cover 23 is mounted over recess 19 of each 
fastener 12 in the fastener stock to produce a plurality of fastener 
assemblies 11. 
The embodiment of the present invention described above is intended to be 
merely exemplary and those skilled in the art shall be able to make 
numerous variations and modifications to it without departing from the 
spirit of the present invention. For example, rather than continuously 
molding a plastic fastener which has a recess formed in its paddle, a 
plastic fastener of uniform thickness could be produced and then stamped 
in an additional step to create a plastic fastener which has a recess into 
which the security device can be placed. Similarly, a plastic fastener of 
uniform thickness could be punched in an additional step to create a 
plastic fastener having a hole extending therethrough into which the 
security device can be placed, the security device being trapped within 
the fastener by a pair of covers. All such variations and modifications 
are intended to be within the scope of the present invention as defined in 
the appended claims.