Abstract:
An exemplary decoration hanger of the present disclosure comprises a mounting portion having an adhering surface, and a clamp portion attached to the mounting portion, the clamp portion comprising a mouth configured to receive a part of a decoration and a tongue resiliently biased towards the mouth to retain a part of a decoration in use.

Description:
PRIORITY 
     The present U.S. nonprovisional application is related to, and claims the priority benefit of, UK Patent Application Ser. No. 0910065.2, filed Jun. 12, 2009, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety into this disclosure. 
     BACKGROUND 
     The disclosure of the present application provides a decoration hanger. More specifically, the present disclosure provides an adhesive tag decoration hanger for balloons, tinsel, fairy lights and the like. 
     It is often desirable to hang decorations such as balloons, tinsel, fairy lights and the like in fixed positions on walls, ceilings, doors and the like for decorative effect. Previously, this has been achieved by the use of string, pins or adhesive tapes. Such methods are problematic; string requires an object to tie to, pins can damage surfaces and it is difficult to keep adhesive tape attached to both the decoration and the wall simultaneously. This is particularly true of balloons because the tied neck of the balloon often does not project very far from the balloon body, making it difficult and awkward to use as an anchor point. 
     Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a decoration hanger that overcomes these problems in the prior art. It is an aim of the present disclosure to provide an improved decoration hanger. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY 
     The disclosure of the present application provides various embodiments of decoration hangers. 
     According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a decoration hanger comprising: a mounting portion having an adhering surface, and a clamp portion attached to the mounting portion, the clamp portion comprising a mouth configured to receive a part of a decoration. 
     Preferably the clamp portion is generally planar and the tongue is movable out of, and resiliently biased towards, the plane of the clamp portion. 
     Preferably the mouth comprises a slit running from an edge of the mounting portion to an orifice configured to receive the decoration. More preferably the tongue is formed from material cut to form the orifice. More preferably the orifice has a curved perimeter. More preferably the curved perimeter runs from the slit through at least a 90 degree angle. More preferably the curved perimeter runs from the slit through an approximately 270 degree angle. 
     Preferably the slit and the edge are joined by opposed curved edge portions. 
     Preferably the clamp portion has a higher flexural stiffness than the mounting portion. Preferably the clamp portion is thicker than the mounting portion. More preferably the hanger is constructed from a first sheet of material, in which the clamp portion is laminated with a second sheet of material. 
     Preferably the hanger comprises a film hinge between the mounting portion and the clamp portion. 
     Preferably the mouth extends from an edge of the clamp portion opposite the mounting portion. More preferably the mouth extends less than 75% of the distance from the edge to the clamp portion. More preferably the mouth extends less than 65% of the distance from the edge to the clamp portion. 
     Preferably the mounting portion has a length in the direction of the clamp portion, and a width in a direction perpendicular to the length, in which the width is higher than the length. More preferably the mounting portion is substantially elliptical. 
     According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a method of manufacturing a decoration hanger comprising the steps of providing a film material having an adhering surface, cutting the film material to form a mounting portion and a clamp portion, and cutting the clamp portion to form a mouth and a tongue formed from mouth material. 
     Preferably the method comprises the step of reinforcing the clamp portion by affixing a further layer of sheet material thereto. 
     Preferably the method comprises the steps of providing a backing material, sandwiching the reinforcing layer of sheet material between the film material and the backing material, cutting at least the film material and the further layer of sheet material such that the clamp portion is formed coincident with the further layer of sheet material. 
     According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided decoration hanger comprising a mounting portion having an adhering surface, and a decoration attachment portion attached to the mounting portion, the decoration attachment portion comprising a formation configured to receive a decoration wherein the decoration attachment portion has a higher flexural stiffness than the mounting portion. 
     Preferably the clamp portion is thicker than the mounting portion. More preferably the hanger is constructed from a first sheet of material, in which the clamp portion is laminated with a second sheet of material. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       An exemplary decoration hanger will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a top view of a decoration hanger in accordance with the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the hinge action of the decoration hanger of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a top view of the decoration hanger of  FIG. 1  separating; 
         FIG. 4  is a top view of the clamping action of the decoration hanger of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a top view of the mounting portion of the decoration hanger of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the decoration hanger of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view of a roll of decoration hangers of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective view of a sheet of decoration hangers of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 9  is a perspective view of a pad of decoration hangers of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 10  is a perspective view of a number of balloons held together by several of the decoration hangers of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 11  is a perspective view of a user hanging the hanger of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 12  is a perspective view of a first stage of the manufacturing process for the decoration hanger of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 13   a  is a plan view of a second stage of the manufacturing process for the decoration hanger of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 13   b  is a plan view of a third stage of the manufacturing process for the decoration hanger of  FIG. 1 ; and 
         FIG. 13   c  is a plan view of a fourth stage of the manufacturing process for the decoration hanger of  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the present disclosure, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings, and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of this disclosure is thereby intended. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a decoration hanger  10  comprises a mounting portion  12  and a clamp portion  14 . The hanger  10  is constructed from a textured film plastics material. Texturing the material aids tactility as well as reducing reflections to make the hanger more aesthetically pleasing. The clamp portion  14  comprises a reinforced semi-rigid plastics material layer laminated to the film plastics material which terminates at a border  16  with the mounting portion. 
     The mounting portion  12  is generally elliptical having a width W and a length L. The length L is less than the width W. One side of the mounting portion  12  is coated with a reusable, semi-removable, clean peel, non-marking or damaging rubber or acrylic or silicone based adhesive. The mounting portion  12  and the clamp portion  14  are joined by curved shoulders  13 ,  15  to define a smooth transition therebetween. This helps to prevent stress concentrations and tearing in the material. 
     The clamp portion is generally rectangular and comprises an end edge  18  opposite the border  16  and a pair of parallel side edges  20 ,  22 . A slit  24  extends from the edge  18 , the slit  24  and end edge  18  being joined by a pair of opposed, filleted edges  26 ,  28 . 
     The end edge  18  and the side edges  20 ,  22  are joined by fillets  21 ,  23 . 
     The slit  24  terminates in a curved cut  26  which describes an incomplete ellipse with an internal angle A of 270 degrees. The ellipse is oriented with its long axis in the direction of the slit and the mounting portion. The cut  26  forms a mouth  29  (see  FIGS. 3 and 4 ). A tongue  30  is created from the material of the mouth  29 , and can move out of the plane of the clamp portion  14  along a hinge line  32 . The stiffness of the material from which the hanger  10  is created means that the tongue  30  tends to resile back towards the mouth  29 . 
     The cut  26  (and therefore the mouth  29 ) extends over 50 percent of the clamp portion  14  towards the border  16 . 
     In use, a neck  33  of a balloon  34  can be slid through the slit  24  to pass through the mouth  29 , as shown in  FIG. 4 . The slit  24  can be separated as shown in  FIG. 3  to aid insertion. The presence of the neck  33  forces the tongue  30  to primarily elastically rotate about the hinge line  32 . Due to the stiffness of the reinforced clamp portion  14 , the tongue attempts to resile back into the mouth  29 . In doing so, it clamps the balloon neck  33  in place. 
     Once clamped, the mounting portion  12  can be affixed to an object to hang the balloon  34  in place. As shown in  FIG. 10 , the hanger can be used to hang several balloons  34  together. It will be noted that because the balloon is clamped to the hanger, the hanger can be held and hung with a single hand, as shown in  FIG. 11 . 
     The presence of the difference in stiffness across the border  16  between the reinforced clamp portion  14  and the mounting portion  12  creates a natural film hinge between the two portions. This allows the hanger to deform in use (as shown in  FIG. 2 ) to accommodate different sizes of balloons and other decorations. Furthermore, it allows the balloon to move when mounted which can be aesthetically pleasing. The tongue also flexes in use to supplement this movement because the plastics material layer laminated to the film plastics material is only semi-rigid. 
     Turning to  FIG. 5  it can be seen that the elliptical mounting portion  12  comprises three zones A, B, C. Zone A comprises shoulders  13 ,  15  and is relatively small in width W. This helps the film hinge action. Zone B has a much larger width W which prevents unintentional peel-off in use. Zone C is smaller in width (the same as zone A) which assists intentional peel-off once zone B has been removed. 
     The hanger is manufactured as follows (with reference to  FIGS. 12-13   c ): 
     i) A roll of film  100  having a low tack adhesive applied to a first side is provided, having a first width W 1 ; 
     ii) A roll of stiffening material  102 , stiffer than the film (e.g. a thicker plastic, or card) is provided, having a second width W 2  less than the first width. Preferably the stiffening material has an affinity to the adhesive of the film; 
     iii) A roll of release paper  104  is provided, which is a flexible film coated with a release material (e.g. silicone) permitting easy release from the low tack adhesive is provided. The release paper has a third width W 3  larger than the first width; 
     iv) The three materials  100 ,  102 ,  104  are laminated together in the above order with the roll of film and the backing material sandwiching the stiffening material as shown in  FIG. 13   a . The resulting product has a central band of reinforced stiffening material  102  separating the roll of adhesive film and the backing material; 
     v) A cutting tool, such as a rotary drum cutter or formed steel rule tool (not shown) is used to cut out an outer profile  106  of the hanger  10  as shown in  FIG. 13   b . The cutter approaches the laminated sheet from the adhesive film  102  side and does not fully penetrate the backing material  104 . The cutting profile  106  is arranged such that the outline of the clamp portion  14  lies on the stiffening material  102 , and the mounting portion  12  lies on the area where the adhesive film  100  is laminated to the backing material  104  only; 
     vi) The excess adhesive film material  100  and stiffening material  102  surrounding the cut hangers  10  is discarded, leaving a series of hangers  10  removably attached to the backing material  104  as shown in  FIG. 13   c.    
     Therefore, in summary, the hanger is manufactured by providing an adhesive-backed film material  100 , affixing the reinforced semi-rigid plastic component  102  to the film  100  in the region that will become the clamp portion  14 , cutting the film material to form the mounting portion  12  and the clamp portion  14 , cutting the clamp portion  14  to form the mouth  29  and the tongue  30  formed from mouth material  102 . The two cutting processes are completed simultaneously. The adhesive-backed film material is supplied with a backing sheet  104  from which the hangers can be peeled by a user. 
       FIGS. 6 to 9  show various configurations of decoration hanger dispensing methods.  FIG. 6  shows a single hanger  10 .  FIG. 7  shows a roll  50  of hangers  10 .  FIG. 8  shows a peelable backing sheet  52  of hangers  10 .  FIG. 9  shows a booklet  54  of hangers  10 . 
     While various embodiments of decoration hangers and methods for using and manufacturing the same have been described in considerable detail herein, the embodiments are merely offered by way of non-limiting examples of the disclosure described herein. It will therefore be understood that various changes and modifications may be made, and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof, without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Indeed, this disclosure is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the disclosure. 
     Further, in describing representative embodiments, the disclosure may have presented a method and/or process as a particular sequence of steps. However, to the extent that the method or process does not rely on the particular order of steps set forth herein, the method or process should not be limited to the particular sequence of steps described. Other sequences of steps may be possible. Therefore, the particular order of the steps disclosed herein should not be construed as limitations of the present disclosure. In addition, disclosure directed to a method and/or process should not be limited to the performance of their steps in the order written. Such sequences may be varied and still remain within the scope of the present disclosure.