Abstract:
A name badge, made from transparent plastic and having a front part ( 1 ) and a rear part ( 2 ) which is connected resiliently to the former via a first yoke ( 3 ) and having at least one retaining ridge ( 5 ) for a cardboard insert, said retaining ridge ( 5 ) protruding into the clearance between the front part ( 1 ) and the rear part ( 2 ), does not comprise a formed blank but rather an injection moulded part in a deviation from previous practice.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0001]    The invention relates to a name badge of transparent plastic with a front part and a rear part, resiliently joined to the said front part by a first yoke, as well as with at least one retaining ridge, protruding in the clearance between the front part and the rear part and joined to the front part or rear part by a second yoke, for a cardboard insert which can be introduced into the gap formed by the retaining ridge and the front part of the badge from the side edges of the badge. 
       STATE OF THE ART 
       [0002]    Name badges of the aforementioned type are for example also known from DE 89 01 912 U and DE 199 12 788 C2. They represent mass produced articles, which are frequently intended for once-only use at conferences, congresses and similar events. For the manufacture of the known name badges, blanks are stamped from polyacrylic or PVC films, the thickness of which in practice is no more than about 1 mm. These blanks are partially heated and folded several times to form the yokes. In other words for their manufacture stamping, heating and bending stages are necessary, of which in particular the heating stages take up a comparatively large amount of time due to the unavoidable heating and cooling phases. Added to that is a separate stamping process for those cases in which the badges are to be provided with manufacturer&#39;s information. 
       DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    The object of the invention is to significantly reduce the manufacturing costs of appropriate name badges. This object is solved according to the invention in that the name badge is formed as an injection moulded part. 
         [0004]    Through the replacement of the formerly usual deformation process by the injection moulding method using initially shapeless material, the manufacturing costs for name badges of the type under consideration can be drastically reduced, wherein this applies particularly to the case where multiple injection moulding tools are used. 
         [0005]    The use of injection moulding methods for the manufacture of name badges is already known and in particular in conjunction with name badges which—as for example with name badges according to EP 0 608 043 B1—consist of two parts. With name badges consisting of two or also of several parts it is not only possible to dispense with spring effects, but rather the shape of the individual parts also does not present any problems with regard to injection moulding. Furthermore, from DE 77 16 980 U one-part name badges are known which consist only of two plane-parallel limbs which are joined together by a yoke and which at their lower ends delimit a more or less wide gap and consequently also present no problems for injection moulding. Since however there is no retaining ridge, they are not suitable for mounting cardboard inserts. It was the complicated shape of the name badges disclosed in DE 199 12 788 C2 which impaired their manufacture using injection moulding methods and which prevented experts in the field from using injection moulding methods for name badges of this nature. If it was not obvious however to injection mould this type of name badge for the reasons mentioned, then this logically also excludes obviousness of name badges of the type defined in Claim  1 . 
         [0006]    Through the merit of the applicant a way has been found which facilitates the realisation of name badges according to Claim  1  using injection moulding techniques. In other words the applicant has rendered possible something which has been regarded as impossible for decades, namely the manufacture of name badges using injection moulding methods, which ensure both reliable seating of the badge on the edge of an item of clothing as well as secure mounting of the cardboard insert inside the badge and this is realised with the skilful exploitation of the shrinkage property of the injection moulded part, which facilitates the realisation of a spring effect originating from the yokes as well as between the front and rear parts and also between the respective retaining ridge and the front or rear part facing it. 
         [0007]    An object of the invention is therefore also a method for the manufacture of the claimed name badge. 
         [0008]    Further features and details of the invention arise from the dependent claims as well as the enclosed drawings and their following description. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]    The following are shown: 
           [0010]      FIG. 1  the front view of a preferred embodiment of a name badge according to the invention, 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  the side view of the name badge according to  FIG. 1 , 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  the rear view of the name badge according to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  a section along the line IV-IV in  FIG. 3 , 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  a name badge according to  FIGS. 1 to 4 , supplemented with a so-called combination clamp, 
           [0015]      FIG. 6  a name badge according to  FIGS. 1 to 4 , supplemented with a clip-type pin, 
           [0016]      FIG. 7  a detail view of the name badge according to  FIG. 6  to an enlarged scale and partly sectioned, 
           [0017]      FIG. 8  the essential parts of the injection moulding tool used for the manufacture of the name badge according to  FIGS. 1 to 4  after the finish of the injection moulding process, 
           [0018]      FIG. 9  an intermediate position of parts of the injection moulding tool on opening the tool, 
           [0019]      FIG. 10  an intermediate position following the intermediate position illustrated in  FIG. 8  and 
           [0020]      FIG. 11  the end position of the name badge before removal from the tool. 
       
    
    
     METHODS OF REALISING THE INVENTION 
       [0021]    In  FIGS. 1 to 4  the front part of a name badge is designated with  1  and the rear part with  2 . Both parts  1  and  2  are joined together by a first yoke  3 . On the lower edge of the front part a retaining ridge for a cardboard insert of the type illustrated in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , which can be inserted into the clearance between the front part  1  and the rear part  2 , is connected by a second yoke  4 . Yokes  3  and  4  form additional guides for the cardboard insert  6 . 
         [0022]    The name badge illustrated in  FIGS. 1 to 4  is suitable only for insertion into a breast pocket of a jacket or shirt. To provide other methods of attachment, name badges are therefore often fitted with additional attachment means such as the combination clamp  7  illustrated in  FIG. 5  or the clip-type pin  8  shown in  FIG. 6 . 
         [0023]    The rear part  2  has two openings  9  and  10  as well as recesses  11  and  12 . Both the openings  9  and  10  and the recesses  11  and  12  fulfil a double function in that they on one hand offer support of a part of the injection moulding tool during the injection moulding process and on the other hand—where the openings  9  and  10  are involved—facilitate easy attachment of the clip-type pin  8  fitted with claws  13  and—where the recesses  11  and  12  are involved—simplify the insertion and removal of the cardboard insert  6 . A recess  14  in the centre of the retaining ridge  5 , which is fitted with a clamping cam  15  on its lower edge, forming additional security against sideward movement of the cardboard insert  6 , also provides support of a tool part. In the immediate vicinity of the first yoke  3  on the outer side of the rear part an elongated groove  16  is arranged which during the injection process fulfils the function of a flow retarder for the injected material forced into the tool at high pressure at the so-called gating point  17 . 
         [0024]    The essential parts of the injection moulding tool needed for the manufacture of the name badge illustrated in  FIGS. 1 to 4  are illustrated in  FIGS. 8 to 11 . These parts involve two inserts  18  and  19 , which can be implemented in the tool, and two slides  20  and  21 , which are guided for to and fro movement in two directions displaced at 90° to one another in a housing which is not illustrated and which also accommodates the inserts  18 ,  19 . The inserts  18 ,  19  and the slides  20 ,  21  are fitted with tempering channels  22  and  23  for cooling, of which those channels  22  arranged in the inserts  18 ,  19  and in the slide  20  have a significantly larger cross-section than the channels  23  in the slide  21 . During the injection process the slide  21  consequently has a noticeably higher temperature than the slide  20  and the inserts  18  and  19 . As already mentioned in the introduction, the different temperatures are of crucial importance for the manufacturing method used. This is because on opening the tool they cause different shrinkage processes due to the faster cooling of the outer side of the front part  1  and of the rear part  2  and the result of this is that after removal of the slide  21  from the position illustrated in  FIG. 10  not only the front part  1  and the rear part  2 , but also the retaining ridge  5  moves automatically from the widened position illustrated in  FIGS. 8 to 10  to the position ready for use shown in  FIG. 11 . The normally undesired deformation of the injection moulded part is in other words exploited in the method described here in order to be able to manufacture the name badge at all. If the cavity of the tool, limited by the inserts  18 ,  19  and the slides  20 ,  21 , were to actually correspond to the final shape of the name badge, then the stability of the slide  21  would not be sufficient to withstand the required injection pressure for the production of a thin-walled part, such as a name badge. 
         [0025]    Since the material located in the region of the injection nozzle  24  is still in a viscous state, the produced name badge can be removed from the tool without problem either by a discharging stamp or by suction devices. In order to achieve the cleanest possible appearance of the gating point  17 , the use of a valve gate nozzle is recommended, the needle of which with its face side promotes the formation of a smooth surface in the region of the gating point  17 .