Patent Publication Number: US-2006003110-A1

Title: Ornamental bow

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS  
      The present application claims the benefit of the filing date of provisional application No. 60/584,636, filed Jul. 1, 2004, which is herein incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The invention relates to ornamental bows, and more specifically, to a new and useful attachment tab for mounting an ornamental bow.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      Ornamental bows have long been used to create a festive, decorative appearance in many situations. Commonly, ornamental bows are used to adorn packages wrapped in gift wrap, such as birthday presents, Christmas presents, etc. Ornamental bows are found in many colors, sizes, and shapes. The bows are commonly made from decorative ribbon that is looped or wrapped in a fanciful configuration to create the desired appearance. Ribbon of various sizes, thicknesses, colors, and patterns are used to allow for bows to be created in virtually an unlimited number of appearances.  
      It has long been the practice to attach a mounting tab to the bottom of an ornamental bow in order to facilitate mounting the bow on a desired mounting surface (e.g., on the top of a gift-wrapped package). These tabs are commonly affixed to the bottom of a bow using a staple. The mounting tab is stapled to the ribbon that comprises the underside of the bow. The mounting tab contains some form of adhesive which the individual mounting tab uses to affix the bow to the surface upon which the bow is to be mounted. Most commonly, the mounting tab is a large, square-shaped piece of paper boardstock, coated with layer of pressure sensitive adhesive, and covered with a release liner. In order to mount the bow, the consumer removes the liner from the tab and presses the exposed adhesive surface of the tab onto the desired mounting location.  
      Decorative bows have been mounted in this manner for many years. Because of the lack of innovation and development of the mounting tabs, there is little difference between the mounting tabs used today and the mounting tabs used many years ago. There are, however, several shortcomings to the historical mounting tabs. For example, the historical mounting tab is detrimental to the aesthetic appearance of the bow. In order to provide a sufficient bonding surface, the mounting tab is often relatively large, covering a large portion of the bottom of the bow. This detracts from the bow&#39;s overall appearance. This problem is further exacerbated as a result of the typical manner in which ornamental bows are packaged and sold. Ornamental bows are customarily packaged and sold in a transparent bag. The bows in the bag are randomly dispersed. Thus, the consumer is often viewing the underside of the bow when the bow resides in the bag. By blocking a large portion of the bow from the consumer&#39;s view, the historical mounting tab makes it more difficult for the consumer to observe the color, pattern, and shape of the bow. While smaller mounting tabs can be used to reduce this concern, smaller tabs provide less mounting surface and thus increase the likelihood that the bow will become detached from the package upon which it is mounted.  
      The historical mounting tabs are also detrimental to the aesthetic appearance of the object to which the bow is attached. Bows are many times attached to packages with decorative wrapping. The large size and the non-transparent nature of the historical mounting tabs obstructs the viewing of the decorative wrapping. In addition, the historical mounting tabs may obstruct the viewing of writing or other important information that may be present on the object to which the bow is attached.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      An ornamental bow is provided that comprises a bow portion and a mounting portion. The mounting portion is coupled to the bow portion. The mounting portion is transparent. The mounting portion is coated with a transparent adhesive. The transparent mounting portion is coupled to a transparent release liner. In order to mount the bow, the release liner is removed from the mounting portion and the surface of the mounting portion coated with the adhesive is pressed to the mounting location. Once mounted, the transparent nature of the mounting portion prevents the mounting portion from impeding the view of the mounting location (e.g., decorative wrapping paper on the surface of a gift-wrapped package). Prior to mounting, the transparent nature of the mounting portion prevents the mounting portion from impeding the consumer&#39;s view of the ornamental bow at the point of sale. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in the drawings a form which is presently preferred; it being understood, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.  
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a bow in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention attached to a decorative package.  
       FIG. 2  is a plan view of the underside of a bow in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.  
       FIG. 3  is a plan view of the underside of a bow in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of a prior art bow.  
       FIG. 4  is an exploded view of the underside of the bow showing a release liner and mounting tape.  
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      With reference to the drawings, where like numerals identify like elements, there is shown in  FIG. 1  an ornamental bow  10  in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.  
      As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , ornamental bow  10  comprises a bow portion  12  and a mounting portion  14 , mounting portion  14  being affixed to a decorative package  16 . Mounting portion  14  is preferably affixed to decorative package  16  by way of an adhesive coating on the underside of mounting portion  14  (i.e., the side of mounting portion  14  opposite bow portion  12 ). The adhesive is preferably transparent. Preferably, the adhesive should remain transparent even when exposed to high temperatures or immersed in water. Although transparent adhesives are preferred, the adhesive can have tints of color and/or specks of glitter and the like.  
      The adhesive should have good initial adhesive tack and good adhesion to a wide variety of substrates such as paper, cardboard, plastic, metal, glass and so on. Adhesive tack is the property that controls the instantaneous formation of a bond when an adhesive and a surface are brought into contact. The strength of the adhesive can be measured by a Loop Tack Test and/or by a Peel Adhesion Test. The results of the test are dependent on the nature of the substrate to which the adhesive is to be affixed. For example, for a stainless steel substrate, the loop tack is preferably 1.57-1.92 lbs/sq in and the peel adhesion is preferably 2.30-2.39 lbs, but for a high density polyethylene (HDPE) substrate, the loop tack is preferably 1.17-1.36 lbs/sq in and the peel adhesion is preferably 0.90-1.12 lbs.  
      A suitable adhesive can be a emulsion acrylic adhesive or some other similar adhesive. An example of a suitable adhesive is CP-300 as manufactured by Wausau Coated Products, Inc. of Wausau, Wis.  
      As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , mounting portion  14  can be coupled with bow portion  12  by way of a staple  18 . Staple  18  should be sized so as to adequately secure bow portion  12  to mounting portion  14 , while at the same time not obstructing the adhesion between mounting portion  14  and decorative package  16  or other substrate. Staple  18  should also have a substantially low profile so that mounting portion  14  lies substantially flat on decorative package  16  or other substrate. Although a staple is particularly illustrated, other couplings are contemplated. For example mounting portion  14  can be coupled with bow portion  12  using adhesives, hook and loop fasteners, and the like.  
       FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3  illustrate the main difference between ornamental bow  10  of an embodiment the present invention and a prior art bow  510 , the difference being that mounting portion  14  of ornamental bow  10  is transparent whereas mounting portion  514  of the prior art bow  510  is non-transparent. Transparent mounting portion  14  allows the bow to be seen from the underside of bow  10 , which provides better visibility of bow  10  in point of sale displays that package bows in a jumbled manner in a clear packaging. In addition, transparent bow  10 , as illustrated in  FIG. 1 , allows visibility of the nature and design of package  16  or other substrate to which mounting portion  14  is affixed. In contrast, non-transparent mounting portion  514  obstructs the decorative nature of the underside of bow  510  when viewed from the underside of bow  510  and obstructs the viewing of the nature of package  16  or other substrate to which mounting portion  514  is affixed.  
      Mounting portion  14  can be manufactured from any transparent material that provides sufficient strength and is capable of receiving an adhesive. To achieve a sufficient strength, the thickness of the material can be modified. However, the thickness should not be so thick so as to be obtrusiveness or so thin so as not to be capable of supporting bow portion  12 . An example of a suitable material for mounting portion  14  is clear polystyrene as manufactured by Wausau Coated Products of Wausau, Wis. An example of a suitable thickness for mounting portion  14  is about 4.75 mil. A 4.75 mil clear polystyrene provides sufficient strength and is capable of receiving an adhesive. Other materials can be used in addition to, or in lieu of, the clear polystyrene. For example, clear polyester can be used at a thickness of 1 mil. Other similar materials and other thicknesses are contemplated.  
      Mounting portion  14  is illustrated herein as a rectangular, tab-like structure. However, the invention is not so limited. A mounting portion of the invention can be any shape. For example, the mounting portion can be in the shape of a square, circle, oval, star, and so on. Alternatively, the mounting portion can be in a non-geometrical shape. The mounting portion simply must be capable of coupling with a bow portion of the invention and affixing to a substrate.  
       FIG. 4  illustrates ornamental bow  10  with mounting portion  14  not coupled to bow portion  12 .  FIG. 4  further illustrates a release liner  20  partially peeled away from mounting portion  14 . The release liner is removed to exposed the adhesive prior to the bow being affixed to a substrate. After removal, the release liner can be discarded. Without a release liner, bows packaged together would adhere to each other, lessening the efficacy of the adhesive once ultimately applied to the desired substrate and also potentially damaging the bow portion of bows that are inadvertently affixed to the mounting portion of other bows.  
      Release liner  20  preferably is transparent and can be manufactured from the same material as mounting portion  14 . That is, release liner  20  can be clear polyester, clear polystyrene, or some other like material. The function of a release liner is to protect the adhesive that is coated on a mounting portion, before the bow is affixed to a substrate. In addition, a release liner prevents the adhesive from inadvertently affixing the mounting portion, and thus the bow, to an object other than the desired substrate.  
      A release liner should substantially correspond to the shape of the mounting portion to which it is affixed. However, a release liner can be a different shape than the mounting portion, provided that the entire surface of the mounting portion that is coated with the adhesive is covered. A release liner can have a thickness different from the mounting portion. Because the release liner is simply a protective means that is discarded when the bow is affixed to a substrate, it can be thinner or thicker than the mounting portion.  
      Although the invention particularly illustrates a specific embodiment of the bow portion  12 , the invention is not so limited. The bow portion of the invention can comprise a decorative ribbon that is looped or wrapped in an fanciful configuration as illustrated in  FIGS. 1, 2 , and  4 , it can comprise a decorative ribbon that is loop or wrapped in a different fanciful configuration, it can comprise a decorative ribbon that is shredded or otherwise curled, it can comprise a non-ribbon decoration, and so on.  
      In operation, the mounting of the bow is achieved by first removing the release liner from the mounting portion to expose the adhesive surface of the mounting portion. The mounting portion is then pressed to the mounting location of the substrate with the adhesive surface side down. Once mounted, the transparent nature of the tab prevents the tab from impeding the view of the mounting location (e.g., decorative wrapping paper on the surface of a gift-wrapped package).  
      A variety of modifications to the embodiments described will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure provided herein. Thus, the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof and, accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claims, rather than to the foregoing specification, as indicating the scope of the invention.