The present invention is related to an anti-theft safety tag.

Such tags are commonly known and used in shops, especially for clothing, supermarkets and the like, to protect articles of clothing and other objects from theft attempts. Such tags are of various shapes, sizes and configurations, and generally have in common the fact of being equipped with anti-theft means that, when passing through detection barriers placed next to accesses of such shops, trigger (if the tags are still placed on the objects to be protected) suitable acoustic and/or visual alarm devices. Other types of tags are filled with staining liquid, that goes out therefrom if they are tampered with and fouls the object to be protected, making it unusable for a thief (but unfortunately also for its legitimate owner) .

The tags to which the present invention is applied are those using a first part equipped with a nail (or pointed member) that penetrates into the object to be protected and is clamped in a second part of the tag and kept therein commonly by balls (or other clamping members) that unmovably

engage the nail stem. When opening the tag, by operating through external magnetic means, the nail is freed from the engagement with the balls and the two parts are separated by extracting the nail from the second part.

Such type of tag has two types of problems; the most severe is that the part equipped with a nail has such nail projecting therefrom and thereby it can be a source of danger of injuries for users, since the nail remains accessible to the outside. The other problem is that such tag is made of two separate parts, which has storage problems of many objects and of costs for their use.

Object of the present invention is solving the above prior art problems, by providing an anti-theft safety tag that allows housing the nail inside it when opening the tag, avoiding any projection thereof and therefore any type of danger for the end user.

A further object of the present invention is providing a tag of the above-mentioned type that is equipped with further possible protections against the nail from accidentally going out of the tag itself evne wiehn the nail is completely contained therein.

A further object of the present invention is providing a tag of the above-mentioned type that can be realised in a single body, allowing to save the parts and storage costs, and at the same time is simply realised, of a compact and

aesthetically pleasing shape.

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention, as will result from the following description, are obtained by an anti-theft safety tag as claimed in Claim 1, Preferred embodiments and non-trivial variations of the present invention are the subject of the dependent claims.

The present invention will be better described by some preferred embodiments thereof, provided as a non-limiting example, with reference to the enclosed drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side sectional view of a first preferred embodiment of the tag of the present invention, in a closing position;

- Figure 2 is a side sectional view of the tag of Fig. 1, in an opening position;

- Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view of a part of a second preferred embodiment of the tag of the present invention;

- Figure 4 is a perspective sectional view of the part of the tag of Fig. 3 in a closing position;

- Figure 5 is a perspective sectional view of the part of the tag of Fig. 3 in an opening position;

- Figure 6 is a perspective view of the part of the tag of Fig. 3 in an opening position, in the first step after unclamping the nail;

- Figure 7 is a perspective view of the part of the tag

of Fig. 3 in an opening position and in a second safety rotation step;

- Figure 8 is a perspective view of the part of the tag of Fig. 3 in an opening position and in a third safety rotation step; and

- Figures 9 to 16 are variations of embodiments of the anti-theft safety tag of the present invention.

With reference to the Figures, a preferred embodiment of the anti-theft safety tag of the present invention is shown and described. It will be immediately obvious to the skilled people in the art that numerous variations and modifications (for example related to shape, sizes and parts with equivalent functionality) can be made to the disclosed tag without departing from the scope of the invention as claimed in the enclosed claims.

With reference first to Fig. 1 and 2, a first preferred embodiment of the anti-theft safety tag 1 of the present invention is shown.

Such tag 1 commonly comprises a first closing member 3 equipped with at least one nail 5 (with a head on which one operates in order to apply the pressing force of the nail 5 itself towards the tag 1 interior) , and a second closing member 7 equipped with clamping means 9 for the nail 5. The first and second closing members 3, 7 are adapted to mutually hermetically join when the nail 5 is inserted into

the clamping means 9.

Such tag 1 has as its main characteristic the fact that it is equipped with an housing 11 for the nail 5 and with elastic return means 14 adapted to force the nail 5 into the housing 11 when the first closing member 3 is separated from the second closing member 7 when opening the safety tag 1, in order to prevent the nail 5 from projecting from the first closing member 3.

In a practical embodiment (not shown) , that is absolutely not limiting of the invention, the housing 11 is fixed, of a substantially cylindrical shape and projecting from the safety tag 1.

Alternatively, as shown in the Figures, the housing 11 can be composed of a cylindrical seat 16 obtained in the first closing member 3, of at least one holding ring 18 adapted to telescopically slide inside the seat 16 between an opening position in which it goes out of the first closing member 3 and a closing position in which it is contained inside the seat 16, and of at least one plug/button member 20 adapted to telescopically slide inside the holding ring 18 between the opening position in which it goes out of the first closing member 3 and a closing position in which it is contained inside the holding ring 18. The plug/button member 20 is called in this way since it performs the double function of "plug" of the tag 1 when

manufacturing it, and of button in order to push the nail 5 in its operating position inside the second closing member 7.

Moreover, the holding ring 18 is equipped with at least one engaging tooth 24 adapted to engage an internal wall 26 of the first closing member 3 in order to prevent the holding ring 18 from detaching from the first closing member 3 when opening.

The seat 16 is further equipped with a base 60 for the further protection of a user from a contact with the nail 5.

According to a second preferred embodiment of the anti- theft safety tag 1 of the invention, shown in Fig. 3 to 8, such tag 1 is equipped with further safeties that completely prevent the nail 5 from going out of the first closing member 3: in fact, in the above-described first embodiment, it could happen that an inadvertent pressure of the plug/button member 20 made the nail 5 pushed outside of the first closing member 1 with some remaining danger of injuries for the end user. Instead, in this second embodiment of the inventive tag 1, such danger, though remote, is completely avoided.

In order to realise this, the holding ring 18 is equipped with at least one (and preferably two) projection 50 adapted to be inserted into one (and preferably two) corresponding recess 52 with which the first closing member

3 is equipped when closing the anti-theft tag 1, while when opening the anti-theft tag 1, such projection 50 is disengaged from the recess 52 and abuts, by rotating the holding ring 18, against an external wall of the first closing member 3 preventing the holding ring 18 from going back into the first closing member 3 and therefore the nail 5 from going out of the first closing member 3.

Also the plug/button member 20 is preferably equipped with at least one engaging tooth 28 adapted to engage an internal wall 30 of the holding ring 18 in order to prevent the plug/button member 20 from detaching from the holding ring 18 when opening.

And also the plug/button member 20 is equipped with at least one (and preferably two) projection 54 adapted to be inserted into one (and preferably two) corresponding recess 56 with which the holding ring 18 is equipped when closing the anti-theft tag 1, while when opening the anti-theft tag 1, such projection 54 is disengaged from the recess 56 and abuts, by rotating the plug/button member 20, against an external wall of the holding ring 18 preventing the plug/button member 20 from going back into the holding ring 18 and therefore the nail 5 from going out of the first closing member 3.

Fig. 6 shows well the situation in which the tag 1 is completely open, in which the movement shown by arrow A,

namely the one in which the nail 5 is completely withdrawn inside the first closing member 3, can be realised only in case of a complete alignment between the projections 50, 54 and their respective recesses 52, 56: this is both the position that occurs when opening the tag 1 when it is placed on the external magnetic detaching means, and the position that must be created in order to be able to close the tag 1 onto the object to be protected by pushing the nail 5 in contact with the object and therefore inside the second closing member 7.

In particular, the elastic return means 14 are composed of at least one spring 14 connected between the first closing member 3 and the plug/button member 20: such spring 14 is contained inside the housing 11, is placed around the nail 5 and is adapted to push the nail 5 outward of the first closing member 3 when opening, namely when the nail 5 is disengaged from the clamping means 9.

In a known way, the clamping means 9 are composed of at least two balls 34, 36 adapted, in their closing position, to be tightened against the nail 5 and to keep it in its closing position due to friction engagement: such balls 34, 36 are adapted to be moved away from the nail 5 when opening when they are subjected to a magnetic attracting force exerted by external magnetic detaching means (not shown because they are known and their operation is evident) .

Moreover, the clamping means 9 are composed of a cover 80 adapted to receive the nail 5 through a hole 82 obtained therein; this cover 80 is adapted to cooperate with the balls 34, 36 that are kept abutted against it by means of a spring 84 during a clamping engagement of the balls 34, 36 with the nail 5.

As shown, the above-described safety tag 1, when closed, can be shaped substantially as a closed shell and the first and second closing members 3, 7 are mutually separated parts when opening the tag 1.

According to a preferred variation, not shown but made possible by the arrangement of the inventive tag 1, this latter one, when closed, is shaped substantially as a closed shell and the first and second closing members 3, 7 are hinged parts that remain mutually joined when opening the tag 1.