Adjustable anti-theft tag

An adjustable anti-theft tag for attachment to an article, comprising:

• a housing including a base, a cover, an interior cavity, a first opening and a second opening in communication with the interior cavity, the housing being sized to support an electronic article surveillance sensor;
• a line constructed and arranged to secure the tag to the article, the line including a substantially continuous outer surface and being free of a cooperating engagement member, a first end secured within the interior cavity of the housing such that it is not accessible by a consumer and a second end;
• at least one crimping member supported within the housing in alignment with one of the first and second openings, the at least one crimping member including an annular ring supporting a plurality of flexible fingers, the fingers engaging and crimping the outer surface of the line upon insertion of the second end into the at least one crimping member in order to prevent movement of the second end in an opposite direction out of engagement with the at least one crimping member;
• and
• wherein the at least one crimping member is supported within the housing such that it is substantially stationary with respect to a longitudinal direction of the housing, and wherein upon insertion of the second end into the housing and through the at least one crimping member the crimping member secures the second end to form a loop, the loop being adjustable by moving the second end in a downward direction further into the housing to decrease the size of the loop, and wherein once engaged with the at least one crimping member the second end is unable to move upward, such that the size of the loop is only able to be decreased.

A method of attaching an anti-theft tag to an article comprising the steps of:

• providing a line constructed and arranged to secure the tag to the article, the line having an outer surface free of a cooperating engagement member, the line including a first end and a second end;
• providing a housing including a base having at least one wall bounding an interior cavity, the cavity being sized to receive an electronic article surveillance sensor, a cover, a first opening and a second opening in communication with the cavity;
• securing the first end of the line within the interior cavity of the housing such that it is not accessible by a consumer;
• providing at least one crimping member constructed and arranged to receive the line therein, the crimping member allowing movement of the line there through in a first direction, and preventing movement of the line in a second direction once the line is received within the at least one crimping member;
• supporting the at least one crimping member within the cavity of the housing such that it is in alignment with the first or second opening and so that it remains substantially stationary in a longitudinal direction within the housing during use.