Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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SEPARAB~E SLIDE FASTENER
This invention relates to a separable slide fastener.
Heretofore, separable slide fasteners were known and
widely used. Usually, these separable slide fasteners include
a pair of stringers on each of which ~astener elements are
secured, a pair of pin members each secured at the bottom
end portion of one stringer and a retainer for separably
closing pin members to each other at ~he bottom end portions
of the stringers. The retainer may be a slidable one wherein
the retainer can slide over both stringers and receive both
pin members therein. In a retainer of such type the stringers
can be separated from the bottom by sliding the retainer
from the bottom upwards. One example of such separable slide
fastener using a slidable retainer is disclosed in U.S.P.
No. 2553230~ Alternatively, the retainer may be a fixed
One which includes a box fixed to one of the pin members.
The box incIudes an opening for receiving the other pin
member therein to hold the stringers in alignment.
However, in any of the separable slide fasteners of
the known type the pin members are formed independently of
the fastener elements out of metal or synthetic resin material
and are secured to the end portions of the stringers by
specific securing methods. Therefore, production of slide
fasteners of the known type is relatively complex and expen-
sive. Also, the pin membexs of these known types of fastenersare formed in one piece from rigid metal or synthetic resin
material. Therefore, they have no flexibility and cannot
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easily be made to follow the curved guide channel of the
slidable retainer or the curved walls of the opening of the
fixed retainer. Therefore, such pin members cannot be
smoothly inserted in or easily removed from these slidable
or fixed retainers.
Therefore, an object of this invention is to provide
a separable slide fastener which can be produced easily and
at low cost.
Another object of this invention is to provide a
separable slide fastener whereby the pin members can be
smoothly inserted in and removed rom the slidable or fixed
retainer.
In accordance with the present invention, a separable
slide fastener is provided comprising a pair of stringers, a
pair of rows of fastener elements each secured at one end
portion of one stringer, and a retainer ~or separakly closing
said rows of fastener elements, said retainer being a slidable
one that can slide over both stringers and receive both rows
of fastener elements therein, said rows of fastener elements
each including modified fastener elements formed by cutting
the coupling heads off from some of normal fastener elements
positioned at one end portion of each stringer, the height o
each modified fastener element on one of said stringers being
selected so that the modified fastener elements on the same
stringer can be received within said retainer without engaging
said normal fastener elements on the other stringer, said modi-
ied fastener elements on each stringer ~orming a pin member o
slide ~astener.
The invention will now be described by wa~v of preerred
embodiments:
Fig. 1 is an overall plan view of one preferred embodiment
of the invention;
ig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the main
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portion of Fig. l with both sliders moved close to each other.
Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III
of Fig. 2, and
Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing another
embodiment of the invention with upper slider not shown.
Hereinafter, severa1 preferred embodiments of this
invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.
The two embodiments of the inventlon shown here are related
to slide fasteners separable from the top and bottom. Refer-
ring to Figs. l and 2, a single stringer 1 is folded back at
the mid portion 2 thereof to form a pair of opposing stringers
; l', 1". As shown in Fig. 2, a row of fastener elements 3 lS
attached to a beaded edge 4~of each stringer as in the usual
fastener stringer. A pair of sliders 5l 6 is mounted on
these stringers l', l'l with their stem ends toward each other
so that movement of one slider toward the other disenyages
the fastener elements 3, 3 and movement in the other direc-
tion engages the fastener elements. The sliders 5 and 6 may
be of conventional type. Namely, the slider 5 comprises the
usual spaced top and bottom plates or wings 7, 7 (only bottom
plate 7 is shown) joined at one end by a neck or post 8.
Each of these top and bottom plates 7, 7 is provided with
flanges 9, 9 on opposite sides thereof. These flanges 9, 9
together with the neck or post 8 form the usual Y-shaped
channel. A pull tab 10 is attached to a lug ll formed on
the top p].ate (Fig. l). Like the slider 5, the slider 6
comprises top and bottom plates or wings 12, 12 (only bottom
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plate 12 is shown), a neck or post 13, flanges 14, 14 and a
pull tab 15 attached to a lug 16 formed on the top plate. A
bottom stop 17 is secured to the bottom portion of the stringer
1' to prevent sliding off of the slider 6 from the stringer
1'. Reinforced bands 18, 18 are attached to the bo~tom end
portion of stringers 1', 1".
As shown in Fig. 2, some of the fastener elements 3a,
3b at the bottom end portions of each stringer 1', 1" are
modified by cutting off the coupling head from these fastener
eIements. Each of these rows of modified fastener elements
3a, 3b forms a so-called "pin member". Namely, the row of
legs remaining on the left stringer 1' forms a first pin
member Pl at the bottom portion of the left stringer, and the
row of legs remaining on the right stringer 1" forms a second
pin member P2 at the bottom portion of the same.
~ n the row of modified elements 3a which forms the
first pin member Pl, the height of modified fastener element
3a-2 is less than that of modified fastener element 3a-1 which
is adjacent to the bottom normal fastener element 3'. And
preferably, the height of the following modified fastener
element 3a--3 is less than that of modified fastener element
3a-2. ~ith this arrangement the neck 13 of slider 6 can be
passed smoothly between these first and second rows of modified
elements 3a and 3b when it is slid up and the slider 6 can
be moved with light force. The end surfaces 19 of modified
fastener elements 3a may be tapered as shown in the d~awings
so that more smooth movement of the slider 6 can be obtained.
The height of each of the modified fastener elements 3b which
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forms the second pin member P2 is made a little less than
the distance L between the head of bottom normal fastener
element 3' of the left side stringer 1' and inner wall of
flange 9 of slider S. With this arrangement the second pin
member P2 can be smoothly inserted in or taken out of the
channels of the sliders 5 and 6 despite the existence of the
first pin member Pl within channels of these sliders 5, 6.
Upon assembling of sliders 5 and 6 on the first and
second stringers l' and l", the pin members Pl, P2 and
fastener elements 3 of both stringers l', l" are first thread-
ed through the stem and one branch of the Y-shaped channel
of each slidex with these stringers l', 1" extended in straight
line. Then the bottom stop 17 is attached to the bottom
portion of the- stringer 1' to prevent sliding off of the
slider 6 from the stringer 1~. Thereafter, the stringer 1 is
folded back at ~he mid portion 2 thereof as shown in Fig. l
and the second pin member P2 and fastener elements 3 on the
stringer 1" are threaded through the stem and the other branch
of the Y-shaped channel of each slider with both sliders
positioned adjacent each other as shown in Fig. 2. Alterna-
tively, the bottom stop 17 may be attached to the stringer
1' before threading of the pin member Pl, P2 and fastener
elements 3 throu~h the channels of the sli.ders 5 r 6 .
As the first and second pin members Pl, P2 are const-
ructed as above stated, when the pin members Pl, P2 arethreaded through the channels of the sliders 5, 6I these pin
members Pl, P2 can easily be made to follow the curved sur-
faces of these channels and thus can be smoothly inserted in
these sliders. Also, when the second pin member P2 and
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fastener elements 3 on the stringer 1" are threaded through
the stem and the other branch of the Y-shaped channel of each
slider, the bottom normal fastener element 3" of the stringer
1" is engaged with the bottom normal fastener element 3' of
the stringer 1'; therefore, sliding off of the second pin
member P2 through sliders 5, 6 toward bottom is prevented
and thereby alignment of both stringers 1', 1" is maintained.
The slidex 5 may then be moved upward to any desired
position along the stringers, with the slider 6 left in its
downmost position if it is desired that the fastener remain
closed at the bottom. If it is desired to open the fastener
from the bottom, the slider 6 is moved upwardly to any desired
position along the stringers 1', 1".
When it i5 desire~ to fully separate the stringers 1',
1" from each other, the second pin member P2 on the stringer
1" is pulled out of the channel of each slider with sliders
5, 6 in contact with each other on the stringer tapes. In
this case, as the second pin members P2 has flexibility, the
pin member can easily be pulled out of the sliders 5, 6.
Fig. 4 shows a modified form of the invention. In
this embodiment a reinforced band 20 is attached to stringer
tape adjacent the boundary region of the normal fastener
element 3 and the modified fastener elements 3a, 3b of each
stringer. With this arrangement internal flexing of the
stringers 1', 1" is limited and accidental disengagement of
the fastener elements is prevented. The remaining construc-
tion is substantially identical with that of the above-
mentioned embodiment.
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The preferred embodiments above-mentioned are related
to slide fasteners which can be opened from the bottom but
the invention is not llmited to such type of slide fastener
and can be applied to the usual type of separable slide
fastener wherein pin members are held in closed position by
a fixed retainer. In such case slider 6 is replaced by a box
which forms a fixed retainer and first pin member Pl is fixed
to the box. The box may be formed by removing the lug 16
and the pu11 tab 15 from slider 6 shown in Fig. 1. The first
pin member Pl may be fixed to the inside surface of flange
14 of the box.
Thus, in accordance with the present invention, since
the first and second pin members are formed by cutting off
coupling heads from some normal fastener elements positioned
at the bottom portion of the stringers,,the formation of these
first and second pin members is easy and does not require any
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other metal or synthetic resin material. Therefore, this
separable slide fastener is easily produced at less cost.
Also, since the pin members are formed by separated fastener
elements and have flexibility the pin members can easily
follow the curved channel surfaces of the sliders or curved
opening surfaces of the box and thus smooth insertion into
and removal from the slider or box can be effected. Further,
since the bottom normal fastener element of one stringer is
engaged by the lowermost normal fastener element of the other
stringer and sliding off of the second pin member from the
sliders toward bottom i5 prevented, the second pin member can
be properly positioned without using a specific stopper
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therefor. And, further, this invention can be easily applied
to both types of separable fastener, i.e., the slidable
retainer type and fixed retainer type.
