Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Title: "Fluidtight slide fastener"
DESCRIPTION
Field of application
The present invention, in its most general aspect, refers
to a slide fastener.
In particular, the invention refers to a fluidtight slide
fastener, i.e. a slide fastener that is impermeable to
fluids.
In the following description, the term "fluidtight" means a
sealing that prevents the passage of liquids, in particular
water, and/or gases, for example air, even if put under
pressure within predetermined high limits, for example till
about 2 bar of pressure difference between the interior and
exterior sides of the slide fastener.
More in particular, the present invention refers to
fluidtight slide fastener of the type comprising a pair of
tapes both delimited by two opposite long edges and by two
opposite short edges, each tape comprising a textile
material strip coated with a fluid barrier material at
least in correspondence with the opposite faces thereof,
each tape being equipped with a set of aligned teeth on at
least a portion of one of said long edges thereof, the
aligned teeth of said sets facing each other and being
associated with opposite opening and closing stops, and a
slider slidable between said closing stop and said opening
stop for engaging in a fluidtight way or disengaging said
aligned teeth respectively.
In the following description, the term "opening stop" means
the stop that is reached by the slider at the end of its
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run disengaging the aligned teeth of the tapes while the
term "closing stop" means the stop that is reached by the
slider at the end of its run engaging the aligned teeth of
the tapes. The opening stop and the closing stop are also
known in this technical field as "bottom stop" and "top
stop" respectively.
Prior Art
It is well-known in the art that slide fasteners comprise a
pair of tapes of a textile material both delimited by two
opposite long edges and by two opposite short edges, each
tape being equipped with a set of aligned teeth on at least
a portion of one of said long edges thereof, the aligned
teeth of said sets facing each other and being associated
with opposite opening and closing stops, and a slider
slidable between said closing stop and said opening stop
for engaging or disengaging said aligned teeth
respectively.
It is also known that in some appliances, such as for
example diving or sailing suits, slide fasteners are
required to be fluidtight to prevent passage of fluids, in
particular water, between the interior and exterior sides
of the slide fasteners.
To this purpose, the manufacturing process of said slide
fasteners provides that the textile material of the tapes
be coated with a fluid-barrier material before equipping
the tapes with the respective set of aligned teeth. In
particular, according to this manufacturing process, the
coating with the fluid-barrier material is performed on
very long textile material strips coming from a textile
material spool, at least at the opposite faces of the
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strips. The strips so coated are then equipped with a
plurality of sets of aligned teeth along their longitudinal
edge in a per se conventional manner (for example through
die-casting or injection molding) and cut transversally
(i.e. in the direction of their width) among consecutive
sets of aligned teeth to obtain tapes of the desired
dimensions each of them being equipped with a set of
aligned teeth. The slide fasteners are then obtained each
from a pair of such tapes through a succession of further
conventional steps among which the steps of equipping each
pair of tapes with opening and closing stops and a slider
running between such stops. However, due to the cutting
step, the textile material of each tape remains uncoated at
at least one of the short edges thereof.
It should be noticed that the slide fasteners are normally
joined to the material of the suit/garment in a fluidtight
way at the long edges of the tapes free of aligned teeth
and often also at one of their short edges. In addition, a
fluidtight sealing is also obtained at the long edges of
the tapes equipped with the set of aligned teeth when such
long sides of the tapes are joined to each other by the
reciprocal engagement of the two sets of aligned teeth.
Therefore, after having joined the slide fastener to a
garment or suit, the textile material of each tape can
still remain uncoated at at least one of the short edges
thereof. As a result, the fluids, in particular water, may
seep in the textile material strip of the tapes, causing in
a long run an undesired swelling of the tape itself or even
separation (delamination) of the coating of the fluid-
barrier material from the textile material strip, which
finally leads to the loss of the required fluidtight
features of the slide fastener. This problem may result as
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a consequence of subjecting the slide fastener to fluids
(for example water) both during the normal use of the
garment incorporating it and during (intensive) washing
cycles of said garment.
In order to prevent that the fluids seep in the textile
material strip of the tapes of slide fasteners, the prior
art suggests to fold the uncoated short edges of the tapes
with a 1800 angle and join the folded portion to one of the
coated faces of each tape, generally through a thermal or
chemical welding.
Although advantageous from various points of view, a
fluidtight slide fastener of the type schematically
described above has recognized drawbacks, the first of
which is linked to the fact that the process for
manufacturing the slide fastener is complicated due to the
provision of such folding and welding steps of the tape
ends.
Another drawback of the fluidtight slide fastener
structured in the way schematically described above, is
that the folded portions thicken the tapes at the folded
short edges, so that it is difficult to reliably join the
tapes to the material of the suit/garment where the slide
fastener has to be applied.
Moreover, in some appliances, such as diving suit for deep
sea use, the above process cannot be applied since the tape
are obtained in a so thick and rigid structure that they
cannot be suitably folded.
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Summary of the invention
The technical problem underlying the present invention is
that of devising and providing a fluidtight slide fastener
of the type considered, which is reliable in the long run
with regard to its fluidtight requirement and which is at
the same time easier and cheaper to be manufactured, so as
to overcome the quoted drawbacks with reference to the
prior art.
This problem is solved, according to the present invention,
by a fluidtight slide fastener comprising a pair of tapes
both delimited by two opposite long edges and by two
opposite short edges, each tape comprising a textile
material strip coated with a fluid barrier material layer
at least at the opposite faces thereof, the strip remaining
uncoated at at least one of said short edges of each tape,
each tape being equipped with a set of aligned teeth on at
least a portion of one of said long sides thereof, the
aligned teeth of said sets facing each other and being
associated with opposite opening and closing stops, and a
slider slidable between said closing stop and said opening
stop for engaging in a fluidtight way or disengaging said
aligned teeth respectively, characterized in that the
fastener further comprises a coating formed on each tape at
said at least one of said uncoated short edges for covering
the textile material strip in a fluidtight way at said at
least one of said uncoated short edges.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, said
coating on each tape is at least a seal of fluid barrier
material obtained by welding or sealing together at at
least one of said uncoated short edges said fluid barrier
material layers on the opposite faces of the respective
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tape and optionally a filler of additional fluid-barrier
material.
It has been surprisingly found that a slide fastener as
above shows good fluidtight requirements in the long run
while at the same time it can be obtained in a simple
manner and at reduced costs as the welding or sealing step
can be easily carried out and integrated in conventional
manufacturing processes of fluidtight slide fasteners. In
particular, as it will be clearly explained later on, the
sealing or welding step can be implemented together with
the cutting step of strips coated with a fluid-barrier
material from which the tapes are obtained. According to
another embodiment of the present invention, said coating
is at least a cap applied on each tape at said at least one
of said uncoated short edges for covering the textile
material strip in a fluidtight way at said at least one of
said uncoated short edges.
In this way, it is achieved the additional advantage of
strengthening the slide fastener at its short edge(s) to
which the cap is applied so rendering the slide fastener in
particular more resistant to wear.
The present invention further relates to a process for
manufacturing a slide fastener as described above.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the
process comprises the steps of:
- providing a plurality of strips of a textile material
covered with a fluid-barrier material layer at least on
their opposite faces,
- equipping each coated strip with a plurality of sets of
aligned teeth along a longitudinal edge thereof,
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- heat cutting each coated strip transversally among
consecutive sets of aligned teeth to obtain a plurality of
tapes of the desired dimensions wherein each tape is
equipped with a set of aligned teeth and wherein the
textile material is sealed in a fluidtight way at the short
cutting edges of the tapes by a portion of said fluid-
barrier material of the layers on the opposite faces of
said strip,
- coupling said plurality of tapes in pairs and equipping
each pair of tapes with a closing stop, an opening stop and
a slider slidable between said closing and opening stops.
In this embodiment, the heat cutting step can be
advantageously carried out through a heated blade or laser
cutting. In particular, the strips are pressed by the blade
on its cutting areas while at the same time the heat allows
a portion of said fluid-barrier material on the opposite
faces of said strips to melt and seal at the cutting edges
of the resulting tapes so covering the textile material in
a fluidtight way at the cutting edges.
According to another preferred embodiment of the present
invention, the process comprises the steps of:
- providing a plurality of strips of a textile material
covered with a fluid-barrier material layer at least on
their opposite faces,
- equipping each coated strip with a plurality of sets of
aligned teeth along a longitudinal edge thereof,
- cutting each coated strip transversally among consecutive
sets of aligned teeth to obtain a plurality of tapes of the
desired dimensions wherein each tape is equipped with a set
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of aligned teeth and is uncoated with said fluid-barrier
material at at least one of the short edges thereof,
- coupling said plurality of tapes in pairs and equipping
each pair of tapes with a closing stop, an opening stop and
a slider slidable between said closing and opening stops,
wherein the process further comprises the step of providing
a coating on each tape at said at least one of said
uncoated short edges for covering the textile material
strip in a fluidtight way at said at least one of said
uncoated short edges.
Preferably, the coating step can be advantageously carried
out by heat pressing each tape at said at least one of said
uncoated short edges to allow a portion of said fluid-
barrier material on the opposite faces thereof to melt and
seal at the said short edge(s) so covering the textile
material in a fluidtight way at said short edge(s).
As an alternative, the coating step can be advantageously
carried out by heat pressing each tape at said at least one
of said uncoated short edges while filling said uncoated
edge(s) with additional fluid-barrier material so as to
form a seal covering the textile material in a fluidtight
way at said short edge(s), the seal consisting of said
additional fluid-barrier material and a portion of said
fluid-barrier material on the opposite faces of the
respective tape.
As a further alternative, the coating step can be
advantageously carried out by applying at least a cap in a
fluidtight way on each tape at said at least one of said
uncoated short edges for covering the textile material
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strip in a fluidtight way at said at least one of said
uncoated short edges.
The present invention further relates to a fluidtight slide
fastener comprising a pair of tapes both delimited by two
opposite long edges and by two opposite short edges, each
tape comprising a textile material strip coated with a
fluid barrier material layer at least at the opposite faces
thereof, each tape being equipped with a set of aligned
teeth on at least a portion of one of said long sides
thereof, the aligned teeth of said sets facing each other
and being associated with opposite opening and closing
stops and a slider slidable between said closing stop and
said opening stop for engaging in a fluidtight way or
disengaging said aligned teeth respectively, characterized
in that the slider has an external plate and an internal
plate embracing together said sets of aligned teeth and a
middle portion of substantially wedge-shaped cross section
positioned between said external plate and said internal
plate and in that each half-portion of said closing stop
has a respective substantially half wedge-shaped recess so
that the half-portions of said closing stop form together a
housing having dimensions at least matching the dimensions
of middle portion of the slider when the slider stops in
its closing stroke.
Furthermore, the present invention relates to a closing
stop (26) for a fluidtight slide fastener as described
above. This closing stop is characterized in that it
consists of two half-portions facing each other applied
each on a respective tape, each half-portion having a
respective substantially half wedge-shaped recess so that
said half-portions form together a housing having
dimensions at least matching the dimensions of the wedge-
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shaped middle portion of the slider when the slider stops
in its closing stroke.
Further characteristics and the advantages of the
fluidtight slide fastener according to the present
invention shall become clearer from the following
description of preferred embodiments thereof, given for
indicating and not limiting purposes, with reference to the
attached figures.
Brief description of the drawings
Figure 1 schematically represents a perspective view of a
fluidtight slide fastener according to an embodiment of the
present invention.
Figure 2 schematically represents an enlarged perspective
view of a detail of the fastener of figure 1.
Figure 3 schematically represents a perspective view of a
fluidtight slide fastener according to another embodiment
of the present invention.
Figure 4 schematically represents an enlarged perspective
view of a detail of the fastener of figure 3.
Figure 5 schematically represents a view in side elevation
of the fastener of figure 3.
Figure 6 schematically represents a enlarged section view
of part of the fastener of figure 5, taken according to the
traced plane VI-VI of figure 5 itself.
Figure 7 schematically represents a enlarged perspective
view of part of the fastener of figure 3, wherein the
slider has reached the closing stop of the fastener.
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Figure 8 schematically represents another enlarged section
view of part of the fastener of figure 5, taken according
to the traced plane VI-VI of figure 5 itself, wherein the
slider has reached the closing stop of the fastener.
Figure 9 schematically represents a bottom plan view of a
fluidtight slide fastener according to a further embodiment
of the present invention.
Figure 10
schematically represents a top plan view of the
fastener of figure 9.
Detailed description of a preferred embodiment
With reference to figures 1 and 2, a fluidtight slide
fastener is shown, in accordance with the present invention
and globally indicated with 10.
The slide fastener 10 comprises a pair of tapes 12,
substantially parallel to each other, the tapes 12 being
delimited by respective inner and outer long edges 13a, the
inner long edges 13a facing to each other, and opposite
upper and lower short edges 13b.
Each tape 12 is equipped with a set 20 of aligned teeth 21
on a central portion of the inner long edge 13a thereof, in
a conventional manner, for example through die-casting or
injection molding processes.
In particular, the aligned teeth 21 of said sets 20 face
each other and are associated with opposite opening stop 24
and closing stop 26. A slider 22 is slidable between the
opening stop 24 and the closing stop 26 for engaging in a
fluidtight way or disengaging of aligned teeth 21 of said
sets 20 respectively as it will explained better later on
in the present description. In particular, the slider 22
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stops its opening stroke at the opening stop 24, so
disengaging the aligned teeth 21 of said sets 20 whereas
the slider 22 stops its closing stroke at the closing stop
26 so engaging in a fluidtight way the aligned teeth 21 of
said sets 20.
In the figures 1 and 2, the opening stop 24 is in form of a
one single piece applied on both the tapes 12 at the lower
ends of the sets 20 of aligned teeth 21, whereas the
closing stop 26 comprises two half-portions, each half-
portion being applied on a respective tape 12 at the upper
end of the respective set 20 of aligned teeth 21.
The application of the opening stop 24 and the closing stop
26 to the tapes 12 can be carried out in a per se
conventional manner for example through die casting or
injection molding.
Furthermore, the tapes 12 are joined in a fluidtight way
along at a portion 25 of the respective inner long edges
from the sets 20 of aligned teeth 21 and comprising the
opening stop 24. In particular, with reference to figure 1
and 4, on the external side of the slide fastener 10 (the
external side being in use the side that is exposed to
fluids) the portion 25 extends from the lower ends of said
sets 20 of aligned teeth 21 up to the lower short edges 13b
of the tapes.
As shown in figure 2, each tape 12 comprises a textile
material strip 14 coated with a fluid barrier material. In
accordance with the present invention, the coating of the
strips 14 is carried out by fully covering with a fluid-
barrier material a strip of textile material forming the
tapes 12 and equipped with a plurality of sets 20 of
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aligned teeth 21 at one of its longitudinal edges and then
transversally heat cutting said coated strip forming the
tapes 12. As a result, in each tape 12, the strip 14 is
coated at the long edges 13a, at the two opposing faces by
respective fluid barrier layers, 16 and 18 and at at least
one of its short edges 13b (i.e. the short edges formed by
the cutting) by a seal 40 resulting from the sealing or
welding of the fluid barrier layers 16 and 18. In
particular, as shown in figure 2, the fluid barrier layers
16 and 18 result substantially compacted and fused at a
short edges 13b of the tape 12 so forming a compact seal 40
of fluid-barrier material which covers the textile material
of the strip 14 in a fluidtight way at said short edge 13b.
This result can be obtained both by heat cutting a coated
strip forming the tapes 12, for example through a heated
blade, and by heat pressing uncoated short edges of tapes
12 after having formed the tapes 12 by cutting in a
conventional way (i.e. without heat) a strip forming said
tapes 12.
In this way, during use of the slide fastener 10, the
fluids, in particular water, are advantageously prevented
from seeping in the textile material strips 14 through the
short edges 13b of the tapes 12.
In the slide fastener, the textile material of the strip 14
may be any woven fabric or not woven fabric of natural or
synthetic fibres such as for example polyester.
The fluid-barrier material constituting the coating of the
strip 4 may be any material suitable to provide a
fluidtight seal for the strip 4. A not limitative example
of such a fluid barrier material includes polyurethane.
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In the slide fastener 10, each tape 12 is intended to be
joined in a fluidtight way to the material of a
suit/garment (not shown in the figures), at the outer long
edge 13a and the lower short edge 13b thereof.
This joining is generally carried out in a conventional
way, for example by seaming the tapes at their inner side
to a corresponding inner fabric layer of the garment and by
heat welding the tapes at their outer side to the inner
side of an outer fluid-barrier layer of the garment after
having interposed a strip of heat-weldable material between
said tapes and outer fluid-barrier layer.
With reference now to figures 3-8, a second embodiment of a
fluidtight slide fastener according to the present
invention, globally indicated with 110, is now described.
In the slide fastener 110, elements structurally and/or
functionally equivalent to those of the slide fastener 10
are indicated with the same reference numerals, and the
description thereof is not repeated.
The slide fastener 110 substantially differs from the slide
fastener 10 described above in that each tape 12 is
obtained from an original strip forming said tapes 12 with
upper short edges 13b being uncoated with fluid-barrier
material of fluid-barrier layers 16 and 18 and that two
caps 28, structurally and functionally identical, are
applied in a fluidtight way to a respective tape 12 at the
upper short edge 13b thereof, i.e. the short edge 13b
proximate to the relative closing stop 26, to fully cover
the textile material strip 14 in correspondence with the
upper short edges 13b of the tapes 14.
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In more detail, the cap 28 has a substantially "C" shape
comprising two end portions 30a and 30b covering in a
fluidtight way a respective end portion of the two fluid
barrier layers 16 and 18, at said upper short edge 13b, and
an intermediate portion 30c covering said upper short edge
13b.
In this way, during use of the slide fastener 10, the
fluids, in particular water, are advantageously prevented
from seeping in the textile material strips 14 through the
upper short edges 13b of the tapes 14.
Preferably, each cap 28 is made of a fluid-barrier plastic
material and in particular it is of the same material
forming the fluid-barrier layers 16 and 18 on the opposite
faces of the strip 14. Alternatively, each cap 28 is made
of a fluid-barrier plastic material compatible with
material forming the fluid-barrier layers 16 and 18, i.e.
which is suitable to be directly welded onto said layers
through chemical bonding, in the absence of any additional
adhesive layer or bonding agent.
The application of the caps 28 to the tapes 14 at the short
edges 13b can be carried out in a conventional manner, for
example through plastic material injection processes or
gluing.
In addition, it should be noticed that although the caps 28
are shown applied on the tapes 14 at their upper edges 13b,
as in the figures 3-8, they can be applied alternatively at
the lower short edges 13b or at both the upper and lower
short edges 13b as well. In particular, this latter
alternative can be practiced on so-called open-ends
fasteners, i.e. slide fasteners that are joined to a
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garment or suit only at the outer long edges 13a of the
tapes 12 so as to cover in a fluidtight way both the upper
and lower short edges 13b.
With reference now to figures 9 and 10 a third embodiment
of a fluidtight slide fastener according to the present
invention, globally indicated with 210, is now described.
In the slide fastener 210, elements structurally and/or
functionally equivalent to those of both the slide fastener
and the slide fastener 110 are indicated with the same
10 reference numerals, and the description thereof is not
repeated.
As in the slide fastener 110 described above, the slide
fastener 210 has two tapes 12 formed with upper short edges
13b being uncoated with fluid-barrier material of fluid-
barrier layers 16 and 18.
In addition, the slide fastener 210 has two caps 128,
structurally and functionally identical, which are applied
in a fluidtight way to a respective tape 12 at the upper
short edge 13b thereof, i.e. the short edge 13b proximate
to the relative closing stop 26, to fully cover the textile
material strip 14 in correspondence with the upper short
edges 13b of the tapes 14.
In particular, in this embodiment, the two caps 128 are
formed integral with respective half-portions of the
closing stop 126, and are connected to the tapes 12 in a
conventional manner for example through die casting or
injection molding. In more detail, each cap 128 comprises a
external plate 136 and a internal plate 138, which cover
the corresponding end portion of the two fluid barrier
layers 16 and 18 of the respective tape 12 at its upper
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short edge 13b and the textile material strip 14 of the
respective tape 12 at said upper short edge 13b Slits 140
are provided on the external plate 136, in order to make
easier the association of the cap 128 with the external
fluid barrier layer 16. In the example illustrated, the
external plate 136 is wider than the internal plate 138, in
order to make easier the positioning of the cap 128 during
the manufacturing process of the slide fastener 210.
Moreover, each cap 128 also covers an end portion 142 of
the inner long edge 13a of the respective tape 12 joining
to the relative closing stop 126. Preferably, said end
portion 142 of the inner long edge 13a has a rounded shape,
in order to make the slide fastener 210 more ergonomic.
Another aspect of the present invention, which is common to
all embodiments of the present invention is now described
only with reference to the slide fastener 110 illustrated
in figures 3-8 for sake of conciseness.
According to this aspect of the invention, the slider 22 of
the slide fastener 110 has an external plate 23b (to be
associated with a puller - not illustrated -) and an
internal plate 23c embracing together said sets 20 of
aligned teeth, and a middle portion 23a of substantially
wedge-shaped cross section, positioned between said
external plate 23b and said internal plate 23c. In
addition, each half-portion of said closing stop 26 has a
respective substantially half wedge-shaped recess 27 at the
inner long edges 13a of the tapes so that the half-portions
of said closing stop 26 form together a housing 27a having
dimensions at least matching the dimensions of middle
portion 23a of the slider 22 when the slider 22 stops in
its closing stroke.
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As a result, when the slider 22 is closing (see figure 6),
the two sets 20 of aligned teeth are guided by the slider
22 against the two opposed sides of the wedge, until the
two sets 20 of aligned teeth mesh at the vertex of the
wedge. At the same time, the tapes 14 are normally
divaricated at the portions downwards the slider 22 (i.e.
toward the closing stop 26) so that folds 32 are normally
formed upstream the slider 22 (i.e. where the teeth 21 have
been already engaged).
When the slider 22 approaches its closing stroke (see
figure 8), the
half-portions of the closing stops 26 are
guided by the external plate 23b and the internal plate 23c
to close each other so gradually forming the housing 27a in
which the wedge-shaped middle portion 23a of the slider 22
will be housed at the time the slider 22 stops in its
closing stroke.
In this manner, as shown in figures V and 8, the two tapes
12 are planar when the slider 22 reaches the closing stop
26, i.e. the above folds 32, that are formed on each tape
12 while the slider 22 is moved in its stroke (figures 3
and 6), disappears when the slider 22 reaches the closing
stop 26.
This is advantageous as it is possible to precisely, easily
and efficaciously join the two tapes 12 of the slide
fastener 110 in a fluidtight way to the material of a
suit/garment. On the contrary, in the slide fasteners
according to the prior art, folds on the tapes are still
existing even when the slider reaches its closing stop so
rendering the joining of the tapes to the material of a
suit/garment difficult to achieve in a reliable way.
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In addition, when the slider 22 reached its closing stroke,
the free end portions of the inner long edges 13a of the
tapes 12 (i.e. the portions of the inner long edges above
the closing stop 26 along which the tapes are not joined
either directly or through the assembly slider 22/teeth 21)
are in close contact to each other so preserving the
fluidtight requirements of the slide fastener 110 at said
free portions of inner long edges 13.
From the previous description it can clearly be seen that
the fluidtight slide fastener according to the invention
solves the technical problem and achieves numerous
advantages the first of which lies in the fact that it
shows good fluidtight requirements in the long run as the
tapes are obtained fully covered with a fluid-barrier
material.
Another advantage lies in that the slide fastener according
to the invention can be manufactured in a simple manner and
at reduced costs. In this regard, it should be noticed that
the operation of heat-cutting the strips forming the tapes
or as an alternative the operation of heat-pressing the
uncoated edges of the already formed tapes can be easily
integrated in all known manufacturing processes of slide
fasteners. In addition, such operations are easier to
perform than folding uncoated tape edges as in the prior
art.
A further advantage of the slide fastener according to the
invention lies in that thanks to the peculiar construction
of its slider and the closing stop which does not allow
formation of folds at the tapes, such tapes are always
planar to each other and the free portions of their inner
long edges are in close contact when the slider is in its
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closing stroke. As a result, the slide fastener can be
joined to the suit/garment in a easier and reliable manner
and the fluidtight requirements of the slide fastener are
preserved at the free portions of inner long edges of the
tapes.
A further advantage of the slide fastener according the
present invention, in comparison with the prior art, lies
in that it allows to save a part of the tape necessary to
obtain a predetermined length slide fastener.
Of course, a person skilled in the art can bring numerous
modifications and variants to the fluidtight slide fastener
described above in order to satisfy specific and contingent
requirements, all of which are in any case covered by the
scope of protection of the present invention, as defined by
the following claims.
