ES2357134T3 - SLIDING CLOSURE CLOSED TO THE FLUIDS. - Google Patents

Abstract

A fluid-tight slide fastener (1) comprising coated tapes (2) carrying respective rows of teeth (3), top and bottom stops (4, 5) and a slider (6), wherein the tapes (2) comprises a knurled region (10) in correspondence of the portion of tapes (2) where said teeth (3) are fixed to the same tapes (2).

Description

Fluid-tight slide closure.

Scope

The present invention relates to a closure fluid-tight slide and a manufacturing process a fluid tight slide closure.

Prior art

A sliding closure, in general terms, it comprises a pair of bands that carry respective rows of teeth, upper and lower stops and a cursor to open and close the closure gearing and disengaging teeth.

The fluid tight zippers are necessary for a number of applications, such as for articles  sports and for outdoor activities, diving suits or navigation, tents and the like. It is necessary that said closures are resistant to the passage of a liquid and / or gas, for example water and / or air even at a significant pressure difference between inside and outside, for example up to approximately 2 bars; at the same time, they must be firm and flexible

According to the known technique, the zippers fluid-tight are made with bands in composite layers by a layer of textile core coated with a barrier layer to adequate fluids, and teeth that are applied to layered bands or They are injection molded. With regard to materials, it is known make fluid tight zippers with textile bands coated with a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) material and teeth composed of a thermoplastic material.

US 2006/101632 discloses a pattern printed on a zipper finished by a roller pattern formation EP 0 108 214 discloses bands of thread with a thickened or expanded elastic sealing element that extends along the edge part. US 4 document 123 830 discloses yarn bands with a reinforcement cord along an edge. WO 02/03825 discloses a closure Slider with welded teeth on the bands.

It is known that the area of the slide closure in the that the teeth are fixed to the coated bands is a point critical of a fluid tight slide closure. He coupling between each tooth and the bands, in fact, should be fluid tight and must also resist mechanical stress due to the opening and closing action of the cursor, the curvature of bands, handling and direct exposure to the environment.

In addition, layered bands may suffer a layer separation due to heavy use and / or lack of adhesion between layers. Because of such separation, also known as delamination, the textile core may be exposed and in this case the fluid sealing action is seen in General committed.

Summary of the invention

The technical problem on which the invention is to improve the fluid sealing action and the reliability of a fluid tight slide closure as defined above, particularly with respect to coupling between the teeth and the coated bands.

This problem is solved by providing a knurled area or stamped on at least one side of the bands of the zipper. In more detail, the problem is solved by fluid tight slide closure comprising a pair of bands, each of said bands comprising a core layer textile and a fluid barrier layer that covers said layer textile, and that has at least one part that carries a row of teeth along an inner edge, characterized in that each one of said bands comprises a knurled area in at least one side of the band and on the outer side of the barrier layer fluids, said knurled area extending along said inner edge of the band and carrying at least in said part of the band said row of teeth, so that the teeth are fixed to the knurled area of the band. Said knurled area (or stamped) is formed as a continuous longitudinal strip parallel to said edge internal.

According to a preferred aspect of the invention, said knurled area has a width that is greater than the width of base parts of said teeth. As the basic parts of the teeth are parts that are fixed to the band, the coupling area between the teeth and the band is completely included in said knurled area of the band. In a preferred embodiment, the width of the knurled area of band is about 1.5 - 2 times the width of the base parts of the teeth.

According to embodiments of the invention, said zone knurled is provided on one side of the bands, preferably the anterior side directed to the outside, or the same knurled area is provides both the front and back of the bands.

The knurled area can be obtained directly during the manufacture of the coated bands, for example directly after coating the textile core layer with the fluid barrier layer. Equivalently, the area knurled can be obtained with a subsequent procedure step made on a semi-finished product such as a tape textile material coated with said fluid barrier layer.

According to a preferred embodiment, the bands of the Sliding closure are manufactured by extrusion or lamination of a selected fluid barrier material, preferably in a molten state, on ribbons of textile material. One is done procedure step of knurling on coated tapes, obtaining said knurled area on one or both sides of the bands. Then the teeth are fixed and integrated into said area knurled bands, for example by molding injection.

A method according to the invention for producing a band for a sliding closure comprises at least the stages of:

- cover a textile tape with a material fluid barrier;

- subject the coated tape to a procedure knurled, to obtain a knurled area on at least one side of said tape and on the outer side of the barrier layer to the fluids and near an edge thereof;

- fix a row of teeth to said area knurled ribbon;

- cut the tape to obtain a band of one given length

The textile material of the core layer of Bands are preferably selected from polyester (PE), preferably poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET), polyamide (PA) and mixtures or copolymers.

According to another aspect of the invention, the material textile is a spun yarn of cut fibers, which has a irregular surface similar to a natural fiber that tends to remain inserted into the fluid barrier layer, improving the delamination resistance. The fluid barrier material is preferably provides over the textile core layer in a molten state, for example extruded or laminated.

Therefore, the procedure as given known above preferably provides for the use of a tape textile of a spun yarn of cut fibers, obtaining said fibers with a continuous fiber cutting process. Plus preferably, the textile tape is coated by extrusion or lamination of molten fluid barrier material from so that the surface irregularities of the yarn thread remain inserted into the fluid barrier layer.

The fluid barrier layer is composed preferably by a thermoplastic elastomer polyurethane (TPE-U) or a thermoplastic elastomer polyester (TPE-E). For example, said TPE-E is a polyether ester block copolymer and said TPE-U is a block copolymer obtained from of an ether and / or an ester and an isocyanate.

The teeth of the slide fastener are compounds, according to some embodiments, of a material thermoplastic consisting of a mixture that includes PBT and polycarbonate (PC). Preferably, the weight ratio of PBT / PC in said mixture ranges between 70/30 and 30/70. According to other embodiments, the teeth are composed of a mixture that includes ABS and a polyamide (PA). More preferably, the weight ratio of ABS / PA in said mixture ranges between 70/30 and 30/70.

According to a more preferred embodiment, select a TPE-E fluid barrier layer in combination with teeth composed of PBT. According to another embodiment, a fluid barrier layer of TPE-U in combination with teeth composed of or either a mixture of ABS and PA or a mixture of PBT and PC.

The barrier layer to fluids and teeth they can include suitable additives such as, for example, fillers, pigments, binders and / or compatibilizers, incorporating these last to improve physical and chemical affinity between said materials and / or among the materials used for the structure in band layers.

Sliding closure bands can also comprise an optional additional adhesive layer between the core textile and fluid barrier layer and coating. By way of advantageously, the adhesive is selected to have a strong affinity Chemistry for the two materials to be joined. Preferably, The adhesive comprises a polyurethane resin.

According to the invention, sports and outdoor activities items are manufactured, such as a diving suit, a sailing suit, a tent and the like, comprising a fluid-tight slide closure as described above.
mind.

The advantages of the invention are as follows. The knurled area has a surface that is not smooth, with ridges that alternate with patterned areas according to one direction perpendicular to the surface of the bands, thus increasing all the contact surface available for coupling between Bands and teeth. Therefore, a stronger bond is obtained Between each tooth and the band.

In addition, it has been found that the knurled area It has a retention effect on the teeth, opposing its movement and / or rotation with respect to the band, and thus increasing the mechanical resistance to curvature.

The fluid sealing action also is improved by the fact that the knurled area is an obstacle additional to the passage of fluids such as air or water on the surface of tooth-band contact. It can be said that these ridges and patterned areas on the surface of the band act as a maze against the passage of fluids, especially water.

In practical terms, it has been found that a fluid tight seal with knurled bands as defined above has a better sealing action at fluids and resistance to mechanical wear compared to known closures. It has also been found that the invention reduces the percentage of defective parts, compensating for certain adhesion imperfect between the bands and certain teeth, which otherwise would have led to a loss of fluid tightness.

Preferred materials, as listed previously, they provide an additional advantage in terms of mechanical properties on the two contact surfaces between the layers of the bands and between the fluid barrier layer and the teeth, due to a chemical bonding effect.

The use of a spun yarn for the core layer Textile bands have an additional advantage. Spun yarns they have fibers that protrude from the ideal diameter of the thread itself, which remain inserted in the material of the fluid barrier layer, providing an additional mechanical bond between the layers and improving delamination resistance.

Another advantage is that the knurled area or stamped defines a useful reference line to assemble the Sliding closure bands on a garment of a suit. In fact, the outer edge line of the knurled area indicates a limit that must not be exceeded during assembly (eg sewing) of sliding closure on the garment.

Advantages and additional features of zippers according to the invention will become more apparent from the detailed description and examples provided to continued in this document, given as an indication and not limitative.

Brief description of the drawings

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a fluid tight sliding closure according to an embodiment of the present invention

Figure 2 is a top view of a part of a band of the slide fastener of figure 1.

Figure 3 is a section according to the line III-III of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a top view of a part of a band of the slide fastener of figure 1.

Figure 5 is a section according to the line V-V of figure 4.

Figure 6 is an enlarged view, in perspective of a part of the bands of figure 1, in the area in  which a tooth attaches to the band.

Figures 7 and 8 are a view of a part of the closure bands in figure 1, during their procedure of manufacturing.

Figure 9 is a simplified scheme of a procedure to make bands for a sliding closure according the invention.

Detailed description of preferred embodiments

With reference to figure 1, a closure fluid-tight slide 1, according to an embodiment of the The present invention comprises a pair of bands 2, provided with teeth 3, a bottom stop 4, top stops 5 and a cursor 6.

Bands 2 have a layered structure composed of a layer of textile core completely covered in both sides by a suitable fluid barrier layer.

Each of the bands 2 carries a row of teeth 3. Teeth 3 are associated with a part of the bands  2, between the bottom stop 4 and the top stops 5, along internal edges 7 of said bands 2. The teeth 3 are associated to bands 2 in a fluid tight manner, for example by injection molding.

The upper and lower bumpers 4, 5 also they are fixed to bands 2 in a fluid tight manner, by example by injection molding. The figure refers, of non-limiting way, to an embodiment in which the bottom stop 4 is composed of a single piece applied in both bands in a end of the rows of teeth, while two upper stops 5 apply to the respective bands 2 at the opposite end of The rows of teeth. In other embodiments of the invention, the upper stop can be composed of a single piece or the stop Bottom can be composed of two half pieces.

Each band 2 comprises a surface area knurled 10, formed as a longitudinal strip that extends from said inner edge 7 and having a predetermined width, so that teeth 3 are associated with said knurled area 10 of the band 2. Knurled zone 10 is provided throughout the entire band 2 or at least in the part of band 2 that carries the row of teeth 3.

Figures 2 and 3 show in more detail the embodiment discussed in this document. The bands 2 they comprise a textile core 20 completely wrapped by a fluid barrier coating 21. Teeth 3 have a base part 30, coupled to the respective band 2, and a part of head 31 protruding from the inner edge 7 for mutual engagement under the action of cursor 6. It can be seen that edges 7 are formed by the coating 21 that surrounds the textile core 20.

The knurled zone 10 has a surface that does not it is smooth with a pattern of ridges 11 that protrude from the areas stamped surface 12, obtained as a deformation permanent fluid barrier coating 21 of the bands 2. Preferably, the ridges 11 are arranged according to the pattern of figure 2, that is straight lines that intersect at 90º e inclined 45º with respect to rows of teeth 3.

The width W of the knurled zone 10 is preferably about 1.5-2 times the width of the base parts 30 of the teeth 3 (figure 2).

As seen in Figure 3, it provides a knurled area 10 on both sides of the bands 2, specifically on the previous surface 22, intended to be directed on the outside, and on the opposite back surface 23. On a garment which includes the slide 1, for example, the surface previous 22 is the external surface exposed to the agents environmental, while the rear surface 23 is the internal surface The provision of knurled areas 10 with ridges 11 and patterned areas 12 on both surfaces 22 and 23 of the bands 2, can be seen further in Figures 4 and 5.

In other embodiments (not shown), you can provide a knurled area 10 only on one side of the bands 2, specifically on one of said surfaces 22, 23, preferably on the anterior surface 22.

Figure 6 allows you to better appreciate the ridges 11 protruding from the areas 12 engraved on the coating fluid barrier 21 of the bands 2. Figure 6 also shows a hole 13 that is used to mold the teeth 3. Figure 6 also provides a better appreciation of the fact that the ridges 11 increase the area available for coupling with teeth 3, compared to a band perfectly smooth In fact, the surface in the plane perpendicular to the axis of the hole13, which would be the only surface available in a smooth band, it is increased by the surfaces sides of said ridges protruding from areas 12. May achieve a gain of the available area of 10% or plus.

Figures 7 and 8 show a part of a band 2 during the manufacturing process. With reference to Figure 7, a tape 40 is formed covering a core layer internal, textile with a fluid barrier layer, which wraps said inner core layer on both sides. Said tape 40 has a edge 7, also covered by said fluid barrier layer, where the teeth are associated with the tape. A longitudinal zone knurled 10, in the form of a strip with a width W, is formed from of said edge 7, by a knurling procedure or printing of the tape 40. Said procedure defined in the surface area 10 a pattern of ridges 11 protruding from stamped areas 12, in which the fluid barrier layer is Performs thinner.

The teeth 3 are then associated with the tape 40, for example by injection molding, along said edge 7 (figure 8). The teeth 3 are integrated in the area longitudinal knurled 10 of the tape 40. Next it is cut the tape 40 transversely to obtain the bands 2 of a desired length, and said bands 2 are provided with stops and a cursor, such as stops 4, 5 and cursor 6, to obtain a closure of zipper as seen, for example, in figure 1.

With reference to figure 9, scheme mode a procedure to obtain tape 40. It is done pass a continuous, textile 50 tape through an extruder suitable 51, which is fed with a fluid barrier material M in a molten state, obtaining as intermediate an coated tape 52, in which the textile tape is wrapped by the fluid barrier material.

Then the tape is passed coated through a pair of rollers 53 and 54, which deform both the anterior and posterior surface of the tape coated near an edge thereof, obtaining tape 40 with knurled zone 10. Preferably, rollers 53, 54 are immediately downstream of extruder 51, so that the coating is still hot and can deform so simple. It should be noted that the coated bands 2 also They can be produced by rolling.

The tape 50 may be composed of a thread spinning and coating by extrusion or lamination of material molten fluid barrier, so that the irregularities of surface of the spun yarn is inserted into the barrier layer a the solidified fluids and provide a "grip" effect of the textile layer in the fluid barrier layer, that is, a stronger coupling between layers.

As stated earlier, there are a number of preferred materials for layers 20, 21 of bands 2 and for teeth 3 in order to obtain a chemical bonding effect that further improve delamination resistance.

From the above description you can clearly observe that the fluid tight slide closure  according to the present invention solves the technical problem, about all because of the fact that it has good characteristics of long-term fluid tightness and resistance to delamination, curvature and other mechanical stress especially in the tooth-band contact surface.

Obviously, one skilled in the art can make numerous modifications and variants at closing slide described above in order to satisfy specific and contingent requirements, all being covered, in in any case, for the scope of protection of this invention, as defined by the following claims.

Claims (13)

1. Fluid-tight slide closure (1) comprising a pair of bands (2), each of said bands (2) comprising a textile core layer (20) and a fluid barrier layer (21) that covers said textile layer, and having at least one part that carries a row of teeth (3) along an inner edge (7), characterized in that each of said bands (2) comprises a knurled area (10), being said knurled area (10) located on at least one side of the band (2) and on the outer side of the fluid barrier layer, said knurled area (10) extending along said inner band edge (7) (2) as a continuous longitudinal strip parallel to said inner edge (7), and extending at least in said part of the band (2) carrying said row of teeth (3) so that the teeth are fixed to the knurled area from the band. 2. Sliding closure according to claim 1, wherein said knurled area (10) has a width (W) that is greater that the width of base parts (30) of said teeth (3) fixed to the band (2). 3. Sliding closure according to claim 2, wherein said knurled area has a width (W), in one direction perpendicular to said inner edge (7), which is approximately 1.5 - 2 times the width of said base parts (30) of the teeth (3). 4. Sliding closure according to any one of the previous claims, wherein said knurled area (10) has a pattern of ridges (11) that protrude from patterned areas (12) of the band (2). 5. Sliding closure according to claim 4, in which said ridges (11) intersect at 90 ° to each other and are inclined 45º with respect to the longitudinal direction of the band (2). 6. Sliding closure according to any one of the previous claims, wherein said knurled area (10) is provides on both anterior and posterior surfaces (22, 23) of the bands (2). 7. Sliding closure according to any one of the previous claims, wherein said textile core (20) of The bands (2) are made with spun yarn. 8. Sliding closure according to any one of the previous claims, wherein said barrier layer to the fluids is composed of TPE-E and the teeth are composed of PBT. 9. Sliding closure according to claim 8, wherein said fluid barrier layer is composed of TPE-U and the teeth are composed of either a mixture of ABS and PA or a mixture of PBT and PC. 10. Procedure to produce a band (2) for a sliding closure (1) according to claim 1, which It comprises at least the stages of: - cover a textile tape with a material fluid barrier; - subject the coated tape to a procedure of knurling, to obtain a knurled or stamped area (10) in at least one side of said tape and on the outer side of the layer fluid barrier and near an edge (7) thereof; - said knurled area (10) extending along said edge (7) of the band (2) as a continuous longitudinal strip parallel to said edge
(7), - fix a row of teeth to said area ribbon stamping; - cut the tape to obtain a band of one given length 11. Method according to claim 10, in which said textile tape is composed of a spun yarn of cut fibers, said fibers being obtained with a process of continuous fiber cutting. 12. Method according to claim 11, in which said textile tape is coated by extrusion or lamination of said fluid barrier material, said fluid barrier material in a molten state, so that the surface irregularities of said spun yarn remain inserted into the fluid barrier layer. 13. Sporting goods and activities at outdoors, such as a diving suit, navigation suit, shop campaign and the like, which includes a tight sliding closure to the fluids according to any one of claims 1 to 9.