GB2071204A - Finishing slide fasteners - Google Patents

Abstract

A die holder 12 plvotably mounted at 13 on a frame 11 is angularly movable between a first (chain-dotted) position in which a slider 20 is supported on a slider rest 17 on one end of the die holder 12 and a slide fastener clain 23 is threaded through the slider 20 and a second (vertical) position angularly spaced from the first position and in which an end stop 22 is clinched about the chain 23 against a clinching die 14 adjacent to the slider rest 17. A clamp lever 27 pivotably mounted on the die holder 12 has at one end thereof a prong 29 which engages in an aperture 31 of a pull tab 21 to clamp the slider 20 in place on the slider rest 17 when the die holder 12 is in the first position, and which is automatically released of clamping engagement with the slider 20 by means of an abutment 32 while the die holder 12 is angularly moved from the first to the second position, whereby the slider 20 can freely be removed from the slider rest 17 when the die holder 12 is in the second position. When in the first position, depression of lever 36 unlatches shoulders 42 to permit spring 30 to pivot clamp lever 27 clockwise to engage the tab aperture 31. Movement from the first position is effected by pushing lever 52 to first unlock a projection 54 from a recess 55. A limit switch 59 serves to actuate a clinching punch 24 as the die holder reaches the second position. A pin 50 and slot 51 between the die holder and a pivotable support 46 limit the angular movement of the die holder. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Apparatus for finishing slide fasteners The present invention relates to an apparatus for finishing slide fasteners by attaching a slider and a bottom end stop to a slide fastener chain on a garment such as trousers.

British Patent No. 1,024,708, published on April 6, 1 966 discloses a prior art apparatus of the type described which comprises an arm pivotable about a lower pin thereon and having a slider holder and a die for clinching a bottom end stop. A slider is clamped on the slider holder, and coupling element rows are threaded through the slider thus clamped in a position in which the arm is angularly spaced from its vertical position. Then, the arm is angularly moved to the vertical position for attaching a bottom end stop on the clinching die.

With the prior arrangement, as the slider remains clamped on the slider holder even when the arm is in the vertical position, the bottom end stop attaching operation must be followed by the release of the slider to let the garment be freed from the apparatus, an additional procedure resulting in a reduced rate of production.

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided an apparatus for finishing slide fasteners, comprising: (a) a frame; (b) a die holder pivotably mounted at one end thereof on said frame and having on the other end thereof a clinching die including a slider rest, said die holder being angularly movable between a first position in which a slider is supported on said slider rest and a slider fastener chain is threaded through the slider and a second position angularly spaced from said first position and in which an end stop is clinched about the slider fastener chain against said clinching die; (c) a support pivotably mounted on said frame and operatively coupled with said die holder; (d) a locking lever pivotably mounted on said support for lockingly engaging said die holder in said first position;; (e) a clamp lever pivotably mounted on said die holder for clamping a slider on said slider rest when said die holder is locked in said first position; and (f) means on said frame for releasing said clamp lever of clamping engagement with the slider on said slider rest while said die holder is angularly moved from said first position to said second position.

According to a second aspect of the invention a slider clamp lever is pivotably mounted on a die holder pivotably mounted on a frame and having on an upper end a clinching die including a slider rest; when the die holder is held in a sliderattaching position, a slider is clamped on the slider rest by the clamp lever having a prong which engages a pull tab of the slider; while the die holder is angularly moved from the sliderattaching position to an end-stop-applying position angularly spaced from the sliderattaching position, the clamp lever is engaged by a rod mounted on the frame to be angularly moved until the prong is disengaged from the slider, which then can freely be removed from the siider rest; a detent lever pivotably mounted on the die holder engages the clamp lever to keep the prong out of engagement with the slider.

According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided an apparatus for finishing slide fasteners which includes a slider clamp lever that is automatically releasable from engagement with a slider before end stop attachment to allow free removal of the slider from a slider rest immediately after an end stop has been attached to a slide fastener chain.

The invention will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings which show a preferred embodiment of the present invention by way of example. In the drawings: Fig. 1 is a side elevational view, partly in cross section, of an apparatus for finishing slide fasteners according to the present invention, with the parts of the apparatus being in a position in which a bottom end stop is to be applied to a slide fastener chain; Fig. 2 is a side elevational view, partly in cross section, of the apparatus as its parts are in a position in which a slider is to be clamped on the apparatus; Fig. 3 is a side elevational view, partly in cross section, of the apparatus as it is in a position between the positions of Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line lV-IV of Fig. 1;; Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line V-V of Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a fragmentary plan view illustrative of the way in which a pair of slide fastener stringers are threaded through a slider; and Fig. 7 is a fragmentary plan view of the slide fastener stringers shown in Fig. 6 with a bottom end stop applied.

As shown in Fig. 1, an apparatus 10 for finishing slide fasteners comprises a frame 11 and an elongate die holder 12 mounted at a lower end thereof on the frame 11 by a pivot pin 13 and supporting on an upper end thereof an L-shaped clinching die 14 secured thereto by a pair of screws 15, 1 5. The die 14 has a clinching or curling die recess 1 6 opening upwardly and includes a slider rest 1 7 projecting laterally and having a support recess 18 opening upwardly and a hole 1 9 extending vertically therethrough from the support recess 1 8. A slider 20 can be received in the support recess 1 8 with a slider pull tab 21 hanging down through the hole 1 9.

In a vertical position of the die holder 1 2 as shown in Fig. 1, a bottom end stop 22 is clinched about a slide fastener chain 23 of interengaged coupling elements by a driver punch 24 vertically aligned with the die recess 1 6.

The die holder 1 2 has a longitudinal side slot 26 in which is disposed a clamp lever 27 pivotably mounted by a pin 28 on the die holder 12. The clamp lever 27 includes at its upper end a prong or claw 29 projecting into the slot 26 toward the die 14. The clamp lever 27 is normally biased to turn clockwise about the pin 28 by a compression spring 30 acting between the die holder 12 and the clamp lever 27 at its lower end portion. The prong 29 is so located that when the clamp lever 27 is angularly moved clockwise, the prong 29 enters an aperture 31 in the pull tab 21 depending through the hole 19 and pulls the pull tab 21 downwardly to hold the slider 20 stably in the support recess 1 8.

A horizontal release rod 32 is supported adjustably on the frame 11 adjacent to the lower end of the clamp lever 27 and has a threaded end portion 33 fastened by a nut 34 to the frame 11, the release rod 32 having a length of projection adjustably by the nut 34. When the die holder 12 is in the vertical position, the distal end of the release rod 32 engages laterally the lower end of the clamp lever 27 to cause the latter to pivot counterclockwise until the prong 29 is retracted leftward out of engagement with the slider pull tab 21.

A detent lever 36 is partly disposed in a transverse aperture 37 in the die holder 12 and pivotably mounted thereto by a pin 38. As shown in Fig. 4, the detent lever 36 has a vertical central slot 39 dividing the lever 36 into a pair of lateral spaced arms 40, 40 each extending in one of a pair of opposite side recesses 41, 41 in the clamp lever 27. The arms 40, 40 have a pair of locking shoulders 42, 42, respectively, which face away from the pin 38 and are engageable with a pair of edges 43 (one shown in Fig. 3) of the clamp lever 27 above the recesses 41, 41. The detent lever 36 is normally urged by a compression spring 44 (Fig. 3) to turn clockwise about the pin 38 in a direction to engage the edges 43 on an upper surface of the lever 36.

A support 46 as shown in Figs. 3 and 5 includes a base 47 journalled on a pivot pin 48 mounted on the frame 11 and a pair of lateral spaced wings 49, 49 (Fig. 5) disposed astride of the die holder 12 and connected together by a pin 50 extending through and sliding received in an oblong hole or slot 51 in the die holder 12. Thus, the die holder 1 2 is angularly movable for an angular interval determined by the length of the slot 51. As shown in Fig. 3, a locking lever 52 is disposed between the wings 49, 49 and pivotably mounted thereto by a pin 53. The locking lever 52 has on a lower end thereof a locking projection 54 (Figs. 1 and 2) which is normally pressed against the die holder 12 under the force of a spring 56 which urges the locking lever 52 to turn clockwise about the pin 53.The die holder 12 has a recess 55 receptive of the locking projection 54 as shown in Fig. 2 when the die holder 12 is turned clockwise about the pin 13 to an inclined position angularly spaced from its vertical position.

The frame 11 carries a stop bolt 58 which is engageable with a lower end portion of the die holder 12 to prevent the latter from being angularly moved counterclockwise beyond its vertical position. When the die holder 12 is turned from the inclined to the vertical position, a limit switch 59 on the frame 11 is actuated by the die holder 1 2 to generate a signal for enabling the punch 24 to be driven downwardly by a drive mechanism (not shown).

Operation of the apparatus 10 is as follows: The die holder 12 is first turned clockwise from the vertical position (the solid-line position of Fig. 1) to the inclined position (the solid-line position of Fig. 2) until the locking projection 54 fits into the recess 55, whereupon the die holder 12 is locked against angular movement from the inclined positions. At this time, the shoulders 42 of the detent lever 36 engage the edges 43 of the clamp lever 27, keeping the clamping prong 29 away from the clinching die 14. The slider 20 is now placed in the recess 18 with the pull tab 21 hanging down through the hole 19.Then, the detent lever 36 is depressed in the direction of the arrow 63 to allow the shoulders 42 to disengage from the clamp lever edges 43, whereupon the clamp lever 27 is turned clockwise under the resilient force of the spring 30 until the prong 29 enters the aperture 31 in the pull tab 21 of the slider 20 to clamp the latter immovably on the slider rest 1 7.

As shown in Fig. 6, a pair of slide fastener stringers 60, 60 which are attached to a garment 61 such as trousers and include a pair of rows of coupling elements 62, 62, respectively, are introduced into and threaded through the slider 20 thus clamped on the slider rest 1 7. The rows of coupling elements 62, 62 as they emerge from the slider 20 are meshed together into a slide fastener chain 23 (Fig. 7), which is disposed over the clinching die recess 16.

After the slide fastener stringers 60, 60 have been attached to the slider 20, the locking lever 52 is angularly moved counterclockwise in the direction of the arrow 64 (Fig. 2) to permit the locking projection 54 to be lifted out of the recess 55, and then the die holder 12 is manually turned counterclockwise. As the die holder 12 is angularly moved a predetermined angular interval A (Fig. 3) in the direction of the arrow 65 to an intermediate position which is angularly spaced an angular interval B from the vertical position, the lower end of the clamp lever 27 starts being engaged by the distal end of the release rod 32.

When the die holder 1 2 is continuously turned and arrives at the vertical position, the clamp lever 27 has been angularly moved by the release rod 32 counterclockwise with respect to the die holder 12 until the prong 29 is retracted out of clamping engagement with the slider pull tab 21. as illustrated in Fig. 1. The slider 20 can now be freely dismounted from the slider rest 17. At this time, prong 29 is kept away from the slider pull tab 21 when the edges 43 of the clamp lever 27 are engaged by the shoulder 42 of the detent lever 36 which is urged upwardly under the resiliency of the spring 44.

When the die holder 12 reaches the vertical position, the die holder 1 2 is prevented by the stop bolt 58 from being angularly moved further, and the lower end of the die holder 1 2 actuates the limit switch 59, which generates a signal to actuate the driver punch 24 to move downwardly in the direction of the arrow 66 until its clinches a bottom end stop 22 about the slide fastener chain 23 located over the clinching die recess 1 6.

After the bottom end stop 22 has been attached, the die holder 12 is angularly moved back to the inclined position, during which time the garment 61 with the finished slide fastener can be removed from the apparatus 10 as shown by the dot-and-dash lines in Fig. 1. The garment 61 can be readily freed because the slider 20 has already been unclamped. When the die holder 1 2 reaches the inclined position, a next slider can immediately be loaded on the slider rest 1 7 since the prong 29 of the clamp lever 27 is out of the way of insertion of the pull tab 21.

Although the slider 20 may start being unclamped any time while the die holder 12 is moved from the intermediate position to the vertical position, the slider 20 must have been unclamped when the die holder 12 is in the vertical position, and should preferably be released when the die holder 12 approaches the vertical position or within the angular interval B (approximately 10 degrees from the vertical position). Most preferably, the slider 20 should be unclamped simultaneously with the arrival of the die holder 12 at the vertical position or immediately before such arrival so that the slider 20 cannot be forcibly removed during a substantial portion of the angular movement of the die holder 12. The length of projection of the release rod 32 can be adjusted to change the position in which to release the slider 20.

With the arrangement of the present invention, the slider 20 can automatically be released for ready removal from the slider rest 1 7 while the die holder 12 is angularly moved from the inclined to the vertical position. Accordingly, the rate of finishing or completing of slide fasteners is highly increased.

Aithough a certain preferred embodiment has been shown and described in detail, it should be understood that many changes or modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (6)

1. An apparatus for finishing slide fasteners, comprising: (a) a frame; (b) a die holder pivotably mounted at one end thereof on said frame and having on the other end thereof a clinching die including a slider rest, said die holder being angularly movable between a first position in which a slider is supported on said slider rest and a slider fastener chain is threaded through the slider and a second position angularly spaced from said first position and in which an end stop is clinched about the slider fastener chain against said clinching die; (c) a support pivotably mounted on said frame and operatively coupled with said die holder; (d) a locking lever pivotably mounted on said support for lockingly engaging said die holder in said first position;; (e) a clamp lever pivotably mounted on said die holder for clamping a slider on said slider rest when said die holder is locked in said first position; and (f) means on said frame for releasing said clamp lever of clamping engagement with the slider on said slider rest while said die holder is angularly moved from said first position to said second position.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, said die holder having a slot, said support having a pin slidably received in said slot.

3. An apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, said locking lever having on one end thereof a locking projection, said die holder having a recess receptive of said locking projection when said die holder is in said second position.

4. An apparatus according to claim 1,2 or 3, said clamp lever having on one end thereof a prong engageable with the slider on said slider rest, further including a spring acting between said clamp lever at the other end thereof and said die holder for normally urging said prong into engagement with the slider, and a detent lever acting between said die holder and said clamp lever for keeping said prong out of engagement with the slider after said clamp has been angularly moved a predetermined interval against the resiliency of said spring.

5. An apparatus according to claim 4, said detent lever being pivotably mounted on said die holder and including a locking shoulder engageable with said clamp lever.

6. An apparatus according to any preceding claim, said releasing means comprising a rod mounted on said frame and engageable with said clamp lever at the other end thereof when said die holder is angularly moved from said first to said second position.