TH23634A - A device for inspecting the top end stopper of a zipper? - Google Patents

Abstract

This device automatically checks the upper end stopper of a zipper as it is fed in by a pulling clamp onto the ejection unit. The zipper has a slider with a pull tab and a lower end stopper installed on it. An image sensor, or camera, is positioned near the feeding trajectory, at the source of the ejection unit, to read an image of the upper end stopper and check its assembly condition. This information is displayed as image data processed by the camera. A zipper support unit is positioned at the source of the camera's feeding trajectory to support the zipper near the lower end stopper, maintaining its stability while the image of the upper end stopper is read by the camera.

Claims (6)

1. Equipment for inspecting the upper end stopper of a zipper. While the zipper is fed longitudinally along the feed path from the pull of one of the clamp pairs towards the release unit, with a slider with a pull tab and a lower end stopper attached to the zipper, the equipment consists of: (a) a photosensitizer positioned near the feed path at the origin of the release unit to read the image of the upper end stopper for inspection of its assembly condition, which is displayed on the image data read by the photosensitizer using an image data processing method; and (b) a zipper support trajectory positioned at the origin of the photosensitizer's feed path to support the zipper section near the lower end stopper, maintaining the zipper's stability while the image of the upper end stopper is read by the photosensitizer. 2. The device under claim 1 also includes an additional image sensor designated to be mounted near the feed trajectory at the terminal end of the empty space detection unit located at the initial end of the device. 3. The device under claim 1, in relation to the zipper support trajectory, consists of a U-shaped support platform which can move vertically toward and away from the feed trajectory and be moved back downward when the support platform is not supporting the zipper in order to avoid obstructing the movement of the slider. 4. The device under Requirement 1, in relation to the zipper support pathway, consists of a U-shaped support plate, fixed in place to make contact with the front or rear surface of the zipper, and a U-shaped flexible compression piece, fixed in place to make contact with the front or rear surface of the zipper, to act as a catalyst to hold the zipper in place flexibly between the support pieces, while simultaneously allowing the slider to move freely along the zipper support pathway without obstruction. 5. The device under claim 1, when applied to a zipper fed in with the slider pull tab suspended downwards from the slider housing, also includes a pull tab support mechanism to prevent the slider pull tab from rotating around the pivot point toward the upper end stopper while the image of the upper end stopper is read by such image sensor. 6. The device under claim 5, which in part consists of a pull tab support plate, is positioned near and on the source side of the image sensor and sloped upwards toward the zipper feed direction to support the slider pull tab on the plate while the image of the upper end stopper is read by the image sensor.