US20240049841A1

US20240049841A1 - Ultra-thin plastic steel zipper

Info

Publication number: US20240049841A1
Application number: US18/382,478
Authority: US
Inventors: Hao Lu; Hongchu Dai
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Huang Hongmei
Priority date: 2017-04-28
Filing date: 2023-10-21
Publication date: 2024-02-15
Also published as: WO2018195896A1

Abstract

An ultra-thin plastic steel zipper includes: a pair of zipper fabric belts; two sets of teeth, respectively distributed along a direction of the pair of zipper fabric belts and engaged onto an inner side of each zipper fabric belt; a zipper head; a pair of top stops; and a bottom stop; the upper surface and the lower surface of the tooth are composed of three surfaces comprising a flat surface, a tapered surface, and a vertical surface, both an upper surface and a lower surface of the tooth has a tapered structure from the tooth head to the tooth tail, the overall volume of the teeth is significantly reduced, and the thickness and volume of the central line of the fabric belt are reduced, the established appearance of the plastic steel zipper is improved.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a Continuation application of International Patent Application No. PCT/CN2017/082373, filed on Apr. 28, 2017; the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present application relates to a zipper, and more particularly to an ultra-thin plastic steel zipper.

BACKGROUND

In the clothing industry, zippers are widely used. A pair of zippers include a pair of zipper fabric belts with teeth and a zipper head. The zipper head slides along the direction of the zipper fabric belts to achieve the opening and closing functions of the zipper. The engagement method of the teeth and the fabric belts of the plastic steel zippers of existing technology on the market is that the plastic steel teeth are engaged to the central line of the zipper fabric belt during injection molding to meet industry related physical tensile standards. However, the cross-sectional shape of the zipper teeth produced by existing technology is generally rectangular, and the upper and lower surfaces of the teeth are flat surfaces, which resulting in an overall thickness is larger and the tooth volume is relatively larger, such that the plastic steel zipper has a heavy and clumsy appearance, and the softness of the zipper is poor, which affects the versatile use of the zipper with ready-made clothing, and cannot meet the future trend of light and thin form demand in the clothing industry. In the existing technology, although there are improved products, but the improvement effect is not significant. When applied to the outer surface of clothing, such designs cannot solve the problems of the inner teeth easily scratching the skin and causing scratches on clothing fibers during washing, as well as larger volume.
The purpose of the present application is to solve the above-mentioned problems by designing an ultra-thin plastic steel zipper that is lighter and thinner than existing zippers, in order to meet the needs of light and thin clothing matching in the current trend of the clothing industry, and the plastic steel zipper is more soft and beautiful, and has a soft and comfortable uniqueness, while significantly improving the performance the zippers of existing technology and saving a large amount of raw materials.

SUMMARY

The present application provides an ultra-thin plastic steel zipper, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , which includes a pair of zipper fabric belts; two sets of teeth respectively distributed along a direction of the pair of zipper fabric belts and engaged onto an inner side of each zipper fabric belt; a zipper head; a pair of top stops (31, 32); and a bottom stop; an overall zipper is symmetrical from left to right, left and right teeth are engaged with each other through sliding of the zipper head; as shown in FIGS. 3, 7 and 9 , a tooth head is thicker than a tooth tail, and the tooth tail is thinner than the tooth head; when viewed from a cross-section of each tooth, both an upper surface and a lower surface of each tooth has a tapered structure from the tooth head to the tooth tail, The term “tapered” refers to reducing or thinning. The tapered structure refers to the thickness of which is gradually decreased from thick to thin.
As shown in a cross-sectional view of FIG. 5 , when the left and right teeth are intersected and engaged, the engagement area also forms a tapered structure with a middle being thicker, and the left and right ends being thinner.
As shown in FIGS. 3, 6 and 9 , the upper surface and the lower surface of each tooth are composed of three surfaces including a flat surface, a tapered surface, and a vertical surface sequentially connected. As shown in FIG. 5 , when the left and right teeth are engaged, and when viewed from the cross-section, a tapered structure is formed, and an upper surface and a lower surface of the tapered structure are further composed of a middle portion being a flat surface, and two sides being a tapered surface and a vertical surface, respectively. In a direction from the tooth head to the tooth tail, a section of flat surface is first provided, and then a tail end of the flat surface is connected to the tapered surface, and the vertical surface is then connected to the tapered surface, to reach the fabric belt. The overall volume of the tooth is significantly reduced by the design of tapered structure of the teeth, so that the purposes of thin, lightweight, plastic saving, environmental protection, and comfortable use are achieved.
The present application provides an ultra-thin plastic steel zipper, and the upper surface and lower surface of the tooth can be symmetrical or asymmetrical.
As shown in the cross-sectional views of FIGS. 9 and 11 , the upper surface and lower surface of the tooth are symmetrical, which are upper and lower symmetrical with a central line as the center of symmetry. As shown in the cross-sectional views of FIG. 4 , the upper surface and lower surface of the tooth are asymmetrical.
In the tooth provided in the present application, the volume of the tooth tail is significantly reduced by the design of the tapered surface, which improves the sharp phenomenon of a right angle at the engagement portion the tooth tail of the tooth of the existing technology. The zipper teeth are softer and more comfortable when pressed against the human skin, while reducing the phenomenon of the tooth easily catching clothing fibers. The thicker appearance of ordinary plastic steel zipper is improved, and the plastic steel zipper has a novel feeling of lightweight and flexible characteristics.
In the ultra-thin plastic steel zipper of the present application, as shown in FIG. 7 , each tooth is provided with a gap, the gap is naturally formed when the tooth is injected onto the fabric belt, the gap is in a flat shape, and the gap is rectangular when viewed from the cross-section, and an inner end of the gap is circular or elliptical. The fabric belt passes through the gap, and tooth is engaged with the fabric belt at the gap, one or more stabilizing columns is provided in the gap of each tooth, a shape of the gap is matched with a shape of the fabric belt, so that the tooth is tightly engaged to the fabric belt. This structural design ensures that the engaging strength of the teeth with the fabric belt exceeds that of any existing technology product.
As shown in FIG. 23 , the overall thickness of the ultra-thin teeth of the present application is about 10% to 20% thinner than the teeth of the existing technology, and the overall zipper can save about 10% to 20% of plastic usage. According to the 2016 China Zipper Market Research and Development Trend Prediction Report, the annual use of zippers in China was approximately 46 billion meters. If a single ultra-thin zipper with a length of 20 cm is used, and 10% of plastic usage is saved. In China alone, it can save about 23000000 KG of plastic per year. Based on international environmental trends, the present application can contribute greatly to the protection of the Earth's environment.
In the ultra-thin plastic steel zipper provided by the present application, the tapered surfaces of the upper surface and the lower surface of each tooth are in a shape of an arch curved surface, a concave curved surface, a curved surface, or a flat surface.
The fabric belt in the present application is a fabric belt with light and flexible characteristics, and the thickness and volume of the central line of the fabric belt are significantly reduced when weaving. The ultra-thin fabric belt has the characteristics of being lighter and thinner than the zipper fabric belts of the existing technology. The ultra-thin teeth and ultra-thin fabric belt of the present application form a lightweight and enhanced softness ultra-thin plastic steel zipper.
The ultra-thin fabric belt used in the zipper fabric belt of the present application not only reduces the thickness of the zipper fabric belt of the existing technology, but also importantly reflects the use of the ultra-thin central line, as shown in FIG. 12 , the thickness H1 of the ultra-thin central line in the present application is about 70% of the thickness H4 of the central line of the zipper fabric belt of the existing technology, which reduces the thickness by about 30%, thus possessing a softer characteristic than the fabric belt of the existing technology. However, due to the thinner central line, when plastic steel teeth are injection molded onto the fabric belt, the engaging strength between the teeth and the fabric belt is insufficient. In order to improve the problem and increase the engaging strength between the teeth and the fabric belt of the ultra-thin plastic steel zipper, the present application further makes the following improvement design.
In the ultra-thin plastic steel zipper provided by the present application, the zipper fabric belt is an ultra-thin fabric belt, and a row of holes arranged continuously and spaced along an arranging direction of the teeth adjacent to a central line are provided in an engagement area between the zipper fabric belt and the teeth; the teeth are injection molded onto the zipper fabric belt, at least one hole is provided at the engagement area where each tooth is engaged with the zipper fabric belt, and each tooth is provided with a stabilizing column penetrating the hole.
As shown in FIG. 13 , the ultra-thin fabric belt of the zipper has a structural design with a row of holes located adjacent to the central line. The row of holes on the fabric belt are formed simultaneously during weaving by setting the structural organization of the textile. In addition, laser and punching methods can also be used to form the holes; when the plastic steel teeth are injection molded, the plastic will penetrate the holes adjacent to the central line of the fabric belt, as shown in FIG. 15 , to form a stabilizing column inside each tooth, which tightly engages the teeth onto the fabric belt, the purpose and effect of strengthening the zipper tension are achieved. The teeth of the present application are thinner than those of the existing technology, and the overall flexibility of the zipper is greatly improved. Moreover, by the structural configuration of small holes arranged on the fabric belt and stabilizing columns, the ultra-thin plastic steel zipper of the present application is significantly exceeded the strength of ordinary plastic steel zippers produced using the existing technology when testing.
In addition, due that the continuous production of the fabric belt with teeth in the production process is performed along the length direction, which is cut into several segments according to the product size, and the teeth injected on the fabric belt between the segments need to be cut off and removed to form a vacant portion. Since the teeth of the present application are more tightly integrated with the fabric belt by passing through the holes of the fabric belt, it is impossible to remove teeth to complete the zipper product using the existing technology. The existing technology for removing teeth is to use sizing technology, which first forms the teeth on the fabric belt, and then equipment knives are used to cut and peel off the teeth of fixed length, and then the upper and lower stops of the zipper are injected onto the fabric belt to complete the finished product. The ultra-thin teeth of the present application is provided with the stabilizing column that engages with the fabric belt. If produced using existing sizing technology, which may destroy the fabric belt when peeling off the teeth.
In order to solve the problem, the teeth on the ultra-thin plastic steel zipper belt provided by the present application adopt a new type of automatic vacancy arrangement technology. When the teeth are injection molded onto the fabric belt, the vacant portion is also reserved, and there is no need to cut and peel off the teeth from the fabric belt, which avoids the damage of the stabilizing column of the tooth to the fabric belt when using existing technology, and the length and size of each segment of teeth can be freely controlled at the same time. FIG. 14 is a schematic view of the finished product effect of the new automatic clearance and sizing technology. The present application adopts the new automatic clearance and sizing technology, which solves the problem of existing sizing technology damaging the ultra-thin fabric belt and maintaining the integrity of the fabric belt and the row of holes.
As shown in FIG. 16 , in the ultra-thin plastic steel zipper provided by the present application, the zipper head includes an upper guide plate, a lower guide plate, a core connecting column, a front end, and a tail end; an inner cavity is formed between the upper guide plate and the lower guide plate configured for the teeth passing through, and shapes of inner and outer sides of the upper guide plate and the lower guide plate are matched with a tapered shape of the teeth to fully cover the teeth and achieve the function of smoothly opening and closing the zipper; which voids inconsistency in the shape of the zipper head and the teeth resulting in chain breakage during pulling.
As shown in FIGS. 17, 18, and 19 , the ultra-thin plastic steel zipper of the present application further includes a pair of top stops and a bottom stop to prevent the zipper head from sliding out of the zipper, which have the effect of blocking the zipper head and preventing the zipper head from sliding out. The bottom stop can be an open tail type or a tailless type. The bottom stop of open tail type is composed of a block and a pin, similar to the form of a zipper in the middle of a typical jacket, when the zipper head reaches the bottom stop of open tail type, the zipper can be separated from the left and right sides. The bottom stop of the tailless style is a block, similar to the form of a typical jacket pocket zipper, and the tail end of the zipper cannot be separated from the left and right sides. The top stops are located at the top end of the zipper, and the bottom stop is located at the bottom end of the zipper. The top stop is composed of a left top stop and a right top stop, The cross-sections of the left and right top stops have the same shape as the tapered section of the tooth, and the cross-sections of the top stops are symmetrical from top to bottom. The upper and lower surfaces of the top stops are also composed of three basic surfaces: a flat surface, a tapered surface, and a vertical surface. The bottom stop is a tailless type or an open tail type, and when the bottom stop is the tailless type, a cross-section of the bottom stop is the same as a tapered cross-section of an engagement surface formed by engaging the left and right teeth; and when the bottom stop is the open tail type, a cross-section of the bottom stop formed by a block and a pin is the same as the cross-section of each tooth.
As shown in FIG. 20 , a flat surface with a length of L1 is provided in a direction from the tooth head to the tooth tail, and an overall length from the tooth head to the tooth tail is L2, the length L1 is set to account for more than 40% of the length L2, and the ratio of the length of the flat surface can be adjusted according to product requirements. The specific function of the flat surface of the tooth is to first maintain the overall tensile strength of the tooth and avoid the problem of insufficient strength of the tooth of the thin zipper. In addition, the flat surface can maintain a high stability in the self-locking force between the zipper head and the teeth, which reduces the problem of locking force failure caused by the misalignment of the locking hook and the tapered surface in the inner cavity of the zipper head if the proportion of the tapered surface is too large; the length L1 of the flat surface being maintained above 40% of the total length L2 of the tooth is the most stable value by design and practical evaluation, so as to maintain the safe locking force physical performance of zipper products.
As shown in FIG. 21 , in order to ensure a better fit between the fabric belt and the central line, and improve the flexibility of the zipper, a diameter thickness of the central line is H1, and a main body thickness of the fabric belt of the zipper is H3. In the ultra-thin plastic steel zipper provided by the present application, a ratio of the diameter thickness H1 of the central line to the main body thickness H3 of the fabric belt of the zipper is less than 2.4:1, while a ratio of the diameter thickness of the central line to the main body thickness of the fabric belt of the zipper is greater than 2.7:1. The central line of the ultra-thin fabric belt used in the present application reduces the thickness by about 30% compared to the central line of the fabric belt of the existing technology, which improves the limitation range of the volume thickness of the central line of the fabric belt of the existing technology. The overall softness of the ultra-thin plastic steel zipper is also significantly improved compared to the zipper of the existing technology, which can increase the softness of the product by about 50% during bending, and the soft and lightweight characteristics of the zipper are improved to a new level.
As shown in FIG. 22 , in the ultra-thin plastic steel zipper provided by the present application, the thickness of the central line is H1, which accounts for less than 43% of a maximum thickness H2 of the tooth, The thickness of the central line of the zipper of the existing technology accounts for about 50% of a maximum thickness of the tooth. Moreover, the overall thickness of the tooth of the present application is about 10% to 20% thinner than that of the existing technology. By reducing the thickness of the teeth, the plastic usage is reduced.
As shown in FIG. 24 , in the ultra-thin plastic steel zipper provided by the present application, an intersection angle (θ1) between the tapered surface and the vertical surface of each tooth is formed, and the intersection angle (θ1) is ranged from 100° to 150°.
As shown in FIG. 25 , the present application improves the tail of the tooth of the plastic steel zipper of the existing technology, the intersection angle of about 80° to 100° presents a sharp and hard tactile defect, while a gentle intersection angle of about 100° to 150° of the tooth provides a comfortable and soft feature that is not easy to scratch.
As shown in FIG. 26 , the tooth tail includes two vertical surfaces arranged from a top to a bottom, and a total height (H6) of the two vertical surfaces is ranged from 0.5 mm to 1.5 mm.
The design of the vertical surface at the tail of the tooth allows the zipper head to have a stable track to support when sliding on the teeth, so as to avoid the phenomenon of the zipper head sliding out of the teeth track during the pulling operation; the total height H6 of the upper and lower vertical surfaces is necessary to be greater than 0.5 mm to generate the effect of the upper and lower vertical surfaces on the fabric belt after calculated, compared, and tested; and the total height H6 being arranged less than 1.5 mm to is to reduce the sharp tactile sensation of the engagement portion of the tail of the tooth, and to increase the soft and comfortable characteristics of ultra-thin plastic steel zipper.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an overall zipper;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an overall zipper;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a tapered tooth, wherein an upper surface and a lower surface are in a symmetrical arch shape;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a tapered tooth, wherein an upper surface and a lower surface are in an asymmetrical arch shape;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a combination surface when a left tooth is engaged with a right tooth;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a tooth;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a tooth, wherein a gap is shown;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of a combination of a tooth and a fabric belt;

FIG. 9 is a sectional schematic view of a tooth structure;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a composing of an upper surface of a tooth;

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of an upper surface and a lower surface of a tooth;

FIG. 12 is a comparison view of central line thickness between the existing technology and an ultra-thin fabric belt;

FIG. 13 is a schematic view of a central line and holes distribution of an ultra-thin fabric belt;

FIG. 14 is a schematic view of finished product effect of a new clearance sizing technology;

FIG. 15 is a sectional schematic view of an internal stabilizing column of a tooth;

FIG. 16 is a structural schematic view of an ultra-thin zipper head;

FIG. 17 is a front view of left and right top stops;

FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view of left and right top stops;

FIG. 19 is a cross-sectional view of a bottom stop;

FIG. 20 is a schematic view of a ratio of a length L1 of an upper surface of a tooth to an overall length L2;

FIG. 21 is a schematic view of a ratio of a thickness of a central Line of a fabric belt to a thickness of a main body of the fabric belt;

FIG. 22 is a schematic view of a ratio of a thickness of a central Line of a fabric belt to a thickness of a tooth;

FIG. 23 is a comparison view of thicknesses of cross-sections of an ultra-thin tooth and the existing tooth;

FIG. 24 is a schematic view of an intersection angle θ1 between a tapered surface and a vertical surface of an ultra-thin tooth;

FIG. 25 is a comparison view of intersection angles of an ultra-thin tooth and the existing tooth;

FIG. 26 is a schematic view of a thickness of upper and lower vertical surfaces of a tooth;

FIG. 27 is a sectional schematic view of engaged concave tapered teeth; and

FIG. 28 is a sectional schematic view of engaged inclined tapered teeth.

In the drawings, the reference signs are listed:

- 1—zipper fabric belt; 11—central line; 12—hole;
- 2—tapered tooth; 21—flat surface; 22—tapered surface; 23—vertical surface; 24—tooth head; 25—tooth tail; 26—stabilizing column; 27—upper surface; 28—lower surface; 29—gap;
- 31—left top stop; 32—right top stop;
- 4—bottom stop;
- 5—ultra-thin zipper head; 51—upper guide plate; 52—lower guide plate; 53—core connecting column; 54—front end; 55—tail end; 56—inner cavity;
- 6—central line.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The content of the present application is further explained in combination with the attached drawings and embodiments.
The embodiment of the ultra-thin plastic steel zipper of the present application includes a pair of zipper fabric belts 1 and the left and right teeth 2 engaged to the inside of the fabric belts, as shown in FIG. 8 . The tooth is designed to reduce the material gradually from the tooth head to the tooth tail, and the fabric belt is woven by reducing the volume of the central line of the fabric belt. The ultra-thin fabric belt is thinner than the fabric belt of the existing technology. The ultra-thin fabric belts and ultra-thin teeth form a lightweight and flexible ultra-thin plastic steel zipper. The overall zipper is symmetrical, and the single tooth is in a tapered shape with the tooth head being thicker that the tooth tail, and when left and right teeth are engaged, the cross-section of which is an engaged surface with thicker middle and thinner left and right ends.
In the embodiment, the tooth has a tapered shape with an upper surface and a lower surface in a symmetrical manner, the upper surface and the lower surface are composed of a flat surface 21, a tapered surface 22 and a vertical surface 23 of the tooth tail. In a direction from the tooth head to the tooth tail, a flat surface 21 is provided, and the tail of the flat surface 21 is connected with a tapered surface 22, and the tapered surface is then connected with a vertical surface 23 to reach the fabric belt. The tooth is designed to be a tapered structure, the overall volume is reduced to achieve the goal of thinner, lightweight and saving plastic.
In the embodiment, the tooth structure has four implementations. The first implementation is as shown in FIGS. 3, 5, and 9-10 , the upper surface and the lower surface are composed of a flat surface 21, a tapered surface 22 and a vertical surface 23; and the tapered surface 22 is in a shape of an arch curved surface when fabric belt is acted as a reference plane of the tapered surface 22. In a direction from the tooth head to the tooth tail, a flat surface 21 is provided, and the tail of the flat surface 21 is connected with an arch-shaped tapered surface 22, and the arch-shaped tapered surface is then connected with a vertical surface 23 to reach the fabric belt. A connection point between the arch-shaped tapered surface and the flat surface is higher, and a connection point of the -shaped tapered surface and the vertical surface is lower, a thickness of the tooth head 24 is greater than that of the tooth tail 25, and the upper surface and the lower surface of the tooth are symmetrical. When the left and right teeth are engaged, the upper surface 27 and the lower surface 28 of the engaged portion are combination surfaces further composed of a middle portion being a flat surface, and two sides being the arch tapered surface and the vertical surface. The cross-section of the engaged portion also forms a tapered structural with thicker middle and thinner left and right ends.
The second implementation of the tooth structure is as shown in FIG. 27 . The upper and lower surfaces are three base surfaces composed of the flat surface 21, the tapered surface 22 and the vertical surface 23; and the tapered surface 22 is in a shape of a concave curved surface when fabric belt is acted as a reference plane of the tapered surface 22. In a direction from the tooth head to the tooth tail, a flat surface 21 is provided, and the tail of the flat surface 21 is connected with a concave-shaped tapered surface 22, and the concave-shaped tapered surface is then connected with a vertical surface 23 to reach the fabric belt. A connection between the concave-shaped tapered surface 22 and the flat surface is higher, and a connection point of the concave-shaped tapered surface and the vertical surface is lower, a thickness of the tooth head 24 is greater than that of the tooth tail 25, and the upper surface and the lower surface of the tooth are symmetrical. When the left and right teeth are engaged, the cross-section of the engaged portion also forms a tapered structural with thicker middle and thinner left and right ends.
The third implementation of the tooth structure is as shown in FIG. 28 . The upper and lower surfaces are three base surfaces composed of the flat surface 21, the tapered surface 22 and the vertical surface 23; and the tapered surface 22 is a tapered flat surface being not in the same plane as the flat surface 21. In a direction from the tooth head to the tooth tail, a flat surface 21 is provided, and the tail of the flat surface 21 is connected with the tapered flat surface 22, and the tapered flat surface 22 is then connected with a vertical surface 23 to reach the fabric belt. A connection between the tapered flat surface 22 and the flat surface is higher, and a connection point of the tapered flat surface 22 and the vertical surface 23 is lower, a thickness of the tooth head 24 is greater than that of the tooth tail 25, and the upper surface and the lower surface of the tooth are symmetrical. When the left and right teeth are engaged, the upper surface 27 and the lower surface 28 of the engaged portion are combination surfaces further composed of a middle portion being a flat surface, and two sides being the tapered flat surface and the vertical surface. The cross-section of the engaged portion also forms a tapered structural with thicker middle and thinner left and right ends.
The fourth implementation of the tooth structure is as shown in FIG. 4 . The upper and lower surfaces are three base surfaces composed of the flat surface 21, the tapered surface 22 and the vertical surface 23; and the tapered surface 22 is in a shape of an arch curved surface when fabric belt is acted as a reference plane of the tapered surface 22. In a direction from the tooth head to the tooth tail, a flat surface 21 is provided, and the tail of the flat surface 21 is connected with an arch-shaped tapered surface 22, and the arch-shaped tapered surface is then connected with a vertical surface 23 to reach the fabric belt. A connection point between the arch-shaped tapered surface and the flat surface is higher, and a connection point of the -shaped tapered surface and the vertical surface is lower, a thickness of the tooth head 24 is greater than that of the tooth tail 25, and the upper surface and the lower surface of the tooth in the implementation are asymmetric. The upper surface is the outer side surface of the zipper stitched on the ready-made cloth, and the lower surface is the inner side surface of the zipper stitched on the ready-made cloth, a curvature of an arch taper surface of the outer side surface is larger than that of the inner side surface, and a vertical surface of the outer side surface is shorter than that of the inner side surface; when the left and right teeth are engaged, the upper surface 27 and the lower surface 28 of the engaged portion are combination surfaces further composed of a middle portion being a flat surface, and two sides being the arch tapered surface and the vertical surface. The cross-section of the engaged portion also forms a tapered structural with thicker middle and thinner left and right ends.
In the tooth provided in the present application, the volume of the tooth tail is significantly reduced by the design of a tapered surface, which improves the sharp phenomenon of a right angle at the engagement portion the tooth tail of the tooth of the existing technology. The zipper teeth are softer and more comfortable when pressed against the human skin, while reducing the phenomenon of the tooth easily catching clothing fibers. The thicker appearance of ordinary plastic steel zipper is improved, and the plastic steel zipper has a novel feeling of lightweight and flexible characteristics. The teeth of the present application are thinner than the zipper teeth of the existing technology, and the overall softness of the zipper is improved significantly.
In order to ensure sufficient strength between the teeth and the fabric belt of the zipper of the existing technology, the central line of the fabric belt should maintain a large volume and thickness, and the teeth of the zipper should also maintain a large thickness. Due to the influence of these two factors, the existing plastic steel zipper is relatively thick and has poor softness. The thickness of the teeth designed by the ultra-thin zipper of the present application is much thinner than the thickness of the teeth of the zipper of the existing technology, the main body of the fabric belt is improved to be thinner, and the volume of the central line of the fabric belt is improved to be thinner. The softness of the zipper has achieved a breakthrough progress by the creative design of these two aspects. Moreover, in the embodiment, a row of holes is added to the inside of the ultra-thin fabric belt, so that a stabilizing column is generated inside the tooth by the injection molding and penetrated through the hole, thus the engagement between the teeth and the fabric belt are stable, and the strength of the ultra-thin plastic steel zipper in the embodiment is obviously exceed that of the plastic steel zipper produced by the existing technology.
The zipper fabric belt in the embodiment is an ultra-thin zipper fabric belt 1 with thin and light characteristics, and the fabric belt is provided with a row of holes 12 at places adjacent to the central line 11. The thickness H1 of the central line 11 of the ultra-thin fabric belt is about 70% of the thickness H4 of the central line of the zipper fabric belt of the existing technology, which reduces the thickness by about 30%, thus possessing a softer characteristic than the fabric belt of the existing technology, and the engaging strength between the teeth and the fabric belt of the thin plastic steel zipper is increased. The ultra-thin fabric belt of the zipper is designed with a row of holes adjacent to the central line, when the plastic steel teeth are injection molded, the plastic fills the holes adjacent to the central line of the fabric belt to from the stabilizing column 26 inside each tooth, so as to engage the teeth and the fabric belt to achieve the purpose of strengthening the tension of the zipper. However, since the teeth are more stably engaged with the fabric belt by penetrating through the holes in the fabric belt, it is impossible to remove teeth to complete the finished zipper with the existing technology. The present application adopts a new type of automatic vacancy arrangement technology, and when the teeth are formed on the fabric belt, the vacant portion is also reserved, so as to solve the problem that the existing technology will destroy the fabric belt to maintain the integrity of the row of holes in the fabric belt.
In the embodiment, the zipper head includes an upper guide plate 51, a lower guide plate 52 and a core connecting column 53; an inner cavity 56 is formed between the upper guide plate and the lower guide plate to allow the chain teeth to pass through. The inner and outer sides of the upper guide plate and the lower guide plate are in a tapered shape to completely cover the teeth to achieve the smooth opening and closing of the zipper.
The embodiment further includes a set of top stops and a bottom stop 4 to prevent the zipper head from slipping out of the zipper. The top stops are arranged at the top end of the overall zipper, and the bottom stop 4 is set at the bottom end of the overall zipper. The top stops consists of a left top stop 31 and a right top stop 32. The cross-sections of the left top stop and the right top stop are matched with the tapered shape of the teeth, the bottom stop 4 is a tailless type, and the cross-section of the bottom stop 4 is matched with that of the tapered shape of the engaged surface formed by the left and right teeth.
The length of a flat surface 21 in the direction from the tooth head 24 to the tooth tail 25 is L1. The total length from the tooth head 24 to the tooth tail 25 is L2, and the length L1 accounts for more than 40% of L2.
In order to ensure a better fit between the fabric belt and the central line 11, and improve the flexibility of the zipper, a ratio of the diameter thickness H1 of the central line 11 to the main body thickness H3 of the fabric belt 1 of the zipper is less than 2.4:1, while a ratio of the diameter thickness of the central line to the main body thickness of the fabric belt of the original zipper is greater than 2.7:1. The present application reduces the thickness by about 30% compared to the central line of the fabric belt of the existing technology, which improves the limitation range of the volume thickness of the central line of the fabric belt of the existing technology, and the soft and lightweight characteristics of the zipper are improved to a new level.
In the embodiment of the ultra-thin plastic steel zipper provided by the present application, the thickness of the central line is H1, which accounts for less than 43% of a maximum thickness H2 of the tooth 2. The thickness of the central line of the zipper of the existing technology accounts for about 50% of a maximum thickness of the tooth. By reducing the thickness of the teeth, the plastic usage is reduced. Moreover, the overall thickness of the tooth of the present application is about 10% to 20% thinner than that of the existing technology.
By the way of tapered design of the teeth, the overall volume reduction of teeth achieves lightweight, and an intersection angle θ1 between the tapered surface 22 and the vertical surface 23 of each tooth is ranged from 100° to 150°, the defects of sharp and hard tactile sensation near right angles in the teeth of existing technologies are improved, while a gentle intersection angle of about 100° to 150° of the tooth provides a comfortable and soft feature that is not easy to scratch.
In the tooth tail of the embodiment, the total height of the upper and lower vertical surfaces is H6, and the length H6 is ranged from 0.5 mm to 1.5 mm, when the zipper head 5 slides on the teeth, a stable track is provided, so as to avoid the phenomenon of the zipper head sliding out of the teeth track during the pulling operation.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. An ultra-thin plastic steel zipper, comprising:

a pair of zipper fabric belts (1);

two sets of teeth (2), respectively distributed along a direction of the pair of zipper fabric belts (1) and engaged onto an inner side of each zipper fabric belt (1);

a zipper head (5);

a pair of top stops (31, 32); and

a bottom stop (4);

wherein an overall zipper is symmetrical from left to right, left teeth and right teeth are engaged with each other through sliding of the zipper head (5), a tooth head (24) is thicker than a tooth tail (25); when viewed from a cross-section of each tooth (2), both an upper surface (27) and a lower surface (28) of each tooth (2) has a tapered structure from the tooth head (24) to the tooth tail (25).

2. The ultra-thin plastic steel zipper according to claim 1, wherein both the upper surface (27) and the lower surface (28) of the tooth (2) are composed of three surfaces comprising a flat surface (21), a tapered surface (22), and a vertical surface (23); when the left teeth and right teeth are engaged, the tapered structure is formed, and an upper surface (27) and a lower surface (28) of the tapered structure are further composed of a middle portion being a flat surface, and two sides being respectively the tapered surface and the vertical surface connected to each other.

3. The ultra-thin plastic steel zipper according to claim 1, wherein the tooth (2) is provided with a gap (29) configured for the zipper fabric belt (1) passing through, and the two set of teeth (2) engaged to a central line (11) of the zipper fabric belt at the gap (29), so as to engage with the zipper fabric belt (1).

4. The ultra-thin plastic steel zipper according to claim 1, wherein the upper surface (27) and the lower surface (28) of the tooth (2) are symmetrical.

5. The ultra-thin plastic steel zipper according to claim 1, wherein the upper surface (27) and the lower surface (28) of the tooth (2) are asymmetric.

6. The ultra-thin plastic steel zipper according to claim 1, wherein the tapered surfaces (22) of the upper surface (27) and the lower surface (28) of the tooth (2) are in a shape of an arch curved surface.

7. The ultra-thin plastic steel zipper according to claim 1, wherein the tapered surfaces (22) of the upper surface (27) and the lower surface (28) of the tooth (2) are in a shape of a concave curved surface.

8. The ultra-thin plastic steel zipper according to claim 1, wherein the tapered surfaces (22) of the upper surface (27) and the lower surface (28) of the tooth (2) are in a shape of a flat surface.

9. The ultra-thin plastic steel zipper according to claim 1, wherein the zipper fabric belt (1) is an ultra-thin fabric belt, and a row of holes (12) arranged continuously and spaced along an arranging direction of the teeth (2) adjacent to a central line (11) are provided in an engagement area between the zipper fabric belt (1) and the teeth (2); the row of holes (12) on the zipper fabric belt (1) are formed when weaving the zipper fabric belt (1), or formed by a laser and a punching method, the teeth (2) are injection molded onto the zipper fabric belt (1), at least one hole (12) is provided at the engagement area where each tooth (12) is engaged with the zipper fabric belt (1), and each tooth (12) is provided with a stabilizing column (26) penetrating the hole (12), the stabilizing column (26) and the tooth (2) are integrally formed.

10. The ultra-thin plastic steel zipper according to claim 9, wherein when the teeth (2) are injection molded onto the zipper fabric belt (1), sizing vacancies between the teeth (2) on the zipper fabric belt (1) are reserved by a new automatic vacancy arrangement technology.

11. The ultra-thin plastic steel zipper according to claim 9, wherein a ratio of a thickness (H1) of a central line (11) the zipper fabric belt (1) to a thickness (H3) of the zipper fabric belt (1) is less than 2.4:1.

12. The ultra-thin plastic steel zipper according to claim 9, wherein a thickness (H1) of a central line (11) accounts for less than 43% of a maximum thickness (H2) of the tooth (2).

13. The ultra-thin plastic steel zipper according to claim 9, wherein the zipper head (5) comprises an upper guide plate (51), a lower guide plate (52), a core connecting column (53), a front end (54), and a tail end (55); an inner cavity is formed between the upper guide plate (51) and the lower guide plate (52) configured for the teeth (12) passing through, and shapes of inner and outer sides of the upper guide plate (51) and the lower guide plate (52) are matched with a tapered shape of the teeth (12).

14. The ultra-thin plastic steel zipper according to claim 1, wherein the pair of top stops (31, 32) are arranged at a top end of the zipper, and the pair of top stops (31, 32) are composed of a left top stop (31) and a right top stop (32), and cross-sections of the pair of top stops (31, 32) are the same as that of the teeth (2); the bottom stop (4) is arranged at a bottom end of the zipper, the bottom stop (4) is a tailless type or an open tail type, and when the bottom stop (4) is the tailless type, a cross-section of the bottom stop (4) is the same as a tapered cross-section of an engagement surface formed by engaging the left and right teeth; and when the bottom stop (4) is the open tail type, a cross-section of the bottom stop (4) formed by a block and a pin is the same as the cross-section of each tooth (12).

15. The ultra-thin plastic steel zipper according to claim 1, wherein a length (L1) from the tooth head (24) to the flat surface (21) of the tooth tail (25) of the tooth (2) accounts for more than 40% of an overall length (L2) from the tooth head (24) to the tooth tail (25).

16. The ultra-thin plastic steel zipper according to claim 1, wherein an intersection angle (θ1) between the tapered surface (22) and the vertical surface (23) of each tooth is formed, and the intersection angle (θ1) is ranged from 100° to 150°.

17. The ultra-thin plastic steel zipper according to claim 1, wherein the tooth tail (25) comprises two vertical surfaces (23) arranged from a top to a bottom, and a total height (H6) of the two vertical surfaces (23) is ranged from 0.5 mm to 1.5 mm.