US2280664A

US2280664A - Applying reinforcing strip to slide fasteners

Info

Publication number: US2280664A
Application number: US263571A
Authority: US
Inventors: Rutherford Frank Campbell
Original assignee: LIGHTNING FASTENER CO Ltd
Current assignee: LIGHTNING FASTENER CO Ltd; LIGHTNING FASTENER COMPANY Ltd
Priority date: 1939-03-22
Filing date: 1939-03-22
Publication date: 1942-04-21
Anticipated expiration: 1959-04-21

Description

April 21, 1942. F. c. RUTHERFORD APPLYING REINFORCING STRIP TO SLIDE FASTENERS Filed March 22,- 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 fnusntar 1? [717171 55 715M015? 1 '7t.t. urns April 1942- F. c. RUTHERFORD 2,280,664

APPLYING REINFORCING STRIP TO SLIDE FASTENERS Filed March 22, 1939 2 SheetsSheet 2 JIUUBHLUI" Patented Apr; 21 1942 APPLYING namroacmo s'rarr'ro rss'ransns ENT OFFICE SLIDE Frank Campbell Rutherford, St. Catharines, On-

tario, Canada, assignor to Lightning Fastener Comp y, Limited, St. Catharines, Ontario,

Canada Application March 22, 1939, Serial No. 263,571

Claims. (Cl. 154-1) The invention relates to improvements in -methods and means for applying reinforcing strips to slide fasteners.

The fastener having the reinforcing strip with which the invention is concerned has been disclosed in United States Patent No. 1,964,485, to Seaver, issued June' 26,

1934. That invention consists broadly of afastener comprising a pair of flexible stringers provided with interlocking elements adapted to be interlocked by a slider engaging the elements and a piece of tape secured transversely across the stringer in the vicinity of the normally closed end which serves, when the fastener is sewn in a garment or the like, to relieve any strain on the closed end of the fastener, particularly when the fastener is opened. v

It. is an object of the present invention to devise a novel method of bonding the reinforcing strip to the stringers of such a fastener and to provide a machine whereby the method may be efficiently carried out.

It is also an object to devise such a method which may be applicable for the convenient and I rapid bonding together of any two layers of fabric scale of a detail of the machine;

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view, taken along the line 4, 4 of Fig. 1, of a solvent tank on the machine; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view showing a pair of fasteners with the reinforcing tape secured thereto as produced by my machine.

Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts in the diflerent views.

As shown in Fig. 5, the invention consists in bonding across the stringers i, l of a slide fastener, which has the customary interlocking members 2 and may have a bottom stop member 8 for connecting the closed end of the fastener, a continuous length ofreinforcing tape 4. The tape 4 is bonded to thei-stringer 'I', I by laying one or more soluble filaments I between the tape and the fastener. stringer, wetting the stringer or the tape in the vicinity of the filaments to dissolve the filament material, pressing the tape firmly on the stringer to cause the dissolved filament material to penetrate the material of the tape and-stringer and maintaining the relative positions of the parts while any excess solvent evaporates, to leave the parts firmly bonded together. I have found that a yarn composed of cellulose acetate makes a readily obtainable and effective soluble filament for this purpose as it may be readily dissolved in acetone, among other solvents.

A machine for carrying out these operations may consist, as shown in Figs. 1 to 4, of a frame 6 on which is journalled a drum 1 provided with grooves 8, each adapted to receive the elements 2 of one fastener. In each groove 8 is provided a stop pin 8 which serves to locate the fastener with the innermost elements 2, or bottom stop I, as the case may be, all positioned thereagainst with the tape receiving areas of all the fasteners in a line around the periphery of the drum. A roller Ill journalled on the frame serves to guide a continuous length of tape 4 across the tape receiving portions of the fastener, when the drum is revolved as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1, the spacing of the roller Hi from the drum 1 being such as to firmly press the tape against each fastener as the fastener passes under the roller. The yarn I may be led from a supply spool ll through guides i2 over the tape on the roller III to lie between the tape and the fastener. Solvent may be supplied to the areas to be bonded by passing the tape 4 through a tank It containing a solvent, the level of which is maintained by an orthodox constant level device which includes a reservoir l4 provided. with a delivery tube It which terminates in the tank It at the desired level for the solvent.- Rollers l6 and I1 journalled I in the tank locate the tape 4 thereover, and by means of a roller 18 carried in a bracket it, which may be removably located in the tank by means of a pin 20. and a threaded projection 2I provided with a wing nut 22 received in a slot 23 in the tank, a loop of the tape may be held below the surface of the solvent. The tape may be obtained from a reel 24 carried on the frame I and may be conveniently threaded under a rollerll and through a guide 28 to the tank.

After the tape has been pressed against the fastener by passing under the roller iii, the tape and fastener may be maintained in thesame rela tive positions until any excess solvent has evaporated by means of a flexible band 21, preferably made of spring steel, secured at one extremity to a post It in the frame and passing around the portion of the drum periphery in which the bonded fasteners are carried may be surrounded by a hood 32 within which is disposed a heater element 33 to accelerate evaporation of the solvent.

As shown best in Fig. 3, a slot 3 may be provided in one end of the drum to facilitate starting of a length of tape through the machine. A knot 35 may be tied in the free end of the tape to be threaded and by inserting the end of the tape laterally into the slot and. tensioning the tape until the knot engages the inside of the drum, when the drum is rotated the tape will be fed under the roller iii and the band 21 in the proper alignment.

To operate the machine, the reinforcing tape t is pulled from the reel, passed under the roller 25, through the guide 26, over the rollers l6 and H, the end is caught in the slot 34, as above described, and by rotating the drum 1 in the dire'ction of the arrow in Fig. 1, the tape is started into the machine. The yarn is then threaded through the guides i2 and started underneath the tape on the roller it. Then on forcing a loop of the tape 4 down into the tank l3 against the roller l8 by clamping the bracket I9 in position in the tank, the machine is ready for operation. After turning the drum until the moistened portion of the tape reaches the roller iii, fasteners are laid in each groove 8 in succession before each slot passes under the roller l0, each fastener being properly located with respect to the roller ID by abutting the bottom stop or the end elements 2 thereof against a pin 9. As each fastener passes under the roller ID the yarn 5 partially dissolves in the solvent carried by the tape 4, and as the roller W presses the tape against the fastener the yarn material is forced into the pores of the tape and the fastener. As the fastener and tape leave the roller ID the band 21 maintains the pressure until, by the time the fasteners have reached the point on the periphery of the drum at which they are released by the band, the excess solvent has evaporated to leave the tape firmly bonded to the fasteners. To complete the tape attachment, it is only necessary to sever the continuous tape between each pair of adjacent fasteners.

According to my improved method of bonding fabric material together, a bond may be produced very rapidly and efficiently and without any pos sibility of smearing the bonding material on parts of the bonded articles on which it is not desired. For applying reinforcing tapes to fasteners, in particular, the method, using the machine disclosed therefor, is very simple and capable of being performed repeatedly and very rapidly so that a high output of finished articles may be obtained from one machine.

While I have shown and described one embodiment which my invention may assume in practice, it will be understood that such embodiment is merely for purposes of-illustration and description and that various other forms may be devised within the scope of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A machine for applying to slide fasteners, which include a pair of flexible stringers each provided with a series of interlocking elements disposed ininterlocking relation, a transverse reinforcing tape, comprising fastener supporting means, means for supporting a length of tape transversely of the fastener, means on the fas tener supporting means for locating the tape receiving area of the fastener in register with the tape supporting means, means for guiding a soluble filament between the length of tape carried by the tape supporting means and the fastener carried by the fastener supporting means, means for supplying a solvent for the filament thereto and means for relatively moving the fastener supporting means and the tape supporting means for simultaneously feeding the filament and pressing the tape against the fastener with the filament therebetween.

2. A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the solvent applying means comprises a solvent tank, and means for guiding the tape therethrough prior to its application to the fasteners.

3. A machine'for applying to slide fasteners, which include a pair of flexible stringers each provided with a series of interlocking elements disposed in interlocking relation, a transverse reinforcing tape, comprising a supporting frame, a drum rotatable thereon and having a plurality of spaced apart peripheral grooves parallel to the drum axis each adapted to receive the interlocked elements of a fastener, a stop member in each groove for locating the fasteners with their tape receiving areas uniformly spaced from one end of the drum, a roller journalled on the frame with its axis parallel to the drum axis, means for guiding a continuous length of reinforcing tape over the roller, the spacing of the roller from the drum being such that rotation of the drum when loaded with fasteners feeds the tape across the tape receiving areas of the fasteners and presses the tape firmly thereagainst as each fastener passes the roller, means for guiding a soluble filament between the tape and the fasteners as the drum is rotated, means positioned in advance of the roller for supplying. a solvent for the filament thereto and means for maintaining the relative positions of the fasteners and FRANK CAMPBELL RUTHERFORD.