US2654931A

US2654931A - Slide fastener

Info

Publication number: US2654931A
Application number: US255795A
Authority: US
Inventors: Voity Maurice
Original assignee: SERVAL SLIDE FASTENERS Inc
Current assignee: SERVAL SLIDE FASTENERS Inc
Priority date: 1951-11-10
Filing date: 1951-11-10
Publication date: 1953-10-13
Anticipated expiration: 1970-10-13

Description

M. VOITY SLIDE FASTENER Oct. 13, 1953 Filed Nov. 10, 1951 INVEN TOR. MAURICE VOITY ATTORNEY patented Oct. 13, 1 953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE sLinE rAsrEsER Maurice Voity, Manhasset; N. Y.,assi'gnor to I a Serval Slide Fasteners, Inc., Flushing; N. Y., a

corporation of New York Application November 10, I951, serialNci'asa'zes operation.

invention relates to slide fasteners. "jMore particularly iny invention pertains to an automatic slider for slide fasteners, that is to say, Slider which automatically is detained against opening movement anywhere along a pair of stringers but is released for free movement in such direction sirnplyby normal manipulation of the pull tab; Even more specifically my present invention relates to a pin lock slider ofthe character described.

Althoughslidersof this general type have been made and commercially used for many years they always have been relatively complex and expensive,unreliable in operation, and difiicult to assemble. Usually such sliders consisted of four s'epar'atelymade parts whose assembly required a watchmakers skill'. some sliders" have been propo'sedwhich consisted of only three parts but these likewise required great manual dexterity to assemble land achieved a reduction in the'number of" parts by reducing the strength and increasing the complexity of some of the parts. For example the three part sliders employed a split bar pull tab which Was far weaker inherent 1y than a solid bar pull tabof the same dimensions. Thethree part sliders'als'o usedanchoring members shaped somewhat like "lobster claws wiimmdue to their shape; tended to deform dur ing assembly and use.

It is an object of my invention to provide a slider ofthe character described which has only three parts and yet can be assembledwith ease.

It is an object of my invention to provide a slider of the character described which has only three comparativelystrong and simple parts.

It is another object of my invention to provide a three part slider of the character described which employsa solid bar pull tab. i

It is another object of my invention to provide a three part slider of the character described which can be made at a comparatively low cost and yet; isrugged, and smooth and eflicient in Other objects of my invention will'inpart be obvious and in part will be pointed after. a

My invention accordingly consists in the tea- .--tures'of construction, combinationsof elements and arrangements of partsfwhichgwill be'exemf: plifled in the device hereinafter described andof which the scope of application willbe indicated in the appended claims. s In" the accompanying -'dra-wings in f which is shown one of the various possible embodiments ot-my invention, i

out- 'herein- 2 Claims. (Cl. lik -20521 1) defining .a r Y-shapedenclosure;

Fig. 1 is a rmgmemar top view of a slide Ias tener including a slider constructed in accordancewi-th'niyinvention; l

I Fig. 2- is an enlarged longitudinal central sectional view takensubstantially along the line 2 2 of Fig. 1, the slider stringers being omitted forclarity; H

Figs: 3 and 4 are transverse and horizontal sectional views taken substantially along the lines 3-'3 and 4 4 respectively of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a top view of a slider body whichcon stitutes one of the three parts of the slider shown in Fig. I, said body being shown as it appears prior to incorporation thereof in a finished slider;

Fig. 6 is a side view of a bail which constitutes the second part of the slider shown in Fig. 1;-

Figs. 7. and 8are" rear and front views respectively of thebailshown in Fig. 6; and i Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a pull tab which constitutes the third part of the slider shown in Fig. 1.

- -Referringnow in detail 150* the drawings,- the reference numeral Ill denotes a slide fastener comprising a conventional pair of stringers 12, each of which has secured along its beaded edge a set of standard slide fastener elements Uh- A slider 15 iii-designed" to move along-the stringers, the configuration of the" s1iderbeings'uch; as is well known" to the art; that when it is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow A itwill meshthe elements I4 and when it moves in the opposite direction itwill disengage said elements. These two directions are known, respectively; as the fclo'si'ng and opening directions.

The sheer 'l 6 is conventional in many respects. Thus; it includes asnder body is having an upper Wing 20 and a lower wing 22 joined by a neck 23 which holdsthe wings in parallel spaced relationship. The side edges of the wings are provided with 'rails 26;the' rails on theupperwing and the rails lon the lower'wing being in registry and all of the rails" together i with the 'neck conjointly Insofar as the slider body functions to engage and disengage slide fastener elements, that is'to say insofar as the contour'of its wings rails and. inner surface :of its"neck' are concerned; said slider bodyisot standard construction.

.. l However; pu'rsuantto "the present invention the slider: body includes additional details to enable it tooonstitute one'ofthe three partsof aneasyto=assembl'e, durable and inexpensive automatic pin-'lock slider. Thus; theuppe'r wing is provided with a tongue 28 which is struck up from edges.

,wardly extending tip, 1. e. hook, 54.

1;? the material of said wing. The base of the tongue is integral with the upper wing near the center thereof and the tongue extends from its base toward the single opening end of the slider, i. e. away from the neck 24. This end of the slider, i. e. the neck end, is referred to herein as the front end and the opposite end as the rear end of the slider. The tongue runs along the end-to-end central axis of the wing and the tip 30 of the tongue is disposed a short distance inwardly from the rear end of the slider. sides of the tongue are free of the upper wing The so that the formation of the tongue leaves a long narrow notch 32 in said wing directly beneath the tongue. Said notch is broadened intermediate its ends by a pair of indentations 34 on opposite sides of the tongue. These indentations extend completely through the upper wing, The tongue is sloped upwardly away from the upper wing (see Fig. 2) to form a ramp portion 36 which covers almost the entire length of the tongue from its base to near its tip. This ramp portion has an inclination such that the tip of the tongue has its lower surface approximately coplanar with the top surface of the upper wing, the tip of the tongue being substantially parallel to the upper wing.

Prior'to assembly, the neck 24 of the slider body is formed to provide a narrow trough 38 extending in a direction transverse to the planes of the wings.

In further pursuance of my invention the slider includes a bail 40 which is fabricated from a sheet of resilient metal, e. g. beryllium copper or Phosphor bronze. The bail comprises an elongated narrow top wall 42 having downwardly extending flanges 44, 46 along its opposite side On its rear edge thewall has a downwardly extending finger 48 and at its front edge a downwardly extending tail 50. In order to maintain maximum resiliency in the operation of the bail, as well as ease of manufacture, the bases of the finger and tail are integral, 1. e. in one piece, with the opposite ends of the top wall 42, and are separated from the flanges 44, 46 by narrow slots 52. v

The finger 48 extends rearwardly as well as downwardly from therear edge of the top wall,

as best seen in Fig. 2, and terminates in a for- The distance from the top wall 42 to thehook issuch that when the bail is assembled with the slider body [8, the hook Will be below and spaced from the tip 30 of the tongue so that space is provided for upward movement of the hook.

The tail 56 extends forwardly as well as downwardly from the front edge of the top wall 42.

7 Before the bail is assembled on the slider body the tail is inclined rearwardly to a slight degree as indicated in Fig, 6, in order. that, after assembly, during which the tail is flexed forwardly, the bail will be biased against the upper wing.

The lower edge of each flange further includes a central notch 62, the notches in said flange being in transverse alignment. Each notch comprises a forward edge 64 which is substantially perpendicular to the sections 58, 60, a cam section 66 which extends upwardly and forwardly from the top of the section 64, a section 68 which extends forwardly from the forward end of section 66 and is parallel to the sections 58, 60, and a section 16 which extends donwardly and forwardly from the forward end of section 68 to the rear of section 58.

In addition to the foregoing, th bottom edges 7 of the flanges 44, 46 include locking pins l2, 14

said tail is formed with a pair of indentations '56 in its opposite front corners above its bottom slider body.

between the notches 62 and sections 66, one pin '12 being integral with the flange 44 and the other pin with the flange 46. Each pin has arear edge Hi which is perpendicular to the sections 58, G0 and a front edge 18 which is sloped upwardly and forwardly at a substantial angle, 45 being exemplary. The pins are not in transverse alignment but, as shown in Fig. 6, are longitudinally offset from one another. The amount of offset is one-half the center-to-center distance between slide fastener elements on a stringer. V

The third and last element of the slider is a pull tab 8%. One end 82 of the pull tab is the manipulative end, i. e. the end to be grasped by a user for moving the slider. The other end 84 of the pull tab is designed to engage the bail. This end is formed with a solid bar 86 joining the sides of th tab, the bar being formed by providing a through opening 88 in the pull tab. To assemble the parts of the slider, the'bail is threaded through the opening 88 in the pull tab until the bar 86 reaches the notches 62. Then the tip 64 of the bail finger 48 is hooked under the tip 30 of the tongue 28 and the bail swung about the interengaged tips until the tail til is seated in the trough 38. To facilitate such seating, the trough is formed with square bottom corners 90 against which the edges of the bail are abutted. At this time the indentations 56 are located within the neck of th slider.

As thus far described the assembly of the three slider parts can be performed by hand without requiring the exercise of unusual manual dexterity.

Lastly the trough 38 is squeezed about the tail 55?. This operation is performed in a suit able clamping machine which engages the outer side walls of the neck and squeezes the same to gether forcing metal from the neck into the indentations 56 and thereby preventing the bail from being disengaged accidentally from the The machine in which the neck is squeezed desirably is provided with means to force the bail down against the top surface of the upper wing 28, i. e. to force the sections 58, 66 of'the flanges 44, 45 against the top surface of the upper wing, before the neck is squeezed. Also at or prior to squeezing the neck, the bail is forced forwardly so as to flex the tail 50 un-3 til the same is in a more erect position, e. g. perpendicular to the upper wing, the bail being in such position as the slider neck is squeezed about the tail, whereby the finger 43 permanently is biased downwardly and the locking pins '12, 1:4 permanently biased against slide fastener elements 14 on the stringers 52-.

Normally, i. e. when the pull tab is unactuated, the biasing force just described will maintain the locking pins 72, "i4 inthe spaces between adjacent slide fastener elementsQIf the stringers are spread apart, the perpendicular edges 76 of the locking pins will abut squarely against the sides of slide fastener elements and thus prevent the slider from moving in an opening direction, although because of the slope of the edges 18 the slider can be moved in a closing direction by urging the slider body in such direction with or without manipulating the pull tab. The only way the slider can be moved in an opening direction is by pulling on the tab 89 as one normally would to move the slider in such fashion. This manipulation of the pull tab causes the solid bar 86 to ride up the ramp 36 and engage the cam sections 62 of the two flanges 4t, 45 thereby flexing the tail it and swinging the bail away from the upper wing until the hook 5t strikes the tip 39 of finger 28. By this action the locking pins 72, I4 are lifted clear of the underlying slide fastener elements so that the slider can move in an opening direction. When the pull tab is released the bar 86 will ride down the ramp 36 into the middle of the notches 62 where sufficient clearance is provided (see Fig. 2) .to enable the bail to abut against the top surfaces of the upper wing so that the locking pins again can be effective.

It thus will be seen that there is provided a device which achieves all the objects of the invention and is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein described, or shown in the accompanying drawings, is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. An automatic lock slider consisting of a slider body, a bail fabricated from resilient sheet metal, and a pull tab, said slider body including an upper and a lower wing joined by a neck, a tongue in one piece with the upper wing and sloped outwardly therefrom toward the single exit end of the slider, the sides and tip of the tongue being free of said wing, there being openings in the upper wing on opposite sides of the tongue, said neck having a trough extending in a direction between the wings, said bail comprising an elongated top wall overlying the tongue, a finger integral with and extending away from an end of the top wall, the tip of said finger being hooked and disposed beneath and spaced from the tip of the tongue, said bail also including a tail integrally extending away from the opposite end of the top wall, said tail includin an indentation, the tail being received in the trough and stressed to bias the bail toward the upper wing, the walls of said trough engaging the indentation whereby to captively embrace the tail, said bail having a pair of flanges in one piece with the top wall and extending downwardly toward the slider body, the bottom edges of said flanges being biased by the tail into abutment with the top surface of the upper wing, each of said flanges including a locking pin, said pins projecting through the openings in the upper wing and being biased by the tail into engagement with slide fastener elements of a stringer extending through the slider body, the bottom edges of said flanges having notches, the forward portion of the upper edge of each notch being sloped towards the upper wing, said pull tab having a solid bar captively held in the notches between the bail and the upper wing, said solid bar riding against the sloped tongue and the sloped notch portions when the pull tab is urged in an opening direction whereby to lift the pins out of engagement with slide fastener elements, the disengaging movement of the bail being limited by engagement between the tips of the finger and tongue.

2. An automatic lock slider consisting of a slider body, a bail lock fabricated of springy sheet metal, and a pull tab, said slider body including an upper and a lower wing joined by a neck, a tongue in one iece with the upper wing and sloped outwardly therefrom toward the single exit end of the slider whereby the tongue includes a tip and a ramp, said Wing having an opening alongside the tongue, said neck having a trough extending in a direction between the wings, said bail including a finger having a hooked tip disposed beneath and spaced from the tip of the tongue, said bail also including a tail received in the trough and stressed to bias the bail toward the upper wing, the walls of said trough captively engaging the tail, said ball including sides each of whose lower edges has a notch includin a cam portion above the ramp, said bail further including a pin which projects through the opening in the slider wing and is biased by the tail into engagement with slide fastener elements of a stringer extending through the slider body, said pull tab havin a solid bar captively held between the bail and upper wing, said solid bar riding against the ramp and engaging said cam portions when the pull tab is urged in an opening direction whereby to raise the bail and lift the pin out of engagement with slide fastener elements, the raising movement of the bail being limited by engagement between the tips of the finger and tongue.

MAURICE VOITY.

References Cited in the file of this patent