US2776466A - Apparatus for gapping slide fasteners - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 8, 1957 I 1. M. NElTLlCH APPARATUS FOR GAPPING SLIDE FASTENERS s Shees-$heet 1 Filed Nov. 15, 1954 INVENTOR IRVING M. NEITLICH B M [.EdiM

HIS

ATTO R N EYS Jan. 8, 1957 1. M. NEITLICH APPARATUS FOR GAPPING SLIDE FASTENERS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 15,- 1954 FIGS.

v INVENTOR IRVING M. NElTLICH @w mmw 0% HIS ATTORNEYS Jan. 8, 1957 I. M. NElTLlCH APPARATUS FOR GAPPING SLIDE FASTENERS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Nov. 15, 1954 INVENTOR IRVING M. NEITLICH H IS ATTORNEYS United States Patent APPARATUS FOR GAPPING SLIDE FASTENERS Irving M. Neitlich, Stamford, Conn., assignor to Cue Fastener Corporation, Stamford, Conn., a corporation of New York Application November 15, 1954, Serial No. 468,981

12 Claims. (Cl. 29-33.)

This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for making slide fasteners and it relates particularly to apparatus for making coil-type slide fasteners of predetermined lengths.

It has been customary, heretofore, in manufacturing coil-type slide fasteners to form the coils of the fastener in long lengths and attach them to long strips of tape or fabric, either as a part of a continuous coil-forming and tape weaving operation or by forming the coils separately and sewing them on the tapes with a sewing machine. After the strips of tape and the fastener coils are joined, they are cut into pieces of lengths suitable for the fasteners to be manufactured and the coils are then cut to enable end sections of the coils. to. be removed thereby to form coils of a desired length.

Cutting and removing the sections of the coils has been a manual operation, heretofore, and for this reason it has imposed great limitations on the rate of production of the coil-type fasteners. Moreover, unless the operator is highly skilled, the coils are not usually of exactly the same length so that they cannot be matched accurately as to length and may require additional trimming and fitting in order to produce satisfactory fasteners.

in order to overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior practice, the present invention provides apparatus whereby the fasteners can be processed in such a manner that coil sections can be cut accurately to a desired length and portions thereof removed either prior to or subsequent to cutting of the fasteners thereby enabling accurate and rapid production of the fastener elements.

More particularly, apparatus is provided whereby the coils can be punched or cut at spaced apart intervals along the length of a tape or other material to which the coils are secured, so as to free sections of the coil from other portions of the coil and enable their removal to leave gaps in the fastener.

The apparatus may be controlled manually or automatically and in either case can be operated more rapidly and with greater accuracy than the manual operations heretofore practiced.

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figs. 1 to 4 are schematic views in perspective of typical apparatus for cutting and removing coil sections from a slide fastener stringer;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a portion of the coil-cutting mechanism of the apparatus;

Fig. 6 is a view in side elevation of a typical apparatus including the coil-cutting and removing elements illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5 of the drawing;

Figs. 7, 8 and 9 are schematic views in perspective of apparatus of a modified type illustrating the cutting and removal of coil sections thereby;

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a modified type of apparatus for cutting and removing coil sections from slide fasteners with the coils thereof in meshed relation;

Patented Jan. 8, 1957 Fig. 11 is a perspective view of still another type of apparatus for punching coil fasteners and separating the fasteners. to enable the detached sections to be removed from the fasteners; and

Fig. 12 is a perspective view of an apparatus for removing the detached sections from the slide fastener assembly.

The apparatus to be described hereinafter is particularly adapted for removal of sections of the coils of slide fasteners of the type disclosed generally in the Wahl U. S; Patent No. 2,300,442, dated November 3,. 1942. As disclosed in this patent, the coils making up the interlocking elements of the fastener may be formed continuously and may be secured to a tape or'other piece of fabric by weaving the coil in the edge of the tape or by sewing the tape and the coil together. The coils are generally of helical formation including interconnected and generally oval or flattened loops formed of a filament of generally oblong cross-section. The combined tape and coil are cut into lengths and gapped to formv the stringers of the fasteners. As indicated above, gapping (cutting and removal of end sections of the coil from each stringer .element) and separation of the tape into stringer elements of predetermined length has been accomplished manually heretofore.

The present invention provides several apparatuses for removing sections of the slide fastener either before or after the long strips are cut into fasteners of a desired length. The form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 6 is useful particularly for removing sections of the coil including a plurality of loops to form gaps in the coil of a single stringer. As illustrated schematically in Figs. 1 to 4, the apparatus may include a pair of relatively movable jaws 10 and 10a for gripping and retaining the tape T of the slide fastener which may be provided with bead cords C, C and a fastening coil 11 formed of plastic, such as nylon or the like of the type described above. The coil 11 and the tape extend beyond the opposite ends of the jaws 10 and 10a.

A needle 12, of hook-like shape, is mounted for movement toward and away from the coil and is formed with a resilient shank so that when it is brought into engagement with the coil it' can deflect and engage through one of the loops of the coil 11. A knife blade 13 is also included in the apparatus, the blade having a pair of narrow, spaced apart cutting edges 14 and 15 at its opposite ends and a notch 16 between them having a dull edge.

The edges 14 and 15 cooperate with upstanding lugs 17 and 17a at opposite ends of the jaw 10a to cut through one or both sides of one or more loops of the portion of coil that is disposed between them. By cutting the loops in spaced relation along the coil 11, the section 11a of the coil between the cut loops is released and can be pulled out of the thread or yarn loops by means of which the coil is attached to the tape T. The action of withdrawing the severed or disengaged section 11a of the coil from the tape T is illustrated in Fig. 4. The flexibility of the coil enables it to unwind and slide through the thread loops and thereby be withdrawn without disarranging the sections of the coil it beyond the ends of the section 11a and without tearing or damaging the tape T.

The apparatus described generally may be fully automatic in operation and may be motor driven. However, for smaller scale production, it is possible to arrange the device for manual operation if desired. Thus, as shown in Fig. 6, a typical manually operated apparatus may include the clamping jaws 10, 10a which are pivotally connected by a pivot member 18 near their lower ends, the jaw 10 being supported in fixed position by means of a backing flange 19 mounted on a supporting table 20 for the apparatus. The jaw 10 has a link or rod 21 extending from it through an aperture in the jaw 10a. The

link 21 carries a cam member 22 having a handle 23 thereon by means of which the cam can be rotated to squeeze the jaws 10, a together and thereby grip the tape T between them.

A member 24 for supporting the hook 12 is biased on the upper end of a rod 25 sliding in a sleeve bearing 26 in the table and connected at its lower end by means of a pivoted link 27 to a foot pedal 28. The foot pedal 28 may be pivotally mounted on the back leg of the table 24 A spring 29 connected between the underside of the table and the foot pedal 28 normally urges the member 24 and the hook 12. in an upward direction.

A cam member 30 is mounted on the rod 25 for engagement with the rear edge of the blade 13 which is slidably mounted in slots in a support 31 mounted on the table 25). The blade 13 also may be biased away from the jaws 10, it/Pa by means of a spring (not shown) or in any other suitable way.

in operation, the tape T is placed between the open jaws 10, Na and the cam 22 is rotated to grip the tape T. When the foot pedal 28 is depressed, the hook 12 moves down in contact with the coil 11 and the cam member 3i advances the blade 13 to cut the coil at two spaced points. Upon the release of the foot pedal 23, the spring 29 urges the hook 112 upwardly carrying with it the severed section 11a of the coil. The cam 22 then is released and the tape is moved manually and again clamped for another gapping operation.

A similar type of device is illustrated in Figs. 7, 8 and 9, this device being used, however, to remove one loop at a time from the coil thereby enabling as few or as many loops to be removed as may be desired to provide necessary gap in the fastener. The apparatus shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9 also includes a hook 35 which is reciprocated up and down to engage and lift individual loops 36 of a coil 3'7 secured to a tape 38. In this form of apparatus, the knife blade 39 is advanced after the book has moved upwardly a short distance to cut the portion of the loop which is lifted above the level of the remainder of the coil 37. This apparatus may be arranged in such a manner that the tape-gripping jaws 4d and 40a are moved step-wise to the right or left, as may be desired, to position the individual loops of the coil 37 successively beneath the needle or hook 35, thereby enabling a plurality of loops to be raised and cut in succession to provide a gap of a desired length in the fastener. The apparatus for actuating these mechanisms may be similar to that shown in Fig. 6, or it may be fully automatic.

An apparatus for removing sections of coil from a meshed fastener including two meshed coils is illustrated in Fig. 10. This apparatus is constructed and arranged to cut two interlocking coils at a desired point and remove the freed sections of the coils from the tapes to which they are connected. Preparatory to gapping the fastener, the fastener must be freed by cutting the tape and coil thereon into individual fasteners of predetermined length. The fastener 59 shown in Pig. l0 includes two stringers She and 5% having coils 51a and 52a thereon in meshing relation. The fastener is of a predetermined length and is separated from a continuous fastener assembly, such as that produced in accordance with the disclosure of the Wahl patent referred to above. The fastener Sll is positioned on a plate or table 53 which has a hold-down and guide plate 54 adjustably mounted thereon by means of screw and slot connections 55, 56.

The holddown plate has an under-cut edge 57 for engaging loosely over the tape of one section 58a of the fastener. Adjacent the end of the hold-down plate 54 is a foot 59 carried on a bell crank lever to which is mounted on a pivot pin 61 carried by a pair of angle irons 62, also mounted on the table 53. A stop block 64 is pro ided to limit the insertion of the stringer under the hold-down plate 54. With this arrangement, the foot 59 can be brought down to grip and hold the ends of the 4 meshed coils without engaging the tapes or head cords on the stringer.

The end portions of the meshed coils Slla, 52a can be disconnected from the other portions of the coils by means of a punch 66 which can be moved downwardly into a die opening 67 in the plate 53 to cleanly punch out one or more loops of the meshed coils, thereby cutting each coil in two. When the fastener 50 is pulled to the left, the sections of the coils engaged by the foot 59 will be retained and will be stripped from the tapes leaving the desired gap at the right-hand ends of the tapes. The fastener may then be reversed and its opposite end gapped in a similar manner.

Figs. 11 and 12 disclose another type of apparatus by means of which a continuous unsevered, long length of fastener can be gapped prior to cutting it into shorter fasteners of a desired length. This embodiment of the invention includes a platform 70 having a pair of under-cut adjustable guide plates 71 and 72 thereon, which overlie and engage the tapes 73 and 74 of a meshed slide fastener 75. The spacing between the adjacent edges of the guide plates 71 and 72 is such that they engage behind the beads and expose the coils fully between them. Sections of the coils of a desired length can be removed by means of a punch-carrying member 76 mounted on an arm 77 carried by a shaft or rod 78 actuated by means of a foot pedal 79 or in any other way to cause it to move up and down relative to the table 70. The member 76 carries a pair of punches 80 and 81 which cooperate with die openings in the table 70 to enable spaced apart sections of the coils to be punched out.

At the right hand end of the table is mounted a pin 32 which is used to separate the coil sections of the fastener between the circular apertures punched therein by the punches 80 and 81. The pin 82 has a head of generally triangular or arrow shaped contour and is mounted on a narrow neck portion 83. The triangular or arrow shaped head of the pin is of larger diameter than the holes formed by the punches 80 and 81 so that when the fastener 75 is advanced and the right-hand hole is pressed over the pin 82, the fastener is sprung open. Then, if the fastener is pulled to the right, it will disengage the coil sections from each other up to the left-hand hole punched by the punch 80. Inasmuch as this hole is of larger diameter than the neck 83 of the pin, the coils of the fastener to the left of the hole will not be pushed apart or disengaged. The location of the pin 82, therefore, may be used to determine the length of the individual fasteners to be made from the continuous tape and coil. To that end, the pin 82 is supported on a U-shaped bail 85 having slots 86 in its opposite legs to enable it to be adjusted lengthwise of the table 70 and thereby varying the spacing between the pin and the punches Sll and 81 and proportionally varying the length of the slider to be produced. The bail 85 can be locked in position by means of clamping screws 87 which pass through the slots 86 and are threaded into holes in the table 70.

After opening up the fastener, the severed sections 38 and 89 of the coils between the punched holes can be removed from the tapes 73 and 74 with the apparatus shown in Fig. 12. This apparatus includes a table 913 having a jaw 91 thereon and a cooperating movable jaw 92 which can grip the mid-portion of the coil sections 88 and 89 when the fastener is folded as illustrated in Fig. 12. The jaw 92 may be pivotally supported between angle brackets 95 and 96 on the table 90 and it may be moved downwardly by means of a foot pedal 97 connected to the jaw by means of a link or rod 98. The jaws are normally urged apart by means of a spring 100 interposed between them.

The jaws 91 and 92 are arranged to grip tightly but not crush the coil sections 88 and 89 so that they can be disengaged from the tapes by merely pulling the fastener 75 in the direction of the arrow. To avoid crushing and breakage of the coil sections by the jaws, a set screw 101 may be mounted in the jaw 92 in a position to engage the lower jaw 91 and thereby keep the jaw 92 slightly spaced from the jaw 91.

All of the above described devices enable a very accurate cutting and speedy removal of coil sections, there by greatly facilitating the production of fasteners of precise lengths. The devices may be adjusted to produce fasteners of almost any desired length.

it will be apparent from the preceding description that the apparatus can be modified very substantially and that it can be arranged for automatic or manual operation with equal facility. Therefore, the forms of the invention described above should be considered as illustrative and not as limiting the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for gapping slide fasteners having a pair of stringers, each stringer including a coil secured to a piece of material, comprising a support, a cutting member mounted on and movable relative to said support for severing the coil between its ends, means mounted on said support adjacent to said cutting member for gripping a severed section of said coil and pulling it from the piece of material to which it is secured, and mechanism connected to said cutting member and said gripping and pulling means for actuating them-in timed relation.

2. The apparatus set forth in claim 1, comprising spaced apart cutting elements in said cutting member for severing the coil at two spaced points, said gripping means engaging and gripping the severed section of said coil between said spaced points.

3. The apparatus set forth in claim 1, in which the means to grip the severed section is a hook reciprocable relative to said coil to pull the severed section from said piece of material.

4. The apparatus set forth in claim 1, in which the means to grip the severed section are a pair of relatively movable gripping jaws, and means to move said jaws to open and close them.

5. The apparatus set Iorth in claim 1, comprising means releasably supporting the fastener with its coils in meshing relation and in which the cutting elements are a pair of ptnches reciprocable relative to said supporting means to punch out spaced apart portions of both of said coils substantially simultaneously.

6. Apparatus for gapping slide fasteners of the type having a pair of stringers, each including a coil secured to a piece of material, comprising members releasabiy engaging and holding a stringer, gripping means movable into engagement with a coil to engage and grip it, means adjacent to the gripping means and movable rel ative to it to cut said coil on opposite sides of said gripping means to release a section thereof, and means for moving said gripping means and said members relatively to disengage the section of the coil from said piece of material.

7. The apparatus set forth in claim 6, in which the gripping means is a hook-like needle engageable with said coil.

8. The apparatus set forth in claim 6, in which the cutting means is a blade having aligned, spaced apart cutting edges thereon to engage and cut the coil at spaced apart points.

9. Apparatus for gapping slide fasteners comprising a supporting member, means to guide and position a slide fastener having meshing coils secured to strips of material on said supporting member, a reciprocable member movable toward and away from said supporting member and having at least one punch thereon to sever both coils simultaneously into a plurality of sections.

10. The apparatus set forth in claim 9, comprising a clamp on said supporting member for engaging and releasably holding one end of each coil to enable said strips to be pulled away from severed sections of said coils.

11. The apparatus set forth in claim 9, in which said reciprocable member has a pair of spaced apart punches thereon for punching holes transversely of each coil at spaced points, and comprising a spreading member on said supporting member engageable in one of said holes to separate the section of said coils between said holes.

12. The apparatus set forth in claim 11, in which said spreading member is movable toward and away from said punches to regulate the length of the sections of said coils.

No references cited.

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