US3522639A - Circular slider for slide fastener - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 4, 1970 A. FROHLICH 3,522,639

CIRCULAR SLIDER FOR SLIDE FASTENER Filed INVENTOR: FPOHLICH s {Km-El TM ,4 TTORNEY United States Patent Ofioe 3,522,639 Patented Aug. 4, 1970 3,522,639 CIRCULAR SLIDER FOR SLIDE FASTENER Alfons Frohlich, Essen, Germany, assignor to Opti- Holding AG, Glarus, Switzerland, a corporation of Switzerland Filed Jan. 16, 1968, Ser. No. 698,226 Claims priority, applicatiglgzrmany, Jan. 21, 1967,

Int. Cl. A44c i9/26, 19/32 US. Cl. 24205.15 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE bed linen and the like.

This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 651,757, filed July 7, 1967.

My present invention relates to slide-fastener closures and, more particularly, to an improved slider for such closures.

In the aforementioned copending application I have pointed out that a wide variety of sliders for opening and closing slide-fastener assemblies, upon movement of the slider to and fro along the coupling elements, are known. In general, such sliders are somewhat elongated in the direction of movement and have relatively wide mouth portions into which the separable coupling elements are fed as Well as a somewhat more narrow tail portion from which the interfitted coupling elements emerge. The upper and lower plates of the slider, because of their configurations and outlines, are frequently referred to as upper and lower shields and that designation is used from time to time hereinafter. The upper and lower members or shields may be integral with one another or interconnected by wdgelike webs bridging the shields and defining the channels within the slider. In some constructions, the slider is assembled by joining the individual shields together with a separate web member or bridge piece, or by mounting one of the shields upon the bridge piece which is formed unitarily with or is previously aflixed to the other shield. One or both of these sheet-metal shield members is generally provided with relatively thin inwardly turned aprons, formations or edges of the thickness of the sheet metal designed to co-operate with the web member to delimit the outer sides of the aforementioned guide channels. As pointed out in that application, sliders of this type have not, for the most part, been capable of with standing fabric-handlin g treatments involving rigorous a gitation of fabrics carrying the slider or compression of the fabric between rollers or the like. Such slide-fastener assemblies are not considered to be readily ironable by hand, by platen-type ironing apparatus or by heatedroller mangles. With slide-fastener assemblies prior to the development described in the copending application, such fabric-handling treatments frequently caused tearing in the region of the slider or damaged the slider by distorting it and partially closing its guide channels, thereby preventing the slider from being drawn along the coupling elements of the stringer tape. This disadvantage was found to be especially significant when the slide-fastener assembly was used with washable fabrics and garments. While many suggestions have been made to limit the number of projecting corners and shape edges of the slider, and the coupling elements have themselves been made capable of withstanding ironing or washing by substituting continuous coils of synthetic-resin filament for the spacedapart metallic coupling elements, there had not been (prior to the development described in the aforementioned copending application) any successful suggestion as to how to preclude closing of the channels and jamming of the slide fastener. It will be recognized that the relatively elongated configuration of prior-art sliders, in which the web connecting the upper and lower shields was located at one end of the slider, made it particularly easy to press the cantilevered tail portion together and distort the slider and the shapes of the channels.

These disadvantages of earlier systems were obviated in the system of my prior application by providing an improved slider for opening and closing (i.e. disconnecting and interconnecting) interleavable coupling elements of a slide-fastener stringer, in the form of a pair of generally disk-shaped upper and lower shield members interconnected and unitarily formed with a wedge-shaped web bridging these members, the members having circular configuration and registering substantially coextensively to impart to the entire slider a circular outline and a generally flattened character. The upper and lower shield members of the improved slider were curved away from one another, i.e. outwardly convex and of lenslike configuration, with the greatest slider thickness in line with the web or bridge member. The slider was molded from a synthetic resin with the upper and lower shield membens having bulging outer surfaces free from discontinuities and conforming to surfaces of revolution or being axially symmetrical with respective centrums aligned with one another and disposed along an axis of the slider traversing the region of maximum thickness thereof and passing through the web. The upper and lower circular and coextensive shield members were provided with inwardly turned rims having formations of rounded edge configuration defining, With the wedge-shaped bridge member, the respective channels; a pair of ridges were disposed centrally along the inner surfaces of the upper and lower shield members and tapered away from the wedge member, while merging therewith, to form central guides separating the channels from one another. The formations were two projections from one of the shield members, angularly offset from one another and spaced from the Wedge member about the center of the disks so as to define with the flanks of the web member generally divergent channels with parallel walls to guide the coupling elements at the appropriate fastener-opening angle. The wedge member, moreover, when considered in cross section at a plane parallel to the shield members, formed an equilateral triangle whose altitude generally approximated the radius of the shield member and had a thickness along this altitude of about %R to 1R. The lateral guide formations were of substantial thickness, i.e. thicknesses ranging from 0.1R to 0.5R (where)R is the radius of the disk or shield), thereby permitting these formations to act as abutments withstanding excessive compression of the shield member's transversely to one another. In this case, the formations acted not only as guide elements but also as walls which closed the sides of the circular slider and as abutments preventing excessive compression of the shield members in the transverse direction. The distance between these formations and the opposing shield member, with which they were engageable upon compression, advantageously was less than the degree of compaction of the slider permissible'without detrimental permanent deformation of the coupling elements received within the slider.

It is the principal object of the present invention to provide a slider for a slide-fastener closure which extends the principles originally set forth in the aforementioned copending application and to thereby provide a slider which allows the closure to be ironed by hand or machine.

A further object of this invention is to provide a slider, of an improved and somewhat simpler construction by contrast with that claimed in the aforementioned copending application, which enables the slide-fastener assembly to be subjected to heated-roller ironing, rigorous washing, etc. without distortion of the slider, the coupling elements passing therethrough on the fabric on which the slide fastener is mounted.

I have now found, as a further development of the principle set forth in my copending application Ser. No. 651,757, that a slider fulfilling these objects, has, in addition to an upper member, a lower member and a wedge or bridge member interconnecting the upper and lower members and defining a pair of guide channels diverging at the wedge member and merging toward the tail of the slider diametrically opposite the wedge member, a pair of lateral guide elements or aprons which extend downwardly from the upper shield member in spaced relation to the lower shield member but to flank the latter so that a pair of slots are formed along the channel between the lateral guide formations or aprons and the generally Y-shaped lower member which is disposed between these aprons. The slide-fastener stringer, upon its passage through the channels, extends through the slots on opposite sides of the interconnectable coupling elements to impart an S-like configuration to the slide-fastener halves adjacent the coupling elements and on both sides thereof. The lateral aprons or formations, which can be considered to be cantilevered from the upper shield member and to overhang the lower shield member, reach downwardly substantially to the plane of the bottom surface of the lower member and conform, in outline to the circular configuration mentioned earlier in connection with my copending application.

According to another important feature of this invention, the slider has a circular outline and a thickness at three equispaced locations equal to or a substantial fraction of the radius of the slider, the three equispaced locations being offset from one another about the axis of the slider and its center, e.g. by 120". The three supporting locations, at which the thickness of the slider is equal to the height of the supports, correspond to the downwardly extending formations mentioned earlier and the wedgeshaped bridge piece which, together with the formations, defines the channels for the coupling elements. As in the aforementioned copending application, the downwardly extending aprons or formations perform a number of functions. They have minimum radial thicknesses equal to a substantial fraction of the radius of the slider (e.g. from 0.1 R to 0.5=R where 'R is the radius of the circular outline of the slider); the radial thickness of the web may range between %R and 1R.

The heights of the formations, which also constitute the lateral guides for the channels, is equal to the thickness of the slider so that these formations act as abutments similar to the web or bridge piece and thus prevent any compression of the slider by the heated mangle roller during ironing. According to a preferred construction, the lateral guide formations are formed on a slider which is flattened, i.e. has its upper and lower surfaces lying in parallel planes spaced apart by the thickness of the slider and the height of the aprons or formations. It should be noted, however, that a convex upper surface may be provided as described in the aforementioned copending application in which case the apex of the convexity should be located over the centrum of the web or bridge piece. It will be evident that this system has the advantage that the slider of the present invention is totally resistant to deformation and compression during ironing and can withstand considerable axial pressure without noticeable deformation. The lateral guide formations, which are of augmented thickness and flank the lower shield member,

form a reinforcing couple nondeformable by mangle pressure. The slider can be composed of die-cast metal or injection-molded synthetic resin.

While preferably the slots extending along the guide channels are generally upright, that is force the fabric of the support tapes of the stringer to lie generally parallel to the axis of the slider and perpendicular to the boundary planes mentioned earlier, it has been found that, for bed linen and other materials which do not require constant use of the slide fastener, advantage is gained by shaping the slot so that less force is required to shift the slider. To this end, the guide formations may have rounded edges or outwardly divergent flanks.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a slider embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IIII of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line III-III of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 1 of another embodiment of the present invention.

In the drawing, i.e. in FIGS. 13 and 4, I show a pair of sliders which are particularly convenient for use with bed linen and other materials with which the slider is not used too frequently but which may be subjected to ironing in a heated-roller mangle or the like.

In FIGS. 1-3, I show a slider which, in its basic construction, comprises a circular upper shield member 2 unitarily and integrally formed in monolithic fashion with a Y-shaped tongue 3 parallel thereto and transversely spaced therefrom, the tongue 3 forming the lower shield member. The upper and lower shield members 2 and 3 are bounded by upper and lower planes P and P which are spaced apart by a distance d, their surfaces being planar. The upper and lower members are also monolithically molded with a wedge-shaped web or bridge member 4 which forms a coupling-element separator of triangular cross section. A pair of guide channels 6, 6a and 6b are formed in the slider between a pair of downwardly extending aprons in the form of abutment or support formations 5 whose radial thicknesses t are equal at least to 0.1 to 0.5R and may exceed this value depending upon the type of coupling elements used in the slide fastener, here represented at 1. The slide fastener comprises a pair of support tapes 7 formed at their interengageable edges with generally helicoidal coupling elements 1a and 1b of nylon-type polyamide. The formations 5 are angularly spaced about the center C of the slider from one another and from the bridge member 4 from which the flat tongue 3 projects. A pair of parallel upright flanks 5a and 5b of the formations 5 form the channel 6 at the tail of the slider diametrically opposite the bridge piece 4 while divergent flanks 5a and 5b, respectively parallel to the divergent flanks 4a and 4b of the bridge piece establish the branches 6a and 6b of the channel and the mouth of the slider. Along the channel 6, 6a and 6b, a pair of slots 6' and 6" are defined by the flanks 5a, 5a and 5b, 5b and the opposing edges 3a and 3b of the lower shield member 3. As can be seen from FIG. 1, the underside of the lower shield member 3 lies in the plane P at which the formations 5 terminate, these formations being spaced from the edges 3a and 3b by a distance sufiicient to clear the fabric webs 7 of the stringer.

In the modification of FIG. 4, the surfaces 15a and 15b corresponding to surfaces 511 and 5b slope gradually outwardly while the edges 13a and 13b of the tongue 13 are outwardly tapered and rounded to permit smoother movement of the slider along the stringer. In both cases, however, as the webs 7 pass through the channels 6, 6a and 6b, on both sides of a longitudinally median plane M, the web is deformed into S-shaped configuration within the slider. The overall thickness d of the slider is equal to or a major fraction of the radius R while the thickness of the upper shield member is also a major fraction of the radius R of the slider, which has a circular outline. It will be evident that axial pressures as represented by the arrows p (FIG. 3) can be fully absorbed by the slider without deformation thereof.

Channel 6, forming part of the branched guide path 6, 6a, 6b for the two fastener halves 1a and 1b, is of inverted-U shape as best seen in FIG. 1, this shape being less pronounced but still discernible in the modification of FIG. 4. The upper surface of tongue 3 (or 13), extending along the bight of the U, is broad enough to support the interlinked fastener halves 1a, 1b in a coplanar position within the channel 6.

I claim:

1. In a slide-fastener assembly comprising a pair of flexible stringer tapes, a pair of interengageable fastener halves carried by said tapes in juxtaposed relationship, and a slider reciprocable along said juxtaposed fastener halves for alternately interlocking and disengaging same, the improvement wherein said slider comprises a flat, disk-shaped body with a downwardly open, generally Y-shaped guide path for said fastener halves defined by a central bridge piece and a pair of flanking formations integrally depending from said body, said slider further including a tongue integral with said bridge piece and held thereby in spaced-apart relationship With said body to form a substantially Y-shaped fastener-supporting shelf at the bottom of said guide path separated by two narrow gaps from said flanking formations, the undersurfaces of said tongue and formations being substantially coplanar, said shelf having a stem in a common channel of said guide path and a pair of arms in two branch channels of said guide path, said common channel having a cross-section generally of inverted-U shape with the bight of the U defined by the upper surface of said stem, said upper surface being substantially flat and wide enough to support an interlocked section of said fastener 'halves in substantially coplanar .relationship together References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 114,269 4/1939 Pouy.

2,068,939 1/ 1937 Winterhalter. 2,120,924 6/1938 StillSChWeig 24205.1 2,189,727 2/ 1940 Corner 24-205.14 3,115,689 12/1963 Jacobs 24205.15 X

FOREIGN PATENTS 10/1965 Switzerland. 12/1940 France.

BERNARD A. GELAK, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 24-2051

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