US3750425A

US3750425A - Sliding clasp fastener stringers

Info

Publication number: US3750425A
Application number: US00238594A
Authority: US
Inventors: D Warren; D Howitt; C Austin; P Crowther
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1969-06-03
Filing date: 1972-03-27
Publication date: 1973-08-07
Anticipated expiration: 1990-08-07
Also published as: GB1242048A

Abstract

A slide fastener stringer comprising a knitted tape and a series of coupling elements secured thereto by loops of the knitting yarns drawn between successive elements and interlinked with one another.

Description

United States Patent 1 1 'June 3, [969 Great Britain 27,972/69 6 Austin et ai. 1451 Aug. 7, 1973 SLIDING CLASP FASTENER STRINGERS [52] U.S. Cl. 66/86 6 I t 2 Ch h F ed I u 27 [51] Int. Cl. D04!) 23/00 [7 1 ms 33%;: g fgg fif' i 58 Field of Search 66/86, 85, s4, 83; Simpson Crowther, 137 Lichtield "2/2651 Rd., Four Oaks; David Warren, 4S6 Walmiey Rd., all of Sutton Coldfieid; [561 David Howitt, 24 Livingstone Rd., UNITED STATES PATENTS Birchfields, Birmingham. all of 3,176,637 4/1965 MacFee 112/105 England 22 d: M 27 1972 Primary Exqmirte r R0nald Feldbaum 1 u Attorney-John W. Malley, Akin T. Davis et a1. [211 App]. No.: 238,594

Related U.S. Application Data [57] ABSTRACT [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. NO. 52,189, July 6, 1970. A sllde fastener Winser comprisms a knitted p and a series of coupling elements secured thereto by loops [30] Fol-d8 Appncaflon pfl Data of the knitting yarns drawn between successive elements and interlinked with one another.

11 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PAIENTEmuc 1 ms Y Y 3.750.425

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SHEET 2 or 6 PATENTEB AUG 7 SHEET 5 [IF 6 SLIDING CLASP FASTENER STRINGERS This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 52,189 filed July 6, 1970.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to sliding clasp fastener stringers and to methods and machines for their manufacture.

A sliding clasp fastener comprises two stringers, each stringer comprising a series of coupling elements secured to a carrier tape. It is now well-known to provide a series of interconnected coupling elements formed from a length of plastics filament which is either wound into a coil shape, or is formed into a meander configuration which is folded along its center line into U- shape. A fastener having a coil-shape element construction will be referred to hereinafter as "coil fastener construction," and one having U-shaped elements will be referred to hereinafter as "meander fastener construction." Other forms of interconnected coupling elements have been proposed wherein the elements are produced by notching a tube of plastics material, or by moulding a series of elements having interconnecting portions formed integrally with the elements.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a method of making a sliding clasp fastener stringer comprises warp-knitting a carrier tape and, during the knitting, locating a series of interconnected coupling elements at one face of the tape and adjacent a longitudinal edge of the tape, moving a knitting needle between adjacent coupling elements of the series to engage at least one of the knitting yarns, moving said knitting needle to draw a first loop of said yarn between adjacent coupling elements of the series, feeding the series of elements and tape, and repeating the movements of said knitting needle so that a second loop of yarn drawn by said needle is interlinked with said first loop thereby to secure the series of coupling elements to the knitted tape.

Said knitting needle may move along a single rectilinear path between coupling elements of the series, or may be caused to move in the lapping sense of yarn guides of the machine when said needle is at the front of the machine so that said needle also reciprocates outside the series to form and interlink loops from two yarns.

The invention also includes a warp knitting machine for manufacturing a sliding clasp fastener stringer, the machine having a knitting zone and comprising a row of knitting needles for knitting a carrier tape of the stringer, a plurality of guide bars each carrying yarn guides, a tubular guide having a lower end disposed to guide a series of interconnected coupling elements to a predetermined position in the knitting zone adjacent one end of the row of knitting needles, and means for moving a knitting needle through a plane containing the row of knitting needles in a position beneath the tubular guide and through the path of movement of the series of elements at the knitting zone.

Additional means may be provided to move said knitting needle in the lapping sense of yarn guides of the machine when said needle is at the front of the machine so that said needle reciprocates through said plane at laterally spaced positions.

The invention also includes a fastener stringer when made by a method or with a machine as defined above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Two embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic isometric view of part of a warp-knitting machine according to a first embodiment during the manufacture of a sliding clasp fastener; and also shows one stage in the manufacture of a stringer according to a second embodiment;

FIGS. 2-4 show successive stages in a knitting cycle of the first embodiment;

FIG. 4a is an isometricview of part of a practical machine according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 4b is a view similar to FIG. 4a of other parts of the machine;

FIG. 4c is an end view of part of the machine of FIGS. 4a and 4b,-

FIG. 5 shows another stage in the manufacture of a stringer according to the second embodiment;

FIG. 6 is an isometric view of part of a practical machine according to the second embodiment; and

FIGS. 7 and 8 are views similar to FIG. 6 of other parts of the machine of the second embodiment.

The first embodiment will be described initially. with regard to FIGS. 1 to 4 which show diagrammatically the-movement of the parts of themachine at a knitting station. The embodiment will then be described in greater detail with regard to FIGS. 44, b and c.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS are omitted for clarity.

Yams l4 are'fed downwardly in known manner from a yarn let-off motion and through the guides 13 to be knitted into a carrier tape 15. Some of the yarns, for example 140, are fed from independent let-off motions to permit the drawoff of a longer length of yarn compared with the remaining yarns 14.

A tubular guide 16 is fixedly mounted in a bracket 17 secured to an end frame of the machine. The lower end of the tubular guide is located at a predetermined position adjacent one end of the row of needles 1!, i.e., adjacent a longitudinal edge of the tape 15 at the knitting zone and the guide is inclined forwardly of the machine to permit swinging and lapping movements of the yarn guides. A series of coupling elements 18 in the form of a coil of plastics filament is fed downwardly through the tubular guide by a ratchet operated toothed wheel 100.

A hooked needle in the form of a latch needle 19 is mounted in a slide 20 which is mounted for sliding movement in a slideway 20a at the front of the machine and perpendicularly to and through the general plane of the row of needles 11 so that the needle 19 is disposed to move along a rectilinear path below the tubular guide and between adjacent coupling elements 18.

For a conventional size of slide fastener fitted to dresswear, for example, the pitch of the series of coupling elements is greater than the pitch of the courses of the knitted tape. In the present embodiment, therefore, the needle 19 is arranged to reciprocate twice between adjacent elements, i.e. while two courses of the tape are knitted, and then to remain idle at the front of the machine whilst a third course is knitted and whilst a coupling element 18 is fed past the needle.

Immediately below the needle 19 a sinker blade 21 is mounted for reciprocation along a path parallel with the trickplate l and in timed relationship with the needle.

During one cycle of the needle 19, when the needles 11 are at their lower most positions having just knitted one course of the tape 15, the needle 19 moves from the front towards the rear of the machine and between two of the yarns 14 (FIG. 1). On its return movement, the hook 22 of the needle 19 engages one of the yarns (14a) and draws a loop 23 of this yarn between two coupling elements 18 (FIG. 2) and through a previous loop 24. This previous loop 24 is cast off the needle 19 and, in so doing, closes the latch of the needle 19 (FIG. 3). The knitted tape is then fed one course and the sinker blade 21 is moved to a position in front of the series of elements 18 and beneath the needle 19 (FIG. 4) so that on the next rearward movement of the needle 19 the loop 23 is retained on the needle and slides along the shank thereby opening the latch of the needle. Thus on each reciprocation of the needle 19, a loop of yarn 14a is interlinked with a previous loop of the yarn.

As the tape 15 is progressively formed by the knitting of yarns l4, and the series of elements 18 is fed in unison with the tape by means of the toothed wheel (not shown) two loops of the yarn 14a are formed between each pair of elements and a third loop extends over a coupling element on the side thereof remote from the tape 15. Since the yarn 14a is also knitted into the tape 15, the series of elements is secured to the tape.

In modifications of the first embodiment and depending upon the pitch of the elements 18, the needle 19 may pass at various intervals between each successive pair of elements.

The first embodiment will now be described in greater detail with respect to FIGS. 4a, b and c with regard to a practical machine. In the machine according to FIGS. 4a, b and c, a plurality of needles 19 are located in needle holders 30 which are spaced apart along a needle bar 31 extending along the front of the machine, the holders 30 being located by screws 32 in holes 33 in the needle bar. Only one holder 30 is shown in FIG. 4a for clarity. The needle bar 31 is mounted along its length at intervals upon levers 34 which are pivotally mounted upon a shaft 35 secured to the machine frame. A motion of the needles along substantially rectilinear but slightly arcuate paths between the tubular guide 16 and adjacent coupling elements 18 as describd with regard to FIGS. 1 to 4, is produced by pivotting of the levers 34 in a controlled manner. This controlled movement is provided by a cam follower 36 on an arm 37 of each lever 34, the cam follower being in engagement with a peripheral cam surface 38 of a cam 39 which itself is secured to a shaft 40 (FIG. 40) which is drivable in synchronism with the rest of the machinery. FIG. 4a also shows material holding blades 41 which are disposed on an L-shaped bracket 42 extending along the machine at the back of the needles 1 l. The material holding blades are moved as in normal manner for knitting machinery by a lever 43 FIG. 40)

to which the bracket 42 is secured, the lever being pivotally mounted upon the shaft 35 and pivotally movable by an actuating rod 36 which is moved in synchronism with the movement of the needles 11. The movement of the holding blades 41 is thus synchronized with that of the needles 11 so that the blades 41 occupy the position shown in FIGS. 4a and 4c during the movement of the needles 11 between them whereby knitted tape material is held down and is not forced upwards by the needles themselves. The levers 43 are moved in an anti-clockwise cirection as shown by arrow A in FIG. 4c and out of the path of the needles when the needles 11 move downwardly after a knitting operation to enable the last course of knitted material to pass beneath the blades 41 in preparation for the next holding operation.

Sinker blades 44 are disposed for horizontal movement beneath each of the needles 19 and are secured to a drive bar 45 which is movable horizontally along the rear side of the needle bar 31 by means of a drive rod 46 (see FIG. 4b) which is secured at one end to the bar 45 and is secured at the other end to a short bar 47 which is slidable within a housing block 48 secured to part of the machine frame 49. The sinker blades on the bar 45 are moved in a horizontal direction in the normal way for knitting machinery by being spring loaded (by springs not shown) towards the right as shown in FIGS. 44 and 4b so that a cam follower 50 at the end of the short bar 47 engages a peripheral cam surface 51 of a cam 52 secured to a drive shaft 53 which is rotatably mounted and drivable in the machine frame.

In front of the sinker blades 44 are a plurality of needle guides 54 as shown in FIGS. 44. The needle guides are of conventional construction and operate in the normal manner for knitting machinery.

Needles 13 are mounted upon tour guide bars 55 which extend horizontally across the machine and hold groups of needles 13 for knitting each of the tapes, one group for each tape. In FIG. one group of the needles is shown. The guide bars 55 are movable In horizontal manner as shown in FIG. 4b by a drive rod 56 which is connected at one end to a block 57 mounted on the guide bar and is secured at the other end to s short rod 58 movable axially in the housing bracket 59 mounted on the part 49 of a machine frame. Each guide bar 55 is urged in conventional manner in knitting machinery towards the right by spring loading so that a cam follower 60 on the end of short rod 58 engages the peripheral cam surface 61 of a cam 62. Movement of each guide bar 55 by the cam 62 provides the lapping movement of the needles attached tothst guide bar in the normal way for knitting machinery so as to perform knitting operations in conjunction with the independent lapping movement of the other guide bars. At intervals each guide bar is mounted by a bracket 63 to an arcuste arm 64 which is pivotally mounted for swinging movement in a vertical plane upon a horizontal shaft 65 which extends from side-toside of the machine. Each bracket 63 is sldsble upon guide pins 63a upon the arms 64 so as to allow for the lapping movement of the guide bars. Movement of the arm 64 in its vertical plane provides simultaneous swinging movement of the guide bars and thus of the yarn guides 13 in a conventional manner for knitting machinery to move the yarns 14 between positions at the front and rear of the knitting needles. This movement is provided by a crank 66 and a connecting rod 67 with one end of the crank being secured to the shaft 65.

The machine described with reference to FIGS. 40, b and c attach the elements to the tape during knitting in the same way as has been described for the basic construction with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. The knitting operation for each tape is performed in a conventional manner for knitting by forward and rear movement of the yarn guides by movement of the crank 66 as to pivot the arms 64 upon the shaft 65 and also by lapping movement of the yarn guides caused by horizontal movement of the guide bars 55 controlled by the cam 62 as described above. With the needles 11 at their lowermost position after knittin one course of each tape, the needles 19 move from the front to the rear of the machine by operation of the lever 34 upon the shaft 35 by the cam 39 and each needle then returns drawing one of the yarns 14a with it between two of the coupling elements as described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. After the tape has been fed one course, the sinker blade 44 is moved to a position beneath the needle 19 so as to retain a loop of yarn upon the needle as the needle again moves rearwardly of the machine and between the elements. Movement of the sinker blade for each tape is controlled by the rod 45 by means of the cam 52 as described above.

In a second embodiment (FIGS. 1 and 5), a warpknitting machine used for making a sliding clasp fastener stringer is similar to that described for the first embodiment. However, for the second embodiment, the slideway 200 is pivotally mounted on a horizontal axis XX.' The latch needle 19 reciprocates backwards and forwards through the plane of the row of knitting needles 11 alternately at two different laterally spaced positions, one position lying between coupling elements 18 and one position lying outside the series of elements at the side thereof remote from coupling head portions 18a. This will be seen by a comparison of FIGS. 1 and 2. In order to obtain reciprocation of the needle 19 at the two positions, the needle is caused to move in the lapping sense of yarn guides 13 about the axis XX laterally with respect to the series of coupling elements 18, in a horizontal plane as indicated by arrow A in FIG. 5, when the needle 19 is at the front of the machine. This movement is imparted to the needle 19 by a push rod 25 secured at one end to the slide and driven from a cam (not shown) rotatably driven by a gear train from the main shaft of the machine. Moreover, the needle 19, when at the front of the trickplate 10, is given an oscillating motion about its longitudinal axis through 120 by means of a crank 26 and connecting rod 27 actuated by an eccentric on a shaft of the gear train which drives the push rod 25.

Also for this second embodiment two yarns 14a, 14b each have independent let-off motions to permit the required draw-off of the yarns.

In operation, a loop of the yarn 14a is drawn between coupling elements 18 as described in the first embodiment. With the needle 19 at the front of the trickplate 10, the push rod moves the slide 20 and the needle 19 in a horizontal arcuate path thereby moving the needle 19 to a laterally spaced position at the outside of the series of elements 18. In order to prevent the loop of yarn 14a slipping from the hook 22 during this horizontal movement, the needle 19 is oscillated clockwise about its axis through 120 by the connecting rod 25. Reciprocation of the slide 20 then moves the needle 19 to the position shown in FIG. 5 so that the needle engages the yarn 14b and draws a loop of the yarn 14b through a previous loop of the yarn 14a and thus interlinks the yarns 14a and 14b together around the filament of the elements. The needle is oscillated anticlockwise through 120 and swung to its position for reciprocating between adjacent elements 18 as in FIG. 1. Progressive interlinking of the yarns 14a and 14b in the above mannerthus secures the series of elements 18 to the tape 15 whilst the tape is being knitted.

A practical machine for performing the second embodiment is described with reference to FIGS. 6, 7 and 8, most parts of which operate in a similar manner to those described in the first embodiment with reference to FIGS. 4a, b and c and like parts bear like reference numerals. In the second embodiment as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the oscillating movement referred to with regard to FIGS. 1 and 5 is in practice performed by a rack and pinion construction in which a rack 68 is slidable in a recess 69 of the needle bar 31 and is engageable with pinions 70 secured one to each of the needles 19 in making each of the tapes. As shown in FIG. 8, the rack is movable horizontally to impart oscillating movement to the needles by means of a solenoid or air cylinder 71 which rotates a gear wheel 72 about a shaft 73 on a fixed axis by means of an arm 74 which pivots around the shaft during movement of the drive rod 75 of the solenoid. Rotation of the gear 72 causes the rack 68 to move in one direction or the other. In this construction, each needle 19 is caused to move in the lapping sense of the yarn guides by movement of theiieedle bar 31 horizontally across the front of the machine. This movement is very slight and will still mean that the cam follower 36 of each lever 34 engages the moving surface of cam 39 and to allow for this movement, it is preferable that the shaft 35 is axially slidably mounted in the machine to enable the shaft, the arms 34 and needle bar to move as one assembly in the horizontal direction. Movement of the needle bar 31 is effected by reference to FIG. 7 by means of a drive shaft 76 which is secured at one end to the needle bar 31 and at its other end carries a short shaft 77 slidable within a housing 78. A cam follower 79 on the end of the shaft 78 lies in engagement with a peripheral cam surface 80 of a cam 81. The needle bar 31 is spring loaded towards the right as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 so that the cam follower always engages the .cam surface 80.

In a modification of this second embodiment, the series of coupling elements is provided with an internal cord in which case the needle 19 must be reciprocated outside the path of movement of the cord.

Moreover, the series of coupling elements may be of other suitable form, for example, of meander fastener construction.

The series of coupling elements of the above embodimerits and modifications thereof may further have notches or depressions on the surface remote from the carrier tapes in order to provide a more secure location for the loops of yarn extending over the elements and to prevent the loops slipping sideways off the elements.

Whereas the above embodiments have been described in relation to machines employing latch-type knitting needles 11 and 19, the invention may also be performed with machines having bearded-type or compound-type needles.

What is claimed is:

l. A warp-knitting machine for making a sliding clasp fastener stringer, the machine having a knitting zone and comprising a row of knitting needles for knitting a carrier tape of the stringer from a plurality of filaments of yarn, a plurality of guide bars each carrying yarn guides, a tubular guide having a lower end disposed to guide a series of interconnected coupling elements to a predetermined position in the knitting zone adjacent one end of the row of knitting needles, a hook type knitting needle which is secured to a rotatably mounted lever so as to be movable substantially perpendicularly through a plane containing the row of carrier tape knitting needles and filaments of yarn by a first cam follower which is connected to said lever and is urged into engagement with a first moving cam surface, said hook type needle further being located beneath the tubular guide for movement through the path of movement of the series of coupling elements at the knitting zone and said lever being mounted for lateral movement with respect to said plane by means of a second cam follower which is connected to said lever and is urged into engagement with a second moving cam surface such that the hook of said hook type needle grasps a filament of yarn during the penetration of said needle through said plane and withdraws said filament on one side of said coupling elements and then overlaps said coupling elements with said yarn before again penetrating said plane and means are provided for oscillating said hook type needle about its axis during movements of the needle through said plane at said laterally spaced positions so as to retain said yarn on said hook during the overlapping movement from a first to a second laterally spaced position.

2. The warp-knitting machine as recited in claim 1 wherein said means for oscillating said hook type needle about its axis comprises a pinion mounted coaxially about said hook type needle, said needle being mounted to said lever so as to be rotatable about its axis and a rack adapted to engage said pinion and a means for reciprocating said rack.

3. The warp-knitting machine as recited in claim 2 wherein the means for reciprocating said rack comprises an air cylinder having a drive rod to which one end of an arm is pivotally mounted the other end of said arm being fixed to the axis of a gear wheel which is, in turn, adapted to engage said rack.

4. The warp-knitting machine as recited in claim 1 further including at least one more hook type needle which is mounted parallel to said first hook type needle so as to perform equivalent motions with respect to said coupling element and carrier tape.

5. A method of making a sliding clasp fastener stringer comprises warp-knitting a carrier tape with a plurality of knitting needles which operate in a first plane and, during the knitting, locating a series of interconnected coupling elements at one face of the tape and adjacent a longitudinal edge of the tape, moving a knitting needle in a direction substantially perpendicular to and into said plane and over one of said plurality of knitting needles between adjacent coupling elements of the series to engage at least one of the knitting yarns, moving said knitting needle in a direction substantially perpendicular to and out of said plane to draw a first loop of said yarn between adjacent coupling elements of the series, feeding the series of elements and tape, and repeating the movements of said knitting needle so that a second loop of yarn drawn by said needle is interlinked with said first loop thereby to secure the series of coupling elements to the knitting tape.

6. A method according to claim 5 wherein said knitting needle is caused to move along a single rectilinear path between coupling elements of the series.

7. A method according to claim 5 wherein said knitting needle is caused to move in the lapping sense of yarn guides of the machine when said needle is at the front of the machine so that said needle also reciprocates outside the series andforms and interlinks loops from two yarns.

8. A warp-knitting machine for making a sliding clasp fastener stringer, the machine having a knitting zone and comprising a row of knitting needles for knitting a carrier tape of the stringer, a plurality of guide bars each carrying yarn guides, a tubular guide having a lower end disposed to guide a series of interconnected coupling elements to a predetermined position in the knitting zone adjacent one end of the row of knitting needles, and means for moving a knitting needle through a plane containing the row of knitting needles in a position beneath the tubular guide and through the path of movement of the series of elements at the knitting zone.

9. A machine according to claim 8 wherein said knitting needle moves along a single rectilinear path through the path of movement of the series of elements.

10. A machine according to claim 8 wherein means are provided to move said knitting needle in the lapping sense of yarn guides of the machine when said knitting needle is at the front of the machine so that said needle reciprocates through said plane at laterally spaced positions.

11. A machine according to claim 10 wherein said knitting needle is a latch needle and means are provided for oscillating said needle aboutits longitudinal axis between movements of the needle through said plane at the laterally spaced positions.

a s a s a

Claims

1. A warp-knitting machine for making a sliding clasp fastener stringer, the machine having a knitting zone and comprising a row of knitting needles for knitting a carrier tape of the stringer from a plurality of filaments of yarn, a plurality of guide bars each carrying yarn guides, a tubular guide having a lower end disposed to guide a series of interconnected coupling elements to a predetermined position in the knitting zone adjacent one end of the row of knitting needles, a hook type knitting needle which is secured to a rotatably mounted lever so as to be movable substantially perpendicularly through a plane containing the row of carrier tape knitting needles and filaments of yarn by a first cam follower which is connected to said lever and is urged into engagement with a first moving cam surface, said hook type needle further being located beneath the tubular guide for movement through the path of movement of the series of coupling elements at the knitting zone and said lever being mounted for lateral movement with respect to said plane by means of a second cam follower which is connected to said lever and is urged into engagement with a second moving cam surface such that the hook of said hook type needle grasps a filament of yarn during the penetration of said needle through said plane and withdraws said filament on one side of said coupling elements and then overlaps said coupling elements with said yarn before again penetrating said plane and means are provided for oscillating said hook type needle about its axis during movements of the needle through said plane at said laterally spaced positions so as to retain said yarn on said hook during the overlapping movement from a first to a second laterally spaced position.

7. A method according to claim 5 wherein said knitting needle is caused to move in the lapping sense of yarn guides of the machine when said needle is at the front of the machine so that said needle also reciprocates outside the series and forms and interlinks loops from two yarns.

11. A machine according to claim 10 wherein said knitting needle is a latch needle and means are provided for oscillating said needle about its longitudinal axis between movements of the needle through said plane at the laterally spaced positions.