US3887675A

US3887675A - Method for making slideless fastener

Info

Publication number: US3887675A
Application number: US378897A
Authority: US
Inventors: Toshiaki Takagi
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1972-07-27
Filing date: 1973-07-13
Publication date: 1975-06-03
Anticipated expiration: 1992-06-03
Also published as: FR2194554B1; CH559015A5; NL7310458A; BE802859A; DK131657C; FR2194554A1; DE2338278A1; CA992730A; DK131657B; JPS5243142B2; JPS4932743A; ATA652473A; IT991895B

Abstract

A method is disclosed for making a slideless or slide-free fastener. The steps include forming first and second rows of cuts in a tape or band made of resilient material, the cuts being preferably arcuate or semi-circular in shape, though not limited thereto, the cuts in each row being spaced a predetermined distance apart, the cuts in one row being paired in reverse with respect to those in the other, rows of tongues being formed by bending up the cut-out portion of the band or tape then heatsetting the same, forming a third row of cuts between said first and second rows, the cuts in said third row being a straight line but at such an angle as to join the closest ends of each pair of cuts in said first and second rows to form a series of openings. The openings in the tape or band-like fastening element so produced can be closed by a spiral fastening element made by sewing a resilient monofilament formed into a spiral onto a band or tape. The slideless or slide-free fastener produced by the foregoing method is joinable with sheet material and is also disclosed.

Description

United States Patent [191 Takagi June 3, 1975 4] METHOD FOR MAKING SLIDELESS 1 FASTENER [75] Inventor: Toshiaki Takagi, Osaka, Japan [73] Assignee: Yoshiaki Takagi, Osaka, Japan [22] Filed: July 13, 1973 21 Appl. No.: 378,897

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data I July 27, 1972 Japan 47-76148 [52] US. Cl. 264/156; 264/249; 264/295; 264/345, 29/428; 24/205.l2; 24/205.13 R [51] Int. Cl... A44b 19/42; B29c 17/02; B29c 17/14 [58] Field of Search 264/154, 295, 291, 345, 264/249; 24/205.l3 R, 205.12, 205.13 D, 205.13 C

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,629,911 3/1953 Macy 24/205.13 R 3,462,805 8/1969 Quisling 24/205.12

Primary Examiner-D0nald J Arnold Assistant ExaminerWillard E. Hoag Attorney, Agent, or FirmWenderoth, Lind & Ponack [5 7] ABSTRACT A method is disclosed for making a slideless or slidefree fastener. The steps include forming first and second rows of cuts in a tape or band made of resilient material, the cuts being preferably arcuate or semicircular in shape, though not limited thereto, the cuts in each row being spaced a predetermined distance apart, the cuts in one row being paired in reverse with respect to those in the other, rows of tongues being formed by bending up the cut-out portion of the band or tape then heat-setting the same, forming a third row of cuts between said first and second rows, the cuts in said third row being a straight line but at such an angle as to join. the closest ends of each pair of cuts in said first and second rows to form a series of openings. The openings in the tape or band-like fastening element so produced can be closed by a spiral fastening element made by sewing a resilient monofilament formed into a spiral onto a band or tape. The slideless or slide-free fastener produced by the foregoing method is joinable with sheet material and is also disclosed.

2 Claims, 15 Drawing Figures 1 METHOD FOR MAKING SLIDELESS FASTENER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method for making fastener elements and a fastener coupling these elements, and in particular, to a method for making slideless or slide-free fastener elements by a simple and rapid process and a slideless fastener product to be used without requiring assembling or any of the operations required in using the conventional slider unit.

In general, it is known that the conventional slide fastener includes a plurality of identical elements along the opposing edges of two strips to be joined and a slider to slidably engage or disengage each of the elements so as to open and close the fastener.

Fasteners of this slider or zip type have many disadvantages. For example, the process for making them is complex, the fastener itself is relatively heavy in weight, the fastener often becomes entirely unusable when one or more elements on one strip comes off the fibrous tape, it wears out quickly and grows bulky along the place where the slider unit is mounted. The above mentioned disadvantages of the known types including zip fasteners and tapeless slide fasteners result mainly from the necessity of assembling or incorporating a slider with each fastener.

The main purpose of the present invention is therefore to provide a method for making slideless fastener elements and a novel and an economical slideless fastener produced thereby which is free from the above mentioned drawbacks. Said method makes it possible to mass produce very rapidly and accurately slideless fastener elements which are instantly and easily engaged and disengaged, even if part of one element in the opposite fastening element is loose or is damaged or mismeshed.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates toa method of making a slideless fastener and the product made thereby, including the steps of manufacturing a tape or band-like fastening element to be engaged with each other and a spiral or coiled fastening element. The first step in producing a tape or band-like fastening element includes making rows of at least first and second cuts on a resilient tape or strip material like plastic film. The cuts are substantially semi-circular or arcuate and are spaced longitudinally at predetermined intervals. The cuts in one row are paired and oriented in the reverse direction with respect to those in the other. The second step in making the tape-like fastening element includes forming a series of tongues on one side of the tape material by bending the cut-out portion of the tape up or down and then heat-setting the same.

The third step includes cutting or forming a third row of cuts between the first and second rows, the cuts in said third row being a straight line but at such an angle as to join the closest ends of each pair of cuts in said first and second rows to form a row of openings. Thus, the openings in the tape-like fastening elements are engageable with a spiral fastening element, which will be described later.

The fourth steps includes making a spiral fastening element to be meshed with the tape-like fastening element by sewing a resilient monofilament spirally onto a fibrous tape longitudinally thereof.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for making slideless fastener ele ments including the steps of making the tape-like fastening element and the spiral fastening element separately, and then engaging them with each other and heat setting them.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for making a slideless fastener which does not require any step of assembling and incorporating any kind of slider unit onto the fastener elements.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a fastener which is easily engaged and disengaged without employing any kind of conventional slider unit.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing slideless fasteners which may be easily automated thus reducing manpower requirements.

Other and additional advantages will be apparent from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an elevational view, partly fragmented, of the fastener produced according to the present invention secured to a cloth.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the fastener shown in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are respectively front and back views of the slideless fastener elements made by the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a partial front view of the spiral fastening element in the process of being made.

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view of the spiral fastening element shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the spiral fastening element sewn onto a fibrous tape or strip.

FIGS. 8 13 illustrate diagrammatically and in perspective and cross-section the steps in the process for making the tape-like fastening element according to the present invention.

In FIG. 8, is illustrated the punched unbent strip. In FIG. 9, flaps have been bent out of the plane of the strip. FIGS. 10 and 13 show the strip with bent-up flaps and with slits between adjoining apertures in the strip before the opposite edges of the strip have been shifted. FIG. 11(a) and 11 (b) show the strip after the shift. FIGS. 12 (a) and 12 (b) show the strip after the sift and after the edges have been bent out of the original plane.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring initially to FIGS. 1 and 8, a tape-like fastening element indicated in general by the index symbol A and a spiral or coiled fastening element indicated in general by the index symbol B, both made according to the disclosure of the present invention, are shown. As shown, tape-like fastening element A is made of a resilient, half-rigid plastic or synthetic resin tape designated by the number 1. The elongated resilient tape element is provided, as is best shown in FIG. 8, with pairs of oppositely arranged

semi-circular cuts

2 and 3 spaced longitudinally in a predetermined spaced relationship on the tape by cutting with a roller type cutter. It is noted that these cuts may be in shapes other than semi-circular.

The rows of

tongues

4 and 5 are formed by bending the cut-out

portions

2 and 3 of the tape 1 up or down, and the portion between the closest ends of each pair of cuts in said rows of

cuts

2 and 3 is provided with another cut 6 to provide a substantially S-shaped cut therein. In other words, the cuts in the row of cuts between

rows

2 and 3 are each a short straight line but at such an angle as to join the closest ends of each pair of cuts in

cuts

2 and 3 to form a series of openings 7 for receiving a companion element, said openings being shaped like an elongated S. Accordingly, the tape-like fastening element made by means of the present invention includes a resilient tape in which engaging openings 7 are spaced in a predetermined relationship therein.

The initial step in making fastening element A is to make rows of paired cuts on the tape 1 as shown in FIG. 8 using a roller type cutter with cutting edges mounted on the periphery of the roller. The tongues 4 and extending from each pair of

cuts

2 and 3 are formed by bending the semi-circular cut-out portion upward or downward so that the bent out

tongues

4 and 5 are at a slight angle to the longitudinal direction of the tape 1. For bending, a toothed roller may be used which can be securely contact and press the portion between the

tongues

4 and 5, as shown in FIG. 9. Then, the cuts in the third row of cuts, the row between the first and second rows of cuts, are formed in a straight line but at such an angle as to join the closest ends of each pair of cuts on the tape by using a similar roller type cutter, again as seen in FIG. 10.

Next, the tongues on the tape 1 are thermally set by passing the tape through a heater the temperature of which is high enough to heat set the tongues to prevent them from returning to their original state, but not so high as to thermally degrade the resin.

As is best shown in FIG. 10, the short cuts 6 between the closest ends of each pair of the

cuts

2 and 3 are formed to interconnect the

cuts

2 and 3 with each other. To form or cut the cuts 6 a roller type cutting device on which is mounted a series of cutting edges may be used. After the tape 1 is formed as shown in FIG. 10, the tape 1 having the interconnected rows of cuts has the opposite edges longitudinally pulled in opposite directions, a shown by the arrow, by passing the tongues through the gap between the two rollers g which exert a lateral force on the

tongues

4 and 5 to twist the tongues so as to reduce the angle between the

tongues

4 and 5 with respect to the longitudinal axis (FIGS. 11a and 11b). This distorts the edges of tape 8 lying along cuts 6 into the openings left by

tongues

4 and 5.

The remaining flat-side portions of the tape are turned upwardly and pressed inwardly along the rows of

tongues

4 and 5 by passing the tape through the gap between two rollers g, which also presses the tongues inwardly, as shown in FIGS. 12a and 12b. In this case, the pressure imposed on the

tongues

4 and 5 and the remaining flat-side portions urges simultaneously each row of the tongues and the intermediate portion between the

tongures

4 and 5 to raise slightly upwardly.

As is best shown in FIG. 13, when the tape 1 has come out of the gap between the rollers, the flat-side portions of the tape, which is resilient, can shift longitudinally and spread open laterally in opposite directions, as shown by the arrows, to their substantially original state so as to open the cuts 6 between the openings left by the bending up of

tongues

4 and 5, due to the resiliency of the tape material.

As the result, the

paired cuts

2 and 3 and transverse cuts 6 thereacross are opened completely to form the openings or holes 7 in a row as shown in FIG. 13 with a longitudinal bending between the

tongues

4 and 5 and a slight bend across transversely adjacent tongues of the tape-like fastening element A.

Finally, the resulting tape-like fastening element is thermally set, with the openings 7 securing or receiving the companion spiral element so as to engage them.

In practicing the present invention, it is desirable to use a resilient monofilament of half-rigid synthetic resin as the companion fastener element of the tapelike fastening element A, especially in the form of a single spiral element B which can easily be produced employing the process as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. The device for a similar process has been disclosed in Japanese Pat. Publication No. 40933/1970. In such process, the two filaments 9 of circular section are wound on a bar 10 of a larger section, each filament turn by turn and then each of the resulting coiled filaments 9 is subjected to twisting by turning clockwise. The resulting filaments twisted as above are then thermally set to form a coiled element respectively and further the bar 10 will be removed so as to separate the two spiral elements B. As shown in FIG. 4, the companion element B made by the above process has a less inclined or flat portion along its pitch so as to give the slightly elliptically engaging member 11 having a cross-section deformed for engaging with the associated opening 7 of the tape-like fastening element A.

Again as seen in FIG. 1, said tape-like fastening element A is sewn onto the tape 12 so as to be secured along both side portions near the engaging openings 7 with appropriately spaced stitches 13 enabling the tape 12 to cover the curved face of tape 1 over the

tongues

4 and 5 both of which are assumed to be protruding through the back of the element A.

Similarly, the element B is similarly secured onto the tape 14 having the portion 15 of substantially the same width of weft while it may be unnecessary to integrate warp at all.

The portion 11 of the companion element B in use is secured on the portion 15 of cloth and the like without substantial inclination so that as shown in FIG. 7 the tape 14 extends in front of the bend even if the needle 16 is likely to pierce the tape 14 in sewing enabling the width of the weft portion 15 to be narrow such that the spiral element B is fixed on the tape 14 without coming out.

It should be noted that the above fastener elements are preferably thermally set with the openings 7 in the element A receiving the engaging portion 11 of the element B in the position occupied when the element A secured on the tape 12 is overlapping the companion element B fixed on the tape 14. Thus, if the element B separates from the element A after heat-setting, the receiving openings 7 and the engaging portion 11 tend to mesh more snugly and orderly than in a conventional fastener.

In the fastener made by the present invention the elements A and B readily engage and disengage without a conventional slider unit. By pressing the element A onto the element B or vice versa said two elements are easily engaged while by pulling an appropriate part of either of the engaged elements, they are easily disengaged.

Thus, for example, if the element A is laid under the element B, they are engageable with one touch by pressing them against even a soft portion of the human body with the hand or finger (fingers); that is the elements A and B will be bent to open the opening or holes 7 thereby enabling the

tongues

4 and 5 to engage with the engaging portion 11 of the spiral element B. If the pressure on the position of engagement of elements A and B is released,

tongues

4 and 5, which are slightly deformed while under the pressure, return to their original protruding state and engage with the engaging portions 11 of element B.

The method and product in the disclosure of the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or central characteristics thereof. The above described embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore to be embraced therein.

1 claim:

1. In a method for making a slideless fastener which includes a tape-like fastening element adapted to be mounted on one part to be fastened and cooperable with a spiral fastening element adapted to be mounted on the other part to be fastened, the steps of making said tape-like fastening element comprising:

forming first and second rows of cuts longitudinally arranged at predetermined intervals along a resilient tape of thermally settable material, the cuts in each row being substantially semi-circular in shape and the cuts in one row being paired with and oriented in the reverse direction with respect to those in the other;

forming a series of tongues on one face of said tape by bending the semi-circular cut-out portions in said tape out of the plane of said tape with the bent out portions lying at at least a slight angle to the longitudinal direction of said tape;

forming a third row of cuts between said first and second row of cuts on the tape with the cuts in the third row joining the cuts of the first and second rows;

exerting a force on said tongues laterally of said tape to urge said tongues to positions which are twisted away from their initial positions toward positions more nearly parallel with the longitudinal direction of said tape for distorting the edges of the tape material along said cuts of said third row of cuts into the corresponding openings left by the bending of the tongues out of the first and second rows of cuts, and then folding the side edge portions of said tape against said tongues, and then releasing said lateral force, whereby the resiliency of the tape material causes said side edges to return to their original position and said tongues to twist at least partially back toward their original positions and leave openings between the edges of said cuts in said third row for receiving the spires of the spiral fastening element; and

inserting the spires of the spiral fastening element into the thus formed openings and thermally setting said tape material.

2. The method of claim 1 including the step of heatsetting the rows of said tongues prior to exerting the lateral force thereon.

Claims

1. In a method for making a slideless fastener which includes a tape-like fastening element adapted to be mounted on one part to be fastened and cooperable with a spiral fastening element adapted to be mounted on the other part to be fastened, the steps of making said tape-like fastening element comprising: forming first and second rows of cuts longitudinally arranged at predetermined intervals along a resilient tape of thermally settable material, the cuts in each row being substantially semi-circular in shape and the cuts in one row being paired with and oriented in the reverse direction with respect to those in the other; forming a series of tongues on one face of said tape by bending the semi-circular cut-out portions in said tape out of the plane of said tape with the bent out portions lying at at least a slight angle to the longitudinal direction of said tape; forming a third row of cuts between said first and second row of cuts on the tape with the cuts in the third row joining the cuts of the first and second rows; exerting a force on said tongues laterally of said tape to urge said tongues to positions which are twisted away from their initial positions toward positions more nearly parallel with the longitudinal direction of said tape for distorting the edges of the tape material along said cuts of said third row of cuts into the corresponding openings left by the bending of the tongues out of the first and second rows of cuts, and then folding the side edge portions of said tape against said tongues, and then releasing said lateral force, whereby the resiliency of the tape material causes said side edges to return to their original position and said tongues to twist at least partially back toward their original positions and leave openings between the edges of said cuts in said third row for receiving the spires of the spiral fastening element; and inserting the spires of the spiral fastening element into the thus formed openings and thermally setting said tape material.