FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to concealable slide fasteners with elements that engage with one another with improved strength and stability.
BACKGROUND
Slide fastener devices are used to secure two pieces of fabric, tape, or other flexible material, such as on a garment, bag, or other article. A slide fastener includes a plurality of elements located on tapes to open and close the slide fastener such that a slider engages with the elements. When the slider is moved along the tape, the rows of opposing elements of the tape mesh together to close the slide fastener. When the slider is moved in the opposite direction, the slider separates the rows of opposing elements to open the slide fastener. For applications where the slide fastener is meant to be concealed and/or meant to provide a seal, the tape may be configured such that one or more layers of tape are disposed between the rows of opposing elements.
In certain situations, it may be desirable to modify the geometry of the elements to increase stability and strength during use and operation with the tape and to increase efficiency during the manufacturing process of the elements.
SUMMARY
The terms “invention,” “the invention,” “this invention” and “the present invention” used in this patent are intended to refer broadly to all of the subject matter of this patent and the patent claims below. Statements containing these terms should be understood not to limit the subject matter described herein or to limit the meaning or scope of the patent claims below. Versions of the invention covered by this patent are defined by the claims below, not this summary. This summary is a high-level overview of various aspects of the invention and introduces some of the concepts that are further described in the Detailed Description section below. This summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used in isolation to determine the scope of the claimed subject matter. The subject matter should be understood by reference to appropriate portions of the entire specification of this patent, any or all drawings and each claim.
According to certain cases, a slide fastener includes a first row of slide elements; a second row of slide elements; a first tape secured with the first row of slide elements at a first end of the first tape; and a second tape secured with the second row of slide elements at a first end of the second tape, wherein: slide elements of the first row of slide elements are configured to engage with slide elements of the second row of slide elements; each slide element of the first and second rows comprises a base, a head, a neck extending between the base and the head, a top surface, a facing surface, and one or more shoulders; the first tape is configured to cover the facing surface and the top surface of the slide elements of the first row; the second tape is configured to cover the facing surface and the top surface of the slide elements of the second row; and a first vertical distance between a lowermost surface of the head and the first end of the first tape is greater than a second vertical distance between a lowermost surface of the base and the first end of the first tape.
According to certain cases, a slide fastener includes a first row of slide elements extending along a longitudinal direction; a second row of slide elements extending approximately parallel to the first row; a first tape having a first end that is disposed in a through hole of each of the slide elements of the first row of slide elements; and a second tape having a first end that is disposed in a through hole of each of the slide elements of the second row of slide elements; wherein: the first and second rows of slide elements are configured to engage with one another; each slide element comprises a base, a head, a neck extending between the base and the head, a top surface, a facing surface, and one or more shoulders; the slide elements are disposed such that the facing surfaces of the slide elements of the first row and the facing surfaces of the slide elements of the second row face one another; the first tape is configured to cover the facing surface and the top surface of the slide elements of the first row; the second tape is configured to cover the facing surface and the top surface of the slide elements of the second row; the first and second tapes are pressed together between the first and second rows of slide elements when the first and second rows are engaged with one another; a lowermost surface of the head of each of the slide elements is contained within a first plane that is offset from a second plane containing a lowermost surface of the base; and a forwardmost surface of the head of each of the slide elements is contained within a third plane that is offset from a fourth plane containing the facing surface of the base, wherein the facing surface is a forwardmost surface of the base.
According to certain cases, a slide element of a slide fastener includes: a base; a head positioned below and forward of the base; and a neck extending between the base and the head, wherein: a lowermost surface of the head is contained within a first plane that is offset from a second plane containing a lowermost surface of the base; and a forwardmost surface of the head is contained within a third plane that is offset from a fourth plane containing the forwardmost surface of the base.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Illustrative embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail below with reference to the following drawing figures:
FIG. 1A is a top perspective view of a slide fastener according to certain aspects.
FIG. 1B is a bottom perspective view of the slide fastener of FIG. 1A.
FIG. 2A is a bottom perspective view of a slide element of the slide fastener of FIG. 1A.
FIG. 2B is a top perspective view of the slide element of FIG. 2A.
FIG. 3A is a partial perspective view of the slide fastener of FIG. 1A.
FIG. 3B is a perspective view of a cross-section of the slide fastener of FIG. 1A taken along the line 3B-3B of FIG. 1B.
FIG. 4A is a top view of the slide element of the slide fastener of FIG. 2A.
FIG. 4B is a bottom view of the slide element of the slide fastener of FIG. 2A.
FIG. 5A is a rear end view of the slide element of the slide fastener of FIG. 2A.
FIG. 5B is a front end view of the slide element of the slide fastener of FIG. 2A.
FIG. 5C is a side view of the slide element of the slide fastener of FIG. 2A.
FIG. 6 is a side view of the slide element of the slide fastener of FIG. 2A.
FIG. 7A is an end view of the slide fastener of FIG. 1A.
FIG. 7B is a partial perspective view of the slide fastener of FIG. 1A.
FIG. 8 is a side view of the slide element of the slide fastener of FIG. 2A, engaged with tape from FIG. 1A.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The subject matter of versions of the present invention is described here with specificity to meet statutory requirements, but this description is not necessarily intended to limit the scope of the claims. The claimed subject matter may be embodied in other ways, may include different elements or steps, and may be used in conjunction with other existing or future technologies. This description should not be interpreted as implying any particular order or arrangement among or between various steps or elements except when the order of individual steps or arrangement of elements is explicitly described.
FIGS. 1A-8 depict non-limiting examples of slide fasteners. Even if different reference numbers are used in various drawings, any of the features shown or described in relation to any of the drawings may be included, combined, substituted, or omitted to provide additional examples.
FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate a non-limiting example of a slide fastener that includes a plurality of slide elements 101 and tapes 201. As shown, a first row of slide elements 101 secured to a first tape 201 are configured to engage with a second row of slide elements 101 secured to a second tape 201 such that the slide elements 101 are not visible from a top side (see FIG. 1A, where the tape 201 is shown transparent). The two rows of slide elements 101 are arranged in a longitudinal direction. The slide elements 101 are configured such that each slide element 101 engages with at least one slide element 101 from the opposite row. In some examples, if a slide element 101 is disposed between ends of a row, the given slide element 101 engages with two slide elements 101 from the opposite row.
Slide fasteners, such as those described herein, are often subjected to external forces applied through the tapes 201. For example, FT (shown in FIG. 7A) represents a force that tends to pivot or rotate one of the slide elements 101. To balance the force FT, the slide element 101 from a first row transfer one or more forces through the neck 104 to the head 103 where one or more forces FS are applied between the head 103 and a corresponding shoulder 105 of one or more slide elements 101 from a second row of slide elements. The slide elements 101 described herein have necks 104 that are configured to increase the capability of transferring forces through the neck 104 to counteract forces from the tape such as FT. As described in greater detail below, the necks 104 are configured such that a head 103 of the slide element 101 is toward a front portion 401 of the slide element 101 and/or toward a bottom portion 404 of the slide element 101 and such that the necks 104 have increased cross-sectional areas.
One example of a slide element 101 is shown in isolation in FIGS. 2A-2B and FIGS. 4A-6. The slide element 101 includes a base 102, a head 103, a neck 104, a top surface 110, a facing surface 120, and one or more shoulders 105. As shown in FIGS. 4A-5B, the slide element 101 includes a front portion 401, a rear portion 402, a top portion 403, and a bottom portion 404. The one or more shoulders 105 include the lowermost surfaces b of the base 102 as shown in FIG. 6.
The slide element 101 may also include a protrusion 106 (see bottom view of FIG. 2A) extending in the longitudinal direction and a corresponding recess 107 (see top view of FIG. 2B) configured to interface with a complementary protrusion 106 of an adjacent slide element 101 from the same row. The interface between corresponding protrusions 106 and recesses 107 can be seen in FIG. 1A through tape 201 (where tape 201 is shown transparent). The protrusions 106 and recesses 107 are disposed on an opposite side of the slide element 101 from the facing surface 120. As shown in FIG. 5C, the facing surface 120 is the forwardmost surface of the base.
As shown in FIG. 2A, the head 103 includes first and second protrusions 103a and 103b (extending opposite one another along the longitudinal direction) configured to interface with the protrusions of a head 103 of a corresponding slide element 101 from the opposite row. Further, the head 103 interfaces with two corresponding shoulders 105 from slide elements from the opposite row (see FIG. 1B). In particular, the first protrusion 103a may include an upper surface 103a-1 (see FIGS. 2B and 4A) configured to interface with a first shoulder 105 of a first slide element from a second row and the second protrusion 103b may include an upper surface 103b-1 (see FIG. 4A) configured to interface with a second shoulder 105 of a second slide element from a second row.
As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, in some examples, the tape 201 includes a cord 202 that may be inserted into a through hole 108 of the slide element 101. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the through hole 108 may include an enlarged portion 109 that approximately corresponds to the shape of the cord 202 and that is dimensioned to receive the cord 202. The through hole 108 may extend through the slide element 101 approximately parallel to the longitudinal direction. In some cases, the enlarged portion 109 and the cord 202 are both approximately cylindrical, although they need not be. The cord 202 may function as an anchor to secure the tape 201 in position such that the tape 201 can be pulled taut when wrapped around the slide element 101 in such a way that a portion of the tape 201 is pressed against facing surface 120 of the slide element 101 and a portion covers the top surface 110 of the slide element 101, as illustrated in FIGS. 3A and 3B. When the slide elements 101 are engaged with the slide elements from the opposite row, the tape 201 is configured to wrap around and cover the top surfaces 110 of the slide elements 101 such that the slide elements 101 are concealed. In other words, when the slide elements 101 are engaged/locked, the only components that are visible from the top side of the tape 201 are the tape 201 and any sealing layers (e.g., 203 and/or 204, described below).
Referring back to FIGS. 2A and 2B, the head 103 of the slide element 101 is disposed below (toward the bottom portion 404) the base 102 and forward (toward the front portion 401) of the base 102. In some examples, as shown in FIG. 5C, due to the configuration of the neck 104, the head 103 (including the two protrusions 103a and 103b) is disposed both (i) below the base 102 toward the bottom portion 404 and (ii) forward of the base 102 toward the front portion 401. In this way, the head 103 is offset from the base 102 in two planes: the horizontal plane and the vertical plane. More specifically, the majority of the head 103 is disposed below the lowermost surface b of the base 102 (i.e., shoulder 105), and the majority of the head 103 is disposed forward of the facing surface 120 of the base 102. As shown in FIG. 2B, the rearmost part of the head 103 may be generally in line with the facing surface 120. As illustrated in FIGS. 2A, 2B and 6, a forwardmost surface f of the head 103 is contained within a plane that is offset toward a front portion 401 of the slide element 101 from a plane containing the facing surface 120 of the base 102, where the facing surface 120 is the forwardmost surface of the base 102. In some cases, the base 102 is an approximate box shape such that it is approximately rectangular when viewed from multiple sides.
FIG. 6 shows a centerline C of the enlarged portion 109 (configured to secure the cord 202 of the tape 201) and its relative position with respect to portions of the slide element 101. In some examples, the neck 104 is configured such the lowermost surface a of the head 103 is a greater distance D1 (in a vertical direction) from the centerline C than a distance D2 of the lowermost surface b of the base 102 (i.e., shoulder 105) from the centerline C. The distance D1 of surface a from the centerline C, in some cases, may be approximately double the distance D2 between surface b and the centerline C. In some examples, the distance D1 of surface a from the centerline C may be between approximately 2 mm and approximately 4 mm. In some examples, the distance D1 of surface a from the centerline C may be between approximately 2.5 mm and approximately 3 mm. In some examples, the distance D1 of surface a from the centerline C is approximately 2.7 mm. In some examples, the distance D2 of surface b from the centerline C may be between approximately 0.5 mm and approximately 2.5 mm. In some examples, the distance D2 of surface b from the centerline C may be between approximately 1 mm and approximately 2 mm. In some examples, the distance D2 of surface b from the centerline C is approximately 1.4 mm.
The cross-sectional area of the neck 104 is defined by the width Y of the neck 104 and the length X of the neck 104 (see FIGS. 5B and 6). The length X is the distance between surface 119 at the upper portion of the neck 104 and surface 118 at the lower portion of the neck 104 (see dimension X in FIG. 6). The cross-sectional area of the neck 104 defined by length X and width Y is increased to provide high strength capabilities for transferring forces between the tape 201 and the head 103, an example of which is described in the following paragraph.
As mentioned above, one example of a horizontal force on the tape 201 is shown as tape force FT in FIG. 7A. FIG. 7A shows some of the forces applied to the left side slide element 101. The tape force FT (when viewed from the end view shown in FIG. 7A) tends to cause the slide element 101 to rotate in the counter-clockwise direction (about an axis perpendicular to the surface of FIG. 7A) and, if not counterbalanced, could cause damage or failure of the slide element 101. In some examples, the configuration of the neck 104 as described above results in one or more shoulder forces FS that offset at least some of the tape force FT. If the head 103 of the slide element 101 has two protrusions 103a and 103b (each with upper surfaces 103a-1 and 103b-1, respectively), there will be two approximately equal shoulder forces FS as shown in FIG. 7A. The two shoulder forces FS occur at interfaces between each protrusion (103a, 103b) of the slide element 101 and a corresponding shoulder (105) of a slide element from the opposite row.
In some examples, as shown in FIG. 3A, the tape 201 includes a sealing layer 203. In some cases, sealing layer 203 is a resin layer. When the slide elements are engaged/locked, the sealing layer 203 of a first tape may be compressed against another sealing layer 203 of a second tape associated with the opposite row of slide elements 101 (see FIGS. 3B and 7A). The seal formed by the two sealing layers 203 compressed together may form a water-tight and/or air-tight seal. As shown in FIG. 7A, in some examples, the height of the sealing layer 203 approximately corresponds to a height H of the facing surface 120 of the slide element 101 such that the sealing layer 203 substantially covers the facing surface 120. In some cases, the sealing layer 203 is taller than the height H of the facing surface 120 and wraps around the slide element 101 to follow the contour of tape 201.
As shown in FIG. 7B, in some cases, a second sealing layer 204 is disposed between the slide element 101 and the first sealing layer 203 to form an overlap region 500 that includes three layers: tape 201, first sealing layer 203, and second sealing layer 204. The second sealing layer 204 may be configured to overlap the first sealing layer 203 such that the second sealing layer 204 covers some or all of the facing surface 120 of the slide element 101 and wraps around the slide element 101 and interfaces with top surface 110. In some examples, the second sealing layer 204 is a resin layer. The configuration of the sealing layers 203, 204 relative to the slide elements 101 may provide an improved seal. The one or more sealing layers may be formed by extrusion, lamination, coating, and/or by any other appropriate method.
As shown in FIG. 8, during an exemplary manufacturing process, a slide core 301 is disposed adjacent to a location of the tape 201. The slide core 301 provides a flat surface to ensure a planar reference surface for molding the upper surfaces 103a-1 and 103b-1 of the two protrusions 103a and 103b, respectively, of the head 103.
The components of the slide fastener may be formed of materials including, but not limited to, nylon, polypropylene, non-woven polypropylene, other plastic materials, thermoplastic, metallic materials, other composite materials, cotton, wool, synthetic fabric, or other similar materials. Moreover, the components of the slide fastener may be attached to one another via suitable fasteners, which include, but are not limited to, glue or any suitable adhesive, hook and loop fasteners, ultrasonic welding, other mechanical or chemical fasteners.
Different arrangements of the components depicted in the drawings or described above, as well as components and steps not shown or described are possible. Similarly, some features and sub-combinations are useful and may be employed without reference to other features and sub-combinations. Cases of the invention have been described for illustrative and not restrictive purposes, and alternative cases will become apparent to readers of this patent. Accordingly, the present invention is not limited to the cases described above or depicted in the drawings, and various cases and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the claims below.
Patent Grant
9918527
