Patent Application
20080098577
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of zippers, and particularly to a zipper that, once locked, is flexible in an up and down direction as well as a side to side direction.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Slide fasteners, commonly known as zippers have long been known to be useful for the opening and closing two adjoining pieces of fabric. A zipper is typically composed of a tracking base made of substantially equal size portions of fabric on either side, a series of teeth that interlock upon closing and unlock upon opening that is attached to the tracking base, and a means for opening and closing the interlocking teeth that are attached to each track that contains the interlocking teeth.
With the advent of highly flexible, stretchy material and more and more snug applications with the application to tight clothing and the like, there exists a problem with a conventional zipper bunching up or even ripping around portions of the tracking base because the zipper is not as flexible as the fabric it joins.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a zipper than can stretch either in a longitudinal direction or a lateral direction, depending upon the demands of the fabric and what it is being wrapped around, i.e., a human body or mannequin and the like. It is not sufficient to solve this problem by merely making the tracking base fabric from a flexible, stretchy material. The zipper itself needs to be independently flexible from the tracking base material.
In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a flexible zipper is disclosed comprising a tracking base composed of a first piece of fabric and a second piece of fabric. The first piece and second piece are substantially equal in dimension, with the tracking base fabric being composed of a material that is stretchable in four directions.
A plurality of slits are located through both pieces of fabric.
A latching means connects the first piece of fabric to the second piece of fabric, with the latching means being a tracking portion. The tracking portion contains a plurality of protrusions on one side of the tracking portion and a plurality of grooves found on the opposing side of the tracking portion. There is a sliding tab for latching and unlatching the protrusions with the grooves.
In yet another embodiment of the invention, the tracking base is composed of a decorative, ornamental fabric.
In yet another embodiment of the invention, the flexible zipper is applied to a garment in a reverse orientation, rendering the zipper invisible.
Referring now to the drawings. The flexible zipper 10 of the instant invention is shown in
Both pieces of the tracking base 12a, 12b are substantially equal in dimension. The fabric used for the tracking base 12a, 12b is composed of a material that is stretchable in multiple directions, illustrated in the
Both pieces of the tracking base 12a, 12b are stretchable in multiple directions because each piece of the tracking base 12a, 12b is divided into multiple sections 13a-13n, divided by a plurality of slits 18. The slits 18 allow the tracking base to stretch in multiple directions when stretched, illustrated in close-up in
Both sides of the tracking base 12a, 12b are latchable together through the use of a tracking portion 19 found on both sides of the zipper 10. The tracking portion 19 has one side with a plurality of protrusions 17a that are received in a plurality of grooves 17b found on the opposing side of the tracking portion 19.
Finally, there is a sliding tab 20 used for locking and unlocking the plurality of protrusions 17a with the plurality of grooves 17b.
A second embodiment of the invention involves an “invisible zipper,” known in the art. By reversing the mechanism of the preferred embodiment, without the pull tap 20, the back side of the zipper 10 can be used on the outside of a garment with the use of a separate smaller pull tab (not shown) rendering the zipper invisible.
It is to be understood that while the illustrations herein show a zipper that is visible once closed, this particular invention can also be used for zippers that become invisible once closed, such zippers being well-known in the art, if the zipper is turned inside-out on the garment.
The illustrations and examples provided herein are for explanatory purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of the appended claims. This disclosure is to be considered an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the spirit and scope of the invention and/or claims of the embodiment illustrated. Those skilled in the art will make modifications to the invention for particular applications of the invention.
