Patent Application
20230304205
This invention relates generally to the attachment of a zipper to a product, for example when forming a pocket or main closure of a carrying case.
Carrying cases of all types are well known in the art, including products such as suitcases, briefcases, bags, backpacks, pouches, and carrying conveyances for various specialty products such as computers, wine, guns, etc. It is common for such carrying cases to include one or more zippers for providing alternatively the enclosure of, or access into, a central volume or pocket of the case. The opening and closing of a zipper induces mechanical stresses into the case which, over time, may result in the tearing of the case material or disengagement of the attachment of the zipper to the case.
To provide adequate mechanical strength, a stitching process is often used to attach a zipper to a case using two layers of material.
The present invention recognizes that the prior art method of
To address the limitations of the prior art, the present invention utilizes only a single piece of material to attach a zipper to a case, but does so in a manner that still provides a strong mechanical attachment, while at the same time reducing the number of assembly steps and the cost of manufacturing a carrying case product. Opposed ends of a single piece of material are attached to the tape of a zipper to form a double layer of material extending away from the zipper. A fold line is formed in the double layer of material, which is then attached to the case, such as with a single line of stitching.
In particular, a method of attaching a zipper to a case according to the invention comprises:
The inventive method results in no raw edge being present at the point of attachment of the double layer of material to the case, thereby eliminating the chance of fraying of raw edges as has been experienced in the prior art. The inventive method requires only one piece of joining material and the prior art step of attaching the ends of two pieces of material to each other prior to attaching them to the case is eliminated. Moreover, a single folded piece of material is stronger than the joinder of two separate pieces of material as is used in the prior art.
An exemplary embodiment of the invention is described more fully in the detailed description below and in the accompanying drawings.
Carrying case 40 may be any known style of conveyance such as, but not limited to, a purse, duffle bag, pouch, suitcase, gun case, briefcase, etc. A zipper 42 is attached to a portion of the body 44 of the case 40, for example a side wall of the case 40. As is common in the art, zipper 42 is formed to have interconnecting sets of teeth 46 which are supported by a tape 48. Zipper 42 is attached to the body 44 with a piece of material 50. The material 50 may be cloth, leather, polyester, etc. or any known material providing the desired strength, wear, weight, and aesthetic properties.
Material 50 is cut to have two opposed raw edges 52, 54 spaced sufficiently apart such that, when folded along fold line 56, the material 50 forms a double layer of material 58 of a desired length. That length is unique for any particular case design in order to space the zipper 42 apart from the body 44 by a desired distance depending upon the desired size of the interior volume 60 of the case 40 which is at least partially defined by the zipper 42 and material 50.
When assembling case 40, the opposed edges 52, 54 of material 50 are attached to respective top 62 and bottom 64 surfaces of tape 48. Attaching both of the opposed edges 52, 54 of material 50 to the tape 48 creates the double layer of the material 58 extending away from the zipper 42. The attachment may be made with a first stitch line or set of stitching 66, or may be made with any other known joining process, such as with an adhesive, ultrasonic welding, laser stitching, etc. Any known type of stitch may be used. One or both of the raw edges 52, 54 may be folded under to create a respective clean top edge 68 and clean bottom edge 70 in order to improve the appearance of the final product and to protect the raw edges 52, 54 from wear during use of the case 40. The attachment of material 50 to the tape 48 may be reinforced with a second similar or different type of attachment, such as with a second set of stitching 72 of the same or a different type of stitch or any other form of attachment.
The double layer of material 58 is attached to the body 44 along the fold line 56 remote from the zipper 42 to at least partially define an interior volume 60 of the case 40. The interior volume 60 may be the main compartment of the case or it may be a sub-compartment such as an interior or exterior pocket. This attachment may be made using a single set of stitching 74 or other form of attachment.
Advantageously, the attachment of the double layer of material 58 along fold line 56 results in no raw edge being exposed to the interior volume 60 of the case 40, thereby eliminating a potential failure mode that is present in the case 12 of
While various embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described herein, it will be obvious that such embodiments are provided by way of example only. Numerous variations, changes in the order of steps, and substitutions may be made without departing from the invention herein.
