BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a flowchart depicting a process for manufacturing color metal zipper according to a preferred embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 2 is a side view schematically depicting an apparatus of manufacturing color metal zipper according to the invention;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the film overlaying assembly;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the film overlaying assembly in a film overlaying operation;
FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of a portion of the film overlaying assembly in FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view showing two rows of interlocking tabs in an operation of transferring color from the color transfer paper to a portion of the half-finished metal zipper;
FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view showing two rows of interlocking tabs having finished the film overlaying operation and having transferred color of the color transfer paper to a portion of the half-finished metal zipper;
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the guide unit;
FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the guide unit in a guiding operation;
FIG. 10 is a longitudinal sectional view of the guide unit in FIG. 9;
FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the mold;
FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the ram to be pressed onto the joint rows of interlocking tabs passing the mold;
FIG. 13 is a front view in part section showing the ram about to press on the half-finished metal zipper passing the mold;
FIG. 14 is a side view in part section showing the mold assembly prior to operating;
FIG. 15 is a view similar to FIG. 14 where the mold assembly is operating;
FIG. 16 is a perspective view of the guiding unit;
FIG. 17 is a view similar to FIG. 16 where the guiding unit is operating; and
FIG. 18 is a perspective view of the finished rows of interlocking tabs of metal zipper in its joined state.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to FIG. 1, a process of manufacturing color metal zipper in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a film overlaying operation including feeding and washing a continuous row of half-finished metal zipper (step 1000), and overlaying a heatproof film on the half-finished metal zipper (step 1002), and the heatproof film, preferably, has a thickness in a range of about 0.1 μm to about 1 μm, is adapted to operate normally in a high temperature of 160° C.-200° C., preferably at 180° C. and is manufactured from a material selected from resin such as epoxy resin or the like; a color transfer paper feeding operation including feeding a continuous strip of color transfer paper (step 1004), and overlaying the half-finished metal zipper on the color transfer paper and positioning same (step 1006) wherein the color transfer paper has a dye layer having a thickness less than 1 μm, is a continuous paper strip, and may additionally have a colorful pattern; a transfer printing operation including intermittently advancing the overlaid half-finished metal zipper and the color transfer paper (step 1008), heating and pressing the overlaid half-finished metal zipper and the color transfer paper in an interval when the advancing stops so as to uniformly transfer color of the color transfer paper to a portion of the half-finished metal zipper having a predetermined length (step 1010), and intermittently advancing the portion of the half-finished metal zipper and the color transfer paper to leave the space for a next heating and pressing step (step 1012); and a separation operation including separating the finished color metal zipper (or the finished rows of interlocking tabs) from the color transfer paper while intermittently advancing (step 1014), and cooling the finished color metal zipper (or the color rows of interlocking tabs) and the color transfer paper and storing same (step 1016).
Referring to FIGS. 2 to 18, an apparatus of manufacturing color metal zipper is shown. The apparatus comprises a bed 1 including a controller 11, a washing assembly 12, a film overlaying assembly 13, a feeding assembly 14, a mold assembly 15, a separation assembly 16, a drive mechanism 17, and a conveying mechanism 18. A first supply reel (not shown) is mounted at a front end of the bed 1 with the half-finished metal zipper 2 wound around. Half-finished metal zipper 2 comprises two rows of interlocking tabs 22 and two rows of fabric 23. The bed 1 comprises a first table 10 having legs 19 and a second table 10A having legs 19A.
The controller 11 in provided between the legs 19 and includes a control box 111 having a control circuit (not shown), and an on/off switch 112 for activating the apparatus. Color transfer paper 3 is wound around a second supply reel 4 below the first table 10 and is located between the film overlaying assembly 13 and the feeding assembly 14.
The washing assembly 12 is provided on the second table 10A and comprises a liquid reservoir 121 and a pair of rotatably engaged rolls 122. The half-finished metal zipper 2 is washed by washing agent stored in the liquid reservoir 121 while passing the liquid reservoir 121. Next, the half-finished metal zipper 2 passes a very small gap between the rolls 122 in its advancing path.
As shown in FIGS. 3 to 7, the film overlaying assembly 13 comprises an open reservoir 131 having a space 130 contained with liquid, high heatproof material 5 such as epoxy resin or the like, a roll unit 132 mounted in and above the reservoir 131 and including first and second rolls 134 and 135 vertically provided, an adjustable scraping unit 133 mounted with the roll unit 132 and including a scraper 136 in close proximity with a surface of the first roll 134, and an adjustment member (e.g., screw) 137 for adjusting a distance between the scraper 136 and the surface of the first roll 134. In operation, the advancing half-finished metal zipper 2 passes the gap between the rolls 134 and 135. Thus, liquid, heatproof material 5 is adhered to surface of the half-finished metal zipper 2. At the same time, excess liquid, heatproof material 5 is scraped out of the surface of the first roll 134. Eventually, a heatproof material film 21 is formed on the half-finished metal zipper 2 after the half-finished metal zipper 2 passing the film overlaying assembly 13. The heatproof film 21, preferably, has a thickness in a range of about 0.1 μm to about 1 μm, is adapted to operate normally in a high temperature of about 180° C. and is manufactured from a material selected from resin such as epoxy resin or the like.
The feeding assembly 14 is provided on the first table 10 proximate the film overlaying assembly 13 and includes a guide roll assembly 141 and a guide unit 142. The guide roll assembly 141 includes two rolls 143 for feeding the half-finished metal zipper 2 from the film overlaying assembly 13 and the color transfer paper 3 from the second supply reel 4 to the guide unit 142 and overlaying the half-finished metal zipper 2 on the color transfer paper 3. As shown in FIGS. 8, 9, and 10, the guide unit 142 includes a rectangular base 144 having a central lengthwise groove 146 on a top surface, and a spring biased pivotal plate 145 obliquely mounted on the base 144. The groove 146 has a width slightly larger than that of each of the half-finished metal zipper 2 and the color transfer paper 3. The overlaid half-finished metal zipper 2 and color transfer paper 3 pass the groove 146 in the advancing operation.
The mold assembly 15 is provided on the table 10 adjacent the feeding assembly 14 as a next stage. As shown in FIGS. 11 to 15, the mold assembly 15 comprises a mold 151, a heating unit 152, and a ram 153. The mold 151 is an elongated member and comprises a central lengthwise trough 154 on its top surface for allowing the overlaid half-finished metal zipper 2 and the color transfer paper 3 to pass thereon. The heating unit 152 is mounted in a bottom the mold 151 and is adapted to heat the overlaid half-finished metal zipper 2 and the color transfer paper 3. Heating time of the heating unit 152 is controlled by the controller 11. The ram 153 has an end block 155 having a length equal to or slightly less than that of the mold 151. The block 155 is driven by a drive unit (e.g., hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder) 156 such that the block 155 may move vertically to press the overlaid half-finished metal zipper 2 and color transfer paper 3 in an operation when they temporarily stops in the trough 154 as shown in FIGS. 6, 14 and 15. Advancing of the overlaid half-finished metal zipper 2 and color transfer paper 3 is intermittent in cooperation with the drive mechanism 17. Also, the heating unit 152 is adapted to heat the overlaid half-finished metal zipper 2 and color transfer paper 3 in an interval when the advancing stops in the trough 154. Thus, the ram 153 is pressed on the overlaid half-finished metal zipper 2 and the color transfer paper 3 passing the trough 154 (see FIG. 13).
The separation assembly 16 is provided on the table 10 adjacent the mold assembly 15 as a next stage. As shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, the separation assembly 16 includes a separation member 161 for vertically separating the overlaid finished color metal zipper 2 and the color transfer paper 3 into two independent upper and lower ones, a guiding unit 162, and a cross-rail 163 mounted across two legs 164. On the cross-rail 163 there are provided a plurality of upper indents 165 and a plurality of lower indents 166 disposed just below the upper indents 165. The upper indents 165 are adapted to guide the finished color metal zipper 2 and the lower indents 166 are adapted to guide the color transfer paper 3 respectively.
The drive mechanism 17 is provided on the table 10 adjacent the separation assembly 16 as a next stage. As shown in FIG. 2, the drive mechanism 17 comprises a drive source (e.g., step motor) 171 and two opposing rolls 172 in which one is a drive roll and the other is an idler roll. The drive source 171 is adapted to intermittently move the finished color metal zipper 2 and the color transfer paper 3 a predetermined distance per time interval. Preferably, the predetermined distance is equal to the length of the mold 151. Preferably, the stop time of the drive source 171 is equal to or longer than the heating time. This can be set by the controller 11.
The conveying mechanism 18 is provided at a rear end of the first table 10 adjacent the drive mechanism 17 as shown in FIG. 2. The conveying mechanism 18 comprises a first guide unit 181 and a second guide unit 182. Each of the first and second guide units 181 and 182 comprises one or more guide rolls 183 for guiding and forwarding the finished color metal zipper 2 including two rows of interlocking tabs 22 and two rows of fabric 23 (see FIG. 18) and the color transfer paper 3 to their destinations respectively.
Note that the fabric 23 is not in contact with the color transfer paper 3 in the trough 154. Thus, the fabric 23 will not be dyed by the passing color transfer paper 3. Further, color or color pattern of the color transfer paper 3 will uniformly transfer to the surface of the heatproof film 21 of interlocking tabs 22 as shown in FIG. 7.
While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.
Patent Application
20080000064
