The present invention relates to a slide fastener, and more particularly, to a slide fastener suitable for garments having strechability such as sportswear or swimming suit.
Slide fasteners are recently used for garments having strechability (hereinafter, referred to as stretchable garments) such as sportswear or swimming suit, as well as general garments such as fashion garments or underwear. The slide fastener for use in the stretchable garments is required to have the strechability, like the stretchable garment.
As a slide fastener having the strechability in the related art, there is known a slide fastener in which coil-shaped fastener element rows are sewn along tape-side edge portions of fastener tapes having the strechability (e.g., see Patent Document 1).
Prior Art Document
Patent Document
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-043432A
Problems to Be Solved by Invention
In the slide fastener disclosed in Patent Document 1, however, since each engaging head of the coil-shaped fastener element rows is formed by press when molding, there is a limitation in forming to ensure a desired shape, such as a size of the engaging head. Due to this limitation, if the slide fastener is attached to garments having higher strechability, engagement strength of the fastener elements becomes insufficient depending upon a stretchable degree thereof, so that there is a possibility that the engaging state is not maintained.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a slide fastener capable of ensuring engagement strength of fastener elements even though the slide fastener is attached to highly-stretchable garments.
Means for Solving Problems
The above object of the present invention can be achieved by the following configuration.
(1) A slide fastener including: a pair of fastener tapes; a pair of fastener element rows respectively including a plurality of fastener elements arranged in a tape longitudinal direction along opposing tape-side edge portions of the pair of fastener tapes, and coupling yarns coupling the plurality of fastener elements which are adjacent to each other in the tape longitudinal direction, the fastener element rows respectively sewn to the tape-side edge portions; and a slider configured to engage and disengage the pair of fastener element rows, wherein each of the fastener elements includes: a body portion sewn to the fastener tape; a neck portion extending from the body portion in a tape width direction and in a direction toward an opposite fastener tape, and constricted in the tape longitudinal direction; an engaging head portion further extending from a tip end portion of the neck portion in the tape width direction and in a direction toward the opposite fastener tape and swelling up in the tape longitudinal direction, the engaging head portion being engageable with opposite fastener elements; and a pair of shoulder portions which are provided at both sides of the neck portion in the tape longitudinal direction, and configured to come in contact with opposite engaging head portions in an engaging state, and wherein the pair of fastener tapes have stretchability in the tape longitudinal direction.
(2) The slide fastener according to (1), wherein a dimension of the engaging head portion in the tape longitudinal direction is set to be larger than a dimension between tip end portions of the pair of shoulder portions in the tape longitudinal direction.
(3) The slide fastener according to (1) or (2), wherein each of the fastener elements includes a first surface portion which is in contact with the fastener tape, and a second surface portion which is disposed at an opposite side of the first surface portion, wherein the first surface portion has the body portion, the neck portion, and the engaging head portion, and the second surface portion has the body portion, the pair of shoulder portions, and a head portion extending from the body portion in the tape width direction and in a direction toward the opposite fastener tape, wherein a dimension of the head portion in the tape longitudinal direction is gradually decreased toward a tip end thereof
(4) The slide fastener according to any one of (1) to (3), wherein the coupling yarns have stretchability.
(5) The slide fastener according to any one of (1) to (4), wherein the tip end portions of the pair of shoulder portions are disposed at a side of the engaging head portion relative to the body portion in the tape width direction.
Advantageous Effects of Invention
According to the slide fastener of the present invention, the fastener element has the body portion sewn to the fastener tape, the neck portion extending from the body portion in the tape width direction and in a direction toward the opposite fastener tape, and constricted in the tape longitudinal direction, the engaging head portion further extending from the tip end portion of the neck portion in the tape width direction and in a direction toward the opposite fastener tape and swelling up in the tape longitudinal direction, the engaging head portion being engageable with the opposite fastener elements, and the pair of shoulder portions provided at both sides of the neck portion in the tape longitudinal direction, and configured to come in contact with opposite engaging head portions in the engaging state. Further, the pair of fastener tapes have stretchability in the tape longitudinal direction. As a result, even though the slide fastener is attached to the high-stretchable garments, it is possible to ensure the engaging strength of the fastener elements, thereby maintaining the engaging state of the pair of fastener elements.
Each embodiment of a slide fastener according to the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, as for a fastener tape, an obverse side refers to a near side with respect to the paper surface of
Further, in the present invention, strechability refers to a property of stretching when a load is applied and of shrinking when the load is released so as to return to a previous state before the load is applied.
The first embodiment of the slide fastener according to the present invention will now be described with reference to
A slide fastener 10 of this embodiment includes, as illustrated in
The fastener tape 20 is made by weaving, as illustrated in
A Spandex covered yarn which is constituted by winding a polyester filament yarn around a polyurethane elastic yarn, a rubber yarn made of elastomer, or a covered yarn constituted by winding a spun yarn or filament around the rubber yarn is used for the elastic yarn 23. A polyester processed yarn is used for the non-elastic yarn 24. When the same load is applied to the elastic yarn 23 and the non-elastic yarn 24, the elastic yarn 23 is stretched more than the non-elastic yarn 24. Further, the elastic yarn 23 has the strechability capable of stretching 5% or more when the load of 1 kgf is applied, preferably stretching 10% or more when the load of 1 kfg is applied. If the higher strechability is needed, the slide fastener 10 is preferably stretched by 20%, and a yarn conforming to the desired strechability can be used.
In addition, the reverse surface of the fastener tape 20 may be provided with a waterproof layer using a film or coating. In this instance, the fastener elements 31 are used upside-down to prevent penetration of rainwater, thereby providing the slide fastener 10 with a waterproof performance. Since the waterproof layer is made of an elastomeric resin material (thermoplastic elastomer or the like), it does not interrupt the strechability of the fastener tape 20.
The fastener element row 30 is comprised of a plurality of elements 31 which are independent from each other and are arranged in one row along the longitudinal direction of the tape-side edge portion 20b of the fastener tape 20, and a pair of stretchable coupling yarns 22 which connect the fastener elements 31 adjacent to each other and are arranged in parallel with each other side by side in the width direction of the fastener tape 20. The plurality of fastener elements 31 are formed by injection molding using synthetic resin, for example, polyamide, polyacetal, polypropylene, or polybutylene terephthalate, on the pair of coupling yarns 22 at regular intervals. The pair of coupling yarns 22 are formed in the fastener elements 31 by insert molding. In this instance, the fastener elements 31 are not limited to the synthetic resin, but may be made of metal.
As illustrated in
Each of the fastener elements 31 includes, as illustrated in
The reverse-side portion 32A has, as illustrated in
The body portion 33 is a cube of a substantially rectangular shape which is elongated in the width direction of the fastener tape 20 in a plan view, and an end face of the body portion 33, opposite to the engaging head portion 35 is formed with a protruding round surface 33a having a substantially spherical surface of which a center portion in the longitudinal direction and the obverse and reverse direction of the fastener tape 20 protrudes toward a side opposite to the engaging head portion 35. Accordingly, when the slider 40 is operated, since the protruding round surface 33a comes in sliding contact with the slider 40, a contact area between the slider 40 and the protruding round surface 33a becomes smaller than that of a flat surface. For this reason, since the sliding resistance generated when the slider 40 is moved is decreased, the slider 40 can be operated by small power.
Further, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
Further, the end portion of the obverse-side shoulder portion 36a in the tape longitudinal direction at a side approaching the adjacent fastener element 31 refers to a tip end portion. In the example shown in
Further, two concave accommodation grooves 37 for respectively accommodating two sewing yarns 25 is formed between the pair of the coupling yarns 22 so as to continue over the obverse side and both lateral sides of the body portion 33 and to be parallel with the coupling yarns 22. Accordingly, the two sewing yarns 25 are disposed between the pair of coupling yarns 22. Since the two sewing yarns 25 are respectively accommodated in the two accommodation grooves 37 of the fastener element 31, the two sewing yarns 25 are hardly released from the fastener element 31.
The pair of coupling yarns 22 has one coupling yarn for coupling the body portions 33 of the fastener elements 31 adjacent to each other in the longitudinal direction of the fastener tape 20 and coupling the side of the engaging head portion 35 of the respective body portions 33, and the other coupling yarn spaced apart from the one coupling yarn in the tape width direction for connecting the side of the respective body portions 33 spaced apart from the engaging head portion 35. Further, the coupling yarn 22 is thinner than the fastener element 31 in the obverse and reverse direction, and extends from the lateral side of the body portion 33 along the longitudinal direction of the fastener tape 20. The cross-sectional shape of the coupling yarn 22 is not limited to the circular shape, but a rectangular shape or an oval shape is possible.
The slider 40 includes, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
In addition, the engaging head portion 35 of the body portion 33 on the reverse-side portion 32A is provided at lateral end portion thereof with a pair of reverse-side shoulder portions 33c. A dimension D between the pair of reverse-side shoulder portions 33c in the tape longitudinal direction is set to be smaller than the dimension L1 between the tip end portions of the pair of obverse-side shoulder portions 36a in the tape longitudinal direction. That is, the dimensions L1 is set to be larger than the dimension D.
In the slide fastener 10 including the above configuration, as illustrated in
As described above, according to the slide fastener 10 of this embodiment, each of the fastener elements 31 has the body portion 33 sewn to the fastener tape 20, the neck portion 34 extending from the body portion 33 in the tape width direction and in a direction toward the opposite fastener tape 20 and constricted in the tape longitudinal direction, the engaging head portion 35 further extending from the tip end portion of the neck portion 34 in the tape width direction and in the direction toward the opposite fastener tape 20 and swelling up in the tape longitudinal direction, the engaging head portion 35 being engageable with the opposite fastener elements 31, and the pair of obverse-side shoulder portions 36a which are provided at both sides of the neck portion 34 in the tape longitudinal direction, and configured to be in contact with the opposite engaging head portions 35 in the engaging state. Further, the pair of fastener tapes 20 have stretchability in the tape longitudinal direction. Thus, even though the slide fastener 10 is attached to the high-stretchable garment, it is possible to ensure the engaging strength of the fastener elements 31, thereby maintaining the engaging state of the pair of fastener elements 30.
According to the slider fastener 10 of this embodiment, the dimension H of the engaging head portion 35 in the tape longitudinal direction is set to be larger than the dimension L1 between the tip end portions of the pair of obverse-side shoulder portions 36a in the tape longitudinal direction. Thus, even when the slider fastener 10 is stretched, the engagement of the engaging head portions 35 can be ensured. Further, it is possible to withstand a so-called pull-up state in which a force in the tape obverse and reverse direction acts on the center portion of the right and left fastener elements 31 which are in the engaged state, in the tape width direction.
According to the slide fastener 10 of this embodiment, the obverse-side portion 32B has the obverse-side head portion 36 which extends from the body portion 33 in the tape width direction and in the direction toward the opposite fastener tape 20, of which a dimension in the tape longitudinal direction is gradually decreased toward the tip end portion thereof, so that the obverse-side head portion 36 is formed in the substantially triangular shape in a plan view. Accordingly, when the slide fastener 10 in the engaged state is bent toward the obverse side in the obverse and reverse direction, the adjacent fastener elements 31 are hardly in contact with each other, so that the slide fastener 10 can be easily bent.
Further, according to the slide fastener 10 in this embodiment, since the tip end portions of the pair of obverse-side shoulder portions 36a are disposed at a side of the engaging head portion 35 relative to the body portion 33 in the tape width direction, a large contact area between the obverse-side shoulder portion 36a and the opposite engaging head portion 35 can be ensured, thereby further withstanding the pull-up state.
As a modification of this embodiment, as illustrated in
Next, a slide fastener according to the second embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to
In this embodiment, a fastener element 51 illustrated in
Other configurations and working effects thereof are identical to those of the first embodiment.
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be properly modified or revised without being deviated from the gist of the invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the reverse-side portion 32A of the fastener element 31 may be formed to have a flat surface, so that the curved portion 33b is not formed.
Further, the coupling yarn 22 may be made of a non-elastic yarn, so that the coupling yarn 22 is bent (remained) in accordance with the stretch of the fastener tape 20 when sewing to the fastener tape 20.
10: Slide Fastener
20: Fastener Tape
20
a: Tape Body Portion
20
b: Tape-Side Edge Portion
22: Coupling Yarn
30: Fastener Element Row
31: Fastener Element
32A: Reverse-Side Portion (First Surface Portion)
32B: Obverse-Side Portion (Second Surface Portion)
33: Body Portion
34: Neck Portion
35: Engaging Head Portion
36: Obverse-Side Head Portion (Head Portion)
36
a: Obverse-Side Shoulder Portion (Shoulder Portion)
40: Slider
H: Dimension of Engaging Head in Longitudinal Direction
L1: Dimension between Tip End Portions of Obverse-Side Shoulders in Tape Longitudinal Direction
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
PCT/JP2010/066868 | 9/28/2010 | WO | 00 | 3/18/2013 |