US2450550A - Locking slider for slide fasteners - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 5, 1948. J. B. GRIFFIN ETAL LOCKING SLIDER Foa SLIDE FAsTENERs Filed July 26, 1945 Patented ct. 5, 1948 LOCKING SLIDER FOR SLIDE FASTENERS John B. Griffin, Oakvillepand Albert W. Hagan. Stratford, Conn., assignors to United States Rubber Company, New York, N. Y., a corpora- K tion of New Jersey Application July 26, 1945, Serial No. 607,240

Claims.

This invention relates to separable slide fasteners and more particularly to locking means for preventing accidental movement of the slider along its stringer.

Many different forms of locking means for slide fasteners have been proposed heretofore and the present invention relates to the type of locking means that moves automatically to the locking position when not held by the pull tab in the unlocked position.

One important feature of the present invention resides in a slide fastener comprising a stringer having a slider adapted to be moved back and forth along the stringer by a pull tab, and also having a locking arrn pivotally mounted on the slider and adapted to be moved to its unlocked' position by the pull tab which exerts a camming action on the arm to unlock it.

Another feature of the present invention resides in the construction whereby when the pull tab is actuated to move the slider in either the slide fastener opening or closing position, it will exert a camming action on the locking arm to move it to the unlocked position.

Another feature of the present invention resides in a slide fastener, the slider of which is provided with a pivotally mounted locking arm and this arm has a locking tongue adapted to enter the space between two separate rows of fastener elements, and is specially constructed so that it will engage the end of an element of one row and will enter partly betweentwo elements of the opposite row to thereby hold the slider from moving in either direction alongits Stringer.

The above and other features of the present invention will be more fully understood from the The separable slide fastener shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing comprises a pair of fastener tapes l0 and Il having the interlocking elements i2. These fastener tapes togetherform what is known as a Stringer and upon which is mounted the slider I3 adapted when moved in one direction along the Stringer to interlock the elements i2 and when moved in the opposite direction along the Stringer to unlock the elements, in a well known manner. For convenience in describing the device, the movement of the slider I3 in the direction to unlock the elements is referred to as the rearward direction and the movement of the slider in the opposite direction is referred to as the forward direction. The narrow and the broad ends of the slider i3 are likewise designated as the rear and forward ends, respectively. These parts designated by reference characters l@ to i3 inclusive may be of usual construction, except for the locking features.

The slider i3 has a bottom wing it and top Wing i5. which are integrally connected by the following description when read in connection .with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig'. 1 is a top plan view of a slide fastener'constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged side view of the slider o Fig. 1, the fastener tapes being omitted.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the slider taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. l.

Fig. 4 is a sectional plan view of the slide fast-A A'frog i6 that retains these wings in spaced relation to each other so that the tapes i@ and il may travel in the clearance space provided between the upwardly extending flanges il on the bottom wing and downwardly extending flanges i8 on the top wing.

The top wing l5 has upon its upper surface a pair of spaced-integral ribs it and between these ribs is provided a channel i9' adapted to receive the locking arm 20 that is pivotally secured therein by the pivot pin 2i so that the arm 2@ may rock from its locking position in which it is shown in full lines in Figs. 2 and 3 to the unlocked position in which it is shown in dotted line in Fig. 3. The use of the word integral herein is in the sense that the parts of the slider body comprising the bottom and top wings lll and l5, frog it, and spaced ribs i9 are made in one piece from a single piece of material.

The locking arm 20 is continuously urged towards its locking position by a coiled or fiat spring. A coiled spring 22 is shown as confined in a s-lot formed in the frog i6 and adapted to press against ther-downwardly. extending portion 23 ot the locking arm `to urge this arm into locking"k position. The arm 2li as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4 has a downwardly extending locking tongue 24 adapted to lie between the separated rows of elements l2 in a manner to be hereinafter more fully described.

In the modified construction shown in Figs. 5 and 6 the locking tongue 24 has been omitted and in place thereof the locking arm 25 may be provided at one end with the offset downwardly extending locking projection 2B adapted to enter between a pair of elements upon one tape. In

order to accommodate this offset locking projection 26 the slider 27 is shown in Fig. 6 as provided with the clearance slot 28 for the projection 28.

The element engaging tongue 24 is preferably constructed as shown in section in Fig. 4, wherein it will be seen that one side wall 24a of this tongue extends in a direction substantially parallel with the axis of the slider, that is in the direction of movement of the slider along the stringers, and the opposite side wall 24h01 the tongue converges rearwardly towards the rst wall in the direction of the engaged fastener elements I2. The purpose of this is to cause such inclined side wall to abut against an end of an element I2 of the tape i i as shown in Fig. 4 and thereby prevent the slider from moving in the fastener opening, or rearward direction along the Stringer, while the opposite or horizontal side wall will protrude to some extent between two adjacent elements of the tape Into block movement of the slider in the opposite direction along the Stringer. In order that this horizontal portion of the tongue 24 may enter between two elements as shown in Fig. 4 it may be necessary to point the end of the tongue somewhat, to thereby facilitate its introduction into the space between two elements as the locking arm 20 moves to its locking position under the influence of the coiled spring 22.

Should it be desirable to use the modified construction shown in Figs. and 6 then the offset locking projection 26 disposed at the outer end of the arm 25 will enter between two elements I2 at one side of the longitudinal center of the Stringer instead of being wedged between the separated rows of elements |2,as in Fig. 4.

On important feature ofthe present invention above mentioned lies in the construction whereby the pull tab 29 cooperates with the locking arm to move this arm to the unlocked position. This is accomplished in the construction shown by providing the tab 29 at its inner end with the inwardly projecting pintles 30 which enter the elongated slots 3| formed in the ribs I9, and the ends of these pintles after being introduced into the slots 3| are forced toward each other into abutting relation. This serves to slidably secure the pull tab 29 to the ribs I9 so that when this tab is pulled in one direction it will slide to one end of the slots 3| and when pulled in the opposite direction it will slide to the other end of these slots. This sliding movement is used to exert a camming action upon the locking arm 20 to force this arm to its unlocked position in which it is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. To this end the arm 2D of Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive and arm of Figs. 5 and 6 is -provided with the angularly disposed camming surfaces 32 and 33 one or the other of which is engaged by the pintle when the pull tab is shifted from the position in which it is shown in Fig. 2 to one end or the other of the slots 3|. These slots 3| preferably are curved upwardly at their ends lying towards the pivot pin 2| to thereby facilitate the action of the tab 29 in camming the locking arm 20 to its unlocked position as the slider I3 is moved by the tab 29 in the Stringer closing direction.

It will be seen from the foregoing that by employing the construction of the present invention the pull tab 29 is slidably secured to an integral portion of the slider I3. This serves to provide a strong durable connection between the pull tab and its slider, and when the tab is advanced in either direction along its anchoring slots from a central position it will exert a camming action upon the locking arm 20 to move this arm to the unlocked position.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A locking slider for engaging and disengaging the elements of separable fasteners, comprising a body having top and bottom wings, a pair of spaced ribs integral with said top wing and extending substantially the length thereof, said ribe forming a channel therebetween which is open at its top, a locking arm pivoted on said body and positioned in said channel, a locking projection on said arm adapted to engage the fastener elements, resilient means acting upon said arm for urging said projection into engagement with said elements, a pull tab, said ribs having laterally aligned elongated slots therein which are encompassed by said ribs for retaining one end of said'pull tab on said slider, said end of said pull tab being slidably and pivotally mounted in said slots and adapted to exert a camming action on said locking arm to disengage said locking projection from said elements and to actuate said slider.

2. locking slider for engaging and dsengaging the elements of separable fasteners, said slider comprising a body having top and bottom wings, a pair of spaced ribs integral with said top wing and extending substantially the length thereof, said ribs forming a channel therebetween which is open at its top, a locking arm pivoted on said body and positioned in said channel, a locking projection on said arm adapted to engage the fastener elements, resilient means acting upon said arm for urging said projection into engagement with said elements, a cam surface on said arm, a pull tab, said ribs having laterally aligned elongated slots therein which are encompassed by said ribs for retaining one end of said pull tab on said slider, said end of said pull tab ibeing slidably and pivotally mounted in said slots for moving said slider and adapted to exert a camming action on said cam surface to disengage said projection from said elements when said slider is moved.

3. A locking slider for engaging and disengaging the elements of separable fasteners, comprising a body having top and bottom wings, a frog having an element separating end interposed between said wings, a. pair of spaced ribs integral with said top wing and extending substantially the length thereof, said ribs forming a channel therebetween which is open at its top, a locking arm positioned in said channel and pivoted 0n said body, a locking projection on said arm adapted to extend downwardly in rear of said frog and engage the interlockable ends of the separated fastener elements, an actuating projection extending downwardly from said locking arm into a slot in the forward portion of said frog, resilient means in said slot acting upon said actuating projection for urging said locking projection into engagement with said elements, a V- shaped cam surface on said arm, said ribs having elongated slots therein, a pull tab having one of its ends slidably and pivotally mounted in said slots for moving said slider backward and forward over said elements and adapted to exert a camming action on said cam surface to disengage said projection from said elements when said slider is moved either backward or forward.

4. A locking slider for engaging and disengaging the elements of separable fasteners, comprising a body having top and bottom wings, a frog connecting said wings, a pair of spaced ribs integral with said top wing and extending substan tially the length thereof, said ribs forming a channel therebetween which is open at its top, a locking arm pivoted on said body and positioned in said channel, a locking projection on said arm.

and pivotally mounted lin said slots for moving said slider and adapted to exert a camming action on said cam surface to disengage said projection from said elements when said slider is moved.

5. A locking slider for engaging and disengaging the elements of separable fasteners on opposite tapes. said slider comprising a body having top and bottom wings, a frog connecting said wings. said top wing having an opening therein immediately in rear of said frog, a locking projection mounted on said body and extending through said opening and adapted to simultaneously engage at least two adjacent separated ends of said elements on opposite tapes, said projec- 20 Number 25 Number 6 tion having one element engaging side offset from the central vertical longitudinal plane of said slider and substantially parallel therewith and the other element engaging side converging rearwardly thereto, resilient means for urging said projection into engagement with said elements, and means for moving said slider backwards and forwards over said elements andsimultaneously disengaging said projection from said elements when said slider is mot-ed in either direction.

JOHN B. GRIFFIN. ALBERT W. HAGAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Beckwith Nov. 4, 1941 Lange Jan. 2'7, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Australia Mar. 14, 1940 Switzerland Dec. 16,- 1940 Great Britain Dec. 23, 1943

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