731,144. Sliding clasp fasteners. MULKA, F. Nov. 27, 1953 [Nov. 27, 1952], No. 33047/53. Class 44. In a method of producing sliding clasp fasteners wherein the fastener members are clamped in folds of fastener stringer material by stirrups gripping round the latter and the fastener members and the stirrups are supplied to the folds in the form of cohesive strips, the stirrups are successively bound-in in the form of a cohesive strip and between each individual stirrup, a fastener member which meanwhile has been separated from the strip formed by the fastener members is inserted, the stirrups being separated from one another after a further forward movement. As shown, as applied to a known form of fastener comprising fastener members 20, 21, 22, Fig. I, secured in folds of stringer material 23 by means of stirrups 24, the fastener members and stirrups are fed to a machine in strip form for binding into the stringer material. The strip form fastener members 26, strip form stirrups 27 and stringer band 28, Fig. 7, are simultaneously guided to a binding-in device which includes blocks containing parts associated with individual operations in the assembly of the fastener. As shown in Figs. 8, 9 and 10 a motor driven rotating body 41 mounted on a base plate 128 is provided with peripheral cam swells 42 and control grooves on its upper and lower end faces. The upper groove 43 actuates, through a roller 44, a slide 45 movable beneath a channel 48 in a block 47, the strip form stirrups running beneath the channel and the band 28 above it. A spring loaded pawl 49 carried by the slide 45 engages between the individual strirrups of the strip to feed the latter forward. Two pawls 52 and 51 mounted one above the other on a pin 50 on an arm 46 of the slide 45 are effective to respectively drive forward the fastener members in strip form and bring the previously divided-off fastener members into position for pressing in. The cam swells operate levers 58, through rollers 57, which act upon slides 61, 62 which are provided with stamping and pressing tools serving to press the stirrups together after the fastener members have been introduced over the stringer band, and to remove the webs connecting the stirrups in the strip. The grooves in the lower face of the body 41 control a slide 65 the movement of which is transmitted to a push rod 67 which with an arm 68, actuates a tool 69 serving to separate off the fastener members, and a device pressing the fastener members into the stirrups. This device, Figs. 11 and 13 is connected to the arm 69 by a loop 70, carrying a pair of arms 72 between which is a ram 76 also connected to the loop 70, the end 77 of the ram 76 being adapted to the shape of the head of the fastener members, which are gripped between the arms 72. The arms 72 are controlled by dogs 79 mounted thereon which are pressed together by inclined faces 80, inclined faces of dogs 82 on a support member 83 movable transversely to the pressing-in tool co-operating with the faces 80 for this purpose, and the member 83 being held in a position in which its dogs 82 lie in the path of dogs 79. On completion of the pressing-in operation, the arms 72 open under spring loading and in the return stroke of the pressing-in tool the dogs 79 force the support member 83 back against its spring so that the arms remain in the open position. A plunger 69 coupled to the pressing-in tool separates the individual fastener members from the strip 26 by a shearing action. Presses 89 and 90, Fig. 6, are arranged in front of the binding-in device described above, the profiled strip materials being supplied to the presser from drums 93 and 94. The stamped strips run through guides 95 and 96 the movements of which preferably control the driving arrangements of the presses. The stringer material is supplied from a drum 97. The presses 89 and 90 each comprises a shaft 105, Fig. 14, rotatably mounted in a head 103 and actuates a slide 106 which actuates tools 107 to which the strip material is supplied step-by-step, by an eccentric 109 driving a slide 110. A lever 113 is secured to the slide 110 and engages a roller 114 in a slot 115 of a slide 116 movable parallel to the shaft 105 and carrying a cam 117 which is movable between stops 118 and 120. The arms of the lever 113 are supported by springs 121 and the strip material is guided in a channel 124 of the slide 116, clamping means being provided which drive the strip forward in the feed direction and lock it on the return stroke. In operation, handles 99 and 100, Fig. 7, actuate braking means for the strip form fasteners and stirrups in order that the strips may be fed into the machine by hand when the machine is being prepared.