US2571024A - Locking slider - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 9, 1951 FElTL 2,571,024

LOCKING SLIDER Filed Jan. 25, 1949 FIG 2 l3 .9 I2 ;/I

Q 20 M I20 2!!! rib 4 I? INVENTOR.

RUDOLF FEITL,

Patented Oct. 9, 1951 UNITED, STAT LOCKING SLIDER Rudolf Fem, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to Waldes Kohinoor, 1110., Long Island City, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application January 25, 1949, Serial No. 72,573

2 Claims.

, 1 I This invention relates to improvements in locking sliders for slide fasteners, and more p ticularly to sliders of the so-called pin-lock type for plastic slide. fasteners wherein the fastener elements are conventionally connected to their tapes in the process of molding the elements. As is well known, pin-lock sliders employ a locking member, usually in the form of a pin integral with the pull tab or finger piece by which the slider is actuated, the pin moving into the slider body and extending in the space between two adjacent fastener elements when the pull tab is in its lowered or at rest position. Due to the fact that plastic material, even of the most .resistant type, such as nylon, is inherently more liable to distortion or dislocation than metal, plastic slide fasteners are especially sensitive to damage caused, for example, by deformation or dislocation of the elements by the locking pin. Accordingly, when it is considered that deformation or dislocation of even a single element may result in failure of the entire fastener, the use of conventional pin-locks with plastic fasteners is accompanied by substantial'risk. 'Analysis of conventional pin-lock sliders for 'metal fasteners will show that they aim at achieving maximum locking effect, i. e. resistance to movement of the slider in fastener opening direction. Hence, their locking pins are designed to extend well into the space between two fastener elements of the same stringer, so that they may abut firmly against a side wall of one of said elements; usually the lower element in a fastener which opens with downward movement of the slider. This results in the element abutted by the locking pin being required to take strain'exerted on the stringers in crosswise direction above the slider, which tends to actuate the slider downwardly or in fastener opening direction. Such crosswise strain is substantial if the garment to which the fastener is applied is opened by stripping the stringers apart above the slider rather than by lifting the slider pull tab to release the locking pin and thereupon pulling the slider .downwardly. In any case, the aforesaid crosswise strain is transmitted to the locking pin and thereby to the element against whose side wall the locking pin abuts.

Obviously, plastic slide fasteners or zippers are unable to withstand the severe crosswise strain transmitted to a fastener element engaged by the conventional locking pin as aforesaid, while at the same time the facility and ease with which pin-lock sliders may be manufactured and operated makes their retention as a locking means for plastic slide fasteners highly desirable.

Accordingly, it is a principal object of this invention to provide a pin-lock slider designed and especially adapted for use with plastic slide fasteners which, while avoiding the transmission of heavy crosswise strain from lockingpin to plastic fastener element abutted thereby as is likely to cause distortion or dislocation thereof, nevertheless affords a locking effect which is suflicient for slide fasteners as used in or on garments of the type to which plastic fasteners or zippers are usually applied.

More particularly, the invention aims to provide a slider of the so-called pin-lock type for use with plastic slide fasteners, wherein the locking pin is so constructed and arranged as to abut against the upper edge corner of a fastener element, rather than against its side wall, thus to ofier suificient protection against unintentional opening of the fastener under normal strain, but at the same time being capable, under excessive or abnormal strain, to effect a slight dislocation or shift of the engaged element so that it cannot become damaged, or dislocated with respect to its tape.

The invention also aims to provide a slider construction offering the necessary accommodation for the slightly dislocated element as aforesaid, whereby it is further protected against deformation under excessive strain transmitted to it through the locking pin.

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, taken with the accompanying drawing, of the improved pin-lock slider for plastic slide fasteners, wherein- Fig. 1 is a plan view of the improved locking slider;

' Fig. 2 is a section taken along line 2-2 of Fig.1, illustrating the relation of locking pin and fastener element engaged thereby when the pull tab is in its lowered or at rest position; and

Fig.3 is a section similar to Fig. 2 but illustrating the pull tab in its raised or release position.

1. Referring to the drawings, a slider generally 3 which hingedly connects a pull tab 15 to the upper wing and hence to the slider body for turning movement about a substantially fixed axis. Integral with the pull tab I5 and extending from its upper edge is a locking pin [6, said pin being adapted, when the pull tab is in its lowered or at rest position, illustrated in Fig. 2, to extend through a window I! provided in the. upper wing II by an amount such that it lockingly engages with one of the fastener elements:

[8, as illustratively shown. As seen in Fig. 3, movement of the pull tab I5 to its raised position frees the locking pin from engagement with the fastener elements.

According to the invention, the length of the locking pin [6 is such that it does not extend substantially into the space between two adjacent fastener elements, so as to firmly abut against the side wall of the lower of said elements, as is conventional. Rather, the locking pin has. shorter length. than conventionally employed with metal slide fasteners, and. its end face is cut away to provide a surface 20 which. is inclined to the side wall l8a of any element [8 engaged thereby, with the result that it engages against the upper edge corner of said element rather than againstv its side wall, as shown in Fig. 2. Thus, when normal crosswise strain is exerted on the fastener stringers above the slider, which tends to move the slider downwardly, the locking pin l6 functions in normal manner, since there is sufiicient contact between the inclined end face 20 of the locking pin and 4 through the simple yet highly effective expedient of purposely providing for slight shifting movement of the engaged fastener element upon the occurrence of excessive or abnormal strain.

As many changes could be made in carrying out the above constructions without departing from. the scope of the. invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. A pin-lock' slider for slide fasteners of the type including a. pair of stringer tapes carrying .rows' of oppositely disposed fastener elements along their adjacent edges, said slider comprising the upper edge corner of the element I8 engaged thereby as to prevent accidental opening of the fastener. However, if the crosswise strain ex,- erted on the stringers as aforesaid becomes sufficiently great as would give rise to the danger that the element engaged by the pin might be deformed or dislocated, said element will be shifted slightly to the left of its position shown in. Fig. 2, consequent to the wedging or camming action applied thereto by the inclined end face 20 of the locking pin. To accommodate the slight dislocating movement of the element as aforesaid, the inner face of the under wing I2 is provided with a shallow recess in which is sufficiently deep as to permit the slight shift aforesaid of the engaged element without danger of its deformation or of becoming dislocated from its tape, and whose end walls I21), I20 are sloped longitudinally of the slider rather than being shouldered, so as to facilitate movement of the fastener elements longitudinally through the recess.

Thus, it will be seen that a locking slider as aforesaid is especially adapted for use with plastic slide fasteners, the elements of which are likely to be deformed or dislocated from their tapes under the action of the locking pin of binlock sliders as conventionally employed for metal slide fasteners. The described locking slider affords locking action between locking pin and element engaged thereby which is adequate to prevent unintentional opening of the fastener. On the other hand, the danger of said element being deformed, dislocated or torn from its tape under excessive strain is positively avoided front and rear wings connected by a neck portion, a pull tab hingedly connected to the front wing for raising and lowering movement with respect thereto about a fixed axis, a locking pin integral with the pull tab and adapted to extend through an opening in the front wing at predetermined limited distance into. thespace between adjacent fastener elements of a row thereof dis posed within the slider when the pull tab is in its lowered position, thereby normally to lock the slider to the fastener elements defining said space without displacement of said elements or of the tape carrying the same, the end face of the locking. pin being inclined to the pin axis and being adapted, when the pull tab is lowered as aforesaid and upon an abnormal strain being exerted on the fastenerstringers in direction tending to move the slider in fastener-opening direction to engage on the front upper corner of the lower of said adjacent fastener elements and thereby to cam said element away from said locking pin, the inner face of the rear slider win having a. shallow recess for accommodating said element in its movement away from the locking pin, the end walls of the recess being sloped longitudinally of the slider so as to permit relatively free movement of the fastener elements through the recess upon said elements being successively cammed away from the locking pin as aforesaid. 2. A pin-lock slider as set forth in claim 1, wherein the rear wing recess is sufiiciently deep as to permit the fastener elements when engaged by the inclined end face of the locking pin under the condition of abnormal strain as aforesaid to be shifted substantially out of the path of the locking pin.

RUDOLF FEITL.

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

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,193,080 Soave Mar. 12, 1940 2,240,704 Lange May 6, 1941 2,267,384. Waldes Dec. 23 1941 2,287,482 Marinsky June 23, 1942 2,360,437 Mikulas et a1 Oct. 17, 1944 2,529,520 Mikulas Jan. 30, 1951

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