GB2460133A

GB2460133A - Slider for slide fastener

Info

Publication number: GB2460133A
Application number: GB0823594A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Yu-Pau Lin
Original assignee: Chung Chwan Enterprise Co Ltd
Current assignee: Chung Chwan Enterprise Co Ltd
Priority date: 2008-05-23
Filing date: 2008-12-29
Publication date: 2009-11-25
Also published as: GB0823594D0; TWM352275U; KR20090012096U; TR200900371U; JP3149548U; FR2931342A3

Abstract

A zipper head includes a puller 1, a hook 2, a pulling piece 3, an elastic piece 4 and a cap 5. The puller 1 is formed with guiding grooves 11 therein, and a top of the puller 1 has a through hole 12 communicating with the guiding grooves 11. The hook 2 is disposed on the top of the puller 1, and the hook 2 has a hook portion 22 extending into the through hole 12 of the puller 1. The pulling piece 3 has a positioning portion 31 at its end, and the positioning portion 31 is disposed under the hook 2. The cap 5 covers the top of the hook 2. The elastic piece 4 has a fixing end 41 fixed in the cap 5, and the elastic piece 4 abuts the hook 2.

Description

ZIPPER HEAD

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an improved zipper head and, more particularly, to an improved zipper head that has an elastic piece fixed within a cap and can be assembled easily manually.

2. Description of Related Art

A conventional zipper head is a structure that can separate or engage a zipper. Because of the convenience of the zipper, they nowadays are comprehensively applied to many products such as bags and clothes. The operational principle of the zipper is that: by means of pulling the zipper head of the zipper, the chain teeth of the zipper will be opened of engaged. The zipper head and chain teeth can be made from metals, nylons or reinforced plastic.

is A conventional zipper head includes a puller, a hook, an elastic piece, a cap and a pulling piece. The hook is pressed into guiding grooves of the puller via the elastic piece. One end of the pulling piece is located under the hook. The cap is fixed on the puller and covers the hook and the elastic piece, thereby causing the hook and the elastic piece to be located within the cap. For example, Taiwan Patent Publication No.M292296 discloses an assembled structure (II) of a zipper head.

In the conventional zipper head, the elastic piece is fixed on the puller by means of mechanical riveting. After that, the hook and the pulling piece are also fixed on the puller, which makes the pulling piece difficult to change or be replaced by another pulling piece. In the practical applications, every downstream manufacturer has its own requirement for the pulling piece so that, according to the varied requirements, the zipper heads usually need to be assembled with different pulling pieces.

However, the pulling piece can only be assembled in the zipper head by a specific assembly machine, so different pulling pieces need different specific assembly machines. Therefore, the price of the zipper head will be increased to compensate for the cost of the assembly machine, especially for some unique pulling pieces which are manufactured in small quantities.

Consequently, because of the above technical defects, the inventor keeps on persevering unflaggingly through wholehearted experience and research to develop the present invention, which can effectively improve the defects described above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved zipper head that is beneficial to manually assemble the pulling pieces manufactured in small quantities.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved zipper head that can be assembled by mechanical or manual methods, so that the assembly of the zipper head can be more flexible.

For achieving the object described above, the present invention provides an improved zipper head, which includes: a puller formed with guiding grooves therein, a top of the puller having a through hole, the through hole communicating with the guiding grooves; a hook being disposed on the top of the puller, the hook having a hook portion extending into the through hole of the puller; a pulling piece having a positioning portion at one of its ends, the positioning portion being disposed under the hook; a cap covering the top of the hook; and an elastic piece having a fixing end fixed in the cap, the elastic piece abutting the hook.

The present invention has advantageous effects as follows.

The elastic piece is fixed in the cap by the present invention, not directly fixed in the puller. Therefore, even after the elastic piece has been fixed in the cap, the hook and the pulling piece are not restricted by the elastic piece. In this way, according to the practical requirements, the pulling piece is easier to change or replace by another different one.

Further, the elastic piece is fixed in the cap by the present invention, so that manufacturers can flexibly choose to assemble the zipper head by mechanical or manual methods. Especially for some unique pulling pieces which are diverse and manufactured in small quantities, such can be assembled manually, and their costs can be reduced.

In order to further understand the characteristics and technical contents of the present invention, a detailed description is made with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, it should be understood that the drawings are illustrative only but not used to limit the present invention thereto.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing the zipper head of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the zipper head of the present invention; Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the zipper head of the present invention; and Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the cap of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Please refer to Figs. I to 4. The object of the present invention is to provide an improved zipper head including a puller 1, a hook 2, a pulling piece 3, an elastic piece 4 and a cap 5.

The interior of the puller 1 is formed with guiding grooves 11 for allowing a zipper (not shown) to be fitted therein. The top of the puller I has a through hole 12 and a positioning hole 13. The through hole 12 is in communication with the guiding grooves 11, and the positioning hole 13 is recessed on the top of the puller 1.

* Moreover, both sides of the through hole 12 have a blocking portion 14 protruding from the puller 1.

The hook 2 has a straight-shaped main portion 21, a hook portion 22 and a fulcrum portion 23. The hook portion 22 is bent and extends downwards from one end of the main portion 21, and the fulcrum portion 23 is bent and extends downwards from another end of the main portion 21.

The pulling piece 3 has a sheet body, and its shape can be changed according to the requirements of manufactures. The end of the pulling piece 3 has a positioning portion 31 with a rod body.

The elastic piece 4 is made of metallic materials having a better elasticity, wherein the elastic piece 4 has a sheet body. One end of the elastic piece 4 has a fixing end 41.

The cap 5 is a hollow cap with an opening on its bottom. Both sides of the cap 5 are formed with a notch 51. Two protrusions 52 protrude from the interior surface of the cap 5, and the ends of the two protrusions 52 each have an abutting surface 521 (Fig. 4).

Furthermore, a fixing base 53, which the fixing end 41 of the elastic piece 4 is fixed on, protrudes from the interior surface of the cap 5.

In this embodiment of the invention, the fixing end 41 of the elastic piece 4 is riveted and fixed on the fixing base 53 of the cap 5.

While assembling the zipper head of the present invention, the positioning portion 31 of the pulling piece 3 is disposed above the top of the puller 1, then the hook 2 is disposed on the top of the puller 1, which makes the positioning portion 31 of the pulling piece 3 locate under the middle of the hook 2. The hook portion 22 extends into the through hole 12, and the fulcrum portion 23 extends into the positioning hole 13. The blocking portions 14 block both sides of the hook 2, thereby preventing the leftward or rig htward displacement of the hook 2.

Both sides of the cap 5 are fixed on the puller 1 via multi-rivets, thereby combining the puller 1, the hook 2, the pulling piece 3, the elastic piece 4 and the cap 5 to form the zipper head.

Because of the elastic piece 4 being fixed in the cap 5 previously, the hook 2 and elastic piece 4 are simultaneously received in the cap 5 when the cap 5 covers and fixes on the top of the puller 1. Moreover, the abutting surfaces 521 of the tow protrusion 52 of the cap 5 are located above the fulcrum portion 23 of the hook 2, so that the abutting surfaces 521 of the two protrusions 52 can provide the function of restricting the position of the fulcrum portion 23 of the hook 2. Furthermore, the positioning portion 31 penetrates the two notches 51 of the cap 5.

The middle portion of the elastic piece 4 elastically abuts upon the main portion 21 of the hook 2, so that the hook portion 22 of the hook 2 can penetrate the through hole 12 of the puller 1 and extend into the guiding grooves 11, thereby engaging on the chain teeth of the zipper. Also, the pulling piece 3 can be pulled to * separate the hook portion 22 of the hook 2 from the chain teeth of the zipper.

In the present invention, the hook 2 can be fixed by means of the elastic force provided by the elastic piece 4. In addition, the interior surface of the cap 5 forms two protrusions 52 which correspond to the tops of the fulcrum portion 23 of the hook 2, thereby providing the function of blocking and restricting the position of the fulcrum portion 23 of the hook 2. Therefore, even when the pulling force of the pulling piece 3 is too large, the fulcrum portion 23 of the hook 2 cannot be displaced excessively and thus the hook 2 can be prevented from getting deformed or removed from a predetermined position. Further, the two protrusions 52 are integrally formed on both sides in the interior surface of the cap 5, so that the structural strength of the protrusions 52 is better.

In the present invention, the elastic piece 4 is fixed in the cap 5, not directly fixed in the puller 1. Therefore, even when the elastic piece 4 has been assembled, the hook 2 and the pulling piece 3 are not restricted by the elastic piece 4. So, when the practical requirements for the pulling piece 3 vary, the pulling piece 3 can be easily changed for another pulling piece 3. Moreover, the elastic piece 4 is fixed in the cap 5, so that manufacturers may flexibly choose to assemble the zipper head by mechanical or manual methods. Especially for some unique pulling pieces 3 that are * manufactured in small quantities, such pulling pieces 3 can be assembled manually to reduce their costs.

While the invention has been described in terms of what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention needs not be limited to the disclosed embodiment. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims which are to be accorded with the broadest interpretation* so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures.

Claims

* WHAT IS CLAIMED IS: 1. A zipper head, comprising: a puller formed with guiding grooves therein, a top of the puller having a through hole, the through hole communicating with the guiding grooves; a hook disposed on the top of the puller, the hook having a hook portion extending into the through hole of the puller; a pulling piece having a positioning portion at one end thereof, the positioning portion being disposed under the hook; a cap covering the top of the hook; and an elastic piece having a fixing end fixed in the cap, the elastic piece abutting upon the hook.
2. The zipper head according to claim 1, wherein a fixing base protrudes from an interior surface of the cap, the fixing end of the elastic piece being fixed on the fixing base.
3. The zipper head according to claim 2, wherein the fixing end of the elastic piece is riveted and fixed on the fixing base of the cap.
4. The zipper head according to claim 1, wherein both sides of the through hole have a blocking portion protruding from the puller and blocking both sides of the hook.
5. The zipper head according to claim 1, wherein the hook further has a main portion and a fulcrum portion, one end of the main portion being bent and extending downwards to form the hook portion; another end of the main portion being bent and extending downwards to form the fulcrum portion.
6. The zipper head according to claim 5, wherein the top of the puller has a positioning hole and the fulcrum portion of the hook extends into the positioning hole.
7. The zipper head according to claim 5, wherein the elastic piece abuts the main portion of the hook.
8. The zipper head according to claim 5, wherein two protrusions protrude from the interior surface of the cap, and ends of the two protrusions each have an abutting surface located above the fulcrum portion of the hook.
9. The zipper head according to claim 1, wherein both sides of the cap have a notch, and the positioning portion of the pulling piece penetrates the two notches.
10. A zipper head substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings. I0