Buckles – buttons – clasps – etc. – Zipper or required component thereof – Having coiled or bent continuous wire interlocking surface
Reexamination Certificate
2002-05-24
2003-11-25
Sakran, Victor (Department: 3677)
Buckles, buttons, clasps, etc.
Zipper or required component thereof
Having coiled or bent continuous wire interlocking surface
C024S392000, C024S394000, C024S396000, C066S190000, C066S193000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06651296
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
The present invention relates to a knit-in slide fastener in which a fastener tape thereof is composed of a warp knitting structure and a continuous fastener element row formed of thermoplastic-synthetic-resin-made monofilament is fixed along a fastener element mounting portion on a longitudinal side edge of the fastener tape simultaneously with knitting of the fastener tape. More particularly, it relates to a knit-in slide fastener which makes it possible to stabilize pitches between the fastener elements by forming a knitting structure of the fastener element mounting portion to be dense and to prevent any cutoff of composition yarns in the fastener element mounting portion due to a sewing needle when end portions of the fastener element rows are fixed.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.8-314 has disclosed a knit-in slide fastener in which a continuous fastener element row is knitted in and fixed in the fastener element mounting portion formed along a longitudinal side edge of the tape at the same time when the fastener tape is knitted. In the knit-in slide fastener disclosed in the publication, another chain-stitch knitting yarn is knitted into a group of needle loops formed of chain-stitch knitting yarns in the fastener element row which composes a row of wale on the side of a fastener tape main portion such that it overlaps, so that the density of the knitting pattern of a foundation structure in the fastener element mounting portion is made large with the chain knitting formed in duplication, thereby stabilizing the mounting of the fastener element row.
Such technology for stabilizing the mounting of the fastener element row is also disclosed in for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.11-187909. According to this publication, all yarns composing the fastener element mounting portion are provided with a higher heat shrinkage property than the yarns which compose the fastener tape main portion. Then after knitting, the composition yarns are subjected to heat treatment so as to allow the yarns in the fastener element mounting portion to shrink more than the composition yarns in the fastener tape main portion. Consequently, the fastener element mounting portion is formed to be dense so that its dimension can be stabilized, and the fastener element row is tightened firmly with the fixing chain-stitch knitting yarns in order to secure a high engagement strength.
In the fastener element mounting portion of the knit-in slide fastener disclosed in the above-described publication, any of the fixing knitting yarns for fixing the fastener element row onto the fastener tape is composed of ordinary long fiber yarns made of synthetic resin in order to secure a fixing strength.
The knit-in slide fastener disclosed in the publication restricts an operating end of a slider by providing both end portions thereof with an upper stopper and a lower stopper, in the same manner as an ordinary slide fastener. Because each of these upper and lower stoppers is usually composed of small pieces made of metallic material or synthetic resin material, their mounting portions of the stoppers are protruded outward when such a slide fastener is sewed to trousers or a skirt, so that its appearance is not good. Particularly, in the case of an upper stopper, which is mounted in a separate manner to the right and left, it is difficult to fit the slider to the same upper stopper, so that a fastener portion between the slider and the upper stopper is separated during use, thereby causing an inconvenience in appearance.
On the other hand, because the knit-in slide fastener, which the present invention aims at, is excellent in flexibility as compared to the woven fabric type slide fastener in terms of the structure, it has been often employed for particularly flexible clothes. However, if the slide fastener is attached with stoppers as mentioned above, the inconvenience becomes remarkable. For this reason, conventionally end portions of the fastener element rows of the fastener chain were sewed directly to an object such as clothes by a sewing needle, without attaching the stoppers.
When the fastener element row is being attached to clothes or the like by sewing the end portions thereof directly with a sewing needle, the sewing needle crosses over the end portions of the fastener element row for sewing. Then, the sewing needle may be pierced into the fixing knitting yarns existing at the fastener element mounting portion of the fastener tape located between the respective fastener elements or the other composition yarns existing at the mounting portion, so that the yarns pierced by the sewing needle can be cut down. Therefore, when the slide fastener is being opened or closed, or when mechanical operation is applied upon washing, the yarns of the fastener element mounting portion get frayed, or part of the fastener element row may be removed from the fastener tape.
If heat treatment such as thermal setting is carried out after the fastener stringer is manufactured, likewise the knit-in slide fastener which the present invention aims at, hardness and tension of the yarn itself are heightened. Therefore, the yarns tend to be cut off easily due to interference with the aforementioned sewing needle. Particularly, if a small-diameter yarn which is very flexible is used, the yarn is more likely to be cut off.
The present invention has been achieved to solve the above described problems, and a concrete object of the invention is to provide a knit-in slide fastener in which when end portions of a fastener element row are mounted directly to clothes by sewing, any of the yarns that compose the fastener element mounting portion of the fastener tape is never cut off due to an interference with a sewing needle, so that the yarns of the fastener element mounting portion are prevented from being frayed, thereby ensuring an excellent durability.
The above-described object can be achieved by a basic structure of the present invention, that is, a knit-in slide fastener comprising a continuous fastener element row, which is knitted therein simultaneously with knitting of a warp-knit fastener tape, at a fastener element mounting portion on a longitudinal side edge portion of the warp-knit fastener tape, said fastener element mounting portion being composed of a fixing knitting yarn for sandwiching and fixing upper and lower leg portions of each of the fastener elements from front and rear sides thereof and other knitting yarns, characterized in that said fixing knitting yarn is a textured yarn.
That is, according to the present invention, a textured yarn is employed for the fixing knitting yarn of the fastener element which is part of the composition yarns of the fastener element mounting portion. The textured yarn mentioned here refers to a processed yarn obtained by executing crimp processing for crimping fibers by means of deforming a number of long fibers obtained from spinning of synthetic resin material and thermally set them, and then applying air eddy to the crimped yarns so as to entangle the yarns with each other in a complicated style at every predetermined interval.
According to an experiment by the inventors of the present invention, it has been verified that the textured yarns can ensure as sufficient a fixing strength as the fixing knitting yarn composed of an ordinary long fiber yarn, so that it can be used for practical purpose from the viewpoints of the strength.
By the way, the fastener element mounting portion is formed continuously along the fastener tape main portion. The knitting structure thereof applies knitting yarns for connecting the fixing knitting yarns with stitches, or various kinds of in-laid yarns to be inserted through the stitches of the fixing knitting yarns, other than the fixing knitting yarns for the fastener element row. The typical knitting structure of the fixing knitting yarns include chain stitches, tricot stitches, two needle stitches and the like. These knitting structures are knitted independently or in combination. The variou
Bell Boyd & Lloyd LLC
Sakran Victor
YKK Corporation
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