Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Web or sheet containing structurally defined element or... – Noninterengaged fiber-containing paper-free web or sheet...
Reexamination Certificate
2002-10-11
2004-11-02
Dixon, Merrick (Department: 1774)
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Web or sheet containing structurally defined element or...
Noninterengaged fiber-containing paper-free web or sheet...
C428S299100, C428S299400, C024S381000, C024S385000, C024S415000, C525S165000, C525S444000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06811862
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a resin composition used in the forming of a slide fastener, and more specifically to a resin composition used in the forming of a slide fastener that is attached to clothing, a bag or the like, and can be used even subjected repeatedly to washing, drying by heating, or the heat from an iron. Moreover, the present invention also relates to a slider and elements for constituting a slide fastener, and methods of manufacturing the slider and the elements.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, as shown in
FIG. 1
, a slide fastener is constituted from elements
1
(also referred to as. ‘teeth’), fastener tapes
2
, a slider (an opening/closing member consisting of a slider body
3
and a tab
4
), a bottom stopper
5
, and if necessary a top stopper (not shown); by moving the slider, the elements engage with one another and hence the tapes close together, or the elements come away from one another and hence the tapes open apart.
Conventionally, a metal having high strength, polyoxymethylene having good moldability and wear resistance, or the like is used for the elements and the slider. However, elements and sliders made of a metal or polyoxymethylene have poor dyeability and thus cannot be dyed as with cloth or the above-mentioned fastener tapes, and hence conventionally have been used after coloring in advance using a pigment. Moreover, elements and sliders made of polyoxymethylene have a problem of melting upon contact with an iron during ironing.
Furthermore, polybutylene terephthalate has sometimes been used for elements and sliders, but in this case as well the dyeability differs greatly to that of cloth or the above-mentioned fastener tapes and thus the color tones do not match, and hence it is necessary to carry out coloring using a pigment before molding, or else carry out dyeing separately to the cloth after molding; use has thus not become widespread. Moreover, with elements and sliders made of a non-reinforced polybutylene terephthalate resin, there is a problem that the rigidity is low, with the flexural modulus of elasticity being approximately 2.3 Gpa, and hence deformation occurs during opening and closing. Furthermore, with elements and sliders made of reinforced polybutylene terephthalate, in particular in the case that the content of a fibrous reinforcing material is more than 20 wt %, the amount of warping and deformation becomes large, and hence in connection with the dimensional accuracy, the opening/closing resistance is high and there is much partial cracking and wear; uses have thus been extremely limited. Attempts have been made to reduce the opening/closing resistance by mixing in a sliding ability improving agent, but the improvement has not been sufficient. The use of polyethylene terephthalate has also been tried, but with an ordinary composition, molding has been difficult with a complex mold, and hence it has not been possible to achieve sufficient productivity. Moreover, in the case of fastener components for which high dimensional accuracy is required, there have been problems with opening and closing during use due to deformation of the product during release from the mold.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present inventors carried out extensive studies to resolve the above problems, and eventually accomplished the present invention.
The present invention provides a resin composition for a slide fastener according to which, when formed into a constituent component of a slide fastener, the resin composition does not melt even upon contact with an iron, slider opening/closing resistance is low, and the resin composition has high durability and sufficient strength to withstand opening and closing
Moreover, the present invention provides a resin composition for slide fastener elements according to which, when formed into a slide fastener, even when dyed in the same bath as cloth the difference in color tone between the resin composition and the cloth is low, and hence dyeing in the same bath as cloth is possible.
Furthermore, the present invention provides a slider and elements each made of a resin composition for slide fasteners as described above, and a method of manufacturing the slider and the elements.
Specifically, the present invention provides resin compositions for a slide fastener, a slide fastener, a slider, elements, and a method of manufacturing the slider and the elements as follows.
1. A resin composition for a slide fastener, comprising undermentioned component (A); and
at least one component selected from the group consisting of undermentioned components (B), (C), (D) and (E):
(A) a polyester resin having at least 80 mol % of an alkylene terephthalate repeat unit;
(B) a polymer having a mean dispersed particle diameter dispersed in a range of 0.01 to 3 microns and having a glass transition temperature of not more than 0° C.;
(C) at least one inorganic compound selected from the group consisting of titanium compounds, zinc compounds, and silicon compounds;
(D) a fibrous reinforcing material;
(E) at least one mold release agent selected from the group consisting of silicone compounds, higher fatty acid ester compounds, and higher fatty acid salt compounds.
2. The resin composition for a slide fastener according to claim
1
, wherein said alkylene terephthalate repeat unit is an ethylene terephthalate repeat unit.
3. The resin composition for a slide fastener according to claim
1
or
2
, comprising 100 parts by weight of said (A), 1 to 30 parts by weight of said (B), and 0.1 to 10 parts by weight of said (C).
4. The resin composition for a slide fastener according to claim
1
or
2
, comprising said (A), said (D) and said (E), and having a flexural modulus of elasticity of at least 2.6 GPa at 23° C.
5. The resin composition for a slide fastener according to claim
4
, comprising 100 parts by weight of said (A), 0.1 to 200 parts by weight of said (D), and 0.1 to 10 parts by weight of said (E).
6. A slider made of the resin composition according to any of claims
1
to
5
.
7. A slider made of the resin composition according to claim
4
or
5
.
8. A element made of the resin composition according to any of claims
1
to
5
.
9. A element made of the resin composition according to claim
3
.
10. A slide fastener comprising the slider according to claim
6
or
7
or the elements according to claim
8
or
9
.
11. A slide fastener comprising the slider according to claim
6
or
7
and the elements according to claim
8
or
9
.
12. A method of manufacturing a slider, comprising the step of molding the resin composition according to any of Items 1 to 5.
13. A method of manufacturing a slider, comprising the step of molding the resin composition according to Item 4 or 5.
14. A method of manufacturing an element, comprising the step of molding the resin composition according to any of Items 1 to 5.
15. A method of manufacturing an element, comprising the step of molding the resin composition according to Item 3.
Following is a description of embodiments of the resin composition for the slide fastener, the slide fastener, the slider, the element, and the method of manufacturing the slider and the element, according to the present invention.
In the present invention, examples of a glycol component of the polyester resin (A) having at least 80 mol % of an alkylene terephthalate repeat unit include ethylene glycol, 1,3-propylene glycol, butanediol, neopentyl glycol, cyclohexanedimethanol, diethylene glycol, polyethylene glycol, polytetramethylene glycol, and polylactone. Examples of the polyester resin (A) include, polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, polypropylene terephthalate, and copolymers thereof. Of these, polyethylene terephthalate and copolymers thereof are preferable, due to having high strength and rigidity, having similar material properties to cloth materials, and being the easiest to handle. It is undesirable for the alkylene terephthalate repeat unit content to be less than 80 mol %, since then the moldability and the
Taniguchi Akira
Yoshihara Nori
Dixon Merrick
Kenyon & Kenyon
Toyo Boseki Kabushiki Kaisha
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