ULTRA-THIN PLASTIC STEEL ZIPPER

Abstract

An ultra-thin plastic steel zipper includes: a pair of zipper fabric belts; two sets of teeth, respectively distributed along a direction of the pair of zipper fabric belts and engaged onto an inner side of each zipper fabric belt; a zipper head; a pair of top stops; and a bottom stop; the upper surface and the lower surface of the tooth are composed of three surfaces comprising a flat surface, a tapered surface, and a vertical surface, both an upper surface and a lower surface of the tooth has a tapered structure from the tooth head to the tooth tail, the overall volume of the teeth is significantly reduced, and the thickness and volume of the central line of the fabric belt are reduced, the established appearance of the plastic steel zipper is improved.

Claims

1. An ultra-thin plastic steel zipper, comprising: a pair of zipper fabric belts (1); two sets of teeth (2), respectively distributed along a direction of the pair of zipper fabric belts (1) and engaged onto an inner side of each zipper fabric belt (1); a zipper head (5); a pair of top stops (31, 32); and a bottom stop (4); wherein an overall zipper is symmetrical from left to right, left teeth and right teeth are engaged with each other through sliding of the zipper head (5), a tooth head (24) is thicker than a tooth tail (25); when viewed from a cross-section of each tooth (2), both an upper surface (27) and a lower surface (28) of each tooth (2) has a tapered structure from the tooth head (24) to the tooth tail (25).

2. The ultra-thin plastic steel zipper according to claim 1, wherein both the upper surface (27) and the lower surface (28) of the tooth (2) are composed of three surfaces comprising a flat surface (21), a tapered surface (22), and a vertical surface (23); when the left teeth and right teeth are engaged, the tapered structure is formed, and an upper surface (27) and a lower surface (28) of the tapered structure are further composed of a middle portion being a flat surface, and two sides being respectively the tapered surface and the vertical surface connected to each other.

3. The ultra-thin plastic steel zipper according to claim 1, wherein the tooth (2) is provided with a gap (29) configured for the zipper fabric belt (1) passing through, and the two set of teeth (2) engaged to a central line (11) of the zipper fabric belt at the gap (29), so as to engage with the zipper fabric belt (1).

4. The ultra-thin plastic steel zipper according to claim 1, wherein the upper surface (27) and the lower surface (28) of the tooth (2) are symmetrical.

5. The ultra-thin plastic steel zipper according to claim 1, wherein the upper surface (27) and the lower surface (28) of the tooth (2) are asymmetric.

6. The ultra-thin plastic steel zipper according to claim 1, wherein the tapered surfaces (22) of the upper surface (27) and the lower surface (28) of the tooth (2) are in a shape of an arch curved surface.

7. The ultra-thin plastic steel zipper according to claim 1, wherein the tapered surfaces (22) of the upper surface (27) and the lower surface (28) of the tooth (2) are in a shape of a concave curved surface.

8. The ultra-thin plastic steel zipper according to claim 1, wherein the tapered surfaces (22) of the upper surface (27) and the lower surface (28) of the tooth (2) are in a shape of a flat surface.

9. The ultra-thin plastic steel zipper according to claim 1, wherein the zipper fabric belt (1) is an ultra-thin fabric belt, and a row of holes (12) arranged continuously and spaced along an arranging direction of the teeth (2) adjacent to a central line (11) are provided in an engagement area between the zipper fabric belt (1) and the teeth (2); the row of holes (12) on the zipper fabric belt (1) are formed when weaving the zipper fabric belt (1), or formed by a laser and a punching method, the teeth (2) are injection molded onto the zipper fabric belt (1), at least one hole (12) is provided at the engagement area where each tooth (12) is engaged with the zipper fabric belt (1), and each tooth (12) is provided with a stabilizing column (26) penetrating the hole (12), the stabilizing column (26) and the tooth (2) are integrally formed.

10. The ultra-thin plastic steel zipper according to claim 9, wherein when the teeth (2) are injection molded onto the zipper fabric belt (1), sizing vacancies between the teeth (2) on the zipper fabric belt (1) are reserved by a new automatic vacancy arrangement technology.

11. The ultra-thin plastic steel zipper according to claim 9, wherein a ratio of a thickness (H1) of a central line (11) the zipper fabric belt (1) to a thickness (H3) of the zipper fabric belt (1) is less than 2.4:1.

12. The ultra-thin plastic steel zipper according to claim 9, wherein a thickness (H1) of a central line (11) accounts for less than 43% of a maximum thickness (H2) of the tooth (2).

13. The ultra-thin plastic steel zipper according to claim 9, wherein the zipper head (5) comprises an upper guide plate (51), a lower guide plate (52), a core connecting column (53), a front end (54), and a tail end (55); an inner cavity is formed between the upper guide plate (51) and the lower guide plate (52) configured for the teeth (12) passing through, and shapes of inner and outer sides of the upper guide plate (51) and the lower guide plate (52) are matched with a tapered shape of the teeth (12).

14. The ultra-thin plastic steel zipper according to claim 1, wherein the pair of top stops (31, 32) are arranged at a top end of the zipper, and the pair of top stops (31, 32) are composed of a left top stop (31) and a right top stop (32), and cross-sections of the pair of top stops (31, 32) are the same as that of the teeth (2); the bottom stop (4) is arranged at a bottom end of the zipper, the bottom stop (4) is a tailless type or an open tail type, and when the bottom stop (4) is the tailless type, a cross-section of the bottom stop (4) is the same as a tapered cross-section of an engagement surface formed by engaging the left and right teeth; and when the bottom stop (4) is the open tail type, a cross-section of the bottom stop (4) formed by a block and a pin is the same as the cross-section of each tooth (12).

15. The ultra-thin plastic steel zipper according to claim 1, wherein a length (L1) from the tooth head (24) to the flat surface (21) of the tooth tail (25) of the tooth (2) accounts for more than 40% of an overall length (L2) from the tooth head (24) to the tooth tail (25).

16. The ultra-thin plastic steel zipper according to claim 1, wherein an intersection angle (1) between the tapered surface (22) and the vertical surface (23) of each tooth is formed, and the intersection angle (1) is ranged from 100 to 150.

17. The ultra-thin plastic steel zipper according to claim 1, wherein the tooth tail (25) comprises two vertical surfaces (23) arranged from a top to a bottom, and a total height (H6) of the two vertical surfaces (23) is ranged from 0.5 mm to 1.5 mm.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an overall zipper;

[0030] FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an overall zipper;

[0031] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a tapered tooth, wherein an upper surface and a lower surface are in a symmetrical arch shape;

[0032] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a tapered tooth, wherein an upper surface and a lower surface are in an asymmetrical arch shape;

[0033] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a combination surface when a left tooth is engaged with a right tooth;

[0034] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a tooth;

[0035] FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a tooth, wherein a gap is shown;

[0036] FIG. 8 is a schematic view of a combination of a tooth and a fabric belt;

[0037] FIG. 9 is a sectional schematic view of a tooth structure;

[0038] FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a composing of an upper surface of a tooth;

[0039] FIG. 11 is a schematic view of an upper surface and a lower surface of a tooth;

[0040] FIG. 12 is a comparison view of central line thickness between the existing technology and an ultra-thin fabric belt;

[0041] FIG. 13 is a schematic view of a central line and holes distribution of an ultra-thin fabric belt;

[0042] FIG. 14 is a schematic view of finished product effect of a new clearance sizing technology;

[0043] FIG. 15 is a sectional schematic view of an internal stabilizing column of a tooth;

[0044] FIG. 16 is a structural schematic view of an ultra-thin zipper head;

[0045] FIG. 17 is a front view of left and right top stops;

[0046] FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view of left and right top stops;

[0047] FIG. 19 is a cross-sectional view of a bottom stop;

[0048] FIG. 20 is a schematic view of a ratio of a length L1 of an upper surface of a tooth to an overall length L2;

[0049] FIG. 21 is a schematic view of a ratio of a thickness of a central Line of a fabric belt to a thickness of a main body of the fabric belt;

[0050] FIG. 22 is a schematic view of a ratio of a thickness of a central Line of a fabric belt to a thickness of a tooth;

[0051] FIG. 23 is a comparison view of thicknesses of cross-sections of an ultra-thin tooth and the existing tooth;

[0052] FIG. 24 is a schematic view of an intersection angle 1 between a tapered surface and a vertical surface of an ultra-thin tooth;

[0053] FIG. 25 is a comparison view of intersection angles of an ultra-thin tooth and the existing tooth;

[0054] FIG. 26 is a schematic view of a thickness of upper and lower vertical surfaces of a tooth;

[0055] FIG. 27 is a sectional schematic view of engaged concave tapered teeth; and

[0056] FIG. 28 is a sectional schematic view of engaged inclined tapered teeth.

[0057] In the drawings, the reference signs are listed: [0058] 1zipper fabric belt; 11central line; 12hole; [0059] 2tapered tooth; 21flat surface; 22tapered surface; 23vertical surface; 24tooth head; 25tooth tail; 26stabilizing column; 27upper surface; 28lower surface; 29gap; [0060] 31left top stop; 32right top stop; [0061] 4bottom stop; [0062] 5ultra-thin zipper head; 51upper guide plate; 52lower guide plate; 53core connecting column; 54front end; 55tail end; 56inner cavity; [0063] 6central line.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0064] The content of the present application is further explained in combination with the attached drawings and embodiments.

[0065] The embodiment of the ultra-thin plastic steel zipper of the present application includes a pair of zipper fabric belts 1 and the left and right teeth 2 engaged to the inside of the fabric belts, as shown in FIG. 8. The tooth is designed to reduce the material gradually from the tooth head to the tooth tail, and the fabric belt is woven by reducing the volume of the central line of the fabric belt. The ultra-thin fabric belt is thinner than the fabric belt of the existing technology. The ultra-thin fabric belts and ultra-thin teeth form a lightweight and flexible ultra-thin plastic steel zipper. The overall zipper is symmetrical, and the single tooth is in a tapered shape with the tooth head being thicker that the tooth tail, and when left and right teeth are engaged, the cross-section of which is an engaged surface with thicker middle and thinner left and right ends.

[0066] In the embodiment, the tooth has a tapered shape with an upper surface and a lower surface in a symmetrical manner, the upper surface and the lower surface are composed of a flat surface 21, a tapered surface 22 and a vertical surface 23 of the tooth tail. In a direction from the tooth head to the tooth tail, a flat surface 21 is provided, and the tail of the flat surface 21 is connected with a tapered surface 22, and the tapered surface is then connected with a vertical surface 23 to reach the fabric belt. The tooth is designed to be a tapered structure, the overall volume is reduced to achieve the goal of thinner, lightweight and saving plastic.

[0067] In the embodiment, the tooth structure has four implementations. The first implementation is as shown in FIGS. 3, 5, and 9-10, the upper surface and the lower surface are composed of a flat surface 21, a tapered surface 22 and a vertical surface 23; and the tapered surface 22 is in a shape of an arch curved surface when fabric belt is acted as a reference plane of the tapered surface 22. In a direction from the tooth head to the tooth tail, a flat surface 21 is provided, and the tail of the flat surface 21 is connected with an arch-shaped tapered surface 22, and the arch-shaped tapered surface is then connected with a vertical surface 23 to reach the fabric belt. A connection point between the arch-shaped tapered surface and the flat surface is higher, and a connection point of the -shaped tapered surface and the vertical surface is lower, a thickness of the tooth head 24 is greater than that of the tooth tail 25, and the upper surface and the lower surface of the tooth are symmetrical. When the left and right teeth are engaged, the upper surface 27 and the lower surface 28 of the engaged portion are combination surfaces further composed of a middle portion being a flat surface, and two sides being the arch tapered surface and the vertical surface. The cross-section of the engaged portion also forms a tapered structural with thicker middle and thinner left and right ends.

[0068] The second implementation of the tooth structure is as shown in FIG. 27. The upper and lower surfaces are three base surfaces composed of the flat surface 21, the tapered surface 22 and the vertical surface 23; and the tapered surface 22 is in a shape of a concave curved surface when fabric belt is acted as a reference plane of the tapered surface 22. In a direction from the tooth head to the tooth tail, a flat surface 21 is provided, and the tail of the flat surface 21 is connected with a concave-shaped tapered surface 22, and the concave-shaped tapered surface is then connected with a vertical surface 23 to reach the fabric belt. A connection between the concave-shaped tapered surface 22 and the flat surface is higher, and a connection point of the concave-shaped tapered surface and the vertical surface is lower, a thickness of the tooth head 24 is greater than that of the tooth tail 25, and the upper surface and the lower surface of the tooth are symmetrical. When the left and right teeth are engaged, the cross-section of the engaged portion also forms a tapered structural with thicker middle and thinner left and right ends.

[0069] The third implementation of the tooth structure is as shown in FIG. 28. The upper and lower surfaces are three base surfaces composed of the flat surface 21, the tapered surface 22 and the vertical surface 23; and the tapered surface 22 is a tapered flat surface being not in the same plane as the flat surface 21. In a direction from the tooth head to the tooth tail, a flat surface 21 is provided, and the tail of the flat surface 21 is connected with the tapered flat surface 22, and the tapered flat surface 22 is then connected with a vertical surface 23 to reach the fabric belt. A connection between the tapered flat surface 22 and the flat surface is higher, and a connection point of the tapered flat surface 22 and the vertical surface 23 is lower, a thickness of the tooth head 24 is greater than that of the tooth tail 25, and the upper surface and the lower surface of the tooth are symmetrical. When the left and right teeth are engaged, the upper surface 27 and the lower surface 28 of the engaged portion are combination surfaces further composed of a middle portion being a flat surface, and two sides being the tapered flat surface and the vertical surface. The cross-section of the engaged portion also forms a tapered structural with thicker middle and thinner left and right ends.

[0070] The fourth implementation of the tooth structure is as shown in FIG. 4. The upper and lower surfaces are three base surfaces composed of the flat surface 21, the tapered surface 22 and the vertical surface 23; and the tapered surface 22 is in a shape of an arch curved surface when fabric belt is acted as a reference plane of the tapered surface 22. In a direction from the tooth head to the tooth tail, a flat surface 21 is provided, and the tail of the flat surface 21 is connected with an arch-shaped tapered surface 22, and the arch-shaped tapered surface is then connected with a vertical surface 23 to reach the fabric belt. A connection point between the arch-shaped tapered surface and the flat surface is higher, and a connection point of the -shaped tapered surface and the vertical surface is lower, a thickness of the tooth head 24 is greater than that of the tooth tail 25, and the upper surface and the lower surface of the tooth in the implementation are asymmetric. The upper surface is the outer side surface of the zipper stitched on the ready-made cloth, and the lower surface is the inner side surface of the zipper stitched on the ready-made cloth, a curvature of an arch taper surface of the outer side surface is larger than that of the inner side surface, and a vertical surface of the outer side surface is shorter than that of the inner side surface; when the left and right teeth are engaged, the upper surface 27 and the lower surface 28 of the engaged portion are combination surfaces further composed of a middle portion being a flat surface, and two sides being the arch tapered surface and the vertical surface. The cross-section of the engaged portion also forms a tapered structural with thicker middle and thinner left and right ends.

[0071] In the tooth provided in the present application, the volume of the tooth tail is significantly reduced by the design of a tapered surface, which improves the sharp phenomenon of a right angle at the engagement portion the tooth tail of the tooth of the existing technology. The zipper teeth are softer and more comfortable when pressed against the human skin, while reducing the phenomenon of the tooth easily catching clothing fibers. The thicker appearance of ordinary plastic steel zipper is improved, and the plastic steel zipper has a novel feeling of lightweight and flexible characteristics. The teeth of the present application are thinner than the zipper teeth of the existing technology, and the overall softness of the zipper is improved significantly.

[0072] In order to ensure sufficient strength between the teeth and the fabric belt of the zipper of the existing technology, the central line of the fabric belt should maintain a large volume and thickness, and the teeth of the zipper should also maintain a large thickness. Due to the influence of these two factors, the existing plastic steel zipper is relatively thick and has poor softness. The thickness of the teeth designed by the ultra-thin zipper of the present application is much thinner than the thickness of the teeth of the zipper of the existing technology, the main body of the fabric belt is improved to be thinner, and the volume of the central line of the fabric belt is improved to be thinner. The softness of the zipper has achieved a breakthrough progress by the creative design of these two aspects. Moreover, in the embodiment, a row of holes is added to the inside of the ultra-thin fabric belt, so that a stabilizing column is generated inside the tooth by the injection molding and penetrated through the hole, thus the engagement between the teeth and the fabric belt are stable, and the strength of the ultra-thin plastic steel zipper in the embodiment is obviously exceed that of the plastic steel zipper produced by the existing technology.

[0073] The zipper fabric belt in the embodiment is an ultra-thin zipper fabric belt 1 with thin and light characteristics, and the fabric belt is provided with a row of holes 12 at places adjacent to the central line 11. The thickness H1 of the central line 11 of the ultra-thin fabric belt is about 70% of the thickness H4 of the central line of the zipper fabric belt of the existing technology, which reduces the thickness by about 30%, thus possessing a softer characteristic than the fabric belt of the existing technology, and the engaging strength between the teeth and the fabric belt of the thin plastic steel zipper is increased. The ultra-thin fabric belt of the zipper is designed with a row of holes adjacent to the central line, when the plastic steel teeth are injection molded, the plastic fills the holes adjacent to the central line of the fabric belt to from the stabilizing column 26 inside each tooth, so as to engage the teeth and the fabric belt to achieve the purpose of strengthening the tension of the zipper. However, since the teeth are more stably engaged with the fabric belt by penetrating through the holes in the fabric belt, it is impossible to remove teeth to complete the finished zipper with the existing technology. The present application adopts a new type of automatic vacancy arrangement technology, and when the teeth are formed on the fabric belt, the vacant portion is also reserved, so as to solve the problem that the existing technology will destroy the fabric belt to maintain the integrity of the row of holes in the fabric belt.

[0074] In the embodiment, the zipper head includes an upper guide plate 51, a lower guide plate 52 and a core connecting column 53; an inner cavity 56 is formed between the upper guide plate and the lower guide plate to allow the chain teeth to pass through. The inner and outer sides of the upper guide plate and the lower guide plate are in a tapered shape to completely cover the teeth to achieve the smooth opening and closing of the zipper.

[0075] The embodiment further includes a set of top stops and a bottom stop 4 to prevent the zipper head from slipping out of the zipper. The top stops are arranged at the top end of the overall zipper, and the bottom stop 4 is set at the bottom end of the overall zipper. The top stops consists of a left top stop 31 and a right top stop 32. The cross-sections of the left top stop and the right top stop are matched with the tapered shape of the teeth, the bottom stop 4 is a tailless type, and the cross-section of the bottom stop 4 is matched with that of the tapered shape of the engaged surface formed by the left and right teeth.

[0076] The length of a flat surface 21 in the direction from the tooth head 24 to the tooth tail 25 is L1. The total length from the tooth head 24 to the tooth tail 25 is L2, and the length L1 accounts for more than 40% of L2.

[0077] In order to ensure a better fit between the fabric belt and the central line 11, and improve the flexibility of the zipper, a ratio of the diameter thickness H1 of the central line 11 to the main body thickness H3 of the fabric belt 1 of the zipper is less than 2.4:1, while a ratio of the diameter thickness of the central line to the main body thickness of the fabric belt of the original zipper is greater than 2.7:1. The present application reduces the thickness by about 30% compared to the central line of the fabric belt of the existing technology, which improves the limitation range of the volume thickness of the central line of the fabric belt of the existing technology, and the soft and lightweight characteristics of the zipper are improved to a new level.

[0078] In the embodiment of the ultra-thin plastic steel zipper provided by the present application, the thickness of the central line is H1, which accounts for less than 43% of a maximum thickness H2 of the tooth 2. The thickness of the central line of the zipper of the existing technology accounts for about 50% of a maximum thickness of the tooth. By reducing the thickness of the teeth, the plastic usage is reduced. Moreover, the overall thickness of the tooth of the present application is about 10% to 20% thinner than that of the existing technology.

[0079] By the way of tapered design of the teeth, the overall volume reduction of teeth achieves lightweight, and an intersection angle 1 between the tapered surface 22 and the vertical surface 23 of each tooth is ranged from 100 to 150, the defects of sharp and hard tactile sensation near right angles in the teeth of existing technologies are improved, while a gentle intersection angle of about 100 to 150 of the tooth provides a comfortable and soft feature that is not easy to scratch.

[0080] In the tooth tail of the embodiment, the total height of the upper and lower vertical surfaces is H6, and the length H6 is ranged from 0.5 mm to 1.5 mm, when the zipper head 5 slides on the teeth, a stable track is provided, so as to avoid the phenomenon of the zipper head sliding out of the teeth track during the pulling operation.