The present invention relates to a slider for a slide fastener, which when in use is slidable between and along adjoining edge portions of an article to which the slide fastener is connected.

More specifically the invention relates to a slider comprising a slider body, the slider body having an upper wing and a lower wing, and a post linking said upper and lower wings, a pull-tab holder, and a raised formation which extends upwards from the upper wing.

A slider of this kind for a slide fastener to be fitted to the slit of an inside pocket of a wearing article is disclosed in U.S. patent No. 5,915,632. The slider disclosed in that document has a pair of protuberances which project upwards from the upper wing of the slider body, in front and at the back of the pull-tab holder, respectively, and spaced apart from the pull-tab holder. With this prior art slider, the pull-tab extends essentially at the same level of the said protuberances and can interfere with the edge portions of the fabric, possibly causing them to be scraped and damaged.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved slider of the above-defined kind.

This and other objects are achieved according to the invention by a slider of the initially defined kind characterised in that the raised formation of the slider body extends vertically between the upper wing and the pull-tab holder and on its opposite longitudinal sides is provided with respective longitudinal grooves adapted to guidingly receive the said edge portions of the article and to wedge them away from each other.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, the pull-tab holder extends from the upper surface of the raised formation and the upper surface of the raised formation is higher than the adjoining edge portions of the article.

In a presently preferred embodiment, the raised formation of the slider body has in plan view essentially the shape of a longitudinally elongate, rounded triangle, and is provided with a groove extending along its whole lateral contour.

The slider of the present invention may be smoothly moved back and forth and any scraping of the fabric edge portions by the pull-tab is prevented.

Other features and attendant advantages of the present invention will be more fully appreciated as the same becomes better understood when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters designate the same or similar parts through the several views and wherein:

• FIG. 1 a perspective view of a slider for a slide fastener according to the present invention;
• FIG. 2 is a front view of the slider of figure 1;
• FIG. 3 is top plan view of the slider according to the preceding figures;
• FIG. 4 is a rear view of the slider;
• FIG. 5 is a side elevation view of the slider;
• FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view of the slider according to the preceding figures, showing how it operates, and
• FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line VII-VII of figure 6.

In the drawings there is shown a slider 1 according to the present invention for a slide fastener.

The slider 1 is comprised of a slider body 2 and a pull tab 9 pivotally attached to the slider body 2. The slider body 2 may be manufactured as one piece from metal such as aluminium alloy, zinc alloy, etc. by means of die-casting process. Alternatively, the slider body 2 may be manufactured from thermoplastic materials such as polyamide, polypropylene, placental, polybutylene terephthalate, these thermoplastic materials having anti-abrasion reinforcing materials added thereto, etc, by injecting molding process.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and 5, the slider body 2 is comprised of a pair of upper and wing wings 3, 4 and a guide post 5 linking the upper and lower wings 3, 4. The upper and lower wings 3, 4 are connected at their front end by the guide post 5 and have a pair of upper and lower curved guide flanges 6 mounted along their respective opposed lateral edge portions and extending from the rear end up to substantially a mid portion thereof. The upper and lower curved guide flanges 6 define therebetween a guide channel 7 for guiding fastener elements therethrough.

The slider body 2 further includes a raised formation 10 extending upwards from the upper wing 3, and a substantially C-shaped pull-tab holder 8 mounted on the upper surface of the raised formation 10 in cantilevered manner. As shown in FIG. 6, the pull-tab holder 8 is adapted to be permanently bent towards the upper wing 3 so as to engage and retain a pull tab denoted by reference numeral 9. However, the pull-tab holder 8 is not limited to this construction. The pull-tab holder 8 may be of any construction as far as it has a space enough to accommodate and retain the pull tab 9 therein. For example, a separate C-shaped hood or cover 8 may be moulded as a pull-tab holder. After having a pull tab 9 housed in the opposed indentations formed in the lateral sides thereof, the C-shaped hood-like pull-tab holder 8 may be adhered or fixed to the upper surface of the raised formation 10. The pull tab 9 may be attached to the pull-tab holder via a link member instead of being directly attached thereto. Furthermore, as shown in USP5,915,632, a pair of legs may be mounted as a pull-tab holder on the upper surface of the raised formation 10 so as to define a U-shaped space therebetween. After the pull tab 9 or a link member is arranged in the space, the legs are crimped and plastically deformed so as to retain the pull tab therein directly or via the link member. In any construction described above, the pull tab lies in the region partly defined by the upper surface of the raised formation 10 and the pull-tab holder 8.

As it appears in particular in figures 3 and 6, the raised formation 10 of the slider body 2 is substantially of the shape of a rounded triangle elongated longitudinally of the slider 1 or in the direction of movement of the slider 1, as viewed in the plan view. As described more closely, the raised formation 10 is formed so as to project vertically from the upper surface of the upper wing 3 of the slider body 2. The raised formation 10 has a pair of longitudinal sides and is tapered towards one or the rear end of the slider body 2 in such a way that the longitudinal sides become gradually closer to each other towards the rear end. In this embodiment, the raised formation 10 is tapered towards the rear end of the slider body 2. However, the raised formation 10 is not limited to such taper. For example, it may be tapered towards the front end of the slider body 2.

The raised formation 10 extends vertically between the upper wing 3 and the pull-tab holder 8, and is provided on its opposite longitudinal sides with respective longitudinal grooves 11, which are adapted to guidingly receive the adjoining edge portions of a garment and to wedge them away from each other.

Although the longitudinal grooves 11 may be provided at least on the opposed longitudinal sides, preferably; preferably, the longitudinal grooves 11 may form part of a single groove extending around the entire periphery of the raised formation 10.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show a slide fastener SF comprising a pair of stringers 12, 12 such as woven strips and the respective rows of coupling elements 13, 14 mounted on the respective opposed edges thereof, as is well known per se.

This type of slide fastener SF may be used on two adjoining parts A, B of a garment (such as a slit of a pocket for example) provided in such a way to cover the upper surface of a slide fastener, although various other applications are possible, of course. The stringers 12 of the slide fastener SF are sewn to the lining of the garment in such a manner that, as shown in FIG. 7, the opening defined by and between the adjoining parts A, B of the garment and the opening defined by and between the pair of stringers 12 are substantially in alignment with each other, as is known per se. The slider 1 shown in FIGS. 1 through 5 are reciprocally mounted on the stingers 12 so as to selectively couple and decouple the coupling elements 13, 13 of the stringers 12, 12. The opposed edge portions A, B of the garment are sewn to the stringers in such a manner to come on the front side of the slider 1 on which the raised formation 10 is formed, so that, when the raised formation 10 engages between the adjoining edge portions A, B of the garment, the adjoining edge portions A, B come into contact with the longitudinal sides of the raised formation 10. The slide fastener SF is attached to the garment in such a way that at this moment the adjoining edge portions A, B are lower than the upper surface of raised formation 10. As stated above, the pull-tab holder 9 and hence the pull tab 9 extend upwards from the upper surface of the raised formation 10 which are higher than the adjoining edge portions A, B of the garment, so that the edge portions A, B of the garment will not constitute any obstacle to the operation of the slider 1. Furthermore, the raised formation 10 is provided on the opposed longitudinal sides with the respective longitudinal grooves 11 extending longitudinally of the adjoining edge portions A, B. The adjoining edge portions A, B are guidedly received within the longitudinal grooves 11. Therefore, the slider 1 can be reciprocally moved smoothly without scraping or otherwise damaging the fabric of the adjoining edge portions A, B. Moreover, as better shown in FIG. 7, the pull-tab holder 8 project upwardly from the upper surface of the raised formation 10 at the position inner than the opposed longitudinal sides of the raised formation. This advantageously helps to further prevent the pull-tab holder 8 from interfering with the adjoining edge portions A, B of the garment.

As readily seen from FIGS. 2, 4 and 5, the raised formation 10 of the slider body 2 is greater in height or the distance from the bottom to the top than the slider body 2 including the upper and lower wings 3, 4 and the guide post connecting them.

While the description above contains many specificities, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of this invention. Many other variations are possible.

Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined not by the embodiments illustrated, but by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.