Apparatus For Assembling A Slider On A Fastener Strip

Abstract

A device for installing sliders over the edge of continuous rib and groove type plastic fastener members with the sliders having a back and sides projecting downwardly and spaced closer together at a closing end to join the rib and groove fastener members and spaced further apart at an opening end to permit separation of the fastener members with a leg on the back at the opening end of the slider, installing means for moving a slider from an engagement location spaced from the fastener members to an installed position with the sides of the slider straddling the fastener members and the leg between the fastener members, and including first means holding the fastener members separated at the opening end of the slider and second means holding the fastener members together at the closing end of the slider.

Parent Case Text

The present application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application, Ser. No. 770,023 filed Oct. 23, 1968.

Description

The invention relates to positioning devices for sliders on closures constituted by interlockable profiled elements; it relates more particularly because it is in this case that its application seems to offer most advantage, but not exclusively among these devices, to those intended for the positioning of sliders on closures of bags or pouches in the course of manufacture from a folded sheet of plastic film advancing in intermittent manner, these closures being constituted by complementary profiled elements occurring at the edges of the sheet and capable of interpenetration or of interlocking, but also of being separated, the said elements having been previously fixed to the edges of the sheet in the form of strips or constituting integral parts of the sheet.

The improvements according to the present invention supplement those which have been disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,426,396 which is incorporated herein by reference disclosing the method of positioning sliders on profiled strip closures or on bags.

According to the patent, the slider positioning device comprises, a spacing member arranged in the direction of this movement of the profiled elements which keeps the complementary profiled elements spaced from one another, coacting with guide members constituting a first clamp adapted to immobilize the profiled elements on the spacer at the moment of positioning of the slider, and downstream of the spacing member, a second clamp adapted to mutually interlock these profiled elements and to ensure their immobilization for their said positioning, and on the other hand, arranged between these two members, a pusher device for the positioning of sliders on the said profiled elements perpendicularly to their longitudinal direction.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved mechanism for installing sliders by pressing them over the top edge of fastener strips in a single improved operation.

The slider positioning device according to the invention is principally characterized by the fact that it comprises, mounted on a common support, two clamps, the pusher device and a common movable actuating member connecting the closing and opening of the two clamps on the advance and on the retreat respectively of the pusher, the assembly of these parts thus constituting a single and compact apparatus.

In an advantageous embodiment of the device according to the invention, the mobile actuating device is constituted by a shaft capable of rotation around it axis and bearing, on the one hand, a cam cooperating with the end of the pusher, especially by means of a small roller borne by this end to produce alternate movements of the pusher in the direction of it axis against elastic return members, and on the other hand, cams inserted between the arms of the first and second above-said clamps, to cause the arms of these clamps to pivot around their respective pivoting points against the action of elastic return members.

The invention will in any case be well understood by the aid of the supplementary description which follows, as well as the accompanying drawings, which supplement and drawings relate to the two above-mentioned embodiments.

FIG. 1 of these drawings shows in view from above, with portions removed, a slider positioning device according to a first embodiment of the invention, with grippers open and the pusher withdrawn.

FIG. 2 shows in front view the device of FIG. 1, the clamps being open.

FIG. 3 shows a section of the device of FIG. 1, along the line III--III, with the first clamp closed.

FIG. 4 shows a section of the device of FIG. 1, along the line IV--IV, with the pusher advanced.

FIG. 5 shows a section of the device of FIG. 1, along the line V--V with the second clamp closed.

According to the invention, in order to construct a slider positioning device on profiled strip closures, or on bags in the course of manufacture, procedure is as follows or in a similar manner.

First, as regards the manufacture of bags in general, it can be effected in known manner, for example from a folded sheet 1 (see FIG. 4 and 5) of plastic film advancing in intermittent manner with respect to the device 2 for positioning flexible sliders of the type of those described in the principal patent, and having, along its free edges 3, complementary profiled rib and groove elements 5, 5a of closures capable being closed by interlocking and borne by the inner surfaces of the two walls 6a, 6b, formed by the folded sheet. These closure elements can form part of strips fixed to the edges of the folded sheet or can be in a single part with the sheet, which can then be obtained with the closure elements by extrusion. Preferably, before the positioning of sliders, the closure elements are interlocked and the tube 1 thus obtained is flattened.

The tube is guided and driven (in the direction of the arrow F), upstream of the device 2, by wheels 7, 7a and is directed downstream of the device 2 in the partially open and partially closed state towards a cutting and welding apparatus (not shown) adapted to separate each bag from the rest of the tube and to form the lateral edges of the said bag.

As regards the slider positioning device 2, shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, it comprises on one hand, and arranged in the direction of the movement of the profiled closure elements:

a spacing member 8 which holds separated, or separates, from one another, the complementary profiled elements 5 and 5a and cooperates with a guide device with movable jaws, adapted to form a first clamp 9, 9a, of which the jaws or arms are arranged on both sides of the spacer and which in their clamping position, immobilize these profiled elements gripping their support on the spacer;

a second clamp 10, 10a which, in its closed position, cooperates with the immobilization of the profiled elements 5, 5a, in ensuring their partial reinterlocking;

and a device 12 for positioning sliders on the closure elements by a movement perpendicular to the direction of these elements, this positioning taking place between the two clamps 9, 9a and 10, 10a. This device includes a pusher 13 intended to engage a slider 14 (FIG. 4) on the said profiled elements 5, 5a when they are immobilized by the clamps 9, 9a and 10, 10a.

The separator member 8 is advantageously provided with two grooves 16, 16a in which are housed respectively the closure elements 5, 5a of the flattened tube 1 which form projections or ribs on the inner surface of this tube.

In this way the clamping which ensures the immobilization of the closure elements is exerted especially on the wall of their support and not on these elements themselves which could be deformed by the pressure of clamping. In addition, there is thus obtained a transversal guidance of the closure elements.

The clamp 10, 10a is advantageously provided with grooves 17, 17a, whose height is selected so that this clamp whilst ensuring the interlocking of the complementary closure elements over a portion of their length which corresponds to the width of the clamp 10, exerts its final pressure which ensures the immobilization of the closure elements on the walls of their support 1 outside the said closure elements.

The pusher device 12 has advantageously included a channel 18 through which the slider 14 to be engaged are introduced on one surface 19, one by one facing the pusher 13 along a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane of the flattened tube 1 (FIG. 1 and 4).

Thus as it has been indicated in the principal patent and as shown in FIG. 4, the sliders 14, which are intended to slide astride the closure constituted by the profiled complementary elements 5, 5a, borne by the wall 6, 6a, include a small plate 20 (FIG. 4) bearing, on one hand, two lateral walls 21, 21a bounding, on the inside of the slider a channel with convergent walls to ensure the interlocking of the enclosure elements, and on the other hand, a median partition 22 extending over a portion of the length of the slider (perpendicularly to the plane of FIG. 4 which shows the slider 14 in section), this partition forming a wedge and ensuring the de-interlocking of the said closure elements.

According to the invention, the spacer 8, the two clamps 9, 9a and 10, 10a and the pusher device 12 are mounted on a common support 23, the closing, then opening of the clamps 9, 9a and 10, 10a, in synchronism with the advance, then the retreat of the pusher 13, being actuated by means of a common movable rotary cam shaft member 24, also mounted on the common support 23, the assembly of these parts thus constituting a single and compact apparatus. In addition, the width of the spacer and the distance between the latter and the second clamp 10, 10a are determined so that the closure elements form between themselves, in the interval between the spacer and the second clamp when the latter is clamped, an angle which corresponds to the angle of the walls of the above-said channel inside the slider.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 5, the above-said movable shaft member 24 is advantageously constituted by shaft bearing cams 26, 27 and 28 adapted to act respectively against the action of elastic return members 29, 30 and 31 on the clamps 9, 9a and 10, 10a and on the pusher 13.

The clamps 19, 19a and 10, 10a are hinged at 32, 32a and 33, 33a respectively, symmetrically with respect to the plane of the flattened tube 1, on the support 23 which is arranged transversally to the said flattened tube 1 and the shaft 24, borne by this support 23, and arranged between the said clamps 9, 9a and 10, 10a.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the cams 26 and 27 and the elastic return members 29 and 30 (constituted by springs) are respectively arranged between the branches of the clamps 9, 9a and 10, 10a on both sides respectively of the hinges 32, 32a and 33, 33a of these branches on the support 23.

In the example of the slider positioning apparatus illustrated, the return members 29 and 30 of the clamps are arranged so that they act in the direction of opening of the said clamps but it is evident that in reversing the positions of the cams 26, 27 and of the return members 29, 30 with respect to the above-said hinges, it would be possible to arrange that the return members 29 and 30 act in the direction of closure of the clamps.

The pusher 13 (FIG. 4) is guided by the support 23 so that it can slide in a direction transverse with respect to the edge 3 of the flattened tube 1. The corresponding elastic return member 31 is constituted by a spring interposed between the support 8 and a collar 34 borne by the pusher 13.

This pusher 13 is supported against the cam 28 by means of a roller 36.

The cams 26, 27 and 28 advantageously have shaped such that the closing, then the opening of the clamps 9, 9a and 10, 10a, on one hand, and the advance, and then the retreat of the pusher 13, on the other hand, are respectively caused by rotations in reverse directions of the shaft 24 between two predetermined angular positions (which positions are substantially separated by 90.degree. in the example selected), the same shaft 24 effecting these rotations under the action of a jack 37 borne by the support 23 and placed in operation when the tube 1 is immobile, through a rack 38 by the same jack 37 and driving a pinion 39 borne by the same shaft 24. The jack 37 can, for example, be actuated by a fluid under pressure respectively introduced and evacuated through channels 41 and 42.

As result, there is obtained a particularly simple apparatus for ensuring the automatic actuation by the grippers 9, 9a and 10, 10a on one hand, and of the pusher 13 of the sliders, and on the other hand, for example, in synchronism with welding electrodes (not shown) which weld and cut the tube 1 transversally at the places where it has been closed by the clamp 10 or in synchronism with automatic control devices (not shown either) of the intermittent advance of this tube, which apparatus can then act in the following manner:

When the tube 1 advances, the jack 37 holds the shaft 24 in such a position that the clamps 9, 9a and 10, 10a are open and that the pusher 13 is withdrawn into the position shown in FIG. 1. The distance between the active ends of the clamps 10, 10a is then sufficient to enable the passage of the profiled elements 5, 5a with a slide 14 engaged on them.

At the same time, a slider 14 has arrived through the channel 18 on the surface 19, formed on a ledge of the support 23, in a position for which the lateral walls 21, 21a and the median partition 22 of the slider are directed towards the tube 1.

Then, the jack 37 communicates to the shaft 24 a rotation such that the clamps 9, 9a and 10, 10a close thereby immobilizing firmly the complementary elements 5, 5a, whilst the pusher 13 effects its advance and engages by elastic deformation the slider 14 on the elements 5, 5a of the closure formed on the tube 1 (FIGS. 3, 4, 5). A further intermittent movement of the tube 1 is preceded by a further rotation of 90.degree. of the shaft 24, in opposite direction caused by the jack and which results in the opening of the grippers 9, 9a and 10, 10a (the latter then allowing the slider to pass engaged on elements 5, 5a) and the withdrawal of the pusher 13.

Thus, whatever the embodiment employed, there is obtained an apparatus whose operation can be ensured automatically, especially by the single jack 37.

As it is evident and as it results from the preceding description, the invention is in no way limited to those of its methods of application, nor to those of the methods of construction of its various parts, which have been more especially considered; it embraces on the contrary all variations.

Claims

I claim:

1. A device for the positioning of sliders on closures constituted by interlockable profiled elements which advance in intermittent manner with respect to the said device which includes,

a spacing member arranged in the direction of movement of the profiled closure elements maintaining the profiled elements spaced from one another,

a first clamp adapted to immobilize the elements on the spacer, a second clamp adapted to interlock the elements and to immobilize them,

a pusher between the two clamps and capable of engaging the slider on these profiled elements in a direction perpendicular to their longitudinal direction,

and a movable actuating member operating the pusher and opening and closing the two clamps on the advance and on the withdrawal respectively of the pusher.

2. A device according to claim 1 characterized by the fact that the movable actuating member is constituted by a shaft capable of undergoing rotation around its axis and bearing, a cam cooperating with the end of the pusher to produce alternate movements of the pusher in the direction of its axis against elastic return members, and cams inserted between the arms of the first and second above-mentioned clamps to cause the arms of these clamps to pivot around their respective hinge points against the action of elastic return members.

3. A device according to claims 1 and 2, characterized by the fact that the elastic return members of the clamps are arranged so that they act in the direction of the opening of the said clamps.

4. A device according to claim 1 or 2 characterized by the fact that the elastic return members of the clamps are arranged so that they act in the direction of the closure of the said clamps.

5. A device according to claim 2 characterized by the fact that the clamps have profiles such that the closing and then the opening of the clamps, on one hand, and the advance then the retreat of the pusher, on the other hand, are respectively caused by rotations in reversed direction of the shaft between two predetermined angular positions.

6. A device according to claim 1 characterized by the fact that the movement of the movable members are phase-locked to the means of intermittent advance of the support of the closure elements.

7. A device according to claim 1 characterized by the fact that the width of the spacer and the distance between the latter and the clamp arranged downstream of the spacer are selected so that the angle formed by the closure elements between this spacer and the said clamp, when it is closed, corresponds to the angle which the convergent walls of the channel form in a slider which walls as a result of the movement of the slider along the closure elements, ensure their interlocking.

8. A device according to claim 1 characterized by the fact that in the spacer and on both sides of the latter, there are arranged grooves intended to receive the closure elements, the depth of these grooves being such that immobilization of the closure elements is obtained especially by the gripping of the portions of the support of the said elements which occur laterally to the latter.

9. A device according to claim 1 characterized by the fact that the arms of the clamp arranged downstream of the spacer include grooves whose height is selected so that this clamp, whilst ensuring the interlocking of the complementary closure elements, exerts its final pressure which ensures the immobilization of the closure elements especially on the wall of the support of these closure elements outside of the latter.

10. A mechanism for installing sliders over the edge of continuous rib and groove type plastic fastener members, the sliders having a back with sides projecting downwardly from the back and with the sides spaced close together at a closing end to press the rib and groove elements together and being separated at an opening end to permit separation of the rib and groove elements with a center leg projecting downwardly from the back between the sides at the opening end, the mechanism comprising,

installing means for moving a slider from an engagement location spaced from the edge of the fastener members to an installed position with the sides of the slider straddling the fastener members and the leg between the fastener members,

first means holding the fastener members separated at the open end of the slider, and second means holding the fastener members together at the closing end of the slider so that the closing end of the slider moves over fastener members which are together and the opening end of the slider moves over fastener members which are separated.

11. A mechanism for installing sliders constructed in accordance with claim 10 and including a power operator connected to said installing means and to said first and second means and operating said first and second means and operating said first and second means and thereafter operating said installing means in timed sequence.

12. A mechanism for installing sliders constructed in accordance with claim 10 wherein said first means includes a clamp for pressing the fastener members together and the second means includes a member insertable between the fastener members and a clamp for pressing the fastener members against said insertable member.

13. A mechanism for installing sliders over the edge of continuous rib and groove plastic fastener members, the sliders having a back with sides projecting downwardly from the back and with the sides spaced close together at a closing end to press the rib and groove elements together and being separated at an opening end to permit separation of the rib and groove elements with a center leg projecting downwardly from the back between the sides at the opening end, the mechanism comprising,

means placing the strips in alignment so that they can be joined,

means locating the slider above the strips for assembly on the strips,

means pressing the strips together so that the profiles are interlocked at a location adjacent to the closing end of the slider,

means holding the strips apart with the profile separated at another location adjacent to the opening end of the slider,

means assembling the slider in a direction transversely of the extent of the strips by pressing the finger between the strips and pressing the walls edgewise over the strips,

said slider walls and strips relatively yielding as the slider is pressed into place.