Article with venting slide fastener

Venting of articles, such as cushions, pillows, and the like, is provided by holes formed in tapes of slide fasteners which are closures for the articles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to articles, such as cushions, pillows, upholstered 
furniture, etc. which require venting and include a slide fastener. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
In the prior art, articles such as cushions were vented with separate 
perforated strips or devices attached thereto, or perforations were formed 
in portions of the article; these separate strips or devices, or the 
perforation of portions of the articles added substantially to the cost of 
the articles and required extra steps in the manufacture of the articles. 
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,701,222 and 3,444,598 disclose slide fasteners with holes 
or apertures formed in the tapes thereof for receiving reflowed 
thermoplastic material or receiving knitting or sewing threads to secure 
the tapes to articles. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The invention is summarized in an article with a venting slide fastener 
including a pair of article portions having an opening therebetween, a 
slide fastener having a pair of support tapes and a pair of trains of 
interlocking elements secured to the inner edges of the respective tapes, 
means securing the outer portions of the tapes to the respective article 
portions leaving intermediate portions of the tapes between the inner 
edges and the outer portions free of the article portions, and the tapes 
having perforations in the intermediate portions thereof to form a vent 
for the article through the opening when the slide fastener is closed. 
An object of the invention is to construct a vented article with a slide 
fastener which is less expense and requires fewer steps in the manufacture 
thereof. 
Another object of the invention is to eliminate the necessity of including 
a separate venting strip or device or the necessity of perforating 
portions of an article to vent the article. 
In one particularly improved embodiment of the invention the slide fastener 
tapes have beads encircling the vent holes therein to strengthen the tape 
and prevent weakness of the vented tape portion. 
Other objects, advantages and features of the invention will be apparent 
from the following description of the preferred embodiments taken in 
conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, an article such as a cushion, pillow, or 
the like in accordance with the invention includes a pair of article 
portions 10 and 12 with an opening 14 therebetween which is enclosed by a 
vented slide fastener indicated generally at 16. the slide fastener 16 
includes a pair of planarly arranged support tapes 18 and 20 which have 
respective trains of interlocking elements 22 and 24 mounted on the inner 
edges thereof. A slider 26 is slidably mounted on the elements 22 and 24 
for opening and closing the slide fastener. 
The article including the article portions 10 and 12 and the slide fastener 
16 is formed from impervious materials, i.e. materials which do not 
readily permit air to pass therethrough. 
The illustrated interlocking element trains 22 and 24 are conventional 
synthetic polymer spiral coupling elements, but any other type of 
continuous coupling element or series of elements forming trains of 
interlocking elements suitably attached to the tapes 18 and 20 may be 
used. 
The tapes 18 and 20 include respective outer portions 28 and 30 which are 
secured by suitable means, such as stitches 32 and 34, to the respective 
article portions 10 and 12. Intermediate portins 36 and 38 of the tapes 18 
and 20 between the inner edges thereof and the outer portions 28 and 30 
are free of the article portions 10 and 12 or are left exposed to 
communicate with the opening 14 between the article portions 10 and 12. A 
plurality of perforations, or holes 40 are formed by punching in each of 
the intermediate portions 36 and 38 to provide a vent for the article. The 
holes 40 have a size, spacing and quantity selected to provide adequate 
venting while maintaining sufficient strength in the tapes 18 and 20. 
Typical sizes for the diameters of the holes 40 range from 0.254 
millimeters (0.01 inches) to 2.032 millimeters (0.08 inches). 
The tapes 18 and 20 as shown in FIG. 2 are formed from a folded strip of 
polymer film material with interconnecting or heel portions 41 of the 
spiral coupling elements 18 and 20 secured within the folded edges along 
with bead forming cords 42 and 44 by bonding the folded halves of the 
strip together. Head portions 43 of the spiral coupling elements extend 
through slots 45 (FIG. 1) in the folded edge to form the interlocking 
element trains. The strips are biaxially oriented high-density 
polyethylene film strips formed by laminating two layers of uniaxially 
oriented material together with the orientation of the two layers 
crossing. However, the tapes may be any other conventional tapes suitable 
for use in slide fasteners: such as woven, knitted, or other textile 
material; thermoplastic, thermosetting or natural materials; different 
thicknesses or textures; single or multiple plies such as the illustrated 
double ply; etc. 
The article portions 10 and 12 can include respective flaps 46 and 48 which 
overlie opposite halves of the slide fastener 16 in the opening 14 to hide 
the slide fastener. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the flaps 46 and 48 pivot 
outward to permit exhalation of air from the article through the holes 40. 
The attaching means 32 and 34 must be located laterally outward from the 
holes 40 to permit this exhalation. 
In vented articles, such as cushions, pillows, and the like, the vented 
slide fastener 16 provides both a closure for an opening in the article as 
well as providing a vent for the article. This eliminates the need and 
thus the cost of separate venting strips or devices as well as the 
separate steps of attaching such strips or device, or eliminate the steps 
involved in perforating a portion of the article during its manufacture. 
The tapes of slide fasteners can be easily perforated during their 
manufacture by automated facilities while still incontinuous strips with 
very little additional expense or effort whereas previous venting 
techniques involved additional steps and labor on each individual article. 
Thus the present article with vented slide fastener results in a 
substantial savings. 
In a modification of the article with vented slide fastener as shown in 
FIG. 3, the holes 40 are encircled by raised or deformed annular portions 
50 of the tapes. By deforming or raising annular portions 50 of the tape 
18; the holes 40 are enlarged and reinforcing rims are formed around the 
holes 40. Thus the tape 18 is made stronger in the modification in FIG. 3 
compared to FIG. 2 for the same size of hole. 
In another modification of the vented slide fastener as shown in FIG. 4, 
the holes 40 are formed by melting the thermoplastic tape 18 at localized 
points, for example by a laser beam. This forms annular beads 52 
encircling the holes and joining the foled halves of the tape 18 together. 
The beads have a thickness greater than the combined thicknesses of the 
folded halves of tape 18. The beads 52 both reinforce the tape around the 
holes 40 and join the folded halves of the strip of polymer film together. 
Since the invention is subject to many modifications, variations, and 
changes in detail, it is intended that all matter in the foregoing 
description and shown in the accompanying drawings be interpreted as 
illustrative and not in a limiting sense.