Separable slide fastener

A separable slide fastener is disclosed which is provided with a separable end stop assembly comprising a pin member on one stringer and a socket member on the other stringer, both members being releasably interengageable to couple the stringers, and retaining means integral with said pin member retaining the latter in locked relation to said socket member during a starting movement of a slider.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to a slide fastener and more particularly to a 
separable type of slide fastener having a separable end stop assembly. 
2. Prior Art 
There are known a number of separable slide fasteners equipped with a 
separator assembly which comprises a socket member mounted on one of two 
companion stringers and a pin member mounted on the other stringer, the 
pin and socket members being releasably interengageable to couple the two 
stringers. When thus coupling the stringers, a slider functioning to close 
and open the fastener is brought against the socket member, and then the 
pin member is inserted through a channel in the slider into the socket 
member. The slider is thereafter moved along the confronting edges of the 
stringers to progressively take the fastener into closed disposition. 
Difficulty has been experienced in such instance with the prior art 
devices in retaining the pin member against displacement with respect to 
the associated socket; that is to say, the pin member would often move 
with the slider with the results that "mismeshing" would occur in opposed 
rows of coupling elements on the fastener. Prolonged use of the fastener 
in such condition would invite wear of the terminal or lowermost ones of 
the elements and eventually disengagement or "rupture" of the rows of 
coupling elements. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved 
separable slide fastener which will eliminate the above-noted difficulties 
of the prior art devices. 
A more specific object of the invention is to provide a separable slide 
fastener having means of retaining a pin member against displacement with 
respect to its associated socket member during a closing mode of operation 
of the fastener. 
Briefly stated, a separable slide fastener according to the invention is 
provided with a separable end stop assembly which comprises a pin member 
on one stringer and a socket member on the other stringer, said socket 
member having an opening dimensioned to collaterally receive said pin 
member and a longitudinal slit communicating with said opening and defined 
between a flanged portion and a bottom wall of said socket member, said 
pin member having a pin retainer land integrally formed therewith and 
having a sloping surface tilted such that said land has a thick region 
adjacent said pin member engageable with either of said flanged porton and 
said bottom wall of said socket member and a thin region disposed remote 
from said pin member for unobstructive passage of the flanged opening of 
the slider.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring now to the drawings and FIG. 1 in particular, there is shown a 
separable slide fastener 10 which comprises a pair of companion stringers 
11,12 having oppositely disposed fabric tapes 13,14 and rows of 
interlocking fastener elements E mounted on the confronting longitudinal 
beaded edges 13',14' of the respective tapes 13,14. The fastener elements 
E are shown for purposes of illustration to be in the form of a continuous 
helical coil having a succession of convolutions e each with a coupling 
head portion e' and are sewn as at 15 to the edge of the respective tape. 
The two companion stringers 11,12 are taken into and out of meshing or 
interlocking engagement with each other by the manipulation of a slider 16 
in the well known manner. 
The stringers 11 and 12 are held together at their one ends by means of a 
separable end stop assembly generally designated 17. The stop assembly 17 
is shown for purposes of illustration as applied to the lower ends of the 
stringers 11,12, and hance serves as a bottom end stop. 
The separable end stop assembly 17 comprises a pin member 18 mounted on one 
stringer 11 and a socket member 19 mounted on the other stringer 12, the 
pin and socket members being releasably interengageable to couple the 
companion stringers 11,12, in a manner hereinafter described. 
The socket member 19 has a stud portion 20 extending from below the 
terminal end convolution e2 of interlocking element row E to the region of 
the lower edge of its companion stringer 12. Formed integrally with the 
stud portion 20 is a socket portion 21 having an abutment 22 extending 
transversely beyond the beaded edge 14' of stringer 12 and coextensive 
with the rear end S.sub.1, of the slider S such that the latter may be 
borne against the abutment 22 in the assembled relation of the pin and 
socket members 18,19 when inserting the pin 18 into the socket 19 as shown 
in FIG. 5. The socket portion 21 is provided with an opening 23 
dimensioned to collaterally receive the pin member 18. Communicating with 
the opening 23 is a longitudinal slit 24 defined between a flanged portion 
25 and a bottom wall 26 of the socket portion 21. 
The pin member 18 extends longitudinally along its companion beaded edge 
13' from below the end convolution e1 to the region of the lower edge of 
its companion stringer 11. Disposed oppositely to and parallel with the 
pin member 18 is an L-shaped reinforcing and gripping portion 27 which is 
of substantially the same width as the pin 18 and which serves to 
reinforce the end portion of the tape 13 and also to allow finger-gripping 
when inserting the pin 18 into the socket 19. The pin 18 and the gripping 
portion 27 are interconnected by a pin retainer land 28 having a sloping 
surface 29 raised above a flat surface 30, the two surfaces being 
demarcated transversely by a partition portion 31 as shown in FIG. 3, or 
being merged together contiguously as shown in FIG. 4. The raised sloping 
surface 29 is tilted downwardly toward the gripping portion 27 so that the 
land 28 has a thick region 29a adjacent the pin 18 and a thin region 29b 
remote from the pin 18 or adjacent the gripping portion 27. 
The pin member 18 has a bump 32 projecting transversely slightly beyond the 
beaded edge 13', the bump 32 having a recess 33 dimensioned to receive the 
coupling head e' of the end convolution e2 on stringer 12 in the assembled 
relation of pin 18 and socket 19. 
It will be noted that the separable end stop assembly 17 is preferably made 
of a plastic material such that all the portions discussed of the assembly 
17 can be conveniently moulded into the respective desired shapes and 
fused integrally with the fabric of the stringer tapes. Designated at 34 
is a reinforcing strip of film attached to the bottom portion of the 
respective tape 13,(14) over an upper surface thereof, and over which the 
separable stop assembly 17 are laid. 
With this construction of the separable slide fastener according to the 
invention, the operation thereof takes place in the manner illustrated in 
FIG. 5 in which the bottom ends of the respective stringers 11,12 are 
being brought into coupling engagement with each other. The pin 18 is 
inserted into a channel S.sub.2 of the slider 16, which has been held in 
abutted relation to the socket member 19, and thence into the opening 23 
of the socket member 19. This insertion of the pin 18 is conveniently done 
by finger-gripping the integral L-shaped reinforcing portion 27. The pin 
member 18 advances unobstructedly with respect to the slider 16 because 
the retainer land 28 is reduced in thickness as at 29b where it registers 
with the region of flanged opening S.sub.3 of the slider as shown in FIG. 
2 and more specifically in FIG. 6. The pin member 18 further advances into 
the opening 23 of the socket member 19 as indicated by dotted-chain line 
in FIG. 5 or as shown in FIG. 7 and finally comes into fully assembled 
engagement with the socket member 19 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in which 
the pin member 18 is firmly retained in place with respect to the socket 
member 19 because the integral retainer land 28 is thickened as at 29a 
where it registers with the slit 24 of the socket member 19 and hence is 
brought into braked engagement with the flanged portion 25 of the member 
19. In this position, the bump 32 on the pin 18 is held in hooked relation 
to the coupling head e' of the end convolution e2 on socket-mounted 
stringer 12. 
In such fully assembled relation of the pin and socket member 18,19, the 
slider 16 may be started in a direction to close the two companion 
stringers 11,12 as shown in FIG. 1 without inviting concomitant movement 
of the pin member 18 which has been locked with respect to its associated 
socket member 19, thus ensuring proper meshing of the fastener progressive 
elements E. 
While the invention has been shown and described in its preferred form, 
changes may be made in the structure disclosed without departing from the 
scope of the appended claims. As for an example of such changes, 
arrangements may be made such that the retainer land 28 is engageable with 
either or both of the flanged portion 25 and bottom wall 26 of the socket 
member 19.