Apparatus for supplying slide fastener sliders

An apparatus for supplying slide fastener sliders comprises a track for carrying thereon the sliders stacked sideways with their respective pull tabs arranged in the recumbent position for gravity delivery of the sliders to a groove in a base. A slider retainer is engageable with the recumbent pull tab of the leading slider for retaining the same with the slider body position so as to release the same from engagement with the slider retainer, and substantially at the same time to allow the leading slider to fall in the groove. A feeding device feeds the slider in and along the groove to a predetermined position. The apparatus further comprises an arrangement for correcting the posture of the slider to have the pull tab raised substantially perpendicularly to the slider body wings.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to an apparatus for supplying slide fastener 
sliders for use in combination with a slider holder for the attachment of 
sliders to pairs of slide fastener stringers. More particularly, this 
invention relates to an apparatus for supplying slide fastener sliders one 
at a time to a predetermined position, with the pull tab of the slider 
directed substantially perpendicularly to the slider body wings. 
2. Prior Art 
As well known in the art, a lock slider for slide fasteners comprises a 
pair of substantially parallel flat wings interconnected at one end by a 
neck or guide post, with the wings defining a substantially Y-shaped 
channel for guiding rows of coupling elements into and out of interlocked 
engagement, and a pull tab pivotally connected to one of the wings for 
operating the slider, the pull tab having a locking pawl movable into the 
guide channel for locking engagement with the coupling elements. Another 
known lock slider is of the type which comprises a locking pawl mounted on 
one of the wings and normally spring-biased into the guide channel and a 
pull tab pivotally connected to the locking pawl. With those lock sliders 
as described, the locking pawl projects into the guide channel for locking 
engagement with the coupling elements when the pull tab is put down into 
its recumbent position in which the pull tab lies flatwise against and 
extends parallel to the body wings beyond their rear ends. To unlock the 
slider, the pull tab must be lifted from the recumbent position to a 
raised position substantially perpendicular to the wings so as to retract 
the locking pawl out of the guide channel. 
When a chain of coupling elements is to be threaded through such a lock 
slider, it is necessary that the pull tab be erected to withdraw the 
locking pawl out of the guide channel, with the slider being securely held 
on a holder against dislodgement. 
U.S. Pat. No. 2,949,666, issued Aug. 23, 1960 shows an example of prior art 
device according to which the pull tab is directed substantially 
perpendicularly to the slider body wings by gravity while the slider 
travels down a chute. This device is however directed exclusively to 
sliders with no locking means, and hence is not applicable to lock sliders 
having pull tabs that are hard to be moved pivotally to an erected 
position only by gravity. It has therefore been common practice for the 
operator to lift the pull tab manually before application of the slider to 
the holder, a procedure which is time-consuming, tedius, and less 
productive. There has long been a need to provide an apparatus which can 
supply lock sliders to the holder, with pull tab being erected. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
According to the invention, an apparatus for supplying slide fastener 
sliders comprises a track means which extends upwardly from a base and 
slidably carrying thereon the sliders stacked slideways with their 
respective pull tabs lying flatwise in the recumbent position for gravity 
delivery of the sliders to a guide groove in the base. A slider retaining 
means engages with the recumbent pull tab of the leading slider to retain 
the same in a position where the body of the leading slider is positioned 
just above the groove without engaging the retaining means. A pull tab 
orientating means serves to move the leading slider pull tab from its 
recumbent position into the raised position in which the pull tab is 
directed substantially perpendicularly to the slider wings so as to 
release the pull tab from engagement with the slider retaining means, and 
substantially at the same time to allow the leading slider to fall in the 
guide groove in the base. The slider is then fed by a feeding means in and 
along the groove to a predetermined position where it is to be received in 
a holder for application to a pair of slide fastener stringers. 
The apparatus further comprises means for correcting the posture of the 
slider to have the pull tab raised substantially perpendicularly to the 
slider body wings. 
An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for supplying 
lock sliders with their pull tabs erected for facilitating subsequent 
threading of chains of coupling elements therethrough. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for 
supplying slide fastener sliders at an increased frequency. 
Still another object of the invention is to provide a slider supplying 
apparatus which is simple in construction and less costly to manufacture. 
These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be 
apparent from the following description, when taken in conjunction with 
the accompanying drawings which illustrate, by way of example, a preferred 
embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
The principles of the present invention are particularly useful when 
embodied in a slider supplying apparatus such as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, 
generally indicated by the reference numeral 10. 
The apparatus 10 generally comprises a base 11, a track means or chute 12, 
a slider retaining means 13, a pull tab orientating means 14 and a slider 
feeding means 15. 
The base 11 has in its upper surface a groove 16 in and along which a 
slider 17 is fed to a discharge port 18 (FIG. 2) connected to one end of 
the groove 16. The slider 17 described herein is a lock slider having a 
body 19 consisting of a pair of spaced substantially parallel flat wings 
defining a guide channel therebetween, a pull tab 20 pivotally connected 
to one wing of the body 19, and a locking pawl movable into and out of the 
guide channel in response to pivotal movement of the pull tab 20. As the 
construction and operation of such lock slider 17 is well known in the 
art, no further description thereof will be necessary. The groove 16 is 
defined by a pair of confronting straight sidewalls 21, 22 and a bottom 
surface 23. The bottom surface 23 is formed complementarily in contour 
with a side edge of the slider body 19 so as to guide the slider 17 stably 
in posture therealong. The groove 16 has a width slightly larger than the 
length of the slider body 19 to allow the slider to be fed smoothly. The 
discharge port 18 is enlarged in width and includes a slider correcting 
means 25 (FIG. 2) as described hereinbelow. 
The track means 12 is in the form of a chute blade 26 disposed endwise on 
the base 11 on one side of the groove 16 and extending upwardly from the 
base 11. The chute blade 26 has one longitudinal edge 27 carrying 
guidingly thereon a number of successive sliders 17 stacked sideways one 
on another and transversely overhanging the groove 16 for gravity delivery 
of the sliders 17 to the groove 16. The upper end of the chute blade 26 is 
connected to a hopper (not shown) from which the sliders 17 are 
successively fed to the chute blade 26 with the respective pull tab 20 
arranged in the recumbent position or lying flatwise on the slider wing. 
The chute blade 26 has an opening 34 located just above the slider 
retaining means 13. 
The slider retaining means 13 is comprised of a block 28 formed integrally 
with the base 11 and disposed at the same side of the groove that the 
chute blade 26 is located on, with an end wall thereof arranged in contact 
with one side of the chute blade 26. The block 28 has a sidewall 29 
extending flush with the sidewall 21 of the groove 16 for allowing smooth 
sliding movement of the sliders 17 toward the groove 16. A top surface 30 
of the block 28 is engageable with the pull tab 20' of the leading slider 
17' as it is in the recumbent position, to thereby retain the slider body 
19 just above the groove 16. 
The pull tab orientating means 14 comprises means 31 for moving the pull 
tab 20' of the leading slider 17' pivotally from its recumbent position 
toward a raised position where the pull tab 20' extends substantially 
perpendicularly to the wings of the slider body 19 and is directed to the 
discharge port 18 substantially parallel to the groove 16, and means 35 
cooperative with the pull tab moving means 31 for positioning the leading 
slider pull tab 20' in the raised position. The pull tab moving means 31 
comprises a fluid-pressure actuator 32 (FIG. 2) mounted on the base 11 and 
a push rod 33 directed toward the opening 34 in the chute blade 26 and 
operatively connected to the fluid-pressure actuator 32 for reciprocating 
movement thereof upon actuation of the actuator 32. The fluid-pressure 
actuator 32 lies in parallel to the base 11 adjacent to the chute blade 26 
but extends at an angle to the chute blade 26 and the groove 16. When the 
actuator 32 is energized, the push rod 33 extends through the opening 34 
in the chute blade 26 to pivotally move the leading slider pull tab 20' 
toward its raised position, so as to retract the locking pawl out of the 
guide channel in the slider 17'. The pull tab positioning means 35 
comprises a plate 36 secured to a block 37 by a bolt 38 threadedly 
extending through an oblong aperture 39 in the plate 36 into the block 37. 
The block 37 is formed integrally with the base 11 at the other side of 
the groove 16 opposite to the longitudinal edge 27 of the chute blade 26. 
The plate 36 transversely overhangs the groove 16 for engagement with the 
pull tab 20' when the latter is in its raised position. The plate 36 is 
positionally transversely adjustable by loosening the bolt 38. The block 
37 has a sidewall 40 extending flush with the sidewall 22 of the groove 16 
for preventing the leading slider 17' from accidentally coming off from 
the chute blade 26 while the leading slider pull tab 20' is being pushed 
by the push rod 33 to move into the raised position. When the actuator 32 
is actuated to retract the push rod 33, the leading slider 17' falls by 
gravity into the groove 16 with its pull tab 20' directed substantially 
perpendicularly to the slider body wings. 
The slider feeding means 15 comprises a push rod 42 extending in the groove 
16 and operatively connected to a fluid-pressure actuator 43 (shown in 
block) mounted on the base 11. The push rod 42 is reciprocable, upon 
actuation of the actuator 43, in and along the groove 16 for feeding the 
slider 17' dropped in the groove 16 through the slider correcting means 25 
to the end of the discharge port 18 where the slider 17' is to be received 
by a slider holder 45 illustrated in FIG. 2. 
As shown in FIG. 2, the slider correcting means 25 comprises a pair of 
fingers 46, 47 disposed in the discharge port 18 and pivotally supported 
at their respective proximal ends respectively by a pair of pins 48, 48 on 
the base 11, and a pair of compression springs 49, 50 each acting between 
the base 11 and the distal end of one of the fingers 46, 47. The fingers 
46, 47 have confronting inner surfaces 51, 52 configured to jointly define 
therebetween a converged bay 53 and a slot 54 contiguous to the bay 53. 
The compression springs 49, 50, in their free state, retain the fingers 
46, 47 in such a position in which the slot 54 is normally defined for 
passage therethrough of the pull tab 20 of the slider 17. The confronting 
inner surfaces 51, 52 serve to guide the pull tab 20 toward the slot 54 
against displacement of the pull tab 20 from its raised position which may 
have occurred due to engagement with foreign matters trapped in the groove 
16. 
In operation, the hopper feeds the sliders 17 to the chute blade 26 while 
keeping the pull tabs of the sliders arranged in the recumbent position. 
The sliders 17 travel sideways by gravity down the longitudinal edge 27 of 
the chute blade 26 toward the groove 16 in the base 11. Upon engagement of 
the pull tab 20' of the leading slider 17' with the top surface 30 of the 
block 28, the sliders 17 are retained in a position ready for the 
successive placement in the groove 16, with their respective bodies 19 
vertically aligned with the groove 16. The fluid-pressure actuator 32 is 
then actuated to cause the push rod 33 to extend through the opening 34 in 
the chute blade 26 and move the leading slider pull tab 20' pivotally from 
the recumbent position to the raised position until the pull tab 20' abuts 
against the positioning plate 37. In this condition, the locking pawl 
retracts out of the guide channel in the slider 17'. When the actuator 32 
retracts the push rod 33, the leading slider 17' falls in the groove 16 
with its pull tab 20' directed substantially perpendicularly to the slider 
body wings. The push rod 42 is then pushed forwardly by the fluid-pressure 
actuator 43 to feed the slider 17' along the groove 16 through the bay 53 
and slot 54 to the end of the discharge port 18. As the slider 17' passes 
through the correcting means 25, the position of the pull tab 20' with 
respect to the slider body wings is corrected by the guiding engagement 
with the finger inner surfaces 51, 52 and the slot 54 even when the pull 
tab 20' is displaced out of its raised position upon engagement with the 
foreign matters in the groove 16. At the end of the discharge port 18, the 
pull tab 20' is received in a slot in the slider holder 45 for subsequent 
attachment of the slider to a pair of slide fastener stringers. 
While only one embodiment of the present invention has been shown and 
described in detail, it will be easy for those skilled in the art to 
devise many modifications and variations on the basis of this disclosure 
without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as expected 
in the following claims.