Slide fastener slider with detachable pull tab

A slide fastener slider includes an arch-shaped lug having a rear free end spaced from the top surface of an upper wing by a first gap larger than the diameter of the spindle of a pull tab, and a closure member slidably mounted in the upper wing and having a first closure projection normally disposed adjacent to the rear free end of the lug to substantially close the first gap. In order to prevent objectionable lateral oscillation of the pull tab relative to the lug without increasing the stroke of the closure member, the lug has on its underside an intermediate partition wall spaced from the top surface of the upper wall by a second gap at least equal to the first gap, and the closure member has a second closure projection normally disposed adjacent to the partition wall to substantially close the second gap. When the closure member is moved forwardly to displace the first and second closure projections, respectively, from the rear free end and the partition wall, the pull tab spindle can pass through the first and second gaps.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This application is related to my copending application, U.S. Ser. No. 
134,750 filed on even date herewith). 
The present invention relates generally to slide fasteners, and more 
particularly to a slide fastener slider having a detachable pull tab. 
2. Prior Art 
Japanese Utility Model Laid-open Publication No. 61-72209 discloses a slide 
fastener slider having a detachable pull tab. The disclosed slider 
includes an arch-shaped lug projecting from the top surface of an upper 
wing and terminating in a rear free end spaced from the top surface of the 
upper wing by a gap greater than the diameter of a spindle of the pull 
tab, and a closure member slidably mounted in the upper wing for opening 
and closing the gap to detachably connect the pull tab to a body of the 
slider. 
The known slider of the foregoing construction, however, is not fully 
satisfactory in that the cross-sectional area of the lug's rear free end A 
is considerably smaller than the area of an opening B in the pull tab C 
and hence the pull tab C is freely oscillatable about the spindle D in the 
lateral directions indicated by the arrows E, F shown in FIG. 9. If the 
pull tab C were laterally displaced during the sewing operation of a slide 
fastener having such slider G to an article such as a garment fabric or a 
bag, the displaced pull tab C would interfere with a sewing needle, 
thereby lowering the sewing efficiency and sometimes damaging or otherwise 
breaking the sewing needle. 
Such lateral displacent or oscillation of the pull tab C will not occur 
when the lug's rear free end A and the closure member H are elongated in 
the longitudinal direction of the slider G to such an extent that the 
opening B in the pull tab C is substantially filled with the elongated 
rear free end A and the elongated closure member H, as shown in FIG. 10. 
With this elongation of the rear free end A, the stroke I of the closure 
member H must be long enough to open and close the gap between the 
elongated rear free end A and the upper wing of the slider body J. In 
practice, however, the stroke I of the closure member H is restricted to a 
small extent so as not to lower the mechanical strength of the slider body 
J. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
With the foregoing difficulties in view, it is an object of the present 
invention to provide a slide fastener slider having a detachable pull tab 
in which the pull tab is stably mounted on a slider body without causing 
objectionable lateral displacement or oscillation. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide a slide fastener 
slider having a detachable pull tab which is automatically assembled on a 
slider body. 
A further object of the present invention is to provide a slide fastener 
slider having a closure member which has a relatively small stroke and 
hence does not lower the mechanical strength of the slider body. 
According to the present invention, a slide fastener slider includes an 
arch-shaped lug having a rear free end spaced from the top surface of an 
upper wing by a first gap larger than the diameter of the spindle of a 
pull tab, and a closure member slidably mounted in the upper wing and 
having a first closure projection normally disposed adjacent to the rear 
free end of the lug to substantially close the first gap. The lug has on 
its underside an intermediate partition wall spaced from the top surface 
of the upper wall by a second gap at least equal to the first gap, and the 
closure member has a second closure projection normally disposed adjacent 
to the partition wall to substantially close the second gap. When the 
closure member is moved forwardly to displace the first and second closure 
projections, respectively, from the rear free end and the partition wall, 
the pull tab spindle can pass through the first and second gaps. With this 
construction, the objectionable lateral oscillation of the pull tab 
relative to the lug is prevented without increasing the stroke of the 
closure member. 
Many other advantages and features of the present invention will become 
manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed 
description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which preferred 
structural embodiments incorporating the principles of the present 
invention are shown by way of illustrative example.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
FIGS. 1 through 3 show a first embodiment of slide fastener slider 
according to the present invention. The slider 11 includes a slider body 
having upper and lower wings 12a, 12b joined at their front ends by a neck 
13 so as to define therebetween a generally Y-shaped guide channel 14 for 
the passage therethrough of a pair of opposed rows of coupling elements of 
a slide fastener (not shown). The slider body is made by die-casting and 
has an arch-shaped lug 15 integral therewith and disposed on the top 
surface 12a' of the upper wing 12a. The arch-shaped lug 15 extends from 
the front end of the upper wing 12a and terminates in a downwardly 
directed rear free end 16 spaced from the top surface 12a' of the upper 
wing 12a by a predetermined gap 17 larger than the diameter of a spindle 
18 of a pull tab 19. The pull tab 19 has a rectangular opening 10a for 
being threaded over the lug 15, the opening 19a being partly defined by 
the spindle 18. 
The arch-shaped lug 15 has on its underside an intermediate partition wall 
20 disposed between the front and rear ends of the lug 15 and extending 
transversely across the width of the lug 15 so that there are two 
adjacent, downwardly open recesses 21, 22 defined on opposite sides of the 
partition wall 20. The partition wall 20 is spaced from the top surface 
12a' of the upper wall 12a by a gap 23 which is greater than the diameter 
of the pull tab spindle 18. The first recess 21 disposed adjacent to the 
rear free end 16 serves to temporarily receive the spindle 18 of the pull 
tab 19 before the spindle 18 is mutually received in the second recess 22 
desposed adjacent to the front end of the lug 15. 
The slider body has a recessed portion 24 extending longitudinally in the 
top surface 12a' of the upper wing 12a from its rear end and terminating 
short of the fixed front end of the lug 15. The recessed portion 24 has a 
central guide groove 25 formed in the bottom wall of the recessed portion 
24 and extending in a longitudinal central axis of the slider body, and a 
pair of lateral guide grooves 26, 26 extending in and along the opposite 
side walls of the recessed portion 24. The central guide groove 25 has an 
end extension 25a extending in the upper wing 12a below the front end of 
the lug 15 and terminating short of the front end of the upper wing 12a. 
The top surface 12a' of the upper wing 12a has a cutout 27 extending 
transversely along the rear end of the upper wing 12a and lying flush with 
the bottom surface of the recessed portion 24, and a pair of laterally 
spaced stopper projections 28, 28 disposed on the cutout 27 adjacent to 
the rear end of the upper wing 12a. The stopper projections 28 are 
slightly displaced laterally outwardly from the lateral guide grooves 25. 
The slider body further includes a closure member 29 slidably mounted in 
the recessed portion 24. The closure member 29 includes a rectangular base 
30 slidably received in the recessed portion 24, and a pair of parallel 
spaced closure projections 31, 32 integral with the base 30 and extending 
transversely of the longitudinal axis of the slider body. The closure 
projections 31, 32 are tapered and define therebetween an upwardly flared 
triangular recess 33. The tapered closure projections 31, 32 have 
respective top edges 31a, 32a spaced from one another by a distance which 
is equal to the distance between the rear free end 16 of the lug 15 and 
the partition wall 20. The closure member 29 further has a central guide 
ridge 34 extending longitudinally on the underside of the base 30 and 
slidably fitted in the central guide groove 25 in the upper wing 12a, and 
a pair of lateral guide ridges 35 (only one shown in FIG. 1) extending on 
the opposite side surfaces of the base 30 and slidably fitted in the 
lateral guide grooves 26 in the upper wing 12a. A resilient member 
comprising a compression coil spring 36 is disposed in the central guide 
groove 25 with part received in the end extension 25a. The spring 36 acts 
between the slider body and the closure member 29 to normally urge the 
closure member 29 toward the rear end of the slider body. The rearward 
movement of the closure member 29 is restricted by a pair of stops (not 
shown but described later on) engaging the rear ends of the respective 
lateral guide ridges 35 of the closure member 29. 
In production, the slider body is made by die-casing and initially has the 
two stopper projections 28 (FIG. 1) adjacent to the rear end of the upper 
wing 12a. As described above, the stopper projections 28 are displaced 
laterally outwardly out of alignment with the lateral guide grooves 26 in 
the upper wing 12a. Then, after the spring 36 and the closure member 29 
have been inserted in the recessed portion 24, the stopper projections 28 
are deformed or bent laterally inwardly into paths of movement of the 
lateral guide ridges 35 to thereby provide the respective stops. In this 
instance, the closure member 29 is held in a closed position (FIG. 2) in 
which the closure projections 31, 32 are disposed in vertical alignment 
with the rear free end 16 of the lug 15 and the partition wall 20, 
respectively, with slight spaces therebetween. Subsequently, the closure 
member 29 is moved from its closed position to its open position (not 
shown) aginst the bias of the spring 36 by simply pushing the closure 
projection 31 by the spindle 18 of the pull tab 19 until the closure 
projection 31 is brought into vertical alignment with the partition wall 
20. The pull tab spindle 18 has now threaded through the gap 17 into the 
first recess 21 in the lug 15, whereupon the closure member 29 returns to 
its closed position (FIG. 2) under the force of the spring 36 in which 
position the pull tab spindle 19 is temporarily received in a space formed 
jointly by the first recess 21 in the lug 15 and the recess 33 in the 
closure member 29. Thereafter, the pull tab 19 is pushed again to displace 
the closure projection 32 forwardly against the bias of the spring 36 
until the gap 23 is opened, whereupon the pull tab spindle 18 enters the 
second recess 22 in the lug 15. Thus, the pull tab 19 is threaded on the 
lug 15 with its spindle 18 received in the second recess 22. The closure 
member 29 is returned again to its closed position in which the closure 
projection 32 is disposed in vertical alignment with the partition wall 20 
to thereby prevent the pull tab 19 from accidental removal from the lug 
15. 
The lateral oscillation of the pull tab 19 is theoretically avoidable or 
restricted to a negligible extent, but in practice, due to cumulated 
manufacturing tolerance, the pull tab 19 is slightly oscillatable within 
an angle defined between two chain lines P--P and Q--Q with respect to the 
longitudinal center line O--O of the slider body, as shown in FIG. 3. Such 
angle of lateral oscillation is very small and hence does not affect the 
sewing operation of a slide fastener having the slider 11 to an article 
such as a garment fabric or a bag (not shown). 
To detach the pull tab 19 from the slider 11, the closure member 29 is 
manually moved forwardly against the force of the spring 36 from the 
closed position of FIG. 2 to the non-illustrated open position in which 
the closure projections 31, 32 are spaced respectively from the free end 
16 and the partition wall 20 to allow the spindle 18 of the pull tab 19 to 
pass successively through the gap 23 and the gap 17. 
A modified slider 37 shown in FIG. 4 is similar to the slider 11 of the 
foregoing embodiment but differs therefrom in that the rearward movement 
of the closure member 29 is restricted by the rear free end 38 of a lug 
39, instead of the stops (cf. the stopper projections 28 shown in FIG. 1). 
As the closure member 29 is disposed in closed position, the first closure 
projection 31 is disposed against the inner side of the lug's rear free 
end 38 under the bias of the spring 36. In production, the gap between the 
free end 38 of the lug 39 and the top surface of the upper wing 12a is 
initially large enough to allow the closure member 29 to be inserted into 
the recessed portion 24, at which time the closure projections 31, 32 can 
pass the free end 38 of the lug 39, as indicated by the phantom lines in 
FIG. 4. After the closure member 29 and the spring 36 are inserted in the 
recessed portion 24 until the closure projection 31 has passed the lug's 
free end 38, the lug 39 is deformed or bent downwardly by a force applied 
thereto as indicated by the arrow X in such a manner that the free end 38 
of the lug 39 is disposed below the top end of the closure projection 31 
and is spaced from the top surface of the upper wing 12a by the 
predetermined gap 17 larger than the diameter of the spindle 18. In this 
instance, the closure projection 32 is disposed beneath the partition wall 
20 on the lug 39. 
FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 2, but showing a slider 40 which differs 
from the slider 11 in that the free end 41 of an arch-shaped lug 42 is 
downwardly extended to a position close to the top surface 43a of a base 
43 of a closure member 44, and the closure member 44 has only one closure 
projection 45 confronting a partition wall 46 on the lug 42. The partition 
wall 46 is rearwardly flattened to provide a shoulder so that there are 
two adjacent recesses 47, 48 defined in the underside of the lug 42, 
respectively, between the free end 41 and the partition wall 46 and 
between the partition wall 46 and the front fixed end of the lug 42. In 
production, the gap between the free end 41 of the lug 42 and the top 
surface of the upper wing 12a is initially large enough to allow the 
closure member 44 to be inserted into the recessed portion 24, at which 
time the closure projection 45 can pass the free end 41 of the lug 42. 
After the closure member 44 together with the spring 36 is inserted in the 
recessed portion 24 until the closure projection 45 is disposed beneath 
the partition wall 46 to substantially close the gap 23, the stopper 
projections (identical with the projections 28 shown in FIG. 1) are 
deformed to provide the stops, thereby retaining the closure member 44 in 
its closed position. Then, the lug 42 is deformed or bent downwardly to 
the position shown in FIG. 3, in which the free end 41 of the lug 42 is 
located immediately above the top surface 43a of the base 43 and is spaced 
from the top surface of the upper wing 12a by the predetermined gap 17 
larger than the diameter of the spindle 18 of the pull tab 19. 
FIGS. 6 and 7 show an automatically lockable slider 50 having a detachable 
pull tab 19 (FIG. 7). The slider 49 includes a slider body having upper 
and lower wings 51a, 51b joined at one end by a neck 52 so as to define 
therebetween a generally Y-shaped guide channel 53 for the passage 
therethrough of a pair of opposed rows of coupling elements of a slide 
fastener (neither shown). The slider body is made by die-casing and has a 
pair of spaced upstanding supports 54 integral therewith and disposed on 
the top surface 51a' of the upper wing 51a adjacent to the front end 
thereof. The slider body also includes an arch-shaped hollow lug 55 
disposed over and around the supports 54 and secured at its front end 55a 
to the supports 54 by means of a tubular horizontal pin 56. A generally 
C-shaped locking member 57 is vertically disposed between the supports 54 
and has a front end pivotably supported on the pin 56. The locking member 
57 is normally urged by a compression coil spring 58 to turn clockwise 
about the pin 56 into its locking position shown in FIG. 7 in which a 
locking prong 59 projects through an aperture 60 in the upper wing 51a 
into the guide channel 53 to lock the slider 49 in position on the rows of 
coupling elements. 
The arch-shaped hollow lug 55 has a rear free end 61 spaced from the top 
surface 51a' of the upper wing 51a by a predetermined gap 62 (FIG. 7) 
larger than the diameter of a spindle 18 of the pull tab 19. The lug 55 
has a pair of longitudinally spaced arcuate recesses 63, 64 separated by a 
pair of laterally spaced partition walls 65 (only one shown). 
The slider body has a recessed portion 66 extending longitudinally in the 
top surface 51a' of the upper wing 51a from its rear end to the rear ends 
of the respective supports 54. The recessed portion 66 has a longitudinal 
guide groove 67 extending in the bottom wall of the recessed portion 66, 
and a pair of lateral guide grooves 68 extending in and along the opposite 
side walls of the recessed portion 66. The guide groove 67 is laterally 
displaced out of alignment with the longitudinal center line O--O of the 
slider 50, as shown in FIG. 6. 
The top surface 51a' of the upper wing 51a has a transverse cutout 69 
extending along the rear end of the upper wing 51a. A pair of stopper 
projections 70, 70 is disposed on the cutout 69 adjacent to the rear end 
of the slider body. Each of the stopper projections 70 is displaced 
laterally outwardly from the corresponding lateral guide groove 68. 
The slider body further has a generally U-shaped closure member 71 slidably 
mounted in the recessed portion 66 of the upper wing 51a. The closure 
member 71 has a pair of closure portions 72, 73 disposed at opposite ends 
thereof. The first closure portion 72 is in the shape of a flat land 
extending around the rear end of the closure member 71. The second closure 
portion 73 includes a pair of laterally spaced closure projections 73a, 
73b disposed on the front end of the closure member 71. The first and 
second closure portions 72, 73 are spaced from one another by the distance 
substantially equal to the distance between the free end 61 and the 
partition walls 65 of the lug 55. The closure member 71 further has a 
longitudinal guide ridge 74 on its bottom surface, and a pair of elongated 
lateral guide ridges 75 (only one shown) on its opposite side surfaces. 
The guide ridges 74, 75 are slidably fitted in the guide grooves 67, 68, 
respectively. A compression coil spring 76 (FIG. 6) is disposed in the 
guide groove 67 and acts between the slider body and the closure member 71 
to normally urge the closure member 71 toward the rear end of the slider 
body. The rearward movement of the closure member 71 is restricted by a 
pair of stops (not shown but described later on) engaging the lateral 
guide ridges 75 on the closure member 71. 
In assembly, the spring 76 and the closure member 71 are inserted in the 
recessed portion 66 of the upper wing 5 and then the stopper projections 
70 are bent inwardly in the paths of movement of the lateral guide ridges 
75 to thereby provide the respective stops. Then, after the locking member 
57 is disposed between the supports 54 with the spring 58 interposed 
between the slider body and the front end of the locking member 57, the 
lug 55 is disposed over the supports 54 and the locking member 57 and then 
the pin 56 is threaded through the lug 55, the supports 54 and the locking 
member 57 to pivotably connect the locking member 57 to the supports 54 
and the lug 55. In this instance, the closure member 71 is disposed in a 
closed position (FIG. 7) in which the first and second closure portions 
72, 73 are held in vertical alignment respectively with the free end 61 
and the partition walls 65 with slight spaces therebetween. Subsequently, 
the closure member 71 is moved forwardly from its closed position to its 
open position against the bias of the spring 76 by simply pusing the first 
closure portion or land 72 by the spindle 18 of the pull tab 19 until the 
closure land 72 is brought into vertical alignment with the partition 
walls 65. The pull tab spindle 18 has now threaded into the recess 63 
adjacent to the free end 61 through the gap 62 between the free end 61 and 
the top surface 51a' of the upper wing 51a, whereupon the closure member 
71 is returned to its closed position by the force of the spring 76. 
Thereafter, the pull tab 19 is pushed again until the closure projection 
73a, 73b are displaced forwardly by the spindle 18 out of vertical 
alignment with the partition walls 65, whereupon the spindle 18 is 
received in a rearwardly opening notch 77 in the locking member 57. Then 
the closure member 71 returns again to its closed position to thereby 
prevent the pull tab 19 from accidental removal from the slider body. When 
the pull tab 19 is pulled in the direction indicated by the arrow Y shown 
in FIG. 7, the locking member 57 is turned counter-clockwise about the pin 
56 to retract the locking prong 59 from the guide channel 53 into the 
aperture 60, thereby releasing the slider 50 from the locking engagement 
with the coupling elements. 
FIG. 8 shows a pair of padlockable slide fastener sliders 80, 81 mounted on 
a non-illustrated slide fastener in face-to-face confrontation to one 
another. The sliders 80, 81 are structurally and functionally the same as 
the slider 11 of the first-mentioned embodiment with the exception that 
the arch-shaped lug 82 larger in height than the lug 15 of the slider 11 
has a horizontal hole 83 through which the shackle of a padlock (not 
shown) is inserted, and the pull tab 84 has an aperture 85 receptive of 
the lug 82 of another slider 80 or 81. To lock the two sliders 80, 81, the 
pull tab 84 of the first slider 80 is overturned toward the second slider 
81 as indicated by the arrow Z until it lies flatwise against the pull tab 
84 of the second slider, with the lug 82 on the second slider 81 
projecting upwardly through the aperture 85 in the pull tab 84 of the 
first slider 80. Then, after the shackle of the padlock is threaded 
through the hole 83 of the second slider 81, the padlock is closed to hold 
the first and second sliders 80, 81 in locked condition. Because the pull 
tabs 84 of the sliders 80, 81 can maintain their proper orientation 
relative to the lugs 82 without causing undue lateral oscillation, the 
foregoing locking operation is achieved reliably with utmost ease. 
In any of the embodiments described above, objectionable lateral 
oscillation of the pull tab relative to the lug is prevented without 
increasing the stroke of the closure member because the effective 
cross-sectional aear of a pull tab retaining portion (namely, the rear 
free end of the lug and the closure projection of the closure member) is 
enlarged due to the provision of the intermediate partition wall on the 
lug and the second closure projection on the closure member. The pull tab 
retaining portion thus enlarged occupies the major portion of the mating 
aperture in the pull tab, thereby limiting the lateral oscillation of the 
pull tab to a negligible extent. Since the first and second gaps are 
opened concurrently upon displacent of the closure projections from the 
partition wall and the rear free end of the lug, the stroke of the closure 
member is not increased. 
Obviously, various modifications and variations of the present invention 
are possible in the light of the above teaching. It is therefoere to be 
understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may 
be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.