Slide fastener stringers

A slide fastener stringer tape comprising a major region made of a knitted fabric with an open, net-like texture, and a relatively narrow scoop-carrying region made of a warp-knitted fabric. The major tape region is longitudinally subdivided into several subregions of progressively finer mesh size from the one lying along one of its longitudinal edges to the one lying along the other longitudinal edge. The scoop-carrying region is arranged next to and along the finest mesh subregion of the major tape region, for supporting thereon a row of scoops of any desired type.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to slide fasteners, and more specifically to 
improvements in the stringers of slide fasteners for particular use with 
fishing nets, tents, covering sheets of fabric used at sites of 
construction, and similar articles. 
The stringer tapes of slide fasteners as heretofore made have been fine 
textured and are therefore not quite suitable for use with the above 
listed articles having portions where permeability to fluids is required 
or at least desirable. When conventional slide fasteners are employed for 
interconnecting sections of fishing nets or protective fabric coverings 
used at construction sites, for example, their fine-textured stringer 
tapes hardly permit the passage therethrough of currents of ocean water or 
air. The stringer tapes thus augment the pulling forces applied to the 
fasteners by the currents of fluids. Moreover, the stringer tapes are 
incapable of absorbing such intense crosswise pulls, so that their 
connections to the article edges are particularly liable to be broken. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is a principal object of this invention to provide improved stringers 
for slide fasteners which find special utility when used with fishing nets 
and other articles having portions required to be permeable to fluids. 
Another object of the invention is to provide stringer tapes which are 
highly permeable to fluids and which are capable of effectively absorbing 
or distributing crosswise pulls to be exerted on the fasteners in their 
intended applications. 
A further object of the invention is to provide fastener stringers which 
can be easily attached to desired articles. 
Briefly, this invention is directed to the provision of a stringer tape for 
supporting thereof a row of scoops or fastener elements, the stringer tape 
including a major region made of a knitted fabric with a net-like texture 
and longitudinally divided into a plurality of subregions of increasingly 
finer mesh size from the one lying along one of the longitudinal edges of 
the major region toward the one lying along the other longitudinal edge 
thereof. The stringer tape further includes a relatively narrow 
scoop-carrying region on which the row of scoops is to be mounted. 
Extending along the said other longitudinal edge of the major region, the 
scoop-carrying region is made of a fabric, preferably a warp-knitted 
fabric. 
For use a pair of such stringers are combined to provide a slide fastener 
which can be opened and closed by a usual slider movable in both 
directions along the interlocking rows of scoops. The slide fastener of 
this character is best suited for use in the aforementioned applications 
because the open, net-like texture of the major stringer tape regions 
offer minimum resistance to the passage of fluids therethrough and also 
because the warp-knitted fabric of the scoop-carrying regions is coarser 
than woven fabrics. 
Furthermore, since the mesh of each stringer tape becomes progressively 
coarser from the scoop-carrying region toward the outermost subregion, a 
crosswise pull on the fastener can be effectively distributed over its 
length so that no intense, localized force is to be applied to the coupled 
rows of scoops. The connections between the stringer tapes and the article 
edges can also be protected from premature breakage under normal working 
conditions. The useful life of the slide fastener can therefore be 
materially extended. 
The above and other objects, featured and advantages of this invention and 
the manner of attaining them will become more apparent, and the invention 
itself will best be understood, from a consideration of the following 
description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings showing 
certain preferred embodiments of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
A pair of slide fastener stringers shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and generally 
designated 10 are representative of numerous possible embodiments of this 
invention. In FIG. 1, the fastener stringers 10 comprise tapes 11 carrying 
interlocking rows of scoops or fastener elements 12 of any known or 
suitable type which are shown coupled together. Each stringer tape 11 is 
broadly composed of a major region 13 made of a knitted fabric with an 
open, net-like texture, and a scoop-carrying region 14 of relatively small 
width made of a warp-knitted fabric. 
The major region 13 of each stringer tape 11 is longitudinally subdivided 
into a plurality of, three in the illustrated embodiment, subregions 15, 
16 and 17. The net-like texture of three subregions 15 to 17 becomes 
progressibely finer in mesh from the one lying along one of the 
longitudinal edges of the major region 13 toward the one lying along the 
other longitudinal edge. 
The scoop-carrying region 14 of each stringer tape extends along the said 
other longitudinal edge of the major region 13, so as to lie next to its 
finest mesh subregion 17. The warp-knitted fabric of which the 
scoop-carrying region 14 is made is preferably finer in gauge or mesh than 
the subregion 17 of the major region 13 and can, for example, be a 
combination of tricot and crochet work. The scoops 12 are clamped or 
otherwise secured to this scoop-carrying region in the conventional 
manner. 
With reference to FIG. 2, in the use of the slide fastener incorporating 
the pair of stringers 10 of the foregoing construction, the coarsest mesh 
subregions 15 of the major tape regions 13 may ordinarily be attached to 
the desired edges of an article 18 such as a fishing net by any suitable 
means. Preferably, the pitch of the meshes in the longitudinal direction 
of these coarsest mesh subregions should be made equal to the pitch of the 
meshes in the fishing net, or of eyelets in fabric coverings or the like, 
in order that the fastener stringers may be attached to such articles more 
easily and more neatly. 
FIG. 3 illustrates another preferred embodiment of this invention, which 
differs from the preceding embodiment in that the tape 11a of each 
fastener stringer 10a has another warp-knitted fabric region 19 formed 
along the longitudinal edge of its major region 13 opposite to the 
scoop-carrying region 14. Due to the warp-knitted fabric regions 19, the 
pair of fastener stringers 10a can be attached to desired articles more 
easily by any such known method as stitching, bonding, or fusion welding. 
Furthermore, since the major region 13 of each stringer tape has its 
opposite longitudinal edges reinforced by the pair of warp-knitted fabric 
regions 14 and 19, the net-like texture of this major region can be 
stabilized. 
In still another preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. 
4, the tape 11b of each fastener stringer 10b has its major region 13b so 
knitted that its open, net-like texture has a tendency to be held in a 
transversely contracted state, as depicted by the solid lines in the 
drawing. In use the major tape region 13b can be expanded by crosswise 
pulling forces applied thereto by the article, as indicated by the two-dot 
dashlines in the same drawing. 
Knitted in the above described manner, the major tape regions 13b of the 
fastener stringers 10b can have the same texture as that of, for example, 
fishing nets manufactured by known machines that are used exclusively for 
that purpose. The fastener stringers 10b are therefore extremely easy to 
attach to such fishing nets and are also easy to handle. 
It will now be clear that the objects as set forth above have been fully 
accomplished by the several practical forms of the fastener stringers 
disclosed. It is also understood, however, that the invention itself is 
not to be restricted by the exact showings of the accompanying drawings or 
the description thereof. For instance, the scoops mounted on the 
scoop-carrying regions of the various stringer tapes are shown to be of 
the discrete type, but this is purely by way of example. Any other type of 
scoops, which may be made of either plastics or metal, can be employed 
depending upon the intended applications or expected working conditions of 
the fastener stringers according to the invention. 
The above and other modifications or variations of this invention within 
the usual knowledge of those skilled in the art are intended in the 
foregoing disclosure. It is therefore appropriate that the invention be 
construed broadly and in a manner consistent with the scope of the 
following claims.