IMPROVEMENTS RELATING TO FASTENERS

Abstract: A fastener suitable for example for clothing comprises a pair of identical components (10). Each component (10) is E-shaped with a elongate base portion (16) forming the central limb disposed between elongate side limbs (18) which lie in elevated and spaced lateral relationship with respect to the base (16) defining a pair of longitudinal slots (22) closed at their inner most ends by interconnecting cranked web or bridge portions (20). The base (10) carries securing prongs (28) and the components fit together to establish interlocking fastening engagement with the side limbs (18) and the base (16) of one sliding respectively under the side limbs and over the base of the other in face to face engagement until the closed ends of the slots (22) are brought into mutually abutting contact. A transverse ridge (26) across the outer end region (16b) of the base (16) provides snap-engaging latching means for preventing inadvertent separation of the fastened components during use.

Description: IMPROVEMENTS RELATING TO FASTENERS Technical Field ' • This invention relates to fasteners suitable for use in releasably fastening together two overlapping parts composed of flexible sheet fabric material. It is, for example, especially, although not exclusively, applicable in the clothing field to the construction of clothing or garment fasteners such as are required for releasably fastening together the opposite ends of waistbands of trousers or skirts. . Background Art In the clothing field particularly, it has for many years been common practice in many countries to use two-part hook-and-eye fasteners that are usually in the form of small metal fittings adapted to be secured in place by integral attachment prongs which are passed through the thickness of the garment material and which are bent over and clenched against a complementary back-plate positioned on the underside of the material to provide a secure anchorage, an attachment machine known as a "clenching press" generally being employed for this purpose. Such hook-and-eye fasteners thus consist of a hook component, together with its associated back-plate, and an eye component, often termed a "bar" or "staple", with its associated back-plate. In the hook component, the attachment prongs are usually carried by a base which can cover an extensive area of the garment material to which it is applied so that, assuming the material is a woven textile fabric, a relatively large number of threads are contained within the attachment area clamped between the base and back-plate sufficient to give a very secure fixing, but in contrast the eye component can generally present only a relatively small base area for clamping to the garment material so that the fixing is generally considerably less strong and secure than that of the hook component. Moreover, the fact that two components of different structural form need to be manufactured and stocked, and different press tools are needed for attaching them, can represent a significant practical disadvantage. Another factor which is of considerable practical importance in the design of clothing fasteners is that o mechanical strength and resistance to detrimental crushi distortion under the action of a garment press. This requirement has been largely met by using, instead of t conventional U-shaped hook fasteners which were at one time commonplace, special crush-resistant or "non-crush" designs of hook components, such as are described for example in British Patent 777^37 ? " but the problem of providing high crushing resistance has still remained in respect of the eye component. Another aspect which has /not been .entirely satisfactory in the design of such hook-and-eye fastener hitherto in common use has been the behaviour of the fastener under high tensile forces. In general, their design has been such that the eye component engages and tends to bear against a portion of the hook component structure which is offset or set forwards to a significa extent from the plane of the base which is fixed to the garment material, with the result that under high tensil forces a strong turning moment is generated sufficient to cause the hook component as a whole to turn angularly out of line with the direction of pull of the eye member thereby disturbing the desired flat lying relationship o the ends of the waistband or other overlapping parts of the garment being fastened. On the other hand, at least some tensile forces mus usually be maintained with conventional types of hook-and-eye fasteners otherwise the components are liab to separate and become disengaged since they are not - usually provided with any retaining means to prevent suc disengagement when tension is released. Although certai designs incorporating retaining means have been proposed, in at least many cases these have not been found completely satisfactory, often being troublesome to use and manufacture and sometimes being such as to lead to ■ increased risks of wear and damage to the fabric material, and they have not been widely adopted. Thus, the more conventional kinds of hook-and-eye fasteners which are easy to use and manufacture and in which the hook component can be designed with high mechanical strength and crush-resistant characteristics are still in almost universal use in the clothing trade notwithstanding the disadvantages hereinbefore referred . to, even although there have also ' been some other previous proposals, such as for example in U.S. Patent No. 2778082, for alternatives designed in the form of two structurally identical mating components. Again, such alternative designs have usually had practical disadvantages so that they have not been generally satisfactory, and again they have not been widely adopted. Disclosure of Invention There is therefore scope for developments and improvements in the structural design of such fasteners which can fully satisfy the requirements of the clothing trade and, preferably, which can meet the needs of a wider range of users so as to be more universally applicable than many previous structural designs. It is accordingly with this aspect of providing a more satisfactory alternative or improved structural design of two part releasable fasteners, suitable at least for the clothing trade, that this invention is concerned. More particularly, the present invention provides a fastener suitable for use in releasably fastening together two overlapping parts composed of flexible sheet fabric carrier material, such as for example the opposite ends of waistbands of trousers or skirts or other overlapping parts of articles of wearing apparel, which O PI - -V - fastener comprises a pair of structurally identical mat fastener components adapted to be secured respectively the two overlapping parts that are to be fastened and t hook and slidably fit together to establish interlockin fastening engagement, each said fastener component including a base of generally planar elongate form designed to seat upon the fabric material of the respective overlapping part to which the fastener component is secured, fixing means associated with said base for use in the securing of the fastener component to the fabric material, guide tongue means arranged to engage and co-act with the guide tongue means of the other fastener component to guide and locate both, fastener components when they are slidably fitted together in establishing the interlocking fastening engagement, and limit stop means arranged to engage and co-act with the limit stop means of the other fastener component to limit the extent of relative sliding movement between them when they are slidably fitted together and to bear longitudinal tensile forces impose upon the fastener when in use, the structure of each fastener component being such that the base, extending the longitudinal direction of the fastener component, i centrally disposed between a pair of generally planar wing-like side limbs providing said guide tongue means which are set forwards so as to extend longitudinally either side of the base in elevated lateral relationshi therewith, said wing-like side limbs having inner root end portions integrally jointed to the inner end region of the base by interconnecting web or bridge portions a having longitudinally projecting outer free end portion spaced from the outer end region of the base to define a pair of longitudinal slots of which the innermost end are closed and provide said limit stop means, whereby "the fastener components each have a substantially E-shaped configuration and slidably fit together with t side limbs and base of the one fastener component, form the arms of the E, sliding respectively underneath the side limbs and over the base of the other component in face to face engagement until the closed ends of said slots are brought into mutually abutting contact. Preferably, each fastener component also includes latching means arranged to snap engage with the latching means of the other fastener component when both fastener components are slidably fitted together so as then to act in retaining the fastener components in their interlocking fastening engagement and to protect against accidental disengagement and release. In preferred embodiments, such latching means comprises a raised rib or ridge extending transversely across the outer end region of the base adapted to engage and snap over the corresponding raised rib or ridge of the other component shortly before the two fastener components reach their fully engaged position. The fastener components will generally be made of sheet metal. The base is conveniently of substantially rectangular shape with the fixing means comprising integral attachment prongs which are disposed at opposite ends of the base and which are adapted to penetrate through the carrier material and to be bent over and clenched against an underlying back-plate. Preferably, the outer free end portions of the side limbs project beyond the outermost end of the base and, advantageously, beyond the rim of such underlying back-plate so as to be in slightly overhanging relationship with the latter, thereby to facilitate initial engagement of the two fastener components. Also, the side limbs may be slightly angled from their root ends to increase the elevation of their outermost free ends, although in general the elevation should be very shallow and is preferably not substantially greater than the thickness of the sheet metal of which the components are composed at at least the root ends of the side limbs. _OMPI_ In preferred embodiments, the web or bridge portio interconnecting the base and the inner root end portions of the side limbs have an obliquely cranked configuratio and extend along opposite sides of the inner end region of the base to provide inclined terminal edge faces closing the innermost ends of the longitudinal slots, these inclined terminal edge faces forming the limit stop means which are brought into abutting contact, in intersecting relationship close to the plane of the base with the corresponding inclined terminal edge faces of- the other fastener component when the two fastener components are moved fully into interlocking fastening engagement. These terminal edge faces forming the closed ends of the slots and representing the boundary between the inner and outer end regions of the base are preferably located midway along the length of the base, or at least within the middle third of the length of the base. By way of example, the invention will be more particularly described with reference to a two-part clothing or garment fastener, representing one form of preferred embodiment thereof, which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Brief Description of Drawings In said drawings, Figure 1 is a front view of one of two structurall identical components of the fastener; Figure 2 is a view of a back-plate used with the fastener component of Figure 1 for anchoring it in place when secured to garment material^ Figure 3 is an edge view of the fastener component of Figure 1; ' Figure is an end view thereof, as seen from the right-hand end in Figure 1 ; . Figure 5 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view on line V-V of Figure 1 ; Figure 6 is a transverse cross-sectional view on line VI-VI of Figure 1 ; Figure 7 is a longitudinal section showing a pair of the fastener components making up the complete fastener secured to overlapping end parts of a garment waistband and interlocked in fastening engagement, as when in use; Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure 7 " but showing the two fastener components at an earlier stage in being slidably fitted together before full fastening engagement is established; and Figure 9 i a transverse sectional view on line IX-IX of Figure 7- • Preferred Mode for Carrying Out the Invention In the preferred embodiment which is illustrated by way of example in the drawings, the fastener comprises a pair of the fastener components 10 which are adapted to be secured respectively to two overlapping parts of the garment that are to be fastened, such as the opposite end parts 12a. and 12b_ of a garment waistband as shown in Figures 7 to 9 5 using a back-plate 14 such as is shown in Figure 2 as an anchorage member. Each fastener component 10 is conveniently produced from a single piece of sheet metal and has a substantially E-shaped configuration, as shown, providing an elongate base 16 of generally planar rectangular form, extending in the longitudinal direction, which is centrally disposed between a pair of generally planar wing-like side limbs 18, 18, having inner root end portions 18a, 18a., integrally joined to the inner end region 16a of the base 16 by interconnecting cranked web or bridge portions 20, 20. The wing-like side limbs 18, 18, are thereby set forwards so as to extend longitudinally either side of the base 16 in elevated lateral relationship therewith, longitudinally projecting outer free end portions 18b, 18b, of the side limbs being spaced from the outer end region 16b of the base - 8 - to define a pair of longitudinal slots 22, 22, of which the innermost ends are closed by inclined terminal edge faces 24, 24, of the cranked web or bridge portions 20, 20. The closed ends of the slots 22, 22, provided by the faces 24, 24, form limit stop means as hereinafter described, and as will be seen from the drawings they lie in a transverse plane which is disposed substantial midway along the length of the base 16 and which represents the dividing boundary between the inner and outer end regions 16a. and 16b. Immediately adjacent and forwards of this transver plane through the closed ends of the slots, within the outer end region 16b, the base 16 is formed with a shallow transverse rib-like ridge 26 constituting a latching retaining means, and at each opposite end the base carries a pair of integral attachment prongs 28, 28, which initially are bent back so as to extend perpendicular to the plane of the base. In securing the fastener to.the garment material o which it is to be used, conveniently with the aid of an attachment machine, each fastener component 10 is appli so that the base 16 seats upon a surface of the.garment material and the prongs 28, 28, are caused to piece and penetrate through the thickness of the material and to engage with a back-plate 14 positioned on the underside, the prongs then being eBt over and clenched against the back-plate to anchor the fastener component in place in a conventional manner. The back-plate 14 in this embodiment is in the for of a circular sheet-metal plate, of a diameter similar to the width of the components 10, having a reinforcing channel-section rim 34 and a row of three rectangular apertures 35 ? 36 and 37* P use, the two pairs of prongs 28, 28, respectively register with and pass through the end apertures 35 and 37 ? a d. when bent over and clenched they may be caused to lie substantially flat against the face of the back-plate 14 with their pointed tips turned over slightly so as to enter into the central aperture 36 in protective shielded relationship. The back-plate 14 may, . in fact, have the appearance of a circular button with the clenched prongs representing stitching and this can be useful when it is to be applied to an exposed surface of a garment, but it will be understood that many alternative designs of apertured back-plate can be provided, as desired, for the fastener components in question. Advantageously, however, as with the back-plate 14 which is illustrated the relative size of each back-plate is such that when the fastener components 10 are secured in place the tips of the outer free end portions 18b, 18b, of the side limbs project slightly beyond the underlying back-plate rim contour to facilitate initial engagement of the : fastener components as hereinafter described. It will be seen that the depth of each interconnecting cranked web or bridge portion 20 is very shallow such that at their innermost ends the side limbs 18, 18, are elevated above the leval of the base 16 by a distance substantially equal to the thickness of the shee -me al, although the side limbs 18, 18, are slightly angled so that their elevation increases somewhat towards their projecting outermost ends which extend beyond the outermost end of the base 16 and terminate in slightly overhanging relationship with the. rim 34 of the respective underlying back-plate 14 when the fastener components 10 are secured in place. In use, to establish interlocking fastening engagement the fastener components 10 secured to the respective parts of the garment are hooked and slidably fitted together, a first stage in the operation being as shown in Figure 8 where the outer free end portions 18b, 18b, of the side limbs 18, 18, are engaged one behind the other. This initial engagement is facilitated OMPl by the slightly angled contour of the side limbs 18, 18, and by the slightly overhanging relationship with the edge or rim of the back-plate 14 which allows the flexible garment material to be retracted to increase t clearance space available. Af er the initial engagement, the respective parts of the garment are then moved to cause the fastener components to move further in a longitudinal direction, relatively towards one another, with the side limbs 18, 18, of one sliding in face to face engagement underneath the side limbs 18, 18, of the other and, beyond an intermediate stage, with the base 16 of the o component sliding over the base 16 of the other compone again in face to face engagement. Towards the end of this operation, the transverse ridges 26 on the bases 16 of the two components engage and, by exerting an increased pressure, are caused to snap over one another, and finally, as shown in Figures 7 and 9 ? the terminal edge faces 24, 24, defining the closed end of the slots 22, 22, of the respective components, will be brought into mutually abutting contact close to the plane of the base, meeting one another in intersecting relationship due to their inclined orientations, to provide limit stop means preventing further relative sliding movement and bearing longitudinal tensile forces imposed upon the fastener when in use. To release the fastener, the two components 10 can readily be separated by sliding them away from one another in the opposite direction, again using sufficie force to cause the ridges 26 to snap over one another to free the components. It will, however, be appreciate that the ridges 26 will normally function as latching retaining means effective to retain the fastener components in their interlocking fastening engagement and to protect against accidental disengagement and release in use when the fastener is not subjected continuously to longitudinal tensile forces. For this reason, this form of fastener is well suited for use not only in connecting together the ends of garment waistbands where such continuous tensile forces are usually present, but also in connecting together other overlapping parts of garments, or of other articles composed of flexible sheet fabric material, where continuous tensile forces are not expected to be present. The dimensions of the transverse ridges 26 and their distance from the closed ends of the slots 20, 20, will determine of course the amount of free movement, if any, between the fastener components when fastened. It will be appreciated that the structure of the fastener components described provides a very shallow fitting which can lie very closely against the surface of the material to which it is attached and has a high mechanical strength, arising especially from the shallow double-cranked configuration in transverse cross-section, which makes it able to resist high tensile forces and very resistant to detrimental crushing distortion under the action of a garment press for example. Moreover, the base is well adapted to provide a very secure attachment to the carrier material, covering an area embracing a considerable number of individual threads if the material is a conventional woven textile material, and the secure attachment Is the same for both components of the fastener. Furthermore, the central disposition of the base with the limit stop means provided by the closed ends of the slots which are situated approximately midway along the length of the base and which contact in abutting engagement closely adjacent to the plane of the base leads to a well balanced structure in which torsional effects tending to turn or twist the fastener components out of alignment when the fastener is under high tensile forces are kept to a minimum. The fastener components are also readily manufactured from sheet metal by conventional pressing operations which do not involve severe treatment of the metal whic is likely .to lead to mechanical weaknesses and there are no covered surfaces or recesses likely to trap moisture and encourage corrosion for example. Thus, the fastener has an eminently practical desi with very satisfactory and versatile characteristics well suited not only to the needs of the clothing trade but also to those of other users of fasteners for flexible sheet fabric material.

Claims: CIAIMS . A astener suitable or use in releasably fastening together two overlapping parts composed of flexible sheet fabric carrier material, such as for example the opposite ends of waistbands of trousers or skirts or other overlapping parts of articles of wearing apparel, which fastener comprises a pair of structurally identical mating fastener components (10) adapted to be secured respectively to the two overlapping parts that are to be fastened and to hook and slidably fit together to establish interlocking fastening engagement, each said fastener component including a base (16) of generally planar elongate form designed to seat upon the fabric material of the respective overlapping part to which the fastener component is secured, fixing means (28) associated with said base for use in the securing of the fastener component to the fabric material, guide tongue means arranged to engage and co-act with the guide tongue means of the other fastener component to guide and locate both fastener components, when they are slidably fitted together in establishing the interlocking fastening engagement, and limit stop means arranged to engage and co-act with the limit stop means of the other fastener component to limit the extent of relative sliding movement between them when they are slidably fitted together and to bear longitudinal tensile forces imposed upon the fastener when in use, characterised in that the structure of each fastener component is such that the base, extending in the longitudinal direction of the fastener component, is centrally disposed between a pair of generally planar wing-like side limbs (18) providing said guide tongue means which are set forwards so as to extend longitudinally either side of the base (16) in elevated lateral relationship therewith, said wing-like side limbs having inner root end portions(18a) integrally joined to the inner end region (16a) of the base by interconnecting web or bridge portions (20) and having lonitudinally projecting outer free end portions (18b) spaced from the outer end region (16b) of the bas to define a pair of longitudinal slots (22) of which th innermost ends (24) are closed and provide said limit stop means, whereby the fastener components (10) each have a substantially E-shaped configuration and slidabl fit together with the side limbs (18) and base (16) of the one fastener component, forming the arms of the E, sliding respectively underneath the side limbs and over the base of the other component in face to face engagement until the closed ends (24) of said slots are brought into mutually abutting contact. 2. A fastener as claimed in Claim 1, further characterised in that each fastener component (10) also includes latching means (26) arranged to snap engage with the latching means (26) of the other fastener component when both fastener components are slidably fitted together so as then to act in retaining the fastener components in their interlocking fastening engagement and to protect against accidental disengagement and release. 3. A fastener as claimed in Claim 2, further characterised in that said latching means of each fastener component (10) comprises a raised rib or ridge (26) extending transversely across the outer end region of the base adapted to engage and snap over the corresponding raised rib or ridge (26) of the other component shortly before the two fastener components reach their fully engaged position. 4. A fastener as claimed in Claim 2, further characterised in that for each component (10) the base (16) is of substantially rectangular shape with the fixing means comprising integral attachment prongs (28) which are disposed at opposite ends of the base and which are adapted to penetrate through the carrier material in order to be bent over and clenched against OM an underlying back-plate (14) . 5- A fastener as claimed in Claim 2, further characterised in that for each component (10) the outer free end portions (18b) of the side limbs (18) project beyond the outermost end (16b) of the base. 6. A fastener as claimed in Claim 2, further characterised in that for each component (10) the side limbs (18) are slightly angled from their root ends (18a) to increase the elevation of their outermost free ends (18b). 7. A fastener as claimed in Claim 2, further characterised in that for each component (10) the elevation, with respect to the base (16) , of the side limbs (18) at their root ends (18ει) is not substantially greater than the thickness of sheet metal of which the components are composed. 8. A fastener as claimed in any of the preceding claims, further characterised in that for each component (10) the web or bridge portions (20) in erconnecting the base (16) and the inner root end portions (18;a) of the side limbs (18) have an obliquely cranked configuration and extend along opposite sides of the inner end region (16a) of the base to provide inclined terminal edge faces (24) closing the innermost ends of the longitudinal slots (22) , these inclined terminal edge faces forming the limit stop means which are brought into abutting contact, in intersecting relationship close to the plane of the base, with the corresponding inclined terminal edge faces of the other fastener component when the two fastener components are moved fully into interlocking fastening engagement. 9. A fastener as claimed in Claim 8, further characterised in that said terminal edge faces forming the closed ends of the slots and representing the boundary between the inner and outer end regions of the base are located adjacent the midpoint of length of the base.

Inventors: CRUSE A
Applicants: WALKER LTD T
Application year: 1979
Main classification: A44B13
IPC codes: A41F1, A44B13