Patent Publication Number: US-5293668-A

Title: Method for making seals, in particular for garments, and seal in accordance with said method

Description:
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/551,949, filed Jul. 6, 1990, abandoned. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Seals (i.e. fasteners) are known, in particular for fixing labels or other to garments, made up of a flexible piece, e.g. a small cord, with clips which can be coupled inseparably at both ends. 
     Ordinarily said seals are stocked in bunches or bulk and this results easily in tangling of the flexible sections or hooking of the projections of the clips thereto which make the seals difficult to use because the seals must often be untangled in the parts with considerable slowing of the operations of affixing the seals in position. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The general object of the present invention is to obviate the aforesaid shortcomings and propose a method of making the seals and seals in accordance with the method which would be easy and quick to use without tangling problems. In view of said object it was thought to embody in accordance with the invention a method for making seals, in particular for garments, comprising each a body and at least one graft (i.e. gripper) element insertable in a complementary seat in the body and connected by a section of string or filament and characterized in that it forms in series at intervals on an unbroken string alternately bodies and graft elements to constitute with the string between them a connected plurality of seals separable by cutting the unbroken string. 
     This method also makes it possible to make a seal, in particular for garments, comprising a body and at least one graft element insertable in a complementary seat in the body and connected by a length of string and characterized in that it comprises bodies and graft elements formed by moulding on the string alternately at regular intervals. In addition it is provided that the string can continue unbroken to connect a plurality of seals separable by cutting. 
     To make clearer the explanation of the innovative principles of the present invention and its advantages in comparison with the known art there is described below with the help of the annexed drawings a possible embodiment as an example of the application of said principles. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of an unbroken plurality of seals made in accordance with the innovative principles claimed herein; 
     FIG. 2 shows a partial cross-section view of a seal of FIG. 1 separated; 
     FIG. 3 shows a partial side view of a possible form of graft cross sections of the seal shown in FIG. 2. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     One method of embodiment of seals in accordance with the invention consists of fixing in sequence at intervals on an unbroken string the parts making up graft elements of the seal in such a manner as to obtain an unbroken series of seals each made up of complementary graft parts and the length of string separating them. 
     It is thus advantageously possible to wind said series of seals on a spool or other support and avoid the possibility of tangling as with the seals of the known art and separate one seal at a time upon use, cutting the string at the point of junction between two adjoining seals. 
     With reference to the figures, in one example of embodiment applying said method as shown in FIG. 1 an unbroken string or filament 10 includes grafts or grippers made up of bodies of female gripper elements 11 and complementary graft elements 12 formed on said string. Each seal i.e. fasteners comprises a body 11 and two grafts 12 connected by the lengths of string between them. 
     FIG. 2 shows a section of a separated seal with the corresponding grafts 12. 
     As may be seen in said figure, the body 11 contains internally a seat 13 in the form of a through-bore parallel to filament 10 and shaped with teeth 14 complementary to pliable fins 15 in the grafts 12. 
     In this manner upon insertion of a graft in the seat 13 the fin 15 is bent against the body of the graft and allows penetration into the body (as with the graft shown on the left in the drawing) until it passes the tooth 14 so as to snap outward (as with the graft shown on the right of the drawing) and prevent subsequent withdrawal. To avoid errors of orientation in insertion of the graft, and thus failure to engage the fin with the respective tooth, its section can be made with a form complementary to the seat in the body 11 and irreversible, i.e. it can be inserted in the seat only in such a manner that the graft fin faces the tooth 14. 
     To achieve this it is enough that two side walls of the graft be formed asymmetrically as shown for example in FIG. 3. 
     Advantageously the bodies 11 and grafts 12 of the seals can be moulded directly in plastic on the unbroken string 10. 
     Each time a seal is needed in use it is enough to unroll a length of string to the first group of elements making up a seal and cut the string between said group and the following one. 
     In the example of embodiment in the figures this means cutting the length of string between two facing grafts 12. The seal thus separated is made up of a body and the corresponding grafts connected by a length of string and can thus be placed in use by inserting the elements 12 in the body 11 in such a manner that the two lengths of string form closed loops passing through the parts to be connected with the seal, e.g. a button hole of a garment and an explanatory label. 
     To minimize cord waste it is advantageous to place on the cord the near elements of two successive seals as close as possible while leaving between them only the space necessary for cutting. 
     From the above description the advantages of the present invention are obvious as it avoids the risk of tangling of the seals before use and makes positioning of said seals fast and easy. 
     Naturally the description of an embodiment in accordance with the invention is given here as an example and therefore is not to be understood as limiting the scope of the invention claimed. 
     For example, although in the description each seal comprises a body 11 and two grafts, it is obviously possible to imagine the embodiment of seals with a single graft 12 for each body 11 and then position on the string alternately a body and its graft separated by the distance desired for the length of the seal. 
     The system of fastening by snapping the grafts into the body of the seal can also be different. For example, it would be possible to embody grafts with two side fins arranged like an arrow for grafting in a corresponding seat of the body.