Patent ID: 6973704

Claim:
An apparatus for inserting a slider onto a flexible zipper tape, comprising: a zipper tape guide that supports a section of zipper tape in a slider insertion zone and guides advancement of said zipper tape along a line; a mechanism for displacing a slider from a pre-insertion position to an inserted position on said section of said zipper tape located in said slider insertion zone; and a channel that surrounds and guides said slider from a transition point to said pre-insertion position, wherein said channel has a contoured axis and a cross-sectional profile at each point along said contoured axis that is shaped to limit changes in orientation of said slider relative to said channel as said slider travels along said channel to a degree that the orientation of said slider follows the orientation of a section of said channel in which said slider is positioned, said channel being contoured so that the orientation of said slider, relative to a fixed frame of reference, changes during transit from said transition point to said pre-insertion position by not less than 90 degrees, said slider contacting only said channel during said transit from said transition point to said pre-insertion position.