Slider holder with a self-actuated release mechanism
United States Patent [1 1 Kawakami et al.  
 [ Apr. 1, 1975 SLIDER HOLDER WITH A SELF-ACTUATED RELEASE MECHANISM [75] Inventors: Koichi Kawakami, Kurobe; Tatsuo Osaki, Uozu, both of Japan [73] Assignee: Yoshida Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha,  
 Tokyo, Japan [22] Filed: Apr. 17, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 461,630  
 [30] Foreign Application Priority Data Apr. 19, 1973 Japan 48-44495 52 us. Cl 29/2075 SL 511 Int. Cl. B23p 19/04 [58] Field of Search 29/207.5 SL, 207.5 R,  
 29/2075 ST, 200 J, 200 P, 408, 409  
 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,789,487 2/1974 Kawakami 29/2075 SL Primary Examiner-Thomas H. Eager Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Bucknam and Archer l ABSTRACT In a slider holder of the type including an upright support structure having a slider rest on its top and movable up and down through a hollow guide structure, there is provided a device for automatically releasing a slider from the slider rest as a fastener chain has been assembled therethrough. The device comprises a pair of release arms pivotally supported on the guide struc ture in opposed relationship to each other and yieldably urged into abutment against the opposite surfaces, respectively, of the support structure when the same is held in its most elevated position, Upon descent of the support structure into the guide structure, the free ends of the release arms slide along the respective opposite surfaces of the support structure to engage the slider mounted in upside-down disposition on the slider rest and hence to release the slider from the slider rest as the support structure continues descending to its most depressed position within the guide structure.  
 4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEU APR 1 9 5 SH&#39;LU 1 0f 2 FIG.3  
 m m w W SLIDER HOLDER WITH A SELF-ACTUATED RELEASE MECHANISM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a device for holding a slider during assemblage therethrough of a fastener chain or a pair of fastener stringers. More specifically, the invention concerns some improvements in such slider holder whereby the slider is automatically released therefrom each time the fastener chain has been threaded through the guide channels of the slider.  
  Various types of slider holders have been proposed with a view of efficiency in the assemblage of slide fasteners. However, such prior art slider holders have usually been such that the operator is required to manually operate some actuating mechanism to release the slider after the fastener chain has been manipulated therethrough. It will be apparent that true efficiency in fastener assemblage cannot be realized unless the stoppages required regularly for the release of the assembled sliders are eliminated.  
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is. therefore, an object of this invention to provide an improved slider holder wherein the slider can be automatically released following assemblage of a fastener chain therethrough, so that slide fasteners can be assembled continuously in a truly efficient manner.  
  Another object of the invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive, and absolutely self-actuated release mechanism whereby the slider can be released unfailingly from the slider holder without any possibility of causing trouble in its functioning.  
  All these and various other ancillary objects are accomplished, according to this invention, in a slider holder of the type including an upright support structure having a slider rest on its top and slidably mounted in a hollow guide structure for up-and-down motion therethrough. A slider is placed upside down on the slider rest in a depressed position of the support structure within the guide structure, and a fastener chain is assembled through the slider in the most elevated position of the support structure. In order to release the slider as the same has been assembled with the fastener chain, a pair of opposed release arms are pivotally supported on the guide structure and are spring-energized toward each other. Upon descent of the support structure from its most elevated position, the free ends of the release arms slide along the respective opposite surfaces of the support structure to engage the assembled slider and hence to release the same from the slider rest as the support structure continues descending to its depressed position for receiving the next slider. The vertical reciprocation of the support structure within the guide structure is thus utilized for automatic release of the successive assembled sliders from the slider rest, so that no actuating mechanism is required for the operation of the release arms.  
 The features which are believed to be novel and characteristic of this invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and mode of operation, together with the further objects and advantages thereof, will become more fully apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference characters denote like parts of the several views.  
 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a slider holder constructed in accordance with the novel concepts of this invention;  
  FIG. 2 is a partly broken away side elevational view of the slider holder of FIG. I, in which the support structure is shown in its fully elevated position;  
  FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the arrangement of FIG. 2; and  
  FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the slider holder in which the support structure is shown in its depressed position.  
 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS With particular reference to FIG. 1, the slider holder illustrated therein by way of a&#39;preferred embodiment of this invention is broadly comprised of an upright support structure 10, a hollow guide structure 11. and a feed mechanism 12. The support structure 10 is slidably mounted within the guide structure 11 for up-anddown motion therethrough and includes an upper portion 13 of substantially pyramidal shape which projects upwardly of the guide structure when the support structure is in its most elevated position. Formed on the top of this support structure I0 is a slider rest adapted to fixedly support a slider 14 of the usual construction placed upside down thereon, as hereinafter set forth in more detail.  
  As will be seen also from FIGS. 2 to 4, the slider rest includes a first channel 15 adapted to receive a lug 16 arranged longitudinally on the channeled body of the slider 14 and a second channel 17 adapted to receive a pull tab 18 pivotally and slidably attached to the lug 16. The first and second channels 15 and 17 are thus disposed at right angles with each other on the top of the support structure 10. The slider rest differs in form with the type of slider 14 used. Where the tab 18 projects directly from the slider body in the absence of lug 16, the first channel 15 may be dispensed with.  
  The hollow guide structure 11 may be mostly buried within a working table 19, and a pair of opposed slots 20 are formed vertically in the upper end portion of the guide structure projecting upwardly of the working table. As will be seen from FIGS. 1 and 3 in particular, the slots 20 are vertically aligned with the open lateral ends, respectively, of the aforesaid second channel 17 formed in the support structure 10.  
  Accommodated in the respective slots 20 with appropriate clearance is a cooperative pair of release arms 21 each pivotally supported at its bottom end by a shaft 22 extending across each slot. These release arms 21 are biased toward each other as by means of torsion springs 23 fitted over the respective shafts 22. The top ends of the release arms 21 are cut at such an-angle that they will offer horizontal surfaces in coplanar relationship when the release arms are turned to their operative positions shown in FIG. 4, in order to properly support the channeled body of the slider 14 thereon. The opposed inside surfaces of the release arms 21 should be grooved or otherwise recessed longitudinally as indicated at 24 in FIGS. 1 and 3 in order that the lateral edges of the slider pull tab 18 may be received in such grooves.  
  Preferably, guide grooves 25 should be formed on the opposite surfaces of the upper portion 13 of the support structure to direct the respective release arms 21 therealong and further to permit their grooved upper end portions to positively engage the slider 14 upon descent of the support structure into the guide structure 11. The feed mechanism 12 may be of any known or suitable configuration as long as the same is capable of delivering successive sliders in upside-down disposition onto the slider rest.  
  In the operation of this slider holder, each slider 14 which has been conveyed by the feed mechanism 12 is deposited upside down on the slider rest on the top of the support structure 10 when the same is in its depressed position within the guide structure 11. The slider thus placed on the slider rest, of course, has its lug l6 neatly received in the first channel 15 and its pull tab 18 in the second channel 17. The support structure 10 is then caused to rise, by any suitable means known to the specialists, through the guide structure 11 to its fully elevated position illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, thereby causing the grooved upper ends of the release arms 21 to turn away from each other to their inoperative or standby positions against the forces of the respective torsion springs 23.  
  The operator is now ready to manipulate a fastener chain or a pair of fastener stringers 26 through the guide channels in the slider 14 in the usual manner. Upon completion of this operation, the support structure 10 with the assembled slider 14 still mounted on its top is caused to descend in sliding contact with the release arms 21. During the downward stroke of the support structure 10, the free ends of the release arms 21 are caused by their respective springs 23 to turn toward each other as they slide along the guide grooves 25, until at last the top ends of the release arms come into contact with the bottom surface ofthe slider body. The lateral edges of its pull tab 18 are then received in the respective grooves 24 on the opposed inside surfaces of the release arms 21. With the continued descent of the support structure 10 into the guide structure 11, the slider 14 is released therefrom and is securely supported on the release arms 21 together with the fastener stringers which have been threaded through its guide channels, as will be seen from FIG. 4.  
  The released slider 14 together with the assembled stringers may be manually removed from over the guide structure 11. However, as is an additional advantage of this invention, the slider can be left supported on the release arms 21 because it can be automatically cast off by the support structure 10 as the same succeedingly rises to carry the next slider 14a, P16. 4, to its fully elevated position. The same procedure may thereafter be repeated to allow for a faster operation in assembling the fastener stringers through the successive sliders.  
  Althoughnot shown in the drawings, it is preferable that this slider holder be provided with means for securely locking the slider in position on the slider rest at least while the support structure 10 is held in its most elevated position. Any displacement or detachment of the slider from the slider rest can thus be prevented during assemblage of the fastener stringers therethrough. However, the slider must of course be unlocked as the support structure starts descending, in order to be properly released from the slider rest by the release arms 21 as hereinbefore described.  
  While the slider holder according to the invention has been shown and described hereinbefore in terms of a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be easy for those skilled in the art to devise many modifications of such specifically recited embodiment without omitting features which fairly belong to the invention in its generic or specific aspects. Such modifications, therefore, should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.  
 What is claimed is:  
  1. ln a device for holding a slider during assemblage of a fastener chain therethrough, wherein the slider includes a channeled body and a pull tab pivotally attached thereto, the combination of:  
 a hollow guide structure;  
 an upright support structure slidably mounted in said guide structure for up-and-down motion therethrough, in such a manner that said support structure partly projects upwardly of said guide structure when in its most elevated position;  
 a slider rest formed on the top of said support structure to hold the slider in upside-down disposition thereon, said slider rest including at least one channel extending downwardly therefrom to receive the pull tab of the slider, so that the fastener chain can be manipulated through the channeled body of the slider in said most elevated position of said support structure;  
 a pair of release arms pivotally supported on said guide structure in opposed relationship to each other;  
 resilient means for biasing the free ends of said release arms toward each other so that said free ends of said release arms will yieldably abut against the opposite surfaces of said support structure when the same is in said most elevated position; and  
 whereby upon descent of said support structure into said guide structure, said free ends of said release arms slide along said support structure to engage the slider on said slider rest, the engaged slider being succeedingly released from said slider rest with the continued descent of said support structure to its most depressed position within said guide structure.  
  2. The combination as recited in claim 1, including guide grooves formed on said support structure to assure positive engagement of the slider on said slider rest by said free ends of said release arms.  
  3. The combination as recited in claim 1, wherein the opposed inside surfaces of the respective release arms are recessed longitudinally to receive the lateral edges of the pull tab of the slider.  
  4. The combination as recited in claim 1, wherein said release arms are accommodated in a pair of opposed slots, respectively, which are formed vertically in the upper end portion of said guide structure.