Apparatus for electrotreating metal slide fasteners

Aug. 8, 1950 w. mikulas 2,517,907

APPARATUS FOR ELECTROTREATING METAL SLIDE FASTENERS

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BY

INVENTOR.

WUdam JRlKulaa,

AGENT

Aug. 8, 1950 w. mikulas 2,517,907

APPARATUS FOR ELECTROTREATING METAL SLIDE FASTENERS

Filed Jan. 5, 1945

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INVENTOR.

J/llHam JHiKulae&gt; BY agent

Aug. 8, 1950

W. MIKULAS

2,517,907

APPARATUS FOR ELECTROTREATING METAL SLIDE FASTENERS

Filed Jan. 5, 1945

Sheets-Sheet 3

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INVENTOR. millarn ftllKukas BY flit.,'

AGENT

Patented Aug. 8, 1950

2,517,907

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

2,517,907

APPARATUS FOR ELECTROTREATING METAL SLIDE FASTENERS

William Mikulas, West Brighton, N. Y., assignor to Conmar Products Corporation, Newark, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey

Application January ί

Claims.

My invention relates to a method of. and to equipment for, electrotreating metal slide fastener elements. More particularly, the invention pertains to electrotreating slide fastener elements when spacedly attached along an edge of a tape for cooperation with mating slide fastener elements, such tape when provided with a series of slide fastener elements being generally referred to as a slide fastener stringer.

Great difficulties are encountered in electrotreating scoops or slide fastener elements when mounted on a carrier of an electrically non-conducting material, such as a cotton tape. The primary object of this invention is to generally improve the method of, and the means for, electrolytically plating or otherwise electrolytically coating of scoops or slide fastener elements mounted on a non-conducting tape.

In surface treating scoops by electrolytic means, it has been the practice to treat loose or unattached scoops and to secure already treated scoops to tapes. Such treatment is only applicable to a method of manufacturing slide fasteners wherein scoops prior to their attachment are individually finished and may individually be subjected to various treatments. However, since methods of manufacturing slide fasteners in this way are relatively slow and are being more and mere abandoned, the electrolytic treatment of unattached scoops is also being relinquished. It is also customary to weave into, or otherwise intimately unite with, a slide fastener tape a metal conductor to provide electrical contact along all of the scoops attached to that tape. But the incorporation of metal conductors in a tape usually impairs the flexibility of the stringer and thus involves a disadvantage. It has also been suggested to electroplate scoops or slide fastener elements by means of special equipment. In one of the suggested apparatus a slide fastener stringer is passed around metallic rollers arranged for individual rotation about their axis. This apparatus is complicated. It is an object of this invention to provide a simple and economic means for electrically charging the scoops of at least one slide fastener stringer at a time while it passes through the electrolytic bath.

Recently a suggestion has been made to use an external conductor in strip form for providing electrical contact between the engaged scoops of a slide fastener. Yet this suggestion involves the disadvantage that the conductor suggested will readily be crushed and ruined and cannot be used in continuous processes. One of the main objects of my invention centers about the provision of an external conductor which will bq i, 1945, Serial No. 571,705 (CL 204—202) temporarily interlocked with at least one stringer but which, from a practical point of view, is not perishable and can be used in continuous processes without the need, incident to the aforesaid ⁶ prior suggestion, of restoring the used and ruined strip to a new use or of discarding the strip.

Another object of my invention is to provide conductors adapted to individually engage each slide fastener element of a series of such elements 1° when attached in uniformly spaced relation to a tape of non-conducting material. The conductor according to my present invention is flexible and capable of being fixed when united with a slide fastener stringer, and it is used in endless form.

A further object of my invention is to provide an apparatus which connects at least one stringer, before it enters the electrolytic bath, with a suitable conductor and which disconnects both after leaving this bath.

Still another object is to provide means for regenerating those parts of the equipment necessarily plated during the passage through an electroplating bath.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and other more particular objects which will hereinafter appear, my invention consists in the method steps and apparatus elements and their relation one to the other, as hereinafter are more particularly described in the specification and sought to be defined in the claims. The specification is accompanied by drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary, partially sectioned plan view illustrating the operation of one form of the pull-up fixture according to the invention, the pull-up fixture being used to lock two slide fastener stringers into a coil spring or to unlock such assembly;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the view of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view toward the beaded edge of one of the two stringers shown in Fig. 1, and illustrating the engagement of the coil spring with the scoops of that stringer;

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic plan view illustrating one form of a plating apparatus;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the same with parts removed;

Fig. 6 is explanatory of the operation of the apparatus of Figs. 4 and 5;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary, isometric view showing diagrammatically an electrotreating apparatus;

Fig. 8 is explanatory of the operation of the apparatus of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a cross section through the conductor /used in the apparatus of Fig. 7;

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary, partially sectioned view illustrating, in plan, the pulling up of a stringer with the conductor of Fig. S by means of another form of a pull-up fixture.

Referring to the drawing, the apparatus in j all forms shown is intended to electrolytically treat work having metallic elements attached in spaced relation upon the edge of a continuous non-conducting carrier. The specific example shown, is a slide fastener stringer comprising, in : Fig. 1, the two non-conducting textile tapes 26 and metallic fastener elements 28, or in Figs. 7 and 10, the single non-conducting textile tape 12 with metal fastener elements 28 indicated along its edge, in accordance with the present , invention, the apparatus comprises not only a tank containing an electrolyte, but also an endless supporting flexible conductor comprising conductor metallic elements formed, dimensioned and spaced for temporary interlocking engage- _ ment with each of the work metallic elements, and also a fixture for guiding the conductor and the work into engagement in such fashion that the conductor elements are interlocked with the work elements. In Fig. 1 a fragment of the end- ₂less supporting conductor is shown at (4, and the fixture at (8, while in Fig. 10 the endless supporting. conductor is shown at 72, and the fixture at 74.

As is usual in electroplating, the tank is pro- 3 vided with an electrode immersed in the electrolyte, and the polarity of the potential applied to the electrode .depends on the particular metal being treated. In other words, the treatment may be either cathodic or anodic. 3

If -desired, the endless supporting conductor may be de-plated, and- for this purpose a deplating tank 54-is shown in Fig. 4.. However, the advisability of de-plating depends on the economics of the process, considering for example, 4 the value of the metal recovered, and the cost of the endless conductor which, if not de-plated, must eventually be discarded and replaced. That de-plating Is optional is shown in Figs. 6 and 8, Fig. G schematically showing the process with 4 de-plating, and Fig. 8 schematically showing the process without de-plating.

The endless supporting conductor is illustrated in two forms. In Figs. 1, 2 and 3 the endless supporting conductor is a helical coiled spring 5 16 which is meshed by the fixture (8 with two continuous slice fastener stringers 2S. In Figs. 9 and 10 the endiess supporting conductor is a slide fastener stringer having not only a tape 82 and fastener elements 84, but also an electrical 5 conductor 88 extending longitudinally thereof in contact with and connecting the metallic elements. As here illustrated, the conductor forms a part of the bead of the fastener tape. Fig. 10 shows how-a fixture 74, generally resembling a c slider, serves to guide the endless supporting conductor 72 and the unplated slide fastener 12 into meshing engagement.

Considering the invention in greater detail, and referring first to Mgs. 1 and 2 of the draw- e ing, a pull-up fixture 10 serves to connect two Identical slide fastener stringers 12 with a coil spring 14 of the helical type. The fixture (0 consists of a main.body (G and a tube (8. The body (S comprises an annular portion 20 and two ΐ pairs of parallel walls 22, each wall having inturned side flanges 24. The tube 18 is. as shown in Mg. 1, at the wide end of the body IS and forms a.continuation of the annular portion 22. The body 16 defines a channel Ch, shown in Mg, ·;

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1, functioning to lock the stringers into the coil ;prin? or to separate the stringers from the coil spring when engaged with each other. The cuupiing and uncoupling action of the pull-up fixture ί G conforms, as will hereinafter be shown, to the respective direction in. which the coil spring and stringers are fed into the pull-up fixture. Each of the stringers 12 comprises a tape 22 having slide fastener elements 28 attached to its beaded edge 33. The tapes and beads being of a non-conducting material, there can be no electrical contact between the fastener elements of either stringer. The coil spring 14 is to furnish a continuous contact along the fastener elements of each stringer.

From inspection of Mgs. 1 and 3, the function of the fixture (2 will be clear. The stringers (2 and the coil spring 14 are threaded through the fixture in the direction of the arrow X indicated in Mg. 1, that is to say, the coil spring is inserted at the free end of the tube (3 and passed .'.-traight through the tube and the annular portion 28 of the fixture body &lt;6, while the stringers are ccnvergently passed through the fixture body. The engagement of the coil spring with the Wringers takes place in the straight stem of the channel Ch. In order that the spring be suitable for this engagement, its pitch must be substantially equal to the pitch of the fastener ele3 ments, and the diameter of the spring wire substantially equal to the spacing between the fastener elements. The pitch of the fastener elements is the distance from any point on a fastener element to the corresponding point on the 3 adjacent element of the same stringer, or the thickness of an element plus the spacing between two adjacent elements. Any coil or turn of the coil spring 14, as shown in Mg. 3, touches one fastener element at L and the adjacent fasti tener element of the same stringer at U. From Fig. 3, it will also be clear that each fastener element of either stringer is in contact with two adjacent- coils of the spring, for instance, the element 28E with the coils or turns i4C and 16C' 5 (sne also Mg. 1). By choosing the correct wire diameter a positive electrical contact between the spring and each of the elements of the two stringers is secured. In Fig. 1, it is shown how cs£ portions of the coil spring, after the en0 gagement of the spring with the stringers, are nested in their seats S, each seat being formed by two adjacent fastener elements of the same stringer and the respective tape bead. It will be obvious that a tight fit is necessary to provide 5 a reliable electrical contact.

It will be understood, that a pull-up fixture of the type of the fixture 10 can be so constructed as to connect a coil spring with one stringer only.

The apparatus shown in Mgs. 4 and 5 illustrates the use of the coil spring (4 for electrically charging elements 28 of two slide fastener stringers (2 during the passage through an electroplating bath. A pair of rolls 31, 31' at the 5 entry side of a tank 32 pulls the coil spring and the stringers through a pull-up fixture (O', which is identical with the fixture (0, shown in Mgs. 1 to 2, and functions here to connect the stringers with the coil spring. The coil spring passes in 0 the direction of the arrow Y over a wheel 34, carried on a stand 35, and through the guide tube (8' of the fixture (O', whereas the two stringers (2 are convergently fed into the pull-up fixture after being prepared for the now following elec•5 troplating step. The connected structure St, as

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it leaves the rolls 31, 31', is pulled through the tank 32 by another pair of rolls 38, 38' at the exit side of the tank. The rolls 38, 38' are arranged in the same way as are the rolls 31, 31'. The rolls 31 and 38 are power driven, whereas the rolls 31', 38' are idle. The driven rolls 31 and 38 are mounted on⁵ shafts 40 and 42, respectively, and these shafts are provided with pulleys 44 and 46, respectively, connected to motors (not shown). The idle rolls 31' and 38' are firmly pressed against the stringer tapes. The rolls 3i and 3t', as well as the rolls 48 and 50, are provided with grooves G disposed circumferentially around the periphery of each roll and adapted to accommodate the coil spring 14. The rolls 48 and 50 are suitably journaled underneath the level 51 of the electroplating bath, and the structure Si passes trader them for the desired electro-deposition. After leaving the tank the structure St passes around the exit guide roll 52, also provided with a groove G, and through the fixture 10. The fixture i0 is identical with the fixture 10' and is used in the reverse application for separating purposes. The stringers as soon as disjoined from the coil spring pass through the rolls 38, 38'. The coil spring moves toward, and passes around, the guide wheel 34' carried on a stand 36', enters a tank 54, thereby passing over the entry roll 56, under the rolls 58, 58 and over the exit roll 56', and finally returns to the wheel 34. The rolls 58, 58 guide the coil spring through the electrolyte in the tank 54. The rolls 56, 58, 58, 56' are likewise provided with grooves G.

In this electroplating process the tank 32 serves plating purposes whereby not only the slide fastener elements 28 of the two stringers 12 but also the coil spring 14 are being plated. The tank 54 is used to’ discharge into its electrolyte the metal which has been deposited upon the coil spring during its passage through the plating bath of the tank 32.

The positive wire 60 of the plating circuit is connected to the anodes 62 of the plating metal which anodes are suspended in the bath of the tank 32 from insulated bars 64 by hooks 66. Cathodes 68 in the deplating tank 54 are electrically charged by being connected by means of the wire 6 ί to the negative pole of the source of power used. In operation, the current passes from the anodes through the electrolyte to the structure St because this structure faces the anodes, and hence, has a negative polarity. The current carries metal from the anodes and deposits it on the slide fastener elements and on the coil spring. As soon as the coil spring faces the cathodes 68 in the deplating tank it assumes positive polarity, and the metal deposited on the coil spring is being stripped.

With the arrangement shown, insulated rolls are used. All of the rolls are formed or covered with a suitable insulating material.

The principle of the electroplating apparatus as shown in Figs. 4 and 5 will be best understood from Fig. 6 in which a slide fastener stringer (2 moving in the direction of the arrow Z is connected with the coil spring 14 or any other suitable endless electrical conductor moving in the direction of the arrow Q. It will be understood that two slide fastener stringers can just as well be connected with the coil spring. The assembled stringer and conductor passes through the plating tank 32, the conductor supporting the stringer during its passage through the tank. After leaving this tank the assembled structure is separated whereupon the stringer 12 Is subjected to the treatment next following in the manufacturing line while the coil spring (4 passes through the deplating tank 54. The current is supplied from a suitable source 10 to the anodes 62 disposed in the tank 32, and conducted away from the cathodes 68 disposed in the tank 54. While the conductor or coil spring 14 moves through the plating tank, the plating metal is deposited both on the conductor and stringer due to the negative polarity assumed by the conductor. As the conductor moves on into the deplating tank where it faces the cathodes, the metal which has been deposited thereon will be stripped.

The process according to the invention is applicable to any known electrolytic surface treatment, such as, anodizing, providing with a corrosion resistant film, electro-color plating, etc. In a method of anodizing or anodically oxidizing, for instance aluminum scoops, no second electrolytic bath is needed. The circuit in such anodic oxidation of aluminum includes the anode, formed by the scoops of at least one stringer and by the conductor connecting the scoops, the electrolyte, and a suitable cathode. Neither is a second tank needed in the method of imparting a corrosion resistant film to metals, an example of which method is disclosed in the co-pending application of Hans Bermann and Sigmund Katz, Ser. No. 564,545, filed November 21, 1944, now abandoned. This electrolytic treatment also uses the connected conductor-stringer-structure as an electrode.

The modification shown in Fig. 7 differs In two main respects from that shown in Figs. 4 and 5. In Fig. 7, an apparatus for electrotreating having one tank only is shown. A conductor 72 moving in the direction of the arrow V is connected with a stringer 12 by means of a pull-up fixture 74, and the connected conductor and stringer is guided through the electrolytic bath in the tank 76 (shown in phantom) and thence through the pull-up fixture 74' to separate the assembly. The conductor supports the stringer in its passage through the tank 76. One wire of the electrotreating circuit is connected to the conductor by means of a spring and ring contact 78, and the other wire is connected to an electrode 80 in the tank 76. The principle of the apparatus of Fig. 7 is most clearly illustrated in Fig. 8.

The conductor used in the apparatus of Fig. 7 is more clearly shown in Fig. 9. It is generally designated as 72, and it resembles a slide fastener stringer in that it comprises a tape 82 having metal members 84 spacedly clamped around a beaded edge 86. The bead 86 is formed by two cords 88 and 90 disposed on opposite sides of the tape. While the tape 82 and cord 88 are of a non-conducting material, the cord 90 consists of a braided metallic cord and is conducting.

Referring now to Fig. 10, the pull-up fixture 74 of Fig. 7 functions like a slider for slide fasteners to couple the conductor 72 and the slide fastener stringer (2 together or to uncouple same. The members 84 are secured to the tape 82 in the same spaced relation as are the slide fastener elements 28 to the tape 26, and are provided with interlocking means (projections P and depressions D) adapted to cooperate with the interlocking means of the fastener elements 28. The members 84 fit tightly between the fastener elements 28 and secure a substantial electrical contact between the conducting cord 90 and each fastener element.

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- In· as continuous; electrotreating process great lengths/ ofrslide-fastener stringers· must be subjected: to .the electrolytic bath. It is. to be understood that the novel features incorporated in the apparatus shown in Figs. 4 and 5 and Fig. 7, respectively, are· applicable to an apparatus. wherein any desired length of a stringer will be subjected to the electro treatment at' any one instant·. This may be done in any known way,

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stringer comprising a^: tank containing an electrolyte;.an endless* supporting, flexible, electrical conductor comprising a slide fastener stringer provided with an electrical conductor· extending 15; longitudinally -thereof in contact with and connecting, its metallic'elements, said conductor connected metallic elements having substantially the.'Same.· pitch as? the fastener elements on said continuous stringer, means for temporarily in202 terlocking into, engagement the electrically connected-metallic elements with each of the electrically unconnected' fastener elements, means for feeding the temporarily interlocked stringers through-the· tank·, and means for separating 25. them.

5. Apparatus-for· electrolytically treating the spaced, electrically-unconnected metallic fastener elements :of-a continuous slide fastener stringer, comprising a tank containing an electrolyte, an turiis -of· the’ spring having substantially the same pitch, as the fastener elements, means- for temporarily interlocking the spring turns into engagement with· each of the fastener elements,

5. means for feeding-the spring-engaged and supported stringer¹ through-the tank, and means for separating the spring from the stringer.

4. Apparatus for electrolytically treating the spaced, electrically unconnected, metallic faster .instance,· by passing the stringers in zigzag 10· toner elements of· a continuous slide fastener turns: through,.the electrolytic baths. With such an arrangement it will be necessary to provide additional positive driving means distributed along. the processing· line in order to avoid unduly high tension of the stretchable slide fastener tapes vat any · one point·. It · will also be understood: that in each of the possible processes according to my invention various steps must be carried out/prior to and after each electrotreatment operation.· which steps· are generally known and need not be specifically mentioned.. In a process like that illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 there·..will, also: be/steps to be carried out between· the· eleetrotreatment operations.

The novel and improved apparatus of my present invention;/the disclosed method and the advantages in the use and operation thereof will,: I&gt;. believe,·; be fully apparent from the above detailed /description thereof. .It will be further apparent that many changes may be made both in anode in contact with the electrolyte, an endless, the, apparatus and method·, without departing supporting* flexible, electrical conductor comfrom the spirit of· the-invention defined in the folipwing claims.