Technical field

The present invention relates to a device for protecting the pull-tab and the slider during washing or treatment of the item of clothing to which they belong.

Background Art

Protection devices for accessories of items of clothing are currently known which are constituted by two complementary half-shells which are mutually coupled by virtue of hinge means and are designed to be mated to each other by virtue of quick engagement means, for example of the snap acting type, around one or more accessories for items of clothing such as buttons, pull-tabs and sliders for zip fasteners, buckles and other similar elements, which are already fixed to a garment or item of clothing.

These half-shells generally have holes for the passage of the fluids for washing or treatment of the item of clothing with which the button or other element, such as a zip fastener slider, is associated.

These known devices have proved themselves well applicable particularly for the protection of buttons, but they have not found equivalent application when shaped for application to a pull-tab or to the associated slider of a zip fastener, for which the need therefore remains strongly felt for an adequate protection device for the steps for washing and treatment of the item of clothing to which they belong.

Indeed, items of clothing, especially but not only denim items, currently undergo processes and treatments which can also be very severe, such as for example, for items of clothing made of denim, aggressive washes in order to obtain aging effects, and mechanical interventions to provide tears or worn regions thereof.

For example, the spin washing with pumice stone that the denim item of clothing undergoes to obtain effects of wear and stonewashing therefrom is veiy harsh and can then be followed by sandblasting or sanding or buffing treatments.

In this manner, the pull-tabs and sliders, like the buttons, associated with the denim item of clothing, which is first washed and bleached and then dyed again with enzymes and finally treated mechanically as described above, are subjected to stresses from which they must be protected appropriately.

Disclosure of the Invention

The aim of the present invention is to provide a device for protecting the pull-tab and the slider of a zip fastener that is well-suited to meet the requirements described above.

Within this aim, an object of the invention is to provide a device for protecting the pull-tab and the slider of a zip fastener that is made of such a material as to withstand even the most severe stresses that are typical of the treatments to which denim items of clothing are subjected.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device for protecting the pull-tab and the slider that can be applied easily by hand without using auxiliary tools.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device for protecting the pull-tab and the slider of a zip fastener during washing and treatment of the item of clothing to which they belong, which can be manufactured with systems and technologies of a known type.

This aim and these and other objects which will become better apparent hereinafter are achieved by a device for protecting the pull-tab and the slider of a zip fastener during washing or treatment of the item of clothing to which they belong, characterized in that it is provided by a capping body, which is contoured in order to accommodate the slider, the pull-tab and a corresponding portion of meshed teeth of the zip fastener, and is provided with lateral openings for the passage and positioning of the tapes of this zip fastener.

Brief description of the drawings

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become better apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of the protection device according to the invention, illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the protection device according to the invention in the configuration for use;

Figure 2 is a side view of the device according to the invention;

Figure 3 is a side view of the device during use;

Figure 4 is a sectional side view of the device according to the invention;

Figure 5 is the same side view of Figure 4, in cross-section, of the device in the configuration for use;

Figure 6 is a front view of the device according to the invention;

Figure 7 is a sectional front view of the device according to the invention;

Figure 8 is a perspective view from below of the device according to the invention;

Figure 9 is a perspective view from above of the device according to the invention.

Ways of carrying out the Invention

With reference to the figures, a device for protecting the pull-tab and the slider of a zip fastener during washing or treatment of the item of clothing to which they belong is generally indicated by the reference numeral 10.

The device 10, as mentioned, is aimed at protecting the pull-tab 1 1 and the slider 12 of a zip fastener 13 during washing or treatment of the item of clothing to which they belong. The device 10 is provided by a capping body 14, which is contoured in order to accommodate the slider 1 1, the pull-tab 12 and a corresponding portion 15th of meshed teeth 16 of the zip fastener, and is provided with lateral openings 17 and 18 respectively for the passage and arrangement of the tapes 19 and 20 of the zip fastener 13.

The capping body 14 comprises a first shield 21 for protecting the pull-tab 1 1 and the slider 12 on the side of the pull-tab 1 1 , and a second shield 22 for protecting the opposite side of the slider with respect to the pull-tab.

These two shields 21 and 22 are joined at one end by a central bridge

23.

The two shields 21 and 22 comprise reversible extraction-preventing means and means for guiding and centering with respect to the slider 12, which are described in greater detail hereinafter.

The shields 21 and 22 have holes 23 for the passage of the washing liquid, which can in any case reach all the points of the tapes 19 and 20 of the zip fastener 13.

A first shield 21 has a transverse cross-section with a curved profile, with the concavity directed toward the second shield 22.

The second shield 22 is substantially flat.

The reversible extraction-preventing means are constituted by two symmetrical longitudinal ribs 25 and 26 respectively, which are clearly visible in Figures 4, 5 and 6 and are extended internally at the bridge 23 and at the first shield 21.

The ribs 25 and 26 define, with the facing second shield 22, corresponding slots 23 and 24 which are designed to accommodate with interference either the lateral portions of the slider 12 or the lateral portions of the slider 12 together with corresponding lateral portions 1 la of the pull- tab 1 1.

By way of example, Figures 5 and 6 illustrate a solution according to which the ribs 25 and 26 are arranged so as to press on the lateral parts 1 1 a of the pull-tab 1 1 , which, pressed in turn against the lateral portions 12a of the slider 12, is locked together with the slider 12 in a substantially stable position with respect to the capping body 14.

The means for guiding and centering with respect to the slider 12 are constituted by the two ribs 25 and 26, which are extended so as to define a guiding channel 28 for the annular portion 29 of the slider 12, and by two lateral shoulders 30 and 31, which are defined on the longitudinal edges of the second shield 22, for centering the body of the slider 12.

The capping body 14 is made of a single piece of plastic material.

This plastic material is preferably polypropylene.

The operation of the protection device 10 according to the invention is as follows.

The device 10 is made to slide on the slider 12 to be protected, so that the annular portion 29 of the slider 12 is inserted in the guiding channel 28 of the device 10.

In this manner, the lateral portions 11a of the pull-tab 1 1 are pressed against the underlying lateral portions 12a of the body of the slider 12, and the pull-tab 1 1 is locked.

Once the slider 12 is at the end of its stroke within the capping body

14, a filament 40 made of plastic material with two extraction-preventing heads at its ends, of the type known as "Calabrone", is made to pass through at least one pair of mutually opposite holes 23, a first hole 23 a on the first shield 21 and a second hole 23b on the second shield 22, and is inserted, by means of an adapted gun which is also known, through a first hole 23a, through a tape 19 or 20 of the zip fastener, and through the second hole 23b, so as to affix the device 10 to the zip fastener 13 and prevent its extraction during the treatment or washing of the item of clothing.

In order to remove the device 10 it is sufficient to break the filament 40. It is possible to use one or two or more of these Calabrone filaments depending on the requirements of strength and resistance to impacts and stresses in general, or depending on the dimensions of the protection device.

In practice it has been found that the invention achieves the intended aim and objects.

In particular, the present invention provides a device for protecting the pull-tab and the slider of a zip fastener that is capable of protecting these elements during the harsh treatments for washing and finishing to which the items of clothing to which they belong can be subjected, preventing for example any decorations or trims which are defined on the pull-tab from receiving inappropriate friction and unwanted wear.

Moreover, the invention provides a protection device that is made of such a material as to withstand the most severe stresses that are typical of the treatments to which denim items of clothing are subjected.

Not least, the invention provides an improved device for protecting the pull-tab and the slider of a zip fastener during washing and treatment of the item of clothing to which it belongs that can be manufactured with systems and technologies of the known type.

The invention thus conceived is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all having equal utility and are within the scope of the appended claims; all the details may furthermore be replaced with other elements that are technically of equal effectiveness or convenience in application.

In practice, the materials used, as well as the contingent shapes and dimensions, may be any according to requirements and to the state of the art.

The disclosures in Italian Patent Application No. PD2009A000400 from which this application claims priority are incorporated herein by reference.

Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs, those reference signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the interpretation of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.