Zipper Guide Channel Design for Low-Stress Closure
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Solution Overview
Problem
Zippers on tight-fitting garments, such as compression hoses, are difficult to open and close due to the high stresses imposed on the zipper components, often requiring assistance and risking damage to the zipper tracks.
Innovation Solution
A zipper assist device with diverging guide channels and a connector that allows manual movement of the zipper slider by maintaining a small closing angle, reducing stress on the tracks and enabling easy installation and removal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual pulling is used to close the zipper on tight-fitting garments, then the zipper can be closed, but significant lateral stresses are imposed on the zipper tracks and slider
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a zipper assist device as an intermediary tool between the user and the zipper. This device includes a body with guide channels that receive the zipper tracks, a connector that attaches to the zipper slider, and a pull for manual operation. The guide channels maintain the zipper tracks at a small closing angle during operation, thereby reducing lateral stresses on the tracks and slider while still enabling manual zipper closure.
2Ease of operation
If greater force is applied to move the zipper slider using tools like pliers, then the zipper can be moved more easily, but the likelihood of damage to the zipper components increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the operational parameters by maintaining a small zipper closing angle throughout the closing process. The guide channels in the device body constrain the zipper tracks to move along a path that keeps the closing angle small, even as force is applied through the pull. This parameter control allows sufficient force to be applied for easy slider movement while preventing the excessive lateral stresses that would damage zipper components.
3Productivity
If the zipper closing angle increases during closing, then the zipper can be closed, but progressively greater lateral stresses are imposed on the zipper tracks
Solution Approach 1:
The guide channels in the device body are curved rather than straight, designed to guide the zipper tracks along a specific path. This curved geometry ensures that as the zipper closes, the tracks follow a trajectory that maintains a small closing angle throughout the motion, preventing the progressive increase in lateral stress that would occur with a straight-line closing path.
Data Source
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AI summary
A device for assisting in opening and closing a zipper of the type having a central zipper slider for opening and closing the zipper by selectively disconnecting and connecting a pair of opposed interlockable tracks as the zipper slider moves in respective opening and closing directions along the tracks. The device includes a body having first and second diverging guide channels for receiving the respective zipper tracks for sliding movement along the guide channel path length and for progressively interconnecting the interlockable tracks at a predetermined mutually oriented angle of closure, a connector carried by the body for connecting the body to the zipper slider, and a pull for permitting manual pulling movement of the body.