Zipper with a Handle and Its Application and Installation Method on a Trolley Case

This application claims the priority benefit of The People's Republic Of China patent application number 202410087455.5, filed on Apr. 12, 2024.

The present invention relates to zippers, and more particularly to a zipper with handles and an application and installation method of the zipper on a trolley case.

When almost all zippers are sewn, the left and right single-sided zipper chains are torn apart and sewn separately on opening and closing parts such as trolley cases, tents, mattress covers, etc., and then the left and right single-sided zipper chains are respectively passed through the same slider. Since the zipper chains are usually soft and thin, the slider is small, and the slider tooth groove is narrow, it is often that after one zipper chain is inserted into the slider, it is very difficult to insert the other zipper chain into the tooth groove. Even if both zipper chains have entered the tooth groove, you still need to pull the slider down to allow the left and right zipper chains to pass through the tooth groove in a toothed manner. Many times, although the threading is completed, when the left and right single-sided zipper chains are engaged by the slider, there is often a difference in the height of the left and right single-sided zipper chains at the upper and lower ends of the slider (one side has more teeth and the other side has fewer teeth), but it cannot be effectively overcome. For example, when sewing the zipper of a trolley case onto the case shells, the circumferences of the left and right case shells are not exactly the same, and the zipper slips due to the unstable hand pulling force when sewing. Therefore, after the left and right case shells are engaged by the slider, the left and right case shells may be twisted (or rotated) relative to each other, resulting in an unbalanced situation in which the four rollers at the bottom cannot touch the ground at the same time when the trolley case is placed upright. In this case, the zipper chains must be re-threaded and the engagement position adjusted upward or downward to achieve balance. Therefore, in order to make the four rollers at the bottom of the case shells touch the ground at the same time, it is sometimes necessary to repeatedly thread the zipper chains to adjust the relative position between the left and right case shells. However, threading the zipper chains is a very troublesome and time-consuming task, which will seriously affect the assembly and production efficiency of the trolley case.

The object of the present invention is to provide a zipper with handles which has a simple structure, is easy to sew, and is very convenient and quick to thread on left and right zipper chains, and an application and installation method thereof on a trolley case.

In order to achieve the above requirements, a technical solution of a zipper with handles is: it includes left and right zipper chains, and a slider for opening and closing the left and right zipper chains. Its characteristic is that a handle is connected at one or both ends of the left and right zipper chains to facilitate the left and right zipper chains to be inserted into the slider tooth groove. One end of the handle is a connecting piece used to fix with the cloth belt of the zipper chain. The thickness of the connecting piece and the cloth belt after being fixed is not greater than the gap between the upper cover plate and lower cover plate of the slider through which the cloth belt passes. There is a thin guide rod next to the connecting piece. The guide rod is connected to the chain teeth of the zipper chain. The height and width of the guide rod are not greater than the height and width of the chain teeth.

The zipper with handles further comprises a fixing sleeve mounted on the guide rods of the handles of the left and right zipper chains at the same one ends to keep the guide rods together and to prevent the same one ends of the left and right zipper chains from being separated. The fixing sleeve is also used as a stopper for the zipper to prevent the slider from being pulled over and coming off the zipper chains. The fixing sleeve is selectively a ring sleeve or an 8-shaped sleeve. The ring sleeve is used to sleeve and fix the two guide rods together. The 8-shaped sleeve is used to insert the two guide rods into a respective hole in the 8-shaped sleeve.

Preferably, one left and right zipper chain has one end thereof connected with one respective handle and the other end thereof connected with an opening element that is in the form of a block bottom stop, and the other left and right zipper chain has one end thereof connected with one respective handle and the other end thereof connected with an opening element that is in the form of a pin.

Preferably, the guide rods of the handles of the left and right zipper chain each comprise a plurality of digital markings uniformly distributed from 1 to n formed on same-direction surfaces thereof in the longitudinal direction, and one of a scale mark or an arrow mark formed in a middle position, and the arrow mark on the guide rod of one left and right zipper chain points to the digital markings on the guide rod.

Preferably, the handles are made of non-rigid plastic and are hot-melt connected to the zipper chains respectively.

The application of a zipper with handle on a trolley case is characterized in that: the zipper with handles used is connected with a handle at one end of each of left and right zipper chains thereof and an opening element of block bottom stop and an opening element of pin at opposing other ends of the left and right zipper chains respectively; the left and right zipper chains are sewn to the edges of the two mating case shells of the trolley case respectively, and two ends of the left and right zipper chains are located in the middle of bent sides of the two case shells, and the two ends of the left and right zipper chains are overlapped in the middle of the bent sides; the ends of the handles connected to the left and right zipper chains are respectively left with a section not sewn with the edges of the case shells, so as to facilitate manual gripping of the handles to insert sliders; a first slider with a pull tab and a second slider with a pull tab respectively pass through the handles of the left and right zipper chains to dispose on the outside of the case shells for opening and closing the zipper, and a third slider with a pull tab passes through the handles and dispose in the middle in the case shells, and the third slider pulls together the overlapping part of the left and right zipper chains in the middle of the bent sides of the two case shells to connect the two case shells together, so as to facilitate adjusting the front and back tooth position between the left and right zipper chains and separating and assembling the two case shells when the relative positions of the two case shells are asymmetrical, and the first slider and the second slider are used for opening and closing the two case shells.

The installation method of a zipper with handles on a trolley case, comprises the steps of: (1) sewing, which is to separate left and right zipper chains, and use the handles of the left and right zipper chains as the starting point to sew the left and right zipper chains to and around the edges of the two mating case shells of the trolley case respectively, and overlap stitch to the opening elements; (2) inserting a first slider, which is to insert the zipper chain with block bottom stop into the first slider through the respective handle, and then pull the first slider around the edge of the respective case shell to the end of the opening element without locking said zipper chains; (3) inserting a second slider, where a second slider is opposite to the first slider, and use the left and right handles to insert the left and right zipper chains into the second slider at the same time to engage the teeth, then pull the second slider to the position of the customs lock of the trolley case, and insert the pin into the first slider and the block bottom stop, and then use the opening element and the first slider to mesh the left and right zipper chains, and also pull the first slider to the customs lock position, so that the first slider and the second slider are both side by side at the customs lock position, and then place the trolley case upright and test whether the four rollers at the bottom of the case shells touch the ground at the same time, that is, whether the two case shells are completely aligned; (4) adjustment, where if the two case shells are not completely aligned and are biased to the left or right, move the first slider back to the end of the opening elements and open the opening elements, and at this time, the lower layers of the left and right zipper chains are exposed, and then operate the left and right handles to appropriately open the zipper chains and insert the third slider through the left and right handles, and then adjust the front and rear positions of the right and left handles relative to the third slider in reverse manner according to the left and right deflection degree of the two case shells, and if the four rollers have not yet reached a balanced state of landing at the same time, i.e. the two case shells have not been completely aligned, repeat the step (4), so that by adjusting the chain engagement of the left and right zipper chains at the front and rear position difference of the third slider, the balance correction of landing of the four rollers at the same time is performed, and after the balance correction of the chain engagement meets the requirements, put the fixing sleeve on the left and right handles; and (5) finally, at the opening elements of the left and right zipper chains, through the first slider and the engagement of the opening elements, enable the left and right zipper chains to be meshed again to complete the entire installation and adjustment.

Preferably, the third slider mentioned above is selectively an automatic locking slider or a semi-automatic locking slider with a stopper.

According to the above scheme, a zipper with handles and its application and installation method on a trolley case are designed. When the inserting ends of the zipper chains of the zipper is connected with the handle, the zipper can be inserted into the slider greatly conveniently and quickly through the guidance of the guide rods on the front end handles of the zipper to complete the inserting operation. When the zipper is applied to a trolley case, since the guide rods of the handles have digital markings and scale marks or arrow marks, the front and rear position difference between the left and right zipper chains can be easily and quickly determined and adjusted according to the mark positions on the handles during the last trial installation and the degree of rotation of the left and right case shells after the zipper on the left and right case shells is closed. This is to facilitate the mutual twisting adjustment between the left and right case shells, so that the four rollers at the bottom of the trolley case can touch the ground at the same time. At the same time, the separation and assembly of the left and right case shells can be easily achieved. When multiple left and right case shells are separated, the case shells in the same direction are stacked together, which can greatly reduce their volume and transportation costs. The subsequent assembly does not require any equipment or tools, which is fast and simple. It has the advantages of simple structure, easy use and wide application range.

The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

The zipper with a handle comprises left and right zipper chains, and a sliderfor opening and closing the left and right zipper chains, a handleconnected to one end of each left and right zipper chainfor conveniently guiding the left and right zipper chainsto be inserted into the tooth groove of the slideras shown in, or both ends are respectively connected with a handlefor conveniently guiding the left and right zipper chainsto be inserted into the tooth groove of the slideras shown inand. One end of the handleis a connecting piecefor fixing with the cloth beltof the zipper chain. The thickness of the connecting piecewith the fixed cloth beltis not greater than the gap S between the upper cover plate and the lower cover plate of the sliderfor the cloth beltto pass through, as shown in. A slender guide rodis connected next to the connecting piece. The guide rodis connected to the chain teeth on the zipper chain. The height and width B of the guide rodare not greater than the height and width B of the chain teeth, so that the two guide rodscan pass smoothly in the tooth groove of the slider. The handlesare made of non-rigid plastic and are connected to the left and right zipper chainsby hot melting. A fixing sleeveis sleeved on the guide rodsof the same end handles of the left and right zipper chainsto prevent the ends of the left and right zipper chainsfrom being separated. The fixing sleeveis sleeved on the guide rodson the left and right zipper chainsand is also used as a stopper for the zipper to prevent the sliderfrom being pulled too far and detached from the zipper chains. The fixing sleeveis a ring sleeve as shown inor an 8-shaped sleeve as shown in. The ring sleeve fixes the two guide rodstogether, and the 8-shaped sleeve inserts the two guide rodsinto the 8-shaped holes. The fixing sleeveis made of plastic. When one end of each of the left and right zipper chainsis connected to a handle, the other end is an opening elementof a block bottom stopor a pinas shown in. On the same-direction surface of the guide rodof the handleon each of the left and right zipper chains, there is provided digital markings from 1 to n uniformly distributed longitudinally, such as digital markingsfrom 1 to 5. A scale mark or arrow markis formed in the middle of the guide rod, and the arrow on the arrow markpoints to the digital markingson the other guide rodas shown in.

The application of the zipper with handles on a trolley case is shown in(for clarity, it is a three-dimensional view of one side of the slider side of one of the case shells). The zipper with handles used is connected to the left and right zipper chainswith handlesat one end and opening elementsof a block bottom stopand a pinat the other end, as shown in. The left and right zipper chainsare sewn on the edges of the mating case shells, respectively, and the two ends of the left and right zipper chainsare located in the middle of the bent side of the two case shells, and the two ends of the left and right zipper chainsoverlap in the middle of the bent side. The ends of the handlesconnected to the left and right zipper chainsare respectively left with a section of about 0.8 to 1.3 cm not sewn with the edges of the case shells, so as to facilitate manual gripping of the handlesto insert the slider. On the left and right zipper chains, there are two opposite sliders with pull tabs, namely, the first sliderand the second sliderpassing through the handleson the outside of the case shellsfor opening and closing the zipper. A third sliderwith a pull tabpassing through the handlesis provided in the middle of the case shellsand disposed in the case shells. The third sliderpulls together the overlapping part of the left and right zipper chainsin the middle of the bent sides of the two case shells, thereby connecting the two case shellstogether. It is also convenient to adjust the front and back tooth position between the left and right zipper chainsand separate and assemble the two case shellswhen the relative positions of the two case shellsare asymmetrical. The first sliderand the second sliderare used for opening and closing the two case shells. The structure is sewn twice on each side of the overlapping part where the two case shells are connected, so it is stronger than other sections and easier to adjust the tension of the cloth belts.

The installation method of the zipper with handles on a trolley case is as follows:

The third sliderdescribed above is an automatic locking slider or a semi-automatic locking slider with a stopper to prevent the items in the trolley case from touching the third slider, so that the third slidermoves and the left and right zipper chainsare automatically pulled apart. Of course, the third slidermay also be an ordinary slider without a stopper.

Of course, the above examples are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, but do not limit the scope of implementation of the present invention. All equivalent changes and modifications made within the scope of this application are still within the scope of protection covered by the present invention.