METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING HELICALLY COILED COUPLING ELEMENTS FOR SLIDE FASTENERS

摘要

A method and apparatus for manufacturing helically coiled coupling elements for slide fasteners. There are provided a filament supply unit, a filament coiling unit, a filament drive unit interposed between the supply unit and the coiling unit, and a tension-applying unit disposed between the drive unit and the coiling unit. As a filament is formed into a fastener element in the form of a continuous helical coil at the filament coiling machine, the filament is unwound from a relatively large bobbin in the supply device and at the same time is rotated about its own axis by a rotor of the supply unit at the same rate and in the same direction as the filament is coiled at the coiling unit to thereby eliminate twists on the filament which would otherwise be produced at the latter unit. The drive unit is also adapted to rotate the filament about its own axis while positivey feeding the filament toward the coiling unit. The tension-applying unit imparts constant tension to the filament and simultaneously equalizes the amount of supply of the filament from the drive unit with the amount of the filament being coiled at the coiling unit.