Slide fastener

Claim 1

A slide fastener including a pair of oppositely disposed carrier tapes each carrying on and along one longitudinal beaded edge a series of discrete fastener elements, said fastener elements each comprising a coupling head, a pair of legs extending from the coupling head and having oppositely disposed inner wall portions, and a plurality of teeth formed integral with said legs and projecting from said oppositely disposed inner wall portions, each of said teeth including a pair of inclined faces extending from an outer edge to an inner wall portion and lying in a direction transverse to said longitudinal direction thereby forming a tooth generally triangular in shape, said tooth also having two opposite generally flat faces generally perpendicular to said inner wall, each said flat face lying in a plane generally perpendicular to said longitudinal direction, the thickness between said flat faces being smaller than said legs as measured along the longitudinal direction of said beaded edge, each of said teeth on one leg being staggered and at a predetermined pitch spacing with respect to a corresponding tooth on the other leg as measured along said longitudinal direction, said teeth being disposed in gripping engagement with said beaded edge to secure the fastener elements thereto.