Fastener

Abstract

A fastener for fastening together first and second parts ( 10,11 ) of a fabric article. The fastener comprising a plurality of pairs of fastening elements, each pair comprising a male fastening element ( 2 ) secured to one of the parts of the fabric article and a female fastening element ( 3 ) secured to the other part of the fabric article, the male fastening element ( 2 ) being insertable into the female fastening element to detachably engage the male and female fastening elements. The male and female fastening elements of each pair of fastening elements are provided with matching identifying means ( 13 ) and the identifying means of the fastening elements of adjacent pairs of fastening elements are different to each other whereby the fastening elements of the adjacent pairs can be distinguished from each other.

1 . A fastener for fastening together first and second parts of a fabric article, the fastener comprising:
 a plurality of pairs of fastening elements, each pair comprising a male fastening element secured to one of the parts of the fabric article and a female fastening element secured to the other part of the fabric article, the male fastening element being insertable into the female fastening element to detachably engage the male and female fastening elements; wherein:   the male and female fastening elements of each pair of fastening elements are provided with matching identifying means and the identifying means of the fastening elements of adjacent pairs of fastening elements are different to each other whereby the fastening elements of the adjacent pairs can be distinguished from each other.   
   
   
       2 . A fastener as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the fastening elements are arranged in a pair of rows, a first row on the first part of the fabric article and a second row on the second pair of the fabric article, each pair of fastening elements having one fastening element located in the first row and the other fastening element in the second row. 
   
   
       3 . A fastener as claimed in  claim 2  wherein the identifying means of the fastening elements of each pair match the identifying means of another pair of fastening elements separated therefrom by an intervening adjacent pair of fastening elements. 
   
   
       4 . A fastener as claimed in  claim 2  wherein the identifying means of the fastening elements of each pair match the identifying means of another pair of fastening elements separated therefrom by two intervening pairs of fastening elements. 
   
   
       5 . A fastener as claimed in  claim 2  wherein the identifying means of each pair of fastening elements is unique to that pair of fastening elements. 
   
   
       6 . A fastener as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the fastening elements are arranged in a pair of rows, a first row on the first part of the fabric article and a second row on the second part of the fabric article, each pair of fasteners having one fastening element located in the first row and the other fastening element in the second row; and
 the male and female fastening elements of adjacent pairs of fastening elements are arranged in opposite orientations to one another so that in each row each male fastening element is separated from the other male fastening element in the row by at least one intervening female fastening element.   
   
   
       7 . A fastener for fastening together first and second parts of a fabric article, the fastener comprising:
 a plurality of pairs of fastening elements, each pair comprising a male fastening element secured to one of the parts of the fabric article and a female fastening element secured to the other part of the fabric article, the male fastening element being insertable into the female fastening element to detachably engage the male and female fastening elements; wherein:   the fastening elements are arranged in a pair of rows, a first row on the first part of the fabric article and a second row on the second part of the fabric article, each pair of fasteners having one fastening element located in the first row and the other fastening element in the second row; and   the male and female fastening elements of adjacent pairs of fastening elements are arranged in opposite orientations to one another so that in each row each male fastening element is separated from the other male fastening element in the row by at least one intervening female fastening element.   
   
   
       8 . A fastener as claimed in  claim 7  wherein the fastening elements of each pair are provided with matching identifying means and the identifying means of the fastening elements of adjacent pairs of fastening elements are different to each other whereby the fastening elements of the adjacent pairs can be distinguished from each other. 
   
   
       9 . The fastener as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the identifying means comprises a colour applied to or with associated with the fastening elements. 
   
   
       10 . The fastener as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the identifying means comprise a shape of or a shape associated with the fastening elements. 
   
   
       11 . The fastener as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the identifying means comprises an alphanumeric character provided on or associated with each fastening element. 
   
   
       12 . The fastener as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the identifying means comprises a textured surface of or associated with each of the fastening elements. 
   
   
       13 . The fastener as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the identifying means comprises a magnet in or associated with each of the fastening elements, or fastening elements having a magnetic property. 
   
   
       14 . The fastener as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the fastening elements are formed of a luminescent material. 
   
   
       15 . The fastener as claimed in  claim 1  further comprising an electronic circuit and an illumination means,
 wherein the electronic circuit has a means for detecting the joining of a pair of fastening elements,   the electronic circuit connected to the illumination means such that a matching pair of fastening elements results in a first light from the illumination means, and a non-matching pair of fastening elements results in a second, different, light from the illumination means.   
   
   
       16 . A method of joining two parts of a fabric article with the fastener as claimed in  claim 1 , comprising the steps of:
 a) identifying a matching pair of fastening elements by matching the identifying means thereof;   b) engaging the male part in the female part of the matching pair; and   c) repeating steps a) and b) until all the pairs of fastening elements have been engaged.