Automatic lock slider for slide fasteners

An automatically locking slider for a slide fastener having a pair of coupling element rows, said slider comprising:

• (a) a slider body including a pair of first and second wings joined at one end by a neck so as to define therebetween a generally Y-shaped guide channel for the passage of the pair of coupling element rows, said first wing having an aperture communicating with said guide channel, said neck having a pair of laterally spaced cam surfaces extending from said first wing and each terminating in a transverse abutment to jointly define a locking-member retaining nose adjacent to said second wing;
• (b) a pair of laterally spaced lugs on said first wing, one on each side of said aperture;
• (c) a pull tab pivotably connected to said lugs and having a transverse spindle journaled thereby;
• and
• (d) a locking member pivotably supported on said slider body and including a resilient strip having
• (1) a U-shaped base extending around said transverse spindle and normally urged thereagainst by the resilience of said strip, said base being angularly movable away from said first wing in response to the pivotal movement of said pull tab against the bias of said strip,
• (2) an anchor extending from one end of said base and terminating in a shank having a pair of shoulders projecting from the distal end thereof, said shank lying between said cam surfaces, and said shoulders each being trapped by said abutments thereof within said neck, said distal end being urged against said nose by the resilience of said strip and thereby prevented from coming out of interlocking engagement with said nose, and
• (3) a locking prong extending from the other end of said base for normally projecting into said guide channel through said aperture to lockingly engage with a pair of coupling element rows, said locking prong being retractable from said guide channel into said aperture in response to the angular movement of said base away from said first wing.