Touch fastener products

• US 20050196599A1
• Filed: 03/02/2004
• Published: 09/08/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/02/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Velcro IP Holdings LLC
• Original Assignee: Velcro Industries BV (Chartwell Industries Ltd)
• Inventors: Voight, Paul Joseph, Janzen, Daniel Lee, Line, Kevin Keith
• Granted Patent: US 7,425,360 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 428/304.4
• CPC Class Codes: A44B 18/0076 Adaptations for being fixed to a moulded article during moulding
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 428/90 Magnetic feature
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 24/27 including readily dissociable fastener having numerous, protruding, unitary filaments randomly interlocking with, and simultaneously moving towards, mating structure [e.g., hook-loop type fastener]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 24/2708 Combined with diverse fastener
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/24008 including fastener for attaching to external surface
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/24017 Hook or barb
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/24182 Inward from edge of web or sheet
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/24628 Nonplanar uniform thickness material
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/249953 Composite having voids in a component [e.g., porous, cellular, etc.]

Abstract

Touch fasteners for use as mold inserts in molding seat foam buns include selvedges that deflect under pressure to engage a mold surface in face-to-face contact. Another touch fastener includes a base with an exposed thermally activatable resin surface that has a softening point low enough to be activated by the exothermic foaming reaction to adhere the fastener in the foam bun.

Claims

1. A touch fastener product for use as a mold insert, the product comprising;

a base having upper faces and lower faces and a central portion disposed between lateral selvedges, the central portion having a nominal thickness;

a magnetically attractable material secured to an upper face of the base; and

a plurality of fastener elements extending in an array from the lower face of the central portion of the base;

wherein the selvedges are of a significantly lesser stiffness than the stiffness of the central portion of the base, for flexure of the selvedges to conform to a mold surface as the base of the fastener product is drawn against the mold surface by magnetic attraction of the magnetically attractable material.

2. The touch fastener of claim 1 wherein the touch fastener is formed of a single contiguous resin.

3. The touch fastener of claim 1 wherein the central portion comprises a strip of a first material supporting the fastener elements, and wherein the selvedges are formed of a second material of different composition than the first material.

4. The touch fastener of claim 3 the strip of first material having a surface integrally formed with stems of the fastener elements.

5. The touch fastener of claim 3 wherein the selvedges comprise regions of a film secured to the upper face of the base.

6. The touch fastener of claim 5 wherein the film is secured by an adhesive.

7. The touch fastener of claim 6 wherein the adhesive is a polyamide hot melt.

8. The touch fastener of claim 5 wherein the film is a polyamide film.

9. The touch fastener of claim 5 wherein the film has a softening point of between about 120 and 220 degrees Fahrenheit.

10. The touch fastener of claim 5 wherein the film has a nominal thickness of less than about 0.020 inch.

11. The touch fastener of claim 10 wherein the film has a nominal thickness of less than about 0.010 inch.

12. The touch fastener of claim 10 wherein the film has a flexural rigidity of about 1800 mg-cm.

13. The touch fastener of claim 5 wherein the film has a tensile stiffness of between about 1000 and about 3000 mg-cm.

14. The touch fastener of claim 1 wherein the nominal thickness of the central portion of the base is between about 0.002 and 0.012 inch.

15. The touch fastener of claim 1 wherein the nominal thickness of the central portion of the base is greater than a nominal thickness of the selvedges.

16. The touch fastener of claim 1 wherein the magnetically attractable material comprises a metal wire.

17. The touch fastener of claim 1 wherein the magnetically attractable material comprises a metal strip.

18. The touch fastener of claim 1 wherein the magnetically attractable material comprises a coating of magnetically attractable particles.

19. The tough fastener of claim 1 wherein the magnetically attractable material is encapsulated in a hot melt adhesive.

20. The touch fastener of claim 1 wherein each selvedge extends from the array at least about 2 millimeters.

21. The touch fastener of claim 20 wherein each selvedge extends from the array at least about 4 millimeters.

22. The touch fastener of claim 1 wherein the selvedges are of a material having a flexural rigidity of between about 1000 and 3000 mg-cm.

23. The touch fastener of claim 1 wherein selvedges are disposed on all sides of the central portion of the base.

24. The touch fastener of claim 1 wherein the central portion of the base comprises a molded resin.

25. The touch fastener of claim 1 wherein the fastener elements are male fastener elements.

26. The touch fastener of claim 20 wherein the male fastener elements comprise stems integrally molded with the central portion of the base, the central portion of the base comprising a molded resin.

27. The touch fastener of claim 26 wherein the male fastener elements have loop-engagable heads molded at distal ends of the stems.

28. The touch fastener of claim 27 wherein the male fastener elements are hook-shaped.

29. The touch fastener of claim 1 wherein the fastener elements are arranged in a density of at least about 100 per square inch across the array.

30. The touch fastener of claim 1, the fastener elements having an overall height, as measured normal to the base, of less than about 0.050 inch.

31. A method of forming a seat foam bun comprising;

providing a mold cavity having a shape corresponding to the shape of the seat foam bun, wherein the mold cavity comprises a tapered trench having angled side walls;

providing a touch fastener comprising a base, a plurality of fastener elements extending from a lower face of a central portion of the base in an array disposed between lateral selvedges of the base;

positioning the touch fastener along the trench with the selvedges deflected from their unloaded position to extend along the trench side walls in face-to-face contact; and

delivering a foamable resin into the mold cavity to form a seat foam bun, the deflected selvedges resisting intrusion of foamable resin into the array of fastener elements.

32. The method of claim 31 wherein a lower face of the selvedges has a substantially flat surface.

33. The method of claim 31 wherein the selvedges are of a significantly lesser stiffness than a stiffness of the central portion of the base.

34. The method of claim 31 wherein the trench has flat side walls extending at acute angles from a bottom surface of the trench.

35. The method of claim 31 wherein the trench has curved side walls, the selvedges conforming to arcuate surfaces of the trench side walls.

36. The method of claim 31 wherein in an unloaded condition, the selvedges and central portion of the base lie in a common plane, the distal edges of the selvedges deflected out of the common plane with the fastener positioned along the trench.

37. The method of claim 36 the distal edges of the selvedges contacting the trench side walls with the fastener positioned along the trench.

38. The method of claim 31 wherein the selvedges are disposed around all sides of the central portion of the base.

39. The method of claim 31 wherein the selvedges comprise a film.

40. The method of claim 39 wherein the film comprises a polyamide.

41. The method of claim 39 wherein the film is adhered to the base.

42. The method of claim 41 wherein the film is adhered to the base with a polyamide hot melt resin.

43. The method of claim 39 wherein the film has a softening point between 120 and 220 degrees Fahrenheit.

44. The method of claim 31 wherein the central portion of the base has a nominal thickness of between about 0.002 and 0.012 inch.

45. The method of claim 31 wherein the central portion of the base is thicker than the selvedges.

46. The method of claim 31 wherein the touch fastener includes a magnetically attractable material.

47. The method of claim 46 wherein the magnetically attractable material is disposed on the upper face of the central portion of the base.

48. The method of claim 46 wherein the selvedges are substantially free of magnetically attractable material.

49. The method of claim 46 wherein the trench overlays a magnet.

50. The method of claim 31 wherein the trench is elongated, and the fastener product is in strip form.

51. The method of claim 31 wherein the fastener elements are male fastener elements having stems integrally molded with a surface of the central portion of the base.

52. The method of claim 31 wherein the foamable resin comprises a polyurethane resin.

53. A seat foam bun comprising;

a foam bun having a plateau disposed on a surface thereof, and

positioned on the plateau, a touch fastener comprising a base and a plurality of fastener elements extending from a central portion of the base in an array disposed between selvedges of the base, wherein the selvedges are embedded in the foam and extend about opposite upper side edges of the plateau.

54. The seat foam bun of claim 53 wherein the selvedges are lateral selvedges.

55. The seat foam bun of claim 53 wherein the plateau is an elongated plateau.

56. The seat foam bun of claim 53 wherein the selvedges have a stiffness that is substantially less than a stiffness of the central portion of the base.

57. The seat foam bun of claim 53 wherein central portion of the base comprises a resin.

58. The seat foam bun of claim 53 wherein the selvedges comprise a film.

59. The seat foam bun of claim 58 wherein the film has a softening point between 120 and 220 degrees Fahrenheit.

60. The seat foam bun of claim 58 wherein the film is adhered to the central portion of the base.

61. The seat foam bun of claim 53 wherein the central portion of the base is thicker than the selvedges.

62. The seat foam bun of claim 53 wherein the selvedges extend laterally beyond the central portion at least about 2 mm.

63. The seat form bun of claim 53 wherein the touch fastener includes a magnetically attractable material.

64. The seat form bun of claim 53 wherein a magnetically attractable material is disposed on the central portion of the base.

65. The seat foam bun of claim 53 wherein an exposed surface of the selvedges is substantially smooth.

66. The seat foam bun of claim 53 wherein the foam is a polyurethane foam.

67. A touch fastener comprising;

a sheet-form base comprising an upper face and a lower face;

a plurality of fastener elements disposed in an array on the lower face of the sheet-form base;

a magnetically attractable material secured to the upper face of the sheet-form base; and

a film disposed on the upper face of the base, wherein the film has a softening point lower than about 220 degrees Fahrenheit.

68. The touch fastener of claim 67 wherein the softening point of the film is lower than about 180 degrees Fahrenheit.

69. The touch fastener of claim 68 wherein the softening point of the film is lower than about 150 degrees Fahrenheit.

70. The touch fastener of claim 67 wherein the film is between about 0.002 and 0.010 inch thick.

71. The touch fastener of claim 67 wherein the film comprises a polyamide.

72. The touch fastener of claim 67 wherein the film is disposed over substantially the entire upper face of the base.

73. The touch fastener of claim 67 further comprising a material secured to the lower face of the base, wherein the material surrounds at least a portion of the array of fastener elements.

74. The touch fastener of claim 67 wherein the magnetically attractable material is a metal wire.

75. The touch fastener of claim 67 wherein the magnetically attractable material comprises a coating of metal particles.

76. The touch fastener of claim 67 wherein the magnetically attractable material is disposed in a strip extending substantially an entire length of the touch fastener and substantially centered in a width of the touch fastener.

77. The touch fastener of claim 67 further comprising selvedges extending laterally beyond the array of fastener elements, wherein the selvedges comprise a substantially flat surface configured to engage a flat surface of a mold in face-to-face contact.

78. The touch fastener of claim 77 wherein the selvedges are integrally molded with the base.

79. The touch fastener of claim 77 wherein the selvedges comprise a film disposed on the upper surface of the base.

80. A method of forming a seat foam bun, the method comprising;

providing a mold cavity having a shape corresponding to a desired shape of the foam bun;

positioning a touch fastener in the mold cavity, the touch fastener comprising a sheet-form base comprising an upper face and a lower face, a plurality of fastener elements disposed on the lower face of the sheet-form base, and a thermally-activatable resin exposed on the upper face of the sheet-form base; and

delivering a foamable resin into the mold cavity causing the resin to foam in an exothermic reaction, wherein the reaction generates sufficient heat to activate at least an outer surface of the activatable resin to adhere the touch fastener to the foam.

81. The method of claim 80 wherein the foamable resin comprises a polyurethane.

82. The method of claim 80 wherein the activatable resin is activated at a temperature between about 120 and 220 degrees Fahrenheit.

83. The method of claim 80 wherein the activatable resin comprises a film.

84. The method of claim 83 wherein the film comprises a polyamide film.

85. The method of claim 80 wherein the resin is disposed over substantially the entire upper face of the base.

86. The method of claim 80 wherein the touch fastener comprises a magnetically attractable materially disposed on the upper face of the base.

87. The method of claim 86 wherein the magnetically attractable material is a metal wire laterally centered over the fastener elements.

88. The method of claim 80 wherein the touch fastener comprises a material disposed on the lower face of the base, the material surrounding the plurality of fastener elements and forming a gasket between the base and a surface of the mold cavity.

89. The method of claim 80 wherein the touch fastener comprises selvedges extending laterally beyond the plurality of fastener elements.

90. The method of claim 89 wherein the selvedges extend longitudinally beyond the plurality of fastener elements.

91. The method of claim 89 wherein the selvedges are integrally molded with the base.

92. The method of claim 89 wherein the selvedges comprise a film disposed on the upper surface of the base.

93. The method of claim 89 wherein the selvedges comprise a smooth surface that engages a mold surface in face-to-face contact.

94. A touch fastener for use as a mold insert in which a molded surface can be formed, comprising;

a sheet-form base comprising an upper face and a lower face;

a plurality of fastener elements extending from the lower face of the sheet-form base disposed in an array; and

a magnetically attractable material secured to the sheet-form base;

wherein a portion of the sheet-form base extends laterally beyond the array of male fastener elements and forms selvedges on opposite edges of the sheet-form base, the selvedges being free of the magnetically attractable material, and having smooth, planar lower faces for engaging a flat mold surface in face-to-face contact on either side of the array to form a seal on either side of the array.

95. The touch fastener of claim 94 wherein the fastener elements are male fastener elements having stems integrally molded to the lower face of the sheet-form base.

96. The touch fastener of claim 94 wherein the magnetically attractable material comprises a metal wire.

97. The touch fastener of claim 94 wherein each selvedge extends from the array at least about 2 mm.

98. The touch fastener of claim 94 wherein the width of the array of fastener elements is between about 2 mm and 10 mm.

99. The touch fastener of claim 94 wherein the length of the touch fastener is at least about 200 mm.

100. The touch fastener of claim 94 further comprising a material disposed on the upper face of the sheet-form base.

101. The touch fastener of claim 94 further comprising a film disposed on the upper surface of the sheet-form base, wherein the softening point of the film is between about 140 and about 220 degrees Fahrenheit.

102. A method of forming a seat form bun, the method comprising;

providing a mold cavity having a shape corresponding to a desired shape of the foam bun and defining a trench overlying a magnet;

providing a touch fastener mold insert, the insert comprising a sheet-form base comprising an upper face and a lower face, a plurality of fastener elements extending from the lower face of the sheet-form base disposed in an array; and

a magnetically attractable material secured to the sheet-form base, a portion of the sheet-form base extending laterally beyond the array of male fastener elements and forming selvedges on opposite edges of the sheet-form base, the selvedges having smooth, planar lower faces;

positioning the insert in the trench to establish a magnetic attraction between the attractable material and the magnet, thereby creating area contact pressure between the smooth, lower faces of the selvedges and mold surfaces on either side of the trench to form a seal; and

delivering a foamable resin into the mold cavity to form a seat bun.

103. The method of claim 102 wherein the fastener elements are male fastener elements having stems integrally molded to the lower face of the sheet-form base.

104. The method of claim 102 wherein the foam is a polyurethane foam.

105. The method of claim 102 wherein the magnetically attractable material is encapsulated in a polyamide hot melt composition.

106. The method of claim 102 wherein the magnetically attractable material comprises a metal wire.

107. The method of claim 102 wherein the magnetically attractable material extends over substantially the entire length of the touch fastener and is substantially centered over a width of the touch fastener.

108. The method of claim 102 wherein the magnetically attractable material comprises a coating of metal particles.

109. The method of claim 108 wherein the coating of metal particles is substantially centered over a width of the touch fastener.

110. The method of claim 102 wherein each selvedge extends from the array at least about 2 mm.

111. The method of claim 110 wherein each selvedge extends from the array at least about 4 mm.

112. The method of claim 102 wherein the width of the array of fastener elements is between about 2 mm and 10 mm.

113. The method of claim 102 wherein the length of the touch fastener is at least about 200 mm.

114. The method of claim 102 wherein sheet-form base is between about 0.002 inches and 0.012 inches thick.

115. The method of claim 102 further comprising a material disposed on the upper face of the sheet-form base.

116. The method of claim 115 wherein the material is a woven material.

117. The method of claim 102 further comprising a film disposed on the upper surface of the sheet-form base, wherein the softening point of the film is between about 140 and about 220 degrees Fahrenheit.

118. The method of claim 102 wherein the male fastener elements comprise molded hooks or mushroom shapes.