Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02809703 2013-02-27
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METHOD OF MANUFACTURING HOOK AND LOOP FASTENER STRIP, DEVICE THEREFORE AND
HOOK
AND LOOP FASTENER STRIP
The present invention relates to a method for the
production of touch and close fastener strips in which not
all of the surface is covered by hooks or loops, a device
for implementing this method and touch and close fasteners
with improved properties.
A touch and close fastener generally consists of two parts
that can attach to one another, whereby one part is a male
part that has small hooks protruding out of the support on
at least one side, while the other part is a female part
that has loops on at least one side.
When the male and female parts are brought together the
small hooks latch onto the loops such that the parts fasten
together.
Both parts primarily consist of a support and hooks or
loops, for example formed by a matrix of warp threads and
weft threads, between which pile threads are woven to form
the pile protruding out of the support that forms the
aforementioned hooks or loops.
A touch and close fastener strip often has edges, called
sewing edges, on which there are no hooks or loops. This
sewing edge can be used to sew the strip onto textiles.
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Traditionally such a touch and close fastener strip is
produced with sewing edges by setting up a loom such that
the desired width of the strip, and also the desired width
of the part that has the pile, is obtained.
Touch and close fasteners can also be made with different
fastening strengths by varying the quantity of pile thread
that is woven in, and also by selecting the right settings
for the loom.
This traditional way of making touch and close fasteners
with different widths and fastening strengths has a number
of disadvantages.
A first disadvantage relates to the fact that in practice a
large quantity of different qualities and widths have to be
produced, for which the loom has to be adapted each time,
which is a long and expensive operation.
There is also the disadvantage that if an electrical or
mechanical fault occurs in a loom set for a certain type
and a certain width, the production of this type and this
width of touch and close fastener has to stop, and cannot
easily be restarted on a different loom.
Another disadvantage is that a large stock, i.e. many
different qualities and widths, has to be kept.
A further disadvantage is that there is no flexibility for
adapting the touch and close fastener strip once it has
been produced.
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A method is known from US 4662037 for providing a touch and
close fastener strip with a sewing edge by ultrasonically
melting the hooks and loops over a part of the touch and
close fastener, i.e. the part that will form the sewing
edge.
This method indeed provides a partial solution to the said
disadvantages, but it also has its own disadvantages.
For example, the molten material gets onto the support in a
molten state, and is partly absorbed in it.
A sewing edge is thereby visually formed, but it partly
consists of a hard solidified layer of what was previously
the hooks or loops.
As a result the sewing edge is hard and the sewing of this
sewing edge is hampered because the needle used cannot
penetrate the sewing edge, or can only do so with
difficulty.
As a result the sewing edge also loses the flexibility that
the support normally has, such that it breaks or tears more
easily.
With this method an economically attractive production
speed, minimum 15 m/min, in practice rather 20 m/min or
more, is not possible because in practice the hooks, which
are relatively thick compared to the loops, do not melt
completely and do not lie flat on or in the support, but
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only partially melt and thereby form lumps on the sewing
edge.
This gives an unattractive visual image, feels
unattractive, and makes sewing more difficult.
An ultrasonic melting device is also relatively expensive,
both with regard to procurement and usage, due to a
relatively short lifetime.
Extensive readjustment of the ultrasonic device is also
needed when a different type or different quality of touch
and close fastener has to be provided with sewing edges in
this way, such that there are significant adjustment costs
when production changes.
A further disadvantage is that such a method is only
feasible with a limited quantity of manufacturing materials
for touch and close fastener.
Indeed, for the feasibility of the method it is first
necessary for the material for the hooks and loops to be
meltable. As a result materials that do not melt, but which
harden or char, cannot be used at all. Metal threads, that
melt at a very high temperature, cannot be used either.
Secondly it is necessary for the hooks and loops to melt at
a temperature at which the support is not affected, which
is a further limitation of the known method.
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Touch and close fasteners with a lamination layer or
backing, for example hot-melt adhesive, cannot be used, or
only with difficulty, with this known method for providing
sewing edges, because this lamination layer could also be
affected by the heat for the melting.
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a
solution to at least one or more of the aforementioned
disadvantages and/or other disadvantages.
To this end the invention concerns a method for the
production of at least one strip of a male or female touch
and close fastener respectively, consisting of at least a
support with hooks or loops respectively on at least one
side of it, in which a part of the strip does not have
hooks or loops, in which the hooks or loops are selectively
mechanically removed from a part of the touch and close
fastener strip.
The advantage of this is that a great variety of different
touch and close fasteners, such as touch and close
fasteners with logos or geometric decorations, touch and
close fasteners of different widths and sewing edge widths,
touch and close fasteners with reduced fastening strength,
can be made from a wide touch and close fastener strip
according to need and flexibly by selectively mechanically
removing the hooks or loops.
In practice this will primarily be by cutting or shaving
off the hooks and loops.
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This can all be realised cheaply because little or no
adjustment work of the loom is required, and it can thus be
done at a high speed of 15 metres per minute, or preferably
even 20 metres or more per minute.
Because all looms are set up in the same way, the
uniformity of the touch and close fastener obtained is
greater than with the traditional method.
A number of narrower touch and close fastener strips with
sewing edges can also be made in an advantageous way from
an initial wide touch and close fastener strip, produced on
one loom for example.
The advantage of this is that a far less extensive stock of
qualities and widths is needed, because it can be produced
quickly, easily and flexibly.
A further advantage is that it brings about a capacity
increase in a production department.
An advantage is also that the separation between the sewing
edges and the fastening part of the strip can be applied
more accurately than with the traditional method, whereby a
more beautiful visual effect is obtained, certainly after
the touch and close fastener has been used a few times.
Greater accuracy is also possible with respect to the width
of the touch and close fastener strip and the sewing edge.
In a traditional production process by weaving, an accuracy
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of +/- 1.5 mm is possible for a 50 mm wide touch and close
fastener strip, while with the method according to the
invention an accuracy of +/- 0.1 mm is possible.
If a laminated touch and close fastener is made, i.e. a
touch and close fastener with a self-adhesive or
reactivatable adhesive backing, a textile backing, a flame-
retardant layer or another backing, a perfectly fitting
lamination layer is possible thanks to the method according
to the invention, such that there is a lamination layer
over the entire surface of the touch and close fastener
strip, and does not protrude outside the touch and close
fastener strip. There are also no limitations on the choice
of material for the lamination layer, as is the case with
the known method.
A further advantage is that the fastening strength of the
touch and close fastener can be easily adjusted by removing
the hooks or loops over a part of the surface of the touch
and close fastener, such that the flexibility for making
different qualities is increased.
The invention also concerns male or female touch and close
fasteners consisting of at least a support and hooks or
loops respectively, a part of which does not have hooks or
loops, in which the support of that part has residues of
the material that make up the hooks or loops, from which
the hooks or loops have been mechanically removed.
The invention also concerns a device for producing at least
one touch and close fastener strip, with at least a support
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and hooks or loops, in which at least one part extending in
the longitudinal direction does not have hooks or loops,
that has means of mechanical removal in order to remove
hooks or loops from a touch and close fastener strip, and
transport facilities to move the means and the touch and
close fastener with respect to one another in the
longitudinal direction of the touch and close fastener.
The advantage of this is that a wide touch and close
fastener strip can be easily converted into a series of
smaller touch and close fastener strips with their sewing
edges connected together, that only need to be separated
from one another in order to be used.
With the intention of better showing the characteristics of
the invention, a preferred embodiment of a method for
making narrow touch and close fastener strips with sewing
edges from a wide touch and close fastener strip according
to the invention is described hereinafter by way of an
example without any limiting nature, with reference to the
accompanying drawings, wherein:
figure 1 schematically shows in perspective a touch
and close fastener according to the invention with a
male part with hooks and a female part with loops;
figure 2 shows a cross-section of a male touch and
close fastener strip;
figure 3 schematically shows, in the direction of
arrow F3 in figure 2, the method for producing narrow
touch and close fastener strips with a sewing edge
from a wide touch and close fastener strip;
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figures 4 and 5 show cross-sections through the touch
and close fastener in various phases of its
processing, as indicated in figure 3 by lines IV-IV
and V-V.
A touch and close fastener 1 shown in figure 1 is formed by
two touch and close fastener strips, respectively a male
touch and close fastener strip 2 and a female touch and
close fastener strip 3, that are brought together to latch
onto one another.
The touch and close fastener strips 2,3 are primarily
formed from a support 4, in this example consisting of a
matrix of warp threads 5 and weft threads 6 woven together,
between which pile threads 7 are woven to form a pile in
the form of hooks 8 for the male touch and close fastener 2
or in the form of loops 9 for the female touch and close
fastener 3. This is shown in figure 2 with regard to the
male touch and close fastener 2.
In the example shown, the hooks 8 and loops 9 are on one
side of the support 4 and protrude with respect to this
side, although it is not ruled out that both sides of the
support 4 have such hooks 8 or loops 9.
In this example, the touch and close fastener strips 2,3
have sewing edges 10 where there are no hooks 8 or loops 9.
In the traditional way these sewing edges 10 are formed by
not weaving in any pile thread 7 in these places and they
have a width A.
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In figures 2 to 5, only a male touch and close fastener 2
is shown, and only the processing on a male touch and close
fastener 2 is discussed, but the argument and drawings are
analogously applicable to female touch and close fastener
3.
A method according to the invention, as shown in figure 3,
uses a touch and close fastener strip 2 as an initial
material, as shown in figure 2.
This touch and close fastener strip 2 is directed through a
device 11 according to the invention in the direction of
arrow P that consists of a rotating disk 13 with a shaving
effect and a thickness B, corresponding to twice the
desired sewing edge width A, which is mounted on a shaft
12, whereby the touch and close fastener 2 is directed
against the disk 13 in such a way that the hooks 8 are
removed together with a large part of their accompanying
pile 7 by the action of the disk 13, while the support 4
does not contact the disk 13 in such a way that the support
is not damaged.
As a result a straight track 14 is formed on the touch and
close fastener strip 2 from which the hooks 8 are fully
removed and the pile 7 is partially removed. At the
location of this track 14, residues 15 of the pile thread
remain in the support 4. Preferably, for visual reasons,
the pile 7 is removed down to the support 4, so that there
are no protruding parts. This is shown in figure 4.
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This intermediary product can also be considered as two
touch and close fastener strips 16, 17 that are connected
together by their sewing edges 18.
Then the track 14 is split in the longitudinal direction,
in this case by a rotating cutting blade 20 on a shaft 19.
As a result, two touch and close fastener strips 16, 17 are
produced, both with a sewing edge 18, as shown in figure 5.
If a different width other than A of the sewing edge 18 is
desired, this can be easily done by adjusting the width B
of the disk 13 and/or by cutting the track 14
asymmetrically.
As an option, the touch and close fastener 2,3 to which the
method is applied can have a backing, for example a self-
adhesive or reactivatable adhesive backing, a textile
backing, a flame retardant layer or another layer whereby
the touch and close fastener strips 16, 17 and the backing
produced perfectly fit one another, and without the method
having negative effects on the backing.
The method according to the invention, as described, can of
course also be implemented a number of times, whereby the
strips 16 or 17 serve as an initial product once again.
The method according to the invention can also be applied
with a number of disks 13 to remove hooks 8 or loops 9 next
to one another so that three or more touch and close
fastener strips 16, 17 are formed.
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The method according to the invention can also be
implemented in a way such that not all, or even none, of
the tracks 14 formed are split. This can be useful when
applying the sewing edges 18 to the touch and close
fastener 2,3 that has the desired width but does not have
sewing edges, or for removing part of the hooks 8 or loops
9 from a touch and close fastener strip 2,3 in order to
obtain a touch and close fastener strip 2,3 with the
appropriate fastening strength.
Instead of removing the hooks 8 by shaving, various other
mechanical methods can be used to remove the hooks 8 and
the pile thread 7 or part of it.
The method for splitting the track 14 can also be done in
in many ways, such as cold cutting, hot cutting, melting or
burning, for example by using a cold or hot knife,
ultrasonic or laser technology.
The invention is applicable to traditional hook-and-loop
type touch and close fasteners, but also to other types of
touch and close fasteners, such as mushroom touch and close
fasteners, velours touch and close fasteners and extruded
touch and close fasteners.
The present invention is by no means limited to the
embodiments described as an example and shown in the
drawings, but a method, touch and close fasteners and a
device according to the invention can be realised in all
kinds of variants, forms and dimensions, without departing
from the scope of the invention.
