Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
WO93/12687 . PCTtF192/00~8 .~
212504~ ~
A REFASTENABLE FASTENING, THE ENGAGEME~"r FORMED ~Y IT AND THE
MET~OD OF MANUFACTURING THE FASTENING -.
This invention relates to a refastenable mechanical fastening,
5 the engagement formed by it and the method of manufacturing
the fastening.
Refas~enable ~echanical fastenings usually consist of two
parts that fasten onto cne another time after time, one part
containing hooklike comEonents and the other containing loop-
like components. This type fa~tener is commonly known by the
name Velcro. These structures enjoy a wide va~iety of uses;
e.g. in shoes, jogging shoes, sportswear, sports equipment,
leg parts of scuba divers~ suits, ends of sleeves, fastening
of bottle to divers' balance vests, diapers. Various types of
fasteners, strip sealers and the methods used to manufacture
them are presented in publications such as US patent publica- ;~
tion 2717437, 3009235 and FI publication 59528. The US patent
3009235 describes, how to enhance the firmne~s of engagement
20 of the separable fastener by forming loops in different -~
heightfi. However, it is not decribed any teaching, how the
non-desirable fastening could be avoided. In the UK patent
1400080 it is described a separable fastener, in which the
base or its background is formed to compress. The rigid hooks
~5 co~press the base of the flexible loops to reach a fastening.
Present-day strips employ a loop structure in one strip and
hook structure in the other. A strong enga~ ment is formed
when the h~oks meet the loops. One disadvantage of strips such
as these is that they fasten onto one another even when .ot
intended ~o do 80. This being the case, they need to be opened
several t mes before their fastening onto one another is desi-
red. A St.lp with the hook part on one side and the loop part
on the other is also known art.
Another known art strip is the one which has the loop part in
front of the hook part as is employed in some shoes. In this
case the hook part and loop part have ~een sewn onto a stron-
W093/12687 2 ~ 2 ~ 0 4 4 PCT/Fl92/00348
ger base material one after the other. The loop part is thenturned over on top of the hook part to execute the fastening
function. The problem with this solution is adjustability be-
cause for the engagement to be sufficiently strong it is ne-
ce~sary to have the entire loop part come into contact withthe entire hook part or vice versa. Often the practice is to
use unnecessarily long loop or hook strips which are never
used for their entire length. This being so, the use of hook-
and-loop strips is wasteful.
Especially when used in clothing, the hook parts fasten onto
not only the actual loop part, but also to other cloths such
as wool, and cause wear and even tear in doing so. Another
fastener may comprise a tape having a plurality of alternating
strips of hook and pile.
The refastenable fastening in accordance with the invention,
the engagement thus formed and the method for manufacturing
the fastening bring about a decisive improvement with respect
to the aforementioned shortcomings. In the Lmplementation of
this, the invention is characterised by what is presented in
the characterisation parts of the claLms 1, 7, 8 and 10.
The foremost advantage offered by the invention may be seen in
that non-desired fastening of the loop and hook parts can be
prevented. In addition, waste pieces are avoided. Especially -~
in the case of the preferable embodiment it is possible to use
only one kind of strip and thus adjustability is improved.
In the following, the invention is described with references
being made tp the appended drawing, in which:
Figures la, b and c show the different fastening stages of two
strips.
~5
Figure 2a, b, c and d show different forms of pieces, stoppers
that can prevent the non-desirable fastening of loops onto the
hooks.
WO93/12687 212 a O ~ 4 PCT/Fl92/oo~
Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the refastenable strip
with platelike pieces formed on the strip.
In its simplest form, the fastening device in accordance with
the invention can be implemented by, for example, leaving
loops at ~uitable intervals along the hooklike elemen~, the
said loops not being cut into hook form. Since the loops are
at least as high as the hooks or preferably slightly higher
with respect to the hooks, they prevent the non-desirable fas-
tening of the hooks onto the loop implement, but in doing sotbey, nevertheless, bend readily when engaging is desired.
As a method, the above can be implemented by, for example,
moving back and fo-th the blades used to cut the loops. When
the blade is in the front position, it cuts a loop so that it
becomes a hook; when in the rear position, it allows a loop
past it without cutting it. Thus, every third - tenth loop,
for example, can be left uncut.
Means such a~ those described below can al~o be used as pre-
ventative means.
In accordance with the invention's method, the loops are
~irstly woven into the base material 2, 10, the said loops 3
~eing then cut as the next stage whereupon they become hooks
4. Following the formation of the hooks, several loops are
woven into the cloth, the said loops being made as high as
tehe hooks or preferably higher than the hooks. An alternative
method might, for example, be one in which the loops are made
first and then the loops a ~ bent, e.g. using wax, essentially
to be in llne with the base material. Next, the hook material
is woven at selected inte vals into the base material. The-
reafter the hook material _s cut to form hooks. If present,
bonding wax is washed off and the loop pile is brushed up-
right.
Figure 1 shows strip or tape 1 in accordance ~ith the inventi-
on, the base material 2 onto which loops 3 and hooks 4 are
..... .. . . .
Wo93/12687 212 5 0 4 4 PCT/FI92/00~8
woven. The length of the loops 3 is sli~htly more than that of
the hooks 4. Often a difference of only 1-2 mm or even less is
sufficient. The length difference is indicated by h in Figure
As seen in Figs. la to lc, on coming into contact with one .-
another, without being pressed, the strips 1 and 10 act like
normal cloths, that is to say, they do not become engaged to
one another. The loop piles support one another and prevent
the hooks from touching the opposite side~s loop pile. When
the ~trips are pressed against one another on purpose, as if
they were press fasteners, the loop pile bends, the opposite
hooks penetrate among the opposite loop.pile loops and an en-
gagement is achieved. When compared to known art solutions,
lS the number of hooks can be reduced because now there are hooks
on two sides, without the tear strength being essentially
changed. -
The hooks can be of any shape, e.g. mushroom shaped or hooks.
they are positioned either a~ymmetrically or they are in rows.
'
Closed loops, strips of plate or ring-shaped pieces and even
triangular pieces made of various flexible plastics or rubber -
can be employed in place of the loop pile for the purpose of
keeping the strips apart from one another. The bottom part of
the said pieces can be executed to be such that the hooks can
fasten onto them almost as onto loops (e.g. by executing groo- ;~
ves, recesses onto the outside surface) but so that the surfa-
ce of their top part is such that hooks cannot fasten onto it.
:.
Figures 2 a to d show different types of pieces preventing
premature fastening. Number 11 indicates a ball that is advan-
tageously thin-walled os that it readily collapses. The trian-
gular~pieoe 12 is also possible and its walls too are advanta-
; 35 geously thin. the third alternative in figure 2, the platestrip 13, can be either hollow or relatively thin, in which
case it will readily give in under pressure. the ringlike pie-
ce 14 is advantageou~ly hollow in the centre. Pieces 11, 12,
:
WO~3/12687 2 1 2 ~ 0 4 ~ PCT~Fl92/00348
13 and 14 can be placed at intervals of 5 - 8 mm, for example,
or at even wider intervals. The plate strip 13 can be 10 mm
long and it would be followed by a gap of 10 mm, for example. -
Figure 3 shows an example of the positioni~g of strips 13. the
S symbols o and x in figure 3 depict loops 3 and hooks 4 connec-
ted to the strip, with only part of the said loops and hooks
being drawn into the figure. The height of the loops is of no
importance in this case.
The above is a descriptio~ of a method in which loops or hooks
are woven into the base material. It is also possible for the
hooks and the items preventing non-desirable engaging to be
executed into the base material from plastic, for example, or --
some other corresponding heat-sensitive material following
which loops are then fastened onto the said base.
Another possibility is the implementation of a solution accor-
ding to which the lo~p and hook parts are executed into sepa-
rate bases, the said bases being then cut into small pieces,
and these pieces are then fastened onto the desired base mate-
rial one after the other.
In case of textile base fabrics the loops may be anchored as
the result of appropriate weaving technique and so on. The
techniques are known to the skilled in the art as lS described
for example in the US patent No. 3009235.
The hooks are normally in the form of J. The loops and hooks
are resilient so that they~can easily be connected together by
pressing by the finger force or the like. The stoppers can be
semi-rigid~flexible fibres that can be either straight or bent
and the length is measur~ from the bas~ material to the top
of the hook or loop. The amount of the means ~3,11,12,13,14)
attached to the base (2, 10), preventing the non-desirable
fastening of the hooklike element to looplike element depends
e.g. on the size of the strip or tape.
It is emphasised that, in the above, the invention has been
WO93/12687 21 2 5 0 ~ 4 PCT~F192/00~8
described with reference being made to only one of its advan- ;
tageous implementation examples. In no way is this intended to -~
restrict the invention to apply only to this example. Instead,
numerous variations are possible within the framework of the O_
inventive idea as defined by the following patent claims.
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