Composite hook and loop fasteners, methods of their manufacture, and products containing them

A wrap tie in the form of an elongated strip for closing a bag, the wrap tie comprising:

• an elongated loop component having hook-engageable loops extending therefrom, the loop component comprising a needled non-woven web.;
• a hook component permanently affixed to a first end of the loop component at one end of the wrap tie, the hook component comprising
• a base of synthetic resin;
• and
• an array of loop-engageable fastener elements integrally molded with and extending from a first surface of the base;
• and
• a backing layer permanently affixed to a second surface of the base opposite the fastener elements, for permanent attachment of the hook component of the wrap tie to a bag near an open end of the bag, with the elongated loop component free to be wrapped around the bag to engage the fastener elements of the hook component to close the bag,
• wherein the backing layer comprises a pressure sensitive adhesive, and a removable release liner covering the pressure sensitive adhesive backing layer in which the release liner longitudinally overlaps the loop component such that a portion of the release liner is exposed for grasping.

A method of manufacturing sheet-form composite touch fasteners, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a longitudinally continuous sheet of a loop material comprising a non-woven web of entangled fibers, the fibers forming both a sheet-form web body having oppositely directed faces and hook-engageable loops extending from at least one face of the web body;
• introducing the loop material and molten resin to a gap adjacent a mold roll that has a cylindrical outer surface from which cavities extend in discrete longitudinal regions of the outer surface, the molten resin being introduced to the gap in discrete regions between the mold roll and a receiving face of the continuous sheet of loop material, such that longitudinal edges of the resin engage the outer surface of the mold roll in cavity-free regions between the discrete longitudinal regions in which the cavities extend and such that the resin is subjected to pressure between the mold roll and the loop material, forcing the resin into the cavities defined in the mold roll to form a laminate with a surface having spaced-apart resin-covered regions and exposed regions of the loop material, the resin-covered regions each having a resin base and multiple, loop-engageable fastener elements having stems integrally molded with and extending from the resin base in the direction in which the receiving face is directed, resin of the bases encapsulating fibers of said web body at the receiving face of the loop material in the resin-covered regions, thereby bonding the resin to the loop material;
• and then
• cutting the laminate to form said composite touch fasteners, each composite touch fastener having a surface comprising at least a portion of one of the exposed regions of the loop material, and at least a portion of one of the resin-covered regions.

A method of manufacturing sheet-form composite touch fasteners, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a fix and longitudinally continuous sheet of a loop material comprising a non-woven web of entangled fibers, the fibers forming both a sheet-form web body having oppositely directed faces and hook-engageable loops extending from at least one face of the web body;
• introducing the loop material and molten resin to a gap adjacent a mold roll, the molten resin being introduced to the gap in discrete regions between the mold roll and a receiving face of the continuous sheet of loop material, such that the resin is subjected to pressure between the mold roll and the loop material, forcing the resin into cavities defined in the mold roll to form a laminate with a surface having spaced-apart resin-covered regions and exposed regions of the loop material, the resin-covered regions each having a resin base and multiple, loop-engageable fastener elements having stems integrally molded with and extending from the resin base in the direction in which the receiving face is directed, resin of the bases encapsulating fibers of said web body at the receiving face of the loop material in the resin-covered regions, thereby bonding the resin to the loop material;
• and then
• cutting the laminate to form said composite touch fasteners, each composite touch fastener having a surface comprising at least a portion of one of the exposed regions of the loop material, and at least a portion of one of the resin-covered regions.
• wherein the mold roll has a cylindrical outer surface from which the cavities extend in two discrete longitudinal regions of the outer surface, each of the longitudinal regions corresponding to a respective one of the spaced-apart resin-covered regions of the outer surface and separated from each other by a length of the cylindrical outer surface void of the cavities and corresponding to one of the exposed regions of the laminate.

A method of manufacturing a composite material having fastener loops and loop-engageable fastener elements, the method comprising:

• providing at least one longitudinally continuous flexible material having oppositely directed faces, the flexible material having fastener loops extending from at least one of its faces,
• introducing molten resin to a plurality of spaced-apart, discrete regions of a resin-receiving face of the flexible material while leaving free of resin other regions of the resin-receiving face of the flexible material, at least some fastener loops of the flexible material on one or both faces of the flexible material remaining free of resin and positioned to be engaged by loop-engageable fastener elements;
• and
• forming the resin to provide both a resin base portion joined to the resin-receiving face of the flexible material and resin loop-engageable fastener elements having resin stems integrally formed with and extending outwardly from an outer surface of the resin base portion, the stems extending in the same direction as the direction faced by the resin-receiving face of the flexible material.