Forming laminated touch fasteners
AssigneeVelcro Industries B.V.
InventorsIsaac Soler Medina, James T. Grady
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A laminated touch fastener is made in a continuous process on a mold roll. Flowable resin is pressed against the mold roll in limited areas to form projections extending from resin layers that are laminated to a flexible substrate while carried on the mold roll. In one example a continuous channel about the mold roll is positioned such that the resin at least partially fills the channel as the layers are formed, thereby forming in the channel a raised portion in which the resin layer is of a greater thickness than at a point between the projections and the raised portion. In another example, grooves in the mold roll receive ribs of a pressure applicator during forming of the layers, the ribs blocking lateral flow of the resin to form a desired edge profile.
Claims30
A method of making a laminated touch fastener, the method comprising:
- introducing flowable resin to a limited region of an outer surface of a rotating mold roll defining an array of cavities extending inward from an outer surface of the mold roll;
- applying pressure to the resin to fill the cavities with resin and form a layer of the applied resin interconnecting projections molded within the cavities;
- and
- laminating the layer of resin to a flexible substrate while the layer of resin is carried on the mold roll, the substrate being of greater width than the layer of resin, thereby forming a laterally bounded layer of resin from which the molded projections extend, the bounded layer laminated to the substrate and having at least one layer edge adjacent an exposed region of the substrate, the layer having a selvedge region void of the molded projections and defined between the projections and the layer edge;
- wherein the mold roll defines a continuous channel extending about the mold roll and positioned such that the resin at least partially fills the channel, thereby forming in the channel a raised portion of the selvedge region in which the resin layer is of a greater thickness than at a point between the array and the raised portion.
A touch fastener product comprising
- a flexible, sheet-form substrate having a broad surface;
- a layer of resin directly laminated to the broad surface, the layer of resin covering only a portion of the broad surface and defining a layer edge adjacent an exposed region of the broad surface;
- and
- an array of discrete fastener projections extending from the layer of resin;
- wherein the layer of resin is of a greater thickness at the layer edge than at a point between the array and the layer edge.
A method of making a laminated touch fastener, the method comprising:
- introducing flowable resin to a limited circumferential band of an outer surface of a rotating mold roll defining an array of cavities extending inward from an outer surface of the mold roll within the band, and defining grooves on either side of the circumferential band;
- positioning the mold roll in cooperation with a pressure applicator, with ribs of the pressure applicator positioned in the grooves of the rotating mold roll to laterally bound the circumferential band and, with the ribs positioned in the groove, applying pressure to the resin to fill the cavities with resin and form a layer of the applied resin interconnecting projections molded within the cavities and extending across the circumferential band between the ribs;
- carrying the layer of resin on the mold roll to a position in the rotation of the mold roll where the grooves are free of the ribs;
- and then
- laminating the layer of resin to a flexible substrate while the layer of resin is carried on the mold roll, the substrate being of greater width than the layer of resin, thereby forming a laterally bounded layer of resin from which the molded projections extend, the bounded layer laminated to the substrate and having at least one layer edge adjacent an exposed region of the substrate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.