Tipped lace
AssigneeThomas Taylor & Sons, Inc.
InventorHarold B. MacDonald
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The method of rigidifying portions of flexible structures comprised in part or wholly of yarns comprised of man-made fibers of filaments wherein the fibers or filaments of the yarns become welded to each other, specifically to a method of welding the constituent yarns of shoelaces at the ends of the laces so as to form rigid tips of reduced cross section at the ends; to joining two or more yarns at predetermined intervals to form a compound structure; and to joining parallel or crossing portions of yarns arranged in a predetermined relation to each other to form a dimensionally stable structure, by means of sonic vibration supplemented by pressure; and to apparatus for carrying out the method.
Claims6
A method of rigidifying a portion of a flexible length of fibrous material embodying a material which may be made rigid and hard by pressure and heating comprising subjecting the portion to be made rigid while confined within a die of predetermined cross section desirably to be imparted to the portion to be rigidified to sonic vibrations in a plane diametral to the axis of the portion and simultaneously to reciprocation in a plane at right angles to said diametral plane to cause the constituent fibers to soften and become bonded to each other.
A method of rigidifying predetermined portions of a structure comprised of man-made fiber to render the structure dimensionally stable comprising subjecting said portions to pressure to compact and condense the constituent fibers in said portions, subjecting the condensed portions to ultrasonic vibrations in a predetermined direction for a sufficient length of time to effect coalescence of the fibers at said portions at a temperature below fusion, simultaneously oscillating the condensed portions at right angles to the direction of the ultrasonic vibrations, removing the structure from the application of said ultrasonic vibrations and oscillations and allowing the structure to cool.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.