Method for making a sheet of loop material

A method for forming a sheet of loop material for use in fasteners of the type having releasably engageable hook and loop portions, said method comprising the steps of:

• providing fibers in the form of yarns in the range of 50 to 300 denier;
• distributing the yarns to provide a sheet of generally uniformly distributed fibers;
• forming the sheet of fibers to have arcuate portions projecting in the same direction from a surface defined by spaced anchor portion of the sheet of fibers, said forming step comprising the steps of:
• providing first and second generally cylindrical corrugating members each having an axis and including a plurality of spaced ridges defining the periphery of the corrugating member, the ridges of the corrugating members being elongate and parallel and being oriented at an angle in the range of 0 to 45 degrees with respect to the axes of the corrugating members, the ridges having outer surfaces and defining spaced between said ridges adapted to receive portions of the ridges of the other corrugating member in meshing relationship with the sheet of fibers therebetween;
• mounting the corrugating members in axially parallel relationship with portions of the ridges in meshing relationship;
• rotating at least one of the corrugating members;
• feeding the sheet of fibers between the meshed portions of the ridges with all of the fibers extending generally at a right angle to the axes of the corrugating members to generally conform the sheet of fibers to the periphery of the first corrugating member and form the arcuate portions of the fibers in the spaces between he ridges of the first corrugating member and the anchor portions of the sheet of fibers along the outer surfaces of the ridges of the first corrugating member;
• and
• retaining the formed sheet of fibers along the periphery of the first corrugating member for a predetermined distance after movement past the meshing portions of the ridges;
• extruding a thin layer of molten thermoplastic material onto the spaced anchor portions of the fibers along the periphery of the first corrugating member within the predetermined distance to form at lest a portion of a backing around the spaced anchor portions of the sheet of fibers with the arcuate portions of the sheet of fibers projecting from a front surface of the backing;
• cooling and solidifying the layer of thermoplastic material to form the sheet of loop material;
• and
• cutting the sheet of loop material into pieces to form loop portions for use in said fasteners of the type having releasably engageable hook and loop portions;
• said forming step forming the arcuate portions of the sheet of fibers to have a height from the front surface of the backing of less than about 0.64 centimeters;
• and
• said step of providing fibers providing fibers in an amount so that the sheet of fibers has a basis weight in the range of 5 to 300 grams per square meter measured along the first surface of the backing to provide sufficient open area between the fibers along the arcuate portions to afford ready engagement of the fibers along the arcuate portions by the hook portion of the fastener.

A method for forming a sheet of loop material for use in fasteners of the type having releasably engageable hook and loop portions, said method comprising:

• providing a nonwoven sheet of fibers;
• forming the sheet of fibers to have arcuate portions projecting in the same direction from a surface defined by spaced anchor portion of the sheet of fibers, said forming step comprising the steps of:
• providing first and second generally cylindrical corrugating members each having an axis and including a plurality of spaced ridges defining the periphery of the corrugating member, the ridges having outer surfaces and defining spaces between said ridges adapted to receive portions of the ridges of the other corrugating member in meshing relationship with the sheet of fibers therebetween;
• mounting the corrugating members in axially parallel relationship with portions of the ridges in meshing relationship;
• rotating at least one of the corrugating members;
• feeding the sheet of fibers between the meshed portions of the ridges to generally conform the sheet of fibers to the periphery of the first corrugating member and form the arcuate portions of the fibers in the space between the ridges of the first corrugating member and the anchor portions of the sheet of fibers along the outer surfaces of the ridges of the first corrugating member;
• and
• retaining the formed sheet of fibers along the periphery of the first corrugating member for a predetermined distance after movement past the meshing portions of the ridges;
• extruding a thin layer of molten thermoplastic material onto the spaced anchor portions of the fibers along the periphery of the first corrugating member within the predetermined distance to form at lest a portion of a backing around the spaced anchor portions of the sheet of fibers with the arcuate portions of the sheet of fibers projecting from a front surface of the backing;
• cooling and solidifying the layer of thermoplastic material to form the sheet of loop material;
• and
• cutting the sheet of loop material into pieces to form loop portions for use in said fasteners of the type having releasably engageable hook and loop portions.

A method for forming a sheet of loop material for use in fasteners of the type having releasably engageable hook and loop portions, said method comprising:

• providing a nonwoven sheet of fibers having a majority of the fibers extending in a first direction along the sheet;
• forming the sheet of fibers to have arcuate portions projecting in the same direction from a surface defined by spaced anchor portion of the sheet of fibers, said forming step comprising the steps of:
• providing first and second generally cylindrical corrugating members each having an axis and including a plurality of spaced ridges defining the periphery of the corrugating member, the ridges of the corrugating members being elongate, parallel, generally annular, extending circumferentially around and being axially spaced along the corrugating members, being oriented at a right angle to the axes of the corrugating members, having outer surfaces, and defining spaces between the ridges adapted to receive portions of the ridges of the other corrugating member in meshing relationship with the sheet of fibers therebetween;
• mounting the corrugating members in axially parallel relationship with portions of the ridges in meshing relationship;
• feeding the sheet of fibers between the meshed portions of the ridges to generally conform the sheet of fibers to the periphery of the first corrugating member and form the arcuate portions of the fibers in the space between the ridges of the first corrugating member and the anchor portions of the sheet of fibers along the outer surfaces of the ridges of the first corrugating member, the anchor portions of the sheet of fibers extending at a right angle to the axes of the corrugating members, and the sheet of fibers being fed between the meshed portions of the ridges of the corrugating members with the first direction oriented at a right angle to the length of the ridges and parallel to the axes of the corrugating members;
• and
• retaining the formed sheet of fibers along the periphery of the first corrugating member for a predetermined distance after movement past the meshing portions of the ridges;
• extruding a thin layer of molten thermoplastic material onto the spaced anchor portions of the fibers along the periphery of the first corrugating member within the predetermined distance to form at lest a portion of a backing around the spaced anchor portions of the sheet of fibers with the arcuate portions of the sheet of fibers projecting from a front surface of the backing;
• cooling and solidifying the layer of thermoplastic material to form the sheet of loop material;
• and
• cutting the sheet of loop material into pieces to form loop portions for use in said fasteners of the type having releasably engageable hook and loop portions.