Method and equipment for rapid manufacture of loop material

Equipment for forming a sheet of loop material adapted to be cut into pieces to form loop portions for fasteners of the type having releasably engageable hook and loop portions, said equipment comprising:

• means for providing an elongate sheet of fibers;
• means for forming the sheet of fibers to have arcuate portions projecting in the same direction from spaced anchor portions of the sheet of fibers, said means for forming comprising:
• first and second generally cylindrical forming members each having an axis, the peripheral surface of said first forming member being defined by a lattice surface on intersecting ridges, a multiplicity of recessed surfaces defining sockets in a predetermined pattern recessed from said lattice surface, and surfaces defining air passageways through said recessed surfaces within said sockets, and said second forming member including a multiplicity of posts radially projecting in said predetermined pattern and having distal end portions adapted to project into said sockets in meshing relationship with the sheet of fibers therebetween;
• means for mounting the corrugating members in axially parallel relationship with some of the posts in meshing relationship with some of the sockets;
• means for rotating the forming members;
• and
• means for feeding the sheet of fibers longitudinally between the meshed portions of the posts and recessed surfaces to generally conform the sheet of fibers to the periphery of the first forming member and form the arcuate portions of the fibers in the spaces between the distal ends of the posts and the recessed surfaces defining the sockets and the anchor portions of the fibers along the lattice surface;
• means for retaining the formed sheet of fibers along the peripheral surface of the first forming member for a predetermined distance after movement past the meshing portions of the posts and recessed surfaces comprising means for drawing air through said air passageways;
• and
• means for attaching a layer of material to the anchor portions of the sheet of fibers to form at least a portion of a backing attached to the spaced anchor portions fibers with the arcuate portions of the sheet of fibers projecting from a front surface of the backing.

A method for forming a sheet of loop material adapted to be cut into pieces to form loop portions for fasteners of the type having releasably engageable hook and loop portions, said method comprising:

• providing an elongate sheet of fibers;
• forming the sheet of fibers to have arcuate portions projecting in the same direction from spaced anchor portions of the sheet of fibers, said forming step comprising the steps of:
• providing first and second generally cylindrical forming members each having an axis, the peripheral surface of said first forming member being defined by surfaces on ridges, recessed surfaces defining recesses and surfaces defining air passageways through said recessed surfaces, and said second forming member including a multiplicity of projections radially projecting in said predetermined pattern and having distal end portions adapted to project into said recesses in meshing relationship with the sheet of fibers therebetween;
• mounting the corrugating members in axially parallel relationship with some of the projections in meshing relationship with some of the recesses;
• rotating the forming members;
• and
• feeding the sheet of fibers longitudinally between the meshed portions of the projections and recessed surfaces to generally conform the sheet of fibers to the periphery of the first forming member and form the arcuate portions of the fibers in the spaces between the distal ends of the projections and the recessed surfaces defining the sockets and the anchor portions of the fibers along the lattice surface;
• retaining the formed sheet of fibers along the peripheral surface of the first forming member for a predetermined distance after movement past the meshing portions of the projections and recessed surfaces primarily by drawing air through said air passageways;
• and
• attaching a layer of material to the anchor portions of the sheet of fibers to form at least a portion of a backing attached to the spaced anchor portions fibers with the arcuate portions of the sheet of fibers projecting from a front surface of the backing.