Self-mating reclosable mechanical fastener and binding strap

A binding strap adapted to be wrapped around at least one article to bind the article comprising a base sheet and a multiplicity of parallel, narrowly spaced, elastically deformable ribs projecting from the base sheet and establishing a fastening surface that can be interengaged with an identical fastening surface;

• the ribs comprising a stem portion attached to and substantially upright from the base sheet and at least one flange attached to each side of the stem portion at points spaced from the base sheet;
• the underside surface of outer portions of the flanges projecting downwardly toward the base sheet and the flanges having a substantial thickness over at least most of their width such that the stem portion deforms in preference to the flanges during peel-type disengagement from an identical fastening surface;
• the cross-sectional profile formed by the ribs being substantially uniform over the length of the ribs, but in the direction transverse to the ribs having a regularly repeated deviation from the profile that would be formed by a full population of equally spaced, identical, undivided, symmetric ribs;
• the deviation from a full-population profile including the absence of structure, at a position adjacent to, and at the same height as, a flange on a plurality of regularly repeating ribs, that would impede movement of the flange during flexure of the rib while the fastener is interengaged with a mating fastener;
• the strap having a length and width that adapts it to be wrapped around one or more articles to provide a binding action on the article.

A bundling strap adapted to be wrapped around a set of objects to hold the objects together comprising a base sheet and a multiplicity of parallel, narrowly spaced, elastically deformable ribs projecting from the base sheet transverse to the length of the strap;

• the ribs comprising a stem portion attached to and substantially upright from the base sheet and at least one flange attached to each side of the stem portion at points spaced from the base sheet;
• at least the outer portions of the flanges projecting toward the base sheet;
• the cross-sectional profile formed by the ribs being substantially uniform over the length of the profile that would be formed by a frill population of equally spaced, identical, undivided, symmetric ribs;
• and the ribs individually having a width that is accommodated between the stem portions of adjacent ribs but is greater than the gap between adjacent ribs, whereby the ribbed surface of one section of the strap can be interengaged with a ribbed surface on another section of the strap.