US 6,783,834 B2 · Loop material for touch fastening

Abstract

Lightweight, non-woven loop products for hook-and-loop fastening are disclosed, as are methods for making them and end products employing them. The products are non-woven webs of entangled fibers of substantial tenacity, the fibers forming both a sheet-form web body and hook-engageable, free-standing loops extending from the web body. The product is stretched and stabilized to produce spaced-apart loop clusters extending from a very thin web of taut fibers. In important cases a binder is added to stabilize the product in its stretched condition. An example of the loop product is produced by needle-punching a batt of staple fibers in multiple needle-punching operations, applying a foamed acrylic binder, and then stretching the needled batt and curing the binder with the batt stretched. Other forming techniques are disclosed and several novel articles and uses employing such loop products are described, such as for filters and fasteners.

Claims49

Dependent claims

A loop component of a hook and loop fastener, the loop component comprising:

a nonwoven body of fibers having a basis weight of less than about 4 ounces per square yard, the fibers forming
a sheet-form base containing taut sections of fiber extending within a common plane between tightened knots of fibers, and
a great multiplicity of loop formations dispersed across the base, each loop formation having
a trunk of fibers drawn together by taut fibers of the base and extending from an associated knot in the common plane of the base, wherein at least some of the fibers comprising the trunk each have a thickness that undulates alone their length, and
multiple hook-engageable loops formed of fibers of the trunk and extending from the trunk for engagement by hooks of a mating component.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Loop material for touch fastening

Life of this patent

Loop material for touch fastening

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims49