Velcro Industries B.v.

Velero Industries B.v.

Actief N.v.

Actief N.v. Abn Trust Company (Curacao) N.v.

Valero Industries B.v.

Vekro Industries B.v.

Velcro Industties B.v.

Ouellette, Marcel C.

Provost, George a.

George A Provost

William H Shepard

William P Clune

Mark A Clarner

Gerald F Rocha

A Todd Leak

Apiromraj Srisopark Roslansky

Mark J Condon

James Van Stumpf

Stephen C Jens

Howard A Kingsford

James R Barker

William J Kennedy

William L Huber

Paul John Serbiak

Clinton Dowd

David P Kraus

Keith G Buzzell

Samuel White Pollard

Christopher M Gallant

Luis Parellada Armela

Michel Labrecque

Melissa Spezzafero

Jefferson Davis

Thomas G Lacey

Richard G Maydra

Peter E Grulke

James W Babineau

Juan Sánchez

Holly Isabelle

Andrew Cecil Harvey

Richard M Formato

Scott M Filion

Martin I Jacobs

Brian J Routhier

Evangelos Kaparis

Andrew P Morse

William F Trask

Marcel C Ouellette

Rita T Bahro

Methods of making a sheet-form loop product are provided. One method includes placing a layer of staple fibers against a first side of a substrate comprising a nonwoven web; needling fibers of the layer through the substrate by penetrating the substrate with needles that drag portions of the fibers through the substrate, leaving exposed loops of the fibers extending from a second side of the substrate; and anchoring fibers forming the loops by fusing the fibers to each other and to filaments of the nonwoven web on the first side of the substrate, while substantially preventing fusion of the fibers on the second side of the substrate. Sheet-form loop products are also provided, including for example a flexible nonwoven substrate and a layer of staple fibers disposed on a first side of the substrate, exposed loops of the fibers extending from a second side of the substrate, with bases of the loops being anchored on the first side of the substrate, wherein the fibers on the first side of the substrate are fused together to a relatively greater extent than the fibers on the second side of the substrate.

Needling loops into carrier sheets

Methods of forming a loop product are provided. Methods include needling polymeric fibers through a substrate to form hook-engageable loop structures of the fibers extending from one surface of the substrate and then using heat and pressure to soften and bond polymer of the fibers directly to the substrate and adjacent fibers, thereby anchoring the loop structures to resist fiber pullout under fastening loads. Loop products are also provided.

Anchoring loops of fibers needled into a carrier sheet

Lightweight, hook-engageable materials capable of functioning as hook-engageable fasteners are treated and configured for use for economical and attractive displays and decorations. Laminates of the material with various substrates with associated printing are used to form visually attractive point of purchase, merchandise or trade show displays. Self-supporting or stable materials having lettering or designs on their surface are used to form banners or floor coverings. Non-woven materials with varied areal density of fibers perform those functions with particular economy. Low density knit fabrics are also useful according to broad features of the invention. Methods are shown to produce reinforced corrugated board and desirably laminated and printed materials having hook-engageable surfaces.

Hook-engageable fastener sheets, and methods and articles of manufacture

A medical wrap includes a flexible, sheet-form substrate with a discrete medical function delivery region having a surface adapted to be placed against a patient's skin to provide a desired medical effect. The substrate carries a field of fibers exposed on one side thereof for engagement by fastener elements, and an array of fastener elements extending from a side of the substrate opposite the exposed fibers. The fastener elements each have a respective stem extending integrally from a film of resin disposed in a band across the substrate and encapsulating surface features of the substrate. The fastener elements are constructed to snag the exposed fibers when the substrate is wrapped about a patient in an overlapping manner, to secure the wrap about the patient with the medical function delivery region in a desired position. The wrap is useful as a hot or cold pack, medical dressing or drug delivery device.

Medical wraps

A method of forming a medical wrap including a flexible, sheet-form substrate with a discrete medical function delivery region having a surface adapted to be placed against a patient's skin to provide a desired medical effect. The substrate carries a field of fibers exposed for engagement by an array of fastener elements. The fastener elements each have a respective stem extending integrally from a band of resin extending along the substrate. The fastener elements are constructed to snag the exposed fibers when the substrate is wrapped about a patient in an overlapping manner, securing the wrap about the patient with the medical function delivery region in a desired position. The wrap is configured for use as a hot or cold pack, a medical dressing, or drug delivery device.

A method of forming a fastener is provided, including (a) forming, from a thermoformable material, a preform product having a sheet-form base and an array of preform stems integrally molded with and extending from the base to corresponding terminal ends; (b) heating the terminal ends of the stems to a predetermined softening temperature, while maintaining the sheet-form base and a lower portion of each stem at a temperature lower than the softening temperature; and (c) contacting the terminal ends with a contact surface that is at a predetermined forming temperature, lower than the softening temperature, to deform the terminal ends to form heads therefrom that overhang the sheet-form base. Fasteners and other methods of forming them are also provided.

Fasteners engageable with loops of nonwoven fabrics and with other open structures, and methods and machines for making fasteners

A material for covering a surface of a home or building is provided in the form of a flexible laminate having a fastening side comprising a sheet-form fastener component, and an opposite side formed by a sheet of paper laminated to the fastener component to increase the dimensional stability of the fastener component for covering and fastening over a wide area. The fastener component can have either hooks or loops. The laminate is particularly useful for laying flooring with low backlash between adjacent pieces.

Flexible building construction laminates with fasteners

Methods of making fastener products

Methods of forming a loop product are provided. Some methods include (a) introducing a sheet-form substrate and a layer of polymeric fibers into a needle loom, with the fibers disposed on a first surface of the substrate, and (b) needling the fibers through the substrate to form hook-engageable loop structures of the fibers extending from a second surface of the substrate through holes formed in the substrate by the needling. Needling the fibers includes piercing the substrate with a plurality of needles while advancing the substrate in a machine direction at a predetermined speed, while cyclically advancing the needles in the machine direction, during piercing of the substrate, in a manner that causes the needles to travel in a substantially elliptical path, such that while the needles extend through the substrate the needles are moving in the machine direction.

Loop materials are provided for touch fastening. Some loop materials include a flexible sheet-form substrate, and hook-engageable fibers secured individually and directly to the substrate, the fibers being disposed in discrete fastening regions of the substrate, leaving fiber-free substrate between adjacent fastening regions. Methods of making and using such loop materials are also provided.

Forming loop materials

A molded plastic hook fastener component for hook and loop fastening has individual raised bases distributed over a common area, each carrying an individual hook element while a laterally contiguous portion of each raised base raises the lower bound for the loop region beneath the fastener head. During molding, fastener elements are pulled from their mold cavities through cavity portions of the raised bases.

Hook fastener components and methods of their manufacture

A sheet-form loop product includes a flexible paper substrate and a layer of staple fibers disposed on a first side of the substrate, exposed loops of the fibers extending from holes through the substrate to a second side of the substrate, with bases of the loops being anchored on the first side of the substrate. The loops can be fastening loops. The product is formed by needling the fibers through the paper and then bonding the fibers. Examples include loop fastener materials, towels, abrasive scrubbing pads and sanding materials.

A method of making a fastener product having discrete regions of fastener element stems extending from a strip-form base includes providing a gap formed along a peripheral surface of a rotating mold roll, the mold roll having a plurality of cavities exposed about the peripheral surface. A sleeve is introduced to the gap. The sleeve is positioned about the mold roll and covers selected cavities. Molten resin is introduced to the gap such that the resin forms at least a part of the strip-form base of the product at the peripheral mold roll surface and at least partially fills a plurality of the cavities to form fastener element stems as projections extending from the strip-form base, while the resin remains blocked from said selected ones by the sleeve. The resin is solidified and stripped from the peripheral surface of the mold roll by pulling the projections from their respective cavities.

Forming discrete fastener element regions

Bristle array

A method of filling a bag that includes inserting an insulator between first and second side walls of a closure strip and joining an outer surface of the second side wall of the closure strip to an inner surface of a bag wall in a region of the wall behind which the insulator is positioned.

Filling and using reclosable bags

Growing community of inventors

Litchfield, NH, United States of America

George A Provost