Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company

Maurice E Freeman

James J Kobe

Shih-Lai Lu

Bradley D Zinke

John D Moon

Forrest J Rouser

Robert V Heiti

Thomas E Boettcher

Robert G Shaw

Jason A Chesley

Eric V Malmberg

Walter E Northrup

A multi-cycle refastenable contact responsive non-tacky fastener system and method of use with a field of a contact responsive fastening layer having essentially no surface tack. The fastening layer is multiply releasable and refastenable against a non-tacky target surface, and has substantially constant 90.degree. peel strength of less than about 5 kN/m when in contact with the target surface. A mounting layer comprises a field of a pressure sensitive adhesive onto which the field of the contact responsive layer is directly attached.

Multiple releasable contact responsive fasteners

Multiple releasable contact responsive fastener

A reclosable mechanical fastener comprising a fastening component having a surface structure by which two such fastening components can become releasably attached. The novel fastening component is a composite of a tough substrate and a fastening layer that forms said surface structure, which fastening layer is formed from a cured oligomeric resin composition having one or more like or different hard segments, one or more like or different soft segments, and one or more like or different monovalent moieties containing a radiation-sensitive, addition-polymerizable, function group. The novel fastener forms stronger linkages than were possible with similar fasteners of the prior art.

Reclosable mechanical fastener based on a composite article

An elongate fastener assembly comprising a flexible polymeric backing strip from which project a multiplicity of headed stems adapted to engage loops on materials pressed against the heads, and an open porous permanent attachment layer attached to the surface of the backing strip opposite the stems which has sufficient open area to receive foam to permanently attach the fastener assembly to a foamed article. The fastener assembly has a temporary attachment layer comprising granular ferromagnetic material in a polymeric binder sandwiched between the backing strip and the permanent attachment layer which is adapted to be attracted by magnets to temporarily hold the fastener assembly in position during a foaming process, and has a heat shrinkable film cover means overlaying the heads attached to the edges of the backing strip that will shrink transversely to expose the heads upon the application of heat below 125.degree. C.

Fastener assembly with heat shrinkable film cover

Growing community of inventors

Maplewood, MN, United States of America

Maurice E Freeman