Velcro Industries B.v.

Valero Industries B.v.

Velera Industries

William P Clune

William H Shepard

George A Provost

Christopher M Gallant

Mark A Clarner

Howard A Kingsford

Ernesto S Tachauer

David P Kraus

James W Babineau

Luis Parellada Armela

Wallace L Kurtz, Jr

Brian J Vanbenschoten

Joseph Earl Pierce

William L Huber

Michel Labrecque

Melissa Spezzafero

Jefferson Davis

Shawn C Banker

Stephen C Jens

Scott M Filion

Arthur Edward Garavaglia

Nadezhda Efremova

Kristel L Ferry

Juan Sánchez

Andrew Cecil Harvey

Richard John Schmidt

Richard Warren Tanzer

Kevin Edward Keough

Clinton Dowd

Paul R Erickson

Martin I Jacobs

Keith G Buzzell

Alexander J Neeb

Samuel White Pollard

Heidi S Tremblay

Christopher C Libby

Paul A Dandurand

K Theodor Krantz

John L Boucher

Robert Thomas

Bryan H Blackmon

Clifton Wall

Mireia Musquera Ferrer

Jordi Blade Sastre

A method for forming a film of plastic material includes urging molten resin through a die head opening to form a stalk having an extrusion profiled rail of resin material extending radially outward from a tubular wall, the die head opening including an annular orifice that defines a thickness of the tubular wall and a cross-sectional shape of the rail; cutting the rail to form discrete elements while leaving the tubular wall un-punctured; and inflating the stalk with a gas bubble maintained within an interior space of the tubular wall to form a thin film tube.

Blown film fastening

A composite hook and loop fastener in the form of an elongated strip has an elongated loop component, a hook component permanently affixed to the loop component, and a backing layer disposed on a face of the wrap tie in a discrete region. The backing layer is used for permanent attachment of the wrap tie to a supporting surface. One end of the loop component is available for encircling an object to be wrapped and engaging the fastener elements of the hook component. The loop component has a self-supporting web of entangled fibers, the fibers forming both a sheet-form body and hook-engageable, free-standing loops extending from at least one surface of the body, and the hook component has fastener elements extending from a common base. The backing layer may be a pressure sensitive adhesive or a synthetic resin.

Composite hook and loop fasteners, methods of their manufacture, and products containing them

The invention relates to molding systems and related methods. In one aspect of the invention, a molding apparatus includes a first cylindrical roll that is rotatably coupled to a frame and an adjacent pressure device, the frame is configured so that a substrate can pass through a nip formed between the first cylindrical roll and the pressure device while a portion of the substrate extends laterally beyond at least the frame and the first cylindrical roll.

Molding apparatus and related methods

Methods and systems including an engageable material with a lane of plastic resin extending across an interface of first and second ends of an article, wherein the plastic resin is bonded to the first and second ends such that the first and second ends are joined by the resin; and an array of fastener elements extending from one side of the plastic resin. The fastener elements include engageable heads on stems integrally formed with the lane of the plastic resin such that the two ends releasably engage the engageable material to secure the article.

Composite fastener products

A method of manufacturing a composite fastener material, the composite fastener material, and products derived from the composite fastener material. The method includes providing two longitudinally continuous sheets of material, positioning the two sheets to form a longitudinal, continuous interface between the two sheets, joining the two sheets by introducing one or more molten plastic resins in at least one lane, one lane of the resin extending across the interface under conditions that cause the resin to bond to the two sheets, molding an array of stems from at least one lane of the resin, the stems extending from an exposed surface of the composite material, and forming engageable heads on the stems to form fastener elements, wherein the two sheets differ from one another by one of material composition, thickness, texture, stretchability, breathability, and compressability.

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

Rigid substrates having molded fastener projections, and methods of making the same are disclosed. A substrate has a beam stiffness, measured as a product of an overall moment of inertia of a nominal transverse cross-section and an effective modulus of elasticity of a material from which the substrate is made, that is greater than about 200 lb-in(0.574 N-m). In situ lamination of hook, bands or islands on surfaces of a rigid substrate held in a planar orientation or presenting a planar surface.

Forming fastening projections on rigid substrates

Method and apparatus for making fastener products () having molded projections () or other molded features carried on a surface () feature a transfer device () having an outer surface with at least one transfer area (H) relatively raised with respect to another area (L) of the outer surface of the device.

Transferring resin for forming fastener products

Methods of making fastener products

The invention relates to fastener molding. In one aspect, a molding apparatus includes a cylindrical member defining a void extending radially inward from a peripheral surface of the member. The molding apparatus also includes an insert member configured to be disposed within the void.

Fastener molding

A method for forming a fastener product includes folding a sheet material about a longitudinal fold line to form a longitudinal edge portion overlapping only an adjacent portion of the sheet material, leaving another portion of the sheet material exposed as a remainder portion. The folded sheet material is continuously introduced to a gap adjacent to a surface of a rotating mold roll. Moldable resin is introduced between the sheet material and the mold roll to fill fixed cavities in the rotating mold roll to form portions of the fastener elements as stems bonded to one of the overlapping edge portion and the remainder portion. Additional material is bonded to the other of the overlapping edge portion and the remainder portion with the bonding occurring in the gap. The resin is solidified, then, stripped from the surface of the mold roll by pulling the stems from their respective cavities.

Molding fastener elements on folded substrate

A flexible circuit has a roll-molded thermoplastic resin base sheet with an integrally molded mounting structure located to receive a light emitting diode device in an illuminating position. The mounting structure is a pin receptacle constructed to receive a pin of the light emitting diode device. An electrically conductive portion is carried by the resin base and positioned for electric connection to conductors of the device. Another flexible circuit carries discrete integrated circuit chips and a field of fastener elements extending from a surface of a resin strip carrying conductive traces interconnecting the chips.

Mounting light emitting diodes

A fastener element with a sheet-form base and an array of wedge-shaped engageable elements molded integrally with a surface of the sheet-form base. The wedge-shaped elements each have a steep side and a gradually rising side, and are arranged with their steep sides all directed in a common sense, such that the array can engage a similar array of oppositely-directed wedge-shaped elements to resist shear motion. The distal edges of the wedges are curved in top view.

Shear fasteners

Growing community of inventors

Northwood, NH, United States of America

William P Clune