The invention relates to a fastening system, in particular as a button or fastener substitute, having at least two active partners. One partner, when in use, preferably assumes the function of a button or fastener part. The other partner assumes the function of a respective buttonhole or additional fastener part.
With long rows of buttons, such as those often provided on clothing items in particular, buttoning operations become relatively time consuming. A certain amount of manual dexterity is required in particular for buttoning-up operations.
An object of the invention is to provide an improved fastening system, in particular a button or fastener substitute offering a maximum amount of convenience for a user.
According to the invention, this object is basically achieved by a fastening system having, as one important feature of the invention, each active partner including at least two different types of hook-and-loop fastener elements that can be mated and detachably connected to corresponding hook-and-loop fastener elements of the other active partner. Due to the fact that at least two different types of hook-and-loop fastener elements are provided on each of the active partners embodying the buttonhole function or the closing part function and the function of the respective button and/or additional fastening part, i.e., for example, mushroom head-shaped hook elements, hooks, loops or loop meshes formed by a nonwoven or velour, the advantages of simple and convenient manipulability of hook-and-loop fasteners can be utilized advantageously, preferably also as a button or fastener substitute.
The hook-and-loop fastener elements are preferably provided on a backing in the form of a band defining a longitudinal axis, in particular in the form of strips along the longitudinal axis of the band.
The arrangement may particularly advantageously be such that hook-and-loop fastener elements of one type are arranged on a strip extending centrally on the backing and hook-and-loop fastener elements of at least one other type are arranged in a strip extending on each side along the central strip.
In advantageous exemplary embodiments, the centrally arranged strip comes to an end at a distance from the ends of the band of the backing, and the lateral strips merge with one another between the ends of the central strip and the ends of the band. The outer strips therefore form a complete border of a central strip with hook-and-loop fastener elements of the central strip and of the outer strips being different.
Hook-and-loop fastener elements of at least one type are particularly advantageously formed from the material of the backing.
These fastener elements may be in particular micro-hook-and-loop fastener elements having mushroom head shapes, formed on a backing made of plastic. Such hook-and-loop fastener elements may be formed by micro-extrusion of polypropylene or polyamide.
In addition, at least one strip of hook-and-loop fastener elements of a textile material such as a nonwoven, preferably velour, may be applied particularly advantageously to a backing made of plastic.
In the case of a backing made of a textile material, a plastic film that forms at least one strip having hook-and-loop fastener elements formed from the film material, as well as a strip of textile material, may be provided in an advantageous manner, this material forming hook-and-loop fastener elements of the other type, respectively. The hook-and-loop fastener elements of the latter type may be formed from the textile material itself in the form of loops, for example.
In a particularly advantageous embodiment, a strip, preferably of a self-adhesive velour, is arranged in the central region between strips formed from a plastic film and having hook-and-loop fastener elements of another type.
For application to a respective structure, in particular to a clothing item, an adhesive layer, preferably of a heat-activatable adhesive, may advantageously be provided on the underside of the backing. In this way, the backing may be applied in a particularly simple and economical manner, for example, by a type of iron-on application.
Alternatively, a textile fabric forming outer hook-and-loop fastener elements may be provided on the underside of the backing. In this way, a hook-and-loop fastener, which forms an adhesive connection with hook-and-loop fastener elements provided on the structure, for example, the clothing. Its adhesive power for applying the backing to the structure is designed to be stronger than that of the active partners implementing the button and buttonhole functions.
A pull-away film on the adhesive layer may advantageously be provided on the underside of the backing. The pull-away film facilitates simple and secure handling prior to the actual use.
To achieve color effects, for example, on clothing items for fashion reasons, different types of hook-and-loop fastener elements may be rendered identifiable by different colors of the respective strip.
Other objects, advantages and salient features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses preferred embodiments of the present invention.
Referring to the drawings that form a part of this disclosure:
The invention is explained in greater detail below on the basis of an example in which the fastening system is provided as a button substitute on a button strip 2 of a shirt-like clothing item 4. In
In the example in
In the additional example of
Such thin micro-extruded films having a three-dimensional structure, for example, in the form of Mikroplast® film distributed by the applicant may also be applied to a textile backing such as velour to form one of the strips 16, 18, 20, wherein the velour of the backing itself forms the hook-and-loop fastener elements of the other type.
To achieve color matching or a contrast effect when used on fashionable clothing items 4, the individual strips 16, 18, 20, 24, 26 may have different colors.
The fastening system according to the invention, with the respective complementary, interacting active partners, each having at least two different types of hook-and-loop fastener elements, may preferably be used as a button or fastener substitute. However, other applications are also possible here, for example, as the fastener parts of baby diapers or shoes as well as any type of packaging. Since each active partner has at least two different types of hook-and-loop fastener elements, which can interact with the complementary hook-and-loop fastener elements on the other active partner, a very large “target zone” is created, making it possible to close the aforementioned fastening system in an accurate and functionally reliable manner, but also to open it again.
This fastening system can be used reliably under conditions of poor visibility in particular, but also in the event of a possible physical impairment of the user, because of the large “target zone” or “hit zone,” in which case a colored background of at least parts of the respective active partner further increases user reliability. At this point, it also need not be emphasized further that, in the case of an attractive visual design of the fastening system in particular, this readily meets elevated design requirements, such as those regularly encountered in the clothing industry.
In particular also on clothing items that tend to become soiled, such as footwear, the corresponding active partner with its differently designed target zones or hit zones can ensure a long-lasting functional reliability, even when certain regions of the active partner with the respective hook-and-loop fastener element have a greater tendency to become soiled than other regions. For example, a loop or velour material usually tends to become permanently soiled to a greater extent than hook or mushroom head-type fastener elements functioning as the hook-and-loop active partner. The fastening system according to the invention described here may also be used in other technical fields, including medical technology, based on the existing advantages, such as greater functional reliability, better and higher hook-and-loop fastener forces, visually attractive design, etc.
While various embodiments have been chosen to illustrate the invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10 2012 023 920 | Dec 2012 | DE | national |
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