Claims
- 1. A plastic strap made from a solid sheet of material having a predetermined original thickness dimension, comprising:
- a solid sheet of material for engaging a first circumferential portion of a first one of a pair of opposed rollers which are spaced apart with respect to each other so as to define a nip therebetween which has a predetermined space dimension which is substantially less than said predetermined original thickness dimension of said solid sheet of material, wherein said pair of opposed rollers are rotated in opposite directions at different lineal surface velocities; for passing through said nip defined between said pair of opposed rollers so as to be simultaneously milled and stretched within said nip defined between said pair of opposed rollers; and for engaging a second circumferential portion of a second one of said pair of opposed rollers; and
- opposite heated side portions of said solid sheet of material disposed upstream of said nip defined between said pair of opposed rollers and at axial positions across the width of said solid sheet of material which are located predetermined distances axially inwardly from opposite side edge portions of said solid sheet of material so as to increase the degree of flatness of said simultaneously milled and stretched solid sheet of material across said width of said simultaneously milled and stretched solid sheet of material after said simultaneously milled and stretched solid sheet of material has passed through said nip defined between said pair of opposed rollers by eliminating any concave portions and bump transitional points defined between said concave portions and a main central portion of said solid sheet of material which tend to form at and within the vicinity of said axial positions located at said predetermined distances from said opposite side edge portions of said solid sheet of material.
- 2. The strap as set forth in claim 1, further comprising:
- said opposite side edge portions of said solid sheet of material are also heated and are disposed upstream of said nip defined between said pair of opposed rollers so as to cooperate with said heated opposite side portions of said solid sheet of material so as to achieve said degree of flatness of said simultaneously milled and stretched solid sheet of material across said width of said simultaneously milled and stretched solid sheet of material.
- 3. The strap as set forth in claim 1, wherein:
- said predetermined distances from said opposite side edge portions of said solid sheet of material are approximately one and one-quarter inches (1.25").
- 4. The strap as set forth in claim 1, wherein:
- said solid sheet of material comprises polypropylene.
- 5. The strap as set forth in claim 1, wherein:
- said solid sheet of material comprises polyester.
- 6. The strap as set forth in claim 5, wherein:
- said polyester comprises polyethylene terephthalate.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS
This application is a division, of application Ser. No. 08/474,355, filed Jun. 7, 1995 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,660,787, which, in turn, is a CIP of Ser. No. 08/353,721 filed Dec. 12, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,525,287, which, in turn, is a CIP of Ser. No. 07/958,803, filed Oct. 9, 1992, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,387,388.
This patent application is a Continuation-In-Part (CIP) patent application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/353,721 filed on Dec. 12, 1994 by Donald L. Van Erden et al. and entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROCUCING ORIENTED PLASTIC STRAP, AND STRAP PRODUCED THEREBY which, in turn, is a Continuation-In-Part (CIP) patent application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/958,803 filed on Oct. 9, 1992 by Donald L. Van Erden et al. and entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING ORIENTED PLASTIC STRAP, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,387,388.
US Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
5387388 |
Van Erden et al. |
Feb 1995 |
|
5597640 |
Van Erden et al. |
Jan 1997 |
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Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
474355 |
Jun 1995 |
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Continuation in Parts (2)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
353721 |
Dec 1994 |
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Parent |
958803 |
Oct 1992 |
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