BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a loop side of a touch fastener in accordance with prior art;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a hook side of a touch fastener in accordance with prior art;
FIG. 3 is an operational plan view of an article when using the conventional touch fastener to bond parts of the article;
FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the article along line 4-4 in FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is an enlarged, operational view in partial section of the article in FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is an enlarged, operational view in partial section of an article with an alternative, conventional touch fastener to bond parts of the article;
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a touch fastener in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional view of the touch fastener along line 8-8 in FIG. 7;
FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the touch fastener in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 10 is an enlarged sectional view of the touch fastener along line 10-10 in FIG. 9;
FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of the touch fastener in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 12 is an enlarged sectional view of the touch fastener along line 12-12 in FIG. 11;
FIG. 13 is an enlarged sectional view of a fourth embodiment of the touch fastener in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 14 is an enlarged sectional view of a fifth embodiment of the touch fastener in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 15 is an enlarged sectional view of a sixth embodiment of the touch fastener in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 16 is an enlarged operational view in partial section of an article, when using the touch fastener in accordance with the present invention to bond parts of the article; and
FIG. 17 is an enlarged operational view in partial section of an article, when using an alternative touch fastener in accordance with the present invention to bond parts of the article.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.
Reference is made to FIGS. 7 and 8. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a touch fastener 200 in accordance with the present invention. FIG. 8 is a sectional side view of the touch fastener 200 along line 8-8 in FIG. 7.
The touch fastener 200 includes a base 210, a fastening layer 220 and an adhesive 230. The base 210 is a piece of fabric that means the base 210 is produced by weaving fibers and has a first surface 211 and a second surface 212 opposite to the first surface 211. Each surface 211 and 212 can be divided into two areas that are adjacent to each other. For example, the first surface 211 is divided into a first area 201 and a second area 202.
The fastening layer 220 is integrally formed on the first area 201 of the first surface 211 during the production of the base 210 by weaving fibers. The fastening layer 220 has multiple loop fasteners in this embodiment. Besides, the fastening layer 220 may have multiple hook fasteners for different applications.
The adhesive 230 may be made of glue film, gel, hot glue, polyurethane (PU) or Thermoplastic Urethane (TPU) etc. This embodiment adopts a glue film that is distributed onto the second area 202 of the first surface 211. The glue film of the adhesive 230 is arranged to be adjacent to the fastening layer 220. Furthermore, the fastening layer 220 and the adhesive 230 can be respectively formed on the second surface 212 of the base 210 to achieve the functions.
Refer to FIG. 9 and FIG. 10. A second embodiment of the touch fastener is similar to the touch fastener as shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, except for the fastening layer 220. The fastening layer 220 is integrally formed on the entire first surface 211 including the first area 201 and the second area 202. When attaching the adhesive 230 to the second area 202, the loop fasteners on the second area 202 is pressed down by the adhesive 230 to attach the adhesive 230 on the second area 202 of the base 210. A pressed loop fastener layer 221 is formed between the adhesive 230 and the base 210. Likewise, the second embodiment of the touch fastener can be used to bond articles together.
Refer to FIG. 11 and FIG. 12. A third embodiment of a touch fastener 200′ is disclosed. The touch fastener 200′ comprises a base 210, a fastening layer 220′ and an adhesive 230.
The base 210 is a piece of fabric and has a first surface 211 and a second surface 212 opposite to the first surface 211. The first surface 211 is divided into a first area 201 and a second area 202 adjacent to the first area 201.
The fastening layer 220′ has multiple hook fasteners that are integrally formed on the base 210 when weaving the base 210. The hook fasteners of the fastening layer 220′ are distributed on the first area 201 of the base 210 when weaving the base 210, and are processed to be hook-shape.
The adhesive 230 may be made of glue film, gel, hot glue, polyurethane (PU) or Thermoplastic Urethane (TPU) etc. This embodiment adopts a glue film that is distributed onto the second area 202 of the first surface 211. The glue film of the adhesive 230 is arranged to be adjacent to the fastening layer 220′. Furthermore, the fastening layer 220′ and the adhesive 230 can be respectively formed on the second surface 212 of the base 210 to achieve the functions.
Refer to FIG. 13. A fourth embodiment of a touch fastener 200″ is disclosed. The touch fastener 200″ comprises a base 210, two fastening layers 220 and two adhesives 230.
The base 210 is a piece of fabric and has a first surface 211 and a second surface 212 opposite to the first surface 211. The first surface 211 and the second surface 212 are respectively divided into a first area 201 and a second area 202 adjacent to the first area 201. The first areas 201 are larger than the second areas 202.
The fastening layer 220 has multiple loop fasteners that are integrally formed on the base 210. The fastening layers 200 are woven simultaneously when weaving the base 210. The fastening layers 200 are respectively formed on the first areas 201 of the surfaces 211, 212 of the base 210.
The adhesives 230 may be made of glue film, gel, hot glue, polyurethane (PU) or Thermoplastic Urethane (TPU) etc. This embodiment adopts a glue film that is distributed onto each of the second areas 202 of the surfaces 211,212. The glue films of the adhesives 230 are arranged to be respectively adjacent to the fastening layer 220. Two pressed loop fastener layers 221 are formed between the adhesives 230 and the base 210.
Refer to FIG. 14. A fifth embodiment of a touch fastener 200″ is disclosed. The fifth embodiment modifies the fourth embodiment in FIG. 13. The modifications include replacing the loop fasteners of one of the fastening layers 220 with one fastening layer 220′ with the hook fasteners, and rearranging the fastening layers 220 and 220′ and the adhesives 230. The first fastening layer 220 is formed on the first area 201 of the first surface 211, while the second fastening layer 220′ is formed on the second area 202 of the second surface 212. The adhesives 230 are respectively attached to the second area 202 of the first surface 211 and the first area 201 of the second surface 212. Besides, the first area 201 is larger than the second area 202 of the first surface 212. The first area 201 is smaller than the second area 202 of the first surface 212.
Refer to FIG. 15. A sixth embodiment of a touch fastener 300 is disclosed. The touch fastener 300 comprises a base 310, a fastening layer 320 and an adhesive 330 and has a similar configuration with the second embodiment as shown in FIG. 12. The modifications of the sixth embodiment include using same material to fabricate the base 310 and the fastening layer 320. The base 310 and the fastening layer 320 are made of plastic and are integrally formed by plastic molding. The adhesive 330 is attached to the base 310 adjacent to the fastening layer 320.
The touch fastener in accordance with the present invention has several advantages.
First, the touch fasteners 200,200′, and 300 of the abovementioned embodiments arrange the adhesives 230 and 330 adjacent to the fastening layer 220. Thus, when using the touch fasteners 200,200′ and 300 to bind articles, the adhesives 230 and 330 are melted and stuck to the articles with heat and thermo pressure method (such as ultrasonic welding or high frequency welding). The adhesives 230 and 330 are exactly stuck to the articles so as to eliminate raised edges of the touch fastener. The potential hazards of injuring hands are prevented. In addition, the melted adhesive 230 and 330 can help stabilize the connection between the interior structure of the pressed fastening layer 211 and the base 210. Thus, the adhesive 230 and 330 quickly and stably stick the touch fastener on the articles to render a robust and stable connection between the touch fastener and the base 210.
Second, the adhesives 230 and 330 and the fastening layers 220 and 320 can be arranged on the same surface of the base 210 and 310, either on the first surface 211 or on the second surface 212. Only the adhesives 230,330 need to be welded by heat and pressure welding so that mistaking operations can be avoided. The touch fastener prevents mistakes as attaching the touch fasteners to the articles so that the yield has been improved.
Third, reference is made to FIG. 16 and FIG. 17. For example, using the touch fasteners 200 and 200′ to bond tow articles 400 such as carpet tiles that may be fabric carpet tiles or plastic carpet tiles, is disclosed. In FIG. 16, one fastening layer (the loop side) 100 is attached to the bottom 402 of one of the carpets 400 by ultrasonic welding and the touch fastener (the hook side) 200 is attached to the bottom 402 of another carpet 400. Likewise, In FIG. 17, one fastening layer (the hook side) 100 is attached to the bottom 402 of one of the carpets 400 by ultrasonic welding and the touch fastener (the loop side) 200′ is attached to the bottom 402 of another carpet 400. Since the fastening layers 220 and 220′ and the adhesive 230 are arranged on the same surface of the touch fasteners 200 and 200′, the fastening layers 220 and 220′ easily catch the fastening layer 100 on the bottom 402 of one of the carpets 400 to bond the carpets 400 together without any stitches. The present invention addresses the problems of the stitches appearing on the top 401 of the carpets 400 and renders the carpets 400 good-looking and pleasing.
Fourth, in the conventional method of attaching the touch fasteners to the articles with stitches, a long length w (as shown in FIG. 5) of the touch fastener is required for stitching. The touch fastener with an excessive length increase costs. However, the present invention simply uses the adhesive 230 to firmly attach the touch fastener with the articles. Only a short length W1 of the touch fastener is required for the adhesive 230. The length W1 is smaller the than the length w, which results in the costs being decreased with respect to attaching the conventional touch fasteners.
Refer to FIG. 16 and FIG. 17. Therefore, the touch fastener 200 and 200′ in accordance with the present invention has adjacent fastening layer 200 and adhesive 230 that may be arranged on the same surface of the base 210. Applications of the touch fasteners in accordance with the present invention are extensive. The touch fasteners may be used for shoes, clothes, vehicle rugs, vehicle carpet, carpets, rugs, parcels, backpacks, hats, or sofas etc. Attaching the touch fasteners on those articles does not need to use stitches so that the entire appearance of the articles is influenced. In addition, using the adhesive to stick the touch fasteners on the articles can prevent operation mistakes, results in decreasing defective rate and increasing quantity of manufacture. Furthermore, the adhesive 230 has been attached on the base 210 of the touch fastener before attaching the touch fastener to the articles. The touch fasteners can be quickly attached to the articles with heat and pressure method, and can be firmly and stably stuck to the articles without any raised edges that may impose potential injures. The touch fasteners are durable and can extend life time of use.
In addition, when attaching the touch fasteners to fabric articles, the melted adhesive can stick fibers of the fabric articles. The touch fasteners can not only be quickly attached to the fabric articles but also be firmly attached to the fabric articles. Robust and strong attachment between the touch fastener and the fabric article is provided.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.
Patent Application
20080078073
