Touch fastener products, as well as apparatus and methods for manufacturing such products, are described. The methods and apparatus feature certain mold cavity shapes that are designed to facilitate demolding of hammer hook touch fastener elements exhibiting desirable fastening properties. Such mold cavity shapes can be combined with particularly soft molding resins to produce useful fastening products.

A surface bonding fastener for opening and closing an opening of a package comprises a first base sheet having a first surface; a second base sheet having a second surface facing the first surface; first and second blocking sheets secured to the first and second surfaces at first and second fixing ends; and plurality of first and second fastening units on first and second free ends opposite to the first and second fixing ends. The first and second fixing ends are closer to the opening of the package than the first and second free ends that are between the first and second base sheets. The first and second fastening units are arranged at intervals in a longitudinal direction and staggered in a transverse direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction. The first and second fastening units are configured to be fastened with each other for closing the opening of the package.

Aspects disclosed herein relate to forming on a substrate fastener elements suitable for use in touch fastener by employing vibration forming methods. The processes described provide for a greater flexibility in manufacturing than prior methods and overcome certain limitations in prior forming techniques. Further, the product made can embody a variety of different configurations suitable for a given application. Employing vibration forming methods, such as ultrasonic forming methods, allows for the use of a wider variety of substrate material than materials used with convention methods of touch fastener formation.

This surface fastener has a substrate portion and a plurality of engaging elements, each of the engaging elements being provided with a stem portion standing from the substrate portion and a hook portion extending in the fastener width direction from the stem portion. The engaging element has a narrow width tip end portion provided with at least a hook portion and an enlarged width portion provided with only the stem portion, separated by a reference surface along the fastener length and height directions as a boundary. This makes an undercut hardly formable in the molding of the engaging element, and deficiencies such as deformation and the like of the engaging element can be prevented. Further, the strength of the stem portion can be increased, and a damage which a loop-shaped engaging element and the engaging element receive when the loop-shaped engaging element is attached or pulled out can be reduced.

In this molded surface fastener, plural engaging elements having a stem portion and an engaging head portion formed integrally on the stem portion are standing on the base portion, at least one pawl portion having a pawl width dimension narrower than a width dimension at a boundary between the stem portion and the engaging head portion is protruded on an outer peripheral edge part of the engaging head portion, and a back surface of pawl of the pawl portion is formed at different angles with respect to a back surface of head portion of the engaging head portion. Such a molded surface fastener of the present invention has a substantial engaging force with respect to a female surface fastener and can make a texture of its surface comfortable.

The invention relates to a method for forming a fastener having fastener members (23, 63) wherein molten polymer material is deposited by a deposition device onto a contact release surface (7, 27, 32), thereby forming preform projections (20, 60), which contact the front surface (21) of a carrier (13, 62) with their terminal ends (22, 61) and bond to the carrier (13, 62). The carrier (13, 62) is removed with the preform projections (20, 60) attached, thereby separating the preform projections (20, 60) from the contact release surface (7, 27, 32) and forming fastening members (23, 63) projecting from the front surface (21) of the carrier (13, 62). The invention relates further to a method for manufacturing a precursor web (66) for manufacturing a fastener, a fastener web (91, 94,101) for engaging with a loop fabric and a precursor web (66) for manufacturing a fastener.

A male touch fastener product has an array of discrete fastening elements extending from a resin base. The elements are formed by molding stems and then deforming at least a rim of a distal end of each head to form an overhanging mushroom-type fastener element. Some are deformed against a hard surface to form flat fastener elements, and others are deformed against a compliant surface and form umbrella-shaped fastener elements. The fastener element heads feature particular structural relationships that enhance their performance, particularly with low-lying fibers.

A method of manufacturing a surface fastener includes a molding step of molding a pre-fastener body and a stretching step of obtaining the surface fastener by stretching the pre-fastener body in a machine direction by a stretching device, the stretching device including at least a first heating roller, a second heating roller, and a stretching roller, the stretching roller being configured to rotate at a faster rotational speed than the second heating roller. The stretching step includes heating the tentative base portion of the pre-fastener body with the first heating roller; heating engagement elements of the pre-fastener body with the second heating roller; and setting a heating temperature of the second heating roller to be lower than a heating temperature of the first heating roller. Consequently, the surface fastener can be manufactured while lowering of the engagement elements and thinning of the base portion are suppressed or prevented.

Mold-in fastener products are made by forming a longitudinally continuous hook tape having a flexible base and an array of discrete male touch fastener elements extending from an upper surface of the base, forming a layer of flexible barrier material on the upper surface of the base, such that the male touch fastener elements are embedded in the layer of flexible barrier material, severing the flexible barrier material to form a pattern of patches of flexible barrier material spaced apart and surrounded by a continuous lattice of barrier material, stripping the lattice from the upper surface of the base to expose regions of the base between patches, and severing the hook tape along the exposed regions of the base to form individual mold-in fastener products, each having a patch of flexible barrier material surrounded by an exposed base edge region carrying male touch fastener elements.

A molding apparatus includes a movable molding surface with molding cavities, a pressure shoe with a stationary outer surface that defines in cooperation with the molding surface a pressure zone, and a resin source configured to introduce molten resin into the pressure zone to be forced into the molding cavities by pressure in the pressure zone. The molding surface is movable with respect to the pressure shoe to introduce molding cavities to the pressure zone to be filled with resin while the outer surface of the pressure shoe and the molding surface define in between an entrance gap of decreasing width upstream of the pressure zone. The outer surface of the pressure shoe is spaced from the molding surface in the pressure zone to define a minimum gap at which the outer surface of the pressure shoe has a slope parallel to the molding surface. The pressure shoe is adapted to be held in a flexed condition against resin in the pressure zone while forcing resin into the cavities, with the outer surface of the pressure shoe curved upstream of the pressure zone.