FASTENER AND MANUFACTURING METHOD FOR SAME

Abstract

A fastener includes a touch-fastener portion and a support base that supports the touch-fastener portion. The touch-fastener portion includes a plurality of fastener-piece portions stacked one on the other in a width direction. Each of the fastener-piece portions includes a support portion and a plurality of engaging elements formed on the support portion and aligned in a single line along a length direction. The support portion is joined to the support base by insert molding using a synthetic resin.

Claims

1. A fastener comprising: a touch-fastener portion; and a support base; wherein: the touch-fastener portion includes a plurality of fastener-piece portions stacked on one another in a first direction; each of the plurality of fastener-piece portions includes a support portion and a plurality of engaging elements formed on the support portion, the plurality of engaging elements being aligned in a line along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction; the support portion is joined to the support base by insert molding using a synthetic resin; the touch-fastener portion includes a touch-fastener intermediate; and the touch-fastener intermediate includes at least two of the plurality of fastener-piece portions and at least one connection that connects the at least two of the plurality of fastener-piece portions to one another in series.

2. The fastener according to claim 1, wherein: each of the plurality of fastener-piece portions has a first side surface and a second side surface located one on either side in the first direction; among any two of the fastener-piece portions adjacent to each other in the first direction, one of the fastener-piece portions is formed with an engaging protrusion on the first side surface, and the other of the fastener-piece portions is formed with an engaging recess in the second side surface; and the engaging protrusion is in engagement with the engaging recess.

3. (canceled)

4. The fastener according to claim 2, wherein; the touch-fastener intermediate is formed of a fastener piece continuum, the fastener piece continuum including the at least two of the fastener-piece portions connected to each other in series by the at least one connection, the touch-fastener intermediate is formed by bending the fastener-piece continuum as the at least one connection and by engaging the engaging protrusion with the engaging recess.

5. The fastener according to claim 2, wherein: the touch-fastener intermediate is formed of a fastener-piece continuum, the fastener-piece continuum including at least four of the plurality of fastener-piece portions and at least three connections, the at least three connections connect the at least four fastener-piece portions to one another in series; and the touch-fastener intermediate is formed by bending the fastener piece continuum at the at least three connections in a zig-zag manner and by engaging the engaging protrusion with the engaging recess.

6. The fastener according to claim 2, wherein: the plurality of fastener-piece portions have a configuration identical to one another; each of the plurality of fastener-piece portions is formed with the engaging protrusion on the first side surface; and each of the plurality of fastener-piece portions is formed with the engaging recess in the second side surface.

7. The fastener according to claim 2, wherein: the plurality of fastener-piece portions includes a plurality of first fastener-piece portions and a plurality of second fastener-piece portions; the plurality of first fastener-piece portions and the plurality of second fastener-piece portions are alternately stacked on one another in the first direction; each of the plurality of first fastener-piece portions is formed with the engaging recess in each of the first side surface and the second side surface; each of the plurality of second fastener-piece portions is formed with the engaging protrusion on each of the first side surface and the second side surface; and each of the engaging protrusions is in engagement with the engaging recess of the first fastener-piece portion located adjacent in the first direction.

8. A fastener comprising: a touch-fastener portion; and a support base; wherein: the touch-fastener portion includes a plurality of fastener-piece portions stacked on one another in a first direction; each of the plurality of fastener-piece portions includes a support portion and a plurality of engaging elements formed on the support portion, the plurality of engaging elements being aligned in a line along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction; the support portion is joined to the support base by insert molding using a synthetic resin; the support portion has an upper base portion protruding from the support base and a lower base portion embedded in the support base; in the first direction, a width of the lower base portion is narrower than a width of the upper base portion; and regarding any two of the fastener-piece portions adjacent to each other in the first direction, the upper base portions are in contact with each other, and a gap is defined between the lower base portions, the gap being filled with the synthetic resin.

9. The fastener according to claim 8, wherein: the lower base portion of each of the plurality of fastener-piece portions is formed with a communication opening, the connection openings penetrating the lower base portion in the first direction and being in fluid communication with the gap.

10. (canceled)

11. (canceled)

12. A manufacturing method of a fastener including a touch-fastener portion and a support base that supports the touch-fastener portion, the method comprising: a resin molding step of forming a plurality of fastener piece continuums, each of the fastener piece continuums including a plurality of fastener-piece portions connected to one another in series by a connection, the fastener-piece portion having a support portion; a touch-fastener-portion forming step of forming the touch-fastener portion using the plurality of fastener piece continuums; and a support base forming step of forming the support base bonded to the support portion by a resin insert molding where the touch-fastener portion is used as an insert; wherein: the touch-fastener-portion forming step includes: a bending step of forming a plurality of touch-fastener intermediates by bending each of the plurality to fastener-piece continuums at the connection and by stacking the plurality of fastener-piece portions in the first direction; and a stacking step of stacking the plurality of touch-fastener intermediates in the first direction, thereby forming the touch-fastener portion; wherein: each of the plurality of fastener-piece portions further includes a plurality of engaging elements formed on the support portion; and the plurality of engaging elements are aligned in a line along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction.

13. The manufacturing method according to claim 12, wherein: each of the plurality of fastener-piece portions has a first side surface and a second side surface located one on either side in the first direction; the first side surface is formed with an engaging recess, and the second side surface is formed with an engaging protrusion; and in the bending step, the engaging protrusion is engaged with the engaging recess, thereby engaging the plurality of fastener-piece portions with one another.

14. The manufacturing method according to claim 12, wherein: the plurality of fastener-piece portions of each of the plurality of fastener piece continuums include a first fastener-piece portion and a second fastener-piece portion arranged in alternation; each of the first and second fastener-piece portions has a first side surface and a second side surface located one on either side in the first direction; the first fastener-piece portion is formed with an engaging protrusion on each of the first and second side surfaces; the second fastener-piece portion is formed with an engaging recess in each of the first and second side surfaces; and in the bending step, the engaging protrusion is engaged with the engaging recess, thereby engaging the plurality of fastener-piece portions with one another.

15. The manufacturing method according to claim 12, wherein: the support portion has an upper base portion and a lower base portion; in the first direction, a width of the lower base portion is narrower than a width of the upper base portion; regarding any two of the fastener-piece portions adjacent to each other in the first direction, the upper base portions are in contact with each other, and a gap is defined between the lower base portions; and in the support base forming step, the gap is filled with the synthetic resin.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] FIG. 1 A perspective view of a fastener according to a first embodiment of the invention.

[0027] FIG. 2(a) is a perspective rear view of one of fastener-piece portions of the fastener of FIG. 1, (b) is a perspective front view of the fastener-piece portion.

[0028] FIG. 3(a) is a cross-sectional view of the two of the fastener-piece portions of fastener of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3(b) is an exploded front view of the two fastener-piece portions shown in FIG. 3(a).

[0029] FIG. 4 A perspective view of a touch-fastener portion of the fastener of FIG. 1.

[0030] FIG. 5 A cross-sectional view taken along a line V-V of FIG. 1.

[0031] FIG. 6(a) is a cross-sectional view of two of fastener-piece portions of a fastener according to a modification of the first embodiment, and FIG. 6(b) is an exploded front view of the two fastener-piece portions of shown in FIG. 6(a).

[0032] FIG. 7 A perspective view of a fastener according to a second embodiment of the invention.

[0033] FIG. 8 A perspective view of a touch-fastener portion of the fastener shown in FIG. 7.

[0034] FIG. 9 An exploded perspective view of the touch-fastener portion shown in FIG. 8.

[0035] FIG. 10 A perspective view showing a fastener-piece continuum configuring a touch-fastener intermediate of the touch-fastener portion shown in FIG. 8.

[0036] FIG. 11 A perspective view showing an intermediate state of bending the fastener-piece continuum shown in FIG. 10.

[0037] FIG. 12(a) is a perspective rear view of a touch-fastener intermediate formed by bending he fastener-piece continuum shown in FIG. 10, and FIG. 12(b) is a perspective front view of the touch-fastener intermediate shown in FIG. 12(a).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0038] Fasteners and manufacturing methods of the same according to embodiments of the invention and modifications thereof will be described while referring to the accompanying drawings wherein like parts and components are designated by the same reference numerals to avoid duplicating description.

[0039] The fasteners according to the embodiments of the invention and modifications thereof are suitably used as an attaching means for fixing automobile interior components (celling, instrument panels, or consoles, for example) onto body panels of vehicles, but their usage is not limited thereto, and they can be widely used to fix various common components onto device bodies.

[0040] First, a fastener according to a first embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5. As shown in FIG. 1, a fastener 2 according to this embodiment incudes a touch-fastener portion 6 and a support base 8 that supports the touch-fastener portion 6. The touch-fastener portion 6 has a larger number of engaging elements 4 arranged in a planner manner and a base part 60 that supports the engaging elements 4. A bottom part of the base part 60 is embedded in the support base 8. The engaging elements 4 are arranged in a width direction (first direction) D1 and a length direction (second direction) D2 perpendicular to the width direction D1 with intervals.

[0041] More specifically, the touch-fastener portion 6 includes a plurality of (eight in the example shown in FIG. 1) fastener-piece portions 10. All of the fastener-piece portions 10 are formed identical and arranged one on the other in the width direction D1

[0042] As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, each fastener-piece portion 10 includes a support portion 12 extending in the length direction D2 and a plurality of engaging elements 4 formed on the support portion 12. The support portions 12 of the plurality of fastener-piece portions 10 together form the base part 60 mentioned above. The support portion 12 has a top surface 12a and a bottom surface 12b located one on either side in an up-down direction (third direction) D3 perpendicular to both the width direction D1 and the length direction D2.

[0043] The plurality of engaging elements 4 are formed on the top surface 12a of the support portion 12 and are aligned in a single line along the length direction D2 with intervals therebetween. Each engaging element 4 has a leg part 14 extending upward along the up-down direction D3 from the top surface 12a of the support portion 12 and a head part 16 formed on a tip end of the leg part 14, and is formed in a mushroom-like shape overall. The head part 16 is substantially in a hemispherical shape, coaxial with the leg part 14, and has a greater diameter than the leg part 14 in a plan view. Thus, the head part 16 extends outward beyond an outer peripheral surface of the leg part 14 in its radial direction in a plan view. The engaging elements 4 (more specifically, the head parts 16) function as engaging means for engaging with engaging elements of an another fastener.

[0044] The support portion 12 has a lower base portion 18, an upper base portion 20 located between the lower base portion 18 and the engaging elements 4, and a plurality of (three in this example) contact protrusions 26 aligned in the length direction D2 with intervals therebetween. The lower base portion 18 has a first side surface 18a and a second side surface 18b located one on either side in the width direction D1, and is embedded in the support base 8 (see FIG. 5). The upper base portion 20 has a first side surface 20a and a second side surface 20b located one on either side in the width direction D1, and is projecting upward from the support base 8. In the width direction D1, the lower base portion 18 has a width W1, which is smaller than a width W2 of the upper base portion 20 (W1<W2), and the upper base portion 20 extends beyond the lower base portion 18 on each side in the width direction D1. The contact protrusions 26 is in a rectangular shape and extend from the second side surface 18b of the lower base portion 18 in the width direction D1.

[0045] It should be noted that the fastener-piece portion 10 (more specifically, the upper base portion 20 of the fastener-piece portion 10) has a first side surface and a second side surface located one on either side in the width direction D1. In this embodiment, the first side surface of the fastener-piece portion 10 includes the first side surface 18a of the lower base portion 18 and the second side surface 20a of the upper base portion, and the second side surface of the fastener-piece portion 10 includes the second side surface 18b of the lower base portion 18, the second side surface 20b of the upper base portion 20, and the end surface 26a of the contact protrusions 26.

[0046] The first side surface of the fastener-piece portion 10 is formed with a plurality of (three in this example) engaging protrusions 22, and the second side surface thereof is formed with a plurality of (three in this example) engaging recesses 24. The plurality of engaging protrusions 22 are aligned in the length direction D2 with intervals therebetween, and the plurality of engaging recesses 24 are aligned in the length direction D2 with intervals therebetween.

[0047] In this embodiment, the plurality of engaging protrusions 22 are formed on the first side surface 18a of the lower base portion 18, which is a part of the first side surface of the fastener-piece portion 10, and the plurality of engaging recesses 24 are formed in the end surfaces 26a of the contact protrusions 26, which is a part of the second side surface of the fastener-piece portion 10.

[0048] With reference to FIG. 2, the bottom surface 12b of the support portion 12 (the lower base portion 18) is formed with a pair of communication openings 30 and a pair of communication openings 32. The pair of communication openings 32 are disposed one on either side of the communication openings 30 in the length direction D2. The communication openings 30 and 32 penetrate the support portion 12 (the lower base portion 18) in the width direction D1. Each communication opening 30 is longer in the length direction D2 than the communication opening 32 and shorter in the up-down direction D3.

[0049] As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the plurality of fastener-piece portions 10 are connected with (interlocked) one another in the width direction D1, thereby forming the touch-fastener portion 6. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, two fastener-piece portions 10 are connected to each other by engaging (inserting) the engaging protrusions 22 of one of the fastener-piece portions 10 on one side in the width direction DI (on the left side in FIG. 3) (hereinafter also referred to as left fastener-piece portion 10L) into the engaging recesses 24 of the other fastener-piece portion 10 on the other side in the width direction D1 (on the right side in FIG. 3) (hereinafter also referred to as right fastener-piece portion 10R). Also, the upper base portions 20 of the left fastener-piece portion 10L and the right fastener-piece portion 10R are in abutment with each other along the entire length in the length direction D2. Further, the end surfaces 26a of the contact protrusions 26 of the right fastener-piece portion 10R are in abutment with the first side surface 18a of the lower base portion 18 of the left fastener-piece portion 10L. This configuration maintains the adjacent fastener-piece portions 10 at a predetermined positional relationship.

[0050] Also, a gap 28 is defined between the lower base portions 18, 18 of the left fastener-piece portion 10L and the right fastener-piece portion 10R at a position lower than the upper base portion 20. That is, the gap 28 is defined by the first surface 18a of the left fastener-piece portion 10L, the second surface 18b of the right fastener-piece portion 10R, and the upper base portions 20, 20 of the left and right fastener-piece portions 10L and 10R.

[0051] The gap 28 is in fluid communication with the communication openings 30, 32 (FIG. 2(a)) formed in the left and right fastener-piece portions 10L, 10R. In other words, the communication openings 30, 32 of the left fastener-piece portion 10L are in fluid communication with the communication openings 30, 32 of the right fastener-piece portion 10R through the gap 28 located therebetween. The gap 28 is filled with synthetic resin as will be described later.

[0052] The support base 8 is formed by molding using the touch-fastener portion 6 as an insert as will be described later. As shown in FIG. 5, the lower base portion 18 is embedded in the support base 8.

[0053] Next, the manufacturing method of the fastener 2 will be described. First, the plurality of fastener-piece portions 10 are formed by resin molding using such synthetic resin as ABS resin, unsaturated polyester resin, and the like (resin molding step/fastener-piece portions forming step). In this step, the plurality of fastener-piece portions 10 are formed one at a time. The synthetic resin may be added with glass fibers or the like to enhance strength. Because the engaging elements 4 of each fastener-piece portion 10 are aligned in a single line, it is possible to form the fastener-piece portion 10 easily by resin molding.

[0054] Then, the plurality of fastener-piece portions 10 are placed on one another in the width direction D1, thereby assembling the touch-fastener portion 6 (touch-fastener portion assembling step). That is, with respect to any two of the fastener-piece portions 10 adjacent to each other in the width direction D1, the engaging protrusions 22 of one of the two fastener-piece portions 10 are inserted into the engaging recesses 24 of the other of the two fastener-piece portions 10, thereby connecting the two fastener-piece portions 10 to each other. By connecting the two fastener-piece portions 10 to each other in this manner, the upper base portions 20 are brought into abutment with each other, and the gap 28 is formed between the lower base portions 18. The gap 28 is used as the filling space to be filled with synthetic resin in a next step.

[0055] Next, the support base 8 is formed by an insert molding using the touch-fastener portion 6 as an insert (support base forming step). In this support base forming step, the touch-fastener portion 6 is placed at a predetermined position in a mold (not shown), and synthetic resin (molten synthetic resin) is injected into the mold so as to form the support base 8 fixed with the touch-fastener portion 6. As a result, the fastener 2 is formed. At this time, as shown in FIG. 5, some of the synthetic resin injected into the mold flows around the lower base portion 18 of the touch-fastener portion 6, and the rest of the synthetic resin flows into and fills the gaps 28. As a result, the touch-fastener portion 6 is fixed (the plurality of fastener-piece portions 10 are fixed to each other), and the support base 8 with the lower base portions 18 of the touch-fastener portion 6 embedded therein in is formed.

[0056] Because the gaps 28 are in fluid communication with the communication openings 30, 32, the synthetic resin injected into the mold flows smoothly, and also local elevation of resin pressure can be suppressed. It should be noted that the number, size, shape and location of the communication openings 30, 32 can be modified in accordance with flow of the synthetic resin and the like.

[0057] Also, because the upper base portions 20 of any adjacent two of the fastener-piece portions 10 are in abutment with each other along their entire length in the length direction D2, the upper base portions 20 function as a bank to prevent the synthetic resin injected into the mold from leaking from the gap 28 to the engaging elements 4. If the synthetic resin leaks to the engaging elements 4, the fastener 2 would be deteriorated in its function. In this embodiment, however, the upper base portions 20 serve as the bank and prevent such a problem.

[0058] As described above, the synthetic resin injected into the mold forms the support base 8, fixes the fastener-piece portions 10 to one another (fixes the touch-fastener-piece portion), and integrates the support base 8 and the touch-fastener portion 6 with the lower base portions 18 embedded in the support base 8. Thus, the fastener 2 having sufficient strength can be manufactured relatively easily. Also, because the fastener 2 has sufficient strength, the fastener 2 is suitably used as a fixing means for fixing automobile interior components onto body panels of vehicles.

[0059] In the above embodiment, the engaging protrusions 22 are formed on the first side surfaces 18a of the lower base portions 18, and the engaging recesses 24 are formed in the end surfaces 26a of the contact protrusions 26 formed on the lower base portions 18. However, in a different embodiment, the engaging protrusions 22 are formed on the first side surfaces 20a of the upper base portions 20, and the engaging recesses 24 are formed in the second side surfaces 20b of the upper base portions 20.

[0060] Also, in the above embodiment, the engaging protrusions 22 are formed on the first side surfaces of the fastener-piece portions 10, and the engaging recesses 24 are formed in the second side surfaces. However, in a still different embodiment, the engaging protrusions 22 are formed on the second side surfaces of the fastener-piece portions 10, and the engaging recesses 24 are formed in the first side surfaces.

[0061] Next, a fastener according to a modification of the above-described first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 6(a) and 6(b). The fastener according to this modification includes a plurality of fastener-piece portions 10. The plurality of fastener-piece portions 10 includes a plurality of first fastener-piece portions 10A and a plurality of second fastener-piece portions 10B having different shape than the first fastener-piece portions 10A. The first fastener-piece portions 10A and the second fastener-piece portions 10B are alternately stacked on one another to assemble a touch-fastener portion.

[0062] Each first fastener-piece portions 10A is similar to the above-described fastener-piece portions 10 but differs in that a plurality of (three in this example) engaging protrusions 22A, instead of the plurality of contact protrusions 26, are formed on the second side surface 18b of the lower base portion 18 of the first fastener-piece portion 10A. That is, the lower base portion 18 of the first fastener-piece portion 10A is formed with the plurality of engaging protrusions 22 on the first side surface 18a, and the plurality of engaging protrusions 22A are formed on the second side surface 18b thereof. The engaging protrusions 22A are identical with the engaging protrusions 22 but facing opposite direction.

[0063] Also, each second fastener-piece portion 10B is similar to the above-described fastener-piece portions 10 but differs in that a plurality of (three in this example) contact protrusions 26B are formed on the first side surface 18a of the lower base portion 18 of the second fastener-piece portion 10B, and that an engaging recess 24B is formed in the end surface 26a of each contact protrusion 26B. That is, the lower base portion 18 of the second fastener-piece portion 10B has the first side surface 18a formed with the plurality of contact protrusions 26B having the engaging recesses 24B, and the second side surface 18b formed with the plurality of contact protrusions 26 having the engaging recesses 24.

[0064] In this modification, the touch-fastener portion similar to those described above is assembled by inserting the engaging protrusions 22 of the first fastener-piece portions 10A into the engaging recesses 24 of the second fastener-piece portions 10B and by inserting the engaging protrusions 22A of the first fastener-piece portions 10A into the engaging recesses 24B of the second fastener-piece portions 10B.

[0065] When the first and second fastener-piece portions 10A and 10B are engaged one another in the manner described above to assemble the touch-fastener portion, then as shown in FIG. 6(a), the gaps 28 serving as the filling space to be filled with synthetic resin are defined between the lower base portions 18 as in the above-described embodiment.

[0066] It should be noted that in this modification, the first side surface of the first fastener-piece portion 10A includes the first side surface 18a of the lower base portion 18 and the second side surface 20a of the upper base portion 20, and the second surface thereof includes the second side surface 18b of the lower base portion 18 and the second side surface 20b of the upper base portion 20. Also, the first side surface of the second fastener-piece portion 10B includes the first side surface 18a of the lower base portion 18, the second side surface 20a of the upper base portion 20, and the end surface 26a of the contact protrusions 26, and the second side surface thereof includes the second side surface 18b of the lower base portion 18, the second side surface 20b of the upper base portion 20, and the end surface 26a of the contact protrusions 26.

[0067] Also in this modification, the engaging protrusions 22, 22A are respectively formed on the first and second side surfaces 18a, 18b of the lower base portion 18 of the first fastener-piece portion 10A, and the engaging recesses 24B, 24 are formed in the end surfaces 26a of the contact protrusions 26B, 26 formed on the first and second side surfaces 18a, 18b of the lower base portion 18 of the second fastener-piece portion 10B. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. In a different modification, the engaging protrusions 22, 22A are respectively formed on the first and second side surfaces 20a, 20b of the upper base portion 20 of the first fastener-piece portion 10A, and the engaging recesses 24B, 24 are respectively formed in the first and second side surfaces 20a, 20b of the upper base portion 20 of the second fastener-piece portion 10B.

[0068] Next, a fastener according to a second embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 12. With reference to FIGS. 7 and 8, a fastener 2C of this embodiment is similar to the fastener 2 of the first embodiment described above, but differs in including a touch-fastener portion 6C instead of the touch-fastener portion 6. With reference to FIG. 9, the touch-fastener portion 6C includes a pair of touch-fastener intermediates 66 placed on each other in the width direction D1. Each touch-fastener intermediates 66 is formed by folding a fastener piece continuum 62 shown in FIG. 10 in a zig-zag manner as shown in FIG. 11.

[0069] More specifically, as shown in FIG. 10, each fastener piece continuum 62 includes four fastener-piece portions 10, and these four fastener-piece portions 10 are connected to one another in series by three connections 64. That is, each connection 64 connects adjacent fastener-piece portions 10 to each other at ends in a longitudinal direction of the support portion 12. The connection 64 is a flexible thin member. By bending the fastener piece continuum 62 at the connections 64, the fastener-piece portions 10 are placed on one another as those in the above-described first embodiment. As a result, the touch-fastener intermediate 66 shown in FIG. 12 is formed. It should be noted that when the fastener piece continuum 62 is straightened as shown in FIG. 10, orientations of the fastener-piece portions 10 are opposite alternately in the width direction D1.

[0070] Next, a manufacturing method of the fastener 2C according to this embodiment will be described. The manufacturing method of the fastener 2C according to this embodiment is similar to the manufacturing method of the fastener 2 of the above-described first embodiment. However, in the resin molding step in this embodiment, the plurality of fastener-piece portions 10 are not formed one at a time, but the plurality of (two in this example) fastener piece continuums 62 having the plurality of fastener-piece portions 10 connected in series by the connections 64 are formed (fastener piece continuum forming step). By integrally forming the fastener piece continuum 62 by resin molding, the plurality of (four in this example) fastener-piece portions 10 are formed at once.

[0071] Next, the touch-fastener portion 6C is formed using the fastener piece continuum 62 formed in the resin molding step (fastener piece continuum forming step) (touch-fastener portion forming step). Here, the touch-fastener portion forming step in this embodiment includes a bending step and a connecting step. In the bending step, each fastener piece continuum 62 is bent at the connections 64 in a zig-zag manner, and the fastener-piece portions 10 are placed on one another in the width direction D1, thereby forming two touch-fastener intermediates 66, one of which is shown in FIG. 12. That is, in this bending step, the fastener piece continuum 62 is bent into a valley shape with respect to a predetermined direction at a first one of the connections 64 counting from the end, a mountain shape with respect to the predetermined direction at a second one of the connections 64, and a valley shape with respect to the predetermined shape at a third one of the connections 64. Then, the fastener-piece portions 10 are engaged with one another by placing (inserting) the engaging protrusions 22 of the fastener-piece portion 10 into the engaging recesses 24 of the adjacent fastener-piece portion 10 in the same manner as the above-described first embodiment.

[0072] In the next connecting step, as shown in FIG. 9, the pair of touch-fastener intermediates 66 are attached to each other in the width direction D1 to form the touch-fastener portion 6C. That is, the engaging protrusions 22 exposed to an outside of one of the touch-fastener intermediates 66 are inserted into the engaging recesses 24 exposed to an outside of the other of the touch-fastener intermediates 66. In this manner, the touch-fastener intermediates 66 are attached to each other in the width direction DI, thereby forming the touch-fastener portion 6C shown in FIG. 8.

[0073] Then, the support base 8 is formed by insert molding with the touch-fastener portion 6C as an insert (support base forming step). In this support base forming step, the touch-fastener portion 6C is placed at a predetermined position in the mold (not shown), and synthetic resin (molten synthetic resin) is injected into the mold. As a result, as in the above-described first embodiment, the synthetic resin injected into the mold forms the support base 8 with the touch-fastener portion 6C fixed thereto.

[0074] It should be noted that the number of fastener-piece portions 10 that the fastener piece continuum 62 includes is not limited to four. In a different embodiment, the fastener piece continuum 62 includes two, three, five, or more fastener-piece portions 10 connected with the connections 64. Also, in a still different embodiment, the touch-fastener portion 6C includes three or more touch-fastener intermediates 66.

[0075] Next, a fastener according to a modification of the second embodiment will be described. In the above-described second embodiment, the fastener piece continuum 62 includes a plurality of fastener-piece portions 10. A fastener piece continuum according to this modification, however, includes two pairs of first and second fastener-piece portions 10A, 10B shown in FIGS. 6(a) and 6(b) instead of the fastener-piece portions 10. A touch-fastener intermediate is formed by bending the fastener piece continuum at the connections 64 in a zig-zag manner.

[0076] That is, in this modification, the first fastener-piece portions 10A and the second fastener-piece portions 10B alternately connected to each other with connection members 64 are used as the fastener piece continuum, and this fastener piece continuum includes the first fastener-piece portion 10A, the connection 64, the second fastener-piece portion 10B, the connection 64, the first fastener-piece portion 10A, the connection 64, and the second fastener-piece portion 10B arranged in this order from its longitudinal end.

[0077] The fastener of this modification is manufactured in the following manner. First, a pair of fastener piece continuums described above is formed by resin molding using synthetic resin (resin molding step/fastener piece continuum forming step).

[0078] Next, each fastener piece continuum is bent in a zig-zag manner at each connection 64 in the same manner as described above so as to form the touch-fastener intermediate (bending step). The touch-fastener intermediate formed in this manner includes the first fastener-piece portions 10A and the second fastener-piece portions 10B alternately stacked on one another in the width direction D1. Next, two touch-fastener intermediates are brought into engagement with each other in the width direction D1 as in the above described manner to form the touch-fastener portion (engaging step).

[0079] Then, the support base is formed by insert molding using the touch-fastener portion as an insert (support base forming step). That is, the touch-fastener portion is placed at a predetermined position in a mold (not shown), and synthetic resin is injected. In this manner also, the same fastener as that described above is manufactured.

[0080] It should be noted that although in this modification each fastener piece continuum includes two pairs of first fastener-piece portion 10A and the second fastener-piece portion 10B connected to each other by the connection 64, the present invention is not limited to this configuration. In a different modification, the fastener piece continuum includes a pair of first fastener-piece portion 10A and the second fastener-piece portion 10B or three or more pairs of first fastener-piece portion 10A and the second fastener-piece portion 10B. Also, in a still different modification, the touch-fastener portion includes three or more touch-fastener intermediates engaged to one another.

[0081] While the fasteners and manufacturing methods of the same according to embodiments of the invention and modifications thereof have been described in detail, various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention.

EXPLANATION OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

[0082] 2, 2C fastener [0083] 4 engaging element [0084] 6, 6C touch-fastener portion [0085] 8 support base [0086] 10, 10 fastener-piece portion [0087] 10A first fastener-piece portion [0088] 10B second fastener-piece portion [0089] 12 support portion [0090] 18 lower base portion [0091] 20 upper base portion [0092] 28 gap (filling space) [0093] 62 fastener piece continuum [0094] 64 connection [0095] 66 touch-fastener intermediate