Velcro IP Holdings LLC

A fastener in the form of a flexible strip with a layer of resin having opposite longitudinal edges, and an array of discrete fastening elements carried on a surface of the flexible strip. Each fastening element has a resin stem extending upward from, and contiguous with, the layer of resin, the stem having opposite lateral side surfaces facing the edges of the flexible strip, and a wing protruding from one of the lateral side surfaces of the stem and spaced above the layer of resin. The wing defines an area in a vertical plane coincident with one of the side surfaces of the stem. As measured perpendicular to the layer of resin, the centroid of the area is closer to the lowermost point of the area than to the uppermost point of the area.

A sheet-form fastener product has a flexible substrate such as a lightweight non-woven fabric and a resin layer covering only part of one side of the flexible substrate and leaving a region of the flexible substrate exposed. The resin layer carries multiple touch fastener elements each having a resin stem extending integrally from the layer away from the flexible substrate to an engageable head. A flexible ferromagnetic coating is bonded to the flexible substrate and extends under both the resin layer and the exposed region of the flexible substrate. The resin layer can be arranged as spaced-apart lanes or islands of resin and the coating can be arranged as spaced lanes or islands or otherwise leaving at least a portion of the substrate exposed.

A touch fastener element has a stem rising from a resin sheet, and a head disposed at an upper end of the stem and spaced from the resin sheet. The head has two arms that extend in opposite directions to distal ends, the arms having respective lower surfaces that overhang the resin sheet. The fastener element has two opposite side surfaces that form contiguous surfaces of the stem and both arms. The lower surface of each arm defines at least one recess extending away from the resin sheet and disposed between lower arm surface portions that face the resin sheet, such that the recess of each arm is spaced from both the stem and the distal end of the arm.

A method of making a loop fastener product features knitting, such as by circular knitting, a pile yarn and one or more ground yarns to form a stretchable knit fabric having loops of the pile yarn extending from a knit ground, with the ground yarns including polymers of differing melt temperatures. The knit fabric is then held in a desired state while the fabric is set by first applying sufficient heat to cause the lower melt temperature resin to flow into interstices of the fabric ground, and then allowing the fabric to cool. The cooled fabric ground is less stretchable in two orthogonal directions after setting than before setting, has a greater air permeability after setting than before setting, and has hook-engageable pile loops extending from bound interstices.

A sheet-form fastener product has a flexible substrate such as a lightweight non-woven fabric and a resin layer covering only part of one side of the flexible substrate and leaving a region of the flexible substrate exposed. The resin layer carries multiple touch fastener elements each having a resin stem extending integrally from the layer away from the flexible substrate to an engageable head. A flexible ferromagnetic coating is bonded to the flexible substrate and extends under both the resin layer and the exposed region of the flexible substrate. The resin layer can be arranged as spaced-apart lanes or islands of resin and the coating can be arranged as spaced lanes or islands or otherwise leaving at least a portion of the substrate exposed.

A self-engaging fastener has a flexible base sheet and an array of discrete fastener elements projecting from a broad side of the base sheet. Each fastener element has a stem extending from the base sheet and a head at a distal end of the stem, the head overhanging the base sheet on multiple sides of the stem. The heads of the discrete fastener elements are arranged in a pattern of hexagonal groupings of fastener element heads bordering central regions void of fastener element heads, with each fastener element head spaced from edges of the array being part of three adjacent groupings. The product features a particularly high separation resistance for the area of the product covered by the heads.

Methods of making a male touch fastener product, by shearing distal portions of loops extending from a side of a flexible fabric, leaving fibers extending from the side of the flexible fabric in place of the sheared loops, the fibers extending to respective free distal ends, while leaving other loops extending from the side of the fabric intact, and then heating the distal ends with energy supplied by a linear energy source, such that resin of the distal ends flows to form enlarged heads on the extending fibers, while leaving at least some of the other loops intact. A male touch fastener product has a flexible fabric base with a broad side, and fibers extending from the broad side of the base. The fibers form both loops of fibers, each loop extending from the base at two spaced-apart points, and fiber segments extending from the base to respective distal fiber ends spaced from the base. Each distal fiber end forms an enlarged head of fiber resin for snagging other fibers.

A two-sided touch fastener material includes a resin base having a front surface, an array of loop-engageable fastener elements extending from the front surface of the strip-form base and having stems of resin contiguous with resin of the front surface of the base, and a backing secured to the resin base on a side opposite the front surface, the backing extending across the resin base and including a web of non-woven fibers including fiber segments embedded in resin of the base, and a plurality of longitudinally continuous bundles of fibers extending through the web with fiber portions of the longitudinally continuous bundles exposed as loop elements engageable by the loop-engageable fastener elements, wherein the longitudinally continuous bundles of fibers extend along a length of the base, are spaced apart across a width of the base, are partially embedded in resin of the base such that a thickness of resin of the base at the fibers is less than between the longitudinally continuous bundles of fibers, and wherein the longitudinally continuous bundles of fibers correspond to areas of weakened tear resistance of the touch fastener material.

An elongated touch fastening strip of flexible material has mutually engageable touch fastener elements carried on the faces of the flexible material to releasably fasten overlapping portions of the fastener material together with the fastening strip wrapped about an object. The strip has a head end that extends asymmetrically toward one side of the fastening strip to form a lateral tab that can be gripped while the strip is wrapped about an object, such as to support growing plants.