CA2189493A1 - Fabric fastening kit - Google Patents

Abstract

A fabric fastening kit for fastening a piece of fabric to a rigid structure. The fabric fastening kit is comprised of a strip of netting material having a nominal width and a plurality of opened meshes, and a longitudinal pronged element having a nominal thickness, a surface, a backside, a foreside, and a plurality of juxtaposed prongs defined within that planar surface. Each prong has a narrow tip, a wide base and a length between the tip and the base being at least equivalent to the width of the base of one prong. The pronged element is attachable to a rigid structure.
The strip of netting material is attachable to the pronged element and is also attachable to the margin of the piece of fabric to be fastened to the rigid structure. Each of the meshes of the netting material has a perimeter which is at least twice as long as the total of the width of the base of one prong plus the nominal thickness of the prong, whereby when the pronged element is mounted on the rigid structure, the netting material is repeatedly tangentially attachable to and removable from the pronged element without mangling the netting material. In another aspect of the present invention, the pronged element has a spacer means mounted on the backside thereof for spacing the prongs from the surface of the structure when the pronged element is attached to that structure.

Description

- 2~89~

TITLE: FABRIC FASTENING KIT

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to fabric fastening systems, and more particularly, it relates to a kit comprised of a strip of netting material and a pronged element, for removably fastening a piece of fabric to a rigid structure.

A number of different systems have been developed in the past for fastening a piece of fabric to a rigid structure. For examples, such systems have been largely used for relai~ g wall covering fabrics against a wall surface, for retaining curtains to a window frame, and for fastening 10 upholstery material to a rul~ ure base.

A first example of a wall covering support structure is disclosed in U.S. Patent 4,878,531 issued on November 7, 1989 to Douglas F. Stover.
In this support structure, the wall fabric is attachable to a pronged strip 15 mounted along the upper edge of a wall. A similar pronged strip is installed along the base of the wall for retaining the lower margin of the fabric. Each pronged strip is subsequently covered by a decorative wooden molding.

2~8~493 Additional similar systems for lelai~ g a wall fabric or a curtain to a rigid structure, using pronged elements, are disclosed in the following documents:

U.S. Patent 2,417,922 issued on Mar. 25, 1947 to J.E. Frazer;
U.S. Patent 3,166,117 issued on Jan. 19, 1965 to I.V. Abadjieff;
U.S. Patent 3,785,426 issued on Jan. 15, 1974 to P. Sperling; and U.S. Patent 3,822,734 issued on July 9, 1974 to G. Tombu.

The systems of the prior art for supporting wall fabrics and curtains have one feature in common. All systems have rigid prongs which are intended to pierce through the fabric, to break the fibres of the material and to form apertures having the size of each prong. For this reason, these systems of the prior art are not a~plol)liate for temporarily fastening a fabric to a wall, such as for social receptions and annual events for examples. These system are not apl,lopliate either for stretching or otherwise adjusting the position of a piece of material in relation to the pronged elements, without effecting a series of perforations along the margin of the piece, thereby ~m~ging the fabric.

A similar drawback exists with some fabric fastening systems presently in use in the upholstery industry. In this regard, several documents of the prior art disclose the advantages of using pronged elements for lek~i~ g upholstery m~teri~l over the frame of a chair, a sofa, interior panels of vehicles or similar structures of furniture. Examples of documents disclosing the use of pronged elements to retain upholstery material are the following:

'_ Belgium Patent 541,836 issued on Oct. 31, 1955 to P. Reggiani;
French Patent 1,186,436 issued on Feb. 23, 1959 to H. Steiner;
U.S. Patent 3,308,598 issued on Mar. 14, 1967 to E.Wilson.

Upholstery systems using pronged elements piercing through a 5 fabric is normally used for relainillg an original and permanent covering material over a piece of rul~ ul~. When the covering material is removed, it is generally discarded and replaced with a fresh permanent cover.

In the upholstery industry, slip covers are commonly used for protecting the original covering m~t~ri~l of an article. These slip covers are 10 removable, washable, and easily reinstalled over standard pieces of Çulllilule. The prong elements of the prior art can hardly be used with these slip covers without m~ngling the margins of the cover beyond usefulness after only a few reinstallations.

Slip covers for rll.,lil.. ie are typically installed with strings and tape around the lower part of the cover, as illustrated in U.S. Patent 3,117,817, issued on Jan. 14, 1964 to L. Mednick.

Another common method for relai~ g a slip cover over a piece of rl-- .,;1~ is by using Velcro TM f~t~ners mounted on the frame of the piece 20 of furniture and along the lower edge of the cover. An example of a slip cover using VelcroTM f~ct~ners is described in U.S. Patent 3,248,147 issued on April 26, 1966 to A.J. Testa.

A slip cover for a sofa or a chair often has separate sections, for covering the deck portion thereof or for lapping around the inside and 25 outside surfaces of an arm rest for example. These sections have separate 218g~g3 -fringes which must be stretched and attached to ensure a proper fit of the cover over the structure of the chair or sofa. An inconvenience with the f~tçning systems of the prior art is that the fringes of the slip cover carmot be superimposed over one-another and fastened to a common fastener.
5 Separate strings or separate Velcro T~ strips must be provided for relai~ g each of these fringes separately.

For all these reasons, the fabric fastening systems of the prior art are generally not appropriate for fastening a piece of fabric in a temporary marmer or for fastening several layers of fabric over a single retainer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In the present invention, however, there is provided a fabric fastening kit which is comprised broadly of a strip of netting m~tçri~l 15 having a nominal width and a plurality of opened meshes, and a pronged element. The pronged element is attachable to a rigid structure. The strip of netting material is attachable to the pronged element, and is also attachable to the margin of a piece of fabric to be fastened to the rigid structure.

In accordance to one aspect of the present invention, the pronged element is a longitudinal element having a surface and a plurality of juxtaposed prongs defined within that surface. The pronged element has a nominal thickness, and each of the prongs has a m ~x;~ ..ll base width.
Each mesh of ~e netting m~t~n~l has a perimeter which is at least twice as 25 long as a total of the m~xi~ base width plus the nominal thickness of each prong, whereby the netting material is repeatedly attachable to and removable from the pronged element without m~ngling the netting material.

218~4g~
-A first advantage of the fabric fastening kit of the present invention is that draperies and wall h~nging~ of the like may be temporary fastened to a wall surface with such kit without piercing the edges of these fabrics.
The fabric fastening kit of the present invention is particularly useful for 5 temporary modifying the decorative scheme of an apartment and of the matching ru~ e, with wall fabrics and slip covers which remain removable and re-usable for installation at some later time.

In accordance to another aspect of the present invention, the strip of netting material has a nominal width comprised of a number of opened 10 meshes. Therefore, when the strip of netting material is positioned in a parallel orientation with the pronged element, the strip of netting material is laterally adjustably attachable to the pronged element. The strip of net~ng material is laterally adjustable for levelling the header of a curtain for example, or for compen.~ling for an imperfect mounting of the pronged 1 5 element.

Other advantages of the fabric fastening kit of the present invention are numerous and comprise the facts that the components of the kit are easy to manufacture and easy to install on a many types of materials and structures. Moreover, the fabric fastening kit of the present invention has 20 an applicability throughout the entire textile and flexible sheeting industries. Accordingly, several other typical applications are described in the following section.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The preferred embodiment of the present invention will be further understood from the following description, with reference to the drawings in which:

P1894g3 - Figure 1 is a side and top perspective view of a roll of netting material and a first type of pronged strip of the preferred embodiment;

- Figure 2 is a plan view of a section of the netting material of the preferred embodiment;

- Figure 3 is a plan view of a first type of pronged strip of the preferred embodiment;

- Figure 4 is a plan view of a second type of pronged strip of the preferred embodiment;

lo - Figure 5 is a cross-section view of the pronged strip of the second type, through line 5-5 in Figure 4;

- Figure 6 is a plan view of a third type of pronged strip of the preferred embodiment;

- Figure 7 is an end view of the pronged strip of the third type;

15 - Figure 8 is a plan view of a fourth type of pronged strip of the preferred embodiment;

- Figure 9 is an end view of the pronged strip of the fourth type;

- Figure 10 is an end view of the pronged strip of the fifth type;

- Figure 11 is a side view of a drapery retained to a wall surface by the netting material and a pronged strip of the preferred embodiment;

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- Figure 12 is a side and top perspective view of the drapery in Figure 11;

- Figure 13 is a cross section view of a chair having a slip cover thereon which is retainable to the chair by the netting material and pronged strip of the preferred embodiment;

- Figure 14 is a front and side perspective view of the lower side section of the chair in Figure 13;

- Figure 15 illustrates a canoe having a protective cover installed thereon using the nethng material and the pronged strip of the preferred embodiment;

- Figure 16 illustrates another protective cover having a strip of net~ng m~t~n~l of the pler~lled embodiment, and being retained on an utility trailer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The fabric faster~ing kit of the preferred embodiment is illustrated broadly in Figure 1. The fabric fastening kit is comprised firstly of a strip of large mesh network 20, having a nominal width, and which is preferably marketed in a spool form. The strip of netting material 20 is intended to be sewn to a piece of fabric to be fastened, in a manner that it overlaps a margin of that piece. The preferred strip of netting material 20 has a nominal content of plastic fibres and it is trimmed to size by a hot tool for working plastic sheeting material for example, such that the threads along the edges are slightly melted together for preventing fretting of these edges after an extended use of the fabric fastening kit.

2~89~93 As it was mentioned above, the strip of netting material 20 is trimmed to a nominal width as required by the intended application. For example, a width of about between six to eight inches is recommended for supporhng a drapery. Similarly a nominal width of about between four to 5 six inches is recommended for retaining a slip cover to a chair frame, and a nominal width of about between two to four inches is appropriate to retain a protective cover on a piece of outdoor equipment.

The fabric fastening kit is also comprised of a pronged element 22 which is also preferably marketed is coil form. The pronged element 22 is lo preferably a thin strip of plastic material, having a thickness of between about 0.030 inch to about 0.040 inch. The plastic material is preferably a polyethylene material.

The plastic pronged element 22 is thereby easily manufactured with tooling common in the art of plastic works. The plastic pronged element 15 22 is also easily severed at an a~propliate length, and readily attachable toa wood structure by staples. The polyethylene pronged element is flexible, whereby it can be fitted to curved base frames. Furthermore, it has been found that the polyethylene pronged element 22 springs backwardly for releasing the netting material 20 when a sudden force is applied on the 20 fabric. This last feature has been found advantageous for preventing the d~m~ging of a supported fabric when an inadvertent pull is suddenly applied on it.

Refening now to Figures 2 and 3, one essential feature of the fabric fastening kit of the preferred embodiment is that the netting material 20 is 25 stretchable to a certain extent, such that the width of one mesh 24, as shown by label 'A' is similar to the maximum base width of one triangular-like prong 26 of the pronged strip 22, as shown by label 'B'. Hence, the perimeter of one mesh 24 is about twice as much as the width of one prong 26 at the base of the prong. The pronged strip 22 is thereby attachable at any location across the area of the net~ng m~t~ l 20 without breaking any tread in the material.

When the pronged element of the first type 22 is mounted on a rigid structure which has a large surface area, the pronged element is preferably attached to the rigid structure with a spacer strip between the backside thereof and the surface of the rigid structure. The prongs 26 are thereby spaced from the surface of the structure to facilitate the attaching of the lo netting material 20 to the prongs 26. In this regard it has been found that a strip of felt or thick fabric performs quite satisfactorily Several configurations of pronged strips are usable in the fabric fastening kit of the preferred embodiment. Examples of pronged strips of different types are suggested herein and are illustrated in Figures 4 to 10.
Although only five pronged strips are illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by the persons knowledgeable in the art, that numerous other types of pronged strip may also be used in combination with the netting material of the preferred embodiment, to obtain the advantages of the present invention.

A pronged strip of the second type 30 has a crease 32 there-along near the base of each prong and bulging through a rear surface of the strip.
Therefore, when the pronged strip 30 is attached to a wall surface 34 by means of staples 36 or by other fasteners installed below the crease, the protruding part of the crease causes the prongs to lean forwardly, such that the tip of the prongs are spaced from the wall surface 34 as illustrated in Figure 5, to facilitate the attaching of the netting material to the prongs.

A pronged strip of a third type 40 has a finite length and is preferably packaged and marketed in bundle of several strips 40, the quantity of which is sufficient for matching the length of a spool of netting material 20. The pronged strip of the third type 40, has an adhesive tape 5 42 attached to the backside thereof, such that it can be readily mounted on a painted smooth surface for example, without requiring any mechanical fasteners. One type of pl~-led adhesive tape 42 is a double-sided tape referred to in the trade as "carpet tape". Although many types of adhesive tapes are acceptable for this application, it is recommended to use an 10 adhesive tape which has a nominal thickness being at least as much as the thickness of the netting material, for the same reason as explained earlier.

The fourth type of pronged strip 50 usable with the netting material 20 of the preferred embodiment is mAmlf~ctured in finite lengths or in a coiled form. The pronged strip of the fourth type 50 has straight edges and 15 spaced apart prongs 52 protruding through the central region thereof. The pronged strip 50 preferably has an adhesive tape 54 mounted on the back surface thereof.

Each prong 52 is oriented transversally relative to the strip 50, and is preferably formed by partly cutting the strip with a V-shaped punch and 20 die installation. The cutting of each prong 50 is preferably effected by a punch and die set having a relatively large clearance therebetween. This dull cut leaves burrs along the edges of the cut, for refraining the prong 52 from springing back flush within the base mAteriAl An end view of the pronged element 58 of the fifth type is illustrated 25 in Figure 10. The pronged element 58 of the fifth type has a concave surface. The curvature of this concave surface has a nominal radius "R", and an arc thereof is oriented transversely relative to the element 58.

Hence, when the pronged element 58 is attached to a flat mounting surface 34, the prongs are spaced from that mounting surface 34. The concave surface of the pronged el~ment 58 is formable with forming tools common in the art of metal and plastic works. On the other hand, it has been 5 observed that a concave surface is often inherent in thin strips of polyethylene or other type of flexible plastic m~t~ri~l and additional forming of those strips is generally not required.

Referring now to Figures 11 and 12, there is illustrated therein, a first typical application for the fabric fastening kit of the preferred 10 embo~liment A stripanettingmaterial 20according tothe preferred embodiment is sewn along the upper margin 60 of a drapery 62, in a position such that it overlaps the margin 60 of the drapery. A pronged strip 40 is mounted on a wall surface 64 at a location where the upper edge of the drapery is intended to hang. The drapery 62 is thereby readily 15 ~ h~kle to the pronged strip 40, and a height thereof is readily adjustable over the full width of the netting material 20.

Moreover, the fabric fastening kit of the preferred embodiment is also useful for forming pleats 66 in a drapery 62, by pulling the material on itself at intervals before h~nging the netting strip 20 on the pronged element 20 40.

It will be appreciated that the fabric fastening kit of the preferred embodiment is convenient for periodically suspending a drapery or a wall covering fabric to a wall, for a special occasion, during holiday seasons for examples, without ~ ging the upper margin thereof. The fabric 25 fastening kit of the preferred embodiment is also useful for suspending banners, wall tapestry, trade show displays and artistic wall h~nging~ of all sorts.

2189~9~

A second typical application for the fabric fastening kit of the p~rell~d embodiment is illustrated in Figures 13 and 14. The netting strip 20 of the fabric fastening kit of the ~ieÇelled embodiment is attachable to all the fringes 70,72,74 of a slip cover 76 for a sofa chair, and the pronged strip 30 is attachable to the frame 78 of the chair. One of the advantages of using the fabric fastening kit to retain a slip cover 76 on a chair, is that several layers of netting material are attachable to the same pronged element 30. For example, the netting 20' on a fringe 70 from a deck cover, the netting 20" from the inside fringe 72 of an arm cover and the netting 20" ' from the outside fringe 74 of the arm cover are all attachable to the pronged strip 30. In this typical installation, a skirting strip 80 is preferably provided to conceal the netting strips and the pronged elements and to advantageously provide this chair with a neat appearance.

A further advantage of this particular embodiment of the present invention, is that the netting on each of fringes 20',20",20"' are stretchable over their full width, for adjusting a slip cover 76 which has shrunken during a recent laundry or which has slackened from extended use.

Other uses are possible for the fabric fastening kit of the preferred embodiment. These other applications are numerous and include for examples a first protective cover 82 for covering a canoe 84 as illustrated in Figure 15, and a second protective cover 86 for covering an utility trailer 88 as illustrated in Figure 16. The netting strips 20 of those 2s protective covers 82,86 are installed according to the aforesaid manner, that is to overlap the underside margins of the covering material. The pronged strips 50 are attached or glued on the rim member of the structure to be covered. The protective covers 82,86 are repeatedly removed and reinstalled without d~m~ging the outside margin thereof.

2189~9~

While the above description provides a full and complete disclosure of the prefelled embodiment of this invention, various modifications, ~lt~ te constructions and equivalents may be employed without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention. Such changes might involve 5 ~lt~ te components, structural arrangements, construction features or the like. Therefore, the above description and the illustrations should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention which is defined by the appended claims.

Claims (20)

1. A fabric fastening kit for fastening a piece of fabric to a structure, comprising in combination;
a longitudinal pronged element having an uniform thickness, a surface, a backside, a foreside, and a plurality of juxtaposed prongs defined within said surface; each of said prongs having a narrow tip, a wide base and a length between said tip and said base being substantially at least equivalent to a width of said base; said pronged element being attachable to said structure;
a strip of netting material having a nominal width and a plurality of opened meshes, and being attachable to said piece of fabric to be fastened to said structure;
each of said meshes having a perimeter being at least twice as long as a total of said width of said base plus said uniform thickness, whereby when said pronged element is attached to said structure, said netting material is repeatedly tangentially attachable to and removable from said prongs without mangling said netting material.

2. A fabric fastening kit as claimed in claim 1 wherein said surface is a concave surface having an arc of curvature oriented transversely relative to a longitudinal axis of said pronged element, whereby when said pronged element is attached to a mounting plane of said structure with said arc of curvature pointing away from said mounting plane, said tips are spaced from said mounting plane.

3. A fabric fastening kit as claimed in claim 1 wherein said pronged element comprises a spacer means mounted on said backside thereof for spacing said prongs from said structure when said pronged element is attached to said structure.

4. A fabric fastening kit as claimed in claim 3 wherein said nominal width is comprised of a number of said opened meshes and said prongs are oriented transversely relative to said longitudinal pronged element, whereby when said strip of netting material and said pronged element are parallel to one-another, said strip of netting material is laterally adjustably attachable to said prongs relative to said pronged element.

5. A fabric fastening kit as claimed in claim 3 wherein said longitudinal pronged element is a strip having one straight edge and one jagged edge, and said jagged edge is defined by said plurality of juxtaposed prongs.

6. A fabric fastening kit as claimed in claim 5, wherein said strip is made of polyethylene, and said uniform thickness is between about 0.030 inch and about 0.040 inch, whereby said prongs are relatively flexible and said pronged element is perforable by staples.

7. A fabric fastening kit as claimed in claim 1 wherein said prong element is contingent on a coiled strip having a continuity of said juxtaposed prongs.

8. A fabric fastening kit as claimed in claim 3 wherein said pronged element has a crease formed longitudinally there-along and adjacent said bases of said prongs, and said spacer means is a portion of said crease bulging on said backside thereof.

9. A fabric fastening kit as claimed in claim 3 wherein said spacer means is an adhesive tape, and said adhesive tape has a nominal thickness which is at least as much as a thickness of said netting material.

10. A fabric fastening kit as claimed in claim 1 wherein said surface is defined between two parallel straight edges, and each of said prongs is defined by a pair of joining angularly spaced linear cuts through said uniform thickness and included within said straight edges.

11. A fabric fastening kit as claimed in claim 10 wherein said cuts have burrs there-along, for preventing said prongs from returning into said surface when said prongs are folded to form an angle with said surface.

12. A fabric fastening kit as claimed in claim 3 wherein said pronged element has a finite length and said kit comprises a bundle containing a plurality of said pronged elements.

13. A fabric fastening kit as claimed in claim 1 wherein said strip of netting material is a spool of netting material having said nominal width.

14. A fabric fastening kit as claimed in claim 1 wherein said netting material has a nominal content of a plastic fibres and said plastic fibres along an edge of said strip of netting material are partly melted together for preventing a fretting of said edge during use thereof.

15. A fastening kit for retaining a protective cover over an article, comprising in combination:
a longitudinal pronged element having an uniform thickness, a rectangular surface include between two straight and parallel longitudinal edges, a backside, a foreside and a plurality of juxtaposed prongs defined within said surface; each of said prongs being oriented transversely relative to said longitudinal pronged element, and having a narrow tip, a wide base and a length between said tip and said base being substantially at least equivalent to a width of said base; said pronged element being attachable to said article;
a strip of netting material having a nominal width and a plurality of opened meshes, said strip of netting material being attachable to and along a margin of said protective cover;
each of said meshes having a perimeter being at least twice as long as a total of said width of said base plus said uniform thickness, whereby when said pronged element is attached to said article, said netting material is repeatedly tangentially attachable to and removable from said pronged element without mangling said netting material.

16. A fastening kit as claimed in claim 15 wherein said nominal width is comprised of a number of said opened meshes, whereby when said strip of netting material and said pronged element are parallel to one-another, said strip of netting material is laterally adjustably attachable to said prongs relative to said pronged element.

17. A fastening kit as claimed in claim 15 wherein said pronged element is made of polyethylene and said uniform thickness is between about 0.030 inch and about 0.040 inch whereby said prongs are relatively flexible.

18. A fastening kit as claimed in claim 15 wherein said pronged element has a finite length and an adhesive tape mounted on said backside, and said kit comprises a bundle containing a plurality of said pronged elements.

19. A pronged element for fastening a piece of netting material to a rigid structure, having a uniform thickness, a rectangular surface include between two straight and parallel longitudinal edges and a plurality of juxtaposed prongs defined within said surface;
each of said prongs being defined by a pair of joining angularly spaced linear cuts through said uniform thickness, and each of said prongs thus defined having a narrow tip, a wide base and a length between said tip and said base being substantially at least equivalent to a width of said base;
whereby when said pronged element is secured to said rigid structure, several layers of said netting material to be retained thereon, wherein said netting material has a perimeter of a mesh thereof at least twice as long as a total of said width of said base plus said uniform thickness and a diameter of a string forming said mesh is a fraction of said length of said prong, are concurrently tangentially attachable to said prong.

20. A pronged element as claimed in claim 19 wherein said linear cuts have burrs there-along, for preventing said prongs from returning into said surface when said prongs are folded to form an angle with said surface.