JP2694071B2 - Method and apparatus for forming ears in hook-and-loop fasteners - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for forming ears in hook-and-loop fasteners for forming ears to be sewn with clothing on hook-and-loop fasteners.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A hook-and-loop fastener is one in which a loop-shaped or hook-shaped engaging element is provided on the surface of a base material by weaving or knitting, and is used in place of a button or the like. To be An example of this hook-and-loop fastener is shown in FIG.

In FIG. 3A, the surface fastener 1 is, for example, a female surface fastener, and a large number of loop-shaped engaging elements 12 are projectingly provided on the surface 1a of the material 11. Hook and loop fastener 1
A coating layer (not shown) for preventing removal of the engaging element 12 from the base material 11 on the back surface 1b of the substrate.
Is provided. These base material 11 and engaging element 12
And the coating layer is generally made of a thermoplastic resin such as polyester or polyurethane. The hook-and-loop fastener 1 is provided with ears 13 in the longitudinal direction A, which are sewn portions with clothes and the like. This hook fastener 1 is shown in FIG.
Such a wide one is used by cutting it along the longitudinal direction A at the center of the flat portion 14 which becomes the ear portion 13.

As a method of forming the ear portion 13, conventionally, the wide surface fastener 1 is previously cut into a narrow thin shape of one unit, and then, as shown in FIG. 4, the narrow surface fastener 1B. There is known a method of forming the ears 13 on both edges of the hook-and-loop fastener 1B with the disk-shaped cutters 50 provided on both sides (see, for example, JP-A-47-46144).
Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the surface 1a of the wide surface fastener 1A is
Contact the cutting edge 52 of the electric type shearing scissors 51 with
A method is known in which after the engaging element 12 is removed, the cutter 53 cuts the surface fastener 1A into a narrow surface fastener 1B (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 50-14438).

However, the base material 11 of the surface fasteners 1A and 1B
Are usually wavy or have some irregularities. Therefore, in the above-described conventional technique, the root portion of the engaging element remains, and thus the ear 13 may not be sufficiently flat. Further, in the case of the hook-and-loop fastener having the loop-shaped engaging element, that is, in the case of the female hook-and-loop fastener, the engaging element cannot be cut from the root because the engaging element is flexible. Therefore, again, the sufficiently flat ear portion 13 cannot be formed.

On the other hand, as a countermeasure against this, as shown in FIG. 6, there is known a method of rotating the polishing grindstone 54 while contacting the surface 1a of the surface fastener 1A to remove the engaging element 12 from the root ( For example, JP-A-62-194
802). However, in this method, although the chips of the removed engagement element 12 are sucked by the dust suction duct 55, the fine chips cause the clogging of the surface of the grinding wheel 54. Therefore, there is a drawback that continuous production is not possible.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, and is capable of forming a sufficiently flat ear portion, and a method and an apparatus for forming the ear portion in a surface fastener which can be continuously manufactured. The purpose is to provide.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a method of forming an ear portion according to the present invention is such that an inner surface of a hook-and-loop fastener is internally heated along a transfer direction while transferring the hook-and-loop fastener in a longitudinal direction. A plurality of pressing rollers spaced apart in the width direction of the fastener presses the engaging element against the base material and welds the engaging element to the base material, thereby forming a flat portion serving as an ear portion on the surface fastener. In this case, at the same time as or after forming the flat portion, the center of the flat portion may be cut along the transfer direction to form the ears at both ends.

On the other hand, the device of the present invention comprises a transfer device for transferring the surface fastener in the longitudinal direction, an internal heating device provided near the transfer path of the surface fastener for internally heating the surface fastener along the transfer direction, and a heating device. The surface fastener comes into contact with the support portion that comes into contact with the back surface of the surface fastener and the surface of the surface fastener, and presses the surface fastener between the support portion to weld the engaging element to the base material. And a pressing roller forming a flat portion as a portion.

[0010]

According to the present invention, the engaging element and the base material made of a thermoplastic resin are heated by internal heating and the engaging element is pressed against the base material by the pressing roller. Flat ears are formed because the substrates are heat welded together.

[0011]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, the surface fastener 1 having the engaging element 12 on the entire surface 1 a is wound around the unwinding roller 21. This surface fastener 1 is a guide roller 2
2 and 23, and is wound up by the winding roller 24. Each of these rollers 21 to 24 constitutes the transfer device 2 of the present invention. The transfer device 2 winds the surface fastener 1 and transfers it in the longitudinal direction A.

An internal heating device 3 is provided in the transfer path of the surface fastener 1 so as to be in contact with the back surface 1b of the surface fastener 1. The internal heating device 3 is composed of, for example, an ultrasonic oscillator or a high frequency oscillator, oscillates ultrasonic waves or high frequencies from a horn (support portion) 31 at the top, and moves the surface fastener 1 along the transfer direction A of the surface fastener 1. Is heated internally to raise the temperature. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the upper surface of the horn 31 is the back surface 1b of the surface fastener 1.
Is in contact with

A pressing roller 4 which comes into contact with the surface 1a of the surface fastener 1 is provided on the surface 1a of the surface fastener 1 opposite to the horn 31. This pressing roller 4
Presses the surface fastener 1 with the horn 31,
By welding the engaging element 12 in the temperature rising state to the base material 11, the flat portion 14 to be the ear portion 13 is formed on the surface fastener 1 as shown in FIG. A plurality of the pressing rollers 4 are attached to a rotary shaft 41 that is rotationally driven by a motor, spaced apart in the width direction B of the surface fastener 1. In addition,
The roller width of the pressing roller 4 is set to be substantially the same as the width of the flat portion 14 to be formed, while the pitch between the pressing rollers 4 matches the pitch of the flat portion 14 to be formed. The surface of the pressing roller 4 is made of Teflon.

A cooling pipe 5 is provided in the width direction of the surface fastener 1 slightly upstream of the pressing roller 4. As shown in FIG. 2, the cooling pipe 5 is provided with a large number of outlets 5a for blowing the cooling air C toward the contact surface between the pressing roller 4 and the surface fastener 1.

Next, a method of forming the ears will be described. While the transfer device 2 in FIG. 1 winds the surface fastener 1 from the unwinding roller 21 to the winding roller 24 and transfers it in the direction of arrow A, the internal heating device 3 moves the surface fastener 1 inside along the transfer direction A. To heat. At the same time as the surface fastener 1 is heated by internal heating, the engaging element 12 of FIG. 2 is pressed against the base material 11 by the pressing roller 4, and the engaging element 12 is welded to the base material 11 to be integrated. As a result, on the front surface 1a of the hook-and-loop fastener 1, the flat portion 14 that becomes the ear portion 13 is formed.
Is formed.

Simultaneously with or after the flat portion 14 is formed, the center of the flat portion 14 is cut along the transfer direction A by a cutter, a high frequency cutting machine or an ultrasonic cutting machine, and FIG. A narrow surface fastener 1B having ears 13 at both ends is manufactured.

According to the present invention having the above-mentioned structure, the engaging element 12 is welded to the base material 11 between the horn 31 and the pressing roller 4 shown in FIG. Therefore, even if the base material 11 has waviness or unevenness, or even if the engaging element 12 is the flexible female fastener 1, the engaging element 12 is pushed down to form the sufficiently flat ear portion 13. be able to.

Further, in the present invention, since the engaging element 12 is welded to the base material 11, there is no inconvenience that the grindstone is clogged with the chips of the engaging element 12, and therefore continuous manufacture is possible. It will be possible.

Furthermore, since the coating layer on the back surface 1b of the ear portion 13 is also once melted, there is an advantage that the engaging element 12 is not frayed at the time of sewing.

Here, as a method of raising the temperature of the hook-and-loop fastener 1, a method of heating the surface fastener 1 from outside instead of internally generating heat may be considered. However, heating from the outside causes a defect that only the engaging element 12 having a large surface area and a small heat capacity has a high temperature. On the other hand, according to the present invention, since heat is generated from the inside, the temperature is raised relatively uniformly as a whole, so such a drawback does not occur.

By the way, since the engaging element 12 has a small heat capacity, it may be damaged by being unnecessarily heated or being pressed against the hot pressing roller 4. On the other hand, in this embodiment, since the cooling pipe 5 for blowing the cooling air C toward the contact surface between the pressing roller 4 and the surface fastener 1 is provided, the engaging element 12 may be damaged by heat. Absent.

Although the surface fastener 1 is internally heated and pressed at the same time in the above embodiment, the invention may be pressed immediately after the surface fastener 1 is internally heated. In the above embodiment, the female fastener having the loop-shaped engaging element has been described, but the present invention is also applicable to the male fastener having the hook-shaped or mushroom-shaped engaging element.
Further, the surface fastener 1 of various sizes can be manufactured by changing the mounting pitch and the roller width of the pressing roller 4 of FIG.

In the present invention, the temperature range of the surface fastener 1 is such that the material of the surface fastener 1 can be welded and
Needless to say, it is necessary to keep the base material 11 to such an extent that it does not melt and solidify.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, the surface fastener is internally heated, and the engaging element is pressed against the base material by the pressing roller to weld the engaging element to the base material. It is possible to continuously manufacture sufficiently flat ears regardless of the unevenness of the base material and the hardness of the engaging element.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an ear forming device of a hook-and-loop fastener according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing an ear forming device showing a main part of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an example of the hook-and-loop fastener 1.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a first conventional example.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a second conventional example.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a third conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Surface fastener, 1a ... Front surface, 1b ... Back surface, 11 ... Base material, 12 ... Engaging element, 13 ... Ear part, 14 ... Flat part, 2
... Transfer device, 3 ... Internal heating device, 4 ... Pressing roller, A ...
Transfer direction, B ... Width direction.

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method of forming an ear portion in a hook-and-loop fastener for forming an ear portion for sewing on a hook-and-loop fastener having a plurality of engaging elements made of a thermoplastic resin provided on a surface of a base material made of a thermoplastic resin. The inner surface of the surface fastener is heated along the transfer direction while the surface fastener is transferred in the longitudinal direction, and a plurality of pressing rollers provided in the width direction of the surface fastener separates each other.
A method for forming an ear portion in a surface fastener, wherein a flat portion to be an ear portion is formed on the surface fastener by pressing the engagement element against the base material and welding the engagement element to the base material. 2. The ear portion of a surface fastener for forming ears at both ends by cutting the center of the flat portion along the transfer direction at the same time as or after forming the flat portion in claim 1. Method. 3. A device for forming an ear portion of a hook-and-loop fastener for forming an ear portion for sewing on a hook-and-loop fastener in which a large number of engaging elements made of a thermoplastic resin are provided on a surface of a base material made of a thermoplastic resin. A transfer device for transferring the surface fastener in the longitudinal direction, an internal heating device provided near the transfer path of the surface fastener for internally heating the surface fastener in the transfer direction, and a heated surface fastener. The surface fastener contacts the front surface of the surface fastener and the surface of the surface fastener, and presses the surface fastener between the support portion to weld the engaging element to the base material to form the surface fastener into an ear portion. A device for forming an ear portion in a surface fastener including a pressing roller that forms a flat portion.