US2931747A - Fabric fastener - Google Patents

Description

April 5, 1960 DEXTER, 2,931,747

FABRIC FASTENER Filed Feb. 11, 1957 F/ea ff fiexfer i INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY My invention relates to a new and improved adhesive fastener for securing fabrics together temporarily. It is particularly useful in an installation where a joint of temporary duration is required on a fabric which subsequently is to be subjected to an operation which requires immersion in water, such as washing. An example of such an installation is in securing a diaper about a baby.

' hired States Patent the joint are resisted in maximum strength under shear by all three bonded areas but a peeling action applied to the bond area between the fastener strips separates them readily. In addition to this novel fastener structure, I also propose that not only the adhesive but the strips themselves be formedof a water soluble material so that the severed fastener elements can be removed! from the fabric and disposed of during laundering. Certain synthetic materials have been developed which possess the characteristics necessary for use in my fastener. A material which I have found, to be particularly suitable is a synthetic sheet material known as polyvinyl alcohol film.

For a better understanding of my invention, reference should be had to the drawings, wherein Fig. 1 represents a specific installation of my fastener,

securing a diaper to a baby;

The conventional means for joiningfabric together is the time consuming-process of pinning with either straight.

or safety pins.' Attempts to adaptadhesive strips or the like temporarily to secure fabrics together have'met with little success due to strong bond between the fabric and joined an overload must be applied to the joint. With conventional adhesive fasteners the overload, unable to break the fastener, is reacted into the surrounding fabric, tearing it or straining it to a degree perhaps not discernible in one application but sufiicient to tear it in repeated applications. Attempts to reduce the strength of the fastener to alleviate stress on the fabric by reducing the amount of adhesivearea or reducing the adhesive strength obviously results in a sacrifice in holding power.

Moreover, in the specific application wherein I anticipate maximum utility, the application of diapers, mothers have been forced to choose between the elusive and fabricweakening safety pin or, in some diapers, snap fasteners which, being affixed to the diaper, provide only limited.

size. adjustment.

Therefore, it is an object of my invention to provide.

anadhesive fastener particularly designed for use with fabrics which produces a temporary joint of maximum strength under working loads'but which is easily severable without any damaging stresses being transmitted to the fabric to which it is applied.

It is a further object of my invention to provide an adhesive fastener for producing a strength joint between fabric sheets which does not require stripping by force from the fabric to which it is attached after it is no longer needed, but is removable by immersion in water.

' It is a further object of my invention to provide an adhesive fastener for fabrics which may be removed from the fabric and disposed of by immersion in Water.

It is a further object of my invention to provide an adhesive fabric fastener which is particularly adaptable to fitting a diaper under desired tension about a baby.

In carrying out my invention I provide an adhesive fastener comprising two strips of a flexible sheet material, each of which is coated on one side only with an adhesive. One of the strips is placed on top of the other strip and a portion of its adhesive coating activated to secure the strips together. The remaining portion of its adhesive area is available for attachment to one element of the fabric joint. The adhesive coating of the underlying strip is available for attachment to the other element of-the'fabric joint. Forces tending to separate Fig. 2 is a perspective view of my fastener prior to application; a

Fig. 3 is a section view of a typical installation of my fastener, illustrating the manner in which the joint is formed; j e Fig. 4 shows a joint formed with my fastener as it is severed? Fig. 5 is a view in perspection of a second form of my fastener as applied to-complete a joint; and

Fig. 6 is a section view of a third embodiment of my fastener. i I

Referring still to the drawings and particularly to Fig. 2, I have shown my fabric fastener 1 comprising two strips of a thin flexible material 2 and 3. Each strip 2 and 3 has a coating 4 and 5 of an adhesive material on: one side thereof. The strip 2 is placed on strip 3 and aligned coextensively therewith, the adhesive side of strip 2 lying against the ungummed side of strip 3. The strips are joined by adhering strip 2 to strip 3 over the area 6 adjacent to one pair of aligned side edges 7. Beyond the area 6 over which strip 1 is adhered to strip 2 its adhesive coating 4 is exposed. Of course, the entire gummed surface of strip 3 is exposed and may be used for attachment.

In Fig. 3, the fastener of Fig. 2 is pictured in use. One loose end 8 of the fabric which is to be joined is located so that it overlaps the other loose end 9 thereof. The fastener is placed in position so that the exposed adhesive coating 4of strip 2 is secured to the overlying end 8 of the fabric and the adhesivecoating 5 of the other strip 3 is secured to the surface of the underlying fabric 9. With the adhesive faces 4 and 5 of strips 2 and 3 being attached to the fabric ends 8 and 9, respectively, the fabric joint is completed by the adhesive area 6 along the side edges common to both strips.

My fastener is designed to produce maximum holding strength under working loads. For example, in the diaper application illustrated in Fig. 1, substantially all working' loads are due to waist expansion, i.e., in a circumferential direction tending'to separate the diaper ends. The force exerted by a babys mid-section during breathing and by stomach expansion at feeding can be considerable and the need for-a strong joint at the diaper ends is great In the case of adhesive fasteners it is necessary to resist? such forces in shear wherein the entire adhesively bondedf area works to resist the load. Referring to Fig. l", a fastener 10 may be placed at the top edge of the diaper side waistband 11 to secure the side waistband to the front 12 of the diaper. In the case of fastener 10 the load is longitudinal with respect thereto. However, if' desired, a fastener 13 may be placed at the end of the waistband side 14, in which case the load is transverse to the common side edge 13a. In either case, the fle'xi bility of the fabric and the fastener permits an, alignment of the fabric and the fastener substantially in the' plane Patented Apr. 5, 1960 a of-"th'e' load. Consequently; all of the force is resisted in-shear by'the-bonded areas between the fastener elements and the fabric and in.the common adhesive area between the elements. Since the full resistance of the adhesive" areasis developed,- maximum holding" strength issachieved:

' When it is desired to sever the "jointasin'removingthe diaper, the common; bonded' area 6' between-the strips provides a novel 'meansof. release thatxdoes's nor-require strippingj' the fastener from the fabric' and th'us'avoids damage to; the fabric. To breakithe'jointone need merely to grasp thefastener strips 2. and 3 (in-Fig. 3)

or the surrounding fabric ends 8 and9; separately-andpullin a direction to peel the common adhesive bond: apart. Again, each. fastener elementwill align itself with" the fabric so that the loads between each, fabric end and its fastener element are. in shear. Consequently, suchpeeling developsathe full'strength of the adhesive areas 4 and 5. butthe peelingof the fastener element is resisted merely by a line ofadhesive at the juncture of the two strips which moves progressively acrossthe common load area 6'during the peeling operation. Thisresistance is easily overcome and separation is facilitated;

'Refe'rringinow to Fig; 4'; the fastener jointis shown,

being severed, the separation occurring at'the adhesively joined ends of the strips. It illustrates the tendency of my joint to hinder such peeling actionthrough the fastener itself. rather than to damage the fabric.

The manner in which the. joint fails .is' of particular significance in my invention. Neitherthe strip. Zattachedto the overlying fabric 8'nor the strip 3"atta'che,d-.

willfoccur, as shown in Fig. 4 if a. minimum, noninjurious amountof bond strength. is developedand peeling loads. Under. suchkloads, the common. adhesive area 6 constitutes an .appreciablyweaker area andfailure atthis point .willoccurbefore damagingloads.

are applied to. the joint.

can be developed in the joined fabric.

ltiszasfurtherfeature. of my inventionthat it .isicompletely unnecessary to. strip. any adhesive fastener. element. fnomntliezfabric. With, the relatively. irregular surface -of, fabric .,the. adhesion ofa. gummed ftape, is frequently so.- ggcatthat attemptsfto'separate.the two resultsin the;

rupture of threads. Inthecase of. infants? diapers where my ;-gummed..fastener has particular. utility, the. repeated.

removal of gummed strips. that would otherwise be. necesv sary would appreciablyshorten thelife.of.,the diaper. To :avoid this I propose to use.water soluble adhesives.

4' and. on myfastener .so. that they will ,be. separated from the diaper upon .irnmersioninwaten; Since diapers obviously have to be.launderedv after;having. .been:worn,, no, extra. operation. is required.

' Moreover, the. subsequentdisposalzof .the., componentst after their removal is. not .a problem.with.,my preferred,

embodiment... The material of which the; fastener. is; formediuis. water soluble. and the subsequent immersion, ofi;the. diaper ,in, water. during ;the.,washing .operation will.

dissolyetthe; fastener. Sheet, material. of.,,polyvinyl alcor holtfilm is; preferredfor such. use. It. dissolves, com-.

pletely inthe wash water and leaves-no residual. deposit.

on the diaper. Aftenthe. diaper-is, clean anddry, it. may, be. equippedwitnnew. fasteners- Fasteners may be ap; plied .repeatedly. at thesamelocation on. the. diaper Wilhr out weakening the. fabric...

Myjnvention hasparticular utility ina. commercial. diaper.;se1:vice;- euterprise. Clean. diapers with my: fas:

tenets. partially afli'xed .to thetsider edges .11 and 14.,or, Oat-11G -front .portion, 12, may be .S11Ppil.d tQ.. the. user.

The forcenecessary to separate. this.

' the diaper is removed fromthe baby, it may be returned to thediaper service with the loose fastener ends still attached. When the diaper; is.laundered the fastener components are disposed of. simultaneously. Subsequently, the clean, dry diaper isre=supplied with fasteners and returnedto mother. for reuse;

A diaperso equipped has great utility because it frees the mother of the necessity for reaching-for someobject, such as a safety'p in,,wl1i1e attemptingtqhold the diaper in place. Presupplying the diaper with integral fasteners eliminates the problems of locating and affixing a securing element. It reduces the diaper changing process to a moresimple operation.

A second' embodiment of my-inventionis shown in. Fig. 5. There two'gumrned' strips20 and 21 are aligned longitudinally and overlappedendto end; Theadhesive- 22 on the overlapping strip'2t) does not extend over th'e entire surface thereof. Thus, there is a commonibond Ebr-.example;. a:fastenermay be .attachedto each. of'ithe. 15

23 between the. twostrips and anunattached portion 24 of the overlapped segment that is-not attached to strip- 21. With this form of fastener, the underlying adhesive" strip 21' will be. attachedto one fabric end 25' andf the overlying;strip fattachedto the other fabric end- 26. and" the joint is completed by1the. overlapped segmentwith a; commonadhesive bondZS. In'this modification; as in". thezemb'odiment of Figs. lto'4; the full strength ofeachtadhesive area is developed undernormalloads-in'shear: However,. to sever the fabric joint,. one need-"merely grasp the'unattach'ed portion 24 of the overlapped seg ment and peel, it from the underlying segment 21. Agair'n, the common adhesive area 23 constitutes the: weakestlink in the chain of'attachment'and failure-at? this, point will occur before. damaging loads can be de: veloped' in the fabric. r

I prefer to supply my fastener to the. user as a'com= plete unit with 'the two ends already joined. By so doing Iinsure that the two ends, the critical section,of thefastener, are securely joined'soas to. produceuniform strength. Hbweven. the. stripscould 1. be supplied." and applied to. the: fabric. separately. andjoined at. their ends: asthefiualloperationr I1have .cb.osen. tojdescribe andlill'nstrate my" fastener. joining two fabric ends which are initially placedonc. over the other. However, my fastener could.be,-.used'to join. fabric. ends. which are abutting rather than..over-. lapping and. the resultwouldbe the. same. For all in; stallationsinwhichmy fastener is applied..to.a flexible. snrface,.it ,will. react under load. as described. This. follows from the fact that afiexible surfaceisfreeto. align itselfto resist. loads along its own length, that. is, inthe. directionin which, it. is strongest.

A.furthe.r embodiment. of. my, invention is. sh.own..i!r; Fig. 6 wherein the. fastenerelements- 30. and 3Lare; ap;- plied separately to the.fabric.ends;.32 and33, respectively; The overlappingfabric end, 32.is provided .withanopening .34 therethrongh, so that a p ortion..35 of the-adhesive. coating 36 .on-thetop fastener. element. 3.0. isexposedz. Thus; to. complete: the. fabric joint. the. adhesive. coating portion; 35 .need. merely: be activated ;.to secure .the.;top, fastener; element, 30 to .the uncoated. side of .the bottom. fastenerelementfil.

While the preferredembodiments-of .my inventionhavee been shown, and described, it is obvious. many modifica!- tionsthereof. can be made by one skilled inthe art with: out departing from.the-1-spirit of myinvention. It;is,. therefore,-. desired, to protect by Letters Patent. all forms. of the,-invention falling-withinlthe-scope of the following; claim..

In... combination.. with... two members; having: parallel.

surfaces thereof in overlapping relationship, a temporary fastener securing said surfaces together to resist a relative force therebetween exerted in shear along the planes thereof, said fastener comprising a pair of elements of sheet material, means adhesively and securely connecting one side of each of said elements over substantially the entire area thereof to one only of said overlapping surfaces, said pair of elements being arranged in face to face engagement separable adhesive means joining the adjacent sides of said pair of elements together over a portion only of the areas thereof leaving other portions of said adjacent sides unjoined, said separable adhesive means being of sufiicient strength to withstand and support said relative force but being of lesser strength than said securely connecting means and thereby conditioned to permit separation of said elements and said overlapping surfaces by applying moderate tension to said separable adhesive means in a direction transverse to said adjacent sides.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Crowell Apr. 8, Brady et al. Feb. 21, Humphner Feb. 9, King Dec. 28, Denison Feb. 1, Eustis Sept. 18, Godoy May 14, Marks Apr. 27, Oakley Aug. 28, Ferdon June 25, Connally May 13,

FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Aug. 23,

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