Method for making a sheet of loop material

...

United States Patent m

Gorman et al.

US005256231A

[ii] Patent Number: [45] Date of Patent:

5,256,231 Oct. 26,1993

[54] METHOD FOR MAKING A SHEET OF LOOP MATERIAL

[75] Inventors: Michael R. Gorman, White Bear Lake; Dennis L. Becker, Vadnais Heights; Donald W. Folske, Oakdale; William L. Melbye, Maplewood; Susan K. Nestegard, Woodbury; Ronald L. Ott, Lake Elmo, all of Minn.

[73] Assignee: Minnesota Mining and

Manufacturing Company, St. Paul,
Minn.

[21] Appl. No.: 555,049
[22] Filed: Jul. 18,1990

Related U.S. Application Data

[63] Continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 517,409, Apr. 27, 1990, abandoned, which is a continuation of Ser. No. 193,832, May 13, 1988, abandoned.

[51] Int. CI.' B32B 31/12; B32B 31/30

[52] U.S. CI 156/178; 156/205;

156/201; 156/244.11; 156/244.16; 156/244.25

[58] Field of Search 156/72, 176, 178, 205,

156/244.11, 244.16, 470, 471, 472, 200, 201, 66, 244.15, 244.23, 244.24, 244.25; 24/445, 446, 447, 449, 451, 452; 264/286

[56] References Cited

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS

3,142,604 7/1964 Mills et al 156/435

3,142,611 7/1964 Mills 156/72 X

3,182,346 5/1965 Winston 156/244.25 X

3,345,688 10/1967 Billarant 156/471

3,382,122 5/1968 Nalle, Jr 156/244.25 X

3,533,871 10/1970 Zentmyer 156/205

3,562,044 2/1971 Erb 156/176

3,621,764 11/1971 Muller et al 156/205

3,676,242 7/1972 Prentice 156/178

3,694,867 10/1972 Stumpf 24/448

3,723,213 3/1973 Hoey 156/72

3,733,226 5/1973 Stoller 156/72

3,893,879 7/1975 Ito et al 156/201

3,955,246 5/1976 Tanaka 24/204

4,614,220 9/1986 Savage 156/244.11

4,734,298 3/1988 Kikukawa 427/256

4,759,816 7/1988 Kasper et al 156/244.11

4,761,318 8/1988 Ott et al 156/244.11 X

4,784,919 11/1988 Tokuno et al 156/277

FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS

0142338 5/1985 European Pat. Off. .

0223075 5/1987 European Pat. Off. .

0325473 7/1989 European Pat. Off. .

3903204 2/1990 Fed. Rep. of Germany .

56-152584 11/1981 Japan .

Primary Examiner—Michael W. Ball

Assistant Examiner—Francis J. Lorin

Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Gary L. Griswold; Walter N.

Kirn; William L. Huebsch

[57] ABSTRACT

A method of providing a sheet of loop material adapted to be cut into pieces to form loop portions for fasteners of the type comprising releasably engageable hook and loop portions, or to be incorporated into items such as disposable garments or diapers or into sheets of abrasives. The sheet of loop material includes a sheet of longitudinally oriented fibers having anchor portions and arcuate portions projecting in one direction away from the anchor portions, and a layer of thermoplastic backing material extruded onto the anchor portions to bond to the anchor portions and form at least a portion of a backing for the loop material. The thermoplastic backing material can also bond the sheet of fibers to a sheet of backing material.

61 Claims, 4 Drawing Sheets