CN110312448B

CN110312448B - Molding surface fastener, method for producing molding surface fastener, and molding device

Info

Publication number: CN110312448B
Application number: CN201780086598.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 权田英嗣; 桥爪淳
Original assignee: YKK Corp
Current assignee: YKK Corp
Priority date: 2017-02-15
Filing date: 2017-02-15
Publication date: 2022-03-18
Anticipated expiration: 2037-02-15
Also published as: WO2018150493A1; JPWO2018150493A1; TW201831109A; JP6794082B2; TWI626903B; CN110312448A

Abstract

The forming surface connector (1, 1a, 2, 3) of the present invention has: a base material part (10) elongated in the first direction; and a plurality of engaging elements (20, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, 70), which is erected on the upper surface of the base material portion (10), and the engaging elements (20, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, 70) have: a rod portion (21, 21c, 21d, 71); and a hook portion (31, 31b, 81), which protrude along the second direction from the upper end portion of the rod portion (21, 21c, 21d, 71). The hook portion (31, 31b, 81) has a shape tapered toward the hook tip. The lower surface of the hook portion (31, 31b, 81) has a compression surface (32, 82) formed by pressing and compressing by the cavity surface of the molding die to be smoother than the upper end surface of the hook portion (31, 31b, 81). . Such a molding surface connector (1, 1a, 2, 3) becomes a new molding surface connector which has a high peel strength with respect to the ring of the female molding surface connector, and which can also obtain a good skin feel.

Description

Molding surface fastener, method for producing molding surface fastener, and molding device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a forming surface fastener in which a plurality of engaging elements are arranged on a flat plate-like substrate portion, a method for manufacturing the forming surface fastener, and a forming apparatus used for manufacturing the forming surface fastener.

Background

Conventionally, a surface fastener product has been known in which a female surface fastener having a plurality of rings and a male molded surface fastener which is attachable to and detachable from the female surface fastener are used in combination as a pair. In general, a male molded surface fastener produced by molding a synthetic resin is formed by erecting a plurality of male engaging elements having a mushroom-like shape or the like on the upper surface of a flat plate-like base material portion.

The surface fastener products having such male surface fasteners are currently widely used for various kinds of commodities, and are also used for, for example, disposable diapers, diaper pants for infants, protective devices for protecting joints of hands and feet, waist-tightening clothes (waist belt), gloves, and the like, which are attached to and detached from the body.

In a molded surface fastener used for a disposable diaper and the like, a J-shaped form, a palm tree-shaped form, a mushroom-shaped form, and the like are generally known as typical forms of male engaging elements. For example, the J-shaped engaging element has a shape that protrudes upward from the base portion and has an upper end portion bent into a hook shape. A molded surface connector having such J-shaped engaging elements is described in International publication No. 1998/014086 (patent document 1: corresponding to Japanese patent application laid-open No. 2001-501120), and the like.

The palm tree-shaped engaging elements have the following forms: the disclosed device is provided with: a stem portion vertically protruding from the base material portion; and a hook-shaped engagement head portion extending while being bent from an upper end of the stem portion in two directions opposite to each other. Molded surface fasteners having such palm tree-shaped engaging elements are described in U.S. patent nos. 7, 516, 524 (patent document 2) and the like.

The mushroom-shaped engaging element has the following form: the disclosed device is provided with: a stem portion vertically protruding from the base material portion; and a disk-shaped engaging head portion disposed above the rod portion and integrally formed so as to protrude outward from the entire upper end outer periphery of the rod portion in a plan view of the engaging element. Molded surface connectors having such mushroom-shaped engaging elements are described in International publication No. 1994/023610 (patent document 3 corresponding to Japanese patent application laid-open No. Hei 8-508910), International publication No. 2000/000053 (patent document 4 corresponding to Japanese patent application laid-open No. 2002-519078), and the like.

Documents of the prior art

Patent document

Patent document 1: international publication No. 1998/014086

Patent document 2: specification of U.S. Pat. No. 7,516,524

Patent document 3: international publication No. 1994/023610

Patent document 4: international publication No. 2000/000053

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

In the molded surface fastener having the J-shaped engaging elements and the palm tree-shaped engaging elements as described above, for example, when the rings (for example, fibers of a nonwoven fabric) of the female surface fastener are engaged, the rings are difficult to be pulled out from the J-shaped or palm tree-shaped engaging elements. Therefore, the molded surface fastener having the J-shaped or palm tree-shaped engaging elements tends to have a higher peel strength than the female surface fastener.

In general, these molded surface fasteners having a plurality of engaging elements in a J-shape or a palm tree shape are manufactured by continuously molding a synthetic resin using a die wheel having a plurality of cavities each having a shape corresponding to the engaging element formed in an outer peripheral surface portion thereof. In addition, when the J-shaped or palm tree-shaped engaging elements are continuously formed by the die set, the upper end portions of the engaging elements need to be bent in a hook shape in 1 direction or in two directions opposite to each other and protrude.

However, in the conventional molding, in order to extract the engaging elements from the cavity of the die wheel without damaging the engaging elements, only the hook-shaped engaging heads can be oriented in the Machine Direction (MD) along the conveying direction of the molded body. Therefore, conventionally, it has not been possible to continuously manufacture a molded surface fastener having engaging elements with hook-shaped engaging heads oriented in a Cross Direction (CD) intersecting (orthogonal to) a Machine Direction (MD).

In the case of the conventional J-shaped or palm tree-shaped engaging element, the upper end portion of the engaging element is bent into a hook shape, and therefore the area of the upper end surface (distal end surface) of the engaging element is small. Therefore, when the molded surface fastener contacts the upper surface side of the engaging surface of the molded surface fastener, the area of contact with the skin becomes small. Therefore, when such a molding surface fastener is used for products which are likely to come into contact with the skin, such as disposable diapers and diaper pants, or products which require a soft touch, the skin touch of the products may be deteriorated.

Further, the base end portion or the stem portion of the conventional J-shaped or palm tree-shaped engaging element rising from the base material portion is easily formed thin. Therefore, it is also conceivable: when the female surface fastener is strongly pressed against the male molded surface fastener (or the male molded surface fastener is strongly pressed against the female surface fastener) to engage the female surface fastener with the male molded surface fastener, the base end portion or the stem portion of the engaging element is easily bent by the pressing force, and the molded surface fastener is easily damaged.

On the other hand, since the mushroom-shaped engaging element has a disk-shaped engaging head formed at the upper end of the engaging element, the upper end surface of the engaging element can be exposed upward in a larger area than the J-shaped or palm-tree-shaped engaging element. Therefore, the molded surface fastener having the mushroom-shaped engaging element has a characteristic of good touch to the skin. Further, since the stem portion of the engaging element is easily formed thick, even if the pressing force as described above is applied, the stem portion is less likely to bend, and the shape of the engaging element can be stably maintained.

Further, the molding surface fastener having the mushroom-shaped engaging elements can engage the plurality of loops stably when the nonwoven fabric as the female surface fastener is engaged. However, the mushroom-shaped engaging elements are not bent into a hook shape at the upper end portion thereof as in the J-shape or palm tree-shape. Therefore, even in the case of the mushroom-shaped engaging element, the peel strength may be weaker than that of the J-shaped or palm-tree-shaped engaging element, and improvement is required.

In addition, in general, the following are the cases of the male type surface fastener: the loop engagement ratio, peel strength, and the like are likely to vary depending on the structure of the nonwoven fabric as the female surface fastener, and the performance of the male surface fastener is influenced by the affinity with the nonwoven fabric. Accordingly, it is desirable to increase the variety of forms of the engaging elements to prepare a wide variety of male forming surface fasteners to enable selection of male surface fasteners according to the nonwoven fabric and also according to the product application.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and a specific object thereof is to provide a molded surface fastener having properties different from those of the conventional ones by providing an engaging element with a new and characteristic form. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and a molding apparatus for stably manufacturing a molded surface fastener having properties different from those of conventional molded surface fasteners.

Means for solving the problems

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a synthetic resin molded surface fastener comprising: a base member portion formed in a flat plate shape extending in a 1 st direction and a 2 nd direction intersecting the 1 st direction, and elongated in the 1 st direction; and a plurality of engaging elements provided upright on an upper surface of the base material portion, the engaging elements having: a rod portion rising from the base material portion; and at least 1 hook part, it projects along the 2 nd direction from the upper end of the said pole part, the most important characteristic of the surface fastener of this shaping lies in, the said hook part has making the size of the said 1 st direction face the tapered shape of hook tip of the said hook part and decreasing, the lower surface of the said hook part has compression surface formed more smoothly than upper surface of the said hook part locally.

In the molded surface fastener according to the present invention, it is preferable that an upper surface of the hook portion is disposed higher than an upper surface of the rod portion by a step, and the hook portion has the following shape: when the engaging element is viewed from the 1 st direction, the upper surface of the hook portion is convex, and the lower surface of the hook portion is non-convex.

In the molded surface fastener according to the present invention, a part of an upper surface of the hook portion may be continuously formed from an upper surface of the rod portion, and the hook portion may have the following shape: when the engaging element is viewed from the 1 st direction, the upper surface of the hook portion is convex, and the lower surface of the hook portion is non-convex.

In this case, it is preferable that an outer surface of the upper end portion of the rod portion is formed into a spherical surface.

In the molded surface fastener according to the present invention, the upper surface of the hook portion and the upper surface of the rod portion may be formed as a single flat surface, and the distal end portion of the hook portion may be disposed so as to be inclined downward.

In this case, it is preferable that the engaging element has a pair of reinforcing ribs which are disposed on both sides of the hook portion in the 1 st direction and which connect an upper end portion of the hook portion and the rod portion.

In the molded surface fastener of the present invention as described above, it is preferable that the hook portion is formed asymmetrically in the width direction of the hook portion when the hook portion is viewed from the 2 nd direction.

In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a molding surface fastener made of a synthetic resin, the molding surface fastener including: a base member portion formed in a flat plate shape extending in a 1 st direction and a 2 nd direction intersecting the 1 st direction, and elongated in the 1 st direction; and a plurality of engaging elements provided upright on an upper surface of the base material portion, the engaging elements having: a rod portion rising from the base material portion; and at least 1 hook portion protruding from an upper end portion of the rod portion in the 2 nd direction, the molded surface fastener being characterized in that the hook portion has a tapered shape in which a dimension in the 1 st direction decreases toward a hook tip end of the hook portion, and the hook portion is formed asymmetrically in a width direction of the hook portion when viewed from the 2 nd direction.

In this case, it is preferable that the lower surface of the hook portion locally has a compression surface formed smoother than the upper surface of the hook portion.

In addition, in the case where the hook portion is formed to be asymmetric in the width direction, it is preferable that one end portion in the 1 st direction of the compression surface of the hook portion is disposed at a position higher than the other end portion in the 1 st direction of the compression surface, and when the engaging element is viewed from above, a tip end portion of the hook portion is disposed at a position shifted to the one end portion side in the 1 st direction with respect to a center position in the 1 st direction of the rod portion.

Further, it is preferable that a radius of curvature at a distal end portion of the hook portion is set to be in a range of 0.06mm or more and 0.18mm or less when the hook portion is viewed from the 1 st direction.

In the molded surface fastener according to the present invention, it is preferable that 1 hook portion is disposed for 1 rod portion, the rod portion has a hook disposition surface rising from the base portion and disposed in a protruding direction of the hook portion, and the hook disposition surface has a single flat surface formed from a position lower than the hook portion toward the base portion, and is orthogonal to an upper surface of the base portion and to the 2 nd direction.

In this case, it is preferable that the rod portion has a rod back surface disposed on the opposite side of the hook arrangement surface in the 2 nd direction when the engaging element is viewed from the 1 st direction, and the rod back surface has a shape in which a dimension between the hook arrangement surface and the rod back surface in the rod portion decreases with distance from the upper surface of the base material portion.

Preferably, when the engaging element is viewed from the 1 st direction, the lever back surface has an upper curved surface portion disposed in a convex shape on an upper end portion of the lever portion and a lower curved surface portion disposed in a concave shape on a lower end portion of the lever portion.

Further, it is preferable that the hook portion has the following shape when the engaging element is viewed from the 1 st direction: the upper surface of the hook portion has a convex surface shape having a radius of curvature smaller than that of the upper curved surface portion of the lever portion.

In the molded surface fastener according to the present invention, it is preferable that the maximum dimension of the stem portion in the 2 nd direction is set to 0.1mm or more and 1.5mm or less, and the maximum projection dimension of the hook portion in the 2 nd direction from the stem portion is set to 0.01mm or more and 0.5mm or less.

Next, a method for manufacturing a molded surface fastener according to the present invention is a method for manufacturing a molded surface fastener made of a synthetic resin, the molded surface fastener including: a flat plate-like base material portion formed lengthwise along a machine direction; and a plurality of engaging elements provided upright on an upper surface of the base material portion, wherein the method for manufacturing a molded surface fastener is characterized by comprising: using a molding device having a die wheel in which a plurality of cavities having shapes corresponding to the engaging elements are formed in an outer peripheral surface portion, the cavities having inverted shapes (japanese: アンダーカット shapes) in which the engaging elements molded in the cavities cannot be released in a manner of maintaining their shapes, and edge portions capable of partially pressing and compressing a part of the engaging elements when the engaging elements are extracted being arranged on the cavity surfaces of the cavities; continuously extruding the molten synthetic resin material toward an outer peripheral surface of the die wheel to mold the base material portion on the outer peripheral surface of the die wheel and to mold the engaging element in the cavity of the die wheel, the engaging element having: a rod portion rising from the base material portion; and at least 1 hook portion protruding from an upper end portion of the lever portion in a crossing direction crossing the machine direction; and forcibly extracting the engaging element from the cavity, pressing and compressing the hook portion from below the hook portion by the edge portion, and wiping the hook portion from below the hook portion by the edge portion, thereby locally forming a compression surface on a lower surface of the hook portion.

Preferably, the manufacturing method of the present invention includes: stripping the molded molding surface fastener from the die wheel using a pickup roller disposed on a downstream side of the molding device and having a pair of upper and lower nip rollers; and after the molded surface fastener is peeled off from the die wheel, the engaging element is pressed by the upper nip roller, and the hook portion which is pulled out from the cavity and faces obliquely upward is plastically deformed.

Further, the manufacturing method of the present invention preferably includes forming an upper surface of the hook portion to be higher than an upper surface of the rod portion by a step.

In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for manufacturing a synthetic resin molded surface fastener, including: a flat plate-like base material portion formed lengthwise along a machine direction; and a plurality of engaging elements provided upright on an upper surface of the base material portion, the method of manufacturing the forming surface fastener including: a primary molding step of molding a primary molded body having the base portion and a plurality of temporary elements provided upright on the base portion; and a secondary molding step of molding the molded surface fastener having the engaging element by heating the temporary element of the primary molded body and by flattening the temporary element from above, wherein the method for manufacturing a molded surface fastener is characterized by including: a step of using a molding device having a die wheel in which a plurality of cavities having shapes corresponding to the temporary elements are formed in an outer peripheral surface portion, the cavities having a reverse shape in which the temporary elements molded in the cavities cannot be released so as to maintain their shapes, and edge portions capable of locally pressing and compressing a part of the temporary elements when the temporary elements are extracted being arranged on the cavity surfaces of the cavities; continuously extruding the molten synthetic resin material toward an outer peripheral surface of the die wheel to shape the base material portion on the outer peripheral surface of the die wheel and to shape the temporary member in the cavity of the die wheel, the temporary member having: a primary rod portion rising from the base material portion; and at least 1 primary hook portion protruding from an upper end portion of the primary lever portion in a crossing direction crossing the machine direction; and forcibly extracting the temporary element from the cavity to press and compress the primary hook portion from below the primary hook portion by the edge portion, and wiping the primary hook portion from below the primary hook portion by the edge portion, thereby locally forming a compression surface on a lower surface of the primary hook portion.

Preferably, the manufacturing method of the present invention includes: in the primary molding step, the molded primary molded body is peeled from the die wheel by using a pickup roller disposed on the downstream side of the molding device and having a pair of upper and lower nip rollers; and after the primary molded body is peeled off from the die wheel, plastically deforming the primary hook portion, which is pulled out from the cavity and directed obliquely upward, by pressing the temporary member with the upper nip roller.

Further, it is preferable that the manufacturing method of the present invention includes: in the primary molding step, an upper surface of the primary hook is formed higher than an upper surface of the primary rod by a step; and in the secondary forming step, the upper end portion of the temporary element is crushed from above, so that the upper surface of the hook portion and the upper surface of the rod portion in the engaging element are formed as a single flat surface.

Next, a molding apparatus according to the present invention is a molding apparatus for molding a surface fastener or a primary molded body of a surface fastener, and includes: a die wheel rotationally driven in one direction; and an extrusion nozzle that extrudes the molten synthetic resin material toward the die wheel, wherein a plurality of cavities having shapes corresponding to engaging elements of the molding surface fastener or temporary elements of the primary molded body are provided on an outer peripheral surface portion of the die wheel, the cavities have a reversed-locking shape in which the engaging elements or the temporary elements molded in the cavities cannot be released so as to maintain the shapes thereof, the die wheel has a plurality of disk-shaped metal plates stacked in an axial direction, each metal plate has a 1 st stacked surface and a 2 nd stacked surface orthogonal to the axial direction, the 2 nd stacked surface of the metal plate is disposed on an opposite side of the 1 st stacked surface, and the metal plate has: a plurality of 1 st plates each having a 1 st cavity for molding a hook portion of the engaging element or a primary hook portion of the primary molded body, the 1 st cavity being recessed in the 1 st lamination surface; and a plurality of 2 nd plates each having a 2 nd cavity for molding a rod portion of the engaging element or a primary rod portion of the primary molded body recessed in the 2 nd stacked surface, wherein the 1 st plate and the 2 nd plate are stacked adjacent to each other in an orientation in which the 1 st cavity and the 2 nd cavity communicate with each other, the 1 st cavity is recessed in a position apart from an outer peripheral end surface of the 1 st plate by a size that forms the undercut shape, and the 2 nd cavity is recessed continuously from the outer peripheral end surface of the 2 nd plate toward a radially inner side.

In the molding apparatus of the present invention, it is preferable that the radially innermost position in the 1 st cavity is located radially inward of the radially innermost position in the 2 nd cavity, and a step formed by the 2 nd lamination surface of the 2 nd plate is formed between the 1 st cavity and the 2 nd cavity.

In the molding apparatus of the present invention, it is preferable that the 1 st cavity is recessed in a hemispherical shape on the 1 st lamination surface of the 1 st plate, and a radius of the hemispherical shape of the 1 st cavity is set to 0.01mm or more and 0.5mm or less.

The 2 nd cavity has a shape in which a circumferential dimension of the 2 nd plate decreases from an outer circumferential end surface of the 2 nd plate toward a radially inner side, and a radially inner front end surface of the 2 nd cavity has a spherical surface having a radius of curvature of 0.01mm or more and 0.5mm or less.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION

The forming surface connecting piece of the invention comprises: a flat plate-like base member portion extending in a 1 st direction and a 2 nd direction and being longer in the 1 st direction than in the 2 nd direction; and a plurality of engaging elements provided upright on the upper surface of the base portion. Further, each engaging element has: a rod part rising from the base material part; and at least 1 hook part protruding from an upper end of the rod part in the 2 nd direction.

The hook portion has a tapered shape in which the dimension in the 1 st direction decreases toward the hook distal end of the hook portion. The lower surface of the hook portion partially has a compression surface that is formed smoother than the upper surface of the hook portion by being pressed and compressed from the cavity surface (particularly, an edge portion of the cavity surface) of the molding die in the molding process. In particular, it is believed that: the compressed surface of the lower surface of the hook portion is pressed and compressed when the hook portion is removed from the molding die, and is formed harder than the upper surface of the hook portion.

Here, the 1 st direction in the present invention means a direction along the mechanical direction (M direction or MD) in which the molded surface fastener or the primary molded body flows in the manufacturing process (molding process) of the molded surface fastener. The base material portion being long in the 1 st direction means that the base material portion is formed long in the machine direction in the forming step. In other words, the molded surface fastener may be subjected to a process such as cutting after the molded surface fastener is molded in the molding step, but in this case, the base material portion of the molded surface fastener after cutting may not be long in the 1 st direction (mechanical direction). The 2 nd direction in the present invention means a cross direction (C direction or CD) orthogonal to the Machine Direction (MD) and means a width direction of the base material portion formed lengthwise.

The engaging element of the present invention, in which the compression surface is partially formed on the lower surface and which includes the stem portion and the hook portion having a tapered shape, has a new form different from the conventional J-shape, palm tree shape, and mushroom shape. In the molded surface fastener of the present invention having such engaging elements, the columnar shank portion can be easily formed thick. Therefore, even if the female die connector is strongly pressed against the molded surface connector of the present invention and receives a large pressing force, the rod portion is less likely to bend, and the shape of the engaging element can be stably maintained. In addition, the rod portion is easy to secure a large strength, and therefore, the shear strength with respect to the female-type surface fastener can be increased.

In this case, the molded surface fastener of the present invention can be deeply pressed into the female surface fastener. Thus, the engaging elements of the forming surface fastener can be deeply inserted into the vicinity of the root of the ring of the female surface fastener, and the ring and the engaging elements can be reliably engaged with each other.

In the present invention, the top surface (upper surface) of the engaging element is formed so that the upper surface of the rod portion is largely exposed upward. Therefore, when the molded surface fastener of the present invention is touched from the upper surface side which becomes the engaging surface, the upper surface of the rod portion is likely to widely touch the skin. In addition, the hook portion is formed small relative to the lever portion, and therefore, the influence (uncomfortable feeling) of the hook portion on the touch feeling when the hook portion touches the engaging element can be reduced. Therefore, the molded surface fastener of the present invention can stably obtain a more satisfactory tactile sensation and a more satisfactory contact feeling than those of conventional molded surface fasteners having, for example, J-shaped or palm-tree-shaped engaging elements.

In the engaging element of the present invention, as described above, the hook portion protrudes from the rod portion in the 2 nd direction, and the compression surface formed to be smoother and harder than the upper surface of the hook portion is locally formed on the lower surface of the hook portion. In the hook portion, the hook distal end portion is formed in a tapered shape. In the present invention, the tapered shape means a shape formed such that both side edges of the hook portion gradually approach toward the hook tip in a plan view, that is, a shape in which the dimension in the 1 st direction of the hook portion gradually decreases toward the hook tip. Therefore, when the ring of the female surface fastener is engaged with the molded surface fastener of the present invention, the engaging element of the present invention can be smoothly inserted between the rings of the female surface fastener, and the ring can be hooked on the hook portion of the engaging element to stably engage the both.

Further, the engaging element of the present invention can make it difficult for the ring hooked on the hook portion to be disengaged from the engaging element, as compared with a conventional molded surface fastener having, for example, a mushroom-shaped engaging element. Thus, the forming surface connector of the present invention can have a higher peel strength than the female surface connector.

That is, the molded surface fastener of the present invention has a new type of molded surface fastener having the following advantages in combination, in a form having features not found in the past: the rod part is difficult to bend, and good skin touch feeling is obtained; compared with a female surface connecting piece, the female surface connecting piece has the advantage of higher peel strength. Therefore, the molded surface fastener of the present invention is provided by adding to the conventional molded surface fastener, and the change of the molded surface fastener can be increased. As a result, it becomes easy to cope with various types of female-type surface fasteners (nonwoven fabrics) more reliably.

In the molded surface fastener of the present invention, the upper surface of the hook portion of each engaging element is arranged higher than the upper surface of the rod portion via a step. In addition, the hook portion has the following shape: when the engaging element is viewed from the 1 st direction (MD), the upper surface (upper outer surface) of the hook portion is convex, and the lower surface (lower outer surface) of the hook portion is non-convex.

Here, the upper surface of the hook portion being convex means that, when the hook portion is viewed in the 1 st direction (MD), the upper surface of the hook portion, which is inclined downward from the base end portion on the rod portion side toward the hook tip portion, has a continuous curved line-like portion that is convexly curved so as to appear to bulge upward. The lower surface of the hook portion having a non-convex shape means that a lower surface of the hook portion (excluding lower surfaces of the hook base end portion and the hook tip end portion) which is inclined upward from the hook base end portion toward the hook tip end portion is formed of at least one of the following portions when the hook portion is viewed from the 1 st direction (MD): a straight portion that is not provided with a portion that is convexly curved so as to bulge downward, but that is inclined straight; a curved line-shaped portion which is curved so as to be slightly recessed inward.

In the engaging element having such a shape, the upper surface of the hook portion is convex, and therefore, the influence of the hook portion on the contact comfort when the hook portion contacts the engaging element is reduced, and the skin touch of the molding surface fastener can be improved. Further, since the lower surface of the hook portion is formed in a non-convex shape, the hook portion of the engaging element easily catches the loop, and the loop can be engaged with the hook portion more stably. Further, since the upper surface of the hook portion is formed higher than the upper surface of the lever portion by the step, the loop engaged with the engaging element is easily caught by the step between the hook portion and the lever portion, and therefore, the loop can be made difficult to disengage from the engaging element. As a result, the molded surface fastener of the present invention can have higher peel strength than the female surface fastener.

In the molded surface fastener of the present invention, the upper surface of the hook portion may not be disposed higher than the upper surface of the rod portion, and a part of the upper surface of the hook portion may be continuously formed from the upper surface of the rod portion. In this case, the hook portion also has the following shape: when the engaging element is viewed from the 1 st direction (MD), the upper surface (upper outer surface) of the hook portion is convex, and the lower surface (lower outer surface) of the hook portion is non-convex.

In the engaging element having such a shape, the upper surface of the hook portion disposed at the highest position is formed continuously from the upper surface of the stem portion, and therefore, the influence of the hook portion on the contact comfort when the engaging element is touched can be made smaller, and therefore, the skin feel of the molded surface fastener can be made more favorable. Further, since the lower surface of the hook portion is formed in a non-convex shape, the hook portion of the engaging element easily catches the loop as described above, and the loop can be engaged with the hook portion more stably.

In the case of the two forms of engaging elements as described above, the outer surface (upper surface) of the upper end portion of the rod portion is formed as a spherical surface. This can effectively improve the contact comfort of the engaging element.

In the molded surface fastener of the present invention, the upper surface of the hook portion and the upper surface of the rod portion in the engaging element may be formed as a single flat surface, and the tip end portion of the hook portion may be disposed so as to be inclined downward. The upper surface of the hook and the upper surface of the rod form a single flat surface, so that the contact comfort when the hook touches the clamping element can be improved. Further, since the tip end portions of the hook portions are inclined downward, the hook portions of the engaging elements can easily catch the loops, and the loops hooked on the hook portions are made difficult to disengage from the engaging elements.

In this case, the engaging element has a pair of reinforcing ribs disposed on both sides in the 1 st direction (MD) of the hook portion, and connecting the upper end portion of the hook portion and the rod portion. This can effectively improve the strength of the hook portion. As a result, the peel strength of the molding surface connector with respect to the female surface connector can be increased.

In the molded surface fastener of the present invention, when the hook portion of the engaging element is viewed from the 2 nd direction (CD), the hook portion is formed asymmetrically in the width direction of the hook portion (i.e., the 1 st direction (MD)). That is, a portion disposed from the center position in the width direction of the hook portion toward one side in the 1 st direction and a portion disposed from the center position toward the other side in the 1 st direction have different shapes from each other. The engaging element having the hook portion of such a unique shape can provide the above-described compression surface locally and stably on the lower surface of the hook portion, and has a new form different from the conventional one, so that the range of selection of the male surface fastener can be expanded for various nonwoven fabrics.

On the other hand, a forming surface fastener according to another aspect of the present invention includes: a flat plate-like base member portion extending in a 1 st direction and a 2 nd direction and being longer in the 1 st direction than in the 2 nd direction; and a plurality of engaging elements provided upright on the upper surface of the base portion. Further, each engaging element has: a rod part rising from the base material part; and at least 1 hook part protruding from an upper end of the rod part in the 2 nd direction. The hook portion has a tapered shape in which the dimension in the 1 st direction decreases toward the hook distal end of the hook portion. In addition, when the hook portion of the engaging element is viewed from the 2 nd direction (CD), the hook portion is formed to be asymmetrical in the width direction of the hook portion (i.e., the 1 st direction (MD)).

The engaging element of the present invention having the hook portion of such a unique shape is a molded surface fastener having a configuration having features not found in the past. Therefore, the molded surface fastener of the present invention is provided by adding to the conventional molded surface fastener, and the change of the molded surface fastener can be increased. As a result, the range of selection of the male surface fastener with respect to various types of female surface fasteners (nonwoven fabrics) can be expanded. Further, since the hook portion of the engaging element has the characteristic shape as described above, the lower surface of the hook portion can partially have a compression surface formed smoother than the upper surface of the hook portion. Further, the hook portion is formed in a tapered shape that tapers toward the hook tip. As a result, the forming surface fastener of the present invention can simultaneously have the following advantages: the rod part is difficult to bend, and good skin touch feeling is obtained; compared with a female surface connecting piece, the female surface connecting piece has the advantage of higher peel strength.

In the molding surface fastener of the present invention, when the hook portion is formed asymmetrically in the width direction (1 st direction), one end portion (rear end portion) in the 1 st direction of the compression surface of the hook portion is disposed at a position higher than the other end portion (front end portion) in the 1 st direction of the compression surface. When the engaging element is viewed from above, the distal end portion of the hook portion is disposed at a position offset toward one end portion side (rear side) in the 1 st direction with respect to the center position in the 1 st direction of the lever portion. Since the hook portion is formed in a twisted shape in this manner, the above-described compression surface can be provided more stably on the lower surface of the hook portion in the engaging element of the present invention.

In this case, when the hook portion is viewed from the 1 st direction (MD), the radius of curvature at the distal end portion of the hook portion is set to be in the range of 0.06mm or more and 0.18mm or less, preferably in the range of 0.12mm or more and 0.15mm or less. By forming the hook portion so that the distal end portion has such a radius of curvature, the loop of the female surface fastener can be easily hooked on the hook portion of the engaging element.

In the molded surface fastener of the present invention, 1 hook is disposed for 1 rod. In this case, the lever portion has a hook fitting surface that rises from the base portion and is disposed toward the protruding direction of the hook portion. Further, the hook fitting surface has a single flat surface formed from below the hook portion toward the base portion. The flat surface is formed to be orthogonal to the upper surface of the base member and to be orthogonal to the 2 nd direction (CD). The hook portion is disposed so as to protrude from the flat surface in the 2 nd direction.

Since the engaging element has the above-described shape, the stem portion can stably have a predetermined shape. Further, even if the female surface fastener is pulled in the direction opposite to the protruding direction of the hook portion, the state in which the ring is engaged with the engaging element can be stably maintained by the lever portion. Therefore, the peel strength can be increased.

In this case, when the engaging element is viewed from the 1 st direction (MD), the stem portion has a stem back surface disposed on the opposite side of the hook disposition surface in the 2 nd direction. The stem back surface has a shape in which a dimension between the hook fitting surface in the stem portion and the stem back surface decreases with distance from the upper surface of the base material portion. This can stably ensure the strength of the rod portion. In particular, even if the female-type surface fastener is pulled in the direction opposite to the protruding direction of the hook portion in the 2 nd direction (CD) in a state where the ring is engaged with the engaging element, the lever portion is difficult to bend (difficult to fall down), and therefore, the shear strength with respect to the female-type surface fastener can be increased.

In this case, when the engaging element is viewed from the 1 st direction, the lever back surface has an upper curved surface portion disposed in a convex shape at an upper end portion of the lever portion and a lower curved surface portion disposed in a concave shape at a lower end portion of the lever portion. Thus, the molding surface fastener can have a good skin touch and the strength of the stem portion is improved.

Further, when the engaging element is viewed from the 1 st direction (MD), the hook portion has the following shape: the upper surface of the hook portion is in a convex surface shape having a curvature radius smaller than that of the upper curved surface portion of the lever portion. Thus, the loops of the female surface fastener can be easily hooked on the engaging elements while maintaining a good skin touch of the forming surface fastener.

In particular, in the molded surface fastener of the present invention, the maximum dimension of the stem portion in the 2 nd direction (CD) is set to 0.1mm or more and 1.5mm or less, preferably 0.2mm or more and 1.0mm or less. The maximum projection dimension of the hook portion in the 2 nd direction from the stem portion is set to 0.01mm or more and 0.5mm or less, preferably 0.05mm or more and 0.1mm or less. If the molded surface fastener is formed with the engaging elements having such a size, the strength of each engaging element and the peel strength with respect to the female surface fastener can be effectively increased.

Next, in the manufacturing method of the present invention for manufacturing the molding surface fastener as described above, a molding device having a die wheel in which a plurality of cavities (also referred to as cavity spaces) having shapes corresponding to the engaging elements are formed in an outer peripheral surface portion is used in a molding step of the molding surface fastener. In particular, in the present invention, the cavity formed in the die wheel has an inverted shape, and an edge portion capable of locally pressing and compressing a part (hook portion) of the engaging element when the engaging element is extracted is arranged on the cavity surface of the cavity of the die wheel.

Here, the fact that the cavity has the undercut shape means that, when a cross section orthogonal to, for example, the Machine Direction (MD) of the die wheel (the circumferential direction of the die wheel) is observed, the cavity has a portion having a dimension in the Cross Direction (CD) larger than the minimum orthogonal dimension portion at a position on the back side in the drawing direction of the molded body (the radial direction of the die wheel) than the minimum orthogonal dimension portion having the smallest dimension in the Cross Direction (CD) (the direction parallel to the axial direction of the die wheel). Since the cavity has such an inverted shape, the engaging element formed in the cavity cannot be released so as to maintain the shape corresponding to the cavity. Therefore, when the engaging element molded in the cavity is mechanically pulled and forcibly pulled out as described later, a part (hook portion) of the engaging element is rubbed over an edge portion of the cavity surface and is locally pressed and compressed.

In the manufacturing method of the present invention, the molten synthetic resin material is continuously discharged to the outer peripheral surface of the die wheel provided with the above-described undercut shape. Thus, the base material portion is molded on the outer peripheral surface of the die wheel, and the engaging element having the stem portion rising from the base material portion and at least 1 hook portion protruding from the upper end portion of the stem portion in the Cross Direction (CD) intersecting the Machine Direction (MD) is molded in the cavity of the die wheel.

Then, the base material portion formed on the outer peripheral surface of the die wheel is pulled, and the engaging element hardened in the cavity of the die wheel is forcibly pulled out from the cavity. At this time, the hook portion of the engaging element is pressed and compressed from below the hook portion by an edge portion provided to the cavity, and the edge portion wipes over the hook portion of the engaging element from below the hook portion, so that a compressed surface smoother than the upper surface of the hook portion is locally formed on the lower surface of the hook portion. Thus, the molded surface fastener of the present invention having the engaging elements in which the compression surface smoother than the upper surface of the hook portion is formed on the lower surface of the hook portion, or the molded surface fastener of the present invention having the engaging elements in which the hook portion is formed so as to be asymmetrical in the width direction (MD) of the hook portion can be efficiently and stably manufactured.

In the manufacturing method of the present invention, the pickup roller disposed on the downstream side of the molding device is used when the engaging element is forcibly extracted from the cavity of the die wheel. In this case, the pickup roller has a pair of upper and lower pinch rollers, and the upper pinch roller and the lower pinch roller which are inverted with respect to each other pinch the molding surface connector from the downstream side, whereby the engaging element molded in the cavity is pulled. Thereby, the above-described compression surface is locally formed on the lower surface of the hook portion of the engaging element. At this time, the hook portion is locally pressed and compressed, and therefore, may be inclined upward so as to be inclined upward with respect to the rod portion.

Then, the engaging element pulled out from the cavity of the die wheel passes through between the upper and lower pair of rollers, i.e., the upper and lower nipping rollers, and the hook portion inclined upward with respect to the rod portion can be deformed so as to be bent downward by the pressing force of the upper nipping roller. This enables the molded surface fastener of the present invention to be produced more stably.

In the manufacturing method of the present invention, the cavity of the die wheel is formed into a predetermined shape, whereby the engaging element having the hook portion with the upper surface formed higher than the upper surface of the rod portion via the step can be formed. Thus, a molded surface connector having a higher peel strength than that of the female surface connector can be efficiently manufactured.

Next, another method for manufacturing a forming surface connector according to the present invention includes: a primary molding step of molding a primary molded body having a base portion and a plurality of temporary elements erected on the base portion; and a secondary molding step of molding the molded surface fastener of the present invention having the engaging element by heating the temporary element of the primary molded body and flattening the temporary element from above.

In particular, in the primary molding step of the present invention, a molding apparatus is used which has a die wheel having a plurality of cavities formed in an outer peripheral surface portion thereof, the cavities having a shape corresponding to the temporary elements of the primary molded body. In this case, the cavity formed in the die wheel has an inverted shape, and an edge portion capable of locally pressing and compressing a part (primary hook portion) of the temporary component when the temporary component is extracted is arranged on the cavity surface of the cavity of the die wheel.

The molten synthetic resin material is continuously extruded to the outer peripheral surface of the die wheel provided with the undercut shape. Thus, the base material portion is molded on the outer peripheral surface of the die wheel, and the temporary element having the primary stem portion rising from the base material portion and at least 1 primary hook portion protruding from the upper end portion of the primary stem portion in the Cross Direction (CD) is molded in the cavity of the die wheel.

Next, the temporary member formed and hardened in the cavity of the die wheel is forcibly pulled out from the cavity by pulling the base material portion formed on the outer peripheral surface of the die wheel, or the like. At this time, the primary hook portion of the temporary element is pressed and compressed from below the primary hook portion by an edge portion provided to the cavity, and the edge portion wipes over the primary hook portion of the temporary element from below the primary hook portion, thereby locally forming a compression surface smoother than the upper surface of the primary hook portion on the lower surface of the primary hook portion. Thus, a primary molded body having a temporary element in which a compression surface smoother than the upper surface of the primary hook portion is formed on the lower surface of the primary hook portion, or a primary molded body having a temporary element in which the primary hook portion is formed so as to be asymmetrical in the width direction (MD) of the primary hook portion, can be efficiently and stably molded.

In the secondary molding step of the present invention, at least a part of the temporary element of the primary molded body and the upper end portion of the rod portion are flattened by being crushed from above, thereby deforming the temporary element. Thus, the molded surface fastener of the present invention having the engaging elements in which the compression surface smoother than the upper surface of the hook portion is formed on the lower surface of the hook portion, or the molded surface fastener of the present invention having the engaging elements in which the hook portion is formed so as to be asymmetrical in the width direction (MD) of the hook portion can also be manufactured efficiently and stably.

In the manufacturing method of the present invention, in the primary molding step, when the temporary component is forcibly extracted from the cavity of the die wheel, a pickup roller which is disposed on the downstream side of the molding device and has a pair of upper and lower rollers, i.e., an upper nip roller and a lower nip roller, is used. In this case, the temporary element molded in the cavity is pulled by sandwiching the primary molded body from the downstream side by the upper and lower nip rollers which are inverted from each other. Thereby, the above-described compression surface is locally formed on the lower surface of the primary hook portion of the temporary element. At this time, the primary hook is locally pressed and compressed, and therefore, the primary hook may be inclined upward so as to be inclined upward with respect to the primary lever.

Then, the temporary component pulled out from the cavity of the die wheel passes between the upper and lower pair of rollers, i.e., the upper and lower nip rollers, and the primary hook portion inclined upward with respect to the primary rod portion can be deformed so as to be bent downward by the pressing force of the upper nip roller. This enables the above-described primary molded body to be produced more stably.

In the manufacturing method of the present invention, the cavity of the die wheel is formed into a predetermined shape in the primary molding step, whereby the temporary element having the primary hook portion with the upper surface formed higher than the upper surface of the primary rod portion via the step can be molded. Then, in the secondary forming step, the upper end portion of the temporary element is crushed from above, whereby the upper surface of the hook portion and the upper surface of the rod portion in the engaging element can be formed as a single flat surface, and the tip end portion of the hook portion can be inclined downward. Thus, a molded surface fastener which has good contact comfort of the engaging element and in which a loop hooked to the hook portion is less likely to be disengaged from the engaging element can be efficiently manufactured.

Next, a molding apparatus of the present invention is a molding apparatus for molding a surface fastener or a primary molded body of a surface fastener, comprising: a die wheel rotationally driven in one direction; and an extrusion nozzle that extrudes the molten synthetic resin material toward the die wheel. Further, a plurality of cavities having shapes corresponding to the engaging elements of the molding surface fastener or the temporary elements of the primary molded body are provided on the outer peripheral surface portion of the die wheel, the cavities have inverted shapes, and an edge portion capable of partially pressing and compressing the engaging elements or the temporary elements when the engaging elements or the temporary elements are pulled out is disposed on the cavity surface of the cavity of the die wheel.

The die wheel of the present invention includes a plurality of disk-shaped metal plates stacked in the axial direction, and each of the metal plates includes a 1 st stacked surface orthogonal to the axial direction and a 2 nd stacked surface disposed on the opposite side of the 1 st stacked surface. In this case, as the metal plates of the die wheel, a 1 st plate in which a 1 st cavity for molding the hook portion of the engaging element or the primary hook portion of the primary molded body is recessed in a 1 st lamination surface and a 2 nd plate in which a 2 nd cavity for molding the stem portion of the engaging element or the primary stem portion of the primary molded body is recessed in a 2 nd lamination surface are used.

The 1 st and 2 nd plates are stacked adjacent to each other in an orientation in which the 1 st cavity of the 1 st plate communicates with the 2 nd cavity of the 2 nd plate to form a die wheel. The 1 st cavity of the 1 st plate is recessed at a position apart from the outer peripheral end surface of the 1 st plate, and the 2 nd cavity is recessed continuously from the outer peripheral end surface of the 2 nd plate toward the radially inner side. In particular, the 1 st cavity of the 1 st plate is formed in a size to form an inverted shape with respect to the 2 nd cavity when the 1 st plate and the 2 nd plate are sequentially stacked.

In the molding apparatus of the present invention, the die wheel can be formed to have the undercut shape and the edge portion as described above. Further, by using the molding apparatus of the present invention, the molding surface fastener of the present invention described above, and the primary molded body to be the molding surface fastener of the present invention can be stably molded.

In the forming apparatus of the present invention, the radially innermost position in the 1 st cavity of the 1 st plate is located radially inward of the radially innermost position in the 2 nd cavity of the 2 nd plate. Further, a step formed by the 2 nd lamination surface of the 2 nd plate is formed between the 1 st cavity and the 2 nd cavity.

By using such a molding device, it is possible to stably mold an engaging element in which the upper surface of the hook portion is formed higher than the upper surface of the rod portion by the step, or a temporary element in which the upper surface of the primary hook portion is formed higher than the upper surface of the primary rod portion by the step.

In the molding apparatus of the present invention, the 1 st cavity of the 1 st plate is recessed in a hemispherical shape on the 1 st lamination surface of the 1 st plate. In this case, the radius of the hemispherical shape of the 1 st cavity is set to 0.01mm or more and 0.5mm or less, preferably 0.05mm or more and 0.1mm or less. The 2 nd cavity of the 2 nd plate has a shape in which the dimension of the 2 nd plate in the circumferential direction decreases from the outer peripheral end surface of the 2 nd plate toward the radially inner side. In this case, the inner tip surface of the 2 nd cavity in the radial direction has a spherical surface having a radius of curvature of 0.01mm or more and 0.5mm or less, preferably 0.05mm or more and 0.1mm or less.

By forming the 1 st cavity of the 1 st plate and the 2 nd cavity of the 2 nd plate as described above, it is possible to stably form a molding surface fastener having an engaging element in which the above-described compression surface is formed on the lower surface of the hook portion, or a primary molded body having a temporary element in which the above-described compression surface is formed on the lower surface of the primary hook portion.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a forming surface connector according to embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing only the engaging elements of the forming surface connector.

Fig. 3 is a front view of the engaging element as viewed from one side (front side) in the Machine Direction (MD).

Fig. 4 is a side view of the engaging element as viewed from one side (right side) in the Cross Direction (CD).

Fig. 5 is a side view of the engaging element as viewed from the other side (left side) in the Cross Direction (CD).

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the engaging element as viewed from above.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged view of a main portion showing a hook portion of the engaging element in an enlarged manner.

Fig. 8 is a schematic view schematically showing a manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing the forming surface fastener of example 1.

Fig. 9 is a schematic view schematically showing the form of a die wheel of the manufacturing apparatus.

Fig. 10 is a sectional view showing a cross section orthogonal to the circumferential direction of the outer peripheral surface portion of the die wheel.

Fig. 11 is a sectional view schematically showing a state in which the engaging elements formed on the outer peripheral surface portion of the die wheel are pulled out.

Fig. 12 is a perspective view showing a forming surface connecting member according to a modification of example 1.

Fig. 13 is a perspective view showing a forming surface connector according to example 2 of the present invention.

Fig. 14 is a perspective view showing only the engaging elements of the forming surface fastener.

Fig. 15 is a front view of the engaging element as viewed from one side (front side) in the Machine Direction (MD).

Fig. 16 is a side view of the engaging element as viewed from one side (right side) in the Cross Direction (CD).

Fig. 17 is a side view of the engaging element as viewed from the other side (left side) in the Cross Direction (CD).

Fig. 18 is a perspective view showing a forming surface connector according to example 3 of the present invention.

Fig. 19 is a perspective view showing only the engaging elements of the forming surface fastener.

Fig. 20 is a front view of the engaging element as viewed from one side (front side) in the Machine Direction (MD).

Fig. 21 is a side view of the engaging element as viewed from one side (right side) in the Cross Direction (CD).

Fig. 22 is a side view of the engaging element as viewed from the other side (left side) in the Cross Direction (CD).

Fig. 23 is a schematic view schematically showing a manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing the forming surface fastener of example 3.

Fig. 24 is a perspective view showing only the engaging element according to the modification of example 1.

Fig. 25 is a front view of the engaging element according to another modification of embodiment 1, as viewed from one side (front side) in the Machine Direction (MD).

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings by way of examples. The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below, and various modifications can be made as long as the present invention has substantially the same configuration and the same operational effects as those of the present invention. For example, in each of the following embodiments, the number, arrangement, formation density, and the like of the engaging elements erected on the base portion of the forming surface fastener are not particularly limited, and can be arbitrarily changed.

Example 1

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a forming surface connecting member according to example 1. Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing only the engaging elements of the forming surface connector. Fig. 3 to 6 are a front view, a right side view, a left side view, and a plan view of the engaging element, respectively. Fig. 7 is an enlarged view of a main portion showing a hook portion of the engaging element.

In the following description, the longitudinal direction of the molding surface fastener and the primary molded body is the longitudinal direction of the molding surface fastener and the primary molded body molded to be elongated as described later, and is the direction along the mechanical direction (M direction or MD) in which the molding surface fastener or the primary molded body flows in the manufacturing process of the molding surface fastener.

The left-right direction is a width direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and along the upper surface (or lower surface) of the base portion of the molding surface fastener. In this case, the lateral direction and the width direction can be said to be a cross direction (C direction or CD) orthogonal to the Machine Direction (MD). The vertical direction (thickness direction) is a height direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and perpendicular to the upper surface (or lower surface) of the base portion of the molding surface fastener.

The molded surface fastener 1 of example 1 shown in fig. 1 is manufactured by molding a thermoplastic resin using a manufacturing apparatus 50 provided with a molding apparatus 51 described later. The molded surface fastener 1 is manufactured into a rectangular sheet shape that is long in the machine direction of the manufacturing apparatus 50 in a plan view. In the present invention, the length and width of the molded surface fastener 1 are not particularly limited. The size and shape of the molded surface fastener 1 can be arbitrarily changed by, for example, cutting the molded surface fastener 1 manufactured by the manufacturing apparatus 50. The molded surface fastener 1 may have a shape other than a rectangular shape in a plan view.

The type of synthetic resin forming the molded surface fastener 1 is not particularly limited. As a material of the molded surface fastener 1 of the present invention, for example, a thermoplastic resin such as polypropylene, polyester, nylon, polybutylene terephthalate, or a copolymer thereof can be used. The forming surface fastener 1 of this example 1 is formed of polypropylene.

The molded surface fastener 1 of the present embodiment 1 includes a thin plate-like base material portion 10 and a plurality of engaging elements 20 erected on the upper surface of the base material portion 10. The base material portion 10 is formed to extend in the Machine Direction (MD) and the Cross Direction (CD), and is formed lengthwise in the machine direction. The base material portion 10 is formed to have a predetermined thickness, and the upper surface and the lower surface of the base material portion 10 are flat and formed parallel to each other.

The plurality of engaging elements 20 are arranged regularly in the Machine Direction (MD) and the Cross Direction (CD). In the present invention, the arrangement pattern of the engaging elements 20 is not limited. For example, the plurality of engaging elements 20 may be regularly arranged on the upper surface of the base portion 10 in another arrangement pattern such as a zigzag pattern, or may be randomly provided on the upper surface of the base portion 10.

Each engaging element 20 of embodiment 1 includes: a stem portion 21 rising from the base portion 10; and 1 hook 31 protruding from the upper end of the lever 21 only to the right side in the Cross Direction (CD). In the case of embodiment 1, the hook portions 31 of the respective engaging elements 20 all project from the lever portion 21 in the same direction (right side) in the intersecting direction.

The stem portion 21 of the engaging element 20 stands on the upper surface of the base portion 10. The rod portion 21 has: a base end portion 22 rising from the base material portion 10 and having a curved surface on the entire outer peripheral edge portion; and a stem body portion 23 continuously disposed on the proximal end portion 22. The rod portion 21 of embodiment 1 may be formed without providing the base end portion 22 of the curved surface.

The lever portion 21 has a shape symmetrical in the machine direction (width direction of the lever portion 21) with reference to the center position in the Machine Direction (MD). In order to increase the strength of the rod portion 21 with respect to the base portion 10, the base end portion 22 of the rod portion 21 is formed such that the area of the cross section orthogonal to the vertical direction increases as it approaches the base portion 10.

The cross section of the lever main body portion 23 of the lever portion 21 perpendicular to the vertical direction is approximately semicircular or larger than a semicircle surrounded by an arc and a chord of a circle. The rod main body portion 23 has a form in which the area of the cross section orthogonal to the vertical direction increases as it approaches the base material portion 10. The outer surface (distal end surface) of the upper end portion of the lever main body portion 23 is formed in a spherical shape.

In this case, the lever upper end (lever tip) of the lever portion 21, which is disposed at the highest position, is disposed at the center position in the Machine Direction (MD) of the lever portion 21 in the machine direction. The rod upper end is disposed between the center position of the rod portion 21 in the Cross Direction (CD) and a position of a hook disposition surface 24 described later.

The lever body portion 23 of the lever portion 21 has a flat hook attachment surface 24 on which the hook portion 31 is attached and a lever outer peripheral surface having an arc-shaped cross section perpendicular to the vertical direction. The hook arrangement surface 24 is formed from below the hook portion 31 toward the base material portion 10. In addition, the hook fitting surface 24 is formed of a single flat surface orthogonal to the upper surface of the base material portion 10 and orthogonal to the CD.

In the engaging element 20 of embodiment 1, the base end portion 22 is disposed between the hook disposition surface 24 of the stem portion 21 and the base material portion 10. However, in the present invention, the hook fitting surface 24 of the stem portion 21 may be formed to rise from the base portion 10 to the lower end position of the stem portion 21.

In addition, when the engaging element 20 of embodiment 1 is viewed from the front side (or the rear side) in the direction M, the lever portion 21 has a lever back surface 25 disposed on the opposite side to the hook disposition surface 24, as shown in fig. 3. The stem back surface 25 is formed such that the dimension in the C direction between the hook fitting surface 24 and the stem back surface 25 decreases with distance from the upper surface of the base material portion 10 in the front view of the engaging element 20. In this case, the lever back surface 25 has, in a front view of the engaging element 20: an upper curved surface portion 25a which is disposed in a convex shape (or an arc shape) at an upper end portion of the rod portion 21; and a lower curved surface portion 25b which is disposed adjacent to the base material portion 10 and is recessed at the lower end portion of the rod portion 21; and an inclined surface portion 25c disposed between the upper curved surface portion 25a and the lower curved surface portion 25 b.

Further, in the side view of the engaging element 20 of the present embodiment 1, as shown in fig. 5 (or fig. 4), the stem portion 21 is formed such that the dimension in the MD between the left and right edges decreases with distance from the upper surface of the base portion 10. In this case, the stem portion 21 has, in a side view of the engaging element 20: an upper curved surface portion 25a which is disposed in an arc shape at an upper end portion of the rod portion 21; a lower curved surface portion 25b which is disposed adjacent to the base material portion 10 and is recessed at the lower end of the rod portion 21; and an inclined surface portion 25c disposed between the upper curved surface portion 25a and the lower curved surface portion 25 b.

The rod portion 21 of example 1 has the above-described configuration, and thus can stably have high strength as follows: even if the nonwoven fabric to be the female-type surface fastener is strongly pressed against the molding surface fastener 1 of example 1, the stem portion 21 is less likely to be deformed such as bent. In particular, since the lever back surface 25 of the lever portion 21 is formed as described above, even if the engaging element 20 receives an external force, the lever portion 21 is less likely to be deformed so as to fall toward the lever back surface 25 side (left side) in the Cross Direction (CD). This can prevent the hook 31 from tilting upward due to the deformation of the lever 21, and thus can easily maintain the state in which the loop is hooked to the hook 31.

The hook 31 of embodiment 1 has the following features: the main outer peripheral surfaces facing upward and right and left sides are formed in a spherical shape, and a compression surface 32 formed smoother than the main outer peripheral surface by being pressed and compressed in a forming process described later is disposed on the lower surface of the hook portion 31. Here, the surface smoothness means that the surface has less unevenness and thus has less surface roughness.

The lower surface of the hook portion 31 is a portion of the outer surface of the hook portion 31 that extends from the tip of the hook portion 31 to the lower end of the hook portion 31 that is a connecting portion to the rod portion 21 and is disposed downward or obliquely downward (i.e., toward the base material portion 10). Particularly in the case of embodiment 1, the lower surface of the hook 31 is disposed below the height position of the tip of the hook 31.

More specifically, the form of the hook 31 of embodiment 1 will be described, and the hook 31 of embodiment 1 has the following form in a side view of the engaging element 20 shown in fig. 4: the coupling portion coupled to the lever portion 21 is circular, and the area of the cross section orthogonal to the CD of the hook portion 31 decreases as it goes away from the flat lever portion 21 of the lever portion 21.

In other words, the outer shape of the hook portion 31 has a shape that becomes thinner as it goes away from the lever portion 21. That is, the hook portion 31 is formed such that the dimension in the hook width direction (the dimension in the front-rear direction) decreases with distance from the lever portion 21. Further, the hook portion 31 is preferably formed such that the dimension (height direction) in the hook vertical direction also decreases with distance from the lever portion 21.

The upper surface of the hook 31 is formed in a spherical shape (hemispherical shape). Therefore, the upper end edge of the hook portion 31 in the front view shown in fig. 3 and the upper end edge of the hook portion 31 in the side view shown in fig. 4 are curved in a continuous arc shape (curved line shape) in a convex shape so as to bulge. In this case, the radius of curvature at the upper surface of the hook portion 31 formed in a spherical shape is set smaller than the radius of curvature at the upper end portion of the spherical shape of the lever portion 21. This makes it easy to insert the hook portions 31 of the engaging elements 20 into the ring when the ring is engaged with the molded surface fastener 1 of example 1, and therefore, the ring can be smoothly engaged with the engaging elements 20.

As can be seen from fig. 4, the width dimension (M direction) of the hook portion 31 is smaller than the width dimension (M direction) of the lever portion 21, and a flat hook fitting surface 24 is exposed on the outer side in the width direction of the hook portion 31. That is, the lever 21 extends outward in the width direction from the hook 31. This makes it easy to insert the hook 31 of the engaging element 20 into the ring when the ring is engaged with the molded surface fastener 1 of embodiment 1, and ensures the strength of the rod 21.

Particularly in example 1, when the hook portion 31 is viewed from the side (right side) in the projecting direction (see fig. 4), the radius of curvature at the upper surface or the upper end edge of the hook portion 31 is set to 0.01mm or more and 0.5mm or less, and preferably 0.05mm or more and 0.1mm or less. When the lever portion 21 is viewed from the M direction (see fig. 3), or when the lever portion 21 is viewed from the C direction (see fig. 4 or 5), the radius of curvature at the upper surface or the upper end edge of the lever portion 21 is larger than the radius of curvature at the upper surface of the hook portion 31, and is set to 0.01mm or more and 0.5mm or less, preferably 0.05mm or more and 0.1mm or less.

In example 1, when the hook portion 31 is viewed from the direction M (particularly, when the hook portion 3 is viewed from the rear side as enlarged as shown in fig. 7), the distal end portion 33 of the hook portion 31 has a substantially arc shape. In this case, the radius of curvature of the outer surface of the distal end portion 33 of the hook portion 31 is set to be in the range of 0.06mm or more and 0.18mm or less, preferably in the range of 0.12mm or more and 0.15mm or less.

As described above, the lower surface of the hook portion 31 has the concave compression surface 32. Therefore, in the front view of the engaging element 20 shown in fig. 3, the upper end edge of the hook portion 31 has a convex arc shape as described above, but the lower end edge of the hook portion 31 has a non-convex shape in which it is slightly curved inward into a concave shape. The lower end edge of the hook portion 31 has a non-convex shape having a concave shape in this way, and thus, the loop can be easily hooked (easily engaged) with the hook portion 31, as compared with a case where the lower end edge is convex, for example. Further, the engaged state of the ring is easily stably maintained. In embodiment 1, the lower end edge of the hook portion 31 may be inclined linearly so as to be non-convex in the front view of the engaging element 20.

In this case, the upper surface of the hook portion 31 is formed as a non-compression surface, but is formed by transferring a cavity surface (etched surface) of the 1 st cavity 56 described later, and thus is formed as a smooth surface having relatively small surface roughness.

The compression surface 32 disposed on the lower surface of the hook portion 31 is formed by being rubbed while being subjected to pressure compression and plastic deformation (strain) in a molding process described later. Therefore, the compression surface 32 of the hook portion 31 is a non-replica surface on which the cavity surface of the 1 st cavity 56 is not replicated, and is formed smoother and brighter than the upper surface of the hook portion 31. Therefore, the compressed surface 32 of the hook 31 reflects more light than the other surfaces of the hook 31, and therefore gloss is locally seen on the compressed surface 32 as well.

Further, since the smooth compression surface 32 of the hook portion 31 is formed by being pressed and compressed, it is considered that the hardness is locally increased compared to the upper surface of the hook portion 31. If the hard compression surface 32 is disposed on the lower surface of the hook portion 31, when the ring of the female surface fastener is captured (held) by the hook portion 31, the deformation of the hook portion 31 is suppressed, and the state in which the ring is engaged with the hook portion 31 can be stably maintained.

In the engaging element 20 of embodiment 1, the lever portion 21 has a symmetrical shape in the front-rear direction (width direction of the lever portion 21) as described above, but the hook portion 31 has an asymmetrical shape in the front-rear direction (width direction of the hook portion 31).

That is, the hook portion 31 is formed in a different form in which the front half portion disposed forward and the rear half portion disposed rearward are asymmetrical with respect to the center position in the front-rear direction (MD) in both the side view of the engaging element 20 shown in fig. 4 and the plan view of the engaging element 20 shown in fig. 6.

In particular, since the above-described compression surface 32 is provided on the lower surface of the hook 31 in example 1, the lower half of the hook 31 is twisted. Therefore, the rear end portion of the compression surface 32 of the hook portion 31 is disposed at a higher position (position distant from the base material portion 10) above the front end portion of the compression surface 32, so that the rear end portion of the compression surface 32 of the hook portion 31 is hidden from view in the front view of the engaging element 20 shown in fig. 3, for example.

In example 1, as shown in fig. 6, the hook distal end portion of the flat hook attachment surface 24 of the hook portion 31, which is farthest from the lever portion 21, is disposed rearward of the center position of the hook portion 31 in the front-rear direction (MD). In this case, the hook tip portion of the hook portion 31 has a hook tip end surface 34 formed by being sandwiched between the upper surface of the hook portion 31 and the compression surface 32 when the engaging element 20 is viewed from the hook projection side (right side) in the C direction. The hook tip end surface 34 is divided into an upper surface of the hook portion 31 and the compression surface 32 by a ridge line.

In addition, in the engaging element 20 of embodiment 1, as shown in fig. 2 to 5, a step (stepped portion) 26 is provided between the upper surface of the hook portion 31 and the upper surface of the lever portion 21. The height position (position in the vertical direction) of the upper surface of the base end portion 22 of the hook portion 31 on the side connected to the lever portion 21 is arranged higher than the upper surface of the lever portion 21 by the step 26, and a part of the hook portion 31 is formed to protrude upward with respect to the lever portion 21.

In embodiment 1, the specific size of the engaging element 20 is set as follows.

For example, the maximum height dimension H1 of the engaging element 20 from the upper surface of the base material portion 10 in the vertical direction is set to 0.1mm or more and 1.5mm or less, preferably 0.2mm or more and 1.0mm or less. In this case, the maximum height dimension H2 of the stem portion 21 from the upper surface of the base material portion 10 is set to 0.1mm or more and 1.5mm or less, and preferably 0.2mm or more and 1.0mm or less. The height H3 of the step 26 formed between the upper surface of the hook 31 and the upper surface of the lever 21 is set to 0.01mm or more and 0.3mm or less. The height H4 in the vertical direction from the upper surface of the base material portion 10 at the distal end portion of the hook portion 31 is set to be lower than the height position of the upper end of the stem portion 21, and is set to be 0.1mm or more and 1.5mm or less, preferably 0.2mm or more and 1.0mm or less.

In the M direction (width direction of the engaging element 20), the maximum dimension L1 of the lever portion 21 in the M direction (i.e., the dimension in the M direction at the base end portion 22 of the lever portion 21) is set to 0.1mm or more and 1.5mm or less, and preferably 0.2mm or more and 1.0mm or less. The maximum dimension L2 of the hook 31 in the M direction is set to 0.01mm or more and 1.0mm or less, and preferably 0.05mm or more and 0.5mm or less.

In the C direction, the maximum dimension W1 in the C direction of the lever portion 21 (i.e., the dimension in the C direction at the base end portion 22 of the lever portion 21) is set to 0.1mm or more and 1.5mm or less, and preferably 0.2mm or more and 1.0mm or less. The maximum dimension W2 in the C direction of the hook 31 (i.e., the dimension in the C direction from the tip of the hook 31 to the hook attachment surface 24 of the lever 21) is set to 0.01mm or more and 1.0mm or less, and preferably 0.05mm or more and 0.5mm or less.

The inclination angle of the inclined surface portion 25c of the lever portion 21 with respect to the vertical direction is set to 5 ° or more and 20 ° or less. As shown in fig. 3, the maximum dimension W2 in the C direction of the hook 31 is preferably set to be equal to or less than half of the dimension W3 of a line segment parallel to the C direction between the lower end of the hook 31 and the hook attachment surface 24 of the lever 21 (the dimension of the lever 21 in the C direction at the lower end position of the hook 31). In other words, the dimension W3 is preferably set to be twice as large as the maximum dimension W2 or more. By providing the dimension W2 and the dimension W3 with such a relationship, when the engaging element 20 is molded as described later, the hook portion 31 having the compression surface 32 as described above can be molded while deforming the hook portion 31 from the 1 st cavity 56 having the reverse shape spherically formed in the 1 st plate 55 a. Further, the molded surface fastener 1 having the hook portion 31 with a small hook head portion and the rod portion 21 with high strength can be manufactured. In this case, as shown in fig. 4, the above-described maximum dimension L2 in the M direction of the hook 31 is preferably set to be equal to or less than half of the dimension L3 in the M direction of the lever 21 at the lower end position of the hook 31. In other words, the dimension L3 is preferably set to be twice as large as the maximum dimension L2 or more. This allows the hook portion 31 having the compression surface 32 to be molded, and the strength of the rod portion 21 to be appropriately ensured.

In the molded surface fastener 1 of embodiment 1, the plurality of engaging elements 20 shown in fig. 1 to 6 are provided upright on the base portion 10. However, in the present invention, not all the engaging elements 20 erected on the base portion 10 may have the same shape.

For example, in the present embodiment 1, since each of the engaging elements 20 has a very small size, it may be difficult to make all the engaging elements 20 have the same shape. In addition, when the molded surface fastener 1 is manufactured using the molding device 51 described later, even if the engaging elements 20 are molded from the molding cavities having the same shape, the shapes of the engaging elements 20 (particularly, the shapes of the hook portions 31) may be different from those of the other engaging elements 20 due to the superposition of various factors.

Therefore, in the present invention, some of all the engaging elements provided upright on the base portion may be the engaging elements having the features of the present invention. In this case, the engaging elements having the features of the present invention may be formed at a ratio of 10% or more, preferably 25% or more, and particularly preferably 50% or more of the number of all the engaging elements provided upright on the base portion. The same applies to the proportions of the engaging elements having the features of the present invention as described above with respect to the molded

surface connectors

2 and 3 of examples 2 and 3 described later.

Next, a method for manufacturing the molded surface fastener 1 of example 1 as described above using the manufacturing apparatus 50 shown in fig. 8 will be described.

The manufacturing apparatus 50 of the forming surface fastener 1 includes: a molding device 51 for molding the molding surface fastener 1 (a temporary molding surface fastener described later); and a pickup roller 54 for peeling the molded surface fastener 1 from the molding device 51 and deforming a part of the engaging element 20.

The molding surface fastener molded by the molding device 51 of fig. 8 is a molding surface fastener having an engaging element before the hook portion is pressed and compressed. Therefore, the shape of the forming surface fastener in a state before being formed by the forming device 51 and peeled off from the die wheel 52 is slightly different from the shape of the forming surface fastener 1 shown in fig. 1. In other words, the shape of the engaging element in a state before the cavity (i.e., the 1 st cavity 56, the 2 nd cavity 57, and the auxiliary cavity 58) of the die wheel 52, which will be described later, is filled with the synthetic resin and is formed and peeled from the die wheel 52, is slightly different from the shape of the engaging element 20 shown in fig. 1. Thus, the forming surface connections and the engaging elements before stripping from the die wheel 52 can also be referred to as temporary forming surface connections and temporary engaging elements, respectively. In the following description, to prevent redundancy and misunderstanding of the description, the "temporary molding surface fastener" and the "temporary engaging element" are also simply referred to as the "molding surface fastener 1" and the "engaging element 20".

The forming apparatus 51 shown in fig. 8 has: a die wheel 52 that is rotationally driven in one direction (counterclockwise in the drawing); and an extrusion nozzle 53 disposed to face the circumferential surface of the die wheel 52, for continuously extruding the molten synthetic resin material.

In order to mold the engaging elements 20 of the molding surface fastener 1, a plurality of cavities having a predetermined shape are formed in an outer peripheral surface portion of the die wheel 52 disposed in the molding device 51. As shown in fig. 9, the die wheel 52 is formed in a cylindrical shape by stacking a plurality of disk-shaped (or ring-shaped) metal plates 55 having a desired thickness so as to overlap each other along the rotation axis direction of the die wheel 52. Further, each metal plate 55 has: a 1 st laminated surface which is orthogonal to the rotation axis direction and forms a surface on one side (a back side in fig. 9) in the rotation axis direction; and a 2 nd laminated surface which is orthogonal to the rotation axis direction and forms a surface on the other side (the near side in fig. 9) in the rotation axis direction.

As shown in fig. 10, the metal plate 55 of the die wheel 52 has: a 1 st plate 55a formed with a 1 st cavity 56 for molding the hook portion 31 of the engaging element 20; a 2 nd plate 55b formed with a 2 nd cavity 57 for shaping the stem portion 21 of the engaging element 20; and a plurality of 3 rd plates 55c disposed as partitions. The 1 st to 3 rd plates 55a to 55c are stacked one by one in the rotation axis direction.

The 1 st plate 55a that shapes the hook portion 31 includes: a 1 st cavity 56 which is formed in a hemispherical shape and is recessed in the 1 st lamination surface of the 1 st plate 55a, and which is used for molding the hook portion 31; and an auxiliary cavity 58 formed to shape a part of the base end portion 22 of the rod portion 21. The 1 st cavity 56 is disposed at a position separated from the outer peripheral surface of the 1 st plate 55a by a distance corresponding to the interval between the hook portion 31 and the base material portion 10 shown in fig. 1 and the like, from the outer peripheral surface of the 1 st plate 55a toward the inside in the radial direction of the 1 st plate 55 a. That is, the 1 st cavity 56 is not opened to the outer peripheral surface of the 1 st plate 55 a.

The radius of curvature of this hemispherical 1 st cavity 56 is set to the size of the radius of curvature at the upper surface of the hook portion 31 shown in fig. 1 and the like. Accordingly, the radius of curvature of the 1 st cavity 56 of example 1 is set to a size of 0.01mm or more and 0.5mm or less, preferably 0.05mm or more and 0.1mm or less. In addition, the 1 st cavity 56, which opens at the 1 st lamination surface of the 1 st plate 55a, can form the step 26 between the upper surface of the hook portion 31 of the engaging element 20 and the upper surface of the lever portion 21. Namely, the following steps are formed: the 1 st cavity 56 is disposed radially inward of the 2 nd cavity 57 in the 2 nd plate 55b, at a radially innermost position of the 1 st stacked-surface opening. Thus, a step 59 is formed between the 1 st plate 55a and the 2 nd plate 55b that exposes the 2 nd stacked layer of the 2 nd plate 55b to the 1 st cavity 56.

The auxiliary cavity 58 of the 1 st plate 55a is formed so as to be recessed in the 1 st lamination surface of the 1 st plate 55a and to open on the outer peripheral surface of the 1 st plate 55 a. In this case, the hook fitting surface 24 of the stem portion 21 of the engaging element 20 is formed by the flat 1 st laminated surface disposed between the 1 st cavity 56 and the auxiliary cavity 58 of the 1 st plate 55 a.

The small 1 st cavity 56 and the auxiliary cavity 58 of the 1 st plate 55a are formed by half-etching the 1 st laminated surface of the 1 st plate 55 a. By using such half-etching processing, the 1 st cavity 56 and the auxiliary cavity 58 can be formed into predetermined shapes. The cavity surfaces of the 1 st cavity 56 and the auxiliary cavity 58 are formed by smooth curved etched surfaces. This makes it possible to form the outer surface of the hook 31 (particularly, the upper surface of the hook 31) and a part of the proximal end 22 of the rod 21, which are molded so as not to receive pressing compression described later, into a smooth surface having relatively small surface roughness.

The 2 nd plate 55b for molding the rod portion 21 has a 2 nd cavity 57 continuously recessed in the 2 nd lamination surface of the 2 nd plate 55b so as to extend from the outer peripheral surface of the 2 nd plate 55b toward the inside in the radial direction of the 2 nd plate 55 b. This 2 nd cavity 57 is used together with the auxiliary cavity 58 of the 1 st plate 55a to form the stem portion 21 of the snap element 20. Thus, the 2 nd cavity 57 is formed in such a manner that the dimension in the circumferential direction of the 2 nd cavity 57 is decreased from the outer circumferential surface of the 1 st plate 55a toward the inner side in the radial direction so as to have a shape of the stem portion 21 other than the portion shaped by the auxiliary cavity 58.

In addition, the 2 nd cavity 57 of example 1 is formed so that the cavity surface of the radially innermost portion is a spherical surface. The 2 nd cavity 57 of the 2 nd plate 55b is formed by half-etching the 2 nd laminated surface of the 2 nd plate 55 b. Thereby, the cavity surface of the 2 nd cavity 57 is formed by a smooth curved-surface-shaped etched surface. Therefore, the outer surface of the formed rod portion 21 can be formed into a smooth surface having relatively small surface roughness, similarly to the upper surface of the hook portion 31.

The 3 rd plate 55c of example 1 is formed of a disk-shaped plate in which a cavity is not formed. The thickness (dimension in the rotation axis direction) of the 3 rd plate 55c is set in accordance with the formation pitch in the Cross Direction (CD) of the engaging elements 20 provided in the forming surface fastener 1.

The above-described 1 st to 3 rd plates 55a to 55c are stacked and fixed in this order such that the 1 st stacked surface of the 1 st plate 55a and the 2 nd stacked surface of the 2 nd plate 55b face each other, the 1 st stacked surface of the 2 nd plate 55b and the 2 nd stacked surface of the 3 rd plate 55c face each other, and the 1 st stacked surface of the 3 rd plate 55c and the 2 nd stacked surface of the 1 st plate 55a face each other. Thus, the die wheel 52 of example 1 is formed in a state where the 1 st plate 55a and the 2 nd plate 55b are stacked adjacent to each other, and the 1 st cavity 56 and the auxiliary cavity 58 of the 1 st plate 55a and the 2 nd cavity 57 of the 2 nd plate 55b communicate with each other.

Fig. 10 shows a cross-sectional view of the die wheel 52 of this embodiment 1, which is taken along the rotation axis direction at the center position of the rod 21 in the Machine Direction (MD). In the cross-sectional view of fig. 10, the dimension in the rotation axis direction (CD) between the 1 st lamination surface of the 1 st plate 55a and the cavity surface of the 2 nd cavity 57 of the 2 nd plate 55b at a position adjacent to the radially outer side of the 1 st cavity 56 is D1 for the entire cavity for molding the engaging element 20. Further, a dimension in the rotation axis direction (CD) between the cavity surface of the 1 st cavity 56 at the deepest position from the 1 st stacked surface and the cavity surface of the 2 nd cavity 57 of the 2 nd plate 55b is D2.

In this case, the forming cavity for the engaging element 20 is formed in the outer peripheral surface portion of the die wheel 52 of example 1 such that the dimension D1 is smaller than the dimension D2 located radially inward of the dimension D1. Thus, the 1 st cavity 56 of the 1 st plate 55a is formed in a reversed shape in which a temporary molding surface fastener described later cannot be released so as to maintain its shape at a position inwardly apart from the outer peripheral surface of the die 52.

In addition, a circumferential ridge portion is formed in the 1 st plate 55a in a ridge shape so that the cavity surface of the 1 st cavity 56 and the 1 st stacked surface are substantially perpendicular to each other. Among the circumferential ridge portions, the ridge portion of the arc portion disposed radially outward is disposed as an edge portion 60 that partially presses and compresses the lower surface of the hook portion 31 of the engaging element 20 when the engaging element 20 is extracted from the cavity of the die wheel 52.

The die wheel 52 of embodiment 1 is provided with a rotary drive roller, not shown, for rotating the die wheel 52 in one direction. In the die wheel 52 of embodiment 1, a cooling jacket, not shown, through which a cooling liquid flows can be provided inside the die wheel 52. This enables the forming surface fastener 1 formed by the outer peripheral surface portion of the die wheel 52 to be efficiently cooled.

The pickup roller 54 shown in fig. 8 has a pair of upper and

lower pinch rollers

54a and 54b for pinching the molding surface fastener 1 (temporary molding surface fastener) molded on the peripheral surface portion of the die wheel 52 from the upper and lower sides and pulling the molding surface fastener 1 (temporary molding surface fastener). Further, an unillustrated surface layer made of an elastic body such as a urethane elastomer is provided on the outer peripheral surface portion of the upper pinch roller 54a that contacts the forming surface fastener 1 and the outer peripheral surface portion of the lower pinch roller 54b that contacts the forming surface fastener 1.

The upper pinch roller 54a and the lower pinch roller 54b are disposed opposite to each other with a predetermined gap therebetween. The upper nip roller 54a and the lower nip roller 54b rotate in predetermined directions at predetermined speeds, and the forming surface fastener 1 can be smoothly fed to the downstream side while continuously peeling the forming surface fastener 1 from the die wheel 52.

When the molded surface fastener 1 is manufactured by using the manufacturing apparatus 50 as described above, first, the molten synthetic resin material is continuously discharged from the extrusion nozzle 53 toward the outer peripheral surface of the die wheel 52. At this time, the die wheel 52 is driven to rotate in one direction. Therefore, by extruding the molten resin material toward the peripheral surface of the die wheel 52, the space between the continuous extrusion nozzle 53 and the rotating die wheel 52 is continuously filled with the synthetic resin material, and the molding cavities (spaces) provided in the outer peripheral surface portion of the die wheel 52 are also filled with the synthetic resin material.

At this time, the molten synthetic resin material flows from the outer peripheral surface of the die wheel 52 into the auxiliary cavity 58 of the 1 st plate 55a and the 2 nd cavity 57 of the 2 nd plate 55b, and further flows into the 1 st cavity 56 of the 1 st plate 55a via the 2 nd cavity 57 of the 2 nd plate 55 b. Thereby, the space portion of the engaging element molding cavity formed by the 1 st cavity 56, the 2 nd cavity 57, and the auxiliary cavity 58 is filled with the synthetic resin material.

Next, the synthetic resin material filled continuously between the extrusion nozzle 53 and the die wheel 52 and filled in each cavity of the die wheel 52 is cooled to a temperature lower than the melting point while being carried on the outer peripheral surface of the die wheel 52 rotating in one direction as described above. Thereby, a forming surface fastener (temporary forming surface fastener) in which a plurality of engaging elements (temporary engaging elements) corresponding to the shape of the cavity provided to the die wheel 52 are formed to stand up to the base material portion 10 formed on the outer peripheral surface of the die wheel 52 is formed. That is, although not shown, the engaging element (temporary engaging element) in a state where the molded resin is filled in the cavity at this time has the stem portion 21 and the hemispherical hook portion (temporary hook portion) protruding from the stem portion 21 in the C direction. In addition, the outer surface of the formed hemispherical hook portion (temporary hook portion) including the upper surface and the lower surface is formed by the cavity surface of the 1 st cavity 56.

The molding surface fastener (temporary molding surface fastener) molded from the outer peripheral surface portion of the die wheel 52 is then continuously and forcibly (forcibly) peeled off from the outer peripheral surface portion of the die wheel 52 by the above-mentioned pickup roller 54. At this time, of the cavities formed in the outer peripheral surface portion of the die wheel 52, the 1 st cavity 56 of the 1 st plate 55a is formed into the inverted shape as described above.

Therefore, as shown in fig. 11, the molded surface fastener 1 is pulled by the pickup roller 54, and when the hemispherical hook portion of the engaging element (temporary engaging element) molded in the cavity is pulled out from the cavity, the hemispherical hook portion is pressed and compressed from the lower surface side of the hook portion by the edge portion 60 formed on the 1 st plate 55 a. At this time, since the die wheel 52 rotates in the machine direction, the hook portion pressed is also subjected to an external force such that the edge portion 60 of the 1 st plate 55a is twisted in the machine direction.

In particular, in embodiment 1, the step 59 is formed between the 1 st plate 55a and the 2 nd plate 55b such that the 2 nd stacked layer of the 2 nd plate 55b is exposed to the 1 st cavity 56. Therefore, the hemispherical hook portion of the temporary engaging element can be made more difficult to be pulled out from the 1 st cavity 56 of the 1 st plate 55 a. Thereby, the lower surface of the hook portion can be pressed and compressed by the edge portion 60 of the 1 st plate 55 a.

After the hemispherical hook portions are pressed and compressed within a certain range (volume) by the edge portion 60 of the 1 st plate 55a while the temporary engaging elements are pulled out, the stem portions 21 of the engaging elements 20 are slightly deformed (elastically deformed) so as to fall toward the stem back surface 25 side, so that the hook portions are easily pulled out from the 1 st cavity 56. At the same time, the edge 60 of the 1 st plate 55a further presses and scrapes the lower surface of the hook portion, and the hook portion is pulled out from the 1 st cavity 56 of the 1 st plate 55 a. The lower surface of the hook portion having such a hemispherical shape is pressed and compressed by the edge portion 60 of the 1 st plate 55a, and is wiped by the edge portion 60 of the 1 st plate 55a, so that the smooth and hard compression surface 32 as described above is formed on the lower surface of the hook portion 31.

When the hook portion is pulled out from the 1 st cavity 56, the hook portion is pressed by the edge portion 60 while receiving the above-described torsional external force from the edge portion 60. Therefore, the hook portion is inclined upward or integrally deformed in a curved manner in such a manner as to be inclined upward from the rod portion 21 toward the hook tip, and is deformed into a shape asymmetrical in the M direction. After the hook portions are pulled out from the 1 st cavity 56 of the 1 st plate 55a, the engaging elements are continuously pulled, and the entire engaging elements are pulled out from the cavities of the die wheel 52.

Then, the molding surface fastener peeled off from the die wheel 52 and having the hook portion deformed is introduced between the upper pinch roller 54a and the lower pinch roller 54b of the pickup roller 54, which are arranged at a predetermined interval from each other, and is nipped between the upper pinch roller 54a and the lower pinch roller 54 b. At this time, the hook portion which is pulled out from the cavity of the die wheel 52 and deformed upward from the stem portion 21 as described above is pressed upward by the upper nip roller 54 a. This can forcibly (positively) plastically deform the hook portion deformed in the upward-inclined manner downward so that the hook portion faces the C direction. Thus, the molded surface fastener 1 of the present example 1 shown in fig. 1 was produced.

Thereafter, the molding surface fastener 1 that is long in the machine direction and passes between the upper pinch roller 54a and the lower pinch roller 54b of the pickup roller 54 is conveyed toward a cutting portion, not shown, and cut into a predetermined length by the cutting portion and collected. Alternatively, the vertically long molding surface fastener 1 is wound around a take-up roll or the like as it is and is taken up.

The molded surface fastener 1 of the present embodiment 1 manufactured as described above includes: a stem portion 21 standing from the base material portion 10 in a thick manner; and a minute hook 31 protruding from the upper end of the lever 21 in the C direction. When the hook portion 31 of the engaging element 20 is viewed from the direction C (see fig. 4), the hook portion 31 is formed asymmetrically in the width direction (MD) of the hook portion 31. The engaging element 20 of embodiment 1 having the hook 31 formed thereon has a completely different characteristic form from the conventional J-shape, palm tree shape, and mushroom shape. The molded surface fastener 1 of the engaging element 20 having such a characteristic configuration has the following characteristic properties that cannot be obtained by the conventional molded surface fastener.

Specifically, in the molded surface fastener 1 of the present embodiment 1, the stem portion 21 of the engaging element 20 is formed thick, and the upper surface (tip end surface) of the stem portion 21 is a spherical surface. Therefore, the strength of the lever portion 21 can be increased, and the skin touch of the engaging element 20 can be improved.

As described above, since the strength of the rod portion 21 is high, even if the forming surface fastener 1 of the present embodiment 1 is strongly pressed against, for example, a female surface fastener and receives a large pressing force, the rod portion 21 is less likely to bend, and the shape of the engaging element 20 can be stably maintained. In addition, this enables the forming surface fastener 1 of the present embodiment 1 to be press-fitted into a deeper position with respect to the female surface fastener, in other words, the engaging elements 20 of the forming surface fastener 1 can be inserted deeply into the vicinity of the ring root of the female surface fastener. As a result, the molded surface fastener 1 of the present embodiment 1 can easily catch the ring of the female surface fastener, and thus can be smoothly and stably engaged with the female surface fastener.

Further, since the strength of the rod portion 21 is high as described above, the shear strength of the molded surface fastener 1 with respect to the female surface fastener can be increased. Here, the shear strength is an engagement strength when the molded surface fastener 1 and the female surface fastener are pulled so as to be relatively shifted in the longitudinal direction and the width direction of the molded surface fastener 1 in a state where the female surface fastener is bonded to the molded surface fastener 1 and the both are engaged with each other.

Further, in the engaging element 20 of embodiment 1, the extremely small hook portion 31 protrudes from the upper end portion of the lever portion 21 toward the C direction. The lower surface of the hook 31 of the engaging element 20 partially has the compression surface 32 formed smoother than the upper surface of the hook 31 as described above. Therefore, when the ring of the female surface fastener is engaged with the molded surface fastener 1 of the present embodiment 1, the engaging elements 20 can be smoothly inserted between the rings of the female surface fastener, and the ring can be stably engaged with the hook portions 31 of the engaging elements 20.

Further, since the lower surface of the hook portion 31 has a hard and smooth compression surface 32, even if the ring is pulled upward, the hook portion 31 itself is less likely to be deformed upward. Further, since the lever portion 21 is thick and has high strength, the lever portion 21 itself can effectively prevent the hook portion 31 from being deformed upward. In addition, in the molded surface fastener 1 of embodiment 1, the upper surface of the hook portion 31 is provided higher than the upper surface of the rod portion 21 via the step 26. This makes it easy for the loop engaged with the engaging element 20 to be caught by the step 26 between the hook 31 and the lever 21.

As a result, in the molded surface fastener 1 of example 1, the loop which is hooked on the hook portion 31 of the engaging element 20 and engaged with the hook portion 31 of the engaging element 20 is less likely to come off from the engaging element 20. Therefore, according to the forming surface fastener 1 of the present embodiment 1, a high peel strength can be stably obtained with respect to the female surface fastener. Here, the peel strength is an engagement strength when the molded surface fastener 1 and the female surface fastener are pulled so as to be relatively apart in the height direction of the molded surface fastener 1 in a state where the female surface fastener is bonded to the molded surface fastener 1 and the both are engaged with each other.

As described above, the molded surface fastener 1 of the present embodiment 1 has a form having features not found in the past, and is a new type of molded surface fastener 1 having the following advantages: the advantage that the rod portion 21 is hard to bend and a good skin feel is obtained; compared with a female surface connecting piece, the female surface connecting piece has the advantages of higher peel strength and shear strength.

As described above, the molding surface fastener 1 of example 1 having high peel strength and shear strength and good tactile sensation to the skin is particularly suitable for use in products to be attached to and detached from the body, such as disposable diapers, diaper pants for infants, protective devices for protecting joints of hands and feet, waist tightening garments, and gloves. Further, the new molded surface fastener 1, which is not available in the past, of example 1 is provided by adding to the conventional molded surface fastener, and thus the number of changes in the molded surface fastener can be increased. As a result, it becomes easy to more appropriately cope with various types of female-type surface fasteners (nonwoven fabrics).

Further, the molding surface fastener 1 of the above-described embodiment 1 is formed to have only the engaging elements 20 in which the hook portions 31 of the respective engaging elements 20 protrude in one of the left-right directions (CD). However, the molded surface fastener of the present invention may be formed to have only the engaging elements in which the hook portions of the engaging elements protrude in the other of the left and right directions. As shown in fig. 12, the molded surface fastener of the present invention may be a molded surface fastener 1a in which the engaging elements 20 having the hooks 31 protruding in one of the left and right directions and the engaging elements 20a having the hooks 31 protruding in the other of the left and right directions are formed in a mixed manner. In this case, in the present invention, the arrangement of the engaging elements 20 protruding in one of the left and right directions and the engaging elements 20a protruding in the other of the left and right directions, the number and the ratio of the engaging elements 20 and 20a to be arranged, and the like can be arbitrarily selected.

Example 2

Fig. 13 is a perspective view showing a forming surface connecting piece according to example 2. Fig. 14 is a perspective view showing only the engaging elements of the forming surface fastener. Fig. 15 to 17 are a front view, a right side view, and a left side view of the engaging element, respectively.

In the molded surface fastener 2 of the present embodiment 2, the engaging elements 20b are formed so that the relative positions of the hook portions 31b with respect to the stem portions 21 are different from those of the molded surface fastener 1 of the above-described embodiment 1. On the other hand, the shape of the base material portion 10, the shape of the stem portion 21, and the shape of the hook portion 31b itself are the same as those of the base material portion 10, the stem portion 21, and the hook portion 31 of embodiment 1 described above.

Therefore, in example 2 and example 3 described later, the description will be given mainly of the portions or portions different from those of the molded surface fastener 1 of example 1, and the portions or members having substantially the same form or configuration as those of the molded surface fastener 1 of example 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

The forming surface connector 2 of the present embodiment 2 has a thin plate-like base material portion 10 and a plurality of engaging elements 20b erected on the upper surface of the base material portion 10. The base portion 10 is formed in the same manner as the base portion 10 of example 1.

Each engaging element 20b of embodiment 2 includes: a stem portion 21 rising from the base portion 10; and 1 hook 31b protruding from the upper end of the lever 21 in the Cross Direction (CD). In the case of embodiment 1, the hook portions 31b of the respective engaging elements 20b all project from the lever portion 21 in the same direction (right side) in the intersecting direction.

The stem portion 21 of embodiment 2 is formed in the same manner as the stem portion 21 of embodiment 1 described above.

The hook 31b itself of embodiment 2 is formed in the same manner as the hook 31 of embodiment 1 described above. That is, in example 2, the main outer peripheral surfaces of the hook portions 31b facing upward and right and left sides are formed in a spherical shape, and the compression surface 32 formed smoother than the main outer peripheral surface by being pressed and compressed in the molding step is arranged on the lower surface of the hook portion 31 b. In addition, the hook portion 31b of embodiment 2 has an asymmetrical shape in the front-rear direction (width direction of the lever portion 21).

On the other hand, the relative position of the hook portion 31b with respect to the lever portion 21 in embodiment 2 is different from that in embodiment 1 described above. For example, in the engaging element 20 of embodiment 1 described above, the step 26 is provided between the upper surface of the hook portion 31 and the upper surface of the stem portion 21. However, in the engaging element 20b of embodiment 2, a part of the upper surface of the hook portion 31b is continuously arranged from the upper surface of the lever portion 21, and the step 26 as in embodiment 1 described above is not provided between the upper surface of the hook portion 31b and the upper surface of the lever portion 21.

The hook 31b is formed to protrude from the lever 21 toward one side (right side) in the C direction. In this case, even if the upper surface of the hook portion 31b and the upper surface of the lever portion 21 are continuously arranged, a portion of the upper surface of the hook portion 31b adjacent to the lever portion 21 and a portion of the upper surface of the lever portion 21 adjacent to the hook portion 31b are arranged at different angles (orientations) from each other (in other words, a tangential direction of a portion of the upper surface of the hook portion 31b adjacent to the lever portion 21 and a tangential direction of a portion of the upper surface of the lever portion 21 adjacent to the hook portion 31b are different from each other).

Therefore, in a front view (fig. 15) of the engaging element 20b, a boundary portion such as a dimple may be arranged between the upper surface of the hook portion 31b and the upper surface of the stem portion 21. Further, depending on the projecting direction of the hook portion 31b, the boundary portion as described above may not be formed, and a part of the upper surface of the hook portion 31b may be smoothly continuous with the upper surface of the lever portion 21.

In this case, the radius of curvature of the upper surface of the hook portion 31b (the upper end edge of the hook portion 31b) is set to 0.01mm or more and 0.5mm or less (preferably 0.05mm or more and 0.1mm or less) as in the case of the foregoing example 1. The radius of curvature of the upper surface of the lever portion 21 (the upper end edge of the lever portion 21 in front or side view) is set to be larger than the radius of curvature of the upper surface of the hook portion 31b and 0.01mm or more and 0.5mm or less (preferably 0.05mm or more and 0.1mm or less).

The molded surface fastener 2 of example 2 having the engaging elements 20b as described above is manufactured by using the manufacturing apparatus 50 as shown in fig. 8, as in the case of example 1 described above. In the die wheel 52 used in the manufacturing apparatus 50 of the present embodiment 2, the molding cavity formed in the outer peripheral surface portion of the die wheel 52 for molding the engaging element 20b has a shape different from that in the case of the above-described embodiment 1.

That is, the die wheel 52 of example 2 has a plurality of disk-shaped metal plates 55 stacked so as to overlap in the rotation axis direction of the die wheel 52. The metal plate 55 of the die wheel 52, although not shown, includes: a 1 st plate in which a 1 st hemispherical cavity for forming the hook portion 31b of the engaging element 20b and an auxiliary cavity for forming a part of the base end portion 22 of the stem portion 21 are formed; a 2 nd plate 55b formed with a 2 nd cavity 57 for forming the stem portion 21 of the engaging element 20 b; and a plurality of 3 rd plates 55c disposed as partitions.

In this case, the 2 nd and 3

rd plates

55b and 55c of the present embodiment 2 are the same as the 2 nd and 3

rd plates

55b and 55c of the foregoing embodiment 1. On the other hand, the 1 st cavity opened at the 1 st lamination surface of the 1 st plate does not form a step between the upper surface of the hook portion 31b of the engaging element 20b and the upper surface of the lever portion 21. That is, the 1 st cavity is formed so as to be positioned at the innermost position in the radial direction of the 1 st stacked surface opening, and the 2 nd cavity 57 in the 2 nd plate 55b is formed so as to be positioned at the innermost position in the radial direction of the 2 nd stacked surface opening. The die wheel 52 of the present embodiment 2 is formed substantially in the same manner as the die wheel 52 of the above-described embodiment 1, except that the relative position of the 1 st cavity of the 1 st plate is different.

Therefore, in the die wheel 52 of example 2, the 1 st cavity of the 1 st plate is also formed in the inverted shape at a position inwardly spaced from the outer peripheral surface of the die wheel 52. In the 1 st plate of example 2, the ridge portion of the circular arc portion disposed radially outward of the circumferential ridge portion disposed between the cavity surface of the 1 st cavity and the 1 st stacked surface is disposed as an edge portion that locally presses the lower surface of the hook portion and compresses the lower surface of the hook portion when the engaging element is extracted from the cavity of the die wheel 52.

In embodiment 2, the production of the die attach 2 using the production apparatus 50 having the die wheel 52 in which the molding cavity of the engaging element 20b is formed is performed in the same manner as in embodiment 1 described above.

That is, the molten synthetic resin material is continuously extruded from the extrusion nozzle 53 toward the outer peripheral surface of the die wheel 52, and the molding surface fastener (temporary molding surface fastener) is molded by the outer peripheral surface portion of the die wheel 52. The molding surface fastener is cooled to a temperature lower than the melting point while being carried on the outer peripheral surface portion of the rotating die wheel 52.

Next, the forming surface fastener formed by the outer peripheral surface portion of the die wheel 52 is continuously and forcibly (forcibly) peeled off from the outer peripheral surface portion of the die wheel 52 by the above-mentioned pickup roller 54. At this time, the hook portions of the engaging elements (temporary engaging elements) formed in the cavity of the die wheel 52 are pressed and compressed by the edge portions of the 1 st plate, and are wiped. This forms a smooth compression surface 32 on the lower surface of the hook portion. At this time, the hook portion is pressed by the edge portion while receiving a torsional external force from the edge portion, and the hook portion is inclined upward so as to incline upward from the rod portion toward the hook tip end or is deformed as a whole so as to be curved, and is deformed into a shape asymmetrical in the M direction.

Next, the molding surface fastener peeled off from the die wheel 52 is introduced between the upper pinch roller 54a and the lower pinch roller 54b of the pickup roller 54, which are arranged at a predetermined interval from each other, and is nipped between the upper pinch roller 54a and the lower pinch roller 54 b. Thus, as in the case of embodiment 1 described above, since the hook portion deformed upward from the lever portion 21 is pressed upward by the upper pinch roller 54a, the hook portion deformed upward can be forcibly (actively) plastically deformed so as to be oriented in the left-right direction (CD). Thus, the molded surface fastener 2 of example 2 shown in fig. 13 was produced.

Thereafter, the molding surface fastener 2 that is long in the machine direction and passes between the upper pinch roller 54a and the lower pinch roller 54b of the pickup roller 54 is conveyed toward a cutting portion, not shown, and cut into a predetermined length by the cutting portion and collected. Alternatively, the elongated molding surface fastener 2 is wound around a take-up roll or the like as it is and is taken up.

In the molded surface fastener 2 of example 2 manufactured as described above, the stem portion 21 itself and the hook portion 31b themselves have the same features as those of the stem portion 21 and the hook portion 31 of example 1 described above, respectively. That is, the rod portion 21 of the engaging element 20b is formed thick, and the upper surface (tip end surface) of the rod portion 21 is a spherical surface. In example 2, the step 26 is not provided between the upper surface of the hook 31b and the upper surface of the lever 21, and the upper surface of the hook 31b and the upper surface of the lever 21 are continuously arranged. Therefore, the molded surface fastener 2 of example 2 can have a more favorable texture than the texture of the molded surface fastener 2 of example 1.

Further, since the stem portion 21 of the engaging element 20b has high strength, the shear strength of the molding surface fastener 2 with respect to the female surface fastener can be increased. The hook portion 31b of the engaging element 20b projects in the left-right direction (CD) from the upper end portion of the lever portion 21, and a smooth and hard compression surface 32 is provided locally on the lower surface of the hook portion 31 b. Therefore, in the molding surface fastener 2 of the present embodiment 2, the loop hooked to the hook portion 31b of the engaging element 20b is difficult to disengage from the engaging element 20b, and therefore, a high peel strength can be obtained with respect to the female surface fastener.

Example 3

Fig. 18 is a perspective view showing a forming surface connecting member according to example 3. Fig. 19 is a perspective view showing only the engaging elements of the forming surface fastener. Fig. 20 to 22 are a front view, a right side view, and a left side view of the engaging element, respectively.

The forming surface connector 3 of the present embodiment 3 has a thin plate-like base material portion 10 and a plurality of engaging elements 70 erected on the upper surface of the base material portion 10. The base material portion 10 is formed in the same manner as the base material portion 10 of the foregoing

embodiments

1 and 2.

Each of the engaging elements 70 of embodiment 3 includes: a stem portion 71 rising from the base portion 10; and 1 hook 81 protruding from an upper end portion of the lever 71 in a Cross Direction (CD). In the case of embodiment 3, the hook portions 81 of the respective engaging elements 70 also all project from the lever portion 71 in the same direction in the intersecting direction.

The stem portion 71 of the engaging element 70 stands on the upper surface of the base portion 10. The rod portion 71 has: a base end portion 72 rising from the base material portion 10 and having a curved surface on the entire outer peripheral edge portion; a stem body 73 continuously disposed on the base end 72; and a rod head portion 76 disposed on the rod body portion 73 and having a shape that is flattened from above. The lever portion 71 of embodiment 3 has a shape symmetrical in the machine direction (width direction of the lever portion 71) with reference to the center position in the Machine Direction (MD).

The base end portion 72 of the rod portion 71 is formed such that the area of the cross section orthogonal to the vertical direction increases as it approaches the base material portion 10, so as to increase the strength of the rod portion 71 with respect to the base material portion 10.

The cross section of the lever main body 73 perpendicular to the vertical direction is approximately semicircular or larger than a semicircle surrounded by an arc and a chord of a circle. The rod main body 73 has a shape in which the area of the cross section orthogonal to the vertical direction increases as it approaches the base material portion 10.

Further, the lever main body 73 has: a flat hook fitting surface 74 on which the hook 81 is fitted; and a rod outer peripheral surface having an arc shape in a cross section orthogonal to the vertical direction. The hooking surface 74 is formed of a single flat surface orthogonal to the upper surface of the base material portion 10 and orthogonal to the CD.

The lever portion 71 has a lever back surface 75 disposed on the opposite side of the hook fitting surface 74 in a front view of the engaging element 70 (see fig. 20). The stem back surface 75 is formed such that the dimension in the CD between the hook fitting surface 74 and the stem back surface 75 decreases with distance from the upper surface of the base material portion 10 in the front view of the engaging element 70.

In this case, the lever back surface 75 includes, in a front view of the engaging element 70: an upper end back surface portion 75d disposed on the rod head portion 76; an upper curved surface portion 75a which is disposed in a convex shape (or an arc shape) at the upper end of the body portion of the lever portion 71; a lower curved surface portion 75b which is disposed adjacent to the base material portion 10 and is recessed at the lower end of the rod portion 71; and an inclined surface portion 75c disposed between the upper curved surface portion 75a and the lower curved surface portion 75 b.

The rod main body portion 73 is formed such that the dimension in the M direction between the left and right edges decreases with distance from the upper surface of the base portion 10 when viewed from the side of the engaging element 70 (see fig. 21 or 22).

Since the rod main body portion 73 of embodiment 3 is formed as described above, the rod portion 71 can have high strength, and therefore, even when the engaging element 70 receives an external force, it can be made difficult to deform. In particular, the lever portion 71 can be made less likely to fall down toward the lever back surface 75 side in the C direction.

The rod head portion 76 of the rod portion 71 is thinly formed on the rod main body portion 73 with a small height dimension. The rod head 76 is formed so that the shape of the cross section orthogonal to the vertical direction has substantially the same shape at any height position. The upper surface 76a of the rod head portion 76 (in other words, the upper surface or the tip end surface of the rod portion 71) is formed as a flat surface parallel to the upper surface of the base material portion 10. The upper surface 76a of the head portion 76 is disposed so as to form a single flat surface with a base-end-side upper surface 85a of the hook portion 81, which will be described later.

The hook 81 of embodiment 3 has the following features: the hook tip portion 86 is inclined downward, and a compression surface 82 formed smoother than the hook upper surface 85 is disposed on the lower surface of the hook portion 81. Here, the lower surface of the hook portion 81 refers to a portion of the outer surface of the hook portion 81 that is disposed from the distal end of the hook portion 81 to the lower end portion of the coupling portion of the hook portion 81 that is coupled to the rod portion 71 and is disposed downward or obliquely downward (i.e., toward the base material portion 10) as described above.

Further, the hook 81 of embodiment 3 has: a hook main body portion 83 protruding from the lever portion 71 in the left-right direction (CD); and a pair of front and rear reinforcing ribs 84 arranged to project from the upper end of the hook main body portion 83 in the front-rear direction (MD). The hook main body portion 83 has a tapered shape that becomes smaller as it goes away from the stem portion 71. That is, the hook body portion 83 is formed such that the dimension in the lever width direction (the dimension in the front-rear direction) decreases with distance from the lever portion 71. By forming in this manner, the loop can be easily hooked on the hook main body portion 83. Further, it is preferable that the hook main body portion 83 is formed in such a manner that the dimension in the lever up-down direction also decreases with distance from the lever portion 71. Further, the reinforcing ribs 84 are disposed on both the front and rear sides of the hook body portion 83, so that the strength of the hook portion 81 can be effectively increased.

As shown in fig. 20, an upper surface (hook upper surface) 85 of the hook portion 81 includes: a base-end-side upper surface 85a disposed at a hook base end portion (end portion on the rod connection side); and a tip side upper surface 85b that declines from the base end side upper surface 85a toward the hook tip. The proximal-end-side upper surface 85a of the hook 81 is disposed continuously from the upper surface 76a of the head 76, and forms a single flat surface with the upper surface 76a of the head 76. In this case, the flat base end side upper surface 85a of the hook portion 81 is disposed astride the hook main body portion 83 and the front and rear reinforcing ribs 84.

In the engaging element 70 of embodiment 3, as described above, the upper surface 76a of the head portion 76 and the base end side upper surface 85a of the hook portion 81 are formed as flat surfaces parallel to the upper surface of the base portion 10. Meanwhile, the tip-side upper surface 85b of the hook 81 is formed to decline toward the hook tip. This makes it possible to improve the tactile sensation of the upper end portion of the engaging element 70 when the forming surface fastener 3 is touched from the upper surface side.

The lower surface of the hook 81 is formed in the following shape, for example, in a front view of the engaging element 70 (see fig. 20): as going from the hook tip toward the rod portion 71, the lower surface of the hook portion 81 is slightly inclined upward so as to increase the interval between the lower surface and the base material portion 10, and then is inclined downward so as to decrease the interval between the lower surface of the hook portion 81 and the base material portion 10. That is, the hook portion 81 of embodiment 3 is formed such that the hook tip portion 86 is inclined downward, and the lower surface of the hook portion 81 has a curved surface (concave surface) that is curved or bent in a concave shape such that the loop is caught between the hook tip and the rod portion 71 in the front view of the engaging element 70.

The concave lower surface of the hook 81 has a compressed surface 82 that is formed to be smoother and brighter than the upper surface of the hook 81 when pressed and compressed. The compression surface 82 reflects light more than the upper surface of the hook 81, and sometimes gloss is locally seen on the compression surface 82. Further, it is preferable that the compression surface 82 of the hook 81 is formed harder than the upper surface of the hook 81.

In example 3, when the hook 81 is viewed from the machine direction (particularly, when the hook 81 is viewed from the rear side), the radius of curvature of the outer surface of the distal end portion 86 of the hook 81 is set to be in the range of 0.06mm or more and 0.18mm or less, preferably in the range of 0.12mm or more and 0.15mm or less, as in the case of example 1 described above.

In the engaging element 70 of embodiment 3, although the lever portion 71 has a symmetrical shape in the M direction (width direction of the lever portion 71), the hook portion 81 has an asymmetrical shape in the M direction (width direction of the hook portion 81). That is, the front half portion and the rear half portion of the hook portion 81 disposed forward and rearward with respect to the center position in the M direction are formed in completely different asymmetrical shapes. Further, when the engaging element 70 is viewed from the hook 81 side in the C direction (see fig. 21), the distal end surface 87 is disposed so as to be sandwiched between the distal end side upper surface 85b of the hook 81 and the compression surface 82.

In this case, the hook distal end portion 86 is disposed rearward of the center position of the hook portion 81 in the front-rear direction (MD). The rear end of the compression surface 82 of the hook 81 is disposed at a higher position than the front end of the compression surface 82 so that the rear end of the compression surface 82 of the hook 81 is hidden from view when the engaging element 70 is viewed from the front, as shown in fig. 20, for example.

In embodiment 3, the specific size of the engaging element 70 is set as follows.

For example, the maximum height dimension H1 from the upper surface of the base material portion 10 in the vertical direction of the engaging element 70 is set to 0.1mm or more and 1.5mm or less, and preferably 0.2mm or more and 1.0mm or less. The height H4 in the vertical direction from the upper surface of the base material portion 10 at the distal end portion 86 of the hook portion 81 is set to be smaller than the maximum height H1, and is set to be 0.1mm or more and 1.5mm or less, preferably 0.2mm or more and 1.0mm or less.

In the M direction (width direction of the engaging element 20), the maximum dimension L1 in the machine direction of the lever portion 71 (i.e., the dimension in the machine direction at the base end portion 72 of the lever portion 71) is set to 0.1mm or more and 1.5mm or less, and preferably 0.2mm or more and 1.0mm or less. The maximum dimension L2 in the machine direction of the hook 81 is set to 0.01mm or more and 1.0mm or less, and preferably 0.05mm or more and 0.5mm or less.

In the C direction, the maximum dimension W1 in the crossing direction of the lever portion 71 (i.e., the dimension in the crossing direction at the base end portion 72 of the lever portion 71) is set to 0.1mm or more and 1.5mm or less, and preferably 0.1mm or more and 1.0mm or less. The maximum dimension W2 in the intersecting direction of the hook 81 (i.e., the dimension in the intersecting direction from the tip end of the hook 81 to the hook fitting surface 74 of the lever 71) is set to 0.01mm or more and 1.0mm or less, and preferably 0.05mm or more and 0.5mm or less.

The inclination angle of the inclined surface portion 75c of the lever portion 71 with respect to the vertical direction is set to 5 ° or more and 20 ° or less. The above-described maximum dimension W2 in the C direction in the hook 81 is preferably set to be equal to or less than half the dimension W3 of a line segment parallel to the C direction between the lower end of the hook 81 and the hook attachment surface 74 of the lever 71 (in other words, the dimension W3 is preferably set to be equal to or more than twice the maximum dimension W2). The above-described maximum dimension L2 in the M direction in the hook 81 is preferably set to be less than half the dimension L3 of the lever 71 in the M direction at the lower end position of the hook 81 (in other words, the dimension L3 is preferably set to be more than twice the size of the maximum dimension L2).

The molded surface fastener 3 of example 3 as described above is manufactured using the manufacturing apparatus 90 shown in fig. 23.

The manufacturing apparatus 90 includes: a molding device 51 for molding a primary molded body of the molded surface fastener 3, which will be described later; a pickup roller 54 that peels off the molded primary molded body from the molding device 51 and deforms a part of a temporary element of the primary molded body, which will be described later; and a heating and pressing device 91 that heats and presses the primary molded body sent out from the pickup roller 54.

In this case, the forming device 51 and the pickup roller 54 of the present embodiment 3 use the same forming device 51 and pickup roller 54 as those of the foregoing embodiment 1. Therefore, in the die wheel 52 of example 3, the 1 st cavity 56 of the 1 st plate 55a is formed in a reversed shape in which a primary molded body of the molding surface fastener 3, which will be described later, cannot be released so as to maintain its shape at a position inwardly spaced from the outer peripheral surface of the die wheel 52. The ridge portion of the arc portion disposed radially outward of the ridge portion of the circumferential shape provided on the 1 st plate 55a is disposed as an edge portion 60 that locally presses the lower surface of the primary hook portion of the temporary element and compresses the lower surface of the primary hook portion of the temporary element when the temporary element of the primary molded body is pulled out.

The heating and pressing device 91 of embodiment 3 has a pair of upper and lower pressing rollers (reduction rollers) 91a and 91 b. The upper pressing roller 91a and the lower pressing roller 91b are disposed to face each other with a predetermined interval therebetween. In this case, the interval between the upper pressing roller 91a and the lower pressing roller 91b can be adjusted by a height adjusting member, not shown. In the case of embodiment 3, adjustment is made in accordance with the height dimension from the lower surface (back surface) of the base material portion 10 of the produced molded surface fastener 3 to the upper surface 76a of the head portion 76.

The upper pressing roller 91a is internally provided with a heating source not shown. In this case, the surface temperature of the upper pressing roller 91a is set to a temperature at which the synthetic resin forming the molding surface fastener 3 can be softened. Specifically, the temperature is set to a predetermined temperature which is not lower than "the melting point of the synthetic resin-40 ℃ and not higher than" the melting point-10 ℃. The upper pressing roller 91a is arranged to rotate counterclockwise in fig. 23. The outer peripheral surface of the upper pressing roller 91a serves as a surface for pressing the heated temporary element of the primary molded body molded in the primary molding step from above.

The lower pressing roller 91b is arranged to rotate clockwise in fig. 23, and serves as a support surface for supporting the conveyed primary formed body from below. In the present invention, the upper pressing roller 91a and/or the lower pressing roller 91b may be replaced with an upper belt mechanism and/or a lower belt mechanism, which are not shown. In this case, the upper belt mechanism and the lower belt mechanism respectively have an endless belt wound around a pair of left and right rotating rollers, and the pair of left and right rotating rollers rotate the endless belt in one direction.

When the forming surface fastener 3 of example 3 is manufactured using the manufacturing apparatus 90 including the forming apparatus 51, the pickup roller 54, and the heating and pressing apparatus 91 as described above, first, a primary forming step of forming a primary formed body of the forming surface fastener 3 by the forming apparatus 51 is performed. The primary molding step of example 3 was performed in the same manner as in the molding step of example 1.

That is, in the primary molding step of example 3, the molten synthetic resin material is continuously extruded from the extrusion nozzle 53 toward the outer peripheral surface of the die wheel 52, and the synthetic resin material is continuously filled into the space between the extrusion nozzle 53 and the rotating die wheel 52 and the cavities (spaces) provided to the outer peripheral surface portion of the die wheel 52.

The filled synthetic resin material is cooled to a temperature lower than the melting point while being carried on the outer peripheral surface of the die wheel 52, and a primary molded body (a temporary primary molded body) in which a plurality of temporary elements having a primary hook portion and a primary stem portion (not shown) are erected on the upper surface of the base material portion 10 is molded. The primary molded body (temporary primary molded body) molded at this time was the same as the temporary molded surface fastener of example 1 described above.

Thereafter, the primary molded article molded by the die wheel 52 is continuously and forcibly (forcibly) peeled off from the outer peripheral surface portion of the die wheel 52 by the above-mentioned pickup roller 54. At this time, of the cavities formed in the outer peripheral surface portion of the die wheel 52, the 1 st cavity 56 of the 1 st plate 55a is formed into the inverted shape as described above.

Therefore, the primary molded article is pulled by the pickup roller 54, and the hemispherical primary hook portion of the temporary element molded in the cavity is pressed and compressed from the lower surface side of the primary hook portion by the edge portion 60 formed on the 1 st plate 55 a. At this time, since the die wheel 52 rotates in the machine direction, the primary hook portion is also subjected to an external force such that the edge portion 60 of the 1 st plate 55a is twisted in the machine direction. Thus, as in the case of example 1 described above, a smooth and hard compression surface 82 is formed on the lower surface of the primary hook portion.

When the primary hook portion is pulled out from the 1 st cavity 56, the primary hook portion is pressed by the edge portion 60 of the 1 st plate 55a while receiving an external force from the edge portion 60, and the primary hook portion is inclined upward so as to be inclined upward from the primary rod portion toward the hook tip or is deformed as a whole so as to be curved, and is deformed into a shape asymmetrical in the M direction.

The primary molded body peeled off from the die wheel 52 is then introduced between the upper pinch roller 54a and the lower pinch roller 54b of the pickup roller 54 and nipped. At this time, the primary hook portion of the temporary element deformed upward is pressed from above by the upper pinch roller 54 a. This can forcibly (positively) plastically deform the primary hook portion deformed in the upward-inclined manner downward so that the primary hook portion faces the C direction. Thus, a primary molded body of example 3 was produced. The primary molded body of example 3 produced at this time has the same structure (structure) as that of the molding surface fastener 1 of example 1 shown in fig. 1 described above.

That is, the primary molded body of embodiment 3 has the base portion 10 and a plurality of temporary elements (engaging elements 20 of embodiment 1) erected on the base portion 10. In addition, the temporary element has: a primary rod portion (rod portion 21 of example 1) rising from the base material portion 10; and a primary hook (hook 31 of embodiment 1) protruding from an upper end portion of the primary lever portion in the C direction. Further, a step is formed between the primary lever portion and the primary hook portion of the temporary element so that the upper surface of the primary hook portion is higher than the upper surface of the primary lever portion.

Next, the above-described primary molded body obtained by the pickup roller 54 (the molding surface fastener 1 of example 1) is conveyed toward the heating and pressing device 91 that performs the secondary molding step, and is introduced between the upper pressing roller 91a and the lower pressing roller 91b of the heating and pressing device 91. Then, the primary molded body passes between the upper pressing roller 91a and the lower pressing roller 91b, and the upper end portion of the primary lever portion and the upper end portion of the primary hook portion in the temporary element (that is, the upper end portion of the lever portion 71 and the upper end portion of the hook portion 81 in the engaging element 70 of embodiment 1) are heated and softened by the upper pressing roller 91a, and are pressed from above and crushed.

By performing such a secondary molding step, the distal end of the hook 81 can be bent further downward than before the secondary molding step. Further, the upper end portion of the primary rod portion and the upper end portion of the primary hook portion of the primary molded body are thermally deformed so as to be flattened while spreading, and the upper surface 76a of the rod head portion 76 and the base end side upper surface 85a of the hook portion 81 are formed as a single flat surface. Further, a pair of reinforcing ribs 84 forming the hook 81.

Thus, the engaging element 70 of the present example 3 as shown in fig. 18 to 22 is molded, and the molded surface fastener 3 of the present example 3 as shown in fig. 18 is manufactured. Thereafter, the molding surface fastener 3 that is long in the machine direction and passed through the heating and pressing device 91 is conveyed toward a cutting portion, not shown, and cut into a predetermined length by the cutting portion and collected. Alternatively, the vertically long molding surface fastener 3 is wound around a collecting roll or the like in a roll shape and collected.

The molding surface fastener 3 of example 3 manufactured as described above has the stem portion 71 standing roughly upright from the base portion 10 and the minute hook portion 81 protruding from the upper end portion of the stem portion 71 in the CD. The hook tip portion 86 of the hook portion 81 of the engaging element 70 is formed to be inclined downward, and the hook portion 81 of the engaging element 70 is formed to be asymmetrical in the width direction (M direction) of the hook portion 81 when the hook portion 81 is viewed from the C direction (see fig. 21). The engaging element 70 of example 3 provided with such a hook 81 has a completely different characteristic form from the conventional J-shape, palm tree shape, and mushroom shape, and thus has the following characteristic properties that have not been obtained in the past.

Specifically, in the molded surface fastener 3 of embodiment 3, the rod portion 71 of the engaging element 70 is formed thick, and therefore, the strength of the rod portion 71 can be increased. Therefore, in the molding surface fastener 3 of example 3, as in the case of example 1, the loops of the female surface fastener can be easily hooked on the engaging elements 70 of the molding surface fastener 3, and the two can be stably engaged. Further, since the rod portion 71 has high strength, the shear strength of the molding surface fastener 3 with respect to the female surface fastener can be increased.

In the engaging element 70 of embodiment 3, the extremely small hook 81 projects in the left-right direction (CD) from the upper end of the lever 71, and the hook tip 86 is disposed so as to be inclined downward. As described above, the lower surface of the hook 81 of the engaging element 70 locally has the compression surface 82 formed smoother than the upper surface of the hook 81. The hook main body portion 83 has a tapered shape as it goes away from the stem portion 71.

Therefore, in the molding surface fastener 3 of the present embodiment 3, the loop is easily hooked to the hook portion 81 of the engaging element 70, and the hooked loop is hardly disengaged from the engaging element 70, so that a high peel strength can be stably obtained with respect to the female surface fastener.

Further, in the engaging element 70 of embodiment 3, the upper surface 76a of the head portion 76 and the base end side upper surface 85a of the hook portion 81 in the lever portion 71 are formed as continuous flat surfaces parallel to the upper surface of the base material portion 10. Further, the upper surface 76a of the head portion 76 and the base end side upper surface 85a of the hook portion 81 which are flat in this manner are exposed to the upper side of the forming surface fastener 3 in a large area. This can stably provide a good tactile sensation when the molded surface fastener 3 is touched from the upper surface side and a good contact comfort.

The molding surface fastener 3 of example 3 having the above-described characteristic properties is particularly suitable for use in any products to be attached to and detached from the body, such as disposable diapers, diaper pants for infants, protective devices for protecting joints of hands and feet, waist-tightening clothes, and gloves. Further, the new molded surface fastener 3, which was not available in the past, of example 3 is provided by adding to the conventional molded surface fastener, and the change of the molded surface fastener can be increased. As a result, it becomes easy to more appropriately cope with various types of female-type surface fasteners (nonwoven fabrics).

The forming surface fastener 3 of the present embodiment 3 is manufactured as follows: in the manufacturing process of the molding surface fastener 3, a primary molded body having the same structure as that of the molding surface fastener 1 (see fig. 1) of embodiment 1 shown in fig. 1 is manufactured using the molding device 51 and the pickup roller 54, and then the obtained primary molded body is introduced between the upper pressing roller 91a and the lower pressing roller 91b of the heating and pressing device 91.

However, in embodiment 3, the primary molded body passed between the upper pinch roller 54a and the lower pinch roller 54b of the pickup roller 54 may be a molded surface fastener having the same structure (structure) as the molded surface fastener 2 (see fig. 13) of embodiment 2, instead of the molded surface fastener 1 of embodiment 1.

By introducing such a primary molded body (i.e., the molded surface fastener 2 of example 2) into the heating and pressing device 91 and performing the above-described secondary molding step, it is also possible to manufacture a molded surface fastener in which a plurality of engaging elements having substantially the same structure as the engaging elements 70 described in example 3 stand on the base material portion 10. The molded surface fastener thus produced was a molded surface fastener according to a modification of example 3, and the same effects as those of the molded surface fastener 3 of example 3 shown in fig. 18 to 22 were obtained.

In embodiments 1 to 3 described above, the case where each engaging element of the molded surface fastener has 1 stem portion and 1 hook portion projecting from the stem portion in the Cross Direction (CD) was described. However, in the present invention, a plurality of hook portions may be disposed so as to protrude from 1 rod portion of the engaging element.

Here, for example, a modification of embodiment 1 will be specifically described with reference to the drawings. Fig. 24 shows a snap element 20c according to a modification of embodiment 1. The engaging element 20c of fig. 24 includes a stem portion 21c rising from the base material portion 10 and two hook portions 31 projecting from the upper end portion of the stem portion 21c in the same direction in the intersecting direction.

The stem portion 21c of this modification has the same shape as the stem portion 21 of example 1, but is formed larger than the stem portion 21 of example 1. That is, the stem portion 21c of the modification has a similar relationship to the stem portion 21 of embodiment 1 described above. The two hook portions 31 of the modified example are formed in the same shape and the same size as the hook portions 31 of embodiment 1 described above.

Fig. 25 shows an engaging element 20d according to another modification of embodiment 1. The engaging element 20d of fig. 25 has a stem portion 21d rising from the base material portion 10 and two hook portions 31 protruding from the upper end portion of the stem portion 21d in the intersecting direction. In addition, the hook portions 31 project from the stem portions 21d in opposite directions to each other in the crossing direction.

In the lever portion 21d of this other modification, the lever back surface 25 as in embodiment 1 described above is not formed, and the flat hook fitting surfaces 24 are disposed on both the left and right sides of the lever portion 21 d. Further, the stem portion 21d of this other modification has the same shape as the stem portion 21 of embodiment 1 described above when the engaging element 20d is viewed in the Cross Direction (CD).

In addition, in the engaging element 20d, the two hook portions 31 have shapes that are plane-symmetrical to each other. In this case, one hook 31 is formed in the same shape, the same size, and the same orientation as those of the hook 31 of the foregoing embodiment 1.

The present invention also includes a molded surface fastener in which a plurality of

engaging elements

20c and 20d each having 1

stem portion

21c and 21d and two hook portions 31 are provided upright on a base portion 10 as in the above-described two modifications. In the molded surface fastener of these modifications, a peel strength higher than that of the molded surface fastener 1 of example 1 was obtained. In addition, in the molded surface fastener of the modified example, the effects other than the peel strength in the molded surface fastener 1 of the embodiment 1 described above are obtained in the same manner. The engaging element having the plurality of hook portions arranged on the 1-rod portion can be applied not only to the molded surface fastener 1 of example 1 but also to the molded surface fastener 2 of example 2 and the molded surface fastener 3 of example 3.

In the above-described embodiments 1 to 3, the case where the molding step or the primary molding step of the molded surface fastener is performed by using the molding apparatus 51 having the die wheel 52 is described. However, in the present invention, a molding apparatus of another form may be used in the molding step or the primary molding step of molding the surface fastener.

For example, as the molding apparatus used in the molding step or the primary molding step, for example, a molding apparatus of a modification example can be used, the molding apparatus of the modification example including: a die wheel 52 driven to rotate in one direction; a press wheel disposed at a predetermined interval from the die wheel 52 and driven to rotate in a direction opposite to the die wheel 52; and an extrusion nozzle that extrudes the molten synthetic resin material between the die wheel 52 and the press wheel.

In this case, the die wheel 52 of the molding apparatus of the modification has the same structure as the die wheel 52 described in embodiment 1 and the like. In the molding apparatus of the modified example, a pickup roller 54 for forcibly peeling off the molding surface fastener or the primary molded body from the die wheel 52 as shown in fig. 8 is disposed downstream of the die wheel 52.

The molding surface fastener of the present invention as described in embodiments 1 to 3 and the like can be stably manufactured even when the manufacturing process of the molding surface fastener is performed using the molding apparatus having the modification of the die wheel 52 and the pressing wheel.

Description of the reference numerals

1. 1a, forming surface connecting pieces; 2. 3, forming surface connecting pieces; 10. a base material portion; 20. 20a, a clamping element; 20b, 20c, a snap element; 20d, a clamping element; 21. a rod portion; 21c, 21d, a rod portion; 22. a base end portion; 23. a rod main body portion; 24. a hook arrangement surface; 25. a rod back; 25a, upper curved surface portion; 25b, lower curved surface portion; 25c, an inclined surface portion; 26. a step (stepped portion); 31. 31b, a hook; 32. compressing the noodles; 33. a tip end portion of the hook portion; 34. a hook tip face; 50. a manufacturing device; 51. a forming device; 52. a die wheel; 53. an extrusion nozzle; 54. a pickup roller; 54a, an upper nip roller; 54b, a lower side nip roller; 55. a metal plate; 55a, 1 st plate; 55b, 2 nd plate; 55c, No. 3 plate; 56. 1, a mold cavity; 57. a 2 nd die cavity; 58. an auxiliary mold cavity; 59. a step; 60. an edge portion; 70. a snap-fit element; 71. a rod portion; 72. a base end portion; 73. a rod main body portion; 74. a hook arrangement surface; 75. a rod back; 75a, upper curved surface portion; 75b, lower curved surface portion; 75c, an inclined surface portion; 75d, upper back surface portion; 76. a rod head portion; 76a, the upper surface of the club head; 81. a hook portion; 82. compressing the noodles; 83. a hook main body portion; 84. a reinforcing rib portion; 85. an upper surface of the hook portion (hook upper surface); 85a, a base end side upper surface; 85b, a tip-side upper surface; 86. a distal end portion (hook distal end portion) of the hook portion; 87. a top end face; 90. a manufacturing device; 91. a heating and pressing device; 91a, an upper pressing roller; 91b, a lower pressing roller; d1, a dimension in the direction of the axis of rotation between the 1 st lamination surface of the 1 st plate and the cavity surface of the 2 nd cavity of the 2 nd plate at a position adjacent to the 1 st cavity on the radially outer side; d2, the dimension in the direction of the rotation axis between the cavity surface of the 1 st cavity at the deepest position from the 1 st stacking surface and the cavity surface of the 2 nd cavity of the 2 nd plate; h1, maximum height dimension of the snap elements; h2, maximum height dimension of the stem portion; h3, height dimension of step; h4, height of tip of hook; l1, maximum dimension in the M direction in the rod; l2, maximum dimension in the M direction in the hook; l3, dimension of the lever portion in the M direction at the lower end position of the hook portion; w1, the maximum dimension in the C direction in the stem; w2, maximum dimension of hook in C-direction; w3, and the dimension of a line segment parallel to the C direction between the lower end of the hook portion and the hook attachment surface of the lever portion (the dimension of the lever portion in the C direction at the lower end position of the hook portion).

Claims

1. A molding surface connector, which is a molding surface connector (1, 1a, 2, 3) made of synthetic resin, the molding surface connector (1, 1a, 2, 3) having: a base material portion (10 ), which is formed in a flat plate shape extending along a first direction and a second direction intersecting with the first direction, and is elongated in the first direction; and a plurality of engaging elements (20, 20a, 20b) , 20c, 20d, 70), which are erected on the upper surface of the base material portion (10), and the engaging elements (20, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, 70) have: a rod portion (21, 21c) , 21d, 71), which stand up from the base material portion (10); and at least one hook portion (31, 31b, 81), which rises from the upper end of the rod portion (21, 21c, 21d, 71) The part protrudes along the second direction, and the forming surface connector is characterized in that:

The hook portion (31, 31b, 81) has a tapered shape in which the dimension in the first direction decreases toward the hook tip of the hook portion (31, 31b, 81),

The lower surface of the hook portion (31, 31b, 81) partially has a compression surface (32, 82) formed to be smoother than the upper surface of the hook portion (31, 31b, 81), and the compression surface is formed as The hardness is greater with respect to the upper surface of the hook portion,

The maximum dimension (W2) of the hook portion (31, 31b, 81) in the second direction is the length of the rod portion (21, 21c, 21d, 71) in the hook portion (31, 31b, 81). The dimension (W3) of the said 2nd direction in a lower end position is half or less.

2. The forming face connector of claim 1 wherein:

The upper surface of the hook portion (31) is arranged higher than the upper surface of the rod portion (21, 21c, 21d) by means of a step (26),

The hook portion (31) has a shape such that the upper surface of the hook portion (31) is convex when the engaging elements (20, 20c, 20d) are viewed from the first direction, and the hook portion (31) has a convex shape. The lower surface of the portion (31) is non-convex.

3. The forming face connector of claim 1 wherein:

A part of the upper surface of the hook portion (31b) is formed continuously from the upper surface of the rod portion (21),

The hook portion (31b) has a shape such that the upper surface of the hook portion (31b) is convex when the engaging element (20b) is viewed from the first direction, and the hook portion (31b) The lower surface is non-convex.

4. The forming face connector of claim 2 or 3, wherein:

The outer surface of the upper end part of the said rod part (21, 21c, 21d) is formed as a spherical surface.

5. The forming face connector of claim 1 wherein:

The upper surface of the hook portion (81) and the upper surface of the rod portion (71) are formed as a single flat surface,

The distal end portion of the hook portion (81) is disposed so as to be inclined downward.

6. The forming face connector of claim 5, wherein:

The engaging element (70) has a pair of reinforcing ribs (84), the pair of reinforcing ribs (84) are arranged on both sides of the hook portion (81) in the first direction, and connect the hooks The upper end of the part (81) and the rod part (71).

7. The formed face connector of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein

The hooks (31, 31b, 81) are formed asymmetrically in the first direction when the hooks (31, 31b, 81) are viewed from the second direction.

8. The forming face connector of claim 7, wherein:

One end in the first direction of the compression surface (32, 82) of the hook portion (31, 31b, 81) is arranged at the other end in the first direction than the compression surface (32, 82) high position,

When the engaging elements (20, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, 70) are viewed from above, the tip end portions of the hook portions (31, 31b, 81) are arranged relative to the rod portions (21, 21c) , 21d, 71) of the center position in the first direction is shifted to the one end side of the first direction.

9. The forming face connector of claim 7, wherein:

The radius of curvature of the tip portion of the hook portion (31, 31b, 81) when the hook portion (31, 31b, 81) is viewed from the first direction is set to be 0.06 mm or more and 0.18 mm or less In the range.

10. The formed surface connector of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein

One of the hooks (31, 31b, 81) is arranged for one of the rods (21, 71),

The rod portion (21, 71) has a hook arrangement surface (24, 74) erected from the base material portion (10) and arranged toward the protruding direction of the hook portion (31, 31b, 81),

The hook arrangement surface (24, 74) has a single flat surface formed from a position below the hook portion (31, 31b, 81) toward the base material portion (10), and, It is orthogonal to the upper surface of the base material part (10) and orthogonal to the second direction.

11. The formed face connector of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein

The maximum dimension of the rod portion (21, 21c, 21d, 71) in the second direction is set to be 0.1 mm or more and 1.5 mm or less,

The maximum protrusion dimension of the hook portion (31, 31b, 81) in the second direction protruding from the rod portion (21, 21c, 21d, 71) is set to 0.01 mm or more and 0.5 mm or less.

12. A molding surface connector, which is a molding surface connector (1, 1a, 2, 3) made of synthetic resin, the molding surface connector (1, 1a, 2, 3) having: a base material portion (10) ), which is formed in a flat plate shape extending along a first direction and a second direction intersecting with the first direction, and is elongated in the first direction; and a plurality of engaging elements (20, 20a, 20b) , 20c, 20d, 70), which are erected on the upper surface of the base material portion (10), and the engaging elements (20, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, 70) have: a rod portion (21, 21c) , 21d, 71), which stand up from the base material portion (10); and at least one hook portion (31, 31b, 81), which rises from the upper end of the rod portion (21, 21c, 21d, 71) The part protrudes along the second direction, and the forming surface connector is characterized in that:

When the hook portion (31, 31b, 81) is viewed from the second direction, the hook portion (31, 31b, 81) is formed asymmetrically in the first direction,

The lower surface of the hook portion (31, 31b, 81) is arranged at a position lower than the height position of the tip of the hook portion (31, 31b, 81),

13. The forming face connector of claim 12, wherein:

The lower surface of the hook portion (31, 31b, 81) partially has a compression surface (32, 82) formed to be smoother than the upper surface of the hook portion (31, 31b, 81), and the compression surface is formed as The hardness is greater with respect to the upper surface of the hook portion.

14. The forming face connector of claim 13, wherein:

15. The formed face connector of any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein:

16. The formed face connector of any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein:

One of the hooks (31, 31b, 81) is arranged for one of the rods (21, 71),

17. The forming face connector of claim 16, wherein:

When the engaging element (20, 20a, 20b, 70) is viewed from the first direction, the lever portion (21, 71) has a hook-arrangement surface ( 24, 74) on the opposite side of the rod back surface (25, 75), the rod back surface (25, 75) has the rod portion (21, 71) ) in the shape of decreasing size between the hook arrangement surface (24, 74) and the rod back surface (25, 75).

18. The forming face connector of claim 17, wherein:

When the engaging elements (20, 20a, 20b, 70) are viewed from the first direction, the lever rear surfaces (25, 75) have upper ends that are protrudingly disposed on the lever portions (21, 71). The upper curved surface portion (25a, 75a) of the rod portion (25a, 75a) and the lower curved surface portion (25b, 75b) arranged in a concave shape at the lower end portion of the rod portion (21, 71).

19. The forming face connector of claim 18, wherein:

When the engaging element (20, 20a, 20b, 70) is viewed from the first direction, the hook portion (31, 31b, 81) has the following shape: the hook portion (31, 31b, 81) The upper surface of the rod portion (21, 71) has a convex shape having a radius of curvature smaller than the radius of curvature of the upper curved portion (25a, 75a) of the rod portion (21, 71).

20. The formed face connector of any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein:

21. A method for producing a molding surface connector, which is a method for producing a molding surface connector (1, 1a, 2) made of synthetic resin, the molding surface connector (1, 1a, 2) having: a flat plate shape a base material part (10), which is formed longitudinally along the machine direction; and a plurality of engaging elements (20, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d), which are erected on the base material part (10) surface, the method of manufacturing the formed surface connector is characterized in that,

The manufacturing method of the forming surface connector includes:

A molding device (51) having a die wheel (51) having a plurality of cavities having shapes corresponding to the engaging elements (20, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d) formed on the outer peripheral surface portion is used. 52), the mold cavity has an undercut shape in which the engaging elements (20, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d) formed in the mold cavity cannot be ejected in a manner that maintains their shape unchanged, and On the cavity surface of the cavity, when the engaging element (20, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d) is pulled out, the engaging element (20, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d) is arranged so as to be able to engage with the engaging element (20, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d). A part of the edge portion (60) that is partially pressed and compressed;

The molten synthetic resin material is continuously extruded to the outer peripheral surface of the die wheel (52) to form the base material portion (10) on the outer peripheral surface of the die wheel (52), and, The engaging elements (20, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d) are formed in the mold cavity of the die wheel (52), and the engaging elements (20, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d) have : a stem portion (21, 21c, 21d) that stands up from the base material portion (10); and at least one hook portion (31, 31b) that extends from the stem portion (21, 21c, 21d) the upper end portion protrudes in a cross direction that crosses the machine direction; and

The engaging elements (20, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d) are forcibly pulled out from the mold cavity, and the edge portion (60) is used to engage with the hook portion (31, 31b) from below. The hooks (31, 31b) are pressed and compressed to be deformed into a shape different from the cavity, and the edge (60) is used to brush the hooks from below the hooks (31, 31b). (31, 31b), so that a compression surface (32) is locally formed on the lower surface of the hook portion (31, 31b), and the compression surface is formed to have a higher hardness relative to the upper surface of the hook portion, In addition, the maximum dimension (W2) of the hook portion (31, 31b) in the intersecting direction is assumed to be the lower end position of the lever portion (21, 21c, 21d) at the lower end position of the hook portion (31, 31b). is less than half of the dimension (W3) in the cross direction.

22. The method of manufacturing a formed face connector according to claim 21, wherein:

The manufacturing method of the forming surface connector includes:

Using a pick-up roll (54) disposed on the downstream side of the forming device (51) and having a pair of upper nip rolls (54a) and lower nip rolls (54b), the formed material is the forming surface connector is peeled from the die wheel (52); and

After the forming surface connector is peeled off from the die wheel (52), the engaging elements (20, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d) are pressed by the upper nip roller (54a), As a result, the hooks (31, 31b) drawn out from the cavity and facing obliquely upward are plastically deformed.

23. A method of manufacturing a shaped face connector according to claim 21 or 22, wherein:

The manufacturing method of the forming surface connector includes forming the upper surface of the hook portion (31, 31b) to be higher than the upper surface of the rod portion (21, 21c, 21d) by means of a step (26).

24. A method for producing a molding surface connector, comprising a method for producing a molding surface connector (3) made of synthetic resin, the molding surface connector (3) having: a plate-shaped base material portion (10), It is formed longitudinally along the machine direction; and a plurality of engaging elements (70) are erected on the upper surface of the base material portion (10), the manufacturing method includes: a primary forming process, in the primary forming process wherein, forming a primary formed body having the base material portion (10) and a plurality of temporary elements erected on the base material portion (10); and a secondary forming step in which, in the secondary forming step, The temporary element of the primary formed body is heated, and the temporary element is crushed from above, thereby forming the forming surface connector (3) with the snap element (70), which The method of manufacturing a formed surface connector is characterized in that,

The manufacturing method of the forming surface connector includes:

In the primary molding step, a molding device (51) having a die wheel (52) having a plurality of cavities having shapes corresponding to the temporary elements formed on the outer peripheral surface portion is used, so that The mold cavity has an undercut shape in which the temporary element formed in the mold cavity cannot be ejected without changing its shape, and a cavity surface of the mold cavity is provided with the temporary element. an edge portion (60) capable of partially pressing and compressing a part of the temporary element when pulling out,

The molten synthetic resin material is continuously extruded to the outer peripheral surface of the die wheel (52) to form the base material portion (10) on the outer peripheral surface of the die wheel (52), and, The temporary element is formed in the mold cavity of the die wheel (52), the temporary element has: a primary rod portion standing up from the base material portion (10); and at least one primary hook a portion that protrudes from an upper end portion of the primary rod portion in a cross direction that crosses the machine direction; and

The temporary element is forcibly pulled out from the mold cavity, and the primary hook portion is pressed and compressed by the edge portion (60) from below the primary hook portion to be deformed into the mold cavity. different shapes, and the edge portion (60) is used to rub the primary hook portion from below the primary hook portion, so as to locally form a compression surface (82) on the lower surface of the primary hook portion, the the compression surface is formed to be relatively rigid with respect to the upper surface of the primary hook portion, and

The maximum dimension (W2) in the intersecting direction of the hook portion (81) formed after the secondary molding step is assumed to be at the lower end position of the rod portion (71) at the hook portion (81). is less than half of the dimension (W3) in the cross direction.

25. The method of manufacturing a formed face connector according to claim 24, wherein:

The manufacturing method of the forming surface connector includes:

In the primary forming step, a pick-up roll (54) which is arranged on the downstream side of the forming device (51) and has a pair of upper nip rolls (54a) and lower nip rolls (54b) is used ), peeling off the formed primary formed body from the die wheel (52); and

After the primary formed body is peeled off from the die wheel (52), the temporary member is pressed by the upper nip roller (54a), so as to be pulled out from the die cavity and face an inclined direction. The upper primary hook portion is plastically deformed.

26. A method of manufacturing a shaped face connector according to claim 24 or 25, wherein:

The manufacturing method of the forming surface connector includes:

In the primary forming process, the upper surface of the primary hook portion is formed to be higher than the upper surface of the primary rod portion by means of a step; and

In the secondary molding step, the upper surface of the hook portion (81) in the engaging element (70) and the upper surface of the rod portion (71) are formed by crushing the upper end portion of the temporary element from above. The upper surface is formed as a single flat surface.

27. A molding device used for molding of the molding surface connector (1, 1a, 2) according to any one of claims 1 to 20 or molding according to any one of claims 24 to 26 A molding device (51) for forming a primary molded body of a surface connector (3) in a method for manufacturing a surface connector, comprising: a die wheel (52) that is rotationally driven in one direction; and an extrusion nozzle (53) , which extrudes the molten synthetic resin material toward the die wheel (52), and the forming device (51) is characterized in that:

The outer peripheral surface of the die wheel (52) is provided with engaging elements (20, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d) with the forming surface connectors (1, 1a, 2) or the primary forming body Multiple cavities of the shape corresponding to the temporary element,

The mold cavity has the snap-fit elements (20, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d) formed in the mold cavity or the temporary elements that cannot be demolded in a way that keeps their shape unchanged. shape,

The die wheel (52) has a plurality of disc-shaped metal plates (55) stacked along the axial direction,

Each metal plate (55) has a first lamination surface and a second lamination surface orthogonal to the axial direction,

The second lamination surface of the metal plate (55) is disposed on the opposite side of the first lamination surface,

The metal plate (55) has: a plurality of first plates (55a) in which hooks (20, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d) are recessed on the first lamination surface. 31, 31b) or a first mold cavity (56) for forming the primary hook portion of the primary molded body; and a plurality of second plates (55b), which are recessed on the second lamination surface for the card a second cavity (57) for forming the stems (21, 21c, 21d) of the coupling elements (20, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d) or the primary stems of the primary molded body,

The first plate (55a) and the second plate (55b) are stacked adjacent to each other in the direction that the first cavity (56) and the second cavity (57) communicate with each other,

The first cavity (56) is concavely provided at a position separated from the outer peripheral end surface of the first plate (55a) with a size to form the undercut shape,

The circumferential ridgeline portion of the first plate (55a) disposed between the cavity surface of the first cavity (56) and the first lamination surface serves as a partial pressing and compressing the engaging element (20, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d) or the edge portion (60) of the temporary element is formed into an angular shape,

The second cavity (57) is continuously recessed from the outer peripheral end surface of the second plate (55b) toward the radially inner side,

The largest dimension of the first cavity in the axial direction is less than or equal to half of the dimension in the axial direction of the second cavity at the lower end position of the first cavity.

28. The forming apparatus of claim 27, wherein:

The radially innermost position in the first cavity (56) is located radially inward of the radially innermost position in the second cavity (57). A step (59) formed by the second lamination surface of the second plate (55b) is formed between (56) and the second cavity (57).

29. A forming apparatus according to claim 27 or 28, wherein:

The first cavity (56) is concavely disposed on the first lamination surface of the first plate (55a) in a hemispherical shape,

The radius of the hemispherical shape of the first cavity (56) is set to be 0.01 mm or more and 0.5 mm or less.

30. The forming device of claim 27 or 28, wherein:

The second cavity (57) has a shape in which the dimension in the circumferential direction of the second plate (55b) decreases from the outer peripheral end face of the second plate (55b) toward the inner side in the radial direction,

The radially inner front end surface of the second cavity (57) has a spherical surface, and the spherical surface has a radius of curvature of not less than 0.01 mm and not more than 0.5 mm.