US3899803A

US3899803A - Self-gripping device with preformed gripping elements

Info

Publication number: US3899803A
Application number: US423611A
Authority: US
Inventors: George C Brumlik
Original assignee: Ingrip Fasteners Inc
Current assignee: Ingrip Fasteners Inc
Priority date: 1971-09-13
Filing date: 1973-12-10
Publication date: 1975-08-19
Anticipated expiration: 1992-08-19

Abstract

A self gripping device is disclosed which includes a sheet member containing gripping elements having distinct gripping means integrally formed therein within a frame in substantially the same plane as the sheet, the gripping elements being adapted to be positioned, for example by bending, in a generally upright position from one or both sides of the sheet for self gripping engagement with a receiving layer. The gripping elements may be positioned parallel to one side of the sheet, crosswise or in any predetermined orientation with respect to each other and to the sheet. When bent out of plane, the gripping elements may be perpendicular to the sheet or at any angle less than ninety degrees. A process for making the self gripping device, apparatus for erecting the gripping elements, and a process for rendering a surface self gripping utilizing the self gripping device are also disclosed.

Description

Brumlik 1 Aug. 19, 1975 SELF-GRIPPING DEVICE WITH PREFORMED GRIPPING ELEMENTS [75] Inventor: George C. Brumlik, Montclair, NJ.

[73] Assignee: Ingrip Fasteners, Inc., New York,

[22] Filed: Dec. 10, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 423,611

Related U.S. Application Data [63] Continuation of Ser. No. 179,880, Sept. 13, 1971,

abandoned.

[52] U.S. C1. 24/204; 24/87 R [51] Int. Cl. A44B 17/00 [58] Field of Search 24/204 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 613,221 8/1898 Allen 24/204 920,808 5/1909 Alcott... 24/204 2,211,045 8/1940 Ba1fe..... 24/204 2,496,820 2/1950 Smithm. 24/204 3,011,226 12/1961 Menge 85/13 3,057,354 10/1962 Roberts 24/204 3,295,155 l/1967 Belsky 24/204 3,304,106 2/1967 McCormack 85/13 3,546,754 12/1970 Erb 24/204 R 3,667,337 6/1972 Burke 85/13 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,912,744 10/1970 Germany ..24/204 2,047,243 3/1971 France 24/204 Primary Examiner-Bernard A. Gelak Attorney, Agent, or FirmBurgess, Dinklage & Sprung [5 7] ABSTRACT A self gripping device is disclosed which includes a sheet member containing gripping elements having distinct gripping means integrally formed therein within a frame in substantially the same plane as the sheet, the gripping elements being adapted to be positioned, for example by bending, in a generally upright position from one or both sides of the sheet for self gripping engagement with a receiving layer. The gripping elements may be positioned parallel to one side of the sheet, crosswise or in any predetermined orientation with respect to each other and to the sheet. When bent out of plane, the gripping elements may be perpendicular to the sheet or at any angle less than ninety degrees. A process for making the self gripping device, apparatus for erecting the gripping elements, and a process for rendering a surface self gripping utilizing the self gripping device are also disclosed.

8 Claims, 13 Drawing Figures mum" 1 SELF-GRIPPING DEVICE WITH PREFORMED GRIPPING ELEMENTS This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 179,880, filed Sept. 13, 1971, now abandoned.

quently attached to render areas of articles such as wall studs self gripping.

Self gripping devices can replace conventional fastening techniques such as nailing, gluing, stapling, sewing and the like. Generally these self gripping devices have a plurality of gripping elements such as curved or barbed hooks which are brought into self gripping engagement, whereby the gripping elements penetrate and become lodged in an opposing surface. The self gripping attachment can be permanent or releasable for repositioning or re-attachment. Moreover, self gripping devices eliminate the criticalities involved in alignment and provide an extremely fast, and efficient mean's'for attaching or mounting articles.

With the advent of self gripping devices it has become important to make these devices readily available to the individual home owner as well as the commercial and industrial users in an easy to handle and use form.

SUMlVlARY The present invention provides aself gripping device containing passive preformed gripping elements in a sheet member which can be rolled, packaged, shipped and handled without difficulty and then activated by either erecting the gripping elements approximately simultaneously with the application of self gripping device to a surface to render the same self gripping or erecting the gripping elements and then applying a readily, stripable protective layer to the upright elements. l v

' A self gripping device of the invention includes a sheet member containing gripping elements having distinct gripping means integrally formed therein within a frame in substantially the same plane as the'sheet, the gripping elements being adapted to be positioned, for

example by bending, in a generally upright position from oneor both sides of the sheet for self gripping engage ment with a receiving layer. It is important to note that the gripping elements are capable of self gripping when they are erected and need no additional forming to make them self gripping. The self gripping means are formed directly in the sheet. Process for making the self gripping device, apparatus for erecting the gripping elements for rendering a surface self gripping utilizing the self gripping device, are further embodiments of the invention.

This invention by its very nature affords an almost infinite degree of control over the orientation and type or types of gripping elements. Any number of gripping elements may be positioned in a sheet in any desired pattern, orientation or combination of various types of gripping elements.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 2 is a top plane view of an alternate embodiment of a sheet member having integrally formed gripping elements positioned within a frame therein.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the gripping elements of FIG. 2 erected to the upright position.

FIGS. 4a-4f are side elevational views of several suitable gripping elements which can be integrally formed in the sheet member of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention wherein the strip member similar to FIG. 1 is provided with an adhesive back- FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating preferred apparatus of the invention for erecting the gripping element to the upright position.

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of a strip member of the invention shown wound about a core.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of an alternate embodiment wherein upright gripping elements are lodged in a stripable protective layer.

FIG. 9 is a collapsed sectional view taken along line of 9-9 of FIG. 8 showing also a further embodiment of the invention.

FIG. I0 is a sectional view along line 10-10 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment wherein the sheet member is in the form of a patch with gripping elements bent out from both sides thereof.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a modification of the embodiment of FIGS. 2 and 3 wherein gripping ele ments of different shapes are positioned within a common frame.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view showing a self gripping device of the invention in self gripping engagement with a receiving layer.

DESCRIPTION Referring now to the drawing and in particular to FIGS. 1 and 2, the self gripping device includes a sheet member 10 containing a plurality of gripping elements 12 which are integrally formed in the sheet 10. The gripping elements 12 can be formed in the same plane as the sheet 10 or slightly out of plane and parallel to the sheet 10 as shown for example in FIGS. 5 and 10 discussed below. Thus, the term substantially is intended to encompass both of these configurations.

As shown in FIG. 1, gripping elements 12 can be formed by cutting sheet 10 in the form of the gripping elements desired. In FIGS. 2 and 12 the gripping element 12 are formed in a frame by removing portion 14 of the sheet 10 immediately surrounding the gripping element or elements to an erect, upright position.

The gripping elements 12 are adapted to bepositioned or erected, for example by bending, at the point that the base of the gripping elements are attached to the strip in an upright position from the sheet 10 in self gripping engagement with an opposing receiving layer. FIG. 3 illustrates the self gripping device of FIG. 2 with the gripping elements 12 erected to an upright position.

The gripping elements 12 in the sheet member 10 may be uniformly or randomly distributedand can be oriented in the same direction or in several different directions.

It is also within the scope of the present invention to erect gripping elements 12 from both sides of a strip member 10 in a uniform, alternating or random fashion as is shown for example in FIG. II where the sheet member is in the form of a round patch 90 with gripping elements 12 bent outward from both sides thereof.

FIGS. 4a through 40 illustrate various configurations for the gripping elements.

In FIG. 4a an elongated flat member is shown having at least one downwardly inclined narrow V-shaped cuts or notches 42 therein which self-grips a receiving layer by engagement of the notches 42 therewith. The gripping element 12 of FIG. 4a is particularly suited for gripping filaments of fibers loose at one end or widely secured to two or more locations.

In FIGS. 41; and c the gripping elements 12 have one or more curved hooks 44 and in FIGS. 4d and e the gripping elements 12 have one or more barbs 46. In FIG. 40 the curved book 44 terminates at the top of the curve or it may curve slightly downward to provide a lower retaining or self-gripping force as compared to the more sharply curved hook 44 of FIG. 4c. The gripping element 12 of FIG. 4d is also provided with a sharp edge 47 on the interior of the barb 46 (or it may be on the interior of hooks 44) and the shaft of the gripping element which is especially suited for gripping fibers or filaments loose at one end or widely secured'to two or more locations.

In FIGS. and the sheet 10 is shown to include gripping elements 12 best at 52 parallel and out of plane to sheet 10 and a layer of an adhesive material 50 which serves to secure the strip to a surface. The layer 50 can be formed from a hot melt adhesive, a solvent activated adhesive, a pressure sensitive adhesive, solder, brazing, alloys and the like. In erecting gripping elements 12 in the plane of sheet 10, the adhesive layer 50 may be of such a nature that it becomes separated from the gripping elements 12 when they are erected or upon self gripping engagement with a receiving layer. However, as shown in FIG. 10, if the elements 12 are slightly above but still substantially within the plane of the sheet, the adhesive layer 50 does not coat the elements but only the back of sheet 10.

In FIG. 7 a strip member 10 containing preformed gripping elements 12 is shown wound around a core which has a diameter substantially larger than the length of the gripping elements integrally formed in strip 10.

FIGS. 6 illustrates suitable apparatus for erecting gripping elernents 12 in a sheet member 10 such as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The apparatus includes means for feeding a length of the sheet 10 (such as the roll of FIG. 7) and and means for engaging the gripping elements 12 to bend them upward (or downward depending on the point of reference) from the sheet 10. In the embodiment shown, a reciprocating member 70 is provided with a plurality of lugs 72 which are aligned and spaced so as to engage the gripping elements 12 to erect same. Also shown is a plate member 74 having openings 76 therein which cooperate with the lugs 72. The plate 74 is adapted to act as a support for the strip '10 while the gripping elements 12 are bent downwards therefrom through the opening 76.

' The profile of lugs 72 may be rounded as shown or sharp edged to provide control over the typeof bend desired in erecting gripping elements 12.

Itis also within the scope of this invention to utilize a second reciprocating member on the opposite side of plate 74 to erect gripping elements 12 from both sides of sheet 10. In this embodiment, pressure means 78 may be associated with the apparatus to force the, gripping elements on one side of the strip into self gripping engagement with a receiving layer. This can be done sequentially or almost simultaneously with the erection of the gripping elements.

Means may also be provided to activate an adhesive layer on a strip 10 such as layer 50 shown in FIG. 5. For example, if the adhesive layer is a hot melt adhesive, a

source of energy such as a flame, electric heating ele ment or electric arc, infrared radar or an ultrasonic source, and the like, can be positioned to activate the adhesive at the same time the gripping elements 12 are being erected. This makes it possible to attach the self gripping device with the elements 12 upright to the surface of our article to render same self gripping.

It should be understood that the lugs 72 on reciprocating member can also be mounted on a drum or cylinder for rotation and registration with cooperating plate or drum means having slots therein similar to plate 74 for successively blending gripping elements upward from one or both sides of a sheet member. It should also be noted that suitable cutting means such as reciprocating blade 80 can be utilized with the apparatus of the invention to sever the strip member at a desired location. I

For certain applications, it is desirable to erect the elements 12 and then cover them with a stripable protective layer such as shown by reference numeral 80 is. FIGS. 8 and 9. The layer 80 has ,a thickness approximately equal or greater than the height of elements 12 and can be formed from any penetratable porous or fibrous material such as polyurethane foam or any of the materials mentioned below for the receiving layer The layer 80 can also be readily utilized with the embodiments shown in FIGS. 5 and 11.

The protective layer 80 is self gripped by the elements l2 and can be stripped ofi' to expose the gripping elements 12 for use. However, the layer 80 can be made of a resilient material such as felt, carpet-like materials, sponge, plastic foam and the like, that remains in place over the elements 12. In this instance, when the layer 80 is compressed, the elements 12 protrude out of the layer80 and are then capable of self gripping engagement with a receiving layer or a similar self gripping device with a protective layer as is shown in FIG. 9.

Referring to FIG. 13, the process of the invention for rendering a surface self gripping broadly, includes the steps of bending the gripping elements l2upward from the sheet member 10 and securing strip 10 to a surface 102. The sheet member 10 can be secured to the surface by any of the techniques noted previously, for example, by using an adhesive layer as illustrated in FIG. 5 or by bending gripping elements upward from both sides of the sheet and forcing the gripping elements on one side of the sheet into self gripping engagement with the surface. The upright element 12 can then penetrate and become lodged in receiving layer 101 which is shown attached to backing member 100.

The sheet member 10 may be formed from metal, plastic, glassor laminates including any of these, and in addition, for example, paper, cardboard, carpet, porous, woven and non-woven materials and the like. The sheet member 10 is preferably made of metal such as steel. stainless steel. copper, copper alloys such as berylium-copper, bronze, aluminum, titanium, and the like. Particularly useful for the sheet member 10 are laminates of plasticand metal. It should also be noted thatthe sheet member l0 can be coated with conventional coating substances such as lacquer, varnish, latex and the like before or after preforming the gripping ele ments therein or erecting same to an upright position. The sheet member can also be selectively coated so as to leave bare the gripping elements such as in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5.

The gripping elements of the device of the invention can be preformed in a strip or sheet member according to the process of the invention using any number of techniques such as stamping, cutting. masking and etching using photographic or printing masking techniques, and the like, and thereafter erecting the grip ping elements from one or both sides of the sheet. Etch ing is a particularly desirable technique in that it permits tailoring of the shape and profile of the gripping elements. For example, the gripping elements themselves can be partially masked so as to form an interior or exterior sharp or serrated edge on the gripping elements such as shown in FIG. 43.

The nature of the self gripping action by the upright gripping elements may be permanent or reversible depending upon the nature of the gripping elements and the receiving layers which come into self gripping engagement therewith. For example, the gripping ele ments may be formed in the shape of rigid hooks or barbs which permanently self grip a rigid receiving layer such as metal mesh. On the other hand the gripping elements may be resilient or may be provided with a cutting edge as noted previously to facilitate removal from a receiving layer such as a fibrous or carpeblike receiving layer. In general, the gripping elements are sufficiently stiff such that they resist deflection which would otherwise prevent them from penetrating and becoming lodged in the receiving layer. For this reason also, it is preferred that the gripping elements be bent upward at right angles from the strip member, but they may also be inclined at a lesser angle depending on the particular application of the self gripping device.

The gripping elements generally range in length from about 0.005 to about 0.750.

Suitable receiving layers for self gripping engagement with the self gripping device of the invention can be made of any material which is sufficiently soft or porous to permit the gripping elements to penetrate and lodge therein. The thickness of the receiving layer de pends on the nature and size of the gripping elements and generally falls within the range of 0.002 to 0.75 inch. Suitable receiving layers include woven, nonwoven and knitted fabrics and fibers, carpet-like materials, molded and foamed plastics, wood, cork, leather, paper, cardboard, metal and plastic mesh, expanded and perforated sheet materials fabricated from metals and plastics, and the like.

The self-gripping device of the invention has wide utility. The device may be used in general to efficiently and quickly render virtually any surface self gripping. For example, wall studs may be rapidly rendered self gripping utilizing a strip member wherein gripping elements are bent upwards on both sides thereof. Once ap plied to the wall studs, wall panels including fiberboard and gypsum board can be rapidly attached to the self gripping wall studs. The invention also provides for delicate and economic control over the mounting pattern and orientation of the self gripping device. They can be readily used by individuals and commercial users to render selected areas of surfaces or entire surfaces of articles-self gripping, such as wall cladding materials, panels, tile. sheets, decorative trim and the like.

Returning to the drawing and in particular to FIG. 4], a further gripping element 12, is shown to include an elongated flat member having at least one downwardly inclined integral linguiform tab 40 thereon which selfgrips a receiving layer comprising, for example, fibers and/or filaments by engagement of the tabs 40 therewith. Thus, the gripping elements with their distinct tab gripping means are both substantially in the same plane as the sheet. This is true for FIGS. 1 and 2 where the elements 12 are flat and for FIGS. 4f, 5, and 10 where the gripping elements and the gripping means are slightly above but still substantially within the same plane as the sheet 10.

It should be noted further that the self gripping device of the invention can be flexible, resilient, stiff and- /or rigidv Depending on the relative dimensions, a sheet member having preformed gripping elements therein can be rolled as described above in comnection with FIG. 7 whereas the individual self gripping devices formed therefrom can be stiff or rigid. Also any self gripping device of the invention made of metal may have its base and/or upright gripping elements posttreated using metallurgical techniques to modify their physical or chemical properties such as hardness and the like. Such techniques include for example quenching, tempering, precipitation hardening, cold forming, nitridation, cladding for example by flame spraying, case-carburization and the like. The post treating can also involve reorienting the gripping elements after they are erected as for example by twisting them about their vertical axes as shown in FIG. 8.

The apparatus of the invention may be used to secure a plurality of self gripping devices in place. The apparatus may be used in tandum to secure self gripping devices of the invention to particular articles such as intermediate and component parts of various assemblies including exterior and interior assembly panels and parts, wall panels, trim and the like.

What is claimed is:

1. Self gripping device comprising a sheet member containing a multiplicity of gripping elements distributed in all directions over said sheet member, said gripping elements having distinct gripping means integrally formed therein within a frame said gripping means being oriented transverse to the longitudinal axis of said sheet member, said gripping elements and the distinct gripping means being bent parallel and generally in a common plane and out of plane to the sheet, said gripping elements being adapted to be positioned in a generally upright position from one side of said sheet for self gripping engagement with a receiving layer, the opposite side of said sheet having an adhesive layer applied thereto without coating the parallel out of plane gripping elements.

2. Self gripping device of claim 1 wherein said gripping means are barbs.

3. Self gripping device of claim 1 wherein the gripping elements are positioned in a contour frame.

4. Self gripping device of claim 1 wherein more than one gripping elements are each positioned in an open frame.

5. Self gripping device of claim I wherein the gripping elements have more than one shape.

7 8 6. Self gripping device of claim 1 wherein the grip- 8. Self gripping device of claim 1 wherein the gripping means comprise at least one of a curved hook. ping elements are elongated fl members having at 7. Self gripping device of claim 1 wherein the gripping means comprise one of a curved hook with a sharp edge on the interior of the hook.

least one downwardly inclined narrow V-shaped cuts.

Claims

2. Self gripping device of claim 1 wherein said gripping means are barbs.

5. Self gripping device of claim 1 wherein the gripping elements have more than one shape.

6. Self gripping device of claim 1 wherein the gripping means comprise at least one of a curved hook.

7. Self gripping device of claim 1 wherein the gripping means comprise one of a curved hook with a sharp edge on the interior of the hook.

8. Self gripping device of claim 1 wherein the gripping elements are elongated flat members having at least one downwardly inclined narrow V-shaped cuts.