Touch fastener products

Abstract

Touch fasteners for use as mold inserts in molding seat foam buns include a strip-form base a magnetically attractable material disposed on the strip-form base; and film selvedges biased to depend downward from the strip-form base toward the fastening side, such that they will be deflected away from the fastening side as the fastener is pressed into an associated trench.

1 . A touch fastener strip comprising:
 a strip-form base comprising a first face and a second opposing face extending between lateral edges;   a plurality of fastener elements extending in an array from the second face of the strip-form base;   a magnetically attractable material attached to the strip-form base;   a flexible backing secured to the first face of the base and extending beyond the lateral edges to form selvedges; and   wherein the backing is shaped such that the selvedges extend, in an unloaded state and in the direction of the fastener elements, beyond the second face of the strip-form base.   
   
   
       2 . The touch fastener of  claim 1 , wherein the selvedges are deflectable towards the first face between about 10 and 160 degrees when placed in sealing engagement with a mold surface. 
   
   
       3 . The touch fastener of  claim 1 , wherein the selvedges extend away from a plane of the first face of the strip-form base between about 20 and 70 degrees. 
   
   
       4 . The touch fastener of  claim 1 , wherein the selvedges extend away from the plane of the first face of the strip-form base between about 25 and 35 degrees. 
   
   
       5 . The touch fastener of  claim 1 , wherein the selvedges comprise a single continuous film secured to the strip-form base. 
   
   
       6 . The touch fastener of  claim 1 , wherein the selvedges extend away from the base in a curve. 
   
   
       7 . The touch fastener of  claim 1 , wherein the selvedges include a region of reduced stiffness to localize deflection of the selvedges. 
   
   
       8 . The touch fastener of  claim 1 , wherein the selvedges deflect to lay in face-to-face contact with a mold surface. 
   
   
       9 . The touch fastener of  claim 8 , wherein the mold surface is flat and the selvedges deflect into a mold contact position substantially parallel to the plane of the strip-form base. 
   
   
       10 . The touch fastener of  claim 1 , wherein the selvedges are formed from a film attached to the first face of the sheet form base and cover the magnetically attractable material. 
   
   
       11 . The touch fastener of  claim 1 , wherein the selvedges comprise a film less than about 0.010 inch (0.254 mm) thick. 
   
   
       12 . The touch fastener of  claim 1 , wherein the selvedges are a woven or a non-woven fabric. 
   
   
       13 . The touch fastener of  claim 1 , wherein the magnetically attractable material is disposed in a strip extending substantially an entire length of the touch fastener and substantially centered in a width of the touch fastener. 
   
   
       14 . The touch fastener of  claim 1 , wherein the magnetically attractable material is disposed on the second face of the strip-form base. 
   
   
       15 . The touch fastener of  claim 1 , wherein the magnetically attractable material is a frangible composite material. 
   
   
       16 . The touch fastener of  claim 1 , wherein the strip-form base includes a peripheral portion that is free of fastener elements for forming a primary sealing interface with the mold and the selvedges extend beyond the base to form a secondary sealing interface with the mold. 
   
   
       17 . A method of forming a seat foam bun, the method comprising:
 providing a mold cavity having a shape corresponding to a desired shape of the foam bun;   positioning a touch fastener in the mold cavity, the touch fastener comprising a strip-form base comprising a first face and a second opposing face; a plurality of fastener elements disposed in an array on the second face of the strip-form base; a magnetically attractable material attached to the strip-form base; flexible lateral selvedges extending in an unloaded state beyond the second face of the strip-form base in the direction of the fastener elements at an angle θ between 10 and 80 degrees from the plane of the strip-form base; and   delivering a foamable resin into the mold cavity to form a seat foam bun, the resin flowing across the selvedges of the touch fastener.   
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising deflecting the selvedges towards the first face between about 10 and 160 degrees into face-to-face contact with a mold surface. 
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the touch fastener further comprises a material disposed on the second face of the base, the material surrounding the plurality of fastener elements and forming a gasket between the base and a surface of the mold cavity. 
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the selvedges extend at an angle θ between about 25 and 35 degrees. 
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the selvedges extend beyond the base in a curve. 
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the selvedges include a region of reduced stiffness to localize deflection of the selvedges. 
   
   
       23 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the mold surface is flat and the selvedges deflect into a mold contact position substantially parallel to the strip-form base. 
   
   
       24 . A seat foam bun comprising:
 a foam bun; and   positioned onto the foam bun, a touch fastener comprising   a strip-form base comprising a first upper face and a second lower opposing face;   a plurality of fastener elements disposed in an array on the lower face of the strip-form base;   a magnetically attractable material secured to the strip-form base; and   flexible lateral selvedges extending beyond the strip-form base and being deflected upwards between about 10 and 160 degrees from an unloaded downward angle θ of between 10 and 80 degrees relative to the plane of the strip-form base.