Fasteners bonded to substrate materials without puncturing the materials

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed for fasteners bonded to substrate materials without puncturing the materials. An example fastening system includes a male fastener component and a female fastener. The example male fastener component includes a base plate bonded to a first substrate material without puncturing the first substrate material, and a post integrally formed with the base plate, the base plate and the post formed of a polyurethane material. The example female fastener component includes a housing defining a cavity configured to engage with the post of the male fastener component. The housing is made of the polyurethane material and bonded to a second substrate material without puncturing the second substrate material.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A fastening system comprising:
 a male fastener component comprising:
 a base plate bonded to a first substrate material without puncturing the first substrate material; and 
 a post integrally formed with the base plate, the base plate and the post formed of a polyurethane material; and 
   a female fastener component comprising a housing defining a cavity configured to engage with the post of the male fastener component, the housing made of the polyurethane material and bonded to a second substrate material without puncturing the second substrate material.   
     
     
         2 . The fastening system of  claim 1 , wherein the post of the male fastener component is configured to press fit into the cavity of the housing of the female fastener component. 
     
     
         3 . The fastening system of  claim 1 , wherein the post of the male fastener component comprises a flared lip and the base of the female fastener component is resilient and flexibly expands to receive and contract around the flared lip. 
     
     
         4 . The fastening system of  claim 3 , where the post of the male fastener component comprises a resilient flared lip that flexibly deforms to enter the cavity of female fastening component to snap fit into the cavity of female fastening component. 
     
     
         5 . The fastening system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the male fastening component and the female fastening component is cast onto the respective substrate material, thereby forming a permanent bond thereto. 
     
     
         6 . The fastening system of  claim 6 , wherein the at least one of the male fastening component and the female fastening component is cast onto the respective substrate material via compression molding. 
     
     
         7 . The fastening system of  claim 1 , wherein the base of the post is integrally formed of a first polyurethane and a tip of the post is formed from a second different polyurethane that has a different hardness than the first polyurethane. 
     
     
         8 . The fastening system of  claim 1 , wherein the base plate flexible and is less than a millimeter thick. 
     
     
         9 . The fastening system of  claim 1 , wherein the post has a non-geometric shape. 
     
     
         10 . A fastening system comprising:
 a first fastener component formed onto, via molding, to a first surface of a flexible material without puncturing the flexible material, the first fastener component comprising a plurality of posts; and   a second fastener component formed onto, via molding, to a second surface of the flexible material without puncturing the flexible material, the second fastener component configured to mate with the first fastener.   
     
     
         11 . The fastening system of  claim 10 , wherein the second fastener component defines a plurality of slots configured to engage with the plurality of posts via press fitting. 
     
     
         12 . The fastening system of  claim 10 , wherein the plurality of posts have flared lips. 
     
     
         13 . The fastening system of  claim 12 , wherein the second fastener component defines a plurality of slots configured to engage with the plurality of posts via snap fitting. 
     
     
         14 . The fastening system of  claim 12 , wherein the plurality of posts of the first fastener component are arranged in a first array, wherein the second fastener component comprises a plurality of posts arranged in a second array, and wherein the plurality of posts of the first fastener component are configured to interlock with the plurality of posts of the second fastener component. 
     
     
         15 . The fastening system of  claim 10 , wherein the first fastener component comprises a base plate integrally formed with the plurality of posts, the base plate being flexible to deform in conjunction with the flexible material. 
     
     
         16 . The fastening system of  claim 12 , wherein the second fastener component comprises a base plate, and wherein the plurality of cavities are defined within the base plate. 
     
     
         17 . The fastening system of  claim 12 , wherein the plurality of posts have non-circular cross-sections. 
     
     
         18 . A method of fastening two surfaces, comprising:
 aligning a post of a first fastening component with a cavity defined by a second fastening component, the first fastening component molded onto a first surface without puncturing the first surface and the second fastening component molded onto a second surface without puncturing the second surface; and   applying force to press the post of the first fastening component into the cavity of the second fastening component.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein applying the force to the first fastening component and the second fastening component causes the second fastening component to flexibly expand to receive the post, the cavity contracting around the a flared lip of the post.