Flexible or portable closure – partition – or panel – Hanging or drape type
Reexamination Certificate
2000-10-26
2002-05-07
Purol, David M. (Department: 3634)
Flexible or portable closure, partition, or panel
Hanging or drape type
C024S306000, C024S716000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06382297
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cloth hanging engaging device which easily connects a curtain rail to various types of screens such as a curtain, an interior material engaging device which is disposed between a mounting body such as indoor ceiling, floor, panel material and the like and a sheet material such as mat, carpet, wall material, ceiling material, dash board and the like to fix the mounting body and the sheet material by engagement, synthetic resin engaging device for fixing threads or the like and an engaging device which can substitute for clothes buttons.
2. Description of the Related Art
A cloth hanging engaging device has been disclosed in for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 4-104909, in which, in order to improve efficiency in operation for replacing a curtain or screen, the cloth hanging engaging device is disposed between a runner to be attached to a curtain rail or guide bar and a curtain or the like so as to facilitate the attachment and detachment of the curtains or the like. This cloth hanging engaging device has a plurality of hook elements in plural rows on a surface of a plate-like substrate which are formed integrally therewith and a hook-shaped hanger portion is formed of the same synthetic resin material integrally on a top end of the substrate so as to be hooked on the aforementioned runner. The hook elements are arranged vertically and a plurality of rows thereof are disposed in the width direction from the right to the left. The hooking direction of the hook elements in the same hook row is the same. The hook elements of all the hook rows which are adjacent to each other may be directed to the same direction or part of the hook elements may be directed to opposite direction. This kind of the engaging device secures an engaging strength by directing the hooking direction thereof in most hook rows upward as shown in
FIG. 5
because the curtain is supported while it hangs downward.
Various kinds of interior materials are attached to, for example, automobile ceiling, floor, door panel portion or house's wall portion, ceiling, floor and the like. A surface fastener is used for such an attachment. Although conventionally, ultrasonic fusion, pressure-sensitive welding and the like are used to fix a male/female engaging device of the surface fastener to a mounting body or interior material, such methods have deficiency in durability and fixing strength. Therefore, interior material fixing engaging device having a post-like protrusion with two-wing elastic engaging portions composed of a pair of right and left wing pieces on its tip provided on a rear surface of the plate-like substrate so that it protrudes therefrom, and a multiplicity of the hook elements are formed of synthetic resin. Then, the elastic engaging portions are elastically deformed and inserted into a hole provided in the mounting body. Using an elastic restoration of the same engaging portion, front and rear surfaces of the mounting body are nipped and fixed by the substrate and engaging portion.
Such interior material fixing engaging devices have been disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 51-651, Japanese Utility Model publication No. 54-26089, and Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 57-31250, indicating that this is used often for interior construction of houses as well as automobile. Recently, use of the aforementioned elastic engaging portion as a curtain rail runner has been proposed in for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 3-21285. In such a kind of the interior material engaging device, usually, to avoid generation of directivity in engaging strength, the surface of a substrate is divided to plural sections and a plurality of hook elements are disposed in each section. The hooking direction of the hook elements arranged in the same row is set to be the same and the hooking directions are set opposite between adjacent hook rows. Then, the hooking directions are perpendicular to each other between adjacent sections.
As this kind of the engaging device, for example, string length adjusting engaging device applicable for loop tie, opening tightening device for various bags, or hem tightening device of various jumpers, or opening/closing engaging device for clothes substituting for ordinary buttons are used as well as the aforementioned engaging device. These engaging devices each have a plurality of hook elements made of synthetic resin on the substrate surface made of the same synthetic resin having any shape.
Any of the aforementioned hook elements formed on the substrate surface of each of these engaging devices has the same hooking direction in the same hook row. On the other hand, for these kinds of the engaging devices, in order to secure a sufficient engaging strength, the amount of plasticizing material to be added to synthetic resin which is composition material is set lower than an engaging device in which an ordinary elasticity is demanded. Therefore, brittleness increases although some extent of high rigidity is secured. Thus, in case where the hook element disposed at the most outer end of a hook row is directed inward of the hook row, if an external force directed outward is applied to the hook element when the hook element at the most outer end portion engages with the mating loop element or the engaging device is operated by holding with the finger so as to attach it, the engaging device may be deformed largely. At this time, there is nothing that backs up the same hook element and this hook element is located near an edge of the substrate, therefore this hook element often reaches a breaking point so that it is broken.
Particularly, in case of the aforementioned cloth hanging engaging device, most of the curtain weight is supported by the hook elements disposed at a lower end of the engaging device so that a larger load is applied as compared to the other hook elements. As a result, fatigue is increased with a passage of time if the engagement/disengagement is repeated. For example, when it is intended to separate the curtain or the like from its top end, the hook elements located at a second tier from a bottom as well as the hook elements disposed at the bottom edge are likely to be broken. This is because there are no hook elements or substrate which backs up the hook elements in a bending direction located at the first and second tiers disposed at the bottom edge when the curtain or the like is separated. Thus, they are bent more largely as compared to the hook elements disposed upward thereof so that fatigue is increased as well as the aforementioned brittleness, thereby leading to breaking. The same thing can be said for the above described various kinds of the engaging devices also.
According to, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 7-155221 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,615,461), it has been proposed that the hooking direction of all the hook elements disposed on the peripheral portion of the engaging device or at least those located at the most outer end thereof are directed outward. For example, if it is intended to separate the curtain attached to the engaging device downward from its top end, the hooking direction of all the hook elements located at the bottom end of the engaging device coincide with the separation direction, so that the separation can be achieved very smoothly. Further, no unnecessary force is applied to the hook elements disposed at the lower end thereby ensuring a long period use.
Even if the curtain load is applied to hook elements located above the bottom end of the engaging device and having upward hooking direction, the backup function is exerted because hook elements whose hooking direction is directed downward exist below the aforementioned hook elements. Consequently, they are not deformed largely and even if the engagement is repeated, the fatigue is not increased and therefore, they bear a long period use and are not broken. Further, a force is applied in various directions to the curtai
Takahashi Yoshinobu
Takizawa Toshiaki
Purol David M.
YKK Corporation
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