Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Structurally defined web or sheet – Including fastener for attaching to external surface
Patent
1996-08-30
1998-04-07
Thomas, Alexander
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Structurally defined web or sheet
Including fastener for attaching to external surface
428100, 24451, A44B 1800
Patent
active
057362165
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of Utilization in Industry
This invention relates to a face fastener having a high silencing property.
2. Background
Fasteners have been used as plastic components in industrial fields, particularly in the automobile industry. Recently, silence has become one of the important factors for the improvement of automobile quality, and reduction or suppression of offensive noise, such as creak noise resulting from the movement of engaged fasteners, has been desired earnestly.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) Nos. 4-224856 and 2-66365 disclose a low noise gear resin prepared by blending polyethylene wax and silicone oil to a polyacetal resin. Though the polyacetal resin has high mechanical strength, it has low toughness, a high specific gravity and a high cost of production. Another problem is that when the polyacetal resin is used in an engaged face fastener, it is easily broken from its stem portion. When a low molecular weight compound such as polyethylene wax or silicone oil is added, a silencing effect can be temporarily obtained, it is true, but the effect does not last for a long time because the compound falls off from the surface.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 5-192939 discloses an engaged face fastener comprising nylon, polypropylene, polyacetal, or the like. Although such an engaged face fastener has various advantages such as easiness of production and a high engagement strength, it is not free from the drawback in that when it is used for the application where vibration is applied to the face fastener, such as fixing members of interior decoration materials of automobiles, it generates offensive noise. Nylon, for example, has high hygroscopicity and when it absorbs moisture, its mechanical strength drops and causes so-called "shake", so that offensive noise is likely to occur. Polypropylene has low heat resistance and low wear resistance and its mechanical strength is likely to drop during use. Accordingly, noise and creak are likely to occur.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a fastener which has high mechanical strength and high durability, and can be produced easily. Moreover, the fastener of the invention does not generate noise when engaged with a second component and vibration is applied thereto.
The advantages of the present invention are achieved by the use of fastener having a high silencing property. In one embodiment, the fastener of the invention comprises a base portion, a stem portion implanted and interconnected to the base portion in a spaced-apart relationship by a predetermined distance from the base portion, and a head portion interconnected to the distal end of the base portion. When the fastener is engaged, the sliding resistance of the fastener is reduced with respect to a relative moving operation of the engaged face fastener.
Preferably, the sliding resistance is reduced by using, as at least a part of the stem portion or the head portion, a polyphase polymer material comprising a first polymer resin and a second polymer resin containing at least a fluorocarbon resin or an ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene resin.
As used herein, the term "polyphase" that the two polymers form a sea-island like phase-separated structure, and more preferably, the first polymer forms a continuous phase (sea) and the second polymer forms a discontinuous phase (islands). The islands preferably have a size of from 0.01 to 100 .mu.m.
Therefore, the islands (or the dispersed discontinuous phase) can remarkably improve the silencing properties without lowering good mechanical properties and chemical properties of the first polymer.
On the other hand, an excess amount of discontinuous phase, for example, an addition of an excess mount of fluorine-containing polymer provides a larger size of discontinuous phases which act like continuous phase, and lowers mechanical properties of the first polymer, and it is not preferable to use an excess amount of discontinuous polymer.
In another embodime
REFERENCES:
patent: 4198734 (1980-04-01), Brumlik
patent: 4290174 (1981-09-01), Kalleberg
patent: 4290832 (1981-09-01), Kalleberg
patent: 4894060 (1990-01-01), Nestegard
patent: 5077870 (1992-01-01), Melbye et al.
patent: 5242646 (1993-09-01), Torigoe et al.
Sawajiri Osamu
Shibahara Norihito
Takahashi Hiroaki
Torigoe Shinji
Bardell Scott A.
Knecht III Harold C.
Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
Thomas Alexander
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