Hook structure of a soft hook strap of a hook-and-loop fastener

Abstract

An improved hook structure, of a soft hook strap of a hook-and-loop fastener, has a width W and includes: a hook body integrally protruding upright from a substrate of the hook strap; and a curved head portion curvedly bent downwardly from a top end of the hook body, the head portion including a hook end and a neck portion extending between the hook body and the hook end, wherein a lower side of the neck portion has a curvature defined by an imaginary circle located in a space between the hook body and the hook end and the head portion has a height H defined by points A and B on head portion which are intersection points of a imaginary vertical line passing through the center of the circle intersecting with an upper side and the lower side of the head portion respectively. The width W of the hook structure and the height H of the head portion satisfies a relationship defined below:0.1<1-HW<0.3.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates generally to hook-and-loop fasteners, and more specifically, to an improved hook structure of a soft hook strap of a hook-and-loop fastener.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]A hook-and-loop fastener (also known as ‘Velcro’) is a well know mechanical fastener and wildly used in a variety of fields that need to fasten two separate parts together, such as garment, shoes, personal care product (such as diapers) etc., because of its easy engaging / disengaging features. The hook-and-loop type fastener mainly consists of a hook strap on which an array of hooks are formed and a loop member on which a plurality of loops are formed to be engage with the hooks of the hook strap. In order to be applicable to different applications, the design of the hook-and-loop fastener (especially, the hook strap) has to be modified to meet specific requirements of a specific application.[0003]For instance, in the field of clothing and garment, the hook...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention provides a hook strap with a proper softness and flexibility that prevents premature breakage and breakage of the hooks and loops, leading to a long service life while maintaining a proper suppleness of the hook strap. The hook structure is designed with carefully and specially designed dimensions to properly engage with the loops of a loop strap, and prevents undesired stress concentration on the hooks.

Problems solved by technology

Additionally, in the field of diapers, because the hook strap used on a diaper as a fastening means to fasten the diaper on a wear is in direct contact with wear's skin, thus if the hook strap does not have sufficient suppleness, the wearer of the diaper may feel uncomfortable and may even leave a mark on the skin of the wearer.

Therefore, it is a long existing challenge in the field of hook-and-loop fastener to provide a hook strap which can exhibit proper suppleness while providing fastening function with characteristics such as being able to engage the loops firmly, having sufficient engaging strength, having robust hooks that are not easily to break so as to extending the service life.

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