U.S. patent application number 11/015487 was filed with the patent office on 2006-06-22 for fastener and method of making same.
Invention is credited to William E. Adams.
Application Number | 20060130294 11/015487 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 36593879 |
Filed Date | 2006-06-22 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060130294 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Adams; William E. |
June 22, 2006 |
Fastener and method of making same
Abstract
A fastener has a body with an attachment surface and a holding
surface. A large number of tiny hairs protrude from the attachment
surface. A hook, post, ring or other structure extends from the
holding surface to permit an object to be hung from or attached to
the fastener. The attachment surface can be formed by depositing or
growing the hairs on a substrate or by using a mold to form the
hairs.
Inventors: |
Adams; William E.;
(Portersville, PA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BUCHANAN INGERSOLL, P.C.
P.O. BOX 1404
ALEXANDRIA
VA
22313-1404
US
|
Family ID: |
36593879 |
Appl. No.: |
11/015487 |
Filed: |
December 16, 2004 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
24/442 |
Current CPC
Class: |
Y10T 24/27 20150115;
A44B 18/0046 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
024/442 |
International
Class: |
A44B 18/00 20060101
A44B018/00 |
Claims
1. A fastener comprised of: a body having an attachment surface and
a holding surface; a plurality of hairs extending from the
attachment surface, the hairs sized and spaced so that when the
attachment surface is pressed against a second surface Van der
Waals forces between the attachment surface and the smooth surface
will hold the body and a weight held by the body on the second
surface; and a holding member extending from the holding surface,
the holding member configured to hold a structure having a weight
not greater than the weight which can be held by the body when that
body is pressed against the second surface.
2. The fastener of claim 1 wherein the holding member is a hook,
post or a ring.
3. The fastener of claim 1 wherein the body is flexible.
4. The fastener of claim 1 wherein the body is vinyl or
silicon.
5. The fastener of claim 1 wherein the hairs are nanotubes.
6. The fastener of claim 1 wherein the attachment surface is
concave.
7. A method of making a fastener of the type in which a flexible
body has an attachment surface and a holding surface comprising:
providing a body having a first surface and a second surface;
providing a plurality of hairs on the first surface to create the
attachment surface; and providing at least one holding member on
the second surface to create the holding surface.
8. The method of claim 7 wherein the holding member is a hook, a
post or a ring.
9. The method of claim 7 wherein the flexible body is vinyl or
silicon.
10. The method of claim 7 wherein the hairs are nanotubes.
11. The method of claim 7 wherein the plurality of hairs are
provided by drilling or etching the first surface.
12. The method of claim 7 wherein the plurality of hairs are
provided by being grown on the first surface.
13. The method of claim 7 wherein the plurality of hairs are
provided by being extruded from the first surface.
14. The method of claim 7 wherein the plurality of hairs are
provided by vapor deposition.
15. The method of claim 1 wherein the holding member is provided by
forming the second surface to create at least one hook, post or
ring.
Description
FIELD OF INVENTION
[0001] The invention relates to fasteners which are applied to a
surface to hold an object on that surface and methods of making
those fasteners.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] One type of fastener that is commonly used to hold objects
on a smooth surface is a suction cup. Suction cups have a flexible
concave body and a neck extending from the body. When the concave
surface is pressed against a smooth surface air is expelled from
the region between the concave surface of the suction cup and the
smooth surface against which the suction cup is pressed. After the
pressing force is removed, the concave body seeks to return to its
original shape which forms a vacuum between the suction cup and the
smooth surface. The vacuum holds the cup on the smooth surface.
Objects may then be hung from the neck of the suction cup. One
advantage that suction cups have over nails, screws and adhesives
is that they do not mar the surface on which they are attached. A
disadvantage of using a suction cup as a fastener for holding
objects is that suction cups can only be used on flat, smooth
surfaces. Any irregularity or curvature in the surface may cause
the suction cup to release from the surface immediately or after a
short period of time.
[0003] Vinyl cut-outs have been used to decorate mirrors, windows
and other smooth surfaces. When pressed against such a surface to
remove air from between abutting surfaces, the cut-outs will remain
on the mirror, window or other smooth surface for many weeks. These
vinyl cut-outs may also be applied to smooth curved surfaces.
However, the forces that keep the vinyl cut-out from falling are
not strong enough to permit objects to be hung from the
cut-out.
[0004] Many have observed geckos and insects climb and hang on
vertical surfaces. Recently, scientists have discovered that the
secret behind many such extraordinary climbing skills lies with
millions of tiny keratin hairs, called setae, on the surface of
each foot. An intermolecular phenomenon known as Van der Waals
force is exerted by each hair. The combined effect of the millions
of hairs collectively produce a powerful adhesive effect.
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University created a material made
of millions of artificial hairs on a flexible substrate. Each
synthetic hair is made of a material called kapton and measures 2.0
microns in height and 0.2 microns in diameter. The product was made
using a mold created by a lithographic process. A piece of this
material, which was one centimeter square and having about 100
million artificial hairs, was able to support a weight of one
kilogram. Yet, scientists were concerned that the artificial hairs
they had produced were not durable enough to be reapplied several
times and the method used to fabricate the product would not lend
itself to mass production of the product.
[0005] Consequently, there is a need for a process and material
that together can produce a fastener that could be attached to and
grip a surface in the same manner as the gecko. The method should
be able to mass produce the product. Additionally, the product
should have a hook or other structure that allows objects to be
hung from or attached to the fastener.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] I provide a fastener having a body with an attachment
surface and a holding surface. A large number of tiny hair-like
structures, hereinafter called hairs, protrude from the attachment
surface. A hook, post, ring or other structure extends from the
holding surface to permit an object to be hung from or attached to
the fastener. The body can be a resin, preferably vinyl or
silicon.
[0007] In a first present preferred process the hairs are formed on
the attachment surface by drilling holes or tracks in the surface
with one or more laser beams. The laser can rapidly create the
tracks and holes that separate the hairs.
[0008] In a second present preferred process the hairs are grown on
the attachment surface. This can be done using a particle
deposition process such as vapor deposition.
[0009] In a third present preferred process the hairs are formed by
a mold placed over the base material such as vinyl. The mold has
hundreds of closely spaced, very small holes. A vacuum is applied
to the top of the mold, drawing some base material into the holes
and thereby forming the hairs. Then the vacuum is removed and the
base material with hairs is separated from the mold. This ejection
may be helped by air pressure or by curling the molded part away
from the mold.
[0010] In another present preferred process the skin of an animal
having closely spaced hair is selected. The hairy side is shaved to
provide very short hairs on the skin. A hook, post or other
structure is attached to the opposite side of the skin.
[0011] Other objects and advantages of the present fastener and
methods of making same will become apparent from certain present
preferred embodiments shown in the drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0012] FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a present preferred
embodiment of my fastener.
[0013] FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the fastener shown in
FIG. 1.
[0014] FIG. 3 is a greatly magnified view of the portion of the
fastener within circle 3 in FIG. 2.
[0015] FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV of
FIG. 3.
[0016] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a portion of a mold on a
portion of base material which can be used in a present preferred
process to make the fastener shown in FIGS. 1 through 4.
DESCRIPTIONS OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0017] A first present preferred fastener 1, shown in FIGS. 1
through 4, has a flexible body 2 having a holding surface 4 from
which objects can be held, or to which objects may be attached, and
an attachment surface 6 which is pressed against an object or
surface on which the fastener will be placed.
[0018] The holding surface 4 has a holding member 5 which is
configured to receive an object. The holding member 5 may be
configured as a hook, as illustrated in FIG. 1, or a post, ring or
other shape which can receive an object. Multiple hooks, rings or
posts could be provided. The holding member 5 may be integral with
the body 2 or attached to the body after the body is formed.
Preferably, the body is a material like vinyl, silicon or kapton.
The attachment surface has many closely spaced hairs 8. A one
centimeter square section of the fastener may have as many as 100
million hairs, each about 2.0 microns in height and 0.2 microns in
diameter. When the attachment surface is pressed against an object
the hairs and body may bend or flex to assume the shape of that
portion of the object covered by the fastener. Van der Waals forces
exerted by each of the hairs produce a powerful adhesive effect
attaching the fastener to the object. Then another object may be
attached to the holding member 5. The fastener is removed from the
object by peeling the flexible body 2 from the object.
[0019] The hairs 8 on the attachment surface can be crafted in
several ways. In one method the hairs are grown in place using
particle deposition or crystal growing techniques which are
well-known in the art. In a second embodiment the body 2 is an
animal skin in which the hairs have been shaved leaving only a
small part of the original hair extending from the surface of the
skin. However, animal skins in which the hairs are not closely
spaced may not provide a strong adhesive effect. Therefore, skins
having closely spaced hairs, such as mink or chinchilla, should be
used.
[0020] Other ways to create the hair-like structures on the
attachment side of the fastener can be understood with reference to
FIG. 5. A mold 10 is provided with a large number of small
diameter, closely spaced holes 18. The holes may be drilled or cut
by laser. The mold is placed on a material 11, such as vinyl, which
will comprise the body of the fastener. Then a vacuum is drawn on
the top of the mold. The vacuum draws or extrudes small amounts of
the vinyl, silicon or other material 11 into the holes 18. When the
vacuum has been removed small hairs will extend from the substrate
material 11 into the holes. Then the substrate with hairs is
ejected from the mold, either mechanically, magnetically or
hydraulically.
[0021] For certain substrates it may be possible to form the hairs
by pressing the mold 10 against the body. In this process the mold
could be the surface of a roller such as a calendar roll.
[0022] Although the hairs in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4
are illustrated as solid structures, they could be tubular. Such
nanotubes may have a flat or curved top surface.
[0023] The attachment surface may be concave rather than flat. If
the fastener is intended for use on a particular object, the body
may have a shape that is complementary to the portion of the object
on which the fastener will be placed. The body of the fastener
preferably, but not necessarily, is flexible.
[0024] Magnetic particles may also be used to form the hairs.
Milled to the proper size, many particles may be made to stack on
top of each other, forming the hair-like structures. They may be
solidified by heat, gas, partial dissolving, radiation, or
pressure.
[0025] Although I have shown and described certain present
preferred embodiments of my fastener and methods for making same,
it is to be distinctly understood that the invention is not limited
thereto, but may be variously embodied within the scope of the
following claims.
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