Proceeding for bonding threads and means for making said proceeding

The present invention relates to a proceeding for, in garments and other textile products, providing bonding of threads with which buttons are sewed onto the garment, etc.

The proceeding applies to the bonding of the thread (s) with which the buttons in the garments or other textile products are sewed on in order for the same to be reliably- secured without being able to unwind.

By for instance WO 98/51174 and SE 0402516-9, respectively, there are previously known a proceeding and a device, respectively, for providing fusion of the thread or the threads with which buttons on textiles are sewed on.

Previously, either there was arranged a layer of Teflon® on the proper welding tool utilized or there was arranged Teflon® between the welding tool and the plastic tape against the thread intended to be fused together with the plastic material .

According to the first case, either there was arranged a layer of Teflon® on the proper welding tool or between the welding tool and the plastic tape against the thread intended to be fused together with the plastic material. In the first-mentioned case, when Teflon® was utilized as release agent, this was worn out quickly and was therefore not manufacturing friendly, and this material is also expensive.

In the latter case, there was utilized a piece of plastic material of polyethylene coated with silicone, which resulted in a shiny unattractive surface. Furthermore, no rigid tape was obtained but a tape that required a large width and a long distance between the welding spots, which resulted in high

wastage of the material in the tape in question. The tape broke easily since there was no reinforcement in the tape material.

The main object of the present invention is therefore, by using simple and efficiently working means, primarily to solve, among other things, the above-mentioned problems by a proceeding that provides strong and elegant joints for the buttons in question.

Said object is attained by means of a proceeding according to the present invention that essentially is characterized by the measures of placing a tape-shaped piece of material, consisting of a plastic tape that is joined to a fibrous tape having high heat resistance, between said garment, etc. and a welding horn provided with a circular contact surface, providing bonding of the accumulation of threads achieved by supplying heat by means of the welding horn to the area of the garment, etc. that the button in question is sewed on, holding, during the supply of heat, the fibrous side of the piece of material facing the heated welding horn while the plastic tape on the opposite side of the piece of material is held facing the accumulation of threads of the button, wherein, when pressing together the welding horn, the piece of material and the garment, there is provided melting of the plastic tape and separation of the fibrous tape from the part of the plastic tape melted thereby and that, accordingly, the melted plastic joins together the accumulation of threads while the fibrous part of the piece of material prevents the plastic tape from sticking to the welding horn.

The invention is intended to primarily be applied to garments and other textiles having a number of buttons sewed-on with thread. In that connection, the main purpose of the invention is to bring about fusion of threads used in sewing-on, so that said threads do not unwind and the buttons come loose. The main object of the present invention is to

solve the problems in a simple and efficient way by means of tape of a suitable material and having appropriate properties, so that the tape becomes rigid and prevents breakage and production disturbance causing loss of time, and to be able to exclude the silicone as release agent and thereby be environmental - friendly .

A piece of material partly composed of plastic is placed between said garment and a welding horn. The bonding is provided by supplying heat at the area of the intended fastening portion of the button and garment, respectively. Said piece of plastic material fuses together with the aggregation of threads, on the opposite side of the garment as the button is sewed onto, so that only one part of the piece of material is melted down into the aggregation of threads while the other part of the double-sided piece of material formed simultaneously provides a matt and subdued surface, which not looks plastic and inexpensive. This is the demand made by the clothes designers. In addition, a fibrous part of the piece of material that not has been melted on functions as a rigid support and that substantially decreases the consumption of material and the cost .

The invention also relates to means suitable to utilize for carrying out a proceeding of the above-mentioned type of the invention.

Said means is substantially characterized by a tape-shaped piece of material consisting of a joined plastic tape and a fibrous tape having high heat resistance, a welding horn having a circular contact surface, means for supplying heat to the welding horn and melting the plastic tape at the area of the contact surface of the welding horn, and an anvil for the button in question.

The invention is described below, reference being made to accompanying drawing according to Fig 1 that

schematically shows in section the principle of the proceeding and means according to the invention.

A proceeding for, in garments 6 and other textile products, providing bonding of the thread 5 with which buttons 4 are sewed onto the garment 6, etc. comprises, according to the present invention, the measures of placing a tape- shaped piece of material 1 consisting of a plastic tape 2 that, as seen in the thickness direction of the tape, is joined to a fibrous tape having high heat resistance between said garment 6, etc. and a welding horn 7 provided with a circular contact surface 7A. Furthermore, there is provided bonding of the accumulation of threads 5 achieved by supplying heat by means of the welding horn 7 to the area of the garment 6, etc. that the button 4 in question is sewed on. During the supply of heat, the fibrous side of the piece of material 1 is held facing the heated welding horn 7 while the plastic tape 2 on the opposite side of the piece of material 1 is held facing the accumulation of threads of the button 4, wherein, when pressing together the welding horn 7, the piece of material 1 and the garment 6, there is provided melting of the plastic tape 2 and separation of the fibrous tape 3 from the part of the plastic tape 2 melted thereby and that, accordingly, the melted plastic joins together the accumulation of threads 5 while the fibrous part of the piece of material 1 prevents the plastic tape 2 from sticking to the welding horn 7.

Means for carrying out a proceeding according to the invention is formed of a tape-shaped piece of material 1 that consists of a joined plastic tape 2 and a fibrous tape 3 having high heat resistance, a welding horn 7 having a circular contact surface, means for supplying heat to the welding horn 7 and melting the plastic tape 2 at the area of the contact surface 7A of the welding horn and an anvil 9 for the button 4 in question.

Preferably, the plastic tape 2 is formed of polyethylene plastics. Suitably, the piece of material 1 is formed of a rolled, pre-joined tape of plastic 2 and fibrous material 3, respectively.

Finally, there is a line 50 for continuous melting-on of sewed-on buttons 4 of garments 6, etc.

Said piece of material 1 has a plastic tape 2 preferably of polyethylene as well as a fibrous thin layer 3 joined to the polyethylene tape 2 that is to be facing the piece of cloth 6 and the sewing threads 5 of the sewed-on button, on the inside of the garment and not on the front side of the button. When the sewing thread 5 is pushed against a circular welding horn 7, the piece of material 1 is heated until the polyethylene material melts and is pressed against the sewing thread 5 of the button. In doing so, the thread 5 is joined together and bound so that the buttons 4 do not come loose . The fibrous layer 3 between the polyethylene material 2 and the welding horn 7 does not melt and is not affected so that the fibrous material adheres to the melted circular part of the polyethylene that has penetrated into the sewing thread 5 of the button and does not either adhere to the heated welding horn 7. The rigid piece of material 1, the tape 2 and the fibrous material layer 3 allow each circular welding spot to occur at a small distance between each welding spot. This means a very small consumption of material at a low cost.

Said piece of plastic material 1 has a surface cover 3 consisting of a fibrous layer on the upperside of the plastic tape 2. The plastic tape 2 is preferably of polyethylene. The fibrous the layer 3 is a particularly heat-resistant material, the material of which does not adhere to the welding horn. The underside 2 of the piece of plastic material, which abuts against the threads 5, with which the buttons 4 are sewed on, is melted down and binds together the threads 5 and sepa-

rates from the fibrous layer 3 and is to be regarded as a support of the polyethylene material. Said fibrous layer 3 withstands high speed upon reeling and shortens the production time without operational disturbances. This results in the fibrous layer 3 providing a matt surface on the melted circular polyethylene 2 over the aggregation of threads 5 of the button 4, which is bound together with an efficient and subduedly design- wise accepted appearance.

Fig 1 shows the piece of material 1 consisting of one of the parts a polyethylene tape 2 that has been joined to a fibrous tape 3. This forms two sides of the piece of material 1 of which that one side of the polyethylene tape 2 is facing the accumulation of threads 5 of the sewed-on button 4 on the outside of the textile garment 6 while the other side of the piece of material 1 presents the joined fibrous tape 3 facing the heated welding horn 7 and the circular welding surface 7A thereof. When the welding horn 7 is pressed down with the circular formation 8 thereof against the piece of material 1, the fibrous tape 3 becomes pressed down against the accumulation of threads 5 of the button 4 and pushes down the melted plastic tape 2 that binds together the accumulation of threads 5. The fibrous tape 3 does not melt and does not stick to the melted polyethylene 2. Then, the piece of material 1 can be moved and reeled a step for next welding phase from reel 10 to reel 10. A shown anvil for the button 4 is designated by the numeral 9.

The function and the nature of the invention should have been clear from what has been indicated above and shown in the drawings .

Naturally, the invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the accompanying drawings. Modifications are feasible, particularly as for the nature of the different parts, or by using an equivalent tech-

nique, without departing from the protection area of the invention, such as it is defined in the claims.