Abstract:
A pair of hook-and-loop fasteners are attached onto a carton for securing a lid thereof. First fasteners are provided spaced apart along a first exfoliation sheet. Second fasteners adapted to mate and engage with the first fasteners are provided spaced apart along a second exfoliation sheet. The first sheet is deflected over a first knife edge to peel-off a first fastener and engage it onto a second fastener to form a fastener pair. The second sheet is deflected over a second knife edge to peel-off the second fastener of the pair from the second sheet and adhesively stick the fastener pair onto the carton.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to a method or an apparatus for attaching a hook-and-loop fastener to a carton with an openable and closable lid to maintain a closing state of the lid relative to a carton body.  
         [0002]     U.S. Pat. No. 6,892,878 shows a disk case for housing a photoelectromagnetic disk such as a CD (i.e. compact disk) or DVD (i.e. digital video disk). The disk case is typically comprised of a disk loading portion for loading a photoelectromagnetic disk and a sheet loading portion for loading a description sheet, which are openably and closably connected to each other via a hinge.  
         [0003]     After a photoelectromagnetic disk and a description sheet are loaded into the disk case, the disk case is closed. Such a disk case is sometimes housed in a carton. Also, a carton with a lid has recently been used to house a disk case.  
         [0004]     In such a carton with a lid, a closing state of a lid relative to a carton body needs to be maintained at the time of closure of the lid and also the lid needs to be easily disengaged from the carton body at the time of opening of the lid. Therefore, such a carton with a lid requires an engaging and disengaging mechanism for opening and closing a lid.  
         [0005]     An object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for easily attaching a hook-and-loop fastener as an engageable and disengageable means on a carton with a lid to maintain a closing state of the lid relative to a carton body.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     The present invention is directed to a method or apparatus for attaching a hook-and-loop fastener on a carton to maintain a closing state of a lid relative to a carton body.  
         [0007]     A method for attaching a hook-and-loop fastener according to the present invention has application to a carton with an openable and closable lid. The method includes the steps comprising: 
        (i) preparing a first band-shaped exfoliation sheet on which a plurality of first hook-and-loop fasteners spaced apart at a first distance are attached via adhesive back surfaces thereof;     (ii) preparing a second band-shaped exfoliation sheet on which a plurality of second hook-and-loop fasteners spaced apart at a second distance equal to the first distance and engageable with and disengageable from the first hook-and-loop fasteners are attached via adhesive back surfaces of the second hook-and-loop fasteners;     (iii) feeding the first and second exfoliation sheet with an engaging front surface of the first hook-and-loop fastener on the first exfoliation sheet oppositely disposed to an engaging front surface of the second hook-and-loop fastener on the second exfoliation sheet;     (iv) bending the first exfoliation sheet in a knife-edged shape toward the back surface side thereof at a first downstream end of the feeding direction of the first exfoliation sheet to exfoliate the first hook-and-loop fastener from the first exfoliation sheet at the first downstream end thereof, and engaging the exfoliated first hook-and-loop fastener with the corresponding second hook-and-loop fastener on the second exfoliating sheet through the engaging front surfaces of the first and second hook-and-loop fastener;     (v) bending the second exfoliation sheet in a knife-edged shape toward the back surface side thereof at a second downstream end of the feeding direction of the second exfoliation sheet, which is further downstream than the first downstream end of the first exfoliation sheet, to exfoliate the first and second hook-and-loop fastener from the second exfoliation sheet at the second downstream end thereof, and attaching the exfoliated first and second hook-and-loop fastener on a front surface of the carton body or a back surface of the lid through the adhesive back surface of the second hook-and-loop fastener; and     (vi) closing the lid of the carton so that the adhesive back surface of the first hook-and-loop fastener can be attached on the rear surface of the lid or the front surface of the carton body.        
 
         [0014]     An apparatus for attaching a hook-and-loop fastener according to the present invention has application to a carton with an openable and closable lid. The apparatus comprising: 
        (i) a first band-shaped exfoliation sheet on which a plurality of first hook-and-loop fasteners spaced apart at a first distance are attached via adhesive back surfaces;     (ii) a second band-shaped exfoliation sheet on which a plurality of second hook-and-loop fasteners spaced apart at a second distance equal to the first distance and engageable with and disengageable from the first hook-and-loop fasteners are attached via adhesive back surfaces;     (iii) a first and second feeding means for feeding the first and second exfoliation sheet respectively with an engaging front surface of the first hook-and-loop fastener on the first exfoliation sheet oppositely disposed to an engaging front surface of the second hook-and-loop fastener on the second exfoliation sheet;     (iv) a first knife-edge portion for bending the first exfoliation sheet in a knife-edged shape toward the back surface side thereof at a first downstream end of the feeding direction of the first exfoliation sheet to exfoliate the first hook-and-loop fastener from the first exfoliation sheet at the first downstream end thereof, and engaging the exfoliated first hook-and-loop fastener with the corresponding second hook-and-loop fastener on the second exfoliating sheet through the engaging front surfaces of the first and second hook-and-loop fastener;     (v) a second knife-edge portion for bending the second exfoliation sheet in a knife-edged shape toward the back surface side thereof at a second downstream end of the feeding direction of the second exfoliation sheet, which is further downstream than the first downstream end of the first exfoliation sheet, to exfoliate the first and second hook-and-loop fastener from the second exfoliation sheet at the second downstream end thereof, and attaching the exfoliated first and second hook-and-loop fastener on a front surface of the carton body or a back surface of the lid through the adhesive back surface of the second hook-and-loop fastener; and     (vi) a closure means for closing the lid of the carton so that the adhesive back surface of the first hook-and-loop fastener can be attached on the rear surface of the lid or the front surface of the carton body.        
 
         [0021]     According to the present invention, when the lid of the carton closes after engaged and integrated first and second hook-and-loop fasteners have been attached to the carton body (or lid) through the adhesive back surface of the second hook-and-loop fastener, the adhesive back surface of the first hook-and-loop fastener is attached on the lid or the carton body. Therefore, when the lid opens next time, disengagement of the first hook-and-loop fastener from the second hook-and-loop fastener occurs, and attachment of the first hook-and-loop fastener to the lid (or carton body) through the adhesive back surface of the first hook-and-loop fastener is maintained. In this case, a pair of corresponding first and second hook-and-loop fasteners can be attached through only one attaching operation, thereby simplifying the operation of attaching a pair of corresponding hook-and-loop fasteners.  
         [0022]     To the contrary, in the case where only one of a pair of corresponding first and second hook-and-loop fasteners is attached to a carton body (or lid), the other hook-and-loop fastener should be attached to the lid (or carton body), thus requiring twice attaching operations. Moreover, in this case, when attaching the other hook-and-loop fastener, an accurate positioning of the other hook-and-loop fastener relative to the one hook-and-loop fastener is required.  
         [0023]     As above-mentioned, according to the present invention, only one attaching operation is needed, and laborious positioning operation is not required. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0024]     For a more complete understanding of the invention, reference should be made to the embodiments illustrated in greater detail in the accompanying drawings and described below by way of examples of the invention. In the drawings, which are not to scale:  
         [0025]      FIG. 1  is a side view of a carton to which a method for attaching a hook-and-loop fastener according to the present invention is applied, showing the opening state of the lid;  
         [0026]      FIG. 1A  is a top plan view of the carton of  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0027]      FIG. 2  illustrates a schematic showing a method and apparatus for attaching a hook-and-loop fastener according to an embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0028]      FIG. 3A  to  3 D show the closing operation of the lid of the carton.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0029]     Referring now to the drawings,  FIGS. 1 and 1 A show an example of a carton to which a method of attaching a hook-and-loop fastener according to the present invention is applied. Here, a carton for housing a disk case into which a photoelectromagnetic disk such as a CD or DVD is loaded will be explained by way of an example.  
         [0030]     A carton  10  is formed of a box-shaped carton body  11 , a hinge  12  formed on one side edge portion of the carton body  11  and a lid  13  rotatably supported around the hinge  12 . In this example, the carton body  11  is tubular in shape and has a through hole  11   a  of a square cross sectional shape extending into and out of the page.  
         [0031]     A first hook-and-loop fastener  15  is attached on the rear surface  13   a  of the lid  13 . The fastener  15  is located at a position in the vicinity of an end portion of the lid  13 . The fastener  15  has an engagement surface on its front surface  15   a  and an adhesive surface on its rear surface  15   b.  The fastener  15  is attached on the rear surface  13   a  of the lid  13  via the rear adhesive surface  15   b.    
         [0032]     A second hook-and-loop fastener  16  is attached on the front surface  11   b  of the carton body  11 . The fastener  16  is located at a position in the vicinity of an end portion of the carton body  11 . The position of the second hook-and-loop fastener  16  on the carton body  11  accurately coincides with the position of the first hook-and-loop fastener  15  when the lid  13  is closed and overlapped with the carton body  11 .  
         [0033]     The fastener  16  has an engagement surface on its front surface  16   a  and an adhesive surface on its rear surface  16   b.  The front surface  16   a  of the second hook-and-loop fastener  16  is adapted to releasably engage with the front surface  15   a  of the first hook-and-loop fastener  15 . That is, one of the hook-and-loop fasteners  15 ,  16  is, for example, a hook-type fastener and the other of the hook-and-loop fasteners  15 ,  16  is, for example, a loop-type fastener. The fastener  16  is attached on the front surface  11   b  of the carton body  11  via the rear adhesive surface  16   b.  Additionally, in  FIG. 1  and the following drawings, a hook-and-loop fastener is exaggerated for illustration purposes.  
         [0034]     Then, an apparatus for attaching a hook-and-loop fastener according to an embodiment of the present invention will be explained using  FIG. 2 .  
         [0035]     As shown in  FIG. 2 , an apparatus  1  for attaching a hook-and-loop fastener  1  includes a first band-shaped exfoliation sheet  2  and a second band-shaped exfoliation sheet  3  provided under the first band-shaped exfoliation sheet  2 . The first band-shaped exfoliation sheet  2  has a plurality of first hook-and-loop fasteners  15  attached thereon. The first hook-and-loop fasteners  15  are spaced apart at a first distance and attached on the first exfoliation sheet  2  via adhesive back surfaces  15   b.  Similarly, the second band-shaped exfoliation sheet  3  has a plurality of second hook-and-loop fasteners  16  attached thereon. The second hook-and-loop fasteners  16  are spaced apart at a second distance equal to the first distance and attached on the second exfoliation sheet  3  via adhesive back surfaces  16   b.    
         [0036]     The first exfoliation sheet  2  is fed by a feeding roller (not shown) in the direction shown by an arrow mark A, folded back toward a backside surface in an acute angle at a downstream end thereof, fed in the direction shown by an arrow mark B and wound around a winding roller (not shown). Likewise, the second exfoliation sheet  3  is fed by a feeding roller (not shown) in the direction shown by an arrow mark C, folded back toward a backside surface in an acute angle at a downstream end thereof, fed in the direction shown by an arrow mark D and wound around a winding roller (not shown).  
         [0037]     Also, the first and second band-shaped exfoliation sheet  2 ,  3  are fed at a synchronous speed with the front engagement surface  15   a  of the first hook-and-loop fastener  15  on the first exfoliation sheet  2  disposed opposite the front engagement surface  16   a  of the second hook-and-loop fastener  16  on the second exfoliation sheet  3 . The position of the downstream end of the second exfoliation sheet  3  is further downstream than the position of the downstream end of the first exfoliation sheet  2 .  
         [0038]     A first knife edge  4  is provided at a downstream end of the first exfoliation sheet  2 . The first knife edge  4  has a pointed distal end portion with an acute angle and disposed on the backside of the first exfoliation sheet  2 . The first exfoliation sheet  2  is bent and folded back in a knife-edged shape toward the backside surface thereof along the pointed distal end portion of the first knife edge  4  at the downstream end. Similarly, a second knife edge  5  is provided at a downstream end of the second exfoliation sheet  3 . The second knife edge  5  has a pointed distal end portion with an acute angle and disposed on the backside of the second exfoliation sheet  3 . The second exfoliation sheet  3  is bent and folded back in a knife-edged shape toward the backside surface thereof along the pointed distal end portion of the second knife edge  5  at the downstream end.  
         [0039]     Cylinders  6 ,  6 ′ are provided over the second exfoliation sheet  3  between the downstream end of the first exfoliation sheet  2  and the downstream end of the second exfoliation sheet  3 . The cylinder  6 ,  6 ′ has a contact block  16   b,    6   b′,  respectively, fixed at the distal end of a piston rod  16   a,    6   a′.  The piston rod  6   a  extends perpendicular to the second exfoliation sheet  3  and the piston rod  6   a′  extends perpendicular to the conveyor  20 .  
         [0040]     Then, we will explain a method for attaching a hook-and-loop fastener using the apparatus  1 .  
         [0041]     Driving of feeding rollers (not shown) causes a feed of the first and second exfoliation sheet  2 ,  3  in the direction shown by the arrow mark A, C, respectively. On the other hand, a conveyor  20  carries a carton  10  with the lid  13  open in the direction shown by the arrow mark E, on which a hook-and-loop faster will be attached.  
         [0042]     When the first hook-and-loop fastener  15  on the first exfoliation sheet  2  is transferred to the downstream end of the feed direction of the first exfoliation sheet  2 , the pointed distal end portion of the first knife edge  4  bends the first exfoliation sheet  2  and folds it back toward the rear surface side thereof in a knife-edged shape, thereby causing the first hook-and-loop fastener  15  to be exfoliated or peeled of f from the first exfoliation sheet  2 . On the other hand, the second hook-and-loop fastener  16  on the second exfoliation sheet  3  is transferred to the position under the downstream end of the first exfoliation sheet  2 . Therefore, the first hook-and-loop fastener  15  stripped from the first exfoliation sheet  2  contacts and engages with the engagement surface  16   a  of the second hook-and-loop fastener  16  on the second exfoliation sheet  3  via the engagement surface  15   a  of the first hook-and-loop fastener  15 . In such a manner, there are not any first hook-and-loop fasteners  15  remained on the first exfoliation sheet  2  that has been folded back at the downstream end. Also, the first and second hook-and-loop fasteners  15 ,  16  that have been engaged with each other are attached on the second exfoliation sheet  3  on the downstream side from the downstream end of the first exfoliation sheet  2 .  
         [0043]     When the first and second hook-and-loop fastener  15 ,  16  on the second exfoliation sheet  3  is transferred to the downstream side of the downstream end of the first exfoliation sheet  2 , the piton rod  6   a of the piston  6  protrudes to push the first and second hook-and-loop fastener  15 ,  16  through the contact block  6   b  so that the first and second hook-and-loop fastener  15 ,  16  can be securely engaged. In addition, the cylinder  6  may be omitted for cost reduction purposes.  
         [0044]     Then, when the first and second hook-and-loop fastener  15 ,  16  on the second exfoliation sheet  3  is transferred to the downstream end of feed direction of the second exfoliation sheet  3 , the pointed distal end portion of the second knife edge  5  bends the second exfoliation sheet  3  and folds it back toward the rear surface side thereof in a knife-edged shape, thereby causing the first and second hook-and-loop fastener  15 ,  16  to be exfoliated or peeled off from the second exfoliation sheet  3 . On the other hand, a carton  10  is transferred to Station S 1  under the downstream end of the second exfoliation sheet  3 . Therefore, the first and second hook-and-loop fastener  15 ,  16  stripped from the second exfoliation sheet  3  is attached on the front surface  11   b  of the carton body  11  via the rear adhesive surface  16   b  of the second hook-and-loop fastener  16  (see Station S 2 ).  
         [0045]     The piton rod  6   a′  of the piston  6 ′ protrudes to push the first and second hook-and-loop fastener  15 ,  16  through the contact block  6   b′  so that the second hook-and-loop fastener  16  can be securely attached on the carton body  11  via the rear adhesive surface  16   b.  In addition, the cylinder  6 ′ may be omitted for cost reduction purposes.  
         [0046]     Next, while the conveyor  20  transfers the carton  10  from Station S 2  to Station S 3 , a closure means (hereinafter explained) closes the lid  13  of the carton  10 .  
         [0047]     A lid closure operation by the closure means will be explained using  FIGS. 3A  to  3 D.  
         [0048]     As shown in  FIG. 3A , an upwardly and downwardly movable rod  7  is provided under the lid  13  of the carton  10 . When the carton  10  stays at Station S 2 , the rod  7  moves upwardly to push the lid  13  up, as shown in  FIG. 3B . As the lid  13  is lifted up to the inclined state shown in  FIG. 3C , an arm  8  with a rotatable roller  9  travels toward and contacts the lid  13  via the rotatable roller  9  and the rod  7  moves downwardly. In such a state, the arm  8  moves toward the carton body  11  to close the lid  13 , as shown in  FIG. 3D . When the lid  13  is closed, the rear surface  13   a  of the lid  13  contacts the rear adhesive surface  15   b  of the first hook-and-loop fastener  15  and the first hook-and-loop fastener  15  is attached on the lid  13  via the rear adhesive surface  15   b.    
         [0049]     Thereafter, when the lid  13  of the carton  10  opens, the engagement surfaces  15   a,    16   a  of the first and second hook-and-loop fastener  15 ,  16  disengage. As a result, only the second hook-and-loop fastener  16  remains on the front surface  11   b  of the carton body  11  and the first hook-and-loop fastener  15  is attached on the- rear surface  13   a  of the lid  13 , as shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0050]     In this case, a pair of corresponding first and second hook-and-loop fasteners  15 ,  16  can be attached on the carton  10  by only one attaching operation, which simplifies the attaching operation of the pair of corresponding hook-and-loop fasteners. Moreover, in this case, laborious positioning operation of the pair of corresponding first and second hook-and-loop fasteners  15 ,  16  is not required.  
         [0051]     In the above-mentioned embodiment, an example was shown where the first and second hook-and-loop fastener  15 ,  16  stripped from the second exfoliation sheet  3  is attached on the front surface lib of the carton body  11  of the carton  10 , but the present invention is not limited to such an example. The first and second hook-and-loop fastener  15 ,  16  stripped from the second exfoliation sheet  3  may be attached on the rear surface  13   a  of the lid  13  of the carton  10 .  
         [0052]     In this case, when the lid  13  is closed, the engagement surface  15   b  of the first hook-and-loop fastener  15  contacts the front surface  11   b  of the carton body  11  and the first hook-and-loop fastener  15  is attached on the front surface  11   b  of the carton body  11 . Therefore, when the lid  13  opens next time, the engagement surfaces  15   a,    16   a  of the first and second hook-and-loop fastener  15 ,  16  disengage. As a result, only the second hook-and-loop fastener  16  remains on the lid  13  of the carton  10  and the first hook-and-loop fastener  15  is attached on the carton body  11 .  
         [0053]     In this case, as with the above-mentioned embodiment, a pair of corresponding first and second hook-and-loop fasteners  15 ,  16  can be attached on the carton  10  by only one attaching operation, which simplifies the attaching operation of the pair of hook-and-loop fasteners. Moreover, in this case, laborious positioning operation of the pair of corresponding first and second hook-and-loop fasteners  15 ,  16  is not required.  
         [0054]     In the above-mentioned embodiments, a carton for housing a disk case in use for a photoelectromagnetic disk such as a CD or DVD was shown by way of example of a carton  10 , but the present invention can be applied to a carton other than the carton  10 .  
         [0055]     Those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains may make modifications and other embodiments employing the principles of this invention without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics particularly upon considering the foregoing teachings. The described embodiments and examples are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. Consequently, while the invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments and examples, modifications of structure, sequence, materials and the like would be apparent to those skilled in the art, yet fall within the scope of the invention.