Patent Publication Number: US-2005129958-A1

Title: Retaining or fixing element with an adhesive surface for sticking to a support surface

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates to retaining or fixing elements attachable to support surfaces. More particularly, the present invention relates to retaining or fixing elements that include adhesive surfaces coated with adhesive material for sticking to support surfaces.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      The invention relates to a retaining or fixing element with an adhesive surface for sticking to a support surface, wherein the adhesive surface is coated with an adhesive that can be melted and reactivated. Here, the adhesive coating is typically dimensioned so that it fills up at least the entire usable adhesive surface when the adhesive coating is melted and pressed onto the support surface. This method can guarantee that the retaining or fixing element is always fixed with a defined, constant retention force on the support surface. However, this method frequently has the result that excess adhesive escapes at the edge of the adhesive surface, which gives the adhesive joint an unattractive appearance. The task of the invention is to configure the adhesive structure so that it effectively prevents the escape of adhesive past the edge.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention provides a retaining or fixing element with an adhesive surface for sticking to a support surface. The adhesive surface is coated with an adhesive that can melt and be reactivated. The adhesive surface includes an expansion groove adjacent the peripheral edge for taking up the laterally flowing adhesive bead when the adhesive is melted and the adhesive surface is pressed onto an object.  
      The expansion groove is dimensioned in width and height so that this groove receives the excess adhesive when the adhesive is melted and the adhesive surface is pressed onto an object.  
      Here, it is advantageous according to another feature of the invention for the expansion groove to have a semicircular cross section and to be located at the smallest possible distance from the edge. To ensure that the adhesive actually covers the entire adhesive surface after the adhesive process, it is also advantageous for the expansion groove to be at least partially open toward the edge. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The present invention will be explained in more detail in the following description with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawing. Shown are:  
       FIG. 1  illustrates a cross-sectional view of the outline of a conventional fixing element with adhesive applied on the adhesive surface;  
       FIG. 2  illustrates a cross-sectional view of the fixing element of  FIG. 1  after the adhesive surface is pressed onto an object;  
       FIG. 3  illustrates a cross-sectional view of the fixing element of the present invention with expansion groove and adhesive;  
       FIG. 4  illustrates a cross-sectional view of the fixing element of  FIG. 3  after the adhesive surface is pressed onto an object;  
       FIG. 5  illustrates a cross-sectional view of the fixing element of  FIG. 3  having an alternative embodiment of the expansion groove;  
       FIG. 6  illustrates a cross-sectional view of the fixing element of  FIG. 5  after the adhesive surface is pressed onto an object;  
       FIG. 7  illustrates a cross-sectional view of an alternative embodiment of the fixing element as according to the invention;  
       FIG. 8  illustrates a plan view of the fixing element of  FIG. 7 ; and  
       FIG. 9  illustrates an enlarged cutout of the expansion groove. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
      The fixing elements  1 , shown purely schematically in the figures, are provided on their bottom side with an adhesive surface  2  with which the fixing element  1  is to be stuck to a support surface  3 . For this purpose, as can be seen from  FIGS. 1, 3 , and  5 , the adhesive surface  2  is provided with an adhesive  4 , which is melted and applied dry to the adhesive surface  2 . The adhesive  4  can be reactivated again by applying melting heat whereby the adhesive  4  can exert its full adhesive force after subsequent hardening.  
       FIG. 2  shows the fixing element  1  after melting of the adhesive  4  and pressing of the adhesive surface  2  onto the support surface  3 . The excess adhesive escapes at the edge  5  of the adhesive surface  2  and forms a bead  6  that can be seen from the outside.  
      To make this bead invisible, in a first embodiment of the invention as according to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the adhesive surface  2  is provided with an expansion groove  7  along the edge  5 . The expansion groove has a semicircular cross section and is dimensioned so that the bead  6  flowing laterally when the adhesive  4  melts and is pressed onto the adhesive surface  2  is accommodated by this groove  7 , and in this way is removed from the view of the observer. This method further guarantees that the adhesive surface  2  is always completely coated with adhesive  4  and thus has a defined retention force.  
      In a second embodiment of the present invention according to  FIGS. 5 and 6 , the expansion groove  8  is constructed to open outward toward the edge  5  at its lower edge region  9 , so that one can make sure with a visual inspection that the adhesive also actually covers the entire adhesive surface  2 .  
       FIGS. 7 and 8  illustrate a third embodiment of a fixing element having an adhesive plate  10  with an expansion groove  7  formed according to the invention and shown in  FIG. 9  in an enlarged cutout. The top part of the fixing element  1  is provided with four quarter-circle clamping elements  11  that can be pressed onto a threaded bolt (not shown), for example, and fixed to it in a conventional manner.