Fastener assembly and system for manufacturing the same
View Patent ↗A fastener assembly includes a molded plastic fastener shaped to define a filament, a paddle at one end of the filament, and a cross-bar at the other end of the filament. The fastener assembly additionally includes a printed label embedded in the paddle, the printed label including an electrically chargeable, stiffness enhancing laminate that is applied to a print receptive polymer substrate. An in-line system for manufacturing a continuously connected supply of the fastener assemblies includes a rotatable mold wheel, a feed mechanism for advancing a continuous, ionized, printed polymer web in a near tangential relationship relative to the mold wheel periphery, a cutting mechanism for transversely cutting through the web to form a plurality of rectangular printed labels that are magnetically drawn into corresponding cavities in the mold wheel, an extruder for applying molten plastic into the cavities and a knife for skiving excess hardened plastic from the mold wheel periphery.
1. A fastener assembly comprising: (a) a plastic fastener comprising, (i) a filament, (ii) a paddle at one end of said filament, the paddle having a top surface and a bottom surface, and (iii) a cross-bar at the other end of the filament, and (b) a label at least partially embedded into the top surface of the paddle and bonded to the bottom of the paddle by plastic of the paddle, the label comprising, (i) a print receptive, semi-rigid polymeric film having a top surface and a bottom surface, and (ii) having variable identifying information printed on the fly onto the substrate of the label for enhanced customization of the fastener; (iii) an electrically chargeable, stiffness enhancing, abrasion resistant laminate applied to the top surface of a semi-rigid bi-axially oriented polypropylene substrate, and the laminate includes an exposed outer surface that lies generally flush with the top surface of the paddle; wherein the electrically chargeable, stiffness enhancing, abrasion resistant laminate allows the label to be fixed in position within a corresponding mold wheel cavity during an in-molding process.
2. The fastener assembly of claim 1 wherein the paddle has a thickness in the range of approximately 0.020-0.035 inches.
3. The fastener assembly of claim 2 wherein the label has a thickness in the range of approximately 0.001-0.015 inches.
4. The fastener assembly of claim 1 , wherein the label includes a RFID inlay.
5. The fastener assembly of claim 1 , wherein identifying information is printed onto the laminate.
6. The fastener assembly of claim 5 , wherein the identifying information is a company name, product name, logo, unique sequential character string, and/or size and/or color-for-size information.
7. The fastener assembly of claim 1 , wherein the assembly is molded as part of a quantity of continuously connected fastener stock or fastener stock having an orthogonally disposed running bar.
8. The fastener assembly of claim 7 , wherein a pitch of the assembly is approximately 0.37 inches.
9. The fastener assembly of claim 1 , wherein the fastener is molded using polypropylene, nylon, PET, polyurethane, recyclable plastics, bio-based plastics, and biodegradable plastics, PHA, PHB, and PVA materials, or a combination of both.
10. The fastener assembly of claim 1 , wherein the label is rectangular.
11. A fastener assembly comprising: (a) a plastic fastener comprising, (i) a filament, (ii) a paddle at one end of said filament, the paddle having a top surface and a bottom surface such that both the top and bottom surface can be used for identification purposes, and (iii) a cross-bar at the other end of the filament, and (b) a label that includes a RFID inlay at least partially embedded into the top surface of the paddle and bonded to the bottom of the paddle by plastic of the paddle, the label comprising, (i) a print receptive, semi-rigid substrate having a top surface and a bottom surface, and (ii) having variable identifying information printed on the fly onto the substrate of the label for enhanced customization of the fastener, and (iii) an electrically chargeable, stiffness enhancing, abrasion resistant laminate applied to the top surface of the semi-rigid substrate, and the laminate includes an exposed outer surface that lies generally flush with the top surface of the paddle.