Patents by Inventor Mark A. Clarner

Mark A. Clarner has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20240398070
    Abstract: Mold-in fastener products are made by forming a longitudinally continuous hook tape having a flexible base and an array of discrete male touch fastener elements extending from an upper surface of the base, forming a layer of flexible barrier material on the upper surface of the base, such that the male touch fastener elements are embedded in the layer of flexible barrier material, severing the flexible barrier material to form a pattern of patches of flexible barrier material spaced apart and surrounded by a continuous lattice of barrier material, stripping the lattice from the upper surface of the base to expose regions of the base between patches, and severing the hook tape along the exposed regions of the base to form individual mold-in fastener products, each having a patch of flexible barrier material surrounded by an exposed base edge region carrying male touch fastener elements.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 2, 2024
    Publication date: December 5, 2024
    Inventors: Paul Joseph Voigt, Victor Horst Kheil, Mark A. Clarner
  • Patent number: 12075892
    Abstract: Mold-in fastener products are made by forming a longitudinally continuous hook tape having a flexible base and an array of discrete male touch fastener elements extending from an upper surface of the base, forming a layer of flexible barrier material on the upper surface of the base, such that the male touch fastener elements are embedded in the layer of flexible barrier material, severing the flexible barrier material to form a pattern of patches of flexible barrier material spaced apart and surrounded by a continuous lattice of barrier material, stripping the lattice from the upper surface of the base to expose regions of the base between patches, and severing the hook tape along the exposed regions of the base to form individual mold-in fastener products, each having a patch of flexible barrier material surrounded by an exposed base edge region carrying male touch fastener elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2022
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2024
    Assignee: Velcro IP Holdings LLC
    Inventors: Paul Joseph Voigt, Victor Horst Kheil, Mark A. Clarner
  • Publication number: 20240225206
    Abstract: A male touch fastener product with a resin surface and an array of spaced-apart male touch fastener elements carried on the surface. Each touch fastener element has a stem extending from the surface and a head disposed at a distal end of the stem and extending laterally from the stem to a distal edge overhanging the surface. The head, stem and surface form a contiguous mass of resin, the head. The distal edge has multiple toes extending laterally outward and varying in shape and size about the edge, with adjacent toes having facing, free-form resin surfaces defining crevices therebetween. The fastener element is particularly flexible and engages with very fine fibers.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 1, 2024
    Publication date: July 11, 2024
    Inventors: Luis Parellada Armela, Christopher M. Gallant, James L. Tardiff, Mark A. Clarner
  • Patent number: 11986063
    Abstract: A male touch fastener product with a resin surface and an array of spaced-apart male touch fastener elements carried on the surface. Each touch fastener element has a stem extending from the surface and a head disposed at a distal end of the stem and extending laterally from the stem to a distal edge overhanging the surface. The head, stem and surface form a contiguous mass of resin, the head. The distal edge has multiple toes extending laterally outward and varying in shape and size about the edge, with adjacent toes having facing, free-form resin surfaces defining crevices therebetween. The fastener element is particularly flexible and engages with very fine fibers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2023
    Date of Patent: May 21, 2024
    Assignee: Velcro IP Holdings LLC
    Inventors: Luis Parellada Armela, Christopher M. Gallant, James L. Tardiff, Mark A. Clarner
  • Publication number: 20240074544
    Abstract: A male touch fastener product with a resin surface and an array of spaced-apart male touch fastener elements carried on the surface. Each touch fastener element has a stem extending from the surface and a head disposed at a distal end of the stem and extending laterally from the stem to a distal edge overhanging the surface. The head, stem and surface form a contiguous mass of resin, the head. The distal edge has multiple toes extending laterally outward and varying in shape and size about the edge, with adjacent toes having facing, free-form resin surfaces defining crevices therebetween. The fastener element is particularly flexible and engages with very fine fibers.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 13, 2023
    Publication date: March 7, 2024
    Inventors: Luis Parellada Armela, Christopher M. Gallant, James L. Tardiff, Mark A. Clarner
  • Publication number: 20230032238
    Abstract: Mold-in fastener products are made by forming a longitudinally continuous hook tape having a flexible base and an array of discrete male touch fastener elements extending from an upper surface of the base, forming a layer of flexible barrier material on the upper surface of the base, such that the male touch fastener elements are embedded in the layer of flexible barrier material, severing the flexible barrier material to form a pattern of patches of flexible barrier material spaced apart and surrounded by a continuous lattice of barrier material, stripping the lattice from the upper surface of the base to expose regions of the base between patches, and severing the hook tape along the exposed regions of the base to form individual mold-in fastener products, each having a patch of flexible barrier material surrounded by an exposed base edge region carrying male touch fastener elements.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 14, 2022
    Publication date: February 2, 2023
    Inventors: Paul Joseph Voigt, Victor Horst Kheil, Mark A. Clarner
  • Publication number: 20220117363
    Abstract: A male touch fastener product with a resin surface and an array of spaced-apart male touch fastener elements carried on the surface. Each touch fastener element has a stem extending from the surface and a head disposed at a distal end of the stem and extending laterally from the stem to a distal edge overhanging the surface. The head, stem and surface form a contiguous mass of resin, the head. The distal edge has multiple toes extending laterally outward and varying in shape and size about the edge, with adjacent toes having facing, free-form resin surfaces defining crevices therebetween. The fastener element is particularly flexible and engages with very fine fibers.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 3, 2022
    Publication date: April 21, 2022
    Inventors: Luis Parellada Armela, Christopher M. Gallant, James L. Tardiff, Mark A. Clarner
  • Patent number: 11246380
    Abstract: A male touch fastener product with a resin surface and an array of spaced-apart male touch fastener elements carried on the surface. Each touch fastener element has a stem extending from the surface and a head disposed at a distal end of the stem and extending laterally from the stem to a distal edge overhanging the surface. The head, stem and surface form a contiguous mass of resin, the head. The distal edge has multiple toes extending laterally outward and varying in shape and size about the edge, with adjacent toes having facing, free-form resin surfaces defining crevices therebetween. The fastener element is particularly flexible and engages with very fine fibers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: Velcro IP Holdings LLC
    Inventors: Luis Parellada Armela, Christopher M. Gallant, James L. Tardiff, Mark A. Clarner
  • Publication number: 20200170356
    Abstract: A male touch fastener product with a resin surface and an array of spaced-apart male touch fastener elements carried on the surface. Each touch fastener element has a stem extending from the surface and a head disposed at a distal end of the stem and extending laterally from the stem to a distal edge overhanging the surface. The head, stem and surface form a contiguous mass of resin, the head. The distal edge has multiple toes extending laterally outward and varying in shape and size about the edge, with adjacent toes having facing, free-form resin surfaces defining crevices therebetween. The fastener element is particularly flexible and engages with very fine fibers.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 2, 2019
    Publication date: June 4, 2020
    Inventors: Luis Parellada Armela, Klaas Jan Stol, Christopher M. Gallant, James L. Tardiff, Mark A. Clarner
  • Patent number: 10518525
    Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for connecting a printing plate to a print cylinder or surface. The techniques may be implemented, for instance, with respect to a printing plate, a print cylinder, a print sleeve, or some combination thereof. In an embodiment, a field of mechanical fasteners is provisioned on a printing plate, and a complementary field of mechanical fasteners is provisioned on a print sleeve or cylinder. The mechanical fasteners collectively operate to provide a mechanical bond or interface that inhibits lateral and rotational movement of the plate during printing operations, and can also be configured to manage backlash between engaging surfaces of the interface. In some cases, backlash management includes use of cushion effect integral with the mechanical bond itself and/or unidirectional and possibly angled fastener elements to provide a snugging effect.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2019
    Assignee: VELCRO BVBA
    Inventors: Luis Parellada Armela, Josep M. Soler Carbonell, Mark A. Clarner, Andrew P. Collins, Paul R. Erickson, Christopher M. Gallant, David Villeneuve
  • Patent number: 10010142
    Abstract: A touch fastener loop material has a non-woven web of fibers forming both a base and a field of high-tenacity hook-engageable loops extending outward from one broad side of the base. The fibers are distributed such that the field of loops has a particular fiber volume distribution as a function of elevation above the base.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2018
    Assignee: Velcro BVBA
    Inventors: Mark A. Clarner, Christopher M. Gallant
  • Publication number: 20180169923
    Abstract: A spacer product (e.g., a fabric) has long and thin stems welded to, interconnecting and extending from, two spaced flexible carrier sheets, such as of thin film. A precursor sheet product may be made by orienting thin, hollow, drawn staple fibers between bristles of a brush, and then fusing a film to the fiber ends by direct welding. The fibers are then withdrawn from the brush as stems with distal ends that are secured to another carrier sheet to form the spacer product.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 14, 2017
    Publication date: June 21, 2018
    Inventors: Joshua W. Whitcomb, Gregory K. Kopanski, Mark A. Clarner, James L. Tardiff, Mary L. Watts
  • Patent number: 9872543
    Abstract: A touch fastener loop material has a non-woven web of fibers forming both a base and a field of high-tenacity hook-engageable loops extending outward from one broad side of the base. The fibers are arranged with a particularly low density while maintaining hook-engageability and usefulness as a fastening material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2018
    Assignee: Velcro BVBA
    Inventors: Christopher M. Gallant, Mark A. Clarner
  • Publication number: 20170217157
    Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for connecting a printing plate to a print cylinder or surface. The techniques may be implemented, for instance, with respect to a printing plate, a print cylinder, a print sleeve, or some combination thereof. In an embodiment, a field of mechanical fasteners is provisioned on a printing plate, and a complementary field of mechanical fasteners is provisioned on a print sleeve or cylinder. The mechanical fasteners collectively operate to provide a mechanical bond or interface that inhibits lateral and rotational movement of the plate during printing operations, and can also be configured to manage backlash between engaging surfaces of the interface. In some cases, backlash management includes use of cushion effect integral with the mechanical bond itself and/or unidirectional and possibly angled fastener elements to provide a snugging effect.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 10, 2015
    Publication date: August 3, 2017
    Applicant: Velcro BVBA
    Inventors: LUIS PARELLADA ARMELA, JOSEP M. SOLER CARBONELL, MARK A. CLARNER, ANDREW P. COLLINS, PAUL R. ERICKSON, CHRISTOPHER M. GALLANT, DAVID VILLENEUVE
  • Publication number: 20160345686
    Abstract: A touch fastener loop material has a non-woven web of fibers forming both a base and a field of high-tenacity hook-engageable loops extending outward from one broad side of the base. The fibers are distributed such that the field of loops has a particular fiber volume distribution as a function of elevation above the base.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 29, 2015
    Publication date: December 1, 2016
    Inventors: Mark A. Clarner, Christopher M. Gallant
  • Publication number: 20160345687
    Abstract: A touch fastener loop material has a non-woven web of fibers forming both a base and a field of high-tenacity hook-engageable loops extending outward from one broad side of the base. The fibers are arranged with a particularly low density while maintaining hook-engageability and usefulness as a fastening material.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 29, 2015
    Publication date: December 1, 2016
    Inventors: Christopher M. Gallant, Mark A. Clarner
  • Patent number: 8658068
    Abstract: A touch fastener including an elongated base having multiple segments connected by articulable joints. Each segment has an upper surface, a lower surface, and a plurality of touch fastener elements extending from the lower surface of the base. A flexible barrier extends across at least one articulable joint between adjacent base segments. The fastener may include a magnetically attractable material disposed along a center region of the upper surface of the base. The fastener base may define a pair of first and second notches in opposite longitudinal edges of the base at the articulable joint to allow bending of the base. The base may also define a slit extending through the base from a longitudinal edge thereof at the articulable joint.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 25, 2014
    Assignee: Velcro Industries B.V.
    Inventors: Kevin Keith Line, Stephane Xavier Girard, David Pubrat, Daniel Lee Janzen, Michael Cina, Kristel L. Ferry, Mark A. Clarner, David P. Kraus, Jr.
  • Patent number: 8597721
    Abstract: A touch fastener product has a base strip of resin carrying both mechanical fastener projections and adhesive, in some cases disposed on raised portions of the base strip. The fastener projections are arranged in discrete fields with lanes between the fields, and the adhesive is disposed within the lanes. The adhesive in each lane is shorter, as measured perpendicularly from the base strip, than the projections nearest the lane, by a distance that is less than ten percent of the width of the lane. In some cases molded stems extend through the adhesive in the lanes. The fastening face of the molded base strip is treated to give the fastening face a higher surface energy than the back face, to resist adhesive delamination during unspooling.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2013
    Assignee: Velcro Industries B.V.
    Inventors: Almin Idrizovic, James T. Grady, Bob Yusuo Chang, Mark A. Clarner
  • Patent number: 8545740
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides embodiments of a releasable fastening arrangement that can include a first fastening strip secured to and extending over a substrate surface and having a first surface carrying first fastening elements extending from the surface. The releasable fastening arrangement can also include a second fastening strip having a second surface carrying second fastening elements that are engageable by the first fastening elements to form a releasable fastening. The first surface can include a flexible flap that is formed therein, and that is surrounded by other portions of the first surface. The flap can carry at least one of the first fastening elements, and can flap have a distal edge that is displaceable from the substrate surface under peel loads applied to the at least one first fastening element carried by the flap.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2013
    Assignee: Velcro Industries B.V.
    Inventors: Christopher M. Gallant, Mark A. Clarner, Derrick Slowikowski, Jefferson Davis, Wallace L. Kurtz, Jr.
  • Patent number: 8448305
    Abstract: A molded area fastener product, such as a self-engaging fastener, has a strip-form base of resin with a broad surface from which an array of discrete fastener elements extends. The fastener elements each include a molded stem extending from the broad surface of the base to a curved head that extends toward a front side of the fastener element, forms a crook and ends in a distal tip. In some examples the curved head protrudes beyond the stem on the back side of the fastener element to form an overhang defined by an overhang surface of the head directed toward the base, and the crook is defined in part by an underside head surface that overhangs a lower portion of the stem. In some examples the fastener elements are arranged to provide a high distension overlap when mated with an identical fastener product.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 28, 2013
    Assignee: Valero Industries B.V.
    Inventors: Christopher M. Gallant, Mark A. Clarner, Clinton Dowd