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Wire wound toolingRelated Patent Categories: Plastic Article Or Earthenware Shaping Or Treating: Apparatus, With Apparatus Assembly Or Dismantling Means Or With Idle Part, For Press Shaping Surface, Calender Roll Or Roll FaceWire wound tooling description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060188599, Wire wound tooling. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/101,706, filed Apr. 8, 2005, now allowed, which is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/438,082, filed May 14, 2003, issued on Jun. 7, 2005 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,902,389. FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to the field of manufacturing articles with structured surfaces. More particularly, the present invention provides tooling for manufacturing articles with one or more structured surfaces, methods of manufacturing the tooling, and methods of using the tooling to manufacture articles with one or more structured surfaces. BACKGROUND [0003] Articles with one or more structured surfaces find a variety of uses. The articles may be provided as films that exhibit, e.g., increased surface area, structures used to provide a mechanical fastener, optical properties, etc. When these films are manufactured for use as mechanical fasteners, the protrusions that are found on the structured surface are commonly referred to as hooks. The hooks may be formed in a curved shape or they may be substantially upright stems that are deformed to include, e.g., a head in the shape of mushroom. [0004] Mechanical fasteners are sometimes designed so that two hook strips can be used to fasten two articles together by adhering each strip to one of the articles and then interengaging the two strips. Such a mechanical fastener is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,192,589 (Pearson) which calls the fastener "hermaphroditic" because its headed studs have both male and female characteristics when intermeshed. The Pearson fasteners can be made by molding a base from which integral headless studs project and then heat softening the tips of the studs. [0005] U.S. Pat. No. 5,077,870 (Melbye et al.) discloses one method of manufacturing the hook strip portion of a mechanical fastener by forcing molten material into cavities formed in a moving mold surface. The stems formed by the moving mold surface are then capped to form the desired fasteners. The cavities are formed in the mold surface by drilling. As a result, the cavities are cylindrical in shape and, although some precision can be obtained in depth, diameter and spacing between cavities, it is obtained with some difficulty and increased costs. Furthermore, damage to the mold surface typically requires that the entire mold be discarded. [0006] U.S. Pat. No. 5,792,411 (Morris et al.) discloses a molding tool manufactured by laser machining a mold surface. Molten material is then forced into the cavities in the moving mold surface to form stems. The stems are then capped to form the desired fasteners. Because the cavities are formed by laser ablation, the cavity shape is based on the energy distribution within the laser beam used to form the cavities. Furthermore, precise control over the depth of the cavities is difficult to obtain due to variability in the material used to construct the mold, the power of the laser beam, the energy distribution within the beam, beam focus, etc. [0007] U.S. Pat. No. 4,775,310 (Fischer) and PCT Publication No. WO 97/46129 (Lacey et al.) disclose tooling used to manufacture hook strips for a hook-and-loop style mechanical fastener. The tools are formed by a hollow drum with a water cooling jacket. A series of mold disks or alternating mold disks and spacer plates are laminated together along the length of the drum to form the desired mold cavities on the face of the roll. Disadvantages of these designs include the cost of manufacturing the mold disks with adequate precision to ensure that the mold cavities are of the same depth, length, spacing, etc. Size limitations imposed on the disks by manufacturing difficulties can, in turn, limit line speed in processes using the tools. Other disadvantages of this design include non-uniform cooling of the mold cavities, non-uniformities in the products produced by the stacked plates, etc. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0008] The present invention provides tool rolls and methods of using the tool rolls to manufacture articles with one or more structured surfaces. The tool rolls include an outer surface that, when used in connection with materials of the proper viscosity or formability, can form a structured surface on an article. Because the tools are manufactured in roll-form, they can be advantageously used in continuous manufacturing processes. Alternatively, discrete articles may be processed using the tool rolls of the present invention. [0009] By "structured surface" it is meant that a surface of the article deviates from a planar or other smooth surface. For example, the structured surface may include protrusions extending therefrom, such as stems used in connection with mechanical fasteners. Other alternative structured surfaces include, but are not limited to: continuous grooves or ridges, elongated structures, etc. [0010] The tool rolls of the present invention are constructed of a cylindrical base roll and are wrapped with one or more continuous wires in a helical pattern. The wires are used, in essence, to form a structured surface on the tool roll that is the negative of the structured surface to be formed on the articles processed using the tool roll. In one embodiment, at least one of the wires wound around the base roll may include depressions formed therein that, when wound in helical coils about the base roll, form mold cavities on the outer surface of the tool roll. [0011] Advantages of the tool rolls according to the present invention include the ability to provide mold cavities with particularly small tangential cross-sectional areas. Also, feature dimensions of the depressions formed in the major sides of the wires may not be limited by, e.g., the thickness of the wire as with a wire including voids punched through both major sides. Mold cavities formed by depressions according to the present invention may be formed with depths that may extend over the entire side surfaces of the wires. As a result, protrusions may be formed using the tool roll that have a particularly high aspect ratio. [0012] Filling of such high aspect ratio mold cavities may be enhanced by bleed structures on the wires and/or the base roll. Those bleed structures assist in the escape of air from the mold cavities during molding. [0013] Another advantage of tool rolls according to the present invention is the density at which the mold cavities may be provided on the outer surface of the tool roll. By forming the mold cavities from depressions, structural integrity of the wire may be enhanced as compared to mold cavities formed by voids punched through both major sides of a wire. That enhanced structural integrity may allow for closer spacing of the mold cavities on the tool roll. The closer spacing of the mold cavities translates into increased density in the features that may be formed on articles manufacture using the tool roll. [0014] Yet another advantage of tool rolls according to the present invention is that one or more depressions in a major side of the wire may be combined with a void formed through a wire to form a composite mold cavity having a shape that is not possible with a void or depressions alone. [0015] Other advantages of the tool rolls include, but are not limited to the ability to replace the wire windings on the base roll if the outer surface of the tool roll becomes damaged or worn. The tool rolls may also be relatively inexpensive as compared to the cost of manufacturing tool rolls using, e.g., stacked plates or direct drilling of the mold surface. [0016] Another advantage is the ability to control the spacing between mold cavities along the width of the roll by varying the thickness of the wire or wires wrapped around the base roll. Spacing of the mold cavities about the circumference can also be independently controlled by controlling the spacing between depressions in the wire or wires wrapped around the base roll. A further advantage is that, by controlling the profile or cross-sectional shape of the wire or wires and the shape or shapes of the depressions formed in the wire, variations in the shape or shapes of the mold cavities can also be achieved. [0017] Yet another advantage of the present invention is the relatively small thermal mass of the wire or wires wrapped around the base roll in comparison to the thermal mass of the base roll. As a result, thermal control over the mold cavities can be improved, which can result in corresponding improvements in the uniformity of the products produced using the tool rolls. [0018] As used in connection with the present invention, a "mold cavity" may be any discontinuity in an otherwise smooth or planar surface into which moldable material may flow during a molding process. In some embodiments of the present invention, the tool rolls may include mold cavities with high aspect ratios as defined below, although it should be understood that a mold cavity need not have a high aspect ratio. [0019] In one aspect, the present invention provides a tool roll with a cylindrical base roll and a first wire having an inner edge, outer edge, and first and second major sides located therebetween. The first major side of the first wire includes a plurality of depressions formed therein and the first wire is wound in helical coils around the base roll such that the inner edge is proximate the base roll. The plurality of depressions in the first major side of the first wire form a plurality of mold cavities with each of the mold cavities including a mold opening at an outer surface of the tool roll proximate the outer edge of the first wire. [0020] In another aspect, the present invention provides a tool roll including a cylindrical base roll and a first wire with an inner edge, outer edge, and first and second major sides located therebetween. The first major side of the first wire includes a plurality of depressions formed therein and the first wire is wound in helical coils around the base roll such that the inner edge is proximate the base roll. The plurality of depressions in the first major side of the first wire form a plurality of mold cavities with each of the mold cavities including a mold opening at an outer surface of the tool roll proximate the outer edge of the first wire. The tool roll also includes a second wire with an inner edge, outer edge, and first and second major sides located therebetween. The second wire is wound in helical coils around the base roll such that the inner edge of the second wire is proximate the base roll, wherein the second wire is located between adjacent helical coils of the first wire. The first major side of the second wire includes a bleed structure formed therein and an edge zone free of the bleed structure. Continue reading about Wire wound tooling... Full patent description for Wire wound tooling Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Wire wound tooling patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. Start now! - Receive info on patent apps like Wire wound tooling or other areas of interest. ### Previous Patent Application: Apparatus for embossing a flexible substrate with a pattern carried by an optically transparent compliant media Next Patent Application: Die for molding disk substrate and method of manufacturing disk substrate Industry Class: Plastic article or earthenware shaping or treating: apparatus ### FreshPatents.com Support Thank you for viewing the Wire wound tooling patent info. 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