Pile textile elements with fused wrapper and base

Claim 2

In a pile textile element for decorative pile articles comprising a bundle of a plurality of substantially parallel, heat-fusible filamentary textile materials and a removable wrapper encasing the bundle over at least a portion of its length, the improvement comprising: (a) the wrapper comprised of heat-fusible material; and (b) the heat-fusible filamentary textile materials at one end of said bundle being fused together with the heat-fusible wrapper to form a flat base.

Claim 3

The pile textile element as claimed in claim 1 wherein said base has a thickness which is small compared to the length of the bundle, and a circumference which is generally the same configuration as and is slightly larger than the circumference of the wrapped bundle, said base projecting uniformly, in a plane substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the bundle, beyond the entire circumference of the wrapped bundle.

Claim 4

The pile textile element as claimed in claim 2 wherein the bundle comprises at least one void.

Claim 5

The pile textile element as claimed in claim 2 wherein said wrapper is a flexible envelope.

Claim 6

The pile textile element as claimed in claim 2 wherein said wrapper is a rigid envelope.

Claim 7

The pile textile element as claimed in claim 2 wherein the unfused portion of said wrapper is removable from the filamentary textile materials.

Claim 8

The pile textile element as claimed in claim 2 wherein said wrapper is fixed permanently to the filamentary textile materials.

Claim 9

The pile textile element as claimed in claim 2 and further comprising a supplementary base attached to said flat base.

Claim 10

The pile textile element as claimed in claim 8 wherein said supplementary base is flexible.

Claim 11

The pile textile element as claimed in claim 8 wherein said supplementary base is rigid.

Claim 12

The pile textile element as claimed in claim 8 wherein said supplementary base comprises a means for fixing the element for the purposes of decorative effect.

Claim 13

The pile textile element as claimed in claim 8 wherein said supplementary base is heat-sealable.

Claim 14

The pile textile element as claimed in claim 8 wherein said supplementary base contains magnetic elements.

Claim 15

The pile textile element as claimed in claim 8 wherein said supplementary base comprises a pointed extension which permits the affixing of said supplementary base.

Claim 16

The pile textile element as claimed in claim 8 wherein said base is self-adhesive.

Claim 17

The pile textile element as claimed in claim 2 wherein said wrapper is an envelope made from a film having a polyolefin base.

Claim 18

The pile textile element as claimed in claim 1 wherein said wrapper is comprised of a heat-fusible plastic.

Claim 19

The pile textile element as claimed in claim 17 wherein said plastic has a polyolefin base.

Claim 20

In a process for preparing a pile textile element for decorative pile articles wherein a bundle of a plurality of substantially parallel heat-fusible filamentary textile materials, which may be encased over a portion of, or its entire length, with a wrapper and the heat-fusible filamentary textile materials are fused together by application of heat at one end of the bundle, the improvement comprising the steps of: (a) encasing a bundle of a plurality of substantially parallel heat-fusible filamentary textile materials over at least a portion of its entire length including at least one end thereof with a heat-fusible wrapper; (b) placing the covered end of the bundle and a portion of the heat-fusible wrapper in contact with a heated surface at a temperature higher than the melting point of the heat-fusible filamentary textile materials, said surface being located in a plane which is perpendicular to a plane containing the longitudinal axis of the bundle; (c) applying pressure between the heated surface, the heat-fusible wrapper and the end of the bundle in contact with the heated surface; (d) allowing the heat-fusible filamentary textile materials and the heat-fusible wrapper to melt and uniformly flow over and slightly beyond the circumference of the wrapped bundle; and (e) removing the bundle from the heated surface whereby there is formed a flat base at one end of the bundle which projects uniformly beyond the circumference of the bundle.

Claim 21

In a process for preparing a pile textile element for decorative pile articles wherein a bundle of a plurality of substantially parallel heat-fusible filamentary textile materials, which may be encased over a portion of, or its entire length, with a wrapper and the heat-fusible filamentary textile materials are fused together by application of heat at one end of the bundle, the improvement comprising the steps of: (a) encasing a bundle of a plurality of substantially parallel heat-fusible filamentary textile materials over at least a portion of its entire length including at least one end thereof with a heat-fusible wrapper; (b) placing the covered end of the bundle and a portion of the heat-fusible wrapper in contact with a heated surface at a temperature higher than the melting point of the heat-fusible filamentary textile materials, said surface being located in a plane which is perpendicular to a plane containing the longitudinal axis of the bundle; (c) applying pressure between the heated surface, the heat-fusible wrapper and the end of the bundle in contact with the heated surface; (d) allowing the heat-fusible filamentary textile materials and the heat-fusible wrapper to melt and uniformly flow over and slightly beyond the circumference of the wrapped bundle; and (e) removing the bundle from the heated surface whereby there is formed a flat base at one end of the bundle which projects uniformly beyond the circumference of the bundle.

Claim 22

The process of claim 19 wherein the pressure between the heated surface, the heat-fusible wrapper and the end of the bundle in contact with the heated surface falls between 10 and 600 g/cm 2 .

Claim 23

The process of claim 20 wherein the heated surface is stainless steel at a temperature between 500° C. and 900° C.

Claim 24

The process of claim 21 wherein the step of allowing the heat-fusible filamentary textile materials and the heat-fusible wrapper to melt and uniformly flow over and slightly beyond the circumference of the wrapped bundle is limited to a period between 1/10 second and 5 seconds.