The Zipper

The zipper is one of the simplest machines of modern times and maybe according to some, one of the least essential, but it is an immensely useful device in our everyday lives.

Ask any parent who has struggled each morning trying to get their young ones dressed for school while battling which clothes to wear and pick clothes they can wear on their own. Having zippers in clothing promotes self-help clothing in young children. Clothes with zippers are great for two-three year old children that are learning to dress themselves and for preschool children who find it so much easier to “zip” up their jacket rather than button up a winter coat in a hurry.

Zippers are also great in shoes. They are easy to put on and off, no hassle tying shoe laces or doing up buckles, and in general they are comfortable. If you have ever worn buttoned fly trousers, you know it’s much easier and comfortable to wear pants with zippered flyer than buttons.

I can’t imagine travelling with a suitcase without zipper or feeling warm and snug in a sleeping bag that didn’t have a zipper but instead had buttons.  The zipper is so effective and reliable that in less than a hundred years, it has become the de facto fastener for thousands of different products.

Ever wonder why most zippers say "YKK" on the pull-tab? Here is the reason:
YKK on Zippers?

Here are some parts of a zipper:

History of the Zipper

 Elias Howe inventor of the sewing machine received the patented in 1851 for the 'Automatic, Continuous Clothing Closure.' Even though he did not pursue marketing his clothing closure he was still considered the “Father of the Zip”.

About 40 years later, Mr. Whitcomb Judson marketed a ‘Clasp Locker’ which was similar to Howe’s 1851 patent. Whitcomb got the credit of being the 'Inventor of the Zipper', but his 1893 patent did not use the word zipper.

Gideon Sundback, Swedish-born improved the far from perfect 'Judson C-curity Fastener.'  And by December of 1913, he had designed the modern zipper.

Gideon Sundback increased the number of fastening elements from four per inch to ten or eleven had two facing-rows of teeth that pulled into a single piece by the slider, and increased the opening for the teeth guided by the slider.

Sundback patented the 'Separable Fastener' in 1917 and also created the manufacturing machine for the new zipper. Within the first year of operation, Sundback's zipper-making machinery was producing a few hundred feet of fastener per day.

During its early years, boots and tobacco pouches with a zippered closure were the two chief uses of the zipper. It took twenty more years to convince the fashion industry to seriously promote the novel closure on garments.

(Reference: http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa082497.htm)