The zipper
A zipper, zip, fly, dingy, or zip fastener, formerly known as a clasp locker, is a commonly used device
for binding the edges of an opening of fabric or other flexible material, such as on a garment or a bag. It is
used in clothing (e.g., jackets and jeans), luggage and other bags, sporting goods, camping gear (e.g. tents
and sleeping bags), and other items. Zippers come in all different sizes, shapes, and colors. Whitcomb L.
Judson, who was an American inventor from Chicago, is sometimes given credit as the inventor of the
zipper, but he never made a practical device. The method, still in use today, is based on interlocking teeth.
Initially, it was titled the "hookless fastener" and was later redesigned to become more reliable.
The bulk of a zipper consists of two rows of protruding teeth, which may be made to interdigitate, linking
the rows, carrying from tens to hundreds of specially shaped metal or plastic teeth. These teeth can be either
individual or shaped from a continuous coil and are also referred to as elements. The slider, operated by
hand, moves along the rows of teeth. Inside the slider is a Y-shaped channel that meshes together or
separates the opposing rows of teeth, depending on the direction of the slider's movement. The word zipper is
onomatopoetic because it was named for the sound the device makes when used, a high-pitched zip.
In 1851, Elias Howe received a patent for an "Automatic, Continuous Clothing Closure". He did not try
seriously to market it, missing recognition he might otherwise have received. Howe's device was more like
an elaborate drawstring than a true slide fastener.
Forty-two years later, in 1893 Whitcomb Judson, who invented a pneumatic street railway, marketed a
"Clasp Locker". The device served as a (more complicated) hook-and-eye shoe fastener. With the support of
businessman Colonel Lewis Walker, Judson launched the Universal Fastener Company to manufacture the
new device. The clasp locker had its public debut at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and met with little
commercial success. Judson is sometimes given credit as the inventor of the zipper, but he never made a
practical device.
The popular North American term zipper, (UK zip, or occasionally zip-fastener), came from the B. F.
Goodrich Company in 1923. The company opted to use Gideon Sundback's fastener on a new type of rubber
boots (or galoshes) and referred to it as the zipper, and the name stuck. The two chief uses of the zipper in its
early years were for closing boots and tobacco pouches. Zippers began being used for clothing in 1925 by
Schott NYC on leather jackets.
The components of a zipper are:
1. Top Tape Extension (the fabric part of the zipper, that extends beyond the teeth, at the top of the
chain)
2. Top Stop (two devices affixed to the top end of a zipper, to prevent the slider from coming off the
chain)
3. Slider (the device that moves up and down the chain to open or close the zipper)
4. Pull Tab or Puller (the part of the slider that is held to move the slider up or down)
5. Tape Width (refers to the width of the fabric on both sides of the zipper chain)
6. Chain or Zipper Teeth (the continuous piece that is formed when both halves of a zipper mesh
together) and Chain Width (refers to the specific gauge of the chain – common gauge sizes are #3,
#5, #7, #8 and #10, the bigger the number, the wider the teeth/chain width is)
7. Bottom Stop (a device affixed to the bottom end of a zipper, to prevent further movement of the half
of the zipper from separating)
8. Bottom Tape Extension (the fabric part of the zipper, that extends beyond the teeth, at the bottom of
the chain)
9. Single Tape Width (refers to the width of the fabric on one side of the zipper chain)
10. Insertion Pin (a device used on a separating zipper whose function is to allow the joining of the
two zipper halves)
11. Retainer Box or Pin Box (a device used on a separating zipper whose function is to correctly align
the pin, to begin the joining of the zipper halves)
12. Reinforcement Film (a strip of plastic fused to each half of the zipper tape to allow a manufacturer
to electronically "weld" the zipper onto the garment or item that is being manufactured, without the
need of sewing or stitching)
