Nothing idles away a Sunday afternoon like surfing the net. For instance, reading about Velcro ®, – that “hook and eye” stuff that is everywhere now.
In the late 1940’s, its inventor George de Mestral examined under a microscope the prickly seed husks of the cocklebur that attached themselves to his dog and his clothes, to see why they stuck so strongly and found both the reason and the name. “Vel” from velours (French for loops, in clothing) and “cro” from crochet (for the hooks).
Mestral was an Engineer and proven inventor and decided to create a new fastener – to compete with the Zipper. It took eight years of experimenting with different textiles to perfect his idea and his patent was granted in 1955. Mestral, his weaver from Lyon, France, and a Swiss loom-maker from Basel, Switzerland, found that nylon, the first synthetic fibre developed in 1938, would harden if woven under infrared light.
His patent application describes how long loops are woven, passing over metal bars that can be heated to “fix” the hook after cutting and that have a groove through which a knife can pass to cut the loops. Their challenge was to cut a hardened fabric that would not rip or tear. A chance visit to his local barber gave Mestral the idea of cutting the loops with a sideways motion, similar to the way a barber cuts hair. 300 loops per square inch proves to be the right number and a two inch square of “hook and loop” tape can suspend the weight of a 175lb man.
With a loan of $US150,000 to start a company to manufacture Velcro®, the first factory opened in 1957 and he later sold the company and worldwide patent rights to Velcro SA, a Swiss company (later Velcro International) and retained the right to royalties. It is fascinating to go to the United States Patent and Trademark Office website and read the original Patent Application No 314,933 lodged on October 15, 1952 – which was lodged in Switzerland a year earlier. The patent grant issued on 13 September 1955. (Publication Number: 02717437)
De Mestral hoped that Velcro® would replace the Zipper, which got its name eighty years after its invention. In 1923, F. B. Goodrich ordered 150,000 for his new product – rubber galoshes – and based on the z-z-z-zip sound, he called it “The Zipper”. It was primarily used for boots and tobacco pouches – until the 1930’s. In the same way that the future Velcro® would replace shoelaces in children’s shoes, the zipper was promoted as a way of helping children to become more independent in dressing themselves. In 1937, French fashion designers decided that the zipper was definitely the winner in the “War of the Fly” and incorporated them into men’s trousers and high fashion garments.
In spite of de Mestral’s hopes, the cheap appearance of early Velcro® counted against it. Nylon was being replaced with more aesthetically pleasing fabrics like polyester and Dacron and zippers quickly became light and invisible. Velcro® was too bulky for everyday use in clothing – and its first successful commercial use was for children’s wallets. The makers of children’s clothing and sports apparel saw possibilities, watching astronauts easily remove their carefully tailored space suits with the Velcro® “zips”. The strength and longevity of Velcro® makes it ideal for tough, repetitive actions.
So, what exactly is “Velcro”? It is actually the name of a group of companies and it is a trademark owned by Velcro Industries, but it is not the hook and loop product itself. When the patent expired in 1978, the word “velcro” had become as universal as Hoover, Kleenex and Band-Aid – where every product of that type receives the generic name – whether it is the original or a low-cost imitation from Taiwan.
These are two of the most unusual uses for Velcro® I know: The two pumping chambers of the Jarvik 7-70 artificial heart (implanted in Canada) are fastened with Velcro®. A nuclear physicist, Neymotin, devised a “Kippon” with four strips of Velcro® that grab hair but release gently and hold yarmulkes firmly in place, even during basketball games. (See Neymotin’s response to this story, below)
The “holy grail” is silent Velcro – which would be quickly adopted by the military who see the “rip” sound of releasing the “hooks and loops” as a disadvantage in the field. On my idle Sunday next week, I might just see what I can do about inventing it.
Footnote:
Do you know that an internationally renowned physicist from Long Island invented the Kippon (using Velcro (R) hooks to keep the yarmulke or kipah (Jewish ritual skullcap) firmly on the heads of Jewish boys, so that they could play basketball?
From: Lev [mailto:lxxxxd@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, 20 November 2007 00:07
To: Lesley Dewar
Subject: Re: You are quoted in my story!
Lesley,
It’s a really hilarious “investigative” story, and I’m thrilled to be mentioned along with the authors of a number of very prominent Velcro (TM) applications!
With many thanks for your message & story,
Lev Neymotin
PS: Internet makes our continents so close, as if they never split…
(You can read the story of the Kippon here http://preview.tinyurl.com/ms7crk )
