who invented the zipper?

Question

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Answer 1

Swedish-born (who later immigrated to Canada), Gideon Sundback, an electrical engineer was hired to work for the Universal Fastener Company. Good design skills and a marriage to the plant-manager's daughter Elvira Aronson led Sundback to the position of head designer at Universal. He was responsible for improving the far from perfect 'Judson C-curity Fastener.' Unfortunately, Sundback's wife died in 1911. The grieving husband busied himself at the design table and by December of 1913, he had designed the modern zipper.

http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa082497.htm

Answer 2

The History of the Zipper





Related Innovations
• Clothing
• Clothing Fasteners




By Mary Bellis
It was a long way up for the humble zipper, the mechanical wonder that has kept so much in our lives 'together.' On its way up the zipper has passed through the hands of several dedicated inventors, none convinced the general public to accept the zipper as part of everyday costume. The magazine and fashion industry made the novel zipper the popular item it is today, but it happened nearly eighty years after the zipper's first appearance.

Elias Howe, who invented the sewing machine received a patent in 1851 for an 'Automatic, Continuous Clothing Closure.' Perhaps it was the success of the sewing machine, which caused Elias not to pursue marketing his clothing closure. As a result, Howe missed his chance to become the recognized 'Father of the Zip.'

Forty-four years later, Mr. Whitcomb Judson (who also invented the 'Pneumatic Street Railway') marketed a 'Clasp Locker' a device similar to the 1851 Howe patent. Being first to market gave Whitcomb the credit of being the 'Inventor of the Zipper', However, his 1893 patent did not use the word zipper. The Chicago inventor's 'Clasp Locker' was a complicated hook-and-eye shoe fastener. Together with businessman Colonel Lewis Walker, Whitcomb 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.

Answer 3

Fascinating facts about the invention of the
zipper by Gideon Sundback in 1913.
ZIPPER
AT A GLANCE:
The design used today, based on interlocking teeth, was invented by an employee of Whitcomb Judson's, Swedish born scientist Gideon Sundback. In 1913 and patented as the "Hookless Fastener" and after more improvements patented in 1917 as the "Separable Fastener". Only after Gideon Sundbach, had remodeled Judson's fastener into a more streamlined and reliable form, was the fastener a success.
Invention: zipper in 1913

Function: noun / zip-per / Originally a trademark.
Definition: A fastening device consisting of parallel rows of metal, plastic, or nylon teeth on adjacent edges of an opening that are interlocked by a sliding tab.
Patent: 1,060,378 (US) issued April 29,1913

Inventor: Gideon Sundback

Criteria; First to patent. Modern prototype. .
Birth: 1880
Death: June 21, 1954
Nationality: Swedish

Answer 4

See the attached link. I see that many others have found the same link.

For added information and extra credit brownie points:

The University of Akron (in Akron, OH) has a mascot- Zippy the Kangaroo. The team's name is Zips....after the zipper.
Legend has it that the team's original name was Zippers. But, when the zipper became a part of men's clothing, it (the nick-name) was changed to Zips. This was because many thought having the association with men's clothing was not a good idea!

Also, Zippy the Kangaroo is male. However, he does have a zippered pouch. I don't know why! Probably because it looks cute.

Answer 5

Whitcomb L. Judson invented the zipper and YKK is the Japanese company that makes them.

Whitcomb L. Judson was a lover of gadgets and machines and the idea for his "clasp locker" came from when a friend had a stiff back from trying to fasten his shoes. Judson's clasp locker was used mostly on mailbags, tobacco pouches and shoes. However, his design, like most first inventions needed to be fine-tuned.

A more practical version came on the scene in 1913 when a Swedish-born engineer, Gideon Sundback revised Judson's idea and made his with metal teeth instead of a hook and eye design. In 1917, Sundback patented his "separable fastener."

The name changed again when the B. F. Goodrich Co. used it in rubber boots, galoshes, and called it the "zipper" because the boots could be fastened with one hand.

The 1940s brought about research in Europe of the coil zipper design. The first design was of interlocking brass coils. However, since they could be permanently bent out of shape, making the zipper stop functioning, it was rather bad for business and wasn't too practical. The new design was improved after the discovery of stronger, more flexible synthetics. Coil zippers eventually hit the market in the early 1960s.

In 1934, Yoshida Kogyo Kabushililaisha was founded. Sixty years later they changed their name to YKK Co. The privately owned firm, headquartered in Japan, now is made up of 80 companies at 206 facilities in 52 countries. Wow! you say? but of course, the demand for zippers is great. YKK makes everything from the dyed fabric around the zipper to the brass used to make the actual device.

Answer 6

Zipper

The design used today, based on interlocking teeth, was invented by an employee of Whitcomb Judson's, Swedish born scientist Gideon Sundback. In 1913 and patented as the "Hookless Fastener" and after more improvements patented in 1917 as the "Separable Fastener". Only after Gideon Sundbach, had remodeled Judson's fastener into a more streamlined and reliable form, was the fastener a success.

The word "zipper" was trademarked in 1925 by B.F. Goodrich.

Answer 7

Whitcomb L. Judson invented the zipper and YKK is the Japanese company that makes them.

Whitcomb L. Judson was a lover of gadgets and machines and the idea for his "clasp locker" came from when a friend had a stiff back from trying to fasten his shoes. Judson's clasp locker was used mostly on mailbags, tobacco pouches and shoes. However, his design, like most first inventions needed to be fine-tuned.

A more practical version came on the scene in 1913 when a Swedish-born engineer, Gideon Sundback revised Judson's idea and made his with metal teeth instead of a hook and eye design. In 1917, Sundback patented his "separable fastener."

The name changed again when the B. F. Goodrich Co. used it in rubber boots, galoshes, and called it the "zipper" because the boots could be fastened with one hand.

The 1940s brought about research in Europe of the coil zipper design. The first design was of interlocking brass coils. However, since they could be permanently bent out of shape, making the zipper stop functioning, it was rather bad for business and wasn't too practical. The new design was improved after the discovery of stronger, more flexible synthetics. Coil zippers eventually hit the market in the early 1960s.

In 1934, Yoshida Kogyo Kabushililaisha was founded. Sixty years later they changed their name to YKK Co. The privately owned firm, headquartered in Japan, now is made up of 80 companies at 206 facilities in 52 countries. Wow! you say? but of course, the demand for zippers is great. YKK makes everything from the dyed fabric around the zipper to the brass used to make the actual device.

Did you know?
In the 1930s a sales campaign ran for children's clothing that used the new zippers. The device was praised for promoting self-reliance in young children. "Mommy look! One zip and I'm all dressed!"
In 1937 in the Battle of the Fly it was zipper versus button. French fashion designers went wild for the new invention for men's trousers.

Answer 8

Whitcomb L. Judson was an American engineer from Chicago, Illinois, who invented the zipper. Judson patented his "clasp-locker'' on Aug. 29, 1893; later in 1893, he exhibited this new invention at the Chicago World's Fair. He and Lewis Walker founded the Universal Fastener Company to manufacture these fasteners. They never succeeded in selling Judson's new device. Judson died in 1909, before his device became commonly used and well known.

The zipper was improved in 1913 by the Swedish-American engineer, Gideon Sundbach (a former employee of Judson). Sundbach was successful at selling his invention, which he called the "Hookless 2." He sold these fasteners to the US Army, who put zippers on soldiers' clothing and gear during World War I.

The word zipper was coined by B.F. Goodrich in 1923, whose company sold rubber galoshes equipped with zippers. Goodrich is said to have named them zippers because he liked the zipping sound they made when opened and closed.

Answer 9

Whitcomb L. Judson invented the zipper

**Whitcomb L. Judson was a lover of gadgets and machines and the idea for his "clasp locker" came from when a friend had a stiff back from trying to fasten his shoes. Judson's clasp locker was used mostly on mailbags, tobacco pouches and shoes. However, his design, like most first inventions needed to be fine-tuned.

A more practical version came on the scene in 1913 when a Swedish-born engineer, Gideon Sundback revised Judson's idea and made his with metal teeth instead of a hook and eye design. In 1917, Sundback patented his "separable fastener."

Answer 10

The true zipper, and the design used today, is based on interlocking teeth. It was invented in St. Catharines, Ontario by Gideon Sundback, a Swedish-born immigrant to Canada who was in 1913 the top designer at Universal Fastener Company. He made his first "Hookless fastener" in 1913, and designed the complex machinery needed to manufacture it. The patent was issued in 1917 as a "separable fastener." The B. F. Goodrich Company coined the name Zipper in 1923 for the line of rubber overshoes that it made using the fastener. The name slowly came to be associated with the fastener itself, and eventually acquired generic status.