The zipper is among the simplest machines in the modern times and perhaps, it is also one of the least essential yet still an immensely useful device in people’s day to day lives.
Just think how much easier, simpler, and faster it is to close the fly of a pair of pants, the back of a dress, a suitcase, a tent flap, or a sleeping bag with a zipper than with cords or buttons.
The zipper is so reliable and effective that in less than 100 years, it has become considered as the de facto fastener for thousands of various products.
Today, you will get to know more about the different parts that make up a zipper and learn how these components are so securely and easily lock together. The system is clever in its sheer simplicity.
Wedge and Hook
Zippers can be produced exclusively with the use of modern machines. However, they are produced around two of the simplest and oldest tools in the history of civilization: the hook and the wedge.
When you speak of a wedge, it is an object with an inclined or slanted surface. When a wedge is pushed forward against a certain object, the object will be pushed to right or to the left. Simply put, the force that a wedge exerts is always perpendicular to the specific direction where it moves.
The perfect example for this principle is the door stop. Once you shove this underneath a door, an upward force is applied on the bottom portion of the door. Another common wedge is the plow. Once driven forward, this pushes snow or dirt to the sides.
On the other hand, a hook is a curved piece of material used for grabbing onto another material. For thousands of years, hooks have served as fastening devices since these are generally sturdy and simple. When used as fastening devices, hooks are often paired with a hollow area, loop, or eye receiving the hook.
Zipper Track
Dozens of teeth make up a zipper track, each of which combines a hollow and a hook. The concept here is to latch each hook on each of the two tracks to a hollow on the other side of the track. The slide or the latching mechanism is merely a collection of wedges.
Once the slide moves up a zipper, two strips of teeth should enter at a particular angle. While the strips move through the zipper slide, the inclined edges of the slide push the teeth toward one another. The strips are then offset from each other for each hollow to settle onto hook in sequence.
In order for it to work properly, every tooth should have the exact same shape and, and all of them should be properly positioned on the zipper track. It would be all but impossible without the help of modern manufacturing technology.
The interlocking teeth in well-made zippers form a very secure bond. Separating the teeth is very hard if you try to pull apart the two strips.
Start shopping for the best zippers via ZipperShipper’s website today.
