Development history of zipper

Zippers are also called zippers. It is one of the top ten inventions that facilitate people's lives in modern times.

The appearance of zipper was a century ago. At that time, in some places in Central Europe, people tried to replace buttons and bows with belts, hooks and rings, so they began to experiment with zippers. Zippers were first used in military uniforms. During World War I, the US Army first ordered a large number of zippers to make clothes for soldiers. However, the promotion of zipper in the folk was relatively late, and it was not until 1930 that it was accepted by women to replace the buttons of clothing.

Zipper is the name obtained in 1926. It is reported that the novelist Francot said at a business luncheon to promote a zipper sample, "Pull it and it will open! Pull it again and it will close! " The characteristics of zipper are explained very concisely. The word zipper comes from this.

The embryonic form of the invention of zipper originally came from the boots people wore. /kloc-In the middle of the 0/9th century, boots were very popular, especially suitable for walking on muddy roads or roads with horse manure. But there are more than 20 hooks on the boots, and it takes a long time to put them on and take them off. This shortcoming is a headache for inventors, and it also costs sponsors a lot of money and patience. In order to avoid the trouble of wearing boots, people even put up with wearing boots all day. Finally, in 185 1 year, elias howe, an American, applied for a patent for a similar zipper design, but it was not commercialized and even forgotten for half a century.

1893 (said 1883), an American engineer named Judson (Kuwaiti) developed a "sliding" device and obtained a patent, which was the original prototype of the zipper. The appearance of this device has an impact on the button hooks used in high boots. However, this invention did not catch on quickly, mainly because the quality of this early locking device was not good enough, and it was easy to loosen at an inappropriate time and place, which was embarrassing.

1902, an enterprise that used to produce buttons and lace became interested in Judson's invention. They bought a patent, registered the trademark "Koubitao" and began to produce zippers installed on shoes. However, this "crab-eating" company soon embarked on the road of destruction, and its "buckle must be properly" could not be pulled up or opened, and sometimes it suddenly stretched open, which made consumers extremely embarrassed. The discredited "button must be buttoned" became a unsalable product, and the first company that produced zippers also closed down due to losses.

19 12, Sen Debacker, an employee of Judson Company, improved this "automatic button", and changed every tooth on the chain into a convex shape and a concave shape, so that the teeth can completely bite one by one, and it is not easy to get stuck or split, and has a new name-zipper.

19 13 years, Sambak, Sweden improved this rough locking device and made it a reliable commodity. The method he adopted was to connect the metal lock teeth to a flexible shaft. The working principle of this zipper is that each tooth is a small hook, which can be matched with the small hole under a small tooth on the next belt and the opposite belt. This kind of zipper is so strong that it can only be opened by sliding the slider to open the teeth.

It was not until11990' s that there was a turning point. Whitcomb L. Judson, a mechanical engineer from Chicago, proposed a sliding device to install and separate two rows of buttons (the principle is similar to zipper, but the word zipper didn't appear until about 30 years later). Judison's invention was fortunately funded by Pennsylvania lawyer Lewis Walker. Walker is very interested in Judith's new design.

History is often rewritten because of some accidental factors, and the history of the invention of zippers also confirms this. An air crash that shocked the world saved the dying zipper.

It was sunny in the Place de la Concorde in Paris, and carefully selected pilots confidently boarded the most advanced aircraft at that time and performed flight performances for a large number of dignitaries and VIPs. But the plane made a few beautiful taxies and fell down. The plane was ruined!

After careful analysis and evidence collection, the accident investigation team found that a button fell off the pilot's coat, which just rolled into the aircraft engine, causing the accident. The painful price made the French Ministry of Defence issue an order that buttons are not allowed to be nailed on flight suits. European countries followed suit and spread to the United States of America on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

"We have hope!" After learning this, Sembeck decided that this was an opportunity to bring the zipper back to life. He immediately contacted the Ministry of National Defense and offered to sew a new pilot uniform at the most favorable price. Pilots wearing new military uniforms with zippers undoubtedly had a huge advertising effect. The army and navy followed suit. Sembeck lost no time in contacting clothing manufacturers in the United States and even Europe to mass-produce shirts without buttons but with zippers. Zippers came out of nowhere and became more and more popular.

After the outbreak of World War I, American soldiers realized that zippers on military uniforms could improve the speed of soldiers' dressing, so they tried to install zippers in the pockets of clothes and the front of pants, which was very popular with frontline soldiers. 24,000 zippered uniforms produced by 19 17 were sold out immediately. 19 18, the United States installed zippers on 10000 flight suits.

During the First World War, the American economy was very depressed. Steel costs 5 cents a pound, and workers' wages are 6 dollars a week. The company laid off employees, leaving only Sembeck and another employee, who is both a manager and an engineer. The company's economy has encountered unprecedented difficulties. In order to repay the thousands of dollars owed to Jobolin Company, which supplied steel wire, Sembeck had to repair a machine for making paper clips to make money. Fortunately, sponsors keep appearing. At that time, the playwright's father James O 'Neill visited The Count of Monte Cristo, and he was very interested in Sembeck's zipper.

Although his career turned for the better, Sembeck personally suffered an unprecedented blow, and his wife died during childbirth. When Sambeck was sad, he devoted himself to improving the zipper. 19 13 applied for a patent again, and the patent license was approved in 19 17 (patent number 12 1988 1). Walker called this patent a "hidden hook" and was optimistic about the future. Walker renamed the company "Hookless Fastener Company" and moved the factory to Midvale.

Sembeck further improved the hook-free button. The shape of teeth is changed to spoon shape, the top is convex and the end is concave. When the sliding device slides, the left and right "teeth" can be embedded and then slide back to separate, which is called "Hookless No.2". A machine for manufacturing teeth is designed. 19 13 He officially announced that this technology had been broken through. "American Science" once took the patent of Senbeck as the cover story.

Six months later, Sembeck will mass-produce this button, and Hook No.2 will be on the market.

Walker's second son also spent eight years working on the improvement of hook-free buttons. Josephine Calhoun of Florida also applied for a patent for a similar safety zipper at 1907. In the same year, Frank Kefer of Colorado also applied for a patent. Inventors devoted to this research not only appeared in the United States, but also the patents of Catalina Kuhn-Moose and Henry Foster in Zurich in 19 12 were the final products closest to Sembeck. However, none of them has become a commodity like No.2 hook. ..

Market demand determines the success or failure of products. Hook-free No.2 didn't have many orders at first. Mcreery, a department store in Pittsburgh, thinks that Hook-free No.2 is very suitable for skirts and suits, and requires manufacturers to adopt Hook-free No.2, but few imitators dare to take risks with new products. In order to win customers, Sembeck constantly improves the performance of zippers to meet the demand.

The manufacturing technology of Medway Factory is becoming more and more sophisticated, and 1630 No.2 hook is manufactured every day, and there are no defective products. As a result, orders are increasing. The first world war also brought new opportunities for new products, and the military's money belt increased the demand for hook-free II. Using hook-free 2 in air force flight suit can not only save materials, but also have better windproof effect; The navy's life jacket also uses hook 2, so the government specially allocates metal materials for production.

Hook-free No.2 proved to be very useful, but the price was too high to be popularized. Sembeck understands this and is committed to reducing production costs and improving manufacturing efficiency. He invented the S-L machine to reduce unnecessary waste of materials in the production process, as long as the original raw material was 4 1℅. After reducing the production cost, the first product used was Locktite cigarette bag, and the sales were still successful. At the end of 192 1, the number of No.2 hook required by tobacco companies every week reached an unprecedented number. In order to meet the high demand, Hookless Button Company has built a new factory.

In 192 1 year, B.F.Goodrich of Ohio ordered a small amount of products from Hookless Button Company for their rubber shoes. After the trial, it was found that the effect was good, and a large number of orders were placed, and the company was informed of the shortcomings found. After improvement, the company introduced mysterious boots, which are characterized by being able to put on or take off as long as they are pulled.

Marketers are not satisfied with the name Wonderful Boot and want to find a name that can better reflect its characteristics. Inspired by the word "Zip"-the sound of fast moving objects, the manager changed the name of Wonderful Boot to ZIPPER Boot (as shown in Figure 2), and designed the zipper trademark of ZIPPER to protect the product by law. This year is 1923, later. " Unfortunately, Judith died in 1909. He has never heard of the word "zipper" before, nor has he seen his invention successfully popularized in the world.

That winter, Fu Hao Company sold nearly 500,000 pairs of zipper boots, and in the mid-1920s, it bought at least one million zippers from the buttonless company every year. Hook-free Button Company feels that the word "hook-free" has negative associations, and the word "zipper" was created by Fu Hao Company. So I came up with the name "Talon", and the company changed its name to Talon at 1937.

Before 1930, the hook-free button company could sell 20 million "eagle claws" every year, ranging from pencil cases to the hood of motorboats. However, the clothing industry is still waiting to see. In the mid-1930s, fashion designer Elsa Scappa Reilly used "eagle claws" extensively for the first time. The New Yorker described 1935' s spring fashion show as "all zippers". Since then, the garment industry has gradually adopted zippers.

With the spread of products, the manufacturing technology of zippers has gradually spread all over the world. European countries such as Switzerland and Germany, and Asian countries such as Japan and China have started to set up zipper workshops.

19 17, zippers were introduced to Japan. At that time, zippers were rare and could only be used as decorations for dignitaries to show off their status. 1927 in the early days of showa, Japan, passers-by in Hiroshima began to manufacture zippers and began to sell them under the trademark of "Jig". At that time, zippers were famous for their durability, so "clip" became synonymous with zippers. Up to now, the Japanese still call "zipper" a "fixture".

1932 Japan began to make a large number of hand-made zippers. Due to the continuous development of advanced machines such as eccentric manual punching machine at that time, zippers could be mass-produced and the price was gradually reduced. The clothing and luggage industry began to use zippers, which made the industry prospect very active.

From 65438 to 0934, zipper products from Shanghai, Hong Kong and the United States began to be exported in batches. The predecessor of Japan Yoshida Industrial Co., Ltd., the "Three S Chamber of Commerce", was established in June this year at 65438+ 10/.

After 1937, a large number of zippers were sold to North America and Central and South America. Zipper has finally emerged as a new industry. Similarly, zipper has become an important role in Japanese industry. However, when the Pacific War broke out in 194 1, Japan eventually became a defeated country. The war brought a devastating blow to Japan's domestic industries, including the zipper industry. At that time, except for some military zipper manufacturers, almost all other factories were forced to switch or abandon business.

After the 1946 war, the demand for zippers increased rapidly under the influence of the US troops stationed in Japan at that time. However, the huge trauma caused by the war made the Japanese zipper industry unable to meet the demand in a short time. "Made in Japan", the disadvantages of handicraft manufacturing are exposed. At that time, it caused a bad image of "zippers are easy to break" made in Japan.

1950, Japan's "Yoshida Industrial Co., Ltd." imported automatic tooth chain machine, which entered the first step of mechanized production. Then, the automatic bronzing machine with slider invented by the company was successfully developed. It not only solved the disadvantages in the past manufacturing, but also reformed the manufacturing process into the production process, thus driving the progress of the entire zipper industry in Japan. (Japanese Yoshida Co., Ltd., product name YKK, has workshops in China Sheng Di, Heibu, Yuehu, Tohoku, Shikoku and Kyushu, and factories in more than 40 overseas countries and regions. ) 195 1 year, 30 fastener manufacturing machines made in Japan were put into use, and finally the unparalleled modern factory equipment in the industry was completed.

Almost at the same time as the development of Japanese zipper industry, some European countries, such as Switzerland and Germany, are also developing zippers. In 1930s, the Swiss company Optilon was founded, with its headquarters in Zug, Switzerland. For decades, the company has taken "comfort" and "quality" as the first elements and continuously improved its design. After technical cooperation with more than 30 foreign companies, new zipper varieties have emerged continuously, and enterprises and factories have been set up all over the world, becoming a world-class zipper enterprise as famous as American Tyrone Zipper Company and Japan Yoshida Co., Ltd.

1953, Germany introduced the plastic zipper for the first time, which pioneered the nonmetal zipper.

China zipper was introduced to Shanghai from Japan in 1930. At that time, in Houjia Road, Wang He founded the first zipper factory in China. Later, Wu started another zipper factory, and founded the Shanghai Samsung zipper factory on 1933.

1949, there were more than 20 small and medium-sized zipper enterprises in China with about 1000 employees. Mainly by hand, the equipment is simple.

1958, Shanghai Samsung Zipper Factory introduced an automatic rice machine made in Germany, and carried out technical transformation, which increased the rotation speed of the automatic rice machine from 1440 rpm to 3000 rpm, equivalent to 230 times of manual operation. The production of slider is transformed from single-head stamping to twelve-pass one-time forming, and the production efficiency is improved by more than 50 times; High-efficiency special equipment such as leveling, brushing, belt washing, waxing, doubling and shuttleless loom has been successfully transformed; The first technological revolution of zipper industry in China was realized by popularizing new technologies such as liquid drawing of Al-Mg alloy and sintering of cemented carbide into an integral mold.

1958 invisible zipper is on sale.

1959 went on the market (L type).

196 1 year, Delrin resin zipper injection molding machine came out and Delrin resin zipper began to be sold.

1963 EFJON double-bone zipper goes on sale.

197 1 knitted fabrics with peron zipper are on sale.

1974 Beijing imported Swiss nylon zipper (horizontal) production equipment; With the introduction of eight sets of French-made polyester zipper production equipment in Tianjin; Soon, domestic cities such as Shanghai, Zhejiang, Hubei and Guangdong introduced non-metallic zipper equipment from Germany, Japan, Taiwan Province and other countries and regions, and non-metallic zippers began to develop in China.

1978 Fishing nets are sold with zippers.

1979 resin zipper with wings is on sale.

1985 Watertight and airtight zipper sold.

JOYLONR track zipper 1988 is on sale.

1989 ion-plated zippers are on sale.

199 1 year, the injection-molded velour zipper began to be sold.

1992 Yongming, Westron thermal transfer zipper and injection molding (die-casting zipper) began to be sold.

1993 Q meshe (quick opening), Q mate (quick opening for pairing) and Q touch (quick opening for curtain rail) began to be sold.

1994 wide die casting QUICKLON (continuous injection molding) and Dali began to sell. Start selling. From August of 1 year, "Yoshida Company of Japan" was renamed as "YKK" Company.

Since 1980, especially after 1995, China's zipper production has developed at an unprecedented speed, and a large number of emerging private zipper enterprises have emerged, and their scale has been expanding. Zipper products are increasing day by day. Today, there are three kinds of zippers in the world, and all varieties and specifications can basically be produced. From 65438 to 0999, China's zipper production achieved its first historic leap, breaking through10 billion meters, becoming the world's largest zipper producer, and a number of national zipper brands such as AAK, SBS, SAB and YCC were born. Judison constantly improves the design of products to meet the demand of tights. He tried his best to constantly introduce new inventions, but every progress brought more new problems and cost a lot. Partner Walker once described the hardships of invention in this way, saying that he found more problems than solved them in the process.

190 1, Judith applied for a patent for a machine that can connect a row of zipper teeth. But the machine is too complicated to use, so the global sliding buckle company has been depressed for a long time. Later, a button and button manufacturing and machine company was established to develop zipper sewing machines, which saved the inconvenience of manual sewing. 1904, the company changed its name to automatic hook-and-loop company, and the product was named C-curity, which means that the convex zipper will not come loose easily, but it will still burst or get stuck, and finally the whole zipper has to be removed from the clothes.

The shortcomings of Judison's design were later solved by Otto Frederic Gideon Sundback, a Swedish born in 1880. Sembeck has been interested in machinery since he was a child. Studying in Germany, 1903 got a degree in electrical engineering, returned to China to work, and then immigrated to the United States. I just started working for Siemens in Pittsburgh. Because my work place is quite close to Pennsylvania, where the shareholders of the automatic hook-and-loop company producing safety zippers live, and because of the geographical relationship and the disagreement between Senbeck and Siemens boss, I moved to hoboken, New Jersey, where the automatic hook-and-loop company is located.

From 1908, Sembeck began to study the improvement of zipper, thinking hard day and night. He tried to keep the toothed parts of the zipper together to prevent explosion, and renamed the safety zipper Plako zipper (the patent was only applied in 19 1060378, and this design was considered as a zipper. However, Sembeck's dream has not come true, and the new products still have shortcomings, and many consumers write letters to complain.