Velcro
Velcro is a brand name and trademark owned by the Velcro Companies for hook-and-loop fasteners.[1] Hook-and-loop fasteners have a "hook" side, which is a piece of fabric covered with tiny hooks, and a "loop" side, which is covered with even smaller and "hairier" loops. When the two sides are pressed together, the hooks catch in the loops and hold the pieces together.[2]
Creation
The person who invented hook-and-loop was a scientist named George de Mestral.[3][4][5][6] During a hunting vacation in Switzerland, de Mestral came home one evening and tried to remove the burrs stuck to his dog's fur. He was very surprised to see how hard the burrs were to remove. That night he studied the burrs under a microscope and noticed that each burr was covered with hundreds of small hooks acting like grasping hands.[6] De Mestral decided that this burr could be made to close fabric instead of buttons and zippers.[6]
Vocabulary
George de Mestral created the Velcro trademark by combining the French words for velvet (velour) and hook (crochet).[6]
Velcro Media
A shoe using hook-and-loop closures
Tiny hooks can be seen covering the surface of this bur. The design of hook-and-loop imitated this natural mechanism for seed dispersion.
Close-up of a single bract spine of Arctium minus
Macro photograph of velcro hooks
Omega Speedmaster with velcro strap (SEB 12100030 CF 55052-5 S/N 120) supplied by American Velcro Inc for Project Mercury NASA space missions.
Hook-and-loop fastener photographed using a low power microscope.
Video of snowboarding gloves with an integrated plastic element (white) as wrist protection. The pouch for the element on the back of the hand is closed by a hook-and-loop-fastener, as well as the wide bandage-style fastener around the middle section. They serve for stabilizing the wrist of the snowboarder in case that he falls onto his hands.
Textile closure Dual Lock.
RFID transponder attached to car with hook-and-loop fastener
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References
- ↑ "Velcro." The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1989.
- ↑ "Velcro". Merriam Webster. Retrieved 2008-05-10.
- ↑ Stephens, Thomas (2007-01-04). "How a Swiss invention hooked the world". swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 2008-05-09.
- ↑ McSweeney, Thomas J.; Raha, Stephanie (1999). Better to Light One Candle: The Christophers' Three Minutes a Day: Millennial Edition. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 55. ISBN 978-0-8264-1162-4. Retrieved 2008-05-09.
- ↑ "About Us:History". Velcro.uk. Archived from the original on 2008-06-14. Retrieved 2008-05-09.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Fulbright, Jeannie (2004). Exploring Creation with Botany. 1106 Meridian Plaza, Suite 220: Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc. ISBN 978-1-932012-49-1.
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Other websites
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- Lua error in Module:Official_website at line 90: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- closeup of Velcro hooks and loops
- VELCRO USA INC. Celebrates 50TH Archived 2008-03-19 at the Wayback Machine
- VELCRO Patent Archived 2012-06-30 at the Wayback Machine - from Google Patents Anniversary
- Adhesives Guide by Velcro USA Archived 2011-07-17 at the Wayback Machine - Adhesive Guide by Velcro USA