Who invented velcro fasteners

The tiny hooks would catch in the loops, and things would just, well, come together. But it was far easier said than done. De Mestral took a tour of fabric manufacturing plants in Europe. But eventually he found a manufacturer in Lyon that was combining relatively tough nylon with cotton — a fabric with the ability to hold its shape that was exactly what he was looking for.

But while de Mestral had found his material and proven that it would indeed work, the problem was that he could only make the hooks by hand — mass-manufacturing remained beyond his grasp. No one says "hook-and-loop fastener," just as no one says "re-sealable zipper storage bag" instead of Ziploc.

It's an example of metonymy, a rhetorical figure of speech in which a brand name is used to refer to an entire category of product. But we digress. Velcro got a huge image boost from NASA in the early s when Apollo astronauts used it to secure pens, food packets and equipment they didn't want floating away. Hospitals affixed Velcro to everything from blood pressure gauges it's on the band that nurses strap to your arm to patient gowns.

It showed up in cars underneath floor mats home decor as fasteners for slipcovers and drapes , even on airplanes seat cushions used as flotation devices. Originally available only in black, the tape's aesthetic appeal expanded when the company began offering it in multiple colors. Article originally published on The Vindicated, nymag. Born in the tiny town of Saint-Saphorin-sur-Morges in , George de Mestral filed his first patent at the age of 12, for a toy airplane. Where many might have brushed them off in irritation, de Mestral decided to study the burs under a microscope, more out of curiosity than sensing a new business opportunity.

If you need to know how something works, sometimes you just need to know. However he was constructed, he just really needed to know. De Mestral realized that if he could create a synthetic form of this fabric, it would allow for a new way to fasten things, a middle ground between buttons, zippers, and simply sewing stuff together. He would eventually form Velcro Industries to manufacture and distribute his invention. In the s, Velcro fasteners made its way to outer space as Apollo astronauts wore them to keep items like pens and equipment from floating away while in zero-gravity.

In time, the product became kind of a household name as companies like Puma used them in shoes to replace laces. Shoe makers Adidas and Reebok would soon follow. Not bad for an invention inspired by mother nature. This distinction was done on purpose and illustrates a problem inventors often face. Many words used frequently in everyday language were once trademarks, but eventually become generic terms. Well-known examples include escalator, thermos, cellophane and nylon.

The problem is that once trademarked names becomes commonplace enough, the U. Courts can deny exclusive rights to the trademark. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content.