How zippers work

January 29, 2018 BY TRIMS CO.,LIMITED Zippers Knowledge

As a commonly used fastener, zipper can be used in clothing, bags, tents and other items. The heavy duty zipper is composed of tape, teeth, slider and puller, functional accessories, etc. Among them, the teech is the key part, which directly determines the side pull strength of the garment zipper. Generally, a zipper has two pieces of chain straps, each of which has a row of fastener teeth, and the two rows of fastener teeth are arranged alternately. The puller clamps the teeth on both sides and slides with the pull tab to engage or disengage the teeth on both sides. There are subtle differences between different types of zippers. For example, Nylon Zipper straps are normal, teeth are sewn fixed, while he inner edge of tape for Plastic Zipper and Metal Zipper has additional cord so that teeth can bite the tape tightly.

The working principle of the sprocket is that each tooth is a small hook that can match the eyelet under a small tooth on the other cloth belt that is opposite to each other. This zipper is strong and only the slider slides the teeth can only be pulled open.

When the best quality zippers are meshed correctly under the guide of external force, gaps of teeth of each side will be full filled with the opposite side teeth, forming a completely enclosed condition. Furthermore, the enclosed condition is stable enough, hence the teeth will not detach from each other automatically. Only when we open zippers by a slider manually can the locked teeth separate from each other.

Therefore, it is a slider that plays an important role in closing and separating zippers. The inner cavity of a slider has a big top and a small bottom, which looks like the letter Y. When separating zipper teeth penetrate the slider, the upper part is big enough to let teeth pass through easily. Then, the inner cavity is smaller and smaller to squeeze teeth and finally combine them together. Conversely, when opening zippers, the parting angle of the slider can separate meshed teeth.