Velcro: hooks (left) and loops (right).

Velcro is a brand name of fabric hook-and-loop fasteners used for connecting objects. The term VELCRO is a registered trademark in most countries. Generic terminology for these fasteners includes "hook and loop", "burr" and "touch" fasteners. The VELCRO brand headquarters is in Manchester, New Hampshire, USA. Image File history File links Velcro. ... Image File history File links Velcro. ... A trademark or trade mark[1] is a distinctive sign of some kind which is used by an individual, business organization or other legal entity to uniquely identify the source of its products and/or services to consumers, and to distinguish its products or services from those of other entities. ... Nickname: Queen City Location in Hillsborough County Coordinates: Country United States State New Hampshire County Hillsborough County Incorporated 1751 Mayor Frank Guinta (R) Area    - City 90. ...

History

Tiny hooks on a Burdock (Arctium Lappa) (detail)

The hook and loop fastener was invented in 1941 by Georges de Mestral, a Swiss engineer. The idea came to him after he took a close look at the Burdock seeds which kept sticking to his clothes and his dog's fur on their daily walk in the Alps, during the summer. Georges de Mestral examined their condition and saw the possibility of binding two materials reversibly in a simple fashion. He developed the hook and loop fastener and submitted his idea for patent in 1951. De Mestral named his invention "VELCRO" after the French words velours, meaning 'velvet', and crochet, meaning 'hook'. The uses and applications of the product are numerous. Today, the VELCRO mark is the subject of more than 300 trademark registrations in over 160 countries. ^[1] Image File history File links Arctium_lappa01_detail. ... Image File history File links Arctium_lappa01_detail. ... Species A. lappa Burdock refers to any of a group of biennial thistles in the genus Arctium, family Asteraceae. ... For the movie, see 1941 (film). ... George de Mestral (June 19, 1907 - February 8, 1990) was an electrical engineer who invented Velcro. ... For the Technical Symposium of NITK Surathkal Engineer , see Engineer (Technical Fest). ... Species A. lappa Burdock refers to any of a group of biennial thistles in the genus Arctium, family Asteraceae. ... The west face of the Petit Dru above the Chamonix valley near the Mer de Glace. ...

Composition

Hook and loop fasteners consist of two layers: a "hook" side, which is a piece of fabric covered with tiny plastic hooks, and a "loop" side, which is covered with even smaller and "hairier" plastic loops. There are many variations to this which include hooks on both sides, for example. When the two sides are pressed together, the hooks catch in the loops and hold the pieces together. When the layers are separated, the strips make a characteristic ripping sound. This creates some disadvantages to the use of velcro in various occasions. // A loop is generally something that closes back on itself such as a circle or ring. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Use

The strength of the hook and loop bond depends on how well the hooks are embedded in the loops and the nature of the force pulling it apart. If hooks and loops are used to bond two rigid surfaces, e.g. auto body panels and frame, the bond is particularly strong because any force pulling the pieces apart is spread evenly across all hooks. Also, any force pushing the pieces together is evenly applied over the entire surface, engaging more hooks and loops. Vibration can also cause rigid pieces to improve their bond.

When one or both of the pieces is flexible, e.g. a pocket flap, the pieces can be pulled apart with a peeling action which applies the force to relatively few hooks at a time. If a flexible piece is pulled parallel to the plane of the fastener surface the force is spread evenly as with very rigid pieces.

Two ways to maximize the strength of a bond with one or more flexible pieces are:

• increase the area of the bond, e.g. long purse straps.
• ensure that the force is applied parallel to the plane of the fastener surface, e.g. bending around a corner or pulley. For example, shoe closures can resist a large force with little bonding area by wrapping a strap through a slot which reduces the force on the fastener by ensuring the force is parallel to the plane of the fastener and by halving the force on the bond by acting as a pulley system.

Pulleys on a ship. ...

Applications

Because it is easy to use, maintenance free, and totally safe, the hook-and-loop fasteners have been used for just about every conceivable application where a temporary bond is required. It is especially popular in clothing where it replaces buttons or zippers, and as a shoe fastener for children who have not yet learned to tie shoelaces and for those who choose hook-and-loop over laces. A shoe is an item of footwear worn on the foot or feet of a human, dog, cat, horse, or doll. ...

A stronger version of the hook-and-loop material has even made it possible to create semi-permanent bonds (where it is extremely hard to separate the hooks from the loops), useful for higher stress applications (see section above).

The strength of a hook and loop bond depends on how much surface area is in contact with the hooks: full-body hook and loop suits have been made that can hold a person to a suitably-covered wall.

Hook and loop fasteners made from stainless steel are used in the automotive industry to attach parts such as bumpers. Rather than loosening the fasteners (as would happen with a bolt), the vibration of the automobile actually maintains the bond (since any hooks that come loose are more likely to re-attach due to random motion).

Advantages and disadvantages

Advantages:

• Easy to use
• Relatively maintenance free
• Safe

Disadvantages:

• They tend to accumulate hair, dust, lint, and fur in the hooks after a few months of regular use.
• The hooks and/or loops can become elongated or broken, reducing the bond after a long time.
• It often becomes attached to articles of clothing, especially loosely-woven items like sweaters or socks. Additionally, certain materials may be damaged when one attempts to remove the fastener, even if they are separated slowly.
• The tearing noise made by unfastening a hook and loop fastener makes it inappropriate for some applications.

Velcro in popular culture

• Privates in the U.S. Army are now known as "Velcros." On the new Army Combat Uniform, the rank emblems are affixed to the uniform by velcro. However, privates in the PV1 rank have no rank emblem so they only have a square of naked velcro visible that is waiting for the PV2 rank badge once they get their first promotion.

• In 1978 while out in California, Alan Gelfand, inventor of the Ollie, a hands-free aerial trick used in skateboarding, and later in surfing and snowboarding, is accused by several skaterboarders of using Velcro to hold the board to his feet.

• In the 1997 film Men in Black, Velcro is hinted to be alien technology confiscated by the MIB and adapted for use on Earth. This is a play on how NASA is popularly credited with the invention of hook-and-loop fasteners.

• In the 1997 film The Full Monty, the four male participants in a strip show decide to cut their pants and reattach it with Velcro, so as to tear their clothes off quickly, gracefully and in unison.

• In the season 2 episode of Star Trek: Enterprise "Carbon Creek", T'Pol's great-grandmother T'Mir and her crewmates crash land on Earth in 1957. To accumulate money for a college fund she takes a Vulcan pouch, with a hook-and-loop flap, to a speculator who buys her invention. She claims it is an "idea that will change the world". According to T'Pol's story, Velcro is of Vulcan origin. However, T'Pol never claims her story to be true, and it is implied at the episode's end that it is just a "story". Eventually T'Pol retrieves the purse that was seen earlier in the show, proving that the story has ties in truth. The invention is credited to another of the Vulcan crew, Mestral, named after the real inventor of hook-and-loop fasteners.

• David Letterman, host of CBS's Late Show with David Letterman, refers to Velcro as "the miracle fabric of the '80s". His show also popularized the Velcro suit, where one dons a suit covered with hook strips and jumps from a trampoline onto a wall covered with loop strips or with fuzzy fabric that acts as loops.

• In an episode of the fictional UK football drama Dream Team, the player Casper Rose claims that his grandfather created VELCRO and became a billionaire and passed the fortune onto him.

• In an episode of Seinfeld, Jerry's father, a retired clothing designer and salesman, becomes startled by the tearing sound of Velcro and reveals his disdain for the product and his past vow to never use it.

• The band ZZ Top wrote and performed a song called "Velcro Fly".

• Comedian Mitch Hedberg joked that his choice of taking a hook-and-loop wallet to a casino was a bad idea, dubbing the tearing sound "the sound of his addiction."

• In an episode of Weebl and Bob, "velcro face" was used as an insult.

• In the "Red Gryphon" storyline (1968-69) of the comic strip Modesty Blaise, Modesty wears a skirt fastened with Velcro.

Silent velcro The Army Combat Uniform, or ACU, is a new combat uniform (battledress) to be worn by the United States Army. ... Alan Gelfand (born 1963, New York) is the inventor of the ollie, a skateboarding trick. ... Ollie may refer to the following: Ollie (skateboarding trick), the skateboarding trick invented by Alan Ollie Gelfand Ollie Impossible, a variant of the trick first performed by Rodney Mullen Ollie Fliptrik, the main character in an eponymous comic strip about skateboarders Ollie, Iowa, a city in the United States Ollie... A skateboarder performing a frontside lipslide Skateboarding is the act of rolling on or performing tricks with a skateboard. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Snowboarder in a half-pipe Snowboarder trail entry Snowboarding is a sport that involves descending a snow-covered slope on a snowboard that is attached to ones feet using a boot/binding interface. ... Men in Black is a 1997 science fiction comedy action film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, starring Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith and Vincent DOnofrio. ... The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an agency of the United States Government, responsible for the nations public space program. ... This article is about the film. ... The starship Enterprise (NX-01) Star Trek: Enterprise is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe. ... Carbon Creek was the second episode of the second season of Star Trek: Enterprise. ... Commander TPol is a fictional character played by Jolene Blalock in Star Trek: Enterprise. ... TMir, Second Foremother of TPol, from Star Trek: Enterprise A fictional character from the TV series Star Trek: Enterprise. ... It has been suggested that Tplana-hath be merged into this article or section. ... David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947 is an award-winning American television personality, late night talk show host, television producer, Indy Racing League car owner and philanthropist. ... Dream Team is a British television series produced by Hewland International and aired by Sky One and Sky Three, that chronicles the on-field and off-field affairs of the fictional Harchester United F.C.. A significant part of the action, including game play, is shot at The New Den... Seinfeld is an Emmy Award-winning United States based television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, running a total of nine seasons. ... ZZ Top is an American blues rock band formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article is about the Flash Cartoon series, Weebl and Bob. ... Cover of the first Modesty Blaise novel. ...

In the 2004 film Garden State, Jesse (Armando Riesco), the slacker friend of protagonist Andrew Largeman (Zach Braff), becomes an overnight millionaire by inventing "silent velcro" and selling the patent to the U.S government. A sample of this innovative product is briefly shown in one scene (an ordinary hook-and-loop fastener with sound removed). Garden State is a 2004 film written, directed by, and starring Zach Braff, with Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard and co-starring Sir Ian Holm. ... Armando Riesco (born December 5, 1977) in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico is a Puerto Rican motion picture and television actor. ... Zach Braff (born April 6, 1975) is an American television and film actor, director, screenwriter, and producer. ...

Soon the rumours about military busy in developing "silent velcro" have become an urban legend. An urban legend or urban myth is a kind of modern folklore consisting of stories often thought to be factual by those circulating them. ...

References

1. ^ Registrations and Applications include; African Union Territories Reg. No. 41804 ; Albania App. No. AL/T/2006/48; Andorra Reg. No. 5543; Angola App. No. 8046; Antigua and Barbuda Reg. No. 6101; Argentina Reg. No. 1787592; Armenia Reg. No. 1684;Aruba Reg. No. 21251; Australia Reg. No. 750256; Austria Reg. No. 192441; Azerbaijan Reg. No. 981164;Bangladesh App. No. 66622; Barbados Reg. No. 8115152; Belarus Reg. No. 1246; Benelux Reg. No. 0068810;Bhutan App. No. 98/01369; Bolivia Reg. No. 15755C; Bosnia and Herzegovina Reg. No. BAZR983022;Botswana Reg. No. BWM9900539; Brazil Reg. No. 006503969; Brunei Darussalam Reg. No. 33360;Bulgaria Reg. No. 10563; Burundi Reg. No. 3569/BUR; Cambodia Reg. No. 014736/01; Canada Reg. No. 116367;Cayman Islands Reg. No. 2182624; Chile Reg. No. 575735; China Reg. No. 529505; Colombia Reg. No. 83104;Congo Reg. No. 7525/99; Costa Rica Reg. No. 108463; Croatia Reg. No. Z940507; Cuba Reg. No. 20010106;Cyprus Reg. No. 51271; Czech Republic Reg. No. 163254; Denmark Reg. No. VR199804375; Djibouti Reg. No. 108/2000; Dominican Republic Reg. No. 01221161; Ecuador Reg. No. 1493502; El Salvador Reg. No. 00093;Equatorial Guinea Reg. No. 41804; Estonia Reg. No. 07698; Ethiopia Reg. No. 03352; European Community Reg. No. 2312890; Finland Reg. No. 113982; France Reg. No. 97688098; Gambia Reg. No. 252/9/99; Georgia Reg. No. 9455; Germany Reg. No. 1162855; Ghana Reg. No. 31738; Greece Reg. No. 30748; Guatemala Reg. No. 121308; Guayana App. No. 18,109A; Haiti Reg. No. 132; Honduras Reg. No. 82666; Hong Kong Reg. No. 00326/93; Hungary Reg. No. 156748; Iceland Reg. No. 517/2000; India Reg. No. 1114519; Indonesia Reg. No. 482671; Ireland Reg. No. 63237; Israel Reg. No. 22309; Italy Reg. No. 00810726; Jamaica Reg. No. 38895; Japan Reg. No. 546323; Kazakhstan/ Reg. No. 350; Kenya Reg. No. 49213; Korea Reg. No. 182,152; Kyrgyz Republic Reg. No. 5475; Laos Reg. No. 8261; Latvia Reg. No. M 11264; Lesotho Reg. No. LSM9900345; Liberia Reg. No. LRM9900201; Lithuania Reg. No. 8912; Macao Reg. No. 01325713409M; Macedonia Reg. No. 03829; Madagascar Reg. No. 03610; Malawi Reg. No. 426/63; Malaysia App. No. 200014509; Malta Reg. No. 37786; Mauritius Reg. No. A/46 34; Mexico Reg. No. 401820; Moldova Reg. No. 5232; Montserrat Reg. No. 3217; Morocco Reg. No. 72629; Mozambique Reg. No. 579; Namibia Reg. No. 991251; Nepal Reg. No. 16863058; Netherlands Antilles Reg. No. 09232; New Zealand Reg. No. 285671; Nicaragua Reg. No. 48352; Nigeria Reg. No. 61446; Norway Reg. No. 52440; Pakistan Reg. No. 121275; Panama Reg. No. 042892; Papua New Guinea Reg. No. A64866; Paraguay Reg. No. 218069; Peru Reg. No. 36642; Philippines Reg. No. 55963; Poland Reg. No. 54883; Portugal Reg. No. 332102; Romania Reg. No. 2R9293; Russian Federation Reg. No. 152371; Rwanda Reg. No. 4433/GRK; Saudi Arabia Reg. No. 425/54; Seychelles Reg. No. 5307; Sierra Leone Reg. No. 16329; Singapore Reg. No. T97/02181I; Slovakia Reg. No. 163254; Slovenia Reg. No. 9470462; South Africa Reg. No. 6200552; Spain Reg. No. 1736706; Sri Lanka App. 100004; St. Kitts and Nevis Reg. No. 5161; St. Vincent and the Grenadines Reg. No. 292001; Suriname Reg. No. 17434; Swaziland Reg. No. 419/99; Sweden Reg. No. 246433; Switzerland Reg. No. 283274; Taiwan Reg. No. 45217; Tajikistan Reg. No. TJ1655; Tanganyika Reg. No. 27299; Tangier Reg. No. 16508; Thailand Reg. No. Kor44316; Turkey Reg. No. 114328; Turks and Caicos Islands Reg. No. 12472; Uganda Reg. No. 22653; Ukraine Reg. No. 490;0 United Kingdom Reg. No. 812850; United States Reg. No. 1,027,417; Uruguay Reg. No. 339862; Uzbekistan Reg. No. 1174; Venezuela Reg. No. 86989; Viet Nam Reg. No. 41375; Virgin Islands Reg. No. 3655; Zambia Reg. No. 426/63; Zanzibar Reg. No. 75/2000; Zimbabwe Reg. No. 426/63

External links

• U.S. Patent 2717437  -- "Velvet type fabric and method of producing same"
• VELCRO® -- Official company website
• Nikon Small World Image -- Hi-res image taken by Tracy E. Anderson
• VELCRO® brand Hook and Loop Animation -- Microscopic animation of Velcro® brand Hook and Loop
• The Suit of Velcro -- Late Show with David Letterman with a reference to Velcro as "the miracle fabric of the '80s", February 28, 1984
• How a Swiss invention hooked the world : Georges de Mestral, a Swiss engineer born 100 years ago, might not be a name around your house, but it's highly likely that one of his inventions is, Swissinfo, January 4, 2007