From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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]
When they are separated, they make a special "ripping" sound.
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]
By copying the hook pattern hat he saw on burrs, he made hook-and-loop!
George de Mestral created the Velcro trademark by combining the
French
words for
velvet
(
velour
) and hook (
crochet
).
[6]
- ↑
"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
.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: location (
link
)
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