One-handed zipping

Wednesday, April 5th, 2017

Under Armour introduced an ingenious new zipper design created by engineer Scott Peters a couple years ago:

Although the fastening still relies on the interlocking of two bands of metal teeth, the clasps at the bottom have received a thoughtful re-design. The motivation for Peters, he says, was watching his uncle, who suffers from myotonic dystrophy, struggle to engage the conventional clasps. The solution is the inclusion of magnets and a unique catch, so that the two halves automatically align with one another and the zipper can even be done up one handed.

MagZip

More on the MagZip‘s development:

The eureka moment of a magnetic zipper was crucial. But the exact millimeter grooves making the process practical would require painstaking nuance.

“Magnets in and of themselves won’t work. They’ll drive components together, but you have issues of alignment, issues of holding things together without popping out – and pulling them apart can be a nightmare,” Peters explains. “We had to figure out the combination of mechanical design so it self-aligns and easily locks itself in place, enabling you to zip with one hand.”

“We started rapid prototyping, getting parts machined, and testing. We’d make a part, assemble it, and glue it on a zipper to find out what worked and didn’t work. I had one part that actually broke, and when this had broken, it kind of showed me the way. . .we were able to evolve the design to where it is today, a more open hook-and-catch.”

Leave a Reply