In my last post, I revealed the intentions that sparked my research on zippers and led to inventing the Zipr Shift zipper: the toothed zipper is such a poor design that it fails in its intended use.

I want to make the current toothed zippers obsolete. And, the technology that I’ve invented has great potential to do so.

When making a technology obsolete, one has to eliminate negative, to maintain positive, and to enhance overall. We have done just that.

 

It eliminates the negatives of current zippers:

• Teeth or coils that tend to fall off and break

• Nonstandard sizes and shape: metal, coil, and plastic zips

• Every different feature needs a whole new zipper

 

 

 

It maintains the positives of current zippers:

• Cost pennies to purchase

 

• Easy to use, just move a slider up or down

 

• Fast to get in and out of clothing, luggage, and other products

 

 

 

It enhances the zipper closure overall:

• Lower cost because it’s extruded while current zippers are injection molded or otherwise connected to the fabric tape
  • It comes out in one piece so there’s less assembly; streamlined supply chain. Just extrude and cut to length

Complex molding and forming of current toothed zippers (Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxX2qoAGZO4)

VS.

Streamlined extrusion akin to manufacturing zippers for food packaging (Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h39o8CW1kgc)

 

 

 

• The slider is unnecessary as the tapes can be pushed closed with fingers

 

• No corrosion as Zipr Shift zips have a rigid, metal endoskeleton and a flexible, non-metal, inert (PVC, EPDM) exoskeleton

 

• Hermetic closure- easily wipe away any chemical/biological hazards

 

 

• Will set a new ASTM standard in zipper tensile strength making it the strongest flexible, reclosable fastener in the world

 

• Inherently water, air, and gas tight closure due to no teeth gaps as the tape is a continuous profile

 

• Standardized closure, just scale it up or down for sizing

 

• Easily decorated and covered with fabrics, paints, and more due to its continuous surface

• It is quiet as its soft, flexible exoskeleton absorbs most sounds
  • The slider rubbing against the surface of the tape will still make a sound but no loud, annoying zip sound resulting from interlocking teeth

 

• It is more sustainable as it doesn’t have a fabric component and its polymer, elastomer, and metal components are easily separated and recycled or reused

 

• Magnetic pin box technology means it’s even faster to zip up with this closure!

 

• This zipper is also safer to use as it doesn’t have teeth. Zipper teeth cause medical issues and pain.

• More secure than the old-fashioned zipper