George de Mestral, a Swiss engineer, returned from a walk one day in 1948 and found some cockleburs clinging to his cloth jacket. When de Mestral loosened them, he examined one under his microscope.
The principle was simple. The cocklebur is a maze of thin strands with burrs (or hooks) on the ends that cling to fabrics or animal fur.
By the accident of the cockleburs sticking to his jacket, George de Mestral recognized the potential for a practical new fastener. It took eight years to experiment, develop, and perfect the invention, which consists of two strips of nylon fabric. One strip contains thousands of small hooks. The other strip contains small loops.
When the two strips are pressed together, they form a strong bond. VELCRO, the name de Mestral gave his product, is the brand most of us know.
Velcro has joined Thermos, Band-Aid and others brand names as a verb. We tend to call all hook-and-loop fasteners Velcor no matter who makes them.
Velcro hook-and-loop fasteners are often used to replace buttons, laces, zippers and buckles.
Link to story here. The enlarged Velcro photo is here.
A picture of my cave
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