George de Mestral
Georges de Mestral ( born June 19, 1907 in Colombier VD; † 8 Februar1990 in Commugny ) was a Swiss engineer, who is best known for his invention of Velcro.
Life
Mestral began as a child for technical processes to be interested and was at the age of twelve years, patented a strung with fabric model airplane. After finishing school he studied at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and joined an engineering firm after graduation one.
The avid hunters should be in 1941 came up with the idea for Velcro when he the fruits of burdock ( Arctium lappa ) found after a trip to both his pants and in the fur of his dog and examined more closely under a microscope. He understood why stick the hedgehog -like balls so good: The putative spines of the seeds bear at their peak tiny elastic hooks that get stuck in contact with skin or woven fabric. This observation led to the development of it a closure system that joins two materials in a simple manner. The first, designed by his band had hooks and eyes still. Within a band, not like today in two separate bands
It was not until ten years later, 1951, Mestral had his invention under the name Velcro, from the French " velours" ( velvet) and " crochet" ( hook ), patented. He founded the company Velcro Industries, which brought in 1959 the first hook and loop fastener on the market. Soon, the company produced 55,000 km of new material per year.
The company now has its headquarters in Manchester, New Hampshire, USA, employs 3,000 employees on four continents and is the world market leader $ 260 million annually.
Trivia
As a result, Carbon Creek ( 2002) TV series Enterprise is called one of the companions of volcanic T'Mir ( the great-grandmother of T'Pol ) Mestral. This naming understood the screenwriter as a tribute to the inventor George de Mestral. T'Mir sold at the end of the episode - which plays the earthly past in 1957 - the velcro, which is a volcanic invention in the series, a U.S. company to a young man to finance her studies. Mestral remains as a single Vulcan on earth.