Who invented zippers?

Answer 1

As for who invented the zipper, not everybody agrees. Most people give credit to American Whitcomb Judson. Originally, Judson intended his creation, which he called the "clasp-locker," as a replacement for shoelaces. It didn't quite manage to do that, but, after a series of refinements (it jammed quite a bit early on), the zipper became a hit. The US Army was an early adopter, applying "zippers to the clothing and gear of the troops of World War I."

Some sources say it was Gideon Sundback but, nobody knows for sure.

Answer 2

The first patent for a zipper was taken in 1851 by the American sewing machine builder Elias Howe, important improvements were made by Whitcomb Judson in 1893, in 1906 by Peter Aronsson, and in 1913 by Gideon Sundbäck.
Elias Howe who invented the sewing machine received a patent in 1851 for an 'Automatic, Continuous Clothing Closure.' Forty-four years later, Mr. Whitcomb Judson marketed a 'Clasp Locker' a device similar to the 1851 Howe patent. Being first to market gave Whitcomb the credit of being the 'Inventor of the Zipper', However, his 1893 patent did not use the word zipper. The Chicago inventor's 'Clasp Locker' was a complicated hook-and-eye shoe fastener. Swedish-born (who later immigrated to Canada), Gideon Sundback, an electrical engineer, was hired to work for the Universal Fastener Company. Good design skills and a marriage to the plant-manager's daughter Elvira Aronson led Sundback to the position of head designer at Universal. He was responsible for improving the far from perfect 'Judson C-curity Fastener.' Unfortunately, Sundback's wife died in 1911. The grieving husband busied himself at the design table and by December of 1913, he had designed the modern zipper.

There are three candidates for the inventor of the zip fastener.

In 1851 Elias Howe (the inventor of the sewing machine) registered a patent for an "automatic continuous clothing closure" but this did not go into production.

In 1893 Whitcomb Judson registered a patent for a "clasp locker" similar to Howe's design. The design consisted of a row of hooks and a row of eyes which became linked when a slider was pulled between them. The Universal Fastener Company was founded to produce the clasp lockers.

The design was improved by an employee of the Universal Fastener Company named Gideon Sundback who designed the system of toothed strips recognisable as the modern zip fastener. Sundback's design, called a "separable fastener" was patented in 1917.
Whitcomb L. Judson invented the forerunner of the modern zipper.