An old patent inspired the new "Y-zipper", a three-sided fastener

Posted by crescit_eundo 2 days ago

Comments

Comment by rationalist 3 hours ago

Zippers are usually attached to something.

Is this design practical? What would it be used for? With this zipping mechanism, can anything be attached?

Edit: Apparently I stopped watching the video too early. They demonstrate some uses where at max only one of the three sides can be attached to something, and it is used to create a rigid structure rather than joining multiple surfaces. The most interesting use demonstrated (IMO), is a tent with no tent poles, but it doesn't look like it would hold up to any significant weather, and would probably take up just as much space and weight as tent poles.

Comment by surround 3 hours ago

Poles. The video shows a tent they set up just by zipping up the y zipper.

Comment by jml7c5 1 hour ago

Extremely similar to a rigid chain actuator: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rigid_chain_actuator

Comment by bilsbie 30 minutes ago

My first thought is a better tape measure. Wouldn’t that be cool if it didn’t bend.

Comment by __MatrixMan__ 2 days ago

It brings to mind satellites assembling themselves in space. Send up a tightly packed box of spaghetti and extrude it into the desired physical shape upon arrival in orbit. For increased rigidity, paint with a solar pumped laser to weld the links together.

Comment by Terr_ 2 hours ago

> For increased rigidity, paint with a solar pumped laser to weld the links together.

Or unseal purified metal surfaces, press them together, and use vacuum diffusion welding.

With enough time and/or sunlight, it can happen on its own.

Comment by wetherbeei 3 hours ago

https://patents.google.com/patent/US4757577A/en

Comment by 2 days ago

Comment by fragmede 2 days ago

Just sell me the tent already!

Comment by hugs 2 days ago

no kidding. it was the last demo in the video, but my first reaction seeing the zippers-instead-tent-poles demo was, "oh, that's going to be huge." weight and "how well does it handle wind?" are concerns, but i could totally see "100% zipper" tents on the market by the end of the year.

Comment by jbmchuck 2 hours ago

It's definitely pretty whiz bang but I'm curious how it would hold up to the dirt and grime of a backpacking trip. I'm also not convinced it is any better or lighter than poles (which can be pretty light with the right materials...)

Comment by tempestn 1 hour ago

Even if it weren't lighter, it might be faster to set up and take down.

Comment by dinfinity 2 days ago

They never show the fully packaged version of the tent, though. It looks like even in their non-rigid state they're too rigid to be folded up easily and carelessly into a compact shape.

Comment by NetMageSCW 3 hours ago

I could see it easily being rolled up into a compact if long tube which would be a lot easier to transport.

Comment by keeganpoppen 3 hours ago

wow this looks incredible. love learning about this kind of stuff— no shortage of clever ideas just waiting out there in the ether for someone to make work!

Comment by 3 hours ago

Comment by UltraSane 2 days ago

This makes me think of microtubules.

Comment by ChrisArchitect 2 days ago

Meanwhile over at YKK Japan...

The zipper is getting its first major upgrade in 100 years (2025)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45634797

Comment by probably_wrong 2 days ago

I suggest reading the original linked article, if only because it includes a video with the zipper in action:

https://news.mit.edu/2026/three-sided-y-zipper-design-0504

Comment by dang 4 hours ago

Thanks! let's change the URL to that from https://www.yankodesign.com/2026/05/31/a-zipper-patent-sat-i... and we'll put that link and the video in the toptext.

This is worth doing because I'm about to re-up the thread a la https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26998308.

Comment by qrush 2 days ago

Direct link to video. These are some freaking cool zippers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWig98GVIno

Comment by Modified3019 2 days ago

This reads like it’s been machine generated.

Comment by dang 4 hours ago

(This comment was made when the top link was https://www.yankodesign.com/2026/05/31/a-zipper-patent-sat-i.... We've since changed the link to https://news.mit.edu/2026/three-sided-y-zipper-design-0504)

Comment by mangogogo 2 days ago

i thought so as well; my eyes were beginning to glaze over. the MIT article talking about it is a much better read.

Comment by bell-cot 2 days ago

> ... the Y-Zipper, a 3D-printed, three-sided fastener that can snap a floppy, flexible structure into a rigid, load-bearing beam with one smooth pull.

Not a mechanical engineer, but I'd figure both the "rigid" and "load-bearing" aspects will be far poorer than conventional beams of the same size and weight.

Comment by radiorental 2 days ago

This might be one of those cases where it solves for problem spaces that aren't being considered yet.

What I mean by that is in the case of soft robotics, it was developments in manufacturing techniques for the inflated leading edge of kitesurfing kites, that unlocked the capabilities to make soft robots more feasible.

Comment by lightedman 2 days ago

Depends on the material that is being used and application. I could see this being highly useful for tents and similar fabric structures. I probably would not build a satellite solar panel structure/frame with them (atomic oxygen is a nasty critter) but for some lightweight terrestrial applications I can see much potential.

Comment by clickety_clack 2 days ago

Interesting, which material?

Comment by lightedman 2 days ago

For example, if you used PLA you'd get a stiffer, more mechanically-rigid structure in the zipped-up state. If you used TPU, you'd get a more flexible and elastic structure. I'd want PLA for tent seams and TPU for the door zipper.

Comment by clickety_clack 2 days ago

Is PLA stiffer somehow in this state than it would be as a conventional beam?

Comment by fragmede 2 days ago

I don't want door zippers, I want a door!

Comment by pajko 1 day ago

It looks like this could be made from any metal, where the small segments are connected together like links of a chain.