Surprising zippers

How many kinds of zippers does YKK make? YKK employee: Even if we just look at products registered in Japan, there are more than 100,000 different types. If you lined up all the zippers YKK produces in a year, they would add up to more than 2 million km, enough to go around the Earth about 50 times.
Student: More than 100,000 types! Can you tell me about some of them? YKK employee: Let's see... How about MINIFA® and SOFLEX®?
YKK employee: This is MINIFA®, YKK's smallest zipper. It's currently used for things like inside pockets on jackets. Student: Wow, the smallest?
YKK employee: MINIFA® is very thin, at about 1 mm thick, and the parts are very small. We make them at YKK, too. Student: Making things that small must take a lot of technology. * Toothpick included for comparison.
YKK employee: And this is SOFLEX®. If you hang a 1kg weight from it, it stretches by about 10%. It's a zipper that stretches vertically. Student: It stretches without breaking?
YKK employee: That's right. It's ideal for sportswear with high elasticity, for example. Student: I never knew they had zippers like this. I'll keep an eye out for interesting zippers!
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