Parts of a Zipper Diagram – Slider, Teeth, Tape, Stops

All 8 parts on the diagram

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Closed-end zipper 6

Slider A Y-shaped channel inside it meshes the two rows of teeth. The other way it separates them.
Pull tab The part of the slider you hold to move it. It is also called the puller.
Teeth Two rows that interlock. They are also called elements, and the meshed rows are called the chain.
Tape The fabric the teeth are clamped to. It is what gets sewn into the garment.
Bottom stop It joins the two sides at the bottom. It keeps the slider from running off.
Top stops One at the end of each row. They stop the slider coming off at the top.

Separating zipper 2

Retainer box On a zipper that comes apart, it lines up the pin. The two halves can then start to join.
Insertion pin It slides down through the slider into the box. This lets the two halves join.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30, a name kept only where two independent sources use it. (1) Wikipedia, text only, Zipper, section Components, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zipper (top stop, slider, pull tab or puller, tape, chain or zipper teeth, elements, bottom stop, insertion pin, retainer box or pin box). (2) How Products Are Made, volume 1, Zipper, http://www.madehow.com/Volume-1/Zipper.html (stringer, tape, teeth, slider, pull tab, top stops, bottom stop, chain, box and pin). Hints and detail lines are in our own words. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; nothing traced. The teeth are drawn larger than life. Licence: own work

How it works

This parts of a zipper diagram shows a closed-end zipper half open, with six parts to name. A second drawing shows the two extra parts at the bottom of a zipper that comes apart.

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One slider, two rows of teeth

Each tape carries a row of teeth. The slider runs along both rows: moved one way it meshes them, moved the other way it parts them. The pull tab is what the fingers hold. A bottom stop joins the closed end and two top stops end the rows. On a jacket, a pin and a box take the place of the bottom stop.

Slider and pull tab are two parts: the slider does the joining, the tab is only the handle.
Top stops come as a pair, one on each row. The bottom stop is a single piece.

Questions and answers

What are the parts of a zipper?

A slider with its pull tab, two rows of teeth, the cloth tape each row is fixed to, a bottom stop and two top stops. A zipper that comes apart has an insertion pin and a retainer box at the bottom.

What is the thing you pull on a zipper called?

The pull tab, or puller. It is attached to the slider, the piece that actually meshes and parts the teeth.

What are the pin and box on a zipper?

On a separating zipper, such as a jacket's, the insertion pin is the stiff end of one half and the retainer box is the block at the end of the other. Put together, they work as the bottom stop.

How does a zipper work?

The slider has a Y-shaped channel inside. Moving along the two rows, it guides the teeth together so they interlock; moved back the other way, it separates them again.