Title of Invention

"A STAPLER"

Abstract A stapler, wherein an arm cover (21) is formed so as to cover the bottom face and side faces of a clincher arm (14), a paper placing member (24) is swingably disposed between both side walls of the arm cover (21), a clincher (22) is formed so that the upper part thereof is laterally shortened and the lower part is laterally extended, the upper part of the clincher (22) is stored in an opening (25) formed in the paper placing member (24), and the lower side edge parts of the clincher (22) are stored in guide grooves (32) formed in both side walls of the arm cover (21) so that the clincher (22) can be guided in vertical direction.
Full Text STAPLER
Technical Field:
This invention relates to a stapler having a moveble
clincher moved down by the legs of a staple penetrating through
sheets of paper to be bound together, particularly a stapler
which makes it possible to restrain its clincher from being
inclined and prevent the legs of a stable from buckling.
Background Art:
In a stapler, in which the leg portions of a U-shaped staple penetrating through a plurality of sheets of paper to be bound together are bent on the lower side of the sheets along the rear surface thereof, a clincher for contacting with the leg portions of the staple and bending them is vertically movably supported, so that after the leg portions of the staple penetrate through the sheets, the legs of the staple may be engaged with the clincher and thereby bent. As shown in Fig. 6, a clincher 1 is so disposed in an opening formed in a paper mounting member 2 as to be movable up and down relative to the paper mounting member 2, and is urged upwardly by a spring 4 inserted between the lower surface of the clincher 1 and the bottom of an arm cover 3.
A slider 6 which is slidable back and forth along a
clincher arm 5 is interposed between a supporting lug 7 formed on the arm cover 3 and the paper mounting member 2, so that the paper mounting member 2 is held in its upper position relative to the arm cover 3 at the start of a stapling operation and a staple guide groove 8 in the upper end surface of the clincher 1 is so arranged as to face the upper end of an opening 9 formed in the paper mounting member 2.
When a staple is driven into the sheets of paper placed on the upper surface of the paper mounting member 2 and the legs penetrate through the sheets of paper until their tips reach the rear surface of the sheets, the tips of "the staple abut on the upper end surface of the clincher 1 and move the clincher 1 down relative to the paper mounting member 2. After the staple penetrate through the sheets of paper supported on the paper mounting member 2, the slider 6 is moved back and allows the paper mounting member 2 to swing down, so that the staple may be further moved down and have its legs bent at one time by the clincher 1.
As shown in Fig. 7(a), the known clincher 1 is arranged inwardly of the side walls of the arm cover 3 and held within the opening 9 formed in the vertically swingable paper mounting member 2, so that the clincher 1 has at its lower end a width which cannot be enlarged. Therefore, it has been the case that an uneven load by the staple produces moment on the clincher when the clincher has reached the bottom of the arm cover, and that as shown in Fig. 7(b), the clincher remains inclined
and has its staple guide groove inclined, resulting in the buckling of the legs of the staple when the slider has moved back and the staple has moved down with the'paper mounting member.
Disclosure of the Invention
It is an object of this invention to provide a stapler having a movable clincher which makes it possible to prevent any serious inclination of the clincher during the downward movement of the clincher by the legs of a staple and thereby eliminate any phenomenon of buckling of the legs of the staple.
In order to attain the above object, the stapler of the present invention is characterized in that, in a stapler wherein a magazine for accommodating a plurality of staples, a handle portion comprising a driver for driving a staple from the magazine toward sheets of paper to be bound together, and a clincher arm comprising a clincher portion for bending the tips of -legs of the staples driven from the magazine and penetrating through the sheets along the rear surface of the sheets are supported rotatably at their rear ends, the clincher portion comprises an arm cover formed as to cover the bottom and side faces of the clincher arm, a paper mounting member iis swingably disposed between two side walls of the arm cover, a clincher is arranged between the arm cover and the paper mounting member and so formed as to have a narrow upper portion and two laterally extending lower portions, the clincher has
its narrow upper portion held in an opening formed through the paper mounting member and has its extending lower portions held at their side edges in guide grooves formed in the inner surfaces of the side walls of the arm cover, so that when the clincher is lowered, it may be guided by at least either the opening of the paper mounting member or the guide grooves of the arm cover.
The clincher may be so formed that the width of its upper portion and the width of its laterally extending lower portions may have a ratio which can keep the clincher from being inclined by the torque produced by any uneven load exerted on its upper portion by the staple.
Brief description of the drawings:
Fig. 1 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of a stapler showing an embodiment of this invention.
Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the clincher portion of the stapler in Fig. 1.
Figs. 3(a) to 3(d) show the operating states of the stapler in Fig. 1, Fig. 3(a) shows the state immediately after a staple penetrates through sheets of paper to be bound together in the initial stage of a stapling operation, Fig. 3(b) shows the state in which a clincher is moved down by the legs of the staple penetrating through the sheets, Fig. 3(c) shows the state in which a paper mounting member has become swingable and allowed the sheets and staple to further move the clincher
downward and Fig. 3(d) shows the state in which the legs of the staple have been bent along the rear surface of the sheets.
Fig. 4 is a diagram explaining a mode of rectifying by the clincher.
Fig. 5 is a graph showing the relation of a dimensional ratio between the height of a clincher groove and the dimension from the position of an inclined staple leg placed in the clincher groove to the side edge of an extending lower portion.
Fig. 6 is a side elevational view, partly in section, showing the clincher arm portion of a known stapler.
Figs. 7(a) to 7(d) show the operating states of the clincher arm in Fig? 6, Fig. 7(a) shows the initial state of a stapling operation and Fig. 7(b) shows the state in which a clincher is moved down by the legs of a staple driven through sheets of paper to be bound together.
In the drawings, the reference number 13 is a clincher portion, 14 is a clincher arm, 21 is an arm cover, 22 is a clincher, 23 is a clincher groove, 2 4 is a paper mounting member, 25 is an opening, 26 is a spring, 27 is a spring, 28 is a slider, 29 is a spring, 30 is a supporting portion, 3.1 are two side walls and 32 are guide grooves.
Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention:
A mode of carrying out this invention will now be described in accordance with an embodiment shown in the drawings .
Fig. 1 is a stapler embodying this invention, in which.a magazine 10 accommodating a plurality of staples, a handle portion 12 including a driver 11 for driving the staple loaded in the magazine 10 toward sheets of paper to be bound together and a clincher arm 14 including, on its front end side, a clincher portion 13 for bending the tips of legs of the staple driven from the magazine 10 and penetrating through the sheets along the rear surface of the sheets are supported at their rear ends rotatably by a supporting shaft 15.
The magazine 10 includes a discharge opening 16 formed at its front end for discharging the first staple held in the magazine 10 toward the sheets disposed under the magazine 10, and the magazine 10 also includes a pusher 17 installed in the magazine 10 for urging the staples held in the magazine, 10 toward the discharge opening 16. The pusher 17 is slidably supported along a guide rod 18 arranged in the magazine 10 and is urged toward the front of the magazine 10 by a pusher spring 19 arranged near the rear end of the pusher 17.
When an operating handle 20 arranged above the handle portion 12 is pressed, a staple is discharged from the magazine 10 through its discharge opening 16 by the driver 11, the legs of the staple are driven through sheets of paper placed between the magazine 10 and the clincher portion 13 and the legs of the staple penetrating through the sheets are bent along the rear surface of the sheets by the clincher portion 13, whereby the sheets of paper are bound together.
The clincher portion 13 includes a clincher 22 positioned vertically movably at the front end of an arm cover 21, the arm cover 21 is placed on the clincher arm 14 as to cover the lower side. The clincher 22 has a clincher groove 23 formed in the upper end surface of the clincher 22 for contacting with the legs of a staple and guiding them so that they may be bent along the rear surface of sheets and toward each, other. A paper mounting member 2 4 having a rear end supported swingably on the clincher arm 14 is arranged above the arm cover 21. The paper mounting member 24 has, at its front end, an opening 25 in which the clincher 22 is held. The clincher 22 is urged upward by a spring 2 6 inserted between the lower surface of the.clincher 22 and the bottom of the arm cover 21.
The paper mounting member 24 is urged upward by a spring 27 inserted between the paper mounting member 24 and the clincher arm 14. A slider 28 which is slidable back and forth along the clincher arm 14 is disposed between the paper mounting member 24 and the clincher arm 14. During the beginning of a stapling operation by the stapler, the slider 28 is held in its front position by a spring 29, and a supporting portion 30 of the slider 28 is located under the paper mounting member 24 to prevent the downward swinging of the paper mounting member 24. Under these circumstances, the paper mounting member 24 is held in its upper position above the arm cover 21 and the clincher groove 23 in the upper end surface of the clincher 22 is so situated as to face the upper end of the opening 25
formed in the paper mounting member 24.
As shown in Fig. 2, the clincher 22 has a lower portion formed with a larger width and extending laterally so as to protrude from opposite edges of the paper mounting member 24 and two laterally extending portions 22a thereof are held in guide grooves 32 (guide portions) formed in the inner surfaces of two side walls 31 of the arm cover 21, so that the vertical movement of the clincher 22 may be guided by the guide grooves 32 . It is also possible to have the upper portion of the clincher 22 guided by the opening 25 of the paper mounting member 24.
The dimensional setting of the lower extending portions 22a of the clincher 22 will now be explained with reference to Figs. 4 and 5. The action of an inclined clincher 22 resting on the bottom of the arm cover 21 for rectifying the inclination of a staple S depends on the dimensional ratio between the height h of the clincher groove 23 formed at the top of the clincher 22 and the dimension d from the position of the legs of the inclined staple S engaging (resting) in the clincher groove 23 to the outer end of a lower extending portion 22a (namely a side edge of the clincher 22). It has been found from experimental results that buckling is more likely to occur when the extending dimension d of the extending portion 22a is smaller than what is expressed by the relation: dimension of extending portion d = 0.32 x clincher height h, as shown by the graph in Fig. 5. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of buckling by setting the extending dimension
d of the extending portion 22a at 0.32 times the clincher height h, or larger. ; The extending dimension d has no upper limit in particular, but any value may be acceptable if it does not present any problem associated with the arm cover 21 of the stapler.
The operating states of the above embodiment will now be described in accordance with Figs. 3(a) to 3(d). When a staple S is driven'through sheets of paper P placed on the upper surface of the paper mounting member 24 as shown in Fig. 3(a), the legs of the staple S penetrating through the sheets P contact the upper surface of the clincher 22 and cause the clincher 22 to move down by overcoming the urging force of the spring 26. During the beginning of the stapling operation, the slider 28 is situated between the paper mounting member 24 and the clincher arm 14 and the paper mounting member 24 is supported in its upper position.
If the staple S has inclined when its legs penetrate through the sheets P as shown in Fig. 3(b), one of its legs contacts with the clincher 22, presses one side of the clincher 22 down and causes it to move down in an inclined form, but the clincher 22 is moved down without being greatly inclined, since its lower portions are guided in the guide grooves 32 formed in the side walls 31 of the arm cover 21. The clincher 22 tends to become parallel to the bottom of the arm cover 21 without inclining, since its extending portions 22a are formed with a large width so that the clincher 22 may not be
rotated by torque produced by an uneven load of the staple S.
After the legs of the staple S penetrate through the sheets P, the slider 28 is moved back to retract from between the paper mounting member 24 and the clincher arm 14, and thereby enables the paper mounting member 24 to swing down, as shown in Fig. 3(c).
Even when the staple S and the sheets P are further pressed down under the uneven load as shown in Fig. 3(c), the clincher 22 does not incline, and the legs of the staple S penetrating through the sheets P to their lower surface do not buckle, but are guided toward each other by the clincher arm 23 and bent along the lower surface of the sheets P, whereby the sheets P are bound together, as shown in Fig. 3(d).
It is needless to say that this invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but that various modifications will be made within the technical scope of the invention, and that this invention will cover those modifications.
This application is based on the Japanese patent application filed on April 24, 2002 (Patent Application 2002-123042), and the contents of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Industrial Applicability:
According to this invention, it is possible to select
a larger widthwise dimension for the lower portion of the clincher than for the paper mounting member, allow the clincher to have it's lower surface contact the bottom of the arm cover without inclining and thereby prevent the buckling of any staple effectively, since the clincher has two laterally extending lower portions held in the arm cover vertically movably and guided in the guide grooves formed in the side walls of the arm cover, while the clincher has its upper portion held in the opening formed in the paper mounting member.
When the clincher moves down relative- to_the paper mounting member, its upper and lower portions can be guided by the paper mounting member and the arm cover throughout the whole stroke of its movement, thereby making it possible to prevent any serious inclination of the clincher and thereby prevent the occurrence of any buckling effectively.






WE CLAIM:
1. A stapler comprising:
a magazine (10) for accommodating a plurality of staples (S);
a handle portion (12) comprising a driver (11) for driving a staple (S) from the magazine (10) towards sheets of paper (P);
a clincher arm (14) comprising a clincher portion (13) for bending tips of legs of the staple (S) driven from the magazine (10) and penetrating through the sheets of paper (P), along the rear surface of the sheets of paper (P);
an arm cover (21) that covers the bottom and side faces of the clincher arm (14); and
a paper mounting member (24) swingably positioned between two side walls (31) of the arm cover (21),
wherein a rear end of the magazine (10) and a rear end of the clincher arm (14) are rotatably supported relative to each other;
the clincher portion (13) comprises a clincher (22) placed between the arm cover (21) and the paper mounting member (24);
the clincher (22) comprises a narrow upper portion and a lower portion having two laterally extending portions (22a);
characterized in that
the upper portion of the clincher (22) is held in an opening (25) formed through the paper mounting member (24), and the lower extending
portions (22a) of the clincher (22) have side edges held in guide portions (32) formed in the inner surfaces of the side walls (31) of the arm cover (21); and
the clincher (22) is guided by at least one of the opening (25) of the paper mounting member (24) and the guide portions (32) of the arm cover (21), when the clincher (22) is lowered.
2. The stapler as claimed in claim 1, wherein the guide portions (32) of the arm cover (21) comprises guide grooves (32).
3. The stapler as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ratio of the width of the lower portion of the clincher (22) to the width of its upper portion is so selected as to give a value which can keep the clincher from being inclined by any torque produced by any uneven load exerted on its upper portion by a staple.
4. The staple as claimed in claim 1, wherein a length (d) from a position where a staple leg contacts to a groove formed in the clincher to the side edge of the lower portion is the same with or larger than 0.32 times of a height (h) of the clincher.


Documents:

3240-delnp-2004-abstract.pdf

3240-delnp-2004-claims.pdf

3240-delnp-2004-complete specification(granted).pdf

3240-DELNP-2004-Correspondence-Others-(09-09-2009).pdf

3240-delnp-2004-correspondene-others.pdf

3240-delnp-2004-correspondene-po.pdf

3240-delnp-2004-description (complete).pdf

3240-delnp-2004-drawings.pdf

3240-delnp-2004-form-1.pdf

3240-delnp-2004-form-18.pdf

3240-delnp-2004-form-2.pdf

3240-DELNP-2004-Form-3-(09-09-2009).pdf

3240-delnp-2004-form-3.pdf

3240-delnp-2004-form-5.pdf

3240-delnp-2004-gpa.pdf

3240-delnp-2004-pct-210.pdf

3240-delnp-2004-pct-304.pdf

3240-delnp-2004-pct-308.pdf

3240-delnp-2004-petition-137.pdf

3240-delnp-2004-petition-138.pdf


Patent Number 248142
Indian Patent Application Number 3240/DELNP/2004
PG Journal Number 25/2011
Publication Date 24-Jun-2011
Grant Date 21-Jun-2011
Date of Filing 20-Oct-2004
Name of Patentee MAX CO., LTD.,
Applicant Address 6-6, NIHONBASHI HAKOZAKI-CHO, CHUO-KU, TOKYO 103-8502, JAPAN
Inventors:
# Inventor's Name Inventor's Address
1 JUN MAEMORI C/O MAX CO., LTD., 6-6, NIHONBASHI HAKOZAKI-CHO, CHUO-KU, TOKYO 103-8502, JAPAN
2 AKIRA AOKI C/O MAX CO., LTD., 6-6, NIHONBASHI HAKOZAKI-CHO, CHUO-KU, TOKYO 103-8502, JAPAN
PCT International Classification Number B25C 5/02
PCT International Application Number PCT/JP03/05051
PCT International Filing date 2003-04-21
PCT Conventions:
# PCT Application Number Date of Convention Priority Country
1 2002--123042 2002-04-24 Japan