GB1579236A - Staples - Google Patents

Abstract

This set (2) is characterised by consisting of metal staples (1) such that the legs (4) of each successive staple (1) are astride the preceding staple, the staples (1) coming to be ordered in a row and arranged so as to form steps. Each staple (1) is equipped with contact parts (5) of a width which is slightly greater than the width of the legs (4) in such a manner that the staples, which are stacked in the region of their legs, are held together, with any desired number of staples, via the contacts themselves (5) by means of connection by elastic pressure. Each staple is moreover provided with a hooking part (10) containing the hole (13) for hooking. This set is particularly suitable for stapling machines and avoids recourse to glues or adhesives for keeping the staples themselves joined together, facilitating their handling, storage and transport. <IMAGE>

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS RELATING TO STAPLES (71) I, HISAO SATO, a citizen of Japan, residing at 2nd Hikariso, Toyotamaminami 3-10, Nerima-ku, Tokyo 176, do hereby declare the invention, for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention relates to staples of the kind which are intended to be loaded into the magazine of a stapling machine and dispensed one by one from the machine.

According to the present invention there is provided a staple comprising a pair of legs interconnected by a bridge, and a tab extending from the bridge perpendicular to said legs, said tab having a necked portion adjacent the bridge, an intermediate wider portion of substantially the same width as the spacing between the legs, and an end portion tapering from said intermediate portion.

The invention also provides an agglomerate of such staples in which the staples are arranged one above the other in a stepped configuration with the legs of adjacent staples abutting one another in parallel and the legs of an upper staple engaging with the intermediate wider portion of a lower staple.

The invention will be more particularly described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a staple according to the invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view of an agglomerate of staples as shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a plan view of the staple of Figure ]; Figure 4 is an end view of the staple of Figure 1; Figure 5 is a side view of the agglomerate of Figure 2; Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A in Figure 5; and Figure 7 is a perspective view of an alternative form of staple.

The staple 1 shown in Figure 1, a plurality of which staples may be formed into an agglomerate 2 as shown in Figure 2, comprises a bridge 3 interconnecting a pair of legs 4, and a tab 10 extending from the bridge 3 perpendicular to the legs 4, the tab having a necked portion 9 formed by recesses 11, an intermediate wider portion having side surfaces 5, and a tapering end portion 7 with converging sides 6, As shown in Figure 4, the legs 4 are inclined slightly towards one another to facilitate appropriate deformation of the staple when dispensed from a stapling machine. The staples are stored in the stapling machine in an agglomerate as shown in Figures 2 and 5, in which the staples are arranged one above the other in a stepped configuration with the legs 4 of the adjacent staples abutting one another in parallel.The legs 4 of an upper staple engage with the tab 10 of a lower staple, but in view of the recess 11, this engagement is with a lower staple which is spaced by a certain number of staples from the upper staple, the spacing between the side surfaces 5 of the tab 10 being slightly greater than the spacing between the lower ends of the legs 4. Preferably, the length of the side surfaces 5 in the longitudinal direction of the tab is less than or equal to the width of the legs 4 in this same direction, and the spacing between the side surfaces 5 and the legs 4 of a staple 1 is equal to an integral number of leg widths, so that each staple only engages with the wider portion of one lower staple in the agglomerate.Thus, the legs of an nth staple in the agglomerate engage with the intermediate portion of an n + rth staple where r is the ratio of the spacing between the legs and the side surfaces of the intermediate portion of a staple to the width of the legs in the longitudinal direction of the tab.

The recesses 11 defining the necked portion of the tab, and the converging side surfaces 6 facilitate the assembly of the agglomerate from a plurality of individual staples, and once the agglomerate is assembled, each lower staple is gripped between the legs of only one upper staple, so that dispensing of the staples one by one from a stapling machine may proceed correctly. The legs 4 are provided with pointed ends 8 for penetration into the object to be stapled.

The separation of the side surfaces 5 from the front end of the staple is preferably given by the relation: " height of leg 4 " divided by " thickness of the staple material " multiplied by " leg width" " equals " maximum spacing of side surfaces 5 from the front end ofthe staple".

The staple I is made of an appropriate sheet material, such as metal or synthetic resin. The embodiment of the staple as shown in Figures 1 to 6 includes a closed hole 12 formed in the tab 10, but as shown in Figure 7 the tab may alternatively be formed with an open hole 13 so as to become hook-shaped.

WHAT I CLAIM IS: 1. A staple comprising a pair of legs interconnected by a bridge, and a tab extending from the bridge perpendicular to said legs, said tab having a necked portion adjacent the bridge, an intermediate wider portion of substantially the same width as the spacing between the legs, and an end portion tapering from said intermediate portion.

2. A staple according to Claim 1, wherein the length of side surfaces defining said intermediate portion in the longitudinal direction of the tab is less than or equal to the width of the legs in said longitudinal direction.

3. A staple according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein the ratio of the spacing between the legs and the intermediate portion of the tab to the width of the legs in the longitudinal direction of the tab is equal to an integral number of leg widths.

4. A staple according to any preceding Claim, wherein the tab is formed with a closed hole.

5. A staple according to any of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the tab is formed with an open hole so that the tab is hook-shaped.

6. An agglomerate of the staples as claimed in any preceding Claim, wherein the staples are arranged one above the other in a stepped configuration with the legs of adjacent staples abutting one another in parallel and the legs of an upper staple engaging with the intermediate wider portion of a lower staple.

7. An agglomerate as claimed in Claim 6, when dependent on Claim 3, wherein the legs of an nth staple in the agglomerate engage with the intermediate portion of an n + rth staple where r is the ratio of the spacing between the legs and the intermediate portion of a staple to the width of the legs in the longitudinal direction of the tab.

8. A staple substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 1 to 6 or Figure 7 of the accompanying drawings.

9. An agglomerate of staples substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 2, 5 and 6 of the accompanying drawings.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (9)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. " thickness of the staple material " multiplied by " leg width" " equals " maximum spacing of side surfaces 5 from the front end ofthe staple". The staple I is made of an appropriate sheet material, such as metal or synthetic resin. The embodiment of the staple as shown in Figures 1 to 6 includes a closed hole 12 formed in the tab 10, but as shown in Figure 7 the tab may alternatively be formed with an open hole 13 so as to become hook-shaped. WHAT I CLAIM IS:

1. A staple comprising a pair of legs interconnected by a bridge, and a tab extending from the bridge perpendicular to said legs, said tab having a necked portion adjacent the bridge, an intermediate wider portion of substantially the same width as the spacing between the legs, and an end portion tapering from said intermediate portion.

2. A staple according to Claim 1, wherein the length of side surfaces defining said intermediate portion in the longitudinal direction of the tab is less than or equal to the width of the legs in said longitudinal direction.

3. A staple according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein the ratio of the spacing between the legs and the intermediate portion of the tab to the width of the legs in the longitudinal direction of the tab is equal to an integral number of leg widths.

4. A staple according to any preceding Claim, wherein the tab is formed with a closed hole.

5. A staple according to any of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the tab is formed with an open hole so that the tab is hook-shaped.

6. An agglomerate of the staples as claimed in any preceding Claim, wherein the staples are arranged one above the other in a stepped configuration with the legs of adjacent staples abutting one another in parallel and the legs of an upper staple engaging with the intermediate wider portion of a lower staple.

7. An agglomerate as claimed in Claim 6, when dependent on Claim 3, wherein the legs of an nth staple in the agglomerate engage with the intermediate portion of an n + rth staple where r is the ratio of the spacing between the legs and the intermediate portion of a staple to the width of the legs in the longitudinal direction of the tab.

8. A staple substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 1 to 6 or Figure 7 of the accompanying drawings.

9. An agglomerate of staples substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 2, 5 and 6 of the accompanying drawings.