GB1602118A - Paper clip - Google Patents

Description

(54) PAPER CLIP (71) 1, ROY BASIL WALTER LOWNDES, a British subject of 79 Hollie Lucas Road, Kings Heath, Birmingham, B 13, OQH, Great Britain, 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 a slide clip for holding together sheets, e.g. of paper or film.

In one type of known slide clip there is provided a tongue which is disposed between two spaced apart members and the sheets are held together by putting the clip under stress with the tongue pressing on one side of the sheets and the said two members pressing on the other side of the sheets. In one common form of slide clip made of a length of metal wire, one end part of the length of wire is formed into an inner Ushaped loop constituting the tongue and having one terminal end, the other end part of the length of wire is formed into an outer U-shaped loop also having one terminal end, the limbs of the outer U-shaped loop constituting the two spaced apart members, and an intermediate part of the length of wire interconnects the inner and outer Ushaped loops.Such a wire slide clip can damage the sheets because the terminal ends of the wire can dig into the top and/or bottom sheet and tear it. In another common form of slide clip of this type made of plastics but without terminal ends, one part is also formed into an inner U-shaped loop constituting the tongue and another part is also formed into an outer U-shaped loop the limbs of which constitute the spaced apart members. The ends of the inner U-shaped loop are connected to respective ends of the outer U-shaped loop by further parts in the form of third and fourth U-shaped loops which are inverted with respect to the inner and outer Ushaped loops and disposed side by side.

Such a plastics slide clip does not damage the sheets but is easily broken and is therefore unreliable in use.

An object of the invention is to provide a slide clip made of plastics which, in use, does not damage the sheets and is reliable.

According to the present invention there is provided a slide clip made of plastics and comprising two spaced-apart members having each of their adjacent ends interconnected by a connecting portion and a tongue extending from one of said connecting portions towards the other connecting portion between said spaced apart- members and wherein a thin rib extends inwardly from each of said spacedapart members towards said tongue, the tongue is longitudinally slotted and lies substantially on one side of a plane whereas said two spaced-apart members lie substantially on the other side of said plane, the tongue and each of said two spaced apart members each having a surface lying in said plane.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which: Fig. I is a front elevation, to an enlarged scale, of a slide clip; Fig. 2 is a section on line Il-lI of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a section on line Ill-Ill of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing, a slide clip is injection moulded from plastics. In the clip, two straight parallel members 1 are spaced apart and have portions 2, 3 directly connecting the members together at their ends. Portion 3 is larger in area than portion 2 and has a shallow well 4 into which can be applied an advertising or informative motif.

A thin rib 5 extends inwardly from each of the two members 1. A straight-sided tongue 6 extends from the smaller portion 2 between the two members 1 and projects between the two thin ribs 5 as seen in Fig. 1.

The tongue 6 is formed with a through-slot 7 extending lengthwise of the tongue 6 from a point within the smaller portion 2 to a point short of the free end of the tongue 6 in order to increase the resilience of the tongue 6.

In use, a number of sheets is held together by putting the clip under stress with the two members 1 and the larger portion 3 pressing on the front side of the sheets and the tongue 6 pressing on the rear side of the sheets. The clip is pushed onto the sheets until the edge of the sheets contacts the inner edge or shoulder 8 of the smaller portion 2. In this position, the sheets are reliably held together by the interaction of the tongue 6 and the members 1, the thin ribs 5 aiding in securing the sheets. In this condition, any advertising or informative motif in the shallow well 4 can be seen at the front of the number of sheets.

The clip can be made in various shapes and sizes. However, the tongue 6 lies substantially on one side of a plane 9 whereas the two members 1 each lie on the other side of plane 9 and the front surface of the tongue 6 together with the rear surfaces of the members I each lie in the plane 9. As shown in the drawing, the tongue 6 is builtup from the rear surface of the smaller portion 2 so that part of the inner edge of the smaller portion 2 forms the shoulder 8 which can be contacted by the edge of the sheets.

WHAT I CLAIM IS:- 1. A slide clip made of plastics and comprising two spaced-apart members having each of their adjacent ends interconnected by a connecting portion and a tongue extending from one of said connecting portions towards the other connecting portion between said spaced apart members and wherein a thin rib extends inwardly from each of said spacedapart members towards said tongue, the tongue is longitudinally slotted and lies substantially on one side of a plane whereas said two spaced-apart members lie substantially on the other side of said plane, the tongue and each of said two spacedapart members each having a surface lying in said plane.

2. A slide clip as claimed in claim I, wherein said other connecting portion incorporates a shallow well.

3. A slide clip substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.

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

Claims (3)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. short of the free end of the tongue 6 in order to increase the resilience of the tongue 6. In use, a number of sheets is held together by putting the clip under stress with the two members 1 and the larger portion 3 pressing on the front side of the sheets and the tongue 6 pressing on the rear side of the sheets. The clip is pushed onto the sheets until the edge of the sheets contacts the inner edge or shoulder 8 of the smaller portion 2. In this position, the sheets are reliably held together by the interaction of the tongue 6 and the members 1, the thin ribs 5 aiding in securing the sheets. In this condition, any advertising or informative motif in the shallow well 4 can be seen at the front of the number of sheets. The clip can be made in various shapes and sizes. However, the tongue 6 lies substantially on one side of a plane 9 whereas the two members 1 each lie on the other side of plane 9 and the front surface of the tongue 6 together with the rear surfaces of the members I each lie in the plane 9. As shown in the drawing, the tongue 6 is builtup from the rear surface of the smaller portion 2 so that part of the inner edge of the smaller portion 2 forms the shoulder 8 which can be contacted by the edge of the sheets. WHAT I CLAIM IS:-

1. A slide clip made of plastics and comprising two spaced-apart members having each of their adjacent ends interconnected by a connecting portion and a tongue extending from one of said connecting portions towards the other connecting portion between said spaced apart members and wherein a thin rib extends inwardly from each of said spacedapart members towards said tongue, the tongue is longitudinally slotted and lies substantially on one side of a plane whereas said two spaced-apart members lie substantially on the other side of said plane, the tongue and each of said two spacedapart members each having a surface lying in said plane.

2. A slide clip as claimed in claim I, wherein said other connecting portion incorporates a shallow well.

3. A slide clip substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.