US3786959A

US3786959A - Paper clip dispenser

Info

Publication number: US3786959A
Application number: US00241224A
Authority: US
Inventors: D Greb; K Greb
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1972-04-05
Filing date: 1972-04-05
Publication date: 1974-01-22
Anticipated expiration: 1991-01-22

Abstract

A paper clip dispenser includes a housing having a base member and a cover member which cooperate to confine a plurality of paper clips in a side-by-side relationship and includes a spring for biasing the clips to a dispensing position. The cover member has an integral manually operable member for pivoting one end of a clip about an abutment and into a slot in the base member thereby projecting the other end of the clip through an exit aperture. The projected clip is ready to be lifted from the dispenser.

Description

[4 1 Jan. 22, 1974 United States Patent [191 Greb et al.

3,119,520 1/1964 Christopher 221/261 X PAPER CLIP DISPENSER [76] Inventors: Kenneth W. Greb; Daniel W. Greb,

both of 18 Stanford Dr., Glenview, EXaml'lerR0beft es 111. 13077 Assistant ExaminerThomas E. Kocovsky [22] Filed: Apr. 5, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 241,224

[57] ABSTRACT A paper clip dispenser includes a housing having a base member and a cover member which cooperate to confine a plurality of paper clips in a side-by-side relationship and includes a spring for biasing the clips to a dispensing position. The cover member has an integral manually operable member for pivoting one end of a clip about an abutment and into a slot in the base member thereby projecting the other end of the clip through an exit aperture. The projected clip is ready to be lifted from the dispenser.

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221/232 X 221/261 X Mandzuk 221/261 X 5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures 3,471,056 10/1969 Kovac...................... 3,422,989 H1969 L0ng........ 1293153 2/1919 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a paper clip dispenser and more particularly to a dispenser manually operable to project one clip at a time from the dispenser to a position for convenient removal therefrom.

One known paper clip dispenser was formed by a cylindrical magnetic housing and another was formed by a magnetic post which uses magnetic force to project at least one clip upward from the dispenser. These dispensers have a disadvantage in that the magnetic force projects several clips upward at the same time. To grasp only one clip from either of these dispensers has very little improvement over grasping one clip from a pile of random clips.

A non-magnetic paper clip dispenser has been developed to project one clip at a time to a position for convenient removal therefrom. This dispenser is disclosed in U. S. Pat. No. 3,422,989, issued on Jan. 2l, 1969 to S. L. Long, Jr. Even though this dispenser is believed to be an improvement over the magnetic dispensers, it has a first disadvantage in that close manufacturing to]- erances would be required to have the clip exit aperture properly aligned with the clip to be dispensed when assembling the cover member to the base member. A second disadvantage is having an abutment extending within the confines of the clip as a pivot for projecting the clip out of the clip exitaperture. This abutment interfers with removing the clip from the dispenser. This dispenser has a further disadvantage by having an excessive number of parts which results in a relatively high manufacturing cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This paper clip dispenser has a manually operable member for engaging and pivoting one clip from a plurality of clips supported in a side-by-side relationship until one end of the clip projects from the dispenser for convenient and efficient removal therefrom.

Briefly described, the paper clip dispenser of the present invention has a plastic base member for supporting a plurality of clips in a side-by-side relationship; a leaf spring member for urging'the plurality of clips toward a dispensing position at an end wall of the base member, and a resilient plastic cover member rigidly assembled to the base member for confining the clips for movement in a direction of the side-by-side relationship. The cover member has an integral manually operable member for engaging and pivoting one end of the clip, while being biased against the end wall, about an abutment and into a recess formed in the base member until the opposite end of the clip projects through a clip exit aperture. The exit aperture is formed by the cover member and the base member. The operable member will return to its initial position by an internal biasing effect of the resilient plastic material when released. The projected clip will remain in the projected position by the pressure of the adjacent biased clip. Upon removing the projected clip, the adjacent clip will be pushed against the end wall and ready for repeating the dispensing operation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of the present invention with a portion of the housing cut away to show the leaf spring and the clip relationship.

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view showing the construction of the cover member.

FIG. 3 is a rear perspective view showing the construction of the base member.

FIG. 4 is a partial side elevational view with a portion of the housing cut away to show the construction of the clip dispensing position.

FIG. 5 is a front elevational view showing the operable member in a depressed position and a released position and showing one clip projecting from the housing.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings and particularly to FIG. 1, the dispenser includes a housing 10 which consists of a base member 12 and a cover member 14, a plurality of clips 16 confined in a side-by-side relationship by the base member 12 and the cover member 14, anda leaf spring 18 biasing the plurality of clips 16 toward a dispensing position.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the base member 12 has a box shape with two

side walls

20 and 22, and a bottom wall 24 to confine three edges of the clips 16, back end wall 26 and a front end wall 28 to control the clips in the side-by-side relationship. The front end wall 28 holds one clip in a dispensing position (FIG. 4). A recess 30 projects downward from the bottom wall 24 adjacent the front end wall 28 and adjacent side wall 22. The recess 30 has a thickness slightly greater than the thickness of one clip thereby assisting in stripping only one clip from the plurality of stacked clips 16 during the dispensing operation. The recess 30 forms a curved abutment 32 extending downward from the bottom wall 24. The front end wall 28 and the recess 30 form a clip engaging surface 34 free of obstructions to permit displacing a clip relative to the surface 34 with maximum efficiency. The side wall 20 has a groove 36 extending along its length and the side wall 22 has a groove 38 extending along its length for slidably receiving the cover member 14.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the cover member 14 has a track 40 along one edge for sliding in groove 36 and has a track 42 along another edge for sliding in groove 38 of the base member 12 for removably assembling the cover member 14 to the base member 12. It is to be understood that an alternate means for assembling the cover member 14 to the base member 12 may be used. One alternate means would be having the cover member 14 constructed with flexible tabs which would seat in mating recesses in the base member 12 as a snap-fit assembly.

With either means of assembly, the cover member 14 may be removed from the base member 12 for reloading clips in the dispenser. Reloading may be accomplished by compressing the spring 18 toward the back end wall 26 and inserting the clips as a stack or individually. The spring 18 is then released to engage and bias the clips toward the front end wall 28. The spring l8 assists in holding the clips in the side-by-side relationship.

The cover member 14 has a guiding surface 44 extending downward from and along the length of the cover member 14. The surface 44 provides the fourth wall for guiding the fourth edge of the clips 16. The width of surface 44 reduces friction on the stack of clips 16 as they are moved toward the dispensing position. When the cover member 14 is assembled to the base member 12, the surface 44 can be spaced slightly away from the top edge of the clips 16 thereby confining the clips 16 for free movement in the direction of the side-by-side relationship. The front end of the cover member 14 has a projection 46 for engaging the front end wall 28. One side of the projection is an elongated notch 48 which cooperates with the front end wall 28 to form the clip exit aperture 50. The aperture 50 has a thickness slightly greater than the thickness of a clip to assist in stripping only one clip from the stack of clips 16 during the dispensing operation.

An operable member 52 is integrally molded from the cover member 14 for repeated movements from an initial position as shown in FIG. 2 to a depressed position as shown in FIG. 5. The cover member 14 is formed from a resilient material so that the operable member 52 will return to the initial position by the internal biasing force of the material. The operable member 52 has a clip engaging end 54 with a slight curved recess 56 to conform with the curved surface of a clip. The clip engaging end 54 has a thickness slightly less than the thickness of a clip to assist in stripping one clip from the stack of clips 16 during the dispensing operation. A finger piece 58 is integrally formed from an arm portion 60. The finger piece 58 serves as a control surface for depressing the operable member 52 and serves as a down stop for a'depressed finger piece. The clip engaging end 54 is flexible relative to the arm portion 60 to always remain biased against the clip engaging surface 34 when the cover member 14 is assembled to the base member 12. The biasing effect of the clip engaging end 54 permits the end 54 to remain against the surface 34 during the full depression of the operable member 52 thereby remaining in engaging with the clip during the clip dispensing operation. This biasing effect also assists in stripping one clip from the stack of clips 16 during the dispensing operation by engaging the clip against the front end wall 28.

The leaf spring 18 has a plurality of integrally formed leafs having circular shaped connecting engs 62. The ends 62 provides a more consistant biasing force throughout the length of the biasing effect of the spring 18. The end leaf 64 has a flat surface acting as a pusher plate to push the clips 16 in the direction of the side-byside relationship toward the dispensing position.

DISPENSING OPERATION Dispensing a single clip 66 from the dispenser will now be described. Referring to FIG. 5, depressing the operable member 52 causes the clip engaging end 54 to engage the top edge of the clip 66 near one end 68 and pivots the clip 66 about the abutment 32 by pushing the end 68 into the recess 30. The other end 70 of clip 66 is thereby lifted through the exit aperture 50 to a substantially vertical projected position. The adjacent biased clip holds the clip 66 in the projected position. The projected clip 66 may be conveniently removed from the dispenser at any time. The projected clip 66 holds the adjacent biased clip away from the clip engaging end 54 thereby permitting the operable member 52 to return to the initial position with minimum resistance. However, the projected clip 66 may be removed from the dispenser while the operable member 52 is held depressed. If this is done, the internal biasing force of the resilient material is sufficient to return the operable member 52 to its initial position even though the next clip is biased against the clip engaging end 54 by the spring 18. The projected clip 66 may be conveniently removed by lifting the clip 66 substantially vertically. Since the clip engaging surface 34 is free of obstructions, the clip 66 readily slips out from the dispenser.

With the operable member 52 in its initial position and with clip 66 removed from the dispenser, the spring 18 advances the stack of clips 16 toward the clip dispensing position until the next clip is positoned against the clip engaging surface 34. The dispenser is now ready for a repeated operation to project another clip from the dispenser.

What is claimed is:

1. A paper clip dispenser comprising:

a housing supporting a plurality of clips in a side-byside relationship; the housing having a bottom wall and an end wall, the end wall defining a clip engaging surface for the end one of the plurality of clips, the bottom wall having a recess extending downward along the clip engaging surface; an abutment formed by the recess; the housing having an exit aperture in alignment with the clip engaging surface of the end wall; and

means movable relative to the housing for pivoting the one clip about the abutment for moving one end of the one clip into the recess thereby extending the other end of the one clip through the exit aperture whereby the one clip may be removed from the dispenser.

2. A paper clip dispenser as defined in claim I further comprising means for urging the plurality of clips against the one clip for holding the one clip in the pivoted position.

3. A paper clip dispenser as defined in claim I wherein the movable means includes an operable member haing a clip engaging portion of a thickness slightly less than the thickness of a clip to assist in stripping the one clip from the plurality of clips, the bottom wall recess having a space slightly greater than the thickness of a clip to assist in stripping the one clip from the plurality of clips, and the housing exit aperture having a space slightly greater than the thickness of a clip to assist in stripping the one clip from the plurality of clips.

4. A paper clip dispenser as defined in claim 1 wherein the movable means includes an operable member having a portion biased against the clip engaging surface for maintaining the operable member in engagement with the clip engaging surface during the pivoting movement of the one clip.

5. A paper clip dispenser as defined in claim 4 wherein the operable member is integrally formed from

Claims

1. A paper clip dispenser comprising: a housing supporting a plurality of clips in a side-by-side relationship; the housing having a bottom wall and an end wall, the end wall defining a clip engaging surface for the end one of the plurality oF clips, the bottom wall having a recess extending downward along the clip engaging surface; an abutment formed by the recess; the housing having an exit aperture in alignment with the clip engaging surface of the end wall; and means movable relative to the housing for pivoting the one clip about the abutment for moving one end of the one clip into the recess thereby extending the other end of the one clip through the exit aperture whereby the one clip may be removed from the dispenser.

2. A paper clip dispenser as defined in claim 1 further comprising means for urging the plurality of clips against the one clip for holding the one clip in the pivoted position.

3. A paper clip dispenser as defined in claim 1 wherein the movable means includes an operable member haing a clip engaging portion of a thickness slightly less than the thickness of a clip to assist in stripping the one clip from the plurality of clips, the bottom wall recess having a space slightly greater than the thickness of a clip to assist in stripping the one clip from the plurality of clips, and the housing exit aperture having a space slightly greater than the thickness of a clip to assist in stripping the one clip from the plurality of clips.

5. A paper clip dispenser as defined in claim 4 wherein the operable member is integrally formed from the housing.