WO1980002126A1

WO1980002126A1 - Removable fasteners for paper sheets of the paper clip type,and distributor therefor

Info

Publication number: WO1980002126A1
Application number: PCT/FR1980/000053
Authority: WO
Inventors: C Catelas
Original assignee: C Catelas
Priority date: 1979-04-12
Filing date: 1980-04-03
Publication date: 1980-10-16
Also published as: NL8020120A; ES8100635A1; GB2058201B; PT71082A; IT8048404A0; BR8008177A; IT1128652B; DE3041447A1; NO803744L; SE8008497L; DK523580A; GB2058201A; JPS56500647A; ZA802192B; AU5981980A; ES490179A0; AR225035A1

Abstract

The removable fastener for paper sheets, of the paper clip type, comprises a first elongated member (1) forming a frame, a second elongated member (2) placed inside the frame contour and fastened thereto on a small side of its contour, the fastening having the form of a chain, a ribbon or a small bar (4) of fasteners aligned and connected together by their smaller sides, along weakened lines (5).

Description

Removable clip for paper clips, paperclip type, and dispenser.

The invention relates to stationery articles for separably binding overlapping sheets of paper; these items are commonly known as paper clips. the paper clips have, in known manner, a threadlike structure whose planar profile comprises an external element and an internal element. These two elements are connected by one side to form a kind of hinge which allows them to flex relative to each other outside the plane in which they are at rest.

The paper clip is placed by forced deformation thereof, so that these two elements are placed on either side of the superimposed sheets of paper. The retention of these is ensured by the elastic return action of these two elements towards their rest position, an action which generally slightly deforms the sheets and which creates a high holding friction. However, these paper clips have the disadvantage of being inconvenient to handle and set up.

The main object of the invention is to provide a removable fastener of the kind in question which does not have this drawback.

To this end, the fastener according to the invention is characterized in that it comprises a first elongated element forming a frame, a second elongated element, located inside the outline of the frame and attached to the latter on a small side of its outline, the fastener being in the form of a rosary, ribbon or strip of fasteners aligned in the same plane and connected together by their short sides, along lines of weakness.

According to a preferred embodiment, the fastener according to the invention is made of injected plastic, the frame is of rectangular external shape, and the inner element is constituted by an elongated solid blade or tongue connected to the frame by a short side. The internal element of the fastener, connected to the frame on a small side thereof, has at its free end, opposite its connection end with the frame, a planar enlargement forming a pallet and situated substantially in the general plane of the fastener.

Preferably, the free end of the interior element has projections or pins, oriented perpendicular to its plane to increase adhesion with the sheets of paper. According to a preferred embodiment, the short side of the frame which receives the interior element is offset from the plane of the fastener in the area where it receives the interior element, the interior element being slightly inclined relative to the plane of the frame. and its extreme widening being located in the plane of the frame.

The invention also relates to a distributor for the fasteners. The bars are stored therein and, by sliding and breaking, the fasteners can be placed individually on the stack of sheets. The invention will be clearly understood with the aid of the description which follows and with reference to the appended drawings in which:

Fig.1 is a plan view of a bar of fasteners according to the invention; Fig.2 is a section on II-II of fig.1;

Fig.3 is a section on III-III of fig.1;

Pig.4 is a plan view of a fastener according to a variant;

Fig.5 and 6 are sections along lines V-V and VI-VI of the clip of fig.4;

Fig.7 is a plan view of a bar of fasteners according to fig.4 to 6;

Fig.8 is, on a larger scale, a section along VIII-VIII of the bar of Fig.7; Fig.9 is a perspective view of a fastener distributor presented in the form of bars; and

Fig. 10 is a perspective view, with cutaway ment, a dispenser according to a variant.

The fastener 10 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 comprises an external element 1, forming a frame, and an internal element 2. The external element is for example made of square wire with a side of 1.5 mm. It is rectangular in shape, 25 mm long and 12.4 mm wide. The inner element 2 is constituted by a full and flat tongue, of elongated shape, situated substantially in the plane of the frame 1 and attached to the center of a short side of the frame over its entire width; the tongue 2 is for example 9 mm long by 3 mm wide.

The free end of the tongue 2, opposite the connection end to one 21 of the short sides of the frame 1, has a planar enlargement 20, of rectangular or square shape, including one of the large faces, that which is intended to come into contact with the sheets of paper, is an extension of the corresponding face of the tongue 2.

Preferably, the enlargement 20 carries, on this face, at least one projection or spike 3 directed perpendicular to the plane of the frame 1. The spike 3 does not exceed the thickness of the frame 1. As shown in 3a, the pins can be placed near the corners of the enlargement 20. Pins 3b, oriented in opposite directions, can be provided on the long sides of the frame 1, at the level of pins 3, 3a.

As seen in fig. 2 and 3, the short side 21 of the frame 1 which receives the tongue 2 is, in its central part of connection with the tongue, slightly offset from the plane of the frame 1, for example of the thickness of the material forming the frame. By way of example, this side 21 has the shape of an isosceles trapezoid.

From its connection with the side 21, the tongue 2 has a decreasing thickness towards the free end, its contact face with the sheets of paper being substantially in the plane of one of the faces of the frame 1 while its face opposite is tilted. The fasteners are presented according to a set of identical fasteners in the form of a bar, ribbon or chain 4, the fasteners following each other in the same position, that is to say all oriented in the same way. Two successive fasteners are attached by two spaced-apart connecting lugs 5 intended to be broken when the fastener 10 to be separated from the bar is turned by hand around the articulation which they constitute. These legs 5 are located for example at the inclined sides of the trapezoids. Their thickness is approximately 2/10 mm.

To use a fastener according to the invention, it is separated from the bar by breaking the tabs 5 and the sheets of paper are inserted between, on the one hand, the frame 1 and, on the other hand, the pallet 20 and the tongue 2. It has been found that, thanks to the presence of the pallet 20, the action of which is possibly reinforced by the projections 3, 3a, 3b, excellent retention of the sheets of paper is obtained. We have shown in fig.4 to 8 an alternative embodiment of a fastener presented in the form of bar.

The fastener 10 shown in FIGS. 4 to 8 comprises an external element 1, forming a frame, and an internal element 2. The external element is for example made of 1.5 mm square wire. It is rectangular in shape, 25 mm long and 12.4 mm wide. The inner element 2 is constituted by a full and flat tongue, of elongated shape, located in the plane of the frame 1 and attached to the center of a small side of the frame over its entire width; the tongue 2 is for example 18 mm long by 4.5 mm wide. As shown in fig.5, one of the large faces of the tongue 2 is in the plane of a large face of the frame 1. At its free end, the tongue 2 is not very thick; its thickness increases regularly until the junction with the frame, so as to have in this connection zone a thickness still slightly less than that of the frame. The small thickness of the tongue gives it good flexibility. At least one projection or pin 3, directed towards the other large face of the frame 1, is provided on this inclined face of the tongue 2, near its free end. In the example shown, two pins 3 are arranged. transversely. The pins 3 have a height such that they do not normally exceed the other large face of the frame; their height is for example 0.6 mm while the thickness of the free end of the tongue is 0.3 mm. The long sides of the frame 1 may bear, oriented in the opposite direction to the pins 3 and at the level of these pins, 3b.

In fig.7, there is shown a part of a bar 4 comprising the fasteners according to fig.4 to 6. The fasteners 10 are aligned in the same direction and in their plane, along the length of the rectangle. They are joined two by two along the outer face of the short side of the frame 1 by a connecting part 5. The part 5 has a thickness equal to that of the frame and a width, transverse to the direction of alignment of the fasteners, less than the length of the short sides of the frame. On one of its faces, the part 5 has a weakening line 6 (Fig. 8), for example a V-shaped groove, directed in the same direction as the pins 3.

The use of the bar 4 according to fig. 1 to 3 or 7 and 8 is as follows. The user grasps the entire bar, or what remains of it, to present the first fastener to the stack of sheets of paper; the bar is oriented so that this first fastener has its tongue 2 at the rear; in the drawings, the first attachment is the one on the left. The other fasteners of the bar, held in the palm of the user, provide a good grip and facilitate maneuvering. The bending of the bar, in conjunction with a support on the tongue 2 of the first fastener, allows this tongue to move apart for the introduction of the sheets of paper. When the clip is in place, simply hold the first clip separately, holding the sheets, and the rest of the strip, then give a bending movement so that the zone or zones break in the zone of line 6.

Advantageously, the maneuver and the presentation of the bars 4 can be facilitated if, according to another characteristic of the invention, use is made of a distributor or magazine 7 which is intended to receive several bars and from which the fasteners can be individually subject to the stack of sheets of paper.

We have shown in fig.9 a distributor 7 which can advantageously be used to build up a reserve of fasteners and deliver them to the unit.

The dispenser is of the drawer type. It has an outer casing 22 in the form of a flat rectangular parallelepiped and an inner drawer 23.

The envelope 22 is for example made of stainless steel, facilitating screen printing. It has a top 24, two side walls 25, a rear wall 26 and a bottom wall 27 formed by the two folded lower edges of the side walls 25, these edges serving as slides for the drawer 23.

At the front, the casing 22 has a notch 28 which extends over the entire width of the dispenser. The front face of the envelope 22 is completely open to allow the slide 23 to slide.

The drawer 23 is made for example by thermoforming from a plastic sheet. It has over its entire width adjacent longitudinal channels 29 which extend over practically the entire length of the dispenser and which are separated by ribs 30. At the front, the drawer has a transverse wall 31 perpendicular to the channels 29 to define a extreme front cavity 32 for handling the fasteners.

At their front end, the channels have two ascending lateral ramps 33 intended to support the long sides of frame 1 of the first fastener. These ramps slightly raise the first fastener and press it against the upper face 24 of the casing 22 to ensure the retention of this fastener by friction. Each channel 29 receives a bar 4 by threading it to the bottom of the channel. To separate a fastener for its use, it suffices to slide the bar of one of the channels outwards over a length equal to that of a fastener and to break the tabs 5 according to the movement indicated above. The first fastener separates and the second, which then becomes the first, remains held in place by friction.

Preferably, the bars are arranged in the channels so that, for each fastener, the short side 21 is behind, which facilitates the positioning of the fastener on the sheets of paper after its separation.

We have shown in fig.10 a variant, of a dispenser.

This dispenser is in the form of an elongated parallelepipedic box. The housing has two open ends 8, 9 _. two solid side walls 11, 12 and partial upper and lower walls 13, 14. The wall 13 is located in the center and extends over a third of the length of the housing while the two wall parts 14 are located at the ends and each also occupy a third of the length of the housing. The open end 9 is used for the introduction of the bars 4. To this end, the rear rear edges of the walls 11, 12 have a ratchet tooth profile 15 oriented in the direction of penetration of the bars. The distance between the teeth 15 is slightly less than the width of the bars. The rear end of the walls 11, 12 must therefore flex for the penetration of the bars. For this, the corresponding part 14 is not not linked over its entire length to the walls 11, 12, but there remains a free zone 16 allowing this bending.

Correspondingly, the open end 8 is used to exit the fasteners. Its edges have a profile 17 in the form of a ratchet tooth oriented in the direction of exit. The distance between the teeth 17 is less than the width of the fasteners, so that the teeth 17 can penetrate the area of the bar left free, between two successive fasteners, by the connecting part 5. In the same way as above, the wall part 14 is not linked over its entire length to the walls 11, 12, but there remains a free area 18 allowing the ends of the walls 11, 12 to flex for the passage of a fastener by its total width. Preferably, the inner faces of the walls 11, 12 carry bosses 19, separated transversely from the width of the fasteners, to guide the bars.

The distributor is loaded through the end 9 by threading the bars 4 individually or together. For use, the first bar is advan _^ ERC hand so that only emerges the first fastener on the back retained by the teeth 17. The distributor 7 is held in the palm of the hand and a good grip for the user. In addition to this advantage, the distributor facilitates the storage of the fasteners; it advantageously constitutes a means of counting the fasteners and can serve as a desk rule.

Thanks to its structure, the distributor 7 can be produced by injection, without requiring a mold with moving parts.

Moreover, the fastener 10 and the bar 4 are advantageously made of plastic and also produced by injection. They can also be produced by stamping from a sheet metal, for example based on aluminum. The bar, strip or chain 4 can, in particular according to its manufacturing method, for example stamping or injection, be made of elements of uniform length or on the contrary continuously. In the latter case, the resulting product is either cut later to give bars of the same length, to be used in the above dispenser, or kept in great length to be presented in the form of a reel to be used with a dispenser by unwinding.

Claims

1.- Removable fastener for sheets of paper, of the paper clip type, characterized in that it comprises a first elongated element forming a frame, a second elongated element, located inside the outline of the frame and attached to it on a small side of its outline, the fastener being in the form of a rosary, ribbon or strip of fasteners aligned in the same plane and connected together by their short sides, along lines of weakness.

2.- removable fastener according to claim 1, characterized in that the weakening lines are constituted by at least one tab arranged to be broken by bending of a fastener relative to the next.

3.- Removable fastener according to one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that it is made of injected plastic or of pressed sheet metal, the frame is of rectangular outer shape, and the inner element is constituted by an elongated solid blade or tongue connected to the frame by a short side.

4.- removable fastener according to claim 3, characterized in that the inner element of the fastener, connected to the frame on a small side thereof, has at its free end, opposite to its connecting end with the frame, a widening plane forming a pallet and situated substantially in the general plane of the fastener.

5.- Removable fastener according to one of claims 3 and 4, characterized in that the free end of the inner element has projections or pins, oriented perpendicular to its plane to increase adhesion with the sheets of paper .

6.- removable fastener according to claim 5, characterized in that the long sides of the frame carry, oriented in opposite directions of the pins of the element inside and at the level of these, pins or projections.

7.- Removable fastener according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the inner element has a decreasing thickness towards its free end and that its inactive face is in the plane of one of the faces of the frame.

8.- removable fastener according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the short side of the frame which receives the inner element is offset from the plane of the fastener in the area where it receives the inner element, the inner element being slightly inclined relative to the plane of the frame and its extreme widening being located in the plane of the frame.

9.- Removable fastener according to claim 8, characterized in that the short side has a trapezoid profile, the central part of which is offset from the frame by the thickness thereof.

10.- Dispenser for bar fasteners according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that it comprises an envelope for receiving several bars, the bars being able to slide towards an open end of the envelope for placing place the first fastener on a stack of sheets and separate it from the rest of the strip.

11. A dispenser according to claim 10, characterized in that it comprises an internal drawer having longitudinal channels opening onto an open end of the envelope.

12. A dispenser according to claim 11, characterized in that the drawer has at the front a handling cavity of the first fastener of each bar.

13. A dispenser according to one of claims 10 and 11, characterized in that each channel has at the front, two ascending lateral ramps to retain the first fastener by friction against the upper face.

14. A dispenser according to claim 10, characterized in that it comprises two full side walls and two other alternately full and empty walls.

15. A dispenser according to claim 14, characterized in that the edges of the free ends have profiles in the form of pawl teeth and for the penetration of the bars and the release of the fasteners, these teeth leaving between them a space less than the width of fasteners.

16. A dispenser according to claim 15) characterized in that the walls carrying said profiles are arranged to flex, because the adjacent wall is not linked to said walls over its entire width but that there remains a free space.

17. A dispenser according to one of claims 14 to 16, characterized in that it internally includes guide bosses.