Releasable fastener, method of releasably fastening, and releasable fastener dispenser

A releasable fastener, a method of fastening together a number of pieces of paper, and a dispenser carrying a supply of releasable fasteners are disclosed. In a first embodiment, a releasable fastener is disclosed which includes a first portion having front and back oppositely-facing sides which are substantially covered with an adhesive, and a second portion having front and back oppositely-facing sides which ar free of adhesive. A releasable fastener dispenser carrying a supply of releasable fasteners is also disclosed which includes a strip of carrier material, and a plurality of releasable fasteners releasably adhered to the strip of carrier material.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to releasable fasteners. More particularly, 
the present invention relates to releasable fasteners for releasably 
fastening together a plurality of pieces of paper. 
2. Description of the Related Art 
Various types of fasteners have been developed in the prior art to fasten 
together pieces of material such as paper or cloth. Some of those 
fasteners include two separate pieces of material which are fastened 
together. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,510,263 to Stein discloses a binder 
file tape which includes a support strip 21 coated with an adhesive 22 for 
attachment to a folder 17, and a tab strip 23 which is also coated with an 
adhesive 25 on one side for attachment to the support strip 21, and which 
is cut into mounting tabs 24 which are each adherable to a leaf 29 to 
mount a plurality of leaves in the folder 17. 
Also, U.S. Pat. No. 2,931,747 to Dexter discloses a fabric fastener 1 which 
includes two strips 2, 3 of material which each have a coating 4, 5, 
respectively, of adhesive thereon so that the strips 2, 3 may adhere to 
each other and to two pieces of fabric to fasten together the pieces of 
fabric. Unfortunately, fasteners which include two separate pieces of 
material have the disadvantage that they are relatively difficult and 
costly to manufacture, and are thus relatively expensive. 
Another type of fastener for sheet material has been developed which 
includes only a single sheet of adhesive material U.S. Pat. No. 2,547,487 
to Penney discloses an adhesive tab which includes a material engaging 
member 10 having an adhesive coating Il fixed on only one side thereof to 
which is removably affixed a pair of covers 12, 13. When a user desires to 
fasten two sheets 18, 19 together, he or she must remove the covers from 
the coating 11, and press the tab on the sheets 18, 19. A disadvantage of 
this type of fastener, however, is that the need to remove a pair of 
covers from an adhesive coating makes the fastener relatively time 
consuming and bothersome to use. 
Other fasteners have been developed in the prior art which include only a 
single piece of material and which are free of adhesive covers. For 
example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,292,176 to Tate discloses a hinge mount which is 
made of a strip of material 10 which has a crease line 12 along its 
longitudinal median, an adhesive on one side thereof, and transverse score 
lines 20 thereacross. The strip 10 is severed along a transverse score 
line 20 to form a desired length, and is then folded along the crease line 
12. The strip 10 is then fastened to a card along the edge of the card, 
and is fastened to a page of an album to secure the card in the album. 
U.S. Pat. No. 1,250,016 to Richards discloses a leaf binder which is in the 
form of a strip 2 which has an adhesive on one side thereof. The strip 2 
includes a plurality of shanks 15 which are bendable upwardly from the 
strip 2. In use, the strip 2 is attached to a cover element C, and the 
shanks 15 are attached to both leaves I', I" of a sheet I. The sheet I is 
thereby fastened into the cover C. 
U.S. Pat. No. 952,642 to Robertson discloses a loose leaf binding hinge 
made of a strip A of material which has an adhesive on an underside 
thereof and which has two sets of tabs 10, 11 cut and folded outwardly 
therefrom. In use, the strip A is adhered to a cover C, and the tabs 10, 
11 are adhered to a loose leaf B to fasten the loose leaf B to the cover 
C. 
Also, U.S. Pat. No. 341,005 to Heysinger discloses a binding strip A for 
papers. The strip A includes an adhesive on one side C thereof, a solid 
portion a for attachment to the lower surface of a bottom sheet, and a 
plurality of flaps B for attachment to upper surfaces of a plurality of 
upper sheets. The bottom sheet and the upper sheets are thereby all bound 
together. 
U.S. Pat. No. 1,291,382 to Bohan discloses a binding clip for sheet music, 
which includes two end portions 10, 10 having an adhesive on one side 
thereof, and a connecting neck portion 11 having an adhesive on an 
opposite side thereof. In use, the clip is folded along a line 18, and the 
end portions 10, 10 are adhered to either side of a central sheet 17. The 
clip is then cut into two pieces along line 18, and the resulting separate 
neck portions 11, 11 are adhered to outer faces of cover sheets 15 to 
attach the central leaf 17 to the cover sheets 15. 
Each of the above-described single piece fasteners have several 
disadvantages. For example, each of these fasteners must be folded over 
around an edge of at least one sheet to properly fasten two or more sheets 
together. These fasteners thus require relatively exact placement on a 
sheet to ensure that two sheets align correctly when they are fastened. As 
a result, they are relatively time-consuming to use due to their need to 
be folded and exactly placed. Also, they are limited to being only able to 
fasten sheets at the sheets edges. Further, in the case of the fasteners 
which fasten more than two sheets together, such as disclosed in the 
Richards and Heysinger patents, the fasteners adhere to one side only of 
each sheet, and thus form relatively unstable attachments to each of the 
sheets. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a 
releasable fastener which is relatively easy and quick to use. 
A further object of the present invention is to provide a releasable 
fastener which does not require folding or exact placement to fasten 
pieces of material together. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a releasable 
fastener which is relatively inexpensive and easy to manufacture. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a releasable 
fastener which can achieve a relatively stable attachment to a plurality 
of sheets. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide a relatively easy and 
quick method of releasably fastening together at least two pieces of 
paper. 
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a releasable 
fastener dispenser which carries a supply of releasable fasteners in a 
compact manner such that they are easily removed from the dispenser. 
The above objects, as well as other objects not specifically enumerated, 
are accomplished by a releasable fastener for releasably fastening 
together two pieces of paper according to the present invention. The 
releasable fastener, according to the present invention, comprises a 
substantially planar piece of base material, which includes means for 
releasably adhering the pieces of paper to the base material piece. The 
adhering means includes a first portion of the base material piece which 
has front and back oppositely-facing sides thereon which are each 
substantially covered with a releasable adhesive. The base material piece 
further includes mean for releasing the base material piece from the 
pieces of paper, the releasing means including a second portion of the 
base material piece which has front and back oppositely-facing sides 
thereon which are free of adhesive. 
The objects of the invention are also accomplished by a fastener which 
includes a piece of base material, wherein the base material piece 
includes one or more interleaving portions having front and back 
oppositely-facing sides which are each substantially covered with an 
adhesive and at least one cover portion having front and back 
oppositely-facing sides, wherein the back side of the cover portion is 
substantially covered with an adhesive and the front side of the cover 
portion is free of adhesive. 
The objects of the present invention are further accomplished by a method 
of releasably fastening together two pieces of paper, which includes the 
steps of providing a releasable fastener which includes a substantially 
planar piece of base material having a first portion having front and back 
oppositely-facing sides thereon which are both substantially covered with 
an adhesive, and a second portion having front and back oppositely-facing 
sides thereon which are both free of adhesive, grasping the front and back 
sides of the second portion, placing the releasable fastener on a first 
piece of paper such that the back side of the first portion adheres to the 
first piece of paper, and placing a second piece of paper on the 
releasable fastener such that the front side of the first portion adheres 
to the second piece of paper. 
The objects of the present invention ar also accomplished by a method of 
fastening a number of pieces of paper together, which includes the steps 
of separating a fastener which includes a number of patches from a 
fastener strip, wherein each of the patches includes an interleaving 
portion which has front and back oppositely-facing sides which are 
substantially covered with an adhesive, and a cover portion which has 
front and back oppositely-facing sides, and wherein the front side of the 
cover portion is substantially covered with a adhesive and the back side 
of the cover portion is free of adhesive, and attaching the interleaving 
portions of the patches to the pieces of paper such that the pieces of 
paper are each fastened to the fastener and are movable relative to each 
other. 
The objects of the present invention are further accomplished by a 
releasable fastener dispenser carrying a supply of releasable fasteners, 
which includes a first strip of carrier material, and a plurality of 
releasable fasteners, each of the releasable fasteners including a 
substantially planar piece of base material which includes a first portion 
having front and back oppositely-facing sides thereon which are both 
substantially covered with an adhesive, and a second portion having front 
and back oppositely-facing sides thereon which are free of adhesive, 
wherein the adhesive is more adherent to the base material than to the 
carrier material, and wherein the releasable fasteners are thereby 
releasably adhered to the first strip of carrier material by the adhesive.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
With reference to FIG. 1, a first embodiment 10 of a releasable fastener of 
the present invention is shown from a front side thereof. It is to be 
understood that the back, opposite side of the fastener 10 may be made 
substantially identical to the front side. The fastener 10 is composed of 
a substantially planar piece of base material 12 which includes a first 
portion 14 having front and back oppositely-facing sides thereon, and a 
second portion 16 also having front and back oppositely-facing sides 
thereon. In FIG. 1, only the front sides of the first and second portions 
14, 16 can be seen. 
The front and back oppositely-facing sides of the first portion 14 are 
covered with an adhesive 18, while the front and back oppositely-facing 
sides of the second portion 16 are free of adhesive. The adhesive 18 is 
preferably releasable and is thus more adherent to the base material piece 
12 than to a material to which the fastener 10 is designed to be fastened. 
The fastener 10 is preferably for use in releasably fastening together 
pieces of paper, and the adhesive 18 is thus preferably chosen and applied 
in a manner such that it is more adherent to the base material piece 12 
than to the pieces of paper which are to be releasably fastened. In 
addition, the adhesive is preferably of a type which will adhere to paper 
when it is pressed against the paper, but which will also peel easily off 
of the paper without tearing the paper when a peeling force is applied to 
the fastener 10. 
In use, two pieces of material, such as pieces of paper, can be releasably 
fastened together by the releasable fastener 10 in a quick and easy 
manner. First, a user need only pick up a releasable fastener 10 by 
grasping the front and back oppositely-facing sides of the second portion 
16. The user next places the releasable fastener 10 on a first piece of 
paper such that the back side of the first portion 14 adheres to the first 
piece of paper while the back side of the second portion 16 remains free 
of adhesion with the first piece of paper. The user then places a second 
piece of paper on the releasable fastener such that the front side of the 
first portion 14 releasably adheres to the second piece of paper while the 
front side of the second portion 16 remains free of adhesion with the 
second piece of paper. The first and second pieces of paper ar thereby 
releasably fastened together by the first portion 14, which forms means 
for releasably adhering the pieces of paper to the base material piece 12. 
Thus, the releasable fastener allows two pieces of material to be fastened 
together quickly and easily, without requiring exact placement of the 
fastener 10 along an edge of one of the pieces of material. The fastener 
10 can be placed anywhere on the pieces of material, and releasable 
fastening will be achieved. Also, inherent in the simplicity of the 
fastener 10 is the fact that the fastener 10 is inexpensive and easy to 
manufacture. 
If desired, the fastener 10 can be placed between the two pieces of paper 
so that the nonadhesive second portion 16 protrudes out from between the 
two pieces of paper. The protruding portion 16 can be used for an index 
tab, and can be written on or color coded for identification. Also, it can 
be used for fastening purposes, e.g., a thumb tack can be put through the 
protruding portion 16 without damaging the two pieces of paper that are 
adhered together. 
If the user later desires to separate the pieces of paper from each other, 
the user need only grasp the front and back sides of the second portion 
16, if it is protruding from between the two pieces of paper, and peel the 
pieces of paper from the releasable fastener 10. Alternatively, the user 
can first peel the papers apart, and then remove the fastener 10 from 
whichever of the pieces of paper the fastener 10 adheres to by grasping 
the second portion 16 and peeling the fastener 10 from the piece of paper. 
In either case, the second portion 16 serves as a means for releasing the 
base material piece 12 from the pieces of paper. 
The releasable fastener 1? is shown in FIG. 1 as being oval-shaped, but the 
fastener 10 may of course be square, circular, rectangular, 
diamond-shaped, or almost any other shape, and advantages obtained 
therefrom. Also, the second portion 16 of the releasable fastener 10 is 
shown as being located adjacent a boundary of the base material piece 12 
so that it is easy for a user to pick up the fastener 10 by grasping the 
second portion 16, but the second portion could be located anywhere on the 
base material piece, and some advantages obtained therefrom. Further, the 
boundary between the first portion 14 and the second portion 16 is shown 
as being defined by a line, but an arc or other boundary could be 
advantageously used. Also, as indicated above, the base material piece 12 
may be color coded or carry printing thereon if desired. It should be 
further noted that the base material piece 12 may be made of any thin, 
strong, flexible material, such as paper, cloth, plastic, or other 
materials. 
Further, the fastener 10 could be made with a permanent adhesive which 
permanently adheres to materials such as paper. In such an embodiment, the 
fastener could still include a second portion free of adhesive to allow a 
user to grasp the fastener without touching the adhesive, and the adhesive 
could still be located on front and back sides of a first portion of the 
fastener. 
In FIG. 2, a further refinement of the embodiment of FIG. 1 is illustrated. 
A side view of the fastener 10 illustrates the layers of adhesive 18 on 
opposite sides of the first portion 14. However, as illustrated in FIG. 2, 
a second layer of material 15 may be applied to the adhesive 13 on one 
side of the base material 12. The second layer 15 preferably is the same 
size and shape as the base material 12, but could be limited to the size 
of the first portion 14. Alternatively, the second layer 15 may even be 
larger than the base material 12. The second layer 15 may be made out of 
different materials, such as paper or wax paper. 
The base material 12 may be applied to one sheet of paper while the second 
layer 15 is retained on the base material 12. The second layer 15 may be 
left on the fastener 10 so that notes may be written on it. Or, it can be 
removed at any time for fastening a second piece of paper to the one sheet 
of paper. 
With reference to FIG. 3, a second embodiment 20 of the releasable fastener 
of the present invention is composed of an elongated strip or piece of 
base material 22 which has a plurality of perforated lines 24 extending 
thereacross such that the fastener 20 is divided into a plurality of 
patches 26. Each of the patches 26 includes a first edge 28 on one end of 
the patch, and a second edge 30 on an opposite end of the patch. 
Additionally, each patch 26 includes, in the following order between the 
first edge 28 and the second edge 30, a first pull tab portion 38, an 
interleaving portion 32, a folding or spacing portion 36, a cover portion 
34, and a second pull tab portion 40. 
The interleaving portion 32 of each patch 26 includes front and back 
oppositely-facing sides (only the front sides are shown in FIG. 3) which 
are covered with an adhesive 42, and the cover portion 34 of each patch 26 
also includes front and back oppositely-facing sides, wherein the back 
side of the cover portion 34 is covered with an adhesive 44, and the front 
side (not shown) of the cover portion 34 is free of adhesive. The folding 
or spacing portion 36 and the first and second pull tab portions 38, 40 of 
each patch 26 each include front and back oppositely-facing sides which 
are free of adhesive. Also, the folding or spacing portion 36 of each 
patch 26 includes at least one fold or score line 46 which extends 
thereacross to facilitate bending of the base material piece 22. 
As with the fastener 10, the adhesives 42, 44 of the fastener 20 are 
preferably more adherent to the base material piece 22 than to a piece of 
material which the fastener 20 is designed to releasably fasten. 
Therefore, if the fastener 20 is designed to fasten a plurality of pieces 
of paper together, the adhesives 42, 44 are chosen and applied to the base 
material piece 22 in a manner such that the adhesives 42, 44 are more 
adherent to the base material piece 22 than to pieces of paper which the 
fastener 20 releasably fastens together. Also, the adhesives 42, 44 are of 
a type which will quickly and easily adhere to a piece of material such as 
paper, but which will also easily peel away from the piece of material 
without tearing the material when a peeling force is applied to the 
fastener 20. 
In use, the releasable fastener 20 of FIG. 3 will normally be produced as a 
continuous strip, and will be cut into long fastener strips which each 
include a predetermined, relatively large number of patches 26 separated 
by perforated lines 24. A user severs the releasable fastener 20 from a 
fastener strip by cutting or tearing the fastener strip along one of the 
perforated lines 24. The exact location of the perforated line 24 along 
which the user cuts or tears will be determined by the user based on the 
number of patches needed in the releasable fastener 20 Generally, the 
number of patches needed will be one less than the number of pieces of 
paper which the user desires to releasably fasten together. 
The user then can partially sever each of the perforated lines 24 extending 
across the fastener 20 by cutting or tearing the base material piece 22 
along the perforated lines 24 from the first edge 28 up to the folding or 
spacing portions 36, such that the interleaving portions 32 of the 
fastener 20 are separated from each other. The interleaving portions 32 
can then each be attached one-by-one to edge portions of pieces of paper, 
with the front and back oppositely-facing sides of the interleaving 
portions 32 each attached to a piece of paper. Once this has been 
accomplished, the pieces of paper are moveable relative to each other and 
are arranged in a stack with each interleaving portion 32 attached to two 
pieces of paper. The releasable fastener 20 thus has the advantage that it 
forms very stable attachments with each sheet of paper in the stack, since 
each sheet is fastened on both of its sides by the fastener 20. 
To further secure the stack of papers, the folding or spacing portions 36 
can be bent over the edge of the stack (preferably along the at least one 
score line 46), and the back sides of the cover portions 34 can be adhered 
to an outer surface of an outermost piece of paper on the stack. Since the 
front and back sides of the first and second pull tab portions 38, 40 of 
each patch 26 are free of adhesive, the first and second pull tab portions 
38, 40 essentially form pull tab means which a user may hold to manipulate 
the interleaving and cover portions 32, 34 into place during releasable 
fastening, without touching any adhesive. 
It is to be understood that various modifications may be made to the second 
embodiment of the releasable fastener, and advantages obtained therefrom. 
For example, the interleaving and cover portions 32, 34 of the fastener 20 
are shown as being always uncovered, but they may if desired be 
manufactured with removable films thereon to protect them against 
premature or accidental adhesion. In such a case, a user would have to 
remove the films from the interleaving and cover portions 32, 34 before 
adhering them to pieces of paper. 
Also, the base material piece 22 may be made of any thin, strong, flexible 
material, such as paper, cloth, plastic, or other materials. If desired, 
the first and second pull tab portions of the releasable fastener 20 may 
be eliminated, and advantages still obtained therefrom. Also, the fastener 
strips may be advantageously sold to the user with the perforated lines 24 
already partially severed. Further, the fastener may be advantageously 
made with a permanent adhesive thereon, rather than with a releasable 
adhesive. In such a case, the adhesive would be of a type which 
permanently bonds with a material such as paper. 
With reference to FIG. 4, a releasable fastener dispenser 50 which carries 
a supply of releasable fasteners 10 of the present invention will be 
described. The releasable fastener dispenser 50 includes a first strip of 
carrier material 52 and a second strip of carrier material 54. A supply of 
the releasable fasteners 10 are carried between the carrier material 
strips 52, 54 such that the adhesive on the front and back 
oppositely-facing sides of the first portions 14 of the fasteners 10 
adheres to the carrier material strips 52, 54. 
The adhesive of the fasteners 10 is more adherent to the base material of 
the fasteners 10 than the carrier material of the strips 52, 54, such that 
the fasteners 10 will peel away from the carrier material strips 52, 54 
without tearing the strips 52, 54. Also, the fasteners 10 are arranged on 
the strips 52, 54 such that they are spaced from each other, and the 
strips 52, 54 are arranged in a roll 56 for compact packaging and storage. 
It should be recognized that, if desired, the second carrier material strip 
54 may be eliminated. In such a case, the fasteners 10 would be adhered to 
one side 58 of the carrier material strip 52, and the roll 56 would be 
formed with the one side 58 of the strip 52 facing inwardly. 
In use, the user unrolls the roll 56 as shown in FIG. 4, and peels the 
second carrier material strip 54 off of the fasteners 10 (peeling of the 
second strip 54 is of course unnecessary if it has been eliminated). The 
user then peels each releasable fastener 10 off of the first carrier 
material strip 52 as it is needed, by grasping and pulling on the front 
and back oppositely-facing, adhesive-free sides of a second portion 16 of 
a releasable fastener 10. Once a number of fasteners 10 have been removed 
from the strip 52, the resulting empty portions of the strips 52 and 54 
may be torn off and thrown away. If desired, the strips 52 and 54 may be 
made with perforated lines between each of the releasable fasteners to 
facilitate removal of the empty portions. 
The releasable fastener dispenser 50 has the advantages, among others, that 
it stores a supply of releasable fasteners 10 in a compact manner, and 
that it allows a user to quickly and easily remove the fasteners 10 from 
the dispenser 50 without touching any adhesive. It is to be understood 
that, if desired, the strips 52, 54 need not be rolled into a roll, but 
may instead advantageously be left as a long strip, possibly with a stiff 
backing material mounted under the first strip 52. Also, the strips 52, 54 
may be made wider, such that more than one fastener 10 is located across 
the width of the strips 52, 54. 
The principles, preferred embodiments, and modes of operation of the 
present invention have been described in the foregoing specification. 
However, the invention which is intended to be protected is not to be 
construed as limited to the particular embodiments disclosed. The 
embodiments are therefore to be regarded as illustrative rather than 
restrictive. Variations and changes may be made by others without 
departing from the spirit of the present invention. Accordingly, it is 
expressly intended that all such equivalents, variations and changes which 
fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined in 
the claims be embraced thereby.