IMPROVEMENT IN CRAMP PLIERS

Abstract: The plier-staplers of the patent include a slide or store of staples which is kept at the height of the stapling claws in order to feed a staple to these claws and straight afterwards the staple slide withdraws automatically from the stapling area so as to allow the staples to be placed perfectly. Once that the operation has been performed, the slide returns to its position for feeding staples to the claws of the pliers. This is archieved by turning piece (5) which is connected to the staple slide (7) which, when activated by control (13), is withdrawn, and after stapling returns to its initial position thanks to the action of the spring (12).

Description: The patent deals with stapling pliers or plier-­ staplers of the same type as those described, for example, in the Spanish User's Model 263.128, which includes two arms in the form of pincers, which pick up a staple that comes from a staple holder. The ends of the arms are placed towards an opening of the support-part in which the arms turn by means of drag-links, and in which the staple holder slide accedes to the said opening. The staples that come along the said slide are presented to the opening and come into contact with a stop-part, so that when the arms are operated, their upper claws pick up the staple and apply it on the point, area or meeting place of elements which it is wished to staple. This type of pliers have certain inconveniences in some applications, which create difficulties of position­ ing of the staples, such as certain hothouses, fences, railings, ... etc.in which, as the slide or staple holder is in a fixed position in the pliers, it prevents the mouth of the staple from entering freely, thus limiting its move­ ments because of the position of the slide. These inconveniences might be removed by elimin­ ating the staple holder and using a simple pliers in which the staples can be inserted manually one at a time. However, the work rate or rhythm is very noticeably reduced because of its slowness. As what is of interest, therefore, is the attain­ ment of a stapling operation which is fast and does not present problems at the moment of bending the staple at the appropriate point, the patent developes and describes a pliers which is equipped with a staple holder or slide which automatically supplies the staples, in which the said staple holder or slide positions itself in the opening of the pliers for the release of the first staple to the space between the claws, and in which, on starting the closing of the said claws on the staple, the staple holder or slide moves back automatically from the area of the opening, and the staple can be easily positioned and closed, without hindrance, in the exact, appropriate point. In a first operation, the staple holder or slide, which includes a packet of staples in its interior, positions the first staple in the space between the claws of the pliers in such a way that this staple is already prepared to be fixed at the exact point of stapling, for example, where two wires cross in a hothouse. At this precise moment the arms of the pliers start their pressure on the said staple, in such a way that just at this instant, the staple holder retracts itself and disappears from the proxi­ mity of the opening, with which the said staple holder does not cause any problem for access to any point to be stapled, given that the head of the plier-stapler will be left completely free. Another aim of the patent, the constitution of a plier-stapler, is the fact that once that the stapling action has been carried out, the staple holder returns to its initial position, either manually or automatically, and is thus prepared for a new operation. Another aim of the patent is the fact that the plier-stapler can be converted into a fixed element, without any movement of the staple holder, for those applications where there is no problem of bad accessibility to the stapling area. A plier-stapler in accordance with the patent is made up of two arms with their lower handle areas and upper area or claws, in which each one of them has two holes in which drag-links are connected. One of the arms has a wide surface in an area adjacent to that of its claw, with a specific function which will be referred to later. The two arms are connected to a front support part, which has a vertical slot in which the ends of the drag-links are lodged. The drag-links are thus secured to the support part and to the arms of the plier-stapler themselves. The support part has an upper hole vertically above the said vertical slot, through which passes a screw which holds a front stop-part whose upper part has an open­ ing which coincides with the slide for the staple to enter and the later stop or control of the said staple on the stop-part. The screw in question extends until the rear part or face of the plier-stapler, forming an overhang towards the back. In the same way, the support part has a small step on its upper edge, whose purpose will be explained later. The support part is fixed, and on it the ends of the drag-links slide and the two arms of the tool turn, specifically on the screw mentioned in the previous para­ graph. On the rear prolongation of this screw, the overhang formed penetrates a slide-holder-part through a hole in it. This slide-holder-part is equipped with a window of a shape adapted to that of the staples, to which the staples are delivered forced by the spring of the slide loader. The slide-holder-part also has a prolongation occupied by a hole in which is housed a small control towards the rear in the direction of the slide area. Between the over­ hang that the screw for turning the arms forms and the said control, there is a spring which allows the slide-­ holder-part to turn in one direction or the other, and obviously in a vertical plane which is essentially para­ llel to the container of the support part. We emphasize in this respect that the turning of the slide-holder-part will determine two extreme positions, in one of which the upper window is coincident with the space between the claws of the arms, and consequently the staple slide is aligned with this space, and in the other position the slide-holder-part remains inclined, leaving a free space between closing space of the claws and itself, which makes the stapling of the different elements easier. In the rest position of the plier-stapler, the jaws or claws of the tool are in the open position and the stop-part for the staples is in front of this space. The slide-holder-part is to be found with its opening and with the holder aligned with the aforementioned opening of the jaws. Below its upper opening portion the slide-­ holder-part shows a determinant stepping of one portion, below it, which is not as thick as the upper portion, in such a way that the support part, on presenting a thickness approximately equal to the difference of the thicknesses of the two areas of the said slide-holder-part, remains lodged the stepping of the latter. As the slide-holder-­ part has to turn, its wall on the side of the support part is suitably machined to prevent friction, as will be explained. In the rest position which we have been referring to, the slide-holder-part is butting up, towards a turning direction, against the upper stepping of the support part, and a staple from the slide holder is impelled towards the opening between the jaws of the arms, becoming controlled by the stop part in such a way that the arms of the tool might then close over the staple. The slide-holder-part is kept in this position thanks to the action on the rear control of the part, which has been made to turn to its limit with the support part overcoming the action of the spring, that is , by compressing the spring situated between its control and the rear overhang of the central screw. In this turning action, the upper portion of the slide-­ holder-part has turned on the wide portion adjacent to the claw area of one of the arms. On operating the slide holder or loader, it places a staple, the first, between the claws and over the stop-part, so that this situation is maintained by the portion itself of the staple loader. On starting to operate the arms, the claws of these take the two wings of the said first staple, and the glue or adhesive between the first and second staples is separated, with which, and on leaving the rest of the staples detached from the first, the spring of the slide-holder-part operates on this part and makes it turn, leaving free the space between the claws where the staple is held, in such a way that the jaws are free of hindrances to insert the staple in the place desired. In turning, the slide-holder-part butts up against the rivet where one of the drag-links is consol­ idated in the arm that has the wide area adjacent to its claw. To reposition the slide-holder-part to carry out a new operation, its rear control is operated and the slide-holder-part itself is turned again, manually, in the opposite direction. This operation is easy to do and comfortable to perform, so that between one stapling appli­ cation point and the next there is sufficient time to carry it out. For the corresponding effects, the glue or adhesive which initially holds together the batch of staples must be carefully studied with regard to its composition and behaviour, so that on the one hand it is sufficient to keep the slide-holder-part in its preliminary position and on the other hand it has the virtue of separating with a certain ease. In any case, this will not cause unsolvable problems, as any problems will be solved by the use of a suitable adhesive. In relation with what has been said, the patent also includes an easily operated mechanism, thanks to which the plier-stapler fixes the position of the loader, so that it stays in a fixed position, with which the pliers can be used for normal tasks in which the position of the loader does not create any hindrance. To do this, it is sufficient to have a means of immobilizing the slide-holder-part in relation with the whole, for example and as the most simple means, as the ideal position with the support part has been found to be, not being exclusive, that occupied by the control that makes the slide-holder-part turn, in such a way that this control can have a double purpose, one being to turn the slide-holder and the other to keep the same part fixed. To do this, a device is provided inside the said control which has projecting end, which in combination with corresponding coincident holes in the support part and in the slide-holder in the raised slide position, is lodged in the said holes and fixes both parts. The control is made hollow and houses in its interior an axial shaft whose free end can protrude towards the outside towards the two holes mentioned. The said axial shaft enters pierced by an upper pin and has a circular projection near the outlet end. Between the shaft and the inside of the control is situated a bushing welded to the slide-holder-part, which has in its interior a neck, through the centre of which the said shaft stops (passes ?), with the peculiar­ ity that between this neck and the circular projection of the shaft is placed a spring that operates on the said circular projection. The upper face of the welded bushing is provided with four slots according to diameters, aligned two by two, of which two are pronouncedly deep. These four slots are presented in a way capable of receiving the pin , which in its turn is fixed to the control itself; if the pin is situated in the deeper slots, the end of the shaft comes down and is inserted into the two holes of the support part, and if the pin is situated in the shallower slots, the end of the shaft remains lodged inside the hollow of the control itself, and all this by taking the control from the outside and pulling it out slightly to turn it to one position or the other. The difference in heights of the bases of the two pairs of slots will obviously correspond with the projection of the end of the shaft and with the joint thick­ ness of the support part and the slide-holder. The patent also takes in a tool which is respon­ sible for drawing back the staple slide from the stapling point on its arms being operated to fold or bend the staple, and by means of a spring and an appropriate mechanism, once that the stapling operation has been carried out, the arms themselves return to their initial position and newly replace the staple loader to its initial position. In this plier-stapler the support part is elong­ ated downwards and the slide-holder-part is also elongated downwards. The support part has a vertical slot through which a pin that comes from the slide-holder slides, and this pin is connectedto a spring which rests on a fixed stop of the support part. Below this stop, the support part has another pin connected with a slot of the slide-­ holder. The lower part of the slide-holder-part is equipped with the said slot and at its lowest end it receives a pin to whose ends are connected the ends of the two elbowed drag-links that come from the ends of the arms. On operating the arms, the upper drag-links close the claws and the first staple is picked up by them. On continuing to close the arms, the lower elbowed drag-­ links pull the slide-holder-part downwards and this makes the staple slide come down, overcoming the action of the spring placed between the support part and itself towards the stop of the support part, so that the spring becomes compressed and with accumulated tension. Once that the staple has been closed over the point to be stapled, the pressure of the user on the arms is released and the spring makes the assembly return to its initial position. This tool is, logically, more costly than the manual one and is specifically studied for its totally automatic operation. These and other details of the patent will be pointed out on the sheets of drawing which are enclosed, in which, and merely for guidance, the following are rep­ resented: - Figure 1 is a front facial elevation of the plier-stapler of the patent which shows the tool with the slide-holder-part folded back, in accordance with the patent. - Figure 2 is a side view of the tool with the slide-holder-part in the raised position, in accordance with the patent. - Figure 3 is the arm with the wide area adjacent to the claw. - Figure 4 is a drawing of the support part. - Figure 5 is a drawing of the slide-holder-­ part. - Figure 6 is a side view of the above. - Figure 7 is a schematic rear view of the position for loading staples. - Figure 8, finally, shows the position of the folded-down slide-holder-part. - Figure 9 represents the mechanism for fixing the staple slide in one position, in accordance with the patent. - Figure 10 is a detail of the upper portion of the body housed in the control to operate over the fixing of the staple slide or, in its absence, for the possibility of making it disappear, in accordance with the patent. - Figures 11, 12 and 13 show a variant of the patent, with three views - front, rear and side - of the tool when in position of preparedness to staple. - Figures 14, 15 and 16 also refer to the three above, although representing the tool in the position in which the staple slide is to be found totally lowered. A plier-stapler in accordance with the patent is formed by two arms (1) and (2), which include a spring (3), and drag-links fastened at (A) and (B) to each arm (1) and (2) and to the central point, which is not numbered. The support part (6) holds the ends of the said drag-links in its slot (15), in front of which there is the stop-part (4). In this Figure 1, the slide-holder-part (5) is folded back, with the control (13) raised and with its opening area in contact with the rivet (B) of the arm (2). In Figure 2, the loader (7) can be seen, together with the bar (8), the spring (9) and the stop (10) for the spring, in which the staples, in the traditional way, are moved from left to right in accordance with the figure. The arm (1), the slide-holder-part (5), the support part (6), the stop part (4), as well as the screw (14) which holds the three parts together, can also be seen. The projecting portion (11) of the screw (14) is gripped by the spring (12), which in its turn is fastened to the control (13) of the part (5). It is also possible to app­ reciate here how the support part (4) becomes lodged in the lower area of the slide-holder-part (5). The specific shape of arm (1) in Figure 3 shows the hole (18) for the pin that takes in the ends of the two drag-links to be inserted, the hole (19) through which the rivet (B) that fixes the end of its drag-link passes, and the wide rounded area, not numbered, near the portion of the claw (20). Arm (2) is similar to arm (1), with the difference that this does not have the said wide area. The support part (4) in Figure 4 shows the vertical slot hole for the pin that connects with the two arms and the two drag-links, as well as the upper hole (17) which receives the screw (14), the stop-part (4), the support part (6) and the slide-holder-part (5). On the top edge, the stepping (16) can be seen. The slide-holder-part can be more clearly app­ reciated, together with the slide (7), in Figures 5 and 6, with the hole (26) for the screw (14) to pass through and the lower prolongation with the hole for the control (13) to be situated. In like manner, the groove or step (24) is pointed out. In Figures 7 and 8 the schematic behaviour of the patent is observed, in as many rear views of the tool. Figure 7 corresponds approximately to Figure 2, in which the slide-holder-part (5) has its opening (21) facing upwards, and in which the surface (22) that provides the step (24) butts up against the upper edge (23) of the support part (6), for a staple to be inserted into the space between the jaws, with the spring (12) being compressed. Figure 8 refers approximately to Figure 1, in which the spring (12) has performed the turning of the slide-holder-part (5), which has rotated over the wide area of arm (1) and has obtained sufficient space on the slide (7) being drawn back from the place where the staple is tightened and fixed. Figure 9 shows the possibility of fitting the staple slide to a tool, in order to be able to use the tool in a stable manner when the conditions of the area to be staple so permit. In short, this means fitting the support part (6) and slide-holder-part (5), for which the corresponding coincident holes are provided, in a position in both parts just as has already been shown in Figures 7 and 8, positions (13), which correspond to the superim­ posing of the holes (13a) and (13b) of parts (5) and (6). These holes can be made in any position of both parts, with the only constant that they coincide with the corres­ ponding ones in Figure 7, and, therefore, the fixing mech­ anism can be arranged in any position. As can be observed in Figure 9, this positioning is carried out in the place where the control (13) is to be found, for example. The outer body (13) can be seen, and the inner bushing (30) welded to the support part (5) in whose interior is situated a shaft (28) pierced by a pin (29) connected to the body (13). The bushing (30) has a narrow place (31) and the shaft has a lower circular projection (27), between both of which there is a spring (32). The end of the shaft, below the projection (27) is capable of being lodged in the coincident holes in parts (5) and (6). The bushing (30) is equipped in its turn with slots (33) and (34) in its front face, Figure 10, in which the pin (29) can be placed. These slots are cut to different depths, as has already been mentioned, so that on raising the control (13) and the pin (29) and turning it, this latter can be situated over either slots (33) or (34). If the placing is carried out in slots (34), just as is described in Figure 9, the projection (26) of the shaft (28) penetrates into the holes of parts (5) and (6) and immobilizes them, with the spring (32) helping in this function. If, on the contrary, the pin is placed in the higher slots (33) and the shaft projection (26) remains hidden in the inside of the control (13), parts (5) and (6) are free of mutual turning. As regards Figures 11 to 16, we would like to point out that Figures 11 to 13 show a plier-stapler also included in the patent, in its front, rear and side elevations and with the staple slide (46) in the raised position, whereas Figures 13 to 16 show the same except with the slide (46) in the folded back position. This tool is equipped with arms (39) and drag-­ links (45) which run in a slot of the support part (36), as well as the claw return spring (43) and the upper staple slide (46). In the same way, it is possible to observe the shape of the support part (36) and slide-holder (48), of which we wish to point out the slot (37) in part (36) which allows us to observe the spring that is placed between the pin (38) of the slide-holder (48) and an lower stop, not illustrated, of the part (36). The arms (39) are articulated in their lower part by means of the drag-links (40) on the lower end of the slide-holder-part (48), which shows the slot (47)that slides on the pin (49) which connects (36) and (48). When the arms (39) are operated, on the one hand the claws that take a staple from the slide (46) are closed, and on the other hand, the part (48) is lowered by the action of the elbowed drag-links (40) on the lower pin of the part (48), thus defeating the spring (37), which becomes compressed and stores potential energy, so that when the slide is in the position shown in Figure 16 and the stapling operation has been performed, the arms are released or the grip pressure on them is reduced, with which the spring (37) makes the slide return to the initial position shown in Figures 11, 12 and 13, ready for a new operation. These operations are automatic with this tool and depend on the degree of pressure which is put on the arms (39). The patent is applied to staples of a general "U" shape, on which by the effect of tightening the jaws, the wings or sides of the staple take a ringed shape, triangular shape, etc., with one overlapping over the other. However, the spirit of the patent is completely extensive, with the result that its application to any other type of staples, without exclusion of shapes and materials, must be emphasized.

Claims: 1st. "Improvements in plier-stapler" of the type of those which are made up of two arms, a support part with an opening to allow the staples to pass, with access to the opening for a batch of staples housed on a slide, a set of drag-links which connect the arms with the support part and a stop part, which are essentially characterized because the slide (7) which stores the staples is separated from the stapling area automatically when the claws of the pliers pick up the first staple from the batch , thus leaving the stapling area free, and because the staple slide (7) is manually situated in position to feed the claws with other staples, on having a slide-holder-­ part (5) for staples which is secured to the slide (7) that contains the batch of staples, which is able to turn by means of a central hole in alignment with those of the support part (6) and stop part (4) and has another end hole (13a) in which is situated a control (13), on which the slide-holder-part (5) has a "U"-shaped upper recess (21) to which access is obtained by the end of the staple holder slide, also involving on its rear side a spring (12) connected to a rear projection (11) of the pin that connects with the support part (6), with the slide-holder-­ part (5) and with the control (13), on which the slide-­ holder-part (5) is turned in a plane that is fundamentally vertical and parallel to that of the support part (6), with the slide-holder-part also involving a stepped area (24) and the support part a raised part of the upper edge (16), and with the turning of the slide-holder-part being limited, on one side by the rivet (B) that connects one of the drag-links to one of the arms, and on the other side by the contact between the stepped area (24) and the raised upper edge (16) of the support part, in which the said stepped area produces a lower portion of the support part which is not as thick, on which the support part is housed, and because one of the arms of the plier-stapler has a rounded upper projection on which the slide-holder-­ part slides when it is turning. 2nd. "Improvements in plier-staplers" in accordance with the previous claim, characterized because the support part and the slide-holder-part can be secured to fix the turning of the latter, by corresponding holes in both coin­ cident in the position in which the slide-holder-part is feeding the claws of the pliers with staples, in which these holes are pierced by a shaft or pin (26) which immob­ ilizes them, thus preventing the slide-holder-part from turning. 3rd. "Improvements in plier-staplers" in accordance with the previous claim, characterized because the pin (26) is preferably formed by the end of one internal shaft (28) of the control (13), which is secured to a transversal pin (29) that forms part of the control (13), and, situated between the control and the shaft a bushing (30) welded to the slide-holder-part (5), with a narrow piece (31) inside the bushing that holds a spring (32) between itself and the circular upper edge (27) of the shaft next to its projection, also having on its upper face two pairs of diametrically opposed slots (33) and (34), two of which (34) are deeper than the other two (33), in which the shaft pin can be placed alternatively to either leave the projection lodged inside the control or inserted in the holes of the support part and the slide-holder-part. 4th. "Improvements in plier-staplers" of the type of those which are made up of two arms, a support part with an opening for the staples to pass through, with access to the opening for a batch of staples lodged on a slide, a set of grab-links that connect the said arms to the support part and a stop part, which are essentially characterized because the staple slide (46) is automatically separated from the stapling area when the claws of the plier pick up the first staple from the batch, thus leaving the stapling area free, and because the staple slide is automatically placed into position to feed other staples to the claws, because it has an elongated support part (36) and slide-holder-part (48) in accordance with the longitudinal shaft of the pliers, in which the lower part of the arms are connected with the corresponding elbowed grab-links (40) to the ends of a pin (41) situated in the lower part of the support part and connected with the slide-holder-part through a vertical slot opening (47) in the latter, in which a second pin (49) is pointed out, with the support part having another vertical slot opening (37) in a higher position than the previous one, through which passes a pin (38) that comes from the slide-holder-­ part (5), with a vertical spring connected to this pin and situated in the space between the support and the slide-­ holder parts, the other end of this spring being connected to the stop on the support part. 5th. "Improvements in plier-staplers" in accordance with the 1st and 4th claims, characterized because the staples in the batch included on the slide are glued together with a flexible adhesive only on their end portions. 6th. "Improvements in plier-staplers" in accordance with the 1st and 4th claims, characterized because the adhesive for the staples is brittle and is situated in all the space between the staples.

Inventors: LUCAS HUERTA, D. ANTONIO
Applicants: SIMES-SENCO, S.A.
Application year: 1986
Main classification: B25B25
IPC codes: B25B27, B25B31