Patent GB-114682-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in Staple Forming and Setting Machines.
Inventor: HUTCHISON MILLER REESE
IPC: B25C5/04
Filed: 1917-04-24
Abstract: 114,682. Hutchison, M. R. April 24, 1917. Stapling. - A stapling-machine for general office use is arranged so that the operations of feeding the wire, cutting off a length and forming it into a staple, and driving and clinching the staple are performed by a single movement of a handle. The wire 7, Fig. 1, passes from a spool 6, which is mounted on a stud 5 and controlled by a tension spring 8, through a tubular guide 11 to a straightening-device comprising a pair of rollers 13 and an eccentrically-mounted roller 14, and is then engaged by a feeding-mechanism. This comprises a spring-pressed jaw 25, Fig. 16, pivoted to a fixed jaw 23 carried by a slide 20, which is actuated by a double lever 29, 38 pivoted about a stud 30 and having one end forked to engage a pin 32 on the jaw 23; the lever is moved in one direction by a cam 33 on the main shaft 36, and in the opposite direction by a spring 37, Fig. 1. The wire is fed through a hard-metal die 50, Fig 4, forming the stationary member of a cutting-mechanism, the other member 52 of which is secured in a recess in the side of a stapleforming head, which is bifurcated to provide two side portions 55, preferably provided with hardened cheek pieces 56 grooved at 57, and is also formed with a guide-way 58 for a staple-driver 59. The staple-forming head 54, Fig. 2, forms the end of an arm 60, which is pivoted at 61 to the base of the machine, and is normally held upraised by springs 62; the arm is adapted to be forced down by a cam 63 mounted on the shaft 36 and constituting the inner end of an operating handle 40. The length of wire after being cut off is held in an open-sided slot 71 in an anvil 70, which is formed on its front face with cam surfaces 72, 73, of which the upper preferably overhangs the lower to a slight extent; the shank 74 of the anvil passes through a guide 75 and is normally held in a projected position by a spring 77. The staple-driver 59, which is formed with a groove 95 at its lower end to receive the body portion of the staple, and with a rounded corner 96 for engagement with the cam surfaces 72,. 73 of the anvil, is normally uplifted by a spring 91, but is adapted to be forced down by the engagement with its upper end of a projection 97 on the handle 40. The driver co-operates with a clinching mechanism comprising a movable member 126, Fig. 15, which is normally held in a raised position by a spring 135, and a fixed matrix 130, which projects through a central curveended slot 127 in the member 126, and is formed with oppositely bevelled faces 129. In operation, when the handle 40 is first moved, the cam 63 has an idle movement, while the feed mechanism slides back along the wire ready for the next feed, after which the cam forces down the head 54 to cut off a length of wire held in the groove 71 in the anvil. The cheek pieces 56 then bend down the legs of the staple, the head 54 continuing its movement until the legs of the staple are parallel and rest in the grooves 57 in the cheek pieces. A second dwell in the cam 63 is then reached, and the head is held in its downward position while the projection 97 on the handle 40 forces the driver 59 through the head. The rounded corner 96 of the driver first engages the surface 72 of the anvil and forces the latter backwards so as to withdraw the slot 71 from engagement with the body part of the staple, which is then engaged by the groove 95 in the lower end of the driver. Continued movement of the driver causes it to engage the surface 73 of the anvil to force the latter backwards gradually as it continues to guide the staple. The staple is finally driven through the work and clinched, the curved ends of the slot 127 in the member 126 guiding the legs of the staple to the bevelled clinching faces 129 on the fixed matrix 130. To control the mechanism so that a reversal of direction of movement of the operating parts is prevented except after the completion of a full stroke of the handle in either direction, the shaft 36 carries a finely toothed ratchet wheel 111, Fig. 2, co-operating with a double toothed pawl 116, the tail 121 of which is adapted to be engaged on either surface by a wedge-shaped lug 123 formed on a spring 122. When the handle is swung downwards, Fig. 2, the ratchet moves freely in the direction of the arrow until a pin 113 engages the lower tooth 118 of the pawl, whereupon the latter is moved so as to cause its tail 121 to snap across the lug 123. The handle may now be moved back again, but it cannot be swung forwards again until a second pin 114 engages the upper tooth 117 of the pawl and restores the pawl to its original position. The machine is provided with a removable cover having side and end walls completely to enclose the mechanism, the handle 40 projecting through a slot in the top of the cover. The front wall is slotted for the insertion of the work to be stapled, and is furnished with indicating arrows to facilitate positioning of the work with respect to the location of the staples.