Patent Publication Number: US-6209772-B1

Title: Structure of the stapler

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an improved structure of the stapler and, in particular, to an improved structure of the stapler with the functions of protecting staples, automatically dismissing staples, indicating the amount of staples and guiding staples. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Since the successful invention of the stapler, it has become an indispensable tool for paper binding or packaging. Nonetheless, most of the conventional staplers have the following drawbacks: 
     1. The staples are easy to be tilted when piercing into paper. This prevents the staples from properly clasping the paper, which results in weaker binding and worse appearance. 
     2. The user could not know that the staples are running out without opening the stapler. And the pressing cover has to be opened when reloading staples. 
     3. When binding a thick pile of paper, the legs of the staple are often not long enough to clasping the paper. 
     In observation of the many drawbacks of the staplers of prior art, which is not a perfect design and needs modification, the inventor conquered the above mentioned disadvantages and finally presented this improved structure of the stapler after many years of research and hardworking. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides an improved structure of the stapler which comprises a pressing cover with a pressing plate and a protection plate under the front end, a casket deck containing a staple casket, and a base with a staple board in the front; wherein the staple casket contains a pushing block, that pushes the staples in the casket by a spring behind it, so that the staples can bind the paper via the pressing of the pressing plate and, with the guidance of the protection plate, pierce through the paper without tilt. 
     Furthermore, the invention provides an improved structure of the stapler which is equipped with a hook at the bottom of the casket deck and an opening at the front bottom of the staple casket. The staple casket is connected to the hook via the opening, and the hook will be disconnected from the opening by the pressing of the pushing block when staples run out so that the staple casket will, pushed by the spring behind it, automatically slide out of the stapler for reloading. 
     Yet, the invention provides an improved structure of the stapler which is equipped with a staple board of a proper height at the front end of the base that has a concave groove and a spring plate above the staple board so that a good guidance of the staple can be obtained when binding a pile of paper. 
     Moreover, the invention provides an improved structure of the stapler which contains a clasping part for the attachment of an indicator indicating the amount of the staples in the stapler. 
     The improved structure of the stapler with the above mentioned merits comprises a pressing cover with a pressing plate and a protection plate under the front end, a casket deck containing a staple casket, and a base with a staple board in the front; wherein the staple casket contains a pushing block, that pushes the staples in the casket by a spring behind it, so that the staples can bind the paper via the pressing of the pressing plate and, with the guidance of the protection plate, pierce through the paper without tilt. Furthermore, the stapler contains a hook at the bottom of the casket deck and an opening at the front bottom of the staple casket, wherein the staple casket is connected to the hook via the opening, and the hook will be disconnected from the opening by the pressing of the pushing block when staples run out so that the staple casket will, pushed by the spring behind it, automatically slide out of the stapler for reloading. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The drawings disclose an illustrative embodiment of the present invention which serves to exemplify the various advantages and objects hereof, and are as follows: 
     FIG. 1 is a three dimensional view of an improved structure of the stapler according to the invention; 
     FIGS. 2 and 3 are three dimensional decomposition diagrams of an improved structure of the stapler according to the invention; 
     FIG. 4 is a cross section of an improved structure of the stapler according to the invention; 
     FIGS. 5A and 5B are an embodiment of the operation of an improved structure of the stapler according to the invention; 
     FIG. 6 is a cross section of the second embodiment of an improved structure of the stapler according to the invention; and 
     FIG. 7 is a diagram of the third embodiment of an improved structure of the stapler according to the invention. 
    
    
     MAIN SYMBOLS 
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
               
             
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                 1 
                 pressing cover 
                 11 
                 long board 
               
               
                 111 
                 pressing plate 
                 112 
                 pillar 
               
               
                 12 
                 spring plate 
                 121 
                 perpendicular surface 
               
               
                 122 
                 slit 
                 123 
                 protection plate 
               
               
                 13 
                 spring plate 
                 2 
                 casket deck 
               
               
                 212 
                 fixing hole 
                 23 
                 hook 
               
               
                 231 
                 switch 
                 24 
                 staple casket 
               
               
                 242 
                 slit 
                 243 
                 U-shape opening 
               
               
                 244 
                 rectangular opening 
                 245 
                 inflected surface 
               
               
                 246 
                 wing 
                 25 
                 first spring 
               
               
                 26 
                 pushing block 
                 261 
                 clasping part 
               
               
                 262 
                 bump 
                 27 
                 second spring 
               
               
                 28 
                 indicator 
                 29 
                 long cylinder 
               
               
                 3 
                 base 
                 30 
                 pulling spring 
               
               
                 31 
                 staple board 
                 311 
                 concave groove 
               
               
                 32 
                 long spring plate 
                 321 
                 aperture 
               
               
                 322 
                 long slit 
                 33 
                 fixing pillar 
               
               
                 34 
                 keyhole 
                 4 
                 cleat 
               
               
                 5 
                 staple 
                 5a 
                 staple 
               
               
                 6 
                 paper 
                 7 
                 scissors holder 
               
               
                 71 
                 sliding track 
                 72 
                 long box 
               
               
                 8 
                 scissors holder 
                 81 
                 sliding track 
               
               
                 82 
                 long box 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Please refer to FIGS. 1,  2  and  3 . The instant invention comprises a pressing cover  1 , a casket deck  2  and a base  3 . The pressing cover  1  contains a long board  11  whose front end is bent downward perpendicularly to form a pressing plate  111  and a pair of pillars  112  is placed at a proper position behind the pressing plate  111 . A spring plate  12  bent by a proper angle in the middle is placed above the long board  11  and the front end of the spring plate  12  is bent downward to form a perpendicular surface  121 , where a slit  122  is opened at the center of the perpendicular surface  121  while both sides are bent inward with sharp tips  124  at the bottom of the bent surfaces to form a set of protection plates  123 . When the spring plate  12  is placed on top of the long board  11 , the protection plate  123  can coincide with the pressing plate  111  so that when the pressing cover is pressed downward the staple will be pushed out by the pressing plate  111  and guided by the protection plate  123 . 
     The casket deck  2  is a U-shape deck. Its front extends a proper width sideways and a hook  23  is placed at a proper position in the middle. A staple casket is placed into the casket deck  2 . The rear end of the staple casket  24  has a pair of slits  242  of a proper length, the front bottom has a U-shape opening  243  and a rectangular opening  244  at a proper position behind the U-shape opening  243 . A first spring  25  supports at its rear end so that when the staple casket  24  is placed within the casket deck  2  the hook  23  can clasp the rectangular opening  244  and fix the staple casket  24 . A pushing block  26  is placed within the staple casket  24 , wherein the pushing block is pushed from behind by a second spring  27  around a long cylinder  29 . The front top of the pushing block  26  has a pair of bumps  262  so that when the staples in the staple casket  24  run out and the pushing block slides to the front end of the staple casket  24 , the pillars  112  on the long board  11  will press on the bumps  262  so that the pushing block  26  will be pushed toward the hook  23  and cause the separation between the hook  23  and the rectangular opening  244 . The staple casket  24  will slide forward due to the stretch of the second spring  25  for reloading. A switch  231  is attached to the hook  23  under the casket deck  2  so that the user can reload the staples at any time by pressing the switch  231 , resulting in the separation between the hook  23  and the rectangular opening  244 . Also, a clasping part  261  is equipped on the pushing block  26  to hold an indicator  28  for indicating the amount of the staples within the stapler. 
     The base  3  has a staple board  31  in the front which has a symmetric concave groove  311  on the top surface of a proper height. A long spring plate bent by a proper angle is placed above the staple board  31 . The long spring plate  32  is fixed by an aperture  321  at its rear end to the fixing pillar  33  at the rear end of the base  3 . A long slit  322  is opened at its front end, matching the position of the staple board  31 , so that when the tips of the staple will be bent inward when the user squeezes the stapler. 
     When combining the above mentioned elements, a cleat  4  is inserted through a pair of keyholes  34  at the rear end of the base  3  and a fixing hole  212  of the casket deck  2  to form a complete stapler. The staples are placed inside the staple casket  24  and are pushed to the front by the pushing block  26  so that, when the pressing cover  1  is pressed downward, the pressing plate  111  will push out the first staple which binds the paper with the help of the staple board  31 . Furthermore, since the front end of the staple casket  24  is a pair of inflected surfaces  245  of a proper width, the staple can be separated from the front end by a certain distance for the protection plate to go through and guide the staple. The staple casket  24  has a pair of symmetric wings  246  on both sides in order that the spring plates  13  will press against the wings while the stapler is squeezed down and restore the whole casket deck to its original position after releasing. 
     FIG. 4 shows that staples  5 , placed within the staple casket  24 , are pushed toward the front end of the staple casket  24  by the pushing block  26  due to the stretch of the second spring  27 . The first staple keeps a proper distance from the front end of the staple casket  24 . Therefore, when the pressing cover  1  is pressed downward, the protection plate  123 , owing to its angle, first pass through this extra space, then the pressing plate pushes out the first staple. The protection plate guides the staple and prevents it from tilting, and thus completes the binding. 
     As shown in FIG. 5A, when the pressing cover  1  is pressed downward, the sharp part at the bottom of the protection plate  123  will first press the paper  6 . Thus, when the first staple is pushed out by the pressing plate  111 , it will not tilt because of the protection plate  123  around it. When there is too much paper or the pile is too thick, the part of the staple piercing out of the bottom of the paper would be too short. One can then increase the pressure upon the pressing cover  1 , the spring plate  32  lowers further so that the staple board  31  will relatively stick out more to help bending the staple and obtaining a firm binding. 
     As shown in FIG. 5B, when the staples  5  run out, the pushing block  26  will slide to the front end of the staple casket  24 . As one presses down the pressing cover  1 , the pillars  112  on the front bottom surface of the long board  11  will touch the bumps  262  on the pushing block  26  and cause the separation between the hook  23  and the rectangular opening  244  on the staple casket  24 . In this way, the staple casket  24  will slide out by the stretch of the second spring  27  for reloading when the pressing cover  1  is released. 
     Please refer to FIG.  6 . The most significant difference between the second embodiment and the above mentioned embodiment is one the spring that pushes the pushing block  26  forward, which is replaced by a drawing spring  30 . One end of the drawing spring  30  is fixed on the front end of the long board  11  and the other end is fixed on the pushing block  26 . With the pulling of the drawing spring  30 , the pushing block  26  can also achieve the goal of pushing the staples  5  to the front of the staple casket  24 . 
     Please refer to FIG.  7 . The invention can be modified by extending the rear ends of both the pressing cover  1  and the base  3  to form a pair of scissors holders  7 , 8  for holding and squeezing. Furthermore, there are sliding tracks  71 , 81  in the holders  7 , 8  to accommodate long boxes  72 , 82  for storing spare staples  5   a , respectively. One then only needs to squeeze the holders  7 , 8  to staple papers. 
     The improved structure of the staple according to the instant invention, compared with the prior art, has the following merits: 
     1. The bottom of the casket deck, according to the invention, has a hook that clasps an opening on the front bottom of the staple casket. When the staples run out, the staple casket will automatically slide out for reloading because of the separation of the hook from the opening caused by the pushing block. This makes the reloading process easier. 
     2. The clasping part on the pushing block, according to the invention, can hold an indicator for indicating the amount of the staples. 
     3. The protection plate, according to the invention, can prevent the staples from tilting and get a firm binding. 
     4. The front end of the base, according to the invention, contains a staple board with a concave groove at a proper height. There is a spring plate above the staple board for guiding the staple when binding a think pile of papers. 
     Many changes and modifications in the above described embodiment of the invention can, of course, be carried out without departing from the scope thereof. Accordingly, to promote the progress in science and the useful arts, the invention is disclosed and is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.