GB2128530A

GB2128530A - A punch for piercing sheet material

Info

Publication number: GB2128530A
Application number: GB08219694A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Chuzo Mori
Original assignee: Carl Jimuki KK
Current assignee: Carl Jimuki KK
Priority date: 1982-07-07
Filing date: 1982-07-07
Publication date: 1984-05-02
Also published as: HK60986A; GB2128530B

Abstract

A punch, for office use comprises a pair of punching blades 8, 8' for making a pair of spaced apart holes in a sheet of card, or paper to be punched, and a pair of blade supporting members 10, 10' each carrying one of the blades in such a way that each blade may have a longitudinal axis deviating from that of the corresponding blade supporting member. The blade supporting members are interchangeable and reversible in position to vary the distance between the holes to be punched. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A punch for piercing sheet material This invention relates to a punch for piercing sheet material such as paper or card, and more particularly to a punch for office use.

Punches for office use generally comprise a pair of punching blades adapted to make a pair of holes having a fixed distance therebetween, when a handle is pressed down. In the majority of these punches, however, the distance between the punching blades is not adjustable. Moreover, the distance between the blades, hence between the holes thereby made, differs between a punch available in a country adopting the metric system and a punch in a country adopting the imperial measurement system. The former punch is so designed as to make a pair of holes having a centre-to-centre distance of 8 cm, while the holes made by the latter punch have a centre-to-centre distance of 2 3/4 inches, or about 7 cm.

Accordingly, both manufacturers and users have always been desirous of having a punch which includes a pair of cutting blades having a distance therebetween which can easily be varied if only some of its parts are changed.

According to the invention, there is provided a punch for sheet material such as paper or card, comprising a pair of punching blades for making a pair of spaced apart holes in the sheet material, and a pair of blade supporting members each carrying one of said blades thereon in such a way that the longitudinal axis of each of said blades deviates from that of the corresponding blade supporting member, said blade supporting members being interchangeable and reversible in position to vary the distance between said blades.

Further according to the invention, there is provided a punch for sheet material such as paper or card, comprising a pair of punching blades for producing a pair of holes, a respective blade supporting member carrying each blade, and means defining a seat for each supporting member for removably mounting the blade in an operative position, each blade being assymetrically positioned with respect to its associated supporting member, the assymetry of each blade relative to its supporting member enabling the distance between the operative positions of two blades to be changed upon reversal of the supporting members relative to the seats.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a punch embodying this invention; Figure 2 is a left side elevational view of the punch shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a fragmentary top plan view of the punch shown in Figure 1; Figure 4 is a side elevational view of a blade supporting member; Figure 5 is a rear view of the blade supporting member shown in Figure 4; Figure 6 is a front elevational view showing a pair of blade supporting members in a mutually spaced apart relationship, in Figure 6; Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 6, but showing the blade supporting members in a different spaced apart relationship from that shown in Figure 6; Figure 8 is a top plan view of a supporting plate;; Figure 9 is a fragmentary top plan view showing holes formed in a base for receiving supporting plates; Figure 10 is a fragmentary sectional view showing a supporting plate received in a hole in the base; Figure 11 is a fragmentary right side elevational view showing a part of the punch shown in Figure 1; Figure 12 is a fragmentary perspective view of the bottom of the punch shown in Figure 1, particularly showing a device for positioning the paper to be punched; Figure 13 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the operation of the paper positioning device shown in Figure 12; and Figure 14 is an exploded view of the paper positioning device.

Referring first to Figures 1 to 3 of the drawings, there is shown a punch for office use embodying this invention. The punch includes a number of symmetrically disposed pairs of parts. In the drawings, each pair of parts are distinguished from each other by an apostrophe attached to one of those parts so that no repeated description may be required thereon.

The punch shown in Figures 1 to 3 includes a base member 1, and a pair of spaced apart upright members 2 and 2' provided on the base member 1 adjacent to the rear end thereof. The upright members 2 and 2' are hollow, and accommodate therein receptacles 3 and 3', respectively, for waste paper. A waste tray 4 is removably provided on the underside of the base member 1, and the base member 1 has a pair of holes 1a and la' through which waste paper is transferred from the receptacles 3 and 3' to the waste tray 4.

A handle 5 is generally V-shaped in top plan, and has a pair of inwardly bent side portions 5a and 5a'. The handle 5 is supported on the upright members 2 and 2' by pins 6 and 6', for pivotal movement in a vertical plane, and is normally urged towards its raised position by springs 7 and 7' placed about the pins 6 and 6', respectively.

The upright members 2 and 2' have upper ends 2a and 2a' which define stops for the rear ends of the side portions 5a and 5a' of the handle 5 to prevent any further upward rotation of the handle 5.

A pair of blade supporting members 10 and 10' are disposed inwardly of the side portions 5a and 5a' of the handle 5, and a pair of punching blades 8 and 8' are carried on the lower ends of the blade supporting members 10 and 10', respectively. The blade supporting members 10 and 10' have elongated holes 1 0a and 1 0a', respectively, adjacent to their upper ends, and are supported on the handle 5 by pins 11 and 11' received freely in the elongated holes 1 Oa and 1 0a', respectively.The blade supporting members 10 and 10', which are more specifically shown in Figures 4 to 7, are received in guide members 2b and 2b' forming integral portions of the upright members 2 and 2', respectively, and are vertically movable along the guide members 2b and 2b' when the handle 5 is rotated.

The punching blades 8 and 8' are cylindrical, and each has a tapered lower end defining a round cutting edge in its inner peripheral face.

Each of the punching blades 8 and 8' has a longitudinal axis deviating from the longitudinal axis (centre line) of the blade supporting member 10 or 10' by a certain distance as indicated at Ax in Figures 6 and 7. Accordingly, the distance between the longitudinal axes of the blades 8 and 8' can be varied if the blade supporting members 10 and 10' are reversed in the right and left positions, while the distance I between the longitudinal axes of the supporting members 10 and 10' is maintained unchanged. In the arrangement shown in Figure 6, the longitudinal axes of the blades 8 and 8' have a distance therebetween which is longer by a distance equal to four times Ax than in Figure 7.

Each of the blade supporting members 10 and 10' has a cavity 1 Ob or 1 or'. Each of the cavities 1 Ob or 1 or' has one open end facing the upper end of the punching blade 8 or 8', while another open end of the cavity 1 Ob or 1 or' faces the hollow interior of the upright member 2 or 2'. A pair of supporting plates 12 and 12' is provided on the base member 1, and face the punching blades 8 and 8', respectively. Each of the supporting plates 12 and 12' is a disc (see Figure 8) having a hardness which is slightly lower than that of the cutting edge on the blade 8 or 8', but which is sufficiently high to exert pressure on the paper to be punched.Each disc has a notched peripheral edge, and is provided in the centre of its bottom with a projection 13 or 13' having an enlarged diameter at its lower end, as shown in Figure 10. The base member 1 has a pair of holes in which the supporting plates 12 and 12' are mounted. Each hole is formed by a hole segment 1 4a or 1 4a' through which the enlarged end of the projection 13 or 13' on the supporting plate 12 or 12' can be passed, and a smaller hole segment 1 4b or 1 4b' which is contiguous to the hole segment 1 4a or 1 4a', and in which the projection 13 or 13' moved to the smaller segment 1 4a or 1 4a' is held so that the supporting plate 12 or 12' may be rotatable.If the supporting plates 12 and 12' are damaged or worn on their surfaces after a long period of use, they can be rotated about their projections 1 3 and 13' so that their unworn surface portions may face the cutting edges. The arrangement hereinabove described also facilitates changing of the supporting discs to new ones.

A pair of paper holding members 1 5 and 15' prevent upward deflection of the paper to be punched, and also of the paper after it has been punched. Each of the paper holding members 15 and 15' has a recess 1 5a or 15a' through which the punching blade 8 or 8' is vertically movable.

A device 1 6 is provided on the upright member 2 for maintaining the handle 5 in a substantially horizontai position when the punching blades 8 and 8' have been lowered. The handle retaining device 16 comprises a lever member 17 disposed in the upright member 2, and having in its midportion an integral pin 18 supported rotatably on the upper end of the upright member 2, as shown in Figure 11. The lever member 17 is also provided at its lower end with a laterally extending pin 1 7a received freely in a slot 2c formed in the outer wall of the upright member 2.

A knob 19 is provided on the outer end of the pin 17a.

When the handle 5 is in its raised position, the lever member 1 7 is in its inoperative position as shown by broken lines in Figure 11. If the handle 5 is lowered to its substantially horizontal position, and if the knob 19 is pushed forward to rotate the lever member 1 7 to a position shown by solid lines in Figure 11, the lever member 1 7 is rotated about the pin 1 8 clockwise in Figure 11, and has its upper end engaged with the inner surface of the handle 5 to maintain the handle 5 in its substantially horizontal position. The handle 5 is released from the lever member 1 7 if the knob 19 is pushed backward.The device 16 makes it possible to maintain the handle 5 substantially in parallel to the base member 1, thereby making the punch as a whole compact when it is, for example, transported.

A paper positioning member 20 comprises a positioning plate 21 extending transversely movably through a pair of holes 22 and 22' formed at the side edges of the base member 1. A stop lever 24 is provided on the underside of the base member 1, and has a button 25 which can be depressed downwardly, as shown in Figure 12.

The base member 1 has a hole 23 through which the button 25 projects upwardly.

Referring now more particularly to Figures 12 to 1 4, the positioning plate 21 comprises a channel-shaped metal plate having an L-shaped bend at one end thereof to define an edge support 26 for the paper to be punched. The positioning plate 21 has a plurality of spaced apart apertures 27, and the lever 24 has a projection 28 disposed below the plate 21, and which is engageable in one of the apertures 27. The lever 24, thus, defines a mechanism for locking the positioning plate 21 against movement.

The positions of the apertures 27 in the positioning plate 21 are appropriately selected to suit various paper sizes, such as B4, A4, A5 and B6, so that the paper to be punched may be accurately centered between the punching blades 8 and 8' when one edge thereof is placed in contact with the edge support 26. A leaf spring member 29 is attached to the rear surface of the base member 1, and partially encloses the positioning plate 21. A pair of slits 30 are formed at one end of the member 29 facing the lever 24, and define therebetween a retaining projection 31 of appropriate strength. The projection 31 is held against the lever 24 supported rotatably on the base member 1, and urges the lever 24 to maintain its projection 28 in engagement with one of the apertures 27 in the positioning plate 21.The positioning plate 21 facilitates positioning of the paper to be punched, since it is movable only if the button 25 is depressed to disengage the projection 28 from the apertures 27. Moreover, the positioning plate 21 is movable to any desired position to facilitate the operation of the punch when it is necessary to make more than two holes in a single sheet of paper.

In operation, the positioning plate 21 is fixed in an appropriate position suiting the size of the paper to be punched, the paper not shown is placed on the base member 1 with one edge thereof held against the edge support 26, and the handle 5 is lowered in the direction of an arrow in Figure 1, whereby a pair of holes are punched in the paper.

When the handle 5 is lowered, the blade supporting members 10 and 10' are lowered simultaneously to press the punching blades 8 and 8' against the paper to be punched which is also pressed to the supporting plates 12 and 12', so that their cutting edges may be pierced through the paper. The blades 8 and 8' pierced through the paper have their cutting edges received by the supporting plates 1 2 and 12', respectively. The waste paper separated by punching is stored in the hollow interiors of the blades 8 and 8'. If the handle 5 is released from downward pressure to return to its raised position, the blade supporting members 10 and 10', and the blades 8 and 8' are also raised to their original positions, while the punched paper is retained under the paper holding members 1 5 and 15'.

As the foregoing sequence of operation is repeated, waste paper is gradually piled up in the blades 8 and 8', and if the blades are filled with waste paper, it drops into the receptacles 13 and 13' in the upright members 2 and 2' through the cavities 1 Ob and 1 0b' in the blade supporting members 10 and 10', then, into the waste tray 4 through the holes 1a and 1 a' of the base member 1.

As is apparent from the foregoing description, with the punch described a pair of holes having a different distance therebetween may be formed simply by reversing the positions of the blade supporting members. The punch therefore, very advantageously eliminates a lot of waste in manufacture and use of a plurality of different punches each having a fixed and unvariable distance between the punching blades.

Claims

1. A punch for sheet material such as paper or card, comprising a pair of punching blades for making a pair of spaced apart holes in the sheet material, and a pair of blade supporting members each carrying one of said blades thereon in such a way that the longitudinal axis of each of said blades deviates from that of the corresponding blade supporting member, said blade supporting members being interchangeable and reversible in position to vary the distance between said blades.

2. A punch as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said blades are cylindrical, said punch further comprising a pair of supporting plates facing said blades to cooperate therewith when the punch is operated.

3. A punch as claimed in claim 2, wherein said blade supporting members are supported on a base member, each of said supporting plates is provided with a projection on its underside, and said base member has a pair of holes in which said projections of said supporting plates are mounted removably and rotatably, each of said holes being formed by two hole segments joined together to define a single hole, one of said segments being sufficiently small to retain said projection rotatably.

4. A punch as claimed in claim 3, further comprising a sheet material positioning member provided transversely of said base member and having a plurality of spaced apart apertures, said positioning member being movable transversely of said base member in equally spaced apart relationship from said blade supporting members, and a lever having a projection which is engageable in one of said apertures, said lever being normally urged by a spring so that said projection thereof may be maintained in engagement with said one aperture, said lever also having a button which can be depressed to disengage said projection from said aperture to permit movement of said positioning member.

5. A punch as claimed in claim 4, wherein said spring is a leaf spring having a projection held against said lever to urge said projection thereof into engagement with said aperture.

6. A punch as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 5, further including a handle carried on said base member, said handle being vertically rotatable to move said blade supporting members and said blades vertically.

7. A punch as claimed in claim 6, wherein said handle is of generally V-shaped configuration.

8. A punch as claimed in claim 6 or claim 7, further including means provided on said base member for releasably retaining said handle substantially parallel to said base member.

9. A punch for sheet material such as paper or card, comprising a pair of punching blades for producing a pair of holes, a respective blade supporting member carrying each blade, and mea nbdefining a seat for each supporting member for removably mounting the blade in an operative position, each blade being assymetrically positioned with respect to its associated supporting member, the asymetry of each blade relative to its supporting member enabling the distance between the operative positions of two blades to be changed upon reversal of the supporting members relative to the seats.

10. A punch substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.