US3666157A

US3666157A - Electric stapler apparatus

Info

Publication number: US3666157A
Application number: US60839A
Authority: US
Inventors: Hiroshi Kawai; Osamu Sinohara; Tadayuki Haruyama
Original assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd
Current assignee: Panasonic Holdings Corp
Priority date: 1969-08-15
Filing date: 1970-08-04
Publication date: 1972-05-30
Anticipated expiration: 1989-05-30
Also published as: GB1311810A; DE2040606C3; JPS4836313Y1; FR2057973A5; DE2040606B2; DE2040606A1

Abstract

An electric stapler apparatus comprising an electromagnet provided on the rear undersurface of a base mount and constituting an operating power source, a staple driving lever adapted to be moved upwardly and downwardly by the electromagnet, the forward end portion thereof fixedly securing a staple driving hammer and the rear end thereof being mounted pivotally on the rear portion of the base mount, a staple guide casing positioned in a floating relationship above the base mount, said casing containing inside of the forward end portion thereof U-shaped staples and pivotally mounted at the rear end thereof on the rear portion of the base mount, and a staple clinching anvil rotatably mounted on the front upper surface of the base mount and provided with a pair of staple clinching grooves for clinching inwardly the staples on the upper surface of a flat anvil portion and another pair of staple clinching grooves for clinching the staples outwardly.

Description

United tates atent Kawai et a1.

[ May 30, 1972 1 ELECTRIC STAPLER APPARATUS Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., Osaka, Japan [22] Filed: Aug. 4, 1970 [21] App1.No.: 60,839

[73] Assignee:

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Aug. 15, 1969 Japan ..44/78765 [52] U.S.Cl ..227/l31,227/l55 [51] Int. Cl. t ..B25c 5/02 [58] Field ofSearch ....227/120, 122, 123, 124, 125,

2,487,565 11/1949 Leber et al... ..227/l23 2,468,715 4/1949 Numbers ....227/155 1,956,174 4/1934 Maynard ..227/155 Primary ExaminerGranville Y. Custer, Jr. Attorney-Stevens, Davis, Miller & Mosher [5 7] ABSTRACT An electric stapler apparatus comprising an electromagnet provided on the rear undersurface of a base mount and constituting an operating power source, a staple driving lever adapted to be moved upwardly and downwardly by the electromagnet, the forward end portion thereof fixedly securing a staple driving hammer and the rear end thereof being mounted pivotally on the rear portion of the base mount, a stuple guide casing positioned in a floating relationship above the base mount, said casing containing inside of the forward end portion thereof U-shaped staples and pivotally mounted at the rear end thereof on the rear portion of the base mount, and a staple clinching anvil rotatably mounted on the front upper surface of the base mount and provided with a pair of staple clinching grooves for clinching inwardly the staples on the upper surface of a flat anvil portion and another pair of staple clinching grooves for clinching the staples outwardly.

2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEDMAY I 72 3,666,157

sum 1 or 2 INVENTORJ 1 .2%, Mm M ATTORNEYJ PATENTEnmAYao m2 3,666.15?

sum

2 or 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEY ELECTRIC STAPLER APPARATUS The present invention relates to an electric stapler apparatus of the type in which the electromagnetic force of an electromagnet is utilized for automatically driving a staple into sheets of paper to be fastened together.

Particularly in the present invention, a staple clinching anvil for clinching the staple driven piercing through the sheets of paper by means of a hammer is so designed in a peculiar construction as to enable clinching the U-shaped staple in either inner or outer side direction.

The present invention has an object to enable clinching the U-shaped staple in either inner or outer side direction by rotatably operating a staple clinching anvil, according to the thickness of the sheets of paper to be fastened, the quantity of sheets, the applicable purpose of the fastened sheets or the like.

A specific embodiments in order to achieve the object and the features of the present invention will become apparent from the description stated hereinunder in conjunction with accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of an electric stapler apparatus embodying the present invention with a cut-away portron;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view showing a base mount of the electric stapler apparatus;

FIG. 3 is an elevational section view of principal portions showing the relationship between a staple driving hammer and a staple clinching anvil provided on the base mount; and

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the staple clinching anvil after being dismounted from the base mount.

Referring now to the drawings, the apparatus includes a casing 1 formed from a sheet metal, and a cover 2 tightly secured to the casing l by a bolt 3 and provided in the front section thereof with a wedge-like opening 4 for receiving sheets of paper (P) to be fastened together in a direction indicated by the arrow. Reference numeral 5 designates a base mount made of a sheet steel, and provided with two pairs of

legs

6, 6' and 7, 7 (Only 7' is not shown) on both sides of the front and rear portions respectively, the lower ends of said respective legs being bent inwardly to provide means by which the base mount 5 is fixed to the casing 1. Reference numeral 8 designates a staple clinching anvil provided on the front upper portion of the base mount and that will be described in detail hereinunder. Reference numeral 9 is a switch lever, its top portion projecting upwardly through a slot 10 provided on the front upper surface portion of the base mount, the switch lever being pivotally fitted on a retaining plate 11 positioned in the interior of the leg 6 and having a fore-and-aft movement within the slot 10 caused by the forward movement of an operating knob 12 integrally provided with the retaining plate. Reference numeral 13 designates a slot for sliding the knob 12 frontwardly and rearwardly. Below the rear portion of the base mount, namely, in a space between the

legs

7, 7 is provided an electromagnet l4 constituting an operating power source, the electromagnet being provided with a moving piece which projects forwardly during the period of non-excitation and withdraws rearwardly upon excitation.

Reference numeral 16 designates a U-shaped supporting member provided on the rear upper surface of the base mount, and a staple guide case 17 positioned in a floating relation above the base mount and the rear end of a staple driving lever 18 are pivotally connected by a pin 19 on the supporting member.

The central portion of the staple driving lever 18 is pivotally connected to the upper end of a rocking lever 21 by a pin 20, and the lower end of the rocking lever is pivotally connected by a pin 23 with the other end of an L-shaped crank 22 of which its one end is pivotally connected with the forward extremity of the moving piece of said electromagnet. The L- shaped crank 22 is supported its center portion which is the center of rotation, on the base mount 5 by a pin 33. Reference numeral 24 designates a staple driving hammer provided on the forward extremity of the staple driving lever, 25 a coil spring permanently upwardly urging the staple guide case and 26 an omega-shaped restricting plate for performing the positional restriction of the staple guide case so as to prevent the rightward and leftward rocking movements of the staple guide case and maintain the distance between the forward extremity of the staple guide case and the staple clinching anvil 8 constant.

Within the staple guide case 17 is provided a staple magazine (Not shown) which contains the U-shaped staples(S) on the front inner portion thereof and locates a staple pushing member 27 to push out the staples. Reference numeral 28 designates a coil spring for giving a resilient pushing force to the staple pushing member and is supported around a supporting rod 29.

An operating knob 30 is provided on the rear leg 7 of the base mount and causes the staple magazine to project forwardly by minutely rotating a rotary lever due to the forward movement. A fitting plate 35, to which an L-shaped fitting plate 34 is secured, is fixedly mounted on the interior side of the front leg 6 by screws 66. On the upper portion of the switching fitting plate 34 is fixedly mounted a microswitch 36, and the switch 36 has its switch button 40 pushed by a pushing tongue piece 39, which in turn is pushed by a pushing piece 38 rotated by a pushing projection piece 37 provided on the lower end of the switch lever 9 described previously, thus the switch being placed in the ON position. Reference numeral 41 is a lever for turning the microswitch 36 to the OFF position by rotating forwardly a trigger piece 42 of the pushing piece 38 when actuating the stapler, namely, at the instantaneous lowering of the staple driving lever. Reference numeral 43 designates a pair of arms for supporting the pushing piece, provided on the horizontal end portion of the L-shaped switch fitting plate 34.

Next, the action will be described with respect to the staple clinching anvil. The staple clinching anvil 8 comprises a disclike flat anvil portion 44, a small diameter shaft portion 45 centrally provided on the underside surface of the flat anvil portion 44 and an extension 47 of a rotary operating lever 46 integrally formed with the shaft portion 45, and on the upper surface of the flat anvil portion 44, a pair of clinching grooves 48 for inwardly clinching the staples and another pair of clinching grooves 49 for outwardly clinching the staples and disposed while maintaining the angle of In addition, on a portion of the lower peripheral surface of the fiat anvil portion 44 is formed a projection 50 for stopping a rotation of the flat anvil portion. On the other hand, on a positioning plate 51 are formed a through hole 52 rotatably inserting the small diameter shaft portion 45 described above therethrough and an arcuate slot 53 loosely fitted a projection 50 therein and can be rotated the rotation of the staple clinching anvil 8 in a predetermined amount, namely, in this case, can be rotated by 90 in such a relation that the

clinching grooves

48, 49 intersect perpendicularly, and on respective comer portions are formed through holes 56 for fixing the positioning plate 51 to four screw holes 54 provided on the base mount 5 by screws 55.

In addition, a U-shaped knotch 57 is centrally formed in the front portion of the base mount 5. The lever 46 is rotatable and angle 0 of greater than 90 about the axis of the anvil 44 between both front right and

left legs

6, 6.

The shaft 45 of the staple clinching anvil 8 rotatably extends through the through hole 52 of the positioning plate 51 and a through hole portion 58 provided at an end of the lever 46 is inserted into and fixed on the fixedly mounted portion 47 is inserted in turn the small diameter shaft portion 45 into the notch portion 57 and is then mounted on the base mount 5 by screwing down the screws 55 after the through holes 56 of the positioning plate 51 are made to coincide with the screw holes 54.

In this case, under such a condition that the positioning plate 51 is fixed on the base mount 5, the staple clinching anvil 8 is rotated according to the rotation of the lever 46 caused by an engaging coil spring 59 stretched between the lever 46 and the base mount 5 and is intended to rotate to the position such that the lever makes in contact with either 6 or 6' of the base mount 5 therewith, but the projection 50 provided on the underside surface of the flat anvil portion 44 of the staple clinching anvil can be moved in only the lengthy range of the arcuate slot 53. Since the curved angle of the arcuate slot 53 is determined to be at 90, the flat anvil portion can be rotated by 90 only and either the

clinching grooves

48 or 49 of the staples are held perpendicularly in the longitudinal direction of the base mount 5, thus not causing any greater rotation than 90. Reference numeral 60 is a cut bent piece provided on the base mount side for holding one end of the

coil spring

59 and 61 is a cut bent piece provided on the lever 46 side. These

pieces

60 and 61 are arranged so as to align with each other on the center line of the base mount 5 with the center of rotation of the shaft portion 45 of the anvil 8 interposed therebetween.

Then, under such a condition that the staple clinching anvil is stopped so as not to easily move by the resiliency of the coil spring 59, if the switch lever is turned over while inserting the sheets of paper P into the opening 4 the staple driving lever having as an operating power source the electromagnet 14 described previously is lowered down, and one piece of the staples in the staple magazine is separated from the others by the hammer 24 provided on its forward extremity and is pierced into the sheets of paper on the staple clinching anvil 8, the staples S are clinched inwardly by the clinching grooves 48 positioned below the hammer 24.

Moreover, the rotary operating lever is rotated overcoming against the resiliency of the coil spring 59 in either right or left direction by holding a knob 63 projected outwardly from a notched groove 62 of the casing 1 from the said condition and is directed to the opposite leg side, namely, to the leg 6' side if the lever 46 is located heretofore on the leg 6 side and to the leg 6 side if it is located heretofore on the leg 6 side, whereby the staple clinching anvil 8 integrally formed with the lever 46 is rotated by 90 and the clinching grooves 49 for clinching the staples outwardly are aligned in the same direction as the hammer 24, thus the staple driven piercing into the sheets of paper P by the hammer 24 being clinched outwardly.

As can be seen from the description above, the stapler apparatus according to the present invention is simple and rigid in construction and also extremely simple in assembly and ad justment. The small diameter shaft portion of the staple clinching anvil is tightly inserted into the through hole of the positioning plate so that the staple clinching grooves can be confronted with the hammer with great accuracy without causing any dislocation, and the rotary operating lever to rotate the staple clinching anvil is biased by the spring so that the staple clinching anvil can be held without causing any fluctuation. Since the lever is drawn by the resiliency of the spring when alternatively changing the clinching grooves, the motion of the lever can be easily performed.

Additionally, since the rotary operating lever may be operated on a remote portion from the staple driving outlet by modifying it in a suitable length, safety in operation can be maintained and it never causes a disadvantage such that the microswitch is actuated by turning over the switch lever of the microswitch even if moved by any mis-operation.

We claim:

1. An electric stapler apparatus for fastening sheets of staplable material together, comprising: a base mount; an electromagnet mounted on the lower surface of the rear portion of said base mount, said electromagnet having a moving piece and fomiing an operating power source for said apparatus; a staple driving lever pivotally mounted at its rear end on the upper surface of said rear portion of said base mount; a staple driving hammer provided on the front end of said staple driving lever; a staple guide case adapted to receive U-shaped staples and positioned between said base mount and said staple driving lever, said staple guide case having its rear end pivotally connected to the upper surface of said base mount rear portion; power transmission means connecting said moving piece of said electroma et with said staple driving lever so as to downwardly move t e latter when said electromagnet is excited; a positioning plate secured to the upper surface of the front portion of said base mount and defining therein an arcuate slot and a through-hole; a staple clinching anvil rotatably mounted on said positioning plate, said anvil being provided in the upper surface thereof with two pairs of staple clinching grooves each of which pairs is adapted to clinch staples in one of inward and outward directions when the staples are driven by said hammer; projection extending downwardly from a peripheral portion of the undersurface of said anvil into said arcuate slot in said positioning plate; a shaft mounted on the undersurface of said anvil and extending rotably through said through-hole in said positioning plate; an anvil operating lever fixed to said shaft for rotation therewith, said anvil operating lever being spring-biased in one of the rotational directions of said anvil; and a microswitch operable by the sheets to be fastened together to control the electrical supply to the apparatusv 2. An electric stapler apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a switch lever operable in response to the feed of said sheets to be fastened together onto said staple clinching anvil to actuate said microswitch.

Claims

1. An electric stapler apparatus for fastening sheets of staplable material together, comprising: a base mount; an electromagnet mounted on the lower surface of the rear portion of said base mount, said electromagnet having a moving piece and forming an operating power source for said apparatus; a staple driving lever pivotally mounted at its rear end on the upper surface of said rear portion of said base mount; a staple driving hammer provided on the front end of said staple driving lever; a staple guide case adapted to receive U-shaped staples and positioned between said base mount and said staple driving lever, said staple guide case having its rear end pivotally connected to the upper surface of said base mount rear portion; power transmission means connecting said moving piece of said electromagnet with said staple driving lever so as to downwardly move the latter when said electromagnet is excited; a positioning plate secured to the upper surface of the front portion of said base mount and defining therein an arcuate slot and a throughhole; a staple clinching anvil rotatably mounted on said positioning plate, said anvil being provided in the upper surface thereof with two pairs of staple clinching grooves each of which pairs is adapted to clinch staples in one of inward and outward directions when the staples are driven by said hammer; projection extending downwardly from a peripheral portion of the undersurface of said anvil into said arcuate slot in said positioning plate; a shaft mounted on the undersurface of said anvil and extending rotably through said through-hole in said positioning plate; an anvil operating lever fixed to said shaft for rotation therewith, said anvil operating lever being springbiased in one of the rotational directions of said anvil; and a microswitch operable by the sheets to be fastened together to control the electrical supply to the apparatus.

2. An electric stapler apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a switch lever operable in response to the feed of said sheets to be fastened together onto said staple clinching anvil to actuate said microswitch.