STAPLE REMOVER

Background

[0001] The present invention relates to a staple remover and, more particularly, relates to a staple remover for extracting a conventional clinched stationery staple having a central crown portion and two legs extending with arcuate bends from opposite sides of the crown through staple holes in a stack of stapled paper sheets or the like.

[0002] It is very well known to secure together a plurality of sheets of paper in a stapled stack by using a generally conventional office staple and applying the staple to the stack of papers using a conventional stapler. A conventional staple of this type is illustrated in Figure 1, where Figure l(a) illustrates a side view of a single staple before insertion into a stack of papers. The staple has a crown part having width W and a pair of legs which extend downwardly from the crown part at opposite ends thereof. Each leg has a length L. Staples of this general type are typically provided as a strip comprising a plurality of such staples for insertion into a magazine of a conventional stapler of a type known per se. The stapler serves to punch the end staple in the strip through all of the sheets of paper provided in a stack such that the ends of the two legs penetrate through the lowermost sheet in the stack and bear against an anvil provided underneath the lowermost sheet, whereupon the two legs are bent inwardly so that the staple adopts a clinched configuration illustrated in Figure l(b). This form of stapling method is very well known.

[0003] It has been proposed previously to provide a tool for subsequent removal of a clinched staple from a stack of stapled sheets of paper in such a manner as to prevent significant damage to the sheets of paper. The most commonly used form of staple extractor typically comprises a pair of levers which are pivotally coupled at one end and are movable towards one another at their free ends. A pair of extraction jaws are formed at the movable ends of each lever for engaging the underside of a staple crown

in order to lift the staple away from the material, bending the leg parts of the staple outwardly away from their clinched positions as the staple is removed from the stack of papers.

Summary

[0004] Staple extractors of the general type mentioned above are relatively complicated to manufacture as they involve a number of moving parts. Furthermore, staple extractors of the "pincer" type mentioned above also suffer from a disadvantage in operation in that a person using a conventional staple remover of this type must properly align the extraction jaws against a staple prior to closure of the pivo tally- connected levers such that the extraction jaws properly move between the crown of the staple and the uppermost sheet of paper in the stack.

[0005] The present invention provides an improved staple remover.

[0006] Accordingly, the present invention provides a staple remover comprising a base member and a plurality of substantially elongate staple-engaging members each having a free-end. The staple-engaging members are arranged so as to be brought to bear against a top sheet in a stack of sheets when the stack is received between the base member and the staple-engaging members. The plurality of staple-engaging members are configured so that the free end of at least one of the staple-engaging members passes between the crown of a staple provided in the stack of sheets and the top sheet as the staple remover is moved across the staple.

[0007] In one embodiment, the plurality of staple-engaging members are tapered so as to narrow towards their respective free-ends. Also in one embodiment, the free end of only one of the plurality of staple-engaging members passes between the crown of the staple and the top sheet as the staple remover is moved across the staple.

[0008] Other aspects of the invention will become apparent by consideration of the detailed description and accompanying drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009] So that the invention may be more readily understood, and so that further features thereof may be appreciated, an embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0010] FIGURE 1 illustrates two views of a generally conventional staple with which the staple remover of the present invention is intended to be used, Figure l(a) illustrating the staple before insertion into a stack of papers, and Figure l(b) illustrating the staple in its clinched form after insertion into the stack of papers;

[0011] FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of a staple remover in accordance with the present invention;

[0012] FIGURE 3 is a plan view of a staple-engaging part of the staple remover illustrated in Figure 2;

[0013] FIGURE 4 is a view corresponding generally to that of Figure 2 illustrating the staple remover positioned over the stapled corner of a stack of papers, in preparation for removal of the staple therefrom; and

[0014] FIGURE 5 is a view corresponding generally to that of Figure 4, illustrating the staple remover in an operative condition in which it is shown removing the staple from the stack of papers.

Detailed Description

[0015] Before any embodiments of the invention are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the following drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Also, it is

to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of "including," "comprising," or "having" and variations thereof herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items. Unless specified or limited otherwise, the terms "mounted," "connected," "supported," and "coupled" and variations thereof are used broadly and encompass both direct and indirect mountings, connections, supports, and couplings. Further, "connected" and "coupled" are not restricted to physical or mechanical connections or couplings.

[0016] Referring initially to Figure 1, there is illustrated a generally conventional clincher-type office staple shown in Figure l(a) in its initial form and in Figure l(b) in its clinched form after insertion through one or more sheets of paper using a conventional stapler.

[0017] The staple 1 comprises a crown part 2 and a pair of legs 3, each depending from a respective end of the crown 2. The staple has a "crown- width" dimension W, and each leg 3 has a length L.

[0018] As will be readily understood by the person of skill in the art, as the staple 1 is punched through a plurality of sheets of paper, the lower end of the legs 3 bear against an anvil forming part of the stapler (not shown) which serves to bend the legs, typically inwardly and upwardly, so that they adopt the configuration illustrated generally in Figure l(b) so as to grip the papers between the crown 2 and the legs 3.

[0019] Figure 2 illustrates an embodiment of a staple remover 4 in accordance with the present invention, hi the illustrated embodiment, the staple remover 4 is substantially entirely formed from a single piece of material such as sprung metal, and most preferably sprung steel.

[0020] As can be seen from Figure 2, the illustrated staple remover 4 comprises a generally planar base member 5 of rectangular form which is connected at one of its shorter sides to an upper member 6 of substantially similar form, via a connecting web

7. The illustrated connecting web 7 is also of generally rectangular form with its longer sides lying coincident with the respective shorter sides of the base member 5 and the upper member 6. The connecting web 7 thereby serves to space the base member 5 and the upper member 6 apart from one another in the initial, relaxed, configuration of the staple remover illustrated in Figure 2.

[0021] As mentioned above, the illustrated staple remover is preferably formed from a single piece of sprung steel and it will therefore be appreciated that the base member 5, connecting web 7 and the upper member 6 are interconnected with one another by simple straight fold lines formed by bending or folding an initial blank cut from the sprung steel.

[0022] In the initial, relaxed, configuration of the staple remover illustrated in Figure 2, the base member 5 and the upper member 6 are non-parallel with one another and actually diverge from one another slightly with increasing distance from the connecting web 7.

[0023] The free end of the upper member 6, illustrated generally by reference numeral 8 is provided with a downwardly-extending connecting web 9 which is again formed by folding the sprung steel material. At its lowermost edge, the connecting web 9 is bent inwardly so as to define an inwardly and downwardly-directed staple engaging part 10.

[0024] The illustrated staple engaging part 10 is substantially planar and extends from the lowermost edge of the connecting web 9 so as to extend generally downwardly, away from the upper member 6 and towards the lower member 5 such that the free end of the staple engaging part 10, illustrated generally at 11, points generally towards the connection between the base member 5 and the upper member 6 defined by the connecting web 7. It should therefore be appreciated that the staple- engaging part 10 is arranged so as to make an acute angle relative to the base member

[0025] Figure 3 illustrates the profile of the staple-engaging part 10 in more detail, viewed in plan form. Here it can be seen that the staple-engaging part 10 comprises three substantially identical elongate staple-engaging members 12, each of which takes the form of a substantially elongate finger. The three staple-engaging fingers 12 are provided in generally side-by-side relation and are each tapered to a rounded point 13 formed at their free ends.

[0026] Each finger 12 has a maximum width p which occurs at a point spaced a distance a from the edge of the staple-engaging part 10 connected to the connecting web 9. The maximum width p of each finger 12 is slightly larger than the crown width W of the average staple with which the staple remover is intended to be used. Additionally, a distance x, which defines a substantially widest possible gap between opposing or facing surfaces of the staple-engaging members 12, is preferably less than the distance p to prevent the occurrence of a staple crown 2 becoming wedged between two adjacent staple-engaging members 12. With this construction, the staple remover is somewhat self-locating for successful staple removal with minimal user alignment necessary, as will be further described below.

[0027] Returning briefly to Figure 2, as the staple-engaging part 10 is substantially planar and is arranged so as to make an acute angle to the base member 5, it will therefore be appreciated that each staple-engaging finger 12 is also arranged to make an acute angle to the base member. The fingers 12 at their free ends are spaced a distance g above the base member 5 in the relaxed condition of the staple remover illustrated in Figure 2. As can therefore be seen, each finger 12 can be considered to be provided in spaced-apart relation relative to the base member 5 so as to define a gap for the receipt of a stack of stapled sheets between the fingers 12 and the base member 5, the narrowest part of that gap being defined by the distance g between the free ends 13 of the fingers 12 and the base member 5.

[0028] Because of the manner in which the illustrated staple-remover 4 is formed, by bending, from a single blank of sprung metal, it should be appreciated that the

staple-engaging part 10 comprising the fingers 12 can be deflected resiliently relative to the upper member 6 and is actually resiliently biased away from the upper member 6 so as to adopt the relaxed position illustrated in Figure 2. Similarly, the base member 5 and the upper member 6 are resiliently biased away from one another with the result that the fingers 12 carried by the staple-engaging part 10 are effectively resiliently biased away from the base member 5 so as to adopt a relaxed condition in which the free ends 13 define the gap distance g to the base member 5.

[0029] Turning now to Figure 4, the staple-remover 4 is illustrated positioned over the corner of a stack of papers 14 which are stapled together by a staple 1, only the crown part of which is visible in Figure 4. The stapled corner of the stack 14 has been inserted between the fingers 12 and the base member 5 so as to be received within the gap defined therebetween. The base member 5 thus becomes positioned against the lowermost sheet in the stack 14.

[0030] In the position illustrated in Figure 4, the staple 1 is located between the free ends 13 of the fingers 12 and the connecting web 7, the staple remover having been positioned over the stapled corner of the stack such that the staple 1 has passed completely through the gap defined between the fingers 12 and the base member 5. The fingers 12 thus point generally towards the staple 1.

[0031] In the event that the stack of papers 14 has a thickness in excess of the minimum gap spacing g, then the resilience of the staple-remover allows the stack to be pushed through the gap g such that the fingers 12 become deflected slightly towards the upper member 6, against their inherent resilient bias, hi the event that the stack 143 has a thickness less than the gap spacing g, then the stack of papers can simply be relatively freely inserted between the fingers 12 and the base member 5.

[0032] Once the staple-remover 4 has been positioned generally over the stapled corner of the stack 14 as illustrated in Figure 4, the staple-remover can then be moved relative to the stack of papers 14 generally in the plane of the stack 14 and across the staple 1 as indicated generally by arrow R in Figure 4. In moving the staple remover 4

in this manner, it may be necessary, for example where the stack of papers 14 has a thickness less than the gaps facing g, for a user of the staple-remover to press the base member 5 and the upper member 6 towards one another, against their resilient bias, in order to ensure that at least the free ends 13 of the fingers 12 are brought to bear against the top sheet in the stack 14. Clearly, in the event that the stack 14 is of a thickness greater than the minimum gap spacing g, then the user will not need to press together the base and upper members in this manner.

[0033] In any event, with the fingers 12 bearing against the top sheet in the stack 14 as described above, movement of the staple-remover 4 in the direction R is effective to ensure that one of the free ends 13 passes between the crown 2 of the staple and the top sheet in the stack 14. Figure 5 illustrates the middle finger 12 engaging the staple 1 in this manner and it can be seen that the free end 13 of the middle finger has passed beneath the crown of the staple and above the top sheet. The subsequent application of force in the direction R serves to deform the staple such that the legs 3 become at least partially unbent from their clinched position illustrated in Figure l(b), thereby serving to remove the staple from the stack of papers in a manner otherwise known per se.

[0034] The provision of a plurality of staple-engaging members in the form of fingers 12 is particularly advantageous because, with the fingers 12 arranged in side- by-side relation as described above, a person using the staple-remover does not have to accurately align any of the fingers 12 with the staple 1 to be removed prior to movement of the staple remover in the direction R. As long as the staple is positioned between the group of fingers 12 as a whole and the connecting web 7, then movement of the staple-remover in the direction R illustrated in Figure 4 will be effective to ensure that at least one of the fingers 12 locates with respect to the staple, by virtue of the tapering form of the fingers and the distance x, such that its free end passes between the crown of the staple and the top sheet in the stack, hi this manner, a more convenient staple remover is provided because it enables a user simply to position the staple-remover relative to the stack of papers in an approximate manner prior to

movement of the staple-remover in the removing direction R. One of skill in the art will also understand how the staple remover 4 could be incorporated into an automated staple removal system in which the machine would not require careful alignment of the staple remover 4 to operate reliably.

[0035] However, while the present invention has been described above with particular reference to an embodiment having three staple-engaging members in the form of fingers 12, it should be appreciated that any convenient number of staple- engaging members could be provided in alternative arrangements. It is even envisaged that a staple-remover in accordance with the present invention could be provided with only one staple-engaging member, in which case it is envisaged that more careful alignment of the member with the staple to be removed will be necessary by the user.

[0036] Various features and advantages of the invention are set forth in the following claims.