EP0186914A1

EP0186914A1 - Stapler and staple cassette

Info

Publication number: EP0186914A1
Application number: EP85116656A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Narahisa Kohashi
Original assignee: NISHIHARA SHOKAI CO Ltd
Current assignee: NISHIHARA SHOKAI CO Ltd
Priority date: 1984-12-29
Filing date: 1985-12-30
Publication date: 1986-07-09

Abstract

A stapler for advancing each staple to the front end of a magazine (6) by a staple feeder and extruding the staple from the magazine end by a driver (5), includes a housing. Within the housing, strips of staples each comprising a plurality of staples arrayed and bonded together and being stacked up to two staps or more as well as separators (15) lying between the stacked strips of staples to separate the upper and lower strips of staples from each other are contained. In case the staple feeder is retracted, the staple feeder and the separator (15) are engaged with each other making the separator (15) retract from the housing and discharge the separator (15) from the housing and the stapler at the retracted position. A staple cassette for accommodating a plurality of strips of staples is formed with a front gate passing at least the staples at the position in front of the strip of staples in the first step and with a discharge gate passing the separators (15) at the position in rear of the strip of staples in the first step.

Description

This invention relates to a stapler capable of loading a plurality of strips of staples, and to a staple cassette capable of accommodating strips of staples stacked up to multiple steps and being loaded onto a stapler so that the strip of staples in each step may be successibly used.
A conventional stapler is loaded with one strip of 50 or 100 staples arrayed and bonded together. The strip of staples is reloaded with a new one whenever the former is exhausted. Therefore, any job using a lot of staples has been subjected to a problem of inefficiency of work due to frequent reloading of strips of staples caused by the shortage of staples to be loaded at one time.

Summary of the Invention

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a stapler improving efficiency by means of reducing the frequency of reloading by loading the stapler with a lot of staples at one time.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a staple cassette loading a stapler with a lot of strips of staples at one time so as to be used successively.
According to one aspect of the invention, the stapler is provided with a housing wherein strips of staples stacked up to two steps or more and separators lying between said strips of staples to separate the upper and lower strips of staples from each other are contained. The front end of the housing is opened for the front end of a magazine of the stapler while the rear end is opened for a staple feeder and a feeder spring to advance and retract therethrough. Moreover, while the staple feeder is retracted, the staple feeder and the separator are engaged with each other making the separator retract from the housing, and the separator is discharged from the housing and the stapler at the retracted position.
The staples in the first step of the strips of staples stacked up to two steps or more in the housing are forwarded to the front end of the magazine by the staple feeder so as to be extruded from the front end by a driver. When all of the staples in the first step are exhausted, the separator for the strip of staples in the first step is engaged with the staple feeder so as to be retracted by the staple feeder. The separator is discharged from the stapler at the retracted position, while in the housing the strip of staples in the second step is shifted down to the position of the strip of staples in the first step. Therefore, the staples in all of the strips of staples may be used by repeating the similar operations.
According to another aspect of the invention, the staple cassette has a staple cassette main body constructed in such a way that strips of staples each comprising multiple staples arrayed and bonded together and being stacked up to two steps or more as well as separators lying between the stacked strips of staples to separate the upper and lower strips of staples from each other may be accommodated. The staple cassette main body is formed with a front gate capable of passing at least the staple at the position in front of the strip of staples in the first step, and a discharge gate capable of passing the separator at the position in rear of the strip of staples in the first step.
The strip of staples in the first step may be forwarded smoothly with no engagement between upper and lower strips of staples due to the separators lying between the stacked strips of staples. The staples of the strip of staples in the first step are forwarded from the front gate to the front end of the magazine. When all of the staples in the strip of staples in the first step are exhausted, the staple feeder is retracted to discharge the separator for the strip of staples in the first step from the stapler through the discharge gate. Then, the strip of staples in the second step shifted down to the position of the strip of staples in the first step is forwarded likewise until all of the strips of staples in the staple cassette are exhausted.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent upon reading of the following detailed description and the drawings, in which:

Fig.1 is a perspective view showing an example of the stapler of the invention;
Fig.2 is a perspective view showing the status with the slider 3 of the stapler shown in Fig.1 retracted backward;
Fig.3 is a perspective view showing the stapler cassette main body;
Figs.4A, 4B and 4C are descriptive drawings of the front gate and discharge gate of the cassette main body;
Fig.5 shows the inside of the cassette main body fitted with a torsion spring;
Figs.6A, 6B and 6C show the examples of the sleeve discharge mechanisms formed on the sleeve wall;
Fig.7 shows the examples of the sleeve discharge mechanisms formed on the staple feeder;
Fig.8 are descriptive drawings of the operations of the other sleeve discharge mechanisms;
Figs.9 and 10 are descriptive drawings respectively showing the examples of the automatic cassette release mechanism;
Fig.11 is a schematic view showing an example of directly stacking multiple steps of sleeves in the stapler main body;
Fig.12 is a schematic view showing another example;
Figs.13 and 14 are also schematic views showing further examples;
Figs.15A and 15B are perspective views showing the examples of the staple cassette of .this invention;
Figs.16A, 16B and 16C are descriptive drawings of the examples of the front gate and discharge gate of the staple cassette;
Figs.17A and 17B are descriptive drawings of a means to shift the strip of staples and separator successively to the positions facing toward the front gate and discharge gate;
Figs.18A and 18B are descriptive drawings of notches provided to attach and detach the staple cassette of this invention to and from the stapler;
Fig.19 is a descriptive drawing of the built in mechanism to perform the function described with Figs.17A, 17B, 18A and 18B;
Figs.20A, 20B and 20C represent the examples of sleeve front end shapes;
Figs.21A, 21B and 21C are descriptive drawings of the sleeve discharge mechanisms;
Figs.22 represent the examples of sleeve sectional shapes;
Figs.23A and 23B represent the examples of sleeve rear end shapes;
Figs.24 represent the constructions for stacking up the sleeves; and
Figs.25 are descriptive drawings of the examples of spacers.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments

Now, the stapler of the present invention will be described in detail in connection with the preferred embodiments by making reference to relevant drawings.
Fig.1 is a perspective view of this stapler wherein, 1 is the main body, 2 is a base rotatively fixed to on the main body 1, 3 is a slider, 4 is a handle rotatively fixed on the slider 3. 5 is a driver vertically driven by the handle 4. 6 is a magazine introducing staples. thereinto.
Fig.2 is a perspective view showing the status with the slider of the stapler shown in Fig.1 retracted from the main body 1 wherein the slider 3 is provided with a staple feeder 7, a feeder spring rod 8 and a feeder spring 9.
The inside of the stapler main body 1 is formed of a housing 10 to accommodate two steps or more strips of staples and separators between the strips of staples.
In the example represented by Fig.2, the separators between the strips of staples are accommodated in a staple cassette having the main body 11. Now, an example of the staple cassette will be described in detail as follows. As shown in Fig.3, the cassette main body 11 can accommodate two steps or more strips of staples, and is housed in the housing 10 of the stapler main body 1.
A front gate 12 can afford to pass the staples only or the staples together with the sleeve, the latter case being referred to later. The relative locations of the staples and the front gate 12 are shown in Figs. 4A and 4B.
In the Figs., 14 and 15 respectively represent a staple and a sleeve. In particular, the staple 14 in a strip with needle points turned downward is inserted into the sleeve 15.
A discharge gate 13 can afford to pass the sleeve 15 together with the staple feeder 7 as shown in Fig.4C. Moreover, the staple feeder 7 shown in Fig.2 can advance and retract through the discharge gate 13.
The staple cassette main body 11 accommodates strips of staples 14 stacked to multiple steps as well as the separators (sleeve 15 in this example) between the strips of staples.
Moreover, in this example, the cassette main body 11 is fitted with a torsion spring 16 as shown in Fig.5 so that the strip of staples in the second step may be shifted down to the position of the strip of staples in the first step whenever the strip of staples in the first step, i.e., facing toward the front gate 12 is exhausted. Thus, a new strip of staples can always face toward the front gate 12 to be forwarded to the front end of the magazine.
In order to use the stapler constructed as above, firstly khe slider 3 is retracted backward (refer to Fig.2) to open the opper part of the housing 10 accommodating the cassette main body 11, simultaneously retracting the staple feeder 7 backward. The purpose of retracting operation of the slider 3 is to firstly open the upper part of the housing 10 and secondly to retract the staple feeder 7 backward. Therefore, another constitution may be available without resort to the constitution of the slider 3, wherein the handle 4 is rotatively mounted to the main body 1 for moving up and down relative to the driver 5'which is fixed to the front end of the handle 4 as conventional, and the staple feeder 7 may independently be retracted backward.
Next, the cassette main body 11 is accommodated in the housing 10. Although various methods of fixing the cassette main body 11 to the housing 10 are available, this embodiment adopts an automatic attaching and detaching device to be referred to later.
A leaf spring represented by 17 in Fig.2 constitutes a part of the automatic attaching and detaching device. Next the slider 3 is reset to the original position to forward the staples 1 4 of the strip of staples in the first step (the lowest step in this example) to the front end of the magazine 6. Then the handle 4 is depressed as usual so that the lower surface of the handle 4 pushes the top of the driver 5 to extrude the specified staple for performing a specified operation together with the base 2.
The slider 3 is retracted backward whenever all of the staples 14 of the strip of staples in the first step are exhausted. With the slider 3 retracted backward, the staple feeder 7 is simultaneously retracted.
The sleeve 15 as a separator engaged with the staple feeder-7 is retracted backward from the housing 10 when the staple feeder 7 is retracted, so that the sleeve 15 is dropped and discharged downward from the stapler main body 1. The engagement of the staple feeder 7 to the sleeve 15 will be described hereinbelow.

[Engagement of staple feeder with sleeve]

The sleeve 15 shall be engaged with the staple feeder 7 to discharge the sleeve 15 from the discharge gate in case the staple feeder 7 is retracted. The typical examples of such a mechanism formed on the sleeve wall are shown in Figs.6A, 6B and 6C.
As hown in Figs.6A and 6B, the material of the sleeve 15 shall provide the inner bents 18 formed in a wall part of the sleeve 15 with elasticity to prevent the staples from unexpectedly getting out of the sleeve as well as to hook the sleeve 15 by the retracting staple feeder 7 for retracting and discharging the sleeve 15. Besides, the staples pushed by the staple feeder 7 advance forward, externally expanding the inner bents 18.
The formation of openings 19 shown in Fig.6C is optional. In either case, certain requirements for shape and movement of the staple feeder 7 shall be set up to lead the sleeve 15 to the discharge gate in case of retracting the staple feeder 7.
Some characteristic staple feeder shapes are shown in F-1 to F-3 of Fig.7, while some characteristic staple feeder movements subject to no characteristic shapes of the staple feeder and the sleeve are shown in G-1 to G-4 of Fig.8.
F-1 in Fig.7 shows a staple feeder made of synthetic resin, etc. making use of the elasticity of material. The elastic booms of the staple feeder 7 can select any right and left or up and down positions or sizes corresponding to the shapes of the sleeve 15. F-2 in Fig.7 shows another staple feeder made of metal, hard synthetic resin, etc. In this figure, the staple feeder 7 utilizes the feeder spring 9, which may be substituted with another spring. F-3 in Fig.7 shows the other staple feeder utilizing a leaf spring as the boom 20. In either one of these pushers, the booms are compressed along the inner surface of the sleeve 15 while the staple feeder 7 advances. The booms are expanded entering into the openings 19 in Fig.6C, while if no openings are made into the sleeve 15, the booms of the staple feeder 7 get out of the front end of the sleeve 15 to be hooked by the front end. Therefore, the sleeve 15 is pulled back in case the staple feeder is retracted.
In Fig.8, the staple feeder 7 and the sleeve 15 are subject to no characteristic shape. However, the staple feeder 7 advances inside the sleeve 15 (G-1) to be shifted a little bit downward (G-3) at the front end position (G-2). In such a status, the rear lower end of the staple feeder 7 is hooked by the front lower end of the sleeve 15 to retract and discharge the sleeve 15 (G-4) in case the staple feeder 7 is retracted. In this case, the staple feeder 7 may be shifted a little bit upward, downward, leftward or rightward conforming to the sectional shape of the sleeve 15 by means of bending a feeder spring rod 8 in the shifting direction.
The engagement of the staple feeder with the sleeve is so far described making reference to Figs.6A, 6B, 6C, 7 and 8. When the sleeve 15 is discharged backward while holding the engagement, the staple feeder 7 is retracted from the rear end of the cassette (rear end of the next sleeve and strip of staples) to make the space below the next sleeve containing staples. Therefore, the next sleeve to be shifted down to the operational position is pushed down by the spring 16. Thereafter, the slider 3 is reset to its original position to operate the stapler as usual.
When the final strip of staples (on the top step) is exhausted after using the strip of staples on each step through the same procedures, the cassette 11 may be released manually or automatically from the housing 10 by means of retracting the slider 3 backward.
Now, the example of the automatic cassette release mechanism will be described in detail making reference to Figs.9 and 10. Figs.9 and 10 are operation descriptive figures wherein the existence of the sleeves 15 in a cassette main body 11 may be detected by means of arresting the side of the final sleeve 1 5 (on the top step) using a sensing piece 21 (equivalent to a leaf spring 17 in Fig.10). If there is no sleeve at all, the sensing piece 21 enters into the cassette main body 11 to release a cassette stopper 22 and take off the main body 11 upward (ejected or jumped up). The left side figures of Figs.9 and 10 represent the cassette 11 loaded, the central figures under operation and the right side figures the status of automatic release. The cassette 11 may be ejected upward by means of a spring force and the like.
The embodiments of the present invention by the inventor are so far described in the concrete, however, it is needless to mention that the purport of the invention shall not be limited to the above embodiments and that various modifications are possible without departing from the gist of the present invention.
For example, the strips of staples contained in the sleeves may be stacked up to multiple steps directly within the housing 10 without resort to the constitution for accommodating the cassette main body 11 in the housing 10 of the stapler main body 1.
In this case, as schematically shown in Fig.11, the sleeves 1 5 are stacked in the housing 1 0 shown by two dotted chain lines and a cover 24 with a sleeve stay spring 23 is rotatively provided on the stapler main body 1. 25 represents an automatic cover release device. A manual cover release device as schematically shown in Fig.12 may be available. Furthermore, a mode loading the sleeve 15 from the backward side (rear upper corner) of the stapler 1 as schematically shown in Figs.13 and 14 may also be available. In this case, the staple feeder 7 may be independently (i.e., without using a slider) retracted since the top of the housing 10 need not be opened. The description of the elements shown in Figs.13 and 14 is omitted since they correspond to those already described in the foregoing embodiments.
In the above embodiments, the stapler using a base is described but it is needless to mention that a so-called tacking type stapler or a pistol type stapler with its handle loaded with a cassette may be available.
As described so far, the strips of staples of multiple steps are accommodated in the housing of the stapler by using a cassette or sleeve units, and after the staples in each step are completely used, the corresponding sleeve is discharged. Through these procedures, all strips of staples in the housing may be used successively to make conventional reloading per strip of staples unnecessary. Thus, good workability as well as efficiency are ensured. Furthermore, a fairly long strip of staples is possible since the staples are protected by the separator such as a sleeve. In addition, it is economical in that breakage of the strip of staples and running off of the small amount of residual staples are entirely eliminated.
Some preferred embodiments of the staple cassette and the sleeves have been described with reference to Figs.3 to 6. Other preferred embodiments regarding the staple cassette will further be described in detail hereinbelow. However, in the following description, the previously-described embodiments will again be referred to in order to more readily understand the other preferred embodiments by comparison with the former embodiments.
The staple cassette of this invention is basically composed of the strips of staples stacked up to two steps or more in the cassette and separators lying between the stacked strips of staples.
The purpose of the separators is to ensure the smooth movement of the strip of staples forwarded by the staple feeder and to prevent the strip of staples from being disturbed by the adjoining strip of staples. The separators may be either spacers or sleeves.
As described previously, the staple cassette is provided with the front gate through which the staples of the strip of staples in the first step successively pass in case they are forwarded to the front end of the magazine by the staple feeder. The size of the front gate may be specified only to pass the staples, or the staples including separators corresponding to the mode of the stapler utilizing the staple cassette of this invention. Furthermore, a discharge gate to discharge the separators from the cassette is formed in rear of the staple cassette.
Next, whenever all of the staples of the strip of staples in the first step are exhausted and the separator for the strip of staples is discharged, the strip of staples in the second step shall be shifted down to the position where the strip of staples in the first step was located. To this end, the strip of staples in the second step is energized and shifted down to the position in the first step utilizing the dead weight of the strip or strips of staples (in case the first step is located below the second, third, ... steps) or any elastic member provided either in the cassette or in the stapler. Furthermore, the cassette may be automatically released from the stapler by providing the cassette with an automatic release device to take out the cassette. Now, the various modes as such will be described by making reference to the relevant drawings.

(1) Staple cassette main body

The staple cassette main body as shown as a whole by 1 01 and 111 in Figs.15A and 15B are for accommodating strips of staples stacked up to two steps or more. Therefore, the entirely covered type excluding the openings for the front gate 102 and the discharge gate 103 as shown in Fig.15A, as well as the type with other openings than those for the front gate 112 and the discharge gate 113 as shown in Fig.15B are available.

(2) Front gate

The front gates 102 and 112 as shown in Figs. 16A and 16B may be formed to pass the staples only (Fig.16A) or the staples contained in the sleeves (Fig.16B). The sleeves are shown by 123 and 133 in Figs.16A and 16B and the strips of staples 124 and 134 with their needle points turned downward are inserted into the sleeves 123 and 133.
The front gates 102 and 112 in Figs. 16A may be formed to prevent the sleeve 123 from shifting to the magazine side and to pass the strip of staples only, but not limited to this embodiment only. The front gates 102 and 112 shown in Fig.16B are mainly utilized for the sleeves to be described later with Figs.20B and 20C.

(3) Discharge gate

The discharge gates 103 and 113 as shown in Fig.16C may be formed to discharge the sleeve 143 together with the staple feeder. Within the discharge gates 103 and 113 and the front gates 102 and 112 shown in Fig.16B, a small bump 11 4 as shown in Fig.15B may be formed to prevent the sleeves from running off unexpectedly.

(4) Shifting of strips of staples

When the front gate and the discharge gate are formed at the lower part of the cassette, the strips of staples stacked up to multiple steps may be shifted down to the position of the strip of staples in the first step successively by their own dead weight after respective separators are discharged.
When the first gate and the discharge gate are formed at the upper part of the cassette or at the lower part in order to assure the shift of the strips of staples, the following embodiments may be applicable: as shown in Figs.17A and 17B, an elastic member 135 such as a torsion spring, a leaf spring, etc. may be mounted in the inside of the cassette main body 101, 1 1 1 between the.body 101, 111 and the strips of staples and the separator 136 such as sleeves and spacers.
In this case, the elastic member 135 is not necessarily built in if the upper surface of the staple cassette main body 101, 111 is provided with a notch to be depressed by an elastic member of the stapler main body.

(5) Attachment and detachment of cassette main body

A notch to attach and detach the staple cassette main body 101, 111 to and from the stapler may be formed but is needless if a manual attachment and detachment device is adopted.
Such a notch 145, 146 as shown in Figs. 18A and 18B may be formed on the side of the cassette main body 101, 111 to sense the existence of the sleeve by means of arresting the side of the inner sleeve. The notch 145, 146 serves to perform the function of such as releasing a cassette holder as soon as the inner sleeve is discharged.
In order to perform the functions as described in the preceding paragraphs (4) and (5), a constitution, e.g., as shown in Fig.19 may be available. In this case, an automatic attachment and detachment device is built in the cassette main body to detect the existence of the inner sleeve or spacer by means of arresting the upper surface thereof. 151 represents the automatic attachment and detachment device provided in the cassette main body 101, 111, while 152 represents a notch on the stapler side to be engaged with the automatic device 151.

(6) Separator

The separator lying between the strips of staples may be classified into a sleeve type and a spacer type as mentioned before. The purpose of the separator is to make the strip of staples to be used advance smoothly without directly coming into contact with another strip of staples, in case when the strips of staples stacked up to multiple steps are utilized.

(6-1) Sleeve

The requirements for a sleeve are as follows: i.e., the staples do not run off unexpectedly forward or backward or sideways; even a small amount of staples may be forwarded and retracted smoothly; and the staple feeder of the stapler may at least be forwarded and retracted from the rear part to the inside or may be further passed through the front end.
The sleeves may be basically formed into various sectional shapes a little longer than the strip of staples as shown in Fig.22. Fig.22 represents the open type sleeves with vertical slit but the closed type is also available.

(6-1-A) Front end shapes

The typical examples of sleeve end shapes are shown in Figs.20A, 20B and 20C. In case of a shape as shown in Fig.20A, the staples pushed by the staple feeder are forwarded but the sleeve is left at the original position.
In case of another shape as shown in Fig.20B and Fig.20c as the top view of Fig.20B, the staples pushed by the staple feeder pushes a front stopper 161 formed at the front end, so the sleeve also is forwarded. A slit 162 must be formed into the lower surface to make the foremost staple fall down. The front stopper 1 61 can fill the role of forcibly picking up any jammed staples by means of retracting the strip of staples backward.

(6-1-B) Sleeve discharge mechanism

In order to discharge the sleeve from the discharge gate in case of retracting the staple feeder, the sleeve and the staple feeder shall be operated cooperatively. The typical examples of such mechanisms to be formed on the sleeve wall are shown in Figs.21A, 21 B and 21C.
In order to form inward bents 171 and 172 on a part of the inner sleeve wall as shown in Figs.21A and 21B, the material of the sleeve shall be provided with elasticity.
The purpose of the inward bents 171 and 172 is to prevent the staples from unexpectedly running out of the front end, to hook up the retracting staple feeder making the sleeve retract so as to be discharged. Besides, the staples pushed by the staple feeder are forwarded to the front end, by expanding the inward bents 171 and 172 outward.
Openings 173 as shown in Fig.21 C may be formed or may not be formed at all. Certain requirements for the shapes or movements of the staple feeder shall be met in order to lead the sleeve to the discharge gate in case of retracting the staple feeder.
The inward bents 171 and 172 and the openings 173 as shown in Figs.21A, 21B and 21C, may be formed in any upper and lower, righthand and lefthand position as desired.

(6-1-C) Sectional shapes

The examples of sleeve sectional shapes are shown in Fig.22 C-1 to C-8. The stapler shall be loaded with the staples shown in the figures with their needle points turned downward. The sleeves as shown in Figs.C-1, C-3, C-5 and C-7 can prevent the staples from running off upward, downward, forward or backward by the inward elasticity of the side walls. Therefore, any inward bents or bumps at front and rear ends as shown in Figs.21A, 21B, 23A and 23B are not always required if only to prevent the staples from running off. However, the inward bents as shown in Figs.21A and 21B with large gradient are not required of any specific shape as they can easily hook up the rear end of the staple feeder excluding those staple feeders with specific shapes and constitution.
On the other hand, the sleeves as shown in Figs.C-2, C-4, C-6 and C-8 can not prevent the staples from running off with their shapes as they are. Therefore, such inward bents or bumps as shown in Figs.21A, 21B, 23A and 23B are required. However if their side walls can be bent inward as those shown in Figs.C-1, C-3, C-5 and C-7, the inward bents are needless.

(6-1-D) Staple stay at rear end

The purpose of staple stay is to prevent the staples from unexpectedly running out of the rear end. The typical examples are shown in Figs.23A and 23B. Figs.23A and 23B respectively representing the bumps 191 formed inward and the bents 192 formed inward.
Those bumps 191 and bents 192 shall be formed so that they may pass any advancing and retracting staple feeder with negligible resistance. They are not always required if the sleeve walls are provided with inward elasticity.

(6-1-E) Stacked sleeve

When the sleeves are contained in a staple cassette, the upper and lower sleeves need not be engaged with each other. However when a stapler, e.g., not fitted with the staple cassette of this invention is used, or when a number of sleeves are stacked up for storage thereof, it is recommended that the sleeves are to be stacked up by forming the sectional shapes as shown in Fig.24.
In Fig.24, the typical examples are shown in A, B, C and D of Fig.24, wherein grooves 201, 202, 203, 204 or rails in the longitudinal direction are formed at least on one side of the sleeve. If the sectional shapes of the grooves or rails are formed with a bit of taper, the sleeves may be easily connected with each other by slightly depressing the upper sleeve for engagement.

(6-2) Spacer

Instead of the sleeve as the separator, any spacers shown in Fig.25 as various shapes may be laid between upper and lower staples.
E-1, E-2 and E-3 of Fig.25 represent the right and left side type spacers comprising the right and left walls 210. E-4 represents a partition to be inserted between upper and lower sleeves stacked, while E-5, E-6 and E-7 represent the upper and lower type spacers comprising the upper and lower bulkheads 212.
Although the spacers can not hold the strips of staples by themselves, when they are inserted between the staples, they can improve the sliding movement between the upper and lower staples filling the role of the staple cassette of this invention.
As described so far, the main body of the staple cassette of this invention is formed of a front gate facing toward the front end of a magazine of the stapler and a discharge gate in the reverse position thereto. The main body accommodates strips of staples stacked up to two steps or more and separators lying between the stacked strips of staples to separate them from each other in the staple cassette main body.
Therefore, the staple cassette may be loaded with a lot of strips of staples at one time, thereby eliminating frequent reloading the strip of staples as conventional when a lot of staples are utilized continuously and making operation extremely efficient.
Besides, any breakdown of strips of staples while loading, or running off of a small amount of residual staples may be eliminated due to multiple loading of strips of staples contained in this cassette. Thus, all of the staples can be used without any waste.
Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teaching. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims in the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

Claims

1. A stapler for advancing each staple to the front end of a magazine by a staple feeder and extruding said staple from said end by a driver, comprising a housing wherein strips of staples each comprising a plurality of staples arrayed and bonded together and being stacked up to two steps or more as well as separators lying between said stacked strips of staples to separate the upper and lower strips of staples from each other are contained, whereby in case said staple feeder is retracted, said staple feeder and said separator are engaged with each other making said separator retract from said housing and discharge said separator from said housing and said stapler at the retracted position.

2. A staple cassette comprising a staple cassette main body constructed in such a way that strips of staples each comprising a plurality of staples arrayed and bonded together and being stacked up to two steps or more as well as separators lying between said stacked strips of staples to separate the upper and lower strips of staples from each other may be contained, said staple cassette main body being formed with a front gate passing at least said staples at the position in front of the strip of staples in the first step to be forwarded to the front end of a magazine of a stapler, and with a discharge gate passing said separators at the position in rear of the strip of staples in the first step.

3. A stapler according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by the features as described in the specification and shown in one or more of the figures 1 to 25 of the drawings.