US1939666A - Stapling machine - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 19, 1933. J. B. cRoFooT 1,939,666

STAPLING MACHINE Filed March 5l, 1950 PatenteclDec. 19., 1.933

.UNITED STATES PATE-Nr OFFICE l i t A fresas@ y l John nl. Application March 31, 1930. SerialV No. 440,326

. Y 6 Claims.

This invention relates to stapling machines, and, has forits object jto provide for partially clinching the prongs vor legs of the staple and driving themY into relatively soft material with aY reasonably secure retentive effect.

The invention has more particularly to do with devices of4 the 'above noted character for attaching label cards to corrugatedpaper car-tons, or in other uses where the material isY of such character that a nail or staple will not holdwithout being clinched or at least bent or deformed toa consid,- erable extent. The invention consists in the novel provisionsin the machine, and in the particular parts and combinations and arrangements of parts as hereinafter described and set forth in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing, illustrating .a practical adaptation ofthe invention,- V

Fig. 1 is a view of the machine, partly in side elevation and partly in longitudinal vertical section; Y 1

Fig. 2 is afragmentaryhorizontal section, on

an enlarged scale, taken onor about the line 2 2 3 is a fragmentaryyertical section,.ta.ken

on or about the line 3--3 of Fig'. l, and on the same Ascale as Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is `a plan view of the staple deforming platedetached; L A y I Fig. 5 is an end view of said plate; Fig. `6 is a fragmentary plan viewo:fl a strip from which the `staples are cut;

Fig. 7` is a fragmentary plan viewillustrating a shipping tagv applied to the wall of a carton in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 8 is a section on thelinefoffFig. fl; .and Fig. 9 is a perspective view, on an enlarged sea-le, illustrating the stapleras deformed inraccordance with the present invention.

' Referring now to the drawing, the numeral 11 designates the '.base Vportion of a stapling device having the handle 12 and the `plunger 13 which Works in suitable guideways'at'one'end `of the device and vis yieldably held in fnormal raised position by spring 14. Said plunger is Apreferably provided with a suitable cushion 15 which is applied to the knob 16-,-tl'le` lower endfportion 17 of the plunger being adapted to shear al staple 18 from'a strip'lQ'of preformed staples, said strip beingfed througha slideway 20` provided therefor inthe base portion .11.' Thestructure thus far described is well known inthe art, and enters into the present invention only in' av general way. A' Y H In accordancegwith the generally adopted provisions ina machine of this character the strip 19 of stapless fedintermittently through the machine into position to be acted upon Vby the plunger 13.by a pawl orf dog 21 which engages in apertures 22 provided therefor in the base portion of the strip 19, said pawl being pivotallyattached to a lateral plunger 23 which is normally pressed by a spring 24 into engagement with a notch 25 provided therefor in the plungerr13, said notch 25 and the engaging end portion of the plunger 23 being correspondingly beveled so that when the plunger 13 is depressed there is a cam-like action which forces the transverse plunger 23V back against the tension of the spring 24, during which movement of the plunger 23 the pawl 21 is drawn rearwardly therewith and takes a new hold on `the strip 19. vAs the plunger 13 is permitted to rise the spring 24 again forces the plunger 23 into the notch 25. There is also provided a pawl 26 which engages the apertures in the staple strip 19 to prevent accidental return with=the staple strip V19 by aspring 27' whereby to hold the latter snugly von its slideway in the base 11, the rear end portion of said member 27 having a knob 29 which normally projects upwardlythrough a slot 30 provided therefor in the base 1.1, so that by pressing on the knob the forward portion of the member 27, may be lifted from contact with the strip 19, at will due to its rotation about pivot 28. The pawls 21V and 26 are `also respectively provided with springs 21 and 26. i

In the ordinary machine, as thus far described, the `'staples 18 vare sheared successively from the `strip 19 as the latter is fed through the machine, `by depressing the plunger 13, and ordinarily the legs 18 -of` the staples,` which are perpendicular to the body portion of the strip, are driven straightwise into the material in cases where the material is such as Wood or compressed nbre of the 'character in which the staple will hold in this condition.v In other cases, as in stapling sheets ofpaper or other material of limitedthicknessfpermitting clinching of the blades of the staple on the s ide of the material opposite tothat at which the staple is; inserted, the legs of the stapleare driven against an anvil which may be provided either as apart of the machine or a surface on which themachine supported. In cases where the material is of insufficient density or toughness to hold the staples Y,with their legs straight and perpendicular to the body portion, or it is impossible to utilize a cooperating anvil for clinching the prongs or legs of the staple, as in applying a label to a closed carton composed of corrugated paper or the like, the present invention, which will now be described, may be utilized to advantage.

The present invention comprehends the deflecting of the normally parallel andv perpendicular legs or prongs of the staple inwardly so as to converge as they are forced into the material. This may be accomplished by providing the ordinary staple applying device of the character herein described with means for bending the legs or prongs of the staple angularly after the 'staple 18 has been severed from the strip 19L and just prior to driving the staple into the material. A simple way to accomplish this'is to provide opposed beveled guide portions, the distance between whose extreme edges is less than the length of the body portion of the staple and the distance between the bases of the bevels being substantially the. same as the length of the body portion'of the staple. If the opposed beveled guides are parallel, of course, the convergent angular set will be given to the legs or prongs 'of the staple 18, but the body portion will not pass between the beveled guides without buckling it and inate-Y rially deforming the staple, which necessitates `withdrawing the guides laterally from the staple 'or the staple correspondingly from the guides after severance from the strip 19 and the staple is driven into the material. Obviously, this does not permit driving the staple entirely into the 'material as the lower end 17 of the plunger 13 `could not be permitted to travel farther than the plane of the bases of the beveled-guides or the inner face of vthe plate, which in practice, is 'slotted and beveled to produce the said guides.

In accordance with `the present invention the beveled guides, designated'by the vnumeral 31, are flared and are produced by beveling the opposite sides of a aringslot or notch 32 provided in the end of a plate 33, which latter is secured to the under side of the base portion 11 of the stapling machine, and in which 4case thelower end portion 17 of the plunger-13'is correspondingly shaped and tapered so as to be permitted to come flush with the outer face of the plate 33 and thereby drive the staple with the intermediate body portion thereof tight against the material to which the staple is applied. By-the flaring of the beveled walls 3l of the slot 32 in the plate 33 the staple notl only has its legs or prongs 18' bent and-directed convergently, butit is moved longitudinally outwardly in the slot 32, owing to the cam effect of the flared and beveled side portions 31 and the correspondingly formedcooperating end portion 17 of the plunger13f That is to say, as the staple 18 is-severed from the strip 19 its legs or prongs 18 are first brought into engagement with the beveled sides 31 at the narrow inner portion of the slot 32, and then as the plunger 13 continues downwardly forcing the staple ahead of it, the staple is at the end of the stroke shifted longitudinally outwardlyl in the slot 32 until its base portion has reached a wider part of said slot 32 where it will pass freely between theropposite extreme edge portions of the ared tapered walls 3l.' The n'al clinching of the prongs takes place when the portion thereof adjacent 'the head engages-*the inclined faces V31, and itis then that the staple is moved longitudinally of the device as the entire staple has, by this time, passed out of the raceway. This gives from the plate 33.

With the device of the present invention labeling tags may be quickly applied to shipping cases or vcartons composed more particularly of the ordinary corrugated paper board or other material of substantially the same characteristics, as the semi-clinching or bending of the legs or prongs 18' of the staples 18 affords sufficient security of attachment for the purposes intended.

The invention comprehends broadly the partial clinching or convergence of the legs Vor prongs of the staples in applying them and, obviously, the means for carrying the invention into effect permits ofconsiderable modification within the scope of the appended claims. The invention, therefore, is not limited to the specific construction and arrangement shown in the accompanying drawing. Y

Having'thus described my invention, what I claim as new and vdesire to secure by Letters Patent is: v

l. In a stapling device, provision for a strip of 'pre-formed staples, a :plunger operating to -sever the staples successively from said strip,

means controlled by said plunger for automatically feeding said strip, and a guide through which the severed staples are forced by the plunger and are given aconvergent set-to the legs thereof and which then moves the staples longitudinally at the end of the stroke to clear the staple heads from the guide.

2.- In 1a stapling device, provision for a strip of pre-formed staples, a plunger operating to sever the staples successively from said strip, means controlled by said plunger for automaticallyfeeding said strip, and al beveled and flared guide through which 'the severed staples are vforced' by the plunger, so constructed and arranged that the legs of the staples are given a convergent set and the staples then moved longitudinally at the'end of the stroke to clear the heads of the staplesfrom the guide.

3. In astapling device, provision for a strip of pre-formed staples, a plunger operating to sever the staples successively from said strip,

'meanscontrolled by said plunger for automatically feeding saidstrip and means for guiding said staples in the driving of the same, including a plate having a notch the opposite sides of which are beveled and viiared, constructed and arranged so that the'severed staples are forced by the plunger into the'notchand the prongs of the staples are directed convergently and the Ystaple is moved longitudinally and verticallyA downward from the notch at the end of the stroke, owing to the cam effect of the beveled and flared sides.

4. In a machine for applying staples tol ma- .terial of the character of corrugated paper board,

a staple guide comprising a plate having a flared .slot therein, the sidewalls of said slot. being beveled', and-a plunger cooperating with said guide whereby to bend the legs of the staple convergently during the driving operation and move Ail the staple longitudinally from the slot at the end of the stroke. Y

5. In a machine for driving staples produced originally in a strip of pre-formed staples, a guideway comprising a plate having a flared notch with beveled sides, means for feeding said strip successively into cooperative relation to said guideway, and a plunger cooperating with said a plunger operating to sever the staples successively from said strip and controlling said feeding means, means for guiding the staples in the feeding of the same, including a plate having a notch at one end thereof, the opposite sides of the notch being beveled and flared toward the end of the plate constructed and arranged so that the several staples are forced by the plunger into the notch and the prongs of the staples are directed convergently by means of the beveled sides and the staples are moved longitudinally from the notch at the end of the stroke owing to the cameffect of the fiared and beveled sides, substantially as described.

JOHN B. CROFOOT.

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