GB2310450A

GB2310450A - A paper clip comprising two relatively sliding parts

Info

Publication number: GB2310450A
Application number: GB9603504A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Hirozumi Fujiwara
Original assignee: Tokyo Kinzoku Industry Co Ltd
Current assignee: Tokyo Kinzoku Industry Co Ltd
Priority date: 1996-02-20
Filing date: 1996-02-20
Publication date: 1997-08-27
Anticipated expiration: 2016-02-20
Also published as: FR2745527B1; GB2310450B; GB9603504D0; DE19608207C2; DE19608207A1; FR2745527A1

Description

SPECIFICATION TITLE OF THE INVENTION CLIP BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (1) Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a clip for pinching and binding papers or the like.

(2) Statement of the Prior Art There are various kinds of conventional clips, such as a double-clip in which operation levers are acted by user's fingers to widen contact pieces, a gem clip having a double turn wire, or a metal plate clip in which a metal clip having bented pinch jaws is attached to papers by using a clip pushing device (clip mounting device).

Although the double clip exerts a great pinching force, a large size of such double clip needs a substantially greater force to open the pinch jaws. There are instances where the pinch jaws cannot be opened. When the papers bound by the clip are piled on another papers, inconveniences occurred in which whole papers become bulky on account of the operation levers. Since the zem clip merely pinches the papers between rings, inconveniences are that the pinching force is too weak to pinch thicker papers.

Although the metal plate clip is covenient and can exert a sufficient pinching force, the clip cannot be used without a separate clip pushing device.

Accordingly, the present applicant has improved the conventional clip so as to open and close the pinch jaws of the clip without using any pushing device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of this invention is to provide a clip which requires no attaching device, is easy to handle, and can generate a powerful pinching force.

In order to achieve the above object, a clip of the present invention pinches papers or the like between a pair of pinch jaws which are elastically deformable and are bent and extended from the opposite ends of a base portion with a given width. The clip comprises: a clip body made of a resilient material with a relatively small spring constant, the clip body including a pinch base portion with a given width and a pair of upper and lower pinch jaws which are bent and extended continuously and divergently from the opposite ends of the pinch base portion1 each of the pinch jaws being provided on the distal end with a pinch section which is bent inwardly and is directed to the pinch base portion; and a press cover made of a resilient material with a relatively large spring constant and mounted slidably on the clip body, the press cover including a press base portion and a pair of upper and lower press jaws which are bent and extended continuously and convergently from the opposite ends of the press base portion, each of the press jaws being slidably coupled to each of the pinch jaws, the press cover being set to have a gap between the distal ends of the press jaws narrower than a maximum gap between the pinch jaws of clip body. The pinch sections of the pinch jaws are moved toward and away from each other when the press jaws of the press cover are slid on the pinch jaws toward and away from the distal end thereof.

Each of the pinch jaws of the clip body is provided with a plurality of guide slots. Each of the press jaws of the press cover is provided with a plurality of guide tabs adapted to engage with the respective guide slots.

One of bent portions on the pinch jaws of the clip body may be shifted by a given distance forwardly from the other bent portion. Preferably, the pinch section having the shifted bent portion is longer than the other pinch section.

Preferably, the press base portion is provided on the opposite ends with a rib and each of the pinch jaws is provided on the opposite side edges with a rib.

It is possible to smoothly insert the papers or the like into the clip, since the pinch sections of the clip body are divergently extended toward the distal ends of the pinch jaws.

When the press cover is pushed onto the clip body, the press jaws of the press cover presses inwardly the pinch jaws while sliding on the pinch jaws thereby causing the pinch jaws to approach to each other, since the insertion gap defined between the press jaws of the press cover is set to be narrower than the maximum gap defined between the pinch jaws of the clip body.

At this time, since the pinch section of each pinch jaw of the clip body is bent inwardly and is directed to the pinch base portion, the pinch section exerts an elastic force. It is possible to obtain a powerful pinching force by adding the above elastic force to the pressing force exerted in the press cover. Further, since the pinch sections are bent in the insertion direction of the papers or the like, a great resistant force is generated in direction of the papers or the like that may come out between the top faces of the papers or the like and the pinch sections, thereby preventing the papers or the like from coming out of the clip.

Since the pinch section of each pinch jaw is bent from the distal end of the pinch jaw and one of the pinch sections is directed of fsetto the pinch base portion of the clip body, there is no accident in which the clip bites a finger of a user.

In the case where the size of the clip becomes large, the upper and lower side edges of the clip body or the press cover may injure the user's finger. However, it is possible to protect the user's finger from the side edges by providing them with ribs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figs. l(a) to l(c) are longitudinal sectional views of a clip of the present invention, illustrating operational relationship between a clip body and a press cover; Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the clip shown in Fig. 1, illustrating the clip body in Fig. 2(a) and the press cover in Fig. 2(b); Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the clip of the present invention in use; Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of another embodiment of the clip of the present invention; Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the clip shown in Fig. 4, illustrating a maximum engagement condition between the clip body and the press cover;; Figs. 6(a) and 6(b) are explanatory views of a safety condition in use, illustrating the clip of the present invention in Fig. 6(a) and the conventional clip in Fig. 6(b); and Fig. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of still another embodiment of the clip of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT [Embodiment 1] Fig.s l(a) to l(c) are longitudinal sectional views of a clip A of the present invention, illustrating operational relationship between a clip body 1 and a press cover 4. Fig.

2 is an exploded perspective view of the clip A shown in Fig.

1, illustrating the clip body 1 in Fig. 2(a) and the press cover 4 in Fig. 2(b). Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the clip A of the present invention, illustrating a condition in use.

The clip A of the present invention comprises the clip body 1 made of a resilient material with a relatively small spring constant and the press cover 4 made of a resilient material with a relatively large spring constant. Here, a spring constant K is defined by a formula F=Kx, wherein x is a distance of displacement and F is a force.

The clip body 1 and press cover 4 are formed by bending a desired flat plate such as a metal sheet, a synthetic resin sheet, or the like. The press cover 4 is slidably mounted on the clip body 1 so that the papers or the like may be pinched.

As shown in Fig. 2(a), the desired flat plate is formed into the clip body 1 including a pinch base portion 2 with a given width or height X and a pair of upper and lower pinch jaws 3,3 which are bent continuously and divergently from the opposite ends of the pinch base portion 2. In this embodiment, each of the pinch jaws 3,3 is provided on the distal end with a pinch section 3a which is bent inwardly from the distal end of the pinch jaw 3 and is directed to the pinch base portion 2. An insertion gap Z is defined between the distal ends of the pinch sections 3a, 3a.

Consequently, a gap V defined between bent portions 3b, 3b interconnecting the pinch jaws 3,3 and the pinch sections 3a, 3a respectively will become a maximum gap between the pinch jaws 3,3 of the clip body 1 in this embodiment. In the position shown in Fig. 2(a), the insertion gap Z defined between the distal ends of the pinch sections 3a, 3a becomes maximum. The width or height X of the pinch base portion 2 may be changed in accordance with a thickness of the paper B to be bound.

As shown in Fig. 2(b), the desired flat plate is formed into the press cover 4 including a press base portion 5 with a given width or height X' and a pair of upper and lower press jaws 6,6 which are bent continuously and convergently from the opposite ends of the press base portion 5. An insertion gap Y defined between the distal ends of the press jaws 6,6 is form to be narrower than the width X of the pinch base portion 2 of the clip body 1. The inserti6n gap Y is narrower than the width X of the press base portion 5 of the press cover 4. It should be noted that the above dimensions are only an exemple and the present invention is not limited to the dimensions.

It is important that the insertion gap Y must be narrower than the maximum gap V of the clip body 1. For example, the insertion gap Y may be wider than the insertion gap Z of the clip body 1.

The above dimensional relationship will be given by the following formula: insertion gap Y < width X < insertion gap Z < width V However, the above formula is only an example. The insertion gap Y may be smaller than the insertion gap Z so long as the insertion gap Y is smaller than the width V.

The press cover 4 is slidably mounted on the clip body 1 by widening the press jaws 6,6 of the press cover 4 and engaging the distal ends of the press jaws 6,6 with the pinch jaws 3,3 of the clip body 1. The pinch sections 3a, 3a of the pinch jaws 3,3 are approached to each other when the press cover 4 is slid to a complete pushing position on the clip body 1. Alternatively, as described hereafter in connection with Fig. 5, the pinch sections 3a,3a may be contacted with each other when the press cover 4 is in the complete pushing position.

As shown in Fig. 2(a), each of the pinch jaws 3,3 of the clip body 1 is provided with a plurality of guide slots 7,7 (two slots in the illustrated embodiment) and each of the press jaws 6,6 of the press cover 4 is provided with a plurality of guide tabs 8,8 (two tabs in the illustrated embodiment) adapted to be engaged with the guide slots 7,7, as shown in Fig. 2(b). The guide tabs 8,8 are fitted in the guide slots 7,7 respectively so that the tabs 8,8 can slide in the slots 7,7 but they do not come out of the slots 7,7. Thus the press cover 4 is slidably mounted on the clip body 1.

In this embodiment, the press cover 4 is not separated by accident from the clip body 1, since the guide tabs 8,8 of the press cover 4 eagage with the guide slots 7,7 slidably but unremovably and the width X of the pinch base portion 2 of the clip body 1 is larger than the insertion gap Y between the press jaws 6,6 of the press cover 4.

Although the drawings do not show an alteration, each of the press jaws 6,6 may be provided on the respective inner face with one or more than one dovetail projections or any other desired shaped projections. The guide slot may include a non-through-slot, i.e. and a recess.

Next, an example of use of the clip described in this embodiment will be explained by referring to Fig. 3.

The papers or the like B can be smoothly inserted into the clip body 1 through the insertion gap Z defined between the distal ends of the pinch sections 3a,3a of the pinch jaws 3,3, since the pinch jaws 3,3 are extended divergently from the pinch base portion 2 to the distal ends (see Figs. 1(a) and l(b)).

When the press cover 4 is slid forwardly (in the direction shown by an arrow W in Fig. 3) on the pinch jaws 3,3 of the clip body 1 in which the papers B are set, the press jaws 6,6 of the press cover 4 push the pinch jaws 3,3 of the clip body 1 inwardly while sliding on the pinch jaws 3,3 so that the pinch jaws 3,3 approach each other (reduce the distance of the insertion gap Z), thereby firmly pinching the papers B between the pinch sections 3a,3a. Since the clip body 1 and press cover 4 are made of the resilient material, the pinch jaws 3,3 can firmly pinch the papers.

B while being elastically deformed by the press jaws 6,6 of the press cover 4 (see Fig. l(c) and Fig. 3). Resilient recovery forces exerted in the pinch sections 3a,3a as well as the pushing forces exerted in the press jaws 6,6 of the press cover 4 can enhance the pinching force for the papers B.

Moreover, in the case where the thickness of the papers B is great, the pinch sections 3a,3a of the pinch jaws 3,3 are deformed at first, thereby suppressing the clip body 1 and press cover 4 from being widened. This can prevent the piled papers from bulking.

In the case where the clip A is removed from the papers B, the press cover 4 is slid in a reverse direction on the clip body 1 to release the pushing forces applied on the pinch jaws 3,3 (see Fig. l(b)). A great resistant force is generated between the top faces of the papers B and the pinch sections 3a,3a when the press cover 4 is moved rearwardly, since the pinch sections 3a,3a of the pinch jaws 3,3 are bent in the insertion direction of the papers B. Consequently, the press cover 4 smoothly slides on the clip body 1 and the pinch jaws 3,3 of the clip body 1 are positively opened.

[Embodiment 2] Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of another embodiment of the clip A of the present invention. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the clip A shown in Fig. 4, illustrating a maximum engagement condition between the clip body 1 and the press cover 4. Pigs. 6(a) and 6(b) are explanatory views of a safe use, illustrating the clip A of the present invention in Fig. 6(a) and the conventional clip in Fig. 6(b).

In the second embodiment, as shown in Fig. 4, one of the bent portions 3b,3b of the crisp body 1 (upper one in the drawing) is shifted forwardly (left side in the drawing) by a given distance d from the other bent portion 3b (lower one in the drawing) and the pinch section 3a (upper one in the drawing) having the shifted bent portion 3b (upper one in the drawing) is longer than the other pinch section 3a (lower one in the drawing). In such a structure, as shown in Fig. 5, when the press cover 4 is slid to the complete pushing position on the clip body 1, the pinch sections 3a, 3a of the pinch jaws 3,3 of the clip body 1 engage with each other, thereby bending each other. Each of the pinch sections 3a,3a in the unengaged free position is indicated by two-dot chain lines in Fig. 5.

If both pinch sections 3a,3a are short, the resilient resistant force becomes great. This can enhance the binding force for the papers, but this cannot utilize an advantage obtained by a resilient deformation of the pinch sections 3a,3a. Accordingly, the structure in which one pinch section 3a is longer than the other pinch section 3a, as shown in Fig.

4 can utilize the advantage of both sections 3a,3a at the same time.

It is easy to insert the end of the papers B into the clip A since one of the distal ends of the pinch sections 3a,3a is held back in the insertion direction of the papers B.

As shown in Fig. 6(a), even if the user's finger contacts with the distal end of the clip A by accident, the clip A does not bite the finger. On the contrary, Fig. 6(b) shows a structure of the clip which does not take the above consideration. In this case, the clip body 1' is not provided with one of the distal ends of the pinch jaws held back. In such a structure, the user's finger may be bitten by the end of the clip.

[Embodiment 3] Fig. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of a third embodiment of the clip A of the present invention. In this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 7, the press base portion 5 of the press cover 4 is provided on the opposite ends with a rib 9 and each of the pinch jaws 3,3 is provided on the opposite side edges with a rib 11.

In the case where the clip A becomes a large size, it is preferable that the clip body 1 is made of a thin material in order to utilize the resilient resistant forces exerted in the pinch sections 3a,3a. However, since a stiffness of the clip body 1 is reduced if the material becomes thin, the clip body 1 is reinforced by the ribs 11 provided on the pinch jaws 3,3.

The ribs 11 also serve not to injure the user's finger during use.

Furhter, an excess external force may be applied to the press cover 4 in the clip A of a large size, thereby causing a plastic deformation in the press cover 4. The ribs 9 serve to suppress the press jaws 6,6 from being excessively widened and to reinforce the press cover 4. The ribs 9 also serve to exert a powerful pressing force without increasing the thickness of the press cover 4 and to reduce a producing cost of the cover 4.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. It is possible to change lengths, lateral widths, widths or heights X,X' of the base portions or the like of the pinch jaws 3,3 of the clip body 1 and the press jaws 6,6 of the press cover 4, if desired. The clip body 1 and press cover 4 may be made of either the same material or different materials.

The present invention provides a novel clip which exerts a pinching force by narrowing the divergent pinch jaws of the clip body by means of a pressing force. The clip of the present invention needs no attaching device and can generate a powerful pinching force by a simple operation in comparison with the conventional clips such as the gem-clip, double clip, metal-plate clip which requires the attaching device, or the like.

It is possible to smoothly insert the papers into the clip, since the pinch jaws extend divergently from the pinch base portion to the distal ends. When the press cover is pushed to the complete pushing position on the clip body the press cover presses the pinch jaws inwardly while sliding on the pinch jaws and approaches the pinch jaws to each other, since the insertion gap between the press jaws of the press cover is narrower than the maximum gap between the pinch jaws of the clip body thereby firmly pinching the papers between the pinching jaws.

The clip of the present invention can bind the papers or the like safely and positively without using a special attaching device.

The reader's attention is directed to all papers and documents which are filed concurrently with or previous to this specification in connection with this application and which are open to public inspection with this specification, and the contents of all such papers and documents are incorporated herein by reference.

All of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and/or all of the steps of any method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and/or steps are mutually exclusive.

Each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

The invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoing embodiment(s). The invention extends to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), or to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the steps of any method or process so disclosed.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A clip which pinches papers or the like between a pair of pinch jaws which are elastically deformable and are bent and extended from the opposite ends of a base portion with a given width, comprising: a clip body made of a resilient material with a relatively small spring constant, said clip body including a pinch base portion with a given width and a pair of upper and lower pinch jaws which are bent and extended continuously and divergently from the opposite ends of said pinch base portion, each of said pinch jaws being provided on the distal end with a pinch section which is bent inwardly and is directed to said pinch base portion; and a press cover made of a resilient material with a relatively large spring constant and mounted slidably on said clip body, said press cover including a press base portion and a pair of upper and lower press jaws which are bent and extended continuously and convergently from the opposite ends of said press base portion, each of said press jaws being slidably coupled to each of said pinch jaws, said press cover being set to have a gap between the distal ends of said press jaws smaller than a maximum gap between said pinch jaws of said clip body; whereby said pinch sections of said pinch jaws are moved toward and away from each other when said press jaws of said press cover are slid on said pinch jaws toward and away from the distal end thereof.

2. A clip according to Claim 1, wherein each of said pinch jaws of said clip body is provided with a plurality of guide slots, and wherein each of said press jaws of said press cover is provided with a plurality of guide tabs adapted to engage with the respective guide slots.

3. A clip according to Claim 1, wherein one of bent portions on said pinch jaws of said clip body is shifted by a given distance forwardly from the other bent portion, and wherein the pinch section having the shifted bent portion is longer than the other pinch section.

4. A clip according to Claim 1, wherein said press base portion is provided on the opposite ends with a rib, and wherein each of said pinch jaws is provided on the opposite side edges with a rib.

5. A clip for use in pinching together papers or the like, the clip comprising a clip body, a pair of pinch jaws, and a cover, the cover being slidable on the clip body between a first, release position, and a second clamping position in which the cover assists in urging the pinch jaws towards one another.

6. A clip constructed and arranged substantially as herein described, with reference to the accompanying drawings.