Monday, September 10, 2007

Stapler of the Week Archive- Bump & Clipless Paper Fasteners

Bump Paper Fastener Patent Jul 21, 1914 black metal finish

Clipless Paper Fastener Patent August 2, 1910 chrome metal finish

These paper fasteners are the most recent additions to my collection. I first referenced these fasteners in the Stapler of the Week entry for the Chadwick Stapleless Stapler. As stated before, I have been fascinated by the stapleless fastener ever since I stumbled upon their existence. Whether they were created to conserve staples or just to compete with the stapler industry, they did not catch on the way one might think they should. Perhaps the fact that the process was a far less reversible than stapling is behind it not being a common household item. These two hand-held examples were also accompanied by desktop models which resembled staplers of the time.


The process by which the paper is fastened is I think exactly the same. It is more visible on the Clipless model. One can see what appears to be a smaller punch with an eye like a needle and then a larger chisel shaped punch. As you can guess, the larger punch creates the tab and the smaller punch the hole which the tab slips in. When the fastener is fully depressed, the tab is slipped into the eye of the smaller punch. As the fastener is released and the punches withdraw from the paper, the tab is pulled through, fastening the paper together.


Excerpt from the Stapler of the Week, September 10, 2007.
at

3 comments:

  1. AdminSeptember 1, 2008 at 8:15 PM

    I have one of these in Chrome in near perfect condition, works great. No rust of any sort on it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ross QuinnJuly 11, 2009 at 7:09 AM

    I am lucky to have my grandfather's Bump paper fastener: He was a pharmacist, had it in his store in Oakland, Calif, and around the house after he retired. I found it as a kid, and just loved playing with it then: And I still do some 50 years later! It is the patent July 21, 1914 model, chrome finish. It is still nice and shiney, just a touch of rust, but works perfectly, and like all good tools, it just feels nice and solid in my hand. I showed it to some friends at a meeting, and they immediately dubbed it the "eco stapler." They had never heard of one, let alone seen one in action.. They were impressed! What would it cost to get another one? --Ross Quinn

    ReplyDelete
  3. SkippyJune 19, 2012 at 9:11 AM

    In the UK, I also have a July 21 1914 model that I use most days. Great to avoid staples, so environmentally friendly, but also a well designed and beautiful article to use.

    ReplyDelete