EP1009637B1

EP1009637B1 - Paper clip

Info

Publication number: EP1009637B1
Application number: EP97930968A
Authority: EP
Inventors: David Lindeby; Tomas Ekberg; Susanna Englund
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1996-07-05
Filing date: 1997-07-02
Publication date: 2003-01-08
Anticipated expiration: 2017-07-02
Also published as: SE9602672D0; DE69718354D1; EP1009637A1; WO1998002316A1; AU3471997A

Description

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

Devices for fastening paper together have existed for a very long time. For detachable clamping paper-clips are the most common alternative. Paper-clips are manufactured from many different materials, such as plastics and metal, and in a number of shapes. Plastic paper-clips in particular have become widely used. From the environmental point of view, plastic paper-clips are not optimal, as on the one hand they draw on limited raw materials and on the other they cause problems with the handling of recycling paper if they are discarded together with the paper. The latter problem also applies to metal clips. Furthermore, conventional paper-clips have the characteristic that their material has equally great flexural rigidity in all directions, and since it is desirable that a clip should be flexible in such a way that it can take more or fewer papers at the same time as it should be so resilient that it can tightly clamp the papers properly, these functions have to be achieved by the design of the clips.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention is characterized by the characterizing part of claim 1.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following description of a preferred embodiment, reference will be made to the enclosed drawings, of which

Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of the invention seen from a side and partly cut,

Fig. 2 shows the application of the invention according to Fig. 1 and

Fig. 3 shows examples of forms of the invention

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The clamping device 10, hence termed clip, shown in the drawings comprises three

fastening elements

12, 14 attached to a holding element 16, formed from an even flat sheet, with all fastening elements directed principally in the same direction and thus arranged in the same plane. The outer elements 12 are longer than the central element 14 and connected by a connecting element 17. The clip thus has the shape of a frame 18 with a central tongue 14 inside the frame. A recess 20 is preferably arranged at the transition between the tongue 14 and the frame 18. When using the clip it is pushed over the edge of a bundle of papers 22, whereby the tongue 14 bears on one side and the frame 18 bears on the other side of the papers, until the edge of the papers comes into contact with the edge 23 of the holding element 16 along the line 1 formed by the recess. The clip is constructed from an odd number of thin layers of wood 24, in the embodiment shown three pieces of essentially the same thickness, joined to one another.

The layers are joined so that every other layer is oriented with the fibre direction F principally perpendicular to the fibre direction F of the preceding layer. The layers are arranged so that they coincide essentially with the line 1 on the one hand and on the other hand they are principally perpendicular to the line and arranged so that the fibre directions in the case of the smaller number of layers mainly coincide with the line. Due to this design, a greater flexibility is obtained in a plane P₁, Fig. 2, perpendicular to the paper and along the edge of the paper and greater flexural rigidity in a plane P₂ perpendicular to the paper and perpendicular to the edge of the paper. In this way the clip moulds itself by means of its construction to the paper by bending in that direction at the same time as it clamps the papers tightly in the other direction. The recess 20 ensures that the clip can hold a bundle of papers of a certain thickness.

In the embodiment shown, the number of layers is odd and the layers are mostly of the same thickness. It is also possible to have an even number of layers, but in this case the different layers are of a different thickness to achieve varying flexural rigidity in different directions. For example, a clip can be conceived with two layers, in which the layer which has the fibre directions along the edge of the paper is thinner and the layer with the fibre directions perpendicular to the edge of the paper is thicker. It is also possible to use several types of wood of varying flexural rigidity and combine them to obtain the desired function. A layer of paper, reinforcing mesh or the like can also be inserted between the layers to strengthen the clip. If the clip is shaped as a triangle, as shown for example in Fig. 3, it is possible to apply layers which are parallel with the outer edges of the clip, thus partly crosswise, to strengthen the outer fastening elements. However, it should be understood that the number of layers, their fibre directions and thickness as well as the type of wood can be varied in a number of ways to achieve the desired function of the clip.

The clip can be manufactured of several different types of wood, but the best result is obtained with a type of wood of homogeneous hardness such as birch, for example.

In contrast to metal and plastic clips, which have to have a special design to obtain varying flexural rigidity in different directions, this is achieved with the clip according to the present invention by way of the construction of the clip. Due to the fact that the clip according to the invention has a surface structure which largely corresponds to the surface structure of paper, a greater friction is obtained between these than is the case with metal and plastic clips.

A number of advantages are obtained with a clip according to the invention. The clip can be formed for example by water or laser cutting in a number of different ways by simply cutting the desired shape from a board constructed with varying numbers of layers of wood. The appearance does not therefore need to be governed by the fact that certain functions have to be obtained. From the environmental point of view, a wooden clip is considerably better than metal and plastic paper-clips and can be discarded together with recycling paper. The layers of wood are joined together preferably using a suitable environmentally harmless adhesive.

It should be understood that the invention is not restricted to the embodiment described above and shown in the drawings, but can be modified within the scope of the following claims. The clip can thus be designed in a number of other shapes as shown in Fig. 3. The essential factor is that the clip is constructed of a number of layers of wood in which the fibre direction of one layer is principally perpendicular to the preceding layer, so that greater flexibility is obtained in a plane perpendicular to the paper and along the edge of the paper and a greater flexural rigidity is obtained in a plane perpendicular to the paper and perpendicular to the edge of the paper.

Claims

Clamping device for paper and other sheet-like articles, hence termed clip (10), comprising at least three fastening elements (12, 14) with a gap between and joined to a holding element (16), in which all elements are formed from an even flat sheet with all fastening elements directed essentially in the same direction and lying principally in the same plane, in that, when the clip is slipped over a paper edge, at least two fastening elements (12) can be placed on one side of the paper and the intermediate fastening element (14) can be placed on the other side of the paper until the edge of the paper lies close to the holding element (16), characterized in that the clip comprises a number of layers of wood (24) joined to one another, that the fibre direction (F) of at least one layer is principally perpendicular to the edge of the paper when the clip is affixed, that the fibre direction of at least one other layer is at an angle in relation to the preceding layer, in that the layers are chosen such that the clip has greater flexural rigidity in a plane (P₂) perpendicular to the edge of the paper and perpendicular to the paper than in a plane (P₁) along the edge of the paper and perpendicular to the paper.
Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the fibre directions (F) of the different layers (24) are essentially perpendicular to one another.
Device according to claim 1, characterized in that there is an odd number of layers (24) and that the fibre directions (F) of the smaller number of layers (24) mainly coincide with the edge of the paper when the clip (10) is affixed.
Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the layers (24) are chosen such that they are of varying thickness and that the fibre direction (F) of the thinner layers (24) mainly coincides with the edge of the paper when the clip (10) is affixed.
Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the layers (24) have different types of wood of varying flexural rigidity and that the fibre directions (F) of the layers (24) with lower flexural rigidity mainly coincide with the edge of the paper when the clip (10) is affixed.
Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the number of the fastening elements (12, 14) is three and that spaces (20) are arranged between the outer (12) and the central fastening element (14) to create space for a bundle of paper (22).
Device according to claim 6, characterized in that the outer fastening elements (12) arc longer than the central fastening element (14) and are connected to one another
Device according to claim 1, characterized in that, when the clip (10) is designed as a triangle, the fibre directions (F) of at least two layers (24) mainly coincide with the outer edges of the outer fastening elements (12).