Stapler

The growing usage of paper in the 19th century created a demand for an efficient paper fastener. In 1841 Slocum and Jillion invented a "Machine for Sticking Pins into Paper", which is often believed to be the first stapler. But their patent (September 30, 1841, Patent #2275) is for a device used for packaging pins. In 1866, George McGill received U.S. patent 56,587 for a small, bendable brass paper fastener that was a precursor to the modern staple. In 1867, he received U.S. patent 67,665 for a press to insert the fastener into paper. He showed his invention at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where architect Merik Herron helped make the base shape of the staple, and continued to work on this and various other paper fasteners throughout the 1880s. In 1868 an English patent for a stapler was awarded to C. H. Gould, and in the U.S., Albert Kletzker of St. Louis, Missouri, also patented a device. In 1877 Henry R. Heyl filed patent number 195,603 for the first machines to both insert and clinch a staple in one step, and for this reason some consider him the inventor of the modern stapler. In 1876 and 1877, Heyl also filed patents for the Novelty Paper Box Manufacturing Co. of Philadelphia, PA, However, the N. P. B. Manufacturing Co.'s inventions were to be used to staple boxes and books. The first machine to hold a magazine of many pre-formed staples came out in 1878. On February 18, 1879, George McGill received patent 212,316 for the McGill Single-Stroke Staple Press, the first commercially successful stapler. This device weighed over two and a half pounds and loaded a single wire staple, which it could drive through several sheets of paper. The first published use of the word "stapler" to indicate a machine for fastening papers with a thin metal wire was in an advertisement in the American ''Munsey's Magazine'' in 1901. Some simple modern staplers feature a fixed anvil that lacks the sheer position. Modern staplers continue to evolve and adapt to users' changing habits. Less effort or easy-squeeze/use staplers, for example, use different leverage efficiencies to reduce the amount of force the user needs to apply. As a result, these staplers tend to be used in work environments where repetitive, large stapling jobs are routine. Some modern desktop staplers make use of Flat Clinch technology. With Flat Clinch staplers, the staple legs first pierce the paper and are then bent over and pressed absolutely flat against the paper – doing away with the two-setting anvil commonly used and making use of a recessed stapling base in which the legs are folded. Accordingly, staples do not have sharper edges exposed and lead to flatter stacking of paper – saving on filing and binder space. Some photocopiers feature an integrated stapler allowing copies of documents to be automatically stapled as they are printed. ==Industry==

In 2012, $80 million worth of staplers were sold in the US. The dominant US manufacturer is Swingline. ==Methods==

Permanent fastening binds items by driving the staple through the material and into an anvil, a small metal plate that bends the ends, usually inward. On most modern staplers, the anvil rotates or slides to change between bending the staple ends inward for permanent stapling or outward for pinning (see below). Clinches can be standard, squiggled, flat, or rounded completely adjacent to the paper to facilitate neater document stacking. Pinning temporarily binds documents or other items. To pin, the anvil slides or rotates so that the staple bends outwards instead of inwards. Some staplers pin by bending one leg of the staple inwards and the other outwards. The staple binds the item with relative security but is easily removed. Tacking fastens objects to surfaces, such as bulletin boards or walls. A stapler that can tack has a base that folds back out of the way, so staples drive directly into an object rather than fold against the anvil. In this position, the staples are driven similar to the way a staple gun works, but with less force driving the staple. Saddle staplers have an inverted V-shaped saddle for stapling pre-fold sheets to make booklets. Stapleless staplers, invented in 1910, are a means of stapling that punches out a small flap of paper and weaves it through a notch. A more recent alternative method avoids the resulting hole by crimping the pages together with serrated metal teeth instead. ==Surgical staplers==

Surgeons can use surgical staplers in place of sutures to close the skin or during surgical anastomosis. A skin stapler does not resemble a standard stapler, as it has no anvil. Skin staples are commonly preshaped into an "M." Pressing the stapler into the skin and applying pressure onto the handle bends the staple through the skin and into the fascia until the two ends almost meet in the middle to form a rectangle. Staplers are commonly used intra-operatively during bowel resections in colorectal surgery. Often these staplers have an integral knife which, as the staples deploy, cuts through the bowel and maintains the aseptic field. The staples, made from surgical steel, are typically supplied in disposable sterilized cartridges. ==Types==

File:Rapid Classic Longarm Stapler HD12 1.jpg|A long-reach stapler is used to staple items such as booklets. File:BookletStapler.jpg|A booklet stapler that rotates 90 degrees for vertical or horizontal stapling. File:Clipless.jpg|Clipless Stand Machine. File:Heavy-duty-stapler-firestone.jpeg|Heavy-duty foot-activated electric stapler. File:Skin stapler closeup.jpg|Skin stapler File:Surgical stapler & cutter linear.JPG|Surgical stapler File:Black Stapler 2024.jpg|Desk stapler ==See also==