The History of Staplers Leave a comment

So what is a stapler and what does a stapler do?

A stapler is a mechanical device that joins pages of paper or similar material by driving a thin metal staple through the sheets and folding the ends. Staplers are widely used in businesses, offices, homes, and schools.

The word “stapler” can actually refer to a number of different devices of varying uses. In addition to joining paper sheets together, staplers can also be used in a surgical setting to join tissue together with surgical staples to close a surgical wound (much in the same way as sutures).

There are so many kinds of staplers – from heavy duty staplers, long-arm staplers, mini staplers, electric staplers, rotatable staplers, power-saving staplers… even staple-less staplers! This practical tool can help everyone meet many needs to put two materials together, making it a very useful invention.

The first known stapler appeared in France in the 1700’s

Before staplers and staples were invented, there was gluing, sewing, and stamping with wax as ways to attach pages together. All were strong efforts, though nothing held large paper stacks together as a single document.

It wasn’t until King Louis XV requested a better way to tack paper together that the world was introduced to a “stapler.”

The first stapler was handmade in the 18th century in France for King Louis XV and each staple inscribed the insignia of the royal court as required.

Legend has it that this ornate stapler was made with gold material and precious stones… imagine the value and appearance of the first stapler!

The First Modern Stapler

In 1866, the first stapler was born thanks to Novelty Manufacturing Company, with staples made of gold and the unit holding only a single staple a time.

Simultaneously in that same year of 1866, there was another design brainstormed and patented that would soon see the light of day. It was a bendable paper fastener (a staple) introduced by a man named George McGill. His invention of a unit that would push the fasteners into the paper was licensed in 1867. Just two years later, McGill’s stapler would be welcomed into the market. Even then, reloading the unit was an often-recurring task. Patents for McGill’s Single-Stroke Staple Press came in 1879, where the machine both injected and clinched the staple.

However, stapling was still not convenient because it had to be constantly reloaded, one by one.

Technically, there is no one person who really invented the stapler as a whole. Each year to come would introduce new improvements.

The Reloading Dilemma, Solved

Years passed and in the late 1800s, versions of this invention come about from various people. In 1895, an even more revolutionary machine that we would now recognize as a stapler was developed by E.H. Hotchkiss Company in Connecticut. It used a strip of staples wired together to solve the reloading dilemma.

An even simpler reloading design came in 1937, almost 70 years after the first stapler emerged. Stationary wholesaler, Jack Linsey, created a design that would allow users to simply open the top of the machine to insert a row of staplers. As you could guess, the business of staplers only grew from there.

Bostitch’s Role

Where was Bostitch in all of this? Well, a fresh new way to bind books together was invented in 1896. Thomas Briggs created what would later become known as wire stitches, binding books using wire. He later founded the Boston Wire Stitches Company and released the very first foot-operated Boston Wire Stitches in 1903.

Three years later, the Bostitch Model – a Staple Binder -was developed. This Bostitch product used the first pre-formed staples on tin cores. 1914 came around and the Bo stitch Model AO was produced. It featured a compact design and simplified loading, great for widespread use. Then, in 1923, the Bo stitch Model B-1 Desk Stapler was introduced. It had an affordable stamped steel construction and was the first to use a coiled pusher spring. The development of the first strip of easy-to-load “cemented” staples (standard staples) came a year later in 1924.

Staplers Today

Since then, paper staplers have come a long way and are now available in two distinct types: manual and electric. Manual staplers are normally hand-held, although models that are used while sitting on a desk or other surface are not uncommon. Electric staplers exist in a variety of different designs and models. Their primary operating function is to join large numbers of paper sheets together in rapid succession. Some electric staplers can join up to 20 sheets at a time.

Check out this sleek Bostich stapler with a built-in pencil sharpener

 

Source: Wikipedia.org