The present invention relates to a clip and in particular, stationery clips to be used with paper, card or the like.
Various different clips are well known for holding together a plurality of sheets of paper. Examples include a bull dog clip and the well known basic or common wire paper clip.
Clips have also been proposed for marking a particular page or a particular part of a page. For example, clips in the shape of an arrow can be used to indicate where a signature is needed. Clips are also known which have a tab portion which protrudes beyond the edge of a page or divider to which the clip has been attached. This allows a particular page or section to be easily referenced. The tab is, however, made of plastic and is only possible to be marked with a suitable water proof marker. This is inconvenient for the user if they do not have the required marker to hand.
It has also been proposed to provide clips with advertising across one of the clipping parts (WO02/28217).
Despite these items, there still remains a need for new clips that can be used, for example, to mark pages or to attach information to a sheet.
The present invention now provides a clip that addresses the problems identified above. In particular, according to one aspect of the invention a clip includes a clipping part for clipping to an object, and a tab part arranged to extend from the clipping part. The tab part includes a first plastics material and a second rubber material, the rubber material being markable with ink from a conventional pen.
In a beneficial embodiment, the plastics material comprises polypropylene or polystyrene. The rubber material preferably comprises a thermoplastic rubber or a thermoplastic elastomer, and the plastics material and rubber material may be bonded together. Alternately, the plastics material and the rubber material may have a form locking connection therebetween. Such a form locking connection is preferably provided by the rubber material extending through the plastics material, and having a region at either end of the rubber material to engage the plastics material. The rubber material advantageously has a Shore Hardness of between 55 and 95, and in a preferred implementation, between 70 and 90. These type of rubber materials can be marked with an aqueous ink from a conventional ball-point pen.
In an embodiment, the clipping part is partially received in the tab part. In addition, at least one of the plastics material and the rubber material may be molded. Preferably, a raised portion is provided on a side of the tab part opposite to that which has the rubber material. The raised portion may include writing, a logo, a design or a picture. In a beneficial implementation, the plastics material and the rubber material have a form locking connection therebetween and the form locking connection is arranged to be coplanar with a surface of the raised portion.
According to another aspect of the invention, provided is a method of making a clip that includes a clipping part for clipping to an object and a tab part arranged to extend from the clipping part. The tab part having a material markable with ink from a pen. The method includes inserting the clipping part into a first part of a mold, closing the mold with a second part, injecting a plastics material, removing one part of the mold and replacing it with a third mold part, introducing a rubber material into the mold to thereby produce the material markable with ink from a pen, and removing the clip from the mold.
In an advantageous implementation, vertical injection molding is used. A common first mold part may be used, and the method may further include removing a portion of the mold part and replacing it with a different part. Preferably, removing a portion of the first mold part takes place before the step of introducing a rubber material.
According to another aspect of the invention, provided is a clip including a clipping part for clipping to an object, and a tab part arranged to extend from the clipping part. The clipping part includes a material markable with ink from a pen, and the tab part has an opening therethrough to accommodate a portion of the clipping part.
In an embodiment, the clipping part is made of at least one of a metal and a plastic. Advantageously, the tab part is molded onto the clipping part. In an implementation, a part of the clipping part is received in the tab part. Preferably, the clipping part and the tab part are made of the same material. In an embodiment, the clip has a one piece structure so that the tab part and the clipping part are integral. This can be achieved by molding the two components together according to the method described herein.
According to another aspect of the invention, provided is a clip that includes a clipping part for clipping to an object, and a tab part arranged to extend from the clipping part. The tab part includes a material markable with ink from a pen and has a portion protruding from the tab part on a side opposite to that from which the clipping part extends.
In another aspect of the invention, provided is a clip that includes a clipping part for clipping, and a tab part arranged to extend from the clipping part. Again, the tab part comprises a material that is markable with ink from a conventional pen.
In an advantageous embodiment, the tab part is provided by at least one layer applied to the clipping part. Preferably, the layer is adhered to the clipping part. In an implementation, the layer has a slot, the clipping part engaging with the slot. The clipping part may include first and second parts. In this implementation, the first part may be arranged on one side of the layer and the second part arranged on the other side of the layer. Preferably, at least one further layer is attached to the clipping part. Advantageously, at least one of the layer and the further layer, if provided, is arranged to be a material capable of being marked by ink. In a preferred implementation, the layer and the further layer encapsulate the clipping part. At least one of the first layer and the further layer, if provided, includes at least one of a paper layer, a plastic layer, a metallic layer, and a textile layer. In an implementation, at least one of the first layer and the further layer, if provided, is transparent or is opaque. In another beneficial embodiment, the clipping part includes an opening and a resilient tongue. Preferably, the opening and tongue are in the same plane. Advantageously, the tongue is mounted so as to extend towards a plane containing the opening. The tongue may be substantially rectangular, triangular, square, circular, semi-circular, or ovoid. A part of the clipping part may be received in the tab part. Preferably, the tab part comprises two sides connectable together, and the two sides may be hinged along one side thereof. The clip may have a substantially T shape, figure eight shape, rectangular shape, circular shape, triangular shape, semi-circular shape, square shape, elliptical shape or ovoid shape. In an embodiment wherein the clipping part has a first side and a second side, the first and second sides are resiliently biased one towards the other for at least part of the first and second sides. Preferably, an opening is defined between the corresponding edges of the first and second sides adjacent to where the first and second sides are connected. In an advantageous embodiment, at least one of the sides includes a mark indicating a direction in which the clip is to be moved relative to material to be clipped. Preferably, the indication includes one of a mark or a cut out portion.
According to another aspect of the invention, provided is a clip that includes a resilient member arranged to be attached to at least one sheet, and a first layer attached to the resilient member, the layer comprising a material capable of being marked by ink.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a clip having a first part comprising an opening and a second part arranged to extend partially above the opening and partially into the plane containing the opening, wherein materials to be clipped are arranged to lie between the first part and the second part.
In an advantageous implementation, the second part is biased at least partially towards the opening. Preferably, the second part has a first end connected to the first part and a second end remote from the first end, the second end being arranged to extend into the plane of the opening. The first end may be arranged to extend away from the plane of the opening so that the second part partially extends above the opening. The opening is preferably defined by walls, the walls having a height on the side adjacent the opening which is less than that on the side remote from the opening.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a clip having a first part that includes an opening and a second part arranged to cooperate with the first part so that materials to be clipped are arranged to lie between the first part and the second part, wherein the opening is defined by walls, the walls having a height on the side adjacent the opening which is less than that on the side remote from the opening.
Other aspects, purposes and advantages of the invention will become clear after reading the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
a to 3c show various clips embodying the present invention when used as markers;
a shows a view from above of a further embodiment of the present invention;
b shows a cross-section of the clip of
a and 10b show an embodiment of the present invention where a thermal bond is provided between rubber material on which an image can be marked and the plastics material forming a tab part in addition with a form locking connection;
a and 11b show another embodiment similar to that of
In the described embodiments of the present invention, the clip is arranged to be attached to one or more sheets of paper, card, a folder, a diary, a book or the like.
Reference is now made to
The clipping part 2 has a first end 4 and a second end 6. Starting from end 4, the wire adopts a V shaped configuration 8. From the end of the V different to end 4, which extends outwardly from the end portion 4 by a small amount, a substantially rectangular portion 10 is defined which surrounds the V and ends with end portion 6 of the wire. The clipping part 2 shown in
In one embodiment, the upper surface 14 comprises paper while the rear surface 16 comprises a plastic material. As shown in
A cut 20 is provided below the V shaped portion 8 of the clip. The cut 20 is positioned so that the wire clip is not exposed by the cut. Accordingly, the cut 20 is spaced from the V shaped portion 8 of the clip 4 by a suitable distance. This cut 20 is provided through both the first layer 14 and the second layer 16. In an alternative embodiment, the cut may only extend through the first layer with the papers held by the clip being between the first and second layers.
The second layer 16 is one embodiment of the present invention is transparent. This means that the clipping part 2 may be visible. In embodiments of the invention, one or both of the layers may be transparent. This can be either the top layer 14 or the back layer 16. Likewise, one or other or both of the layers may be opaque. Again, this can be the top layer 14 or the back layer 16. The material to make the various layers can be selected as appropriate. At least one of the layers comprises a writable material, such as paper or suitably treated plastics.
It should be understood that, if in one embodiment of the invention, the material of the layer may itself be not able to be written on but a further portion is provided on that layer on which the user can write. The layers can comprise any suitable material, such as paper, card, plastic, foil, metal, metal covered plastic or any other suitable combinations thereof. In preferred embodiments of the present invention, one layer, preferably but not necessarily, layer 14 has a portion or itself is of a material on which the user can write with any suitable writing instruments such as a ball point pen, felt tip marker, pencil or the like. It is also possible that the area on which the user is to write be of a plastics material which requires a particular type of marker, such as a waterproof marking pen to write thereon. It should be appreciated that embodiments of the present invention, the user may be able to write on both sides of the clip.
The clip preferable has a portion 22 which extends above the clipping part 2. Thus, when the clip 12 is attached to a sheet of material, the portion 22 will extend from the sheet of paper and thus be visible, this portion 22 thus acts as a marker or indexing portion.
The two layers of material 14 and 16 may be blistered/hot formed about the clipping part 2. The two layers may be stuck to one another by means of an adhesive. The two layers may be stuck together using laminating techniques. Alternatively, the layers may be made of such material that the application of heat and/or pressure causes the two layers to adhere together.
It should be appreciated that the shape of the basic wire paperclip can take any suitable format. For example, the rectangular part of the clip may be replaced a U shaped portion, another V shaped portion or indeed any other suitable shape. The V shaped portion itself maybe U shaped, square, semi circular or any other suitable shape.
In use, the sheet or sheets of paper or card are inserted between the V shaped portion of the clipping part and the rectangular portion 10 of the clipping part. This is by means of the opening 20 provided in the clip 12. The tab portion 22 will protrude from the top of the sheets of paper or the like.
Reference will now be made to
The clip 50 comprises a base 52. The base 52 can take any suitable shape. In the embodiment shown in
The base 52 has an opening 54 which is generally rectangular in shape. This opening 54 can of course can any other suitable shapes such as U shaped, V shaped, square, circular etc. Extending from one side 55 of the opening 54 is a resiliently mounted or sprung tongue 56. The tongue 56 extends from side 55 and out of the plane containing the opening 54. The tongue 56 then slops downwardly into the plane containing opening 54. Thus, when the paper or the like is inserted under the tongue 56, the resiliently mounted tongue 56 will tend to push the paper or the like down into the plane containing opening 54 thus allowing the papers to be retained in place.
The base has a portion 58 extending from side 55 of the opening. Portion 58 is arranged so that when one or more papers are retained in position by the tongue 56, portion 58 will project from the papers. Portion 58 contains will have a writeable surface either from the nature of the upper layer of the material itself or because a writeable portion has been applied to this region. In some embodiments of the present invention, the clip shown in
The tongue 56 can have any suitable shape such as V shaped, U shaped, rectangular or square. The extent by which the tongue rises about the plane of opening 54 will determine how many sheets of paper or thickness of material that can be accommodated under the tongue 56.
a to 3b show a further embodiment of the invention. The user is supplied with clips 70 together with a supply of pre-cut cards 72. The clip 70 is arranged to be attached to the piece of card 72 as will now be described.
The clip can have any suitable structure. In the embodiment shown, the clip 70 has a first clipping part 74 and a second clipping part 76 which are arranged to hold material therebetween. The first and second clipping parts 74 and 76 are each generally in the shape of an “m”. The first and second clipping parts are connected at a first point 78 at the beginning of the “m” and at a second point 80 at the end of the “m”. The middle part 84 of the “m” of the first clipping part is not joined to the middle part 82 of the second clipping part 76. The middle part 84 of the first clip is arranged to define a circular part at the end thereof. The middle part 82 of the second part comprises two separate legs side by side. Thus the ends of the two legs at the bottom of the middle part are not joined together. The lowest points of the two middle parts 82 and 84 may be at the same level. This level is above the level of the base of the “m”s.
The middle part 84 of the first clipping part may be arranged to define an arc above the plane containing the clip. In this embodiment, the top of the first clipping part 74 is lower than the top of the second clipping part 76.
The card 72 has a slot 86 which is arranged to receive the clip.
Reference is made to
Reference is made to
As with the embodiment in
As demonstrated by
The wire part 102 is preferably made of wire, resilient plastic or the like. The tab 104 is preferable made out of a plastics material. The tab portion may be written on by a suitable marking pen or may have material applied thereto which allows the user to write thereon. Examples of such a material include certain types of plastic and paper layers.
In one modification to the arrangement shown in
When the sheets of material or the like are clipped between the two Vs 106 and 108, tab portion 104 will project from the top of the sheet of material and can thus act as an index or marking part. The tab portion may have any other suitable shape and for example may be circular, oval, triangular, flower shaped, arrow shaped, exclamation mark shaped, question mark shaped, star shaped or the like. The tab portion may be opaque or transparent. The tab portion may have a planar surface or alternatively the tab portion may have a curved surface.
It should be understood that the shape of the clipping part in the tab portion can have any suitable shape. For example, the clip may be an inverted u-shape, a square shape, an inverted v-shape, a rectangular shape, a triangular shape or the like.
a and b show a further clip 130 according to the present invention. The clip 130 is made a one piece clip of a plastics material. The plastics material comprises a first part 134 contained in a first plane and a second part 136 at least partially in a different plane. The first part 134 in the first plane has a portion 138 to which a writeable area is attached. The first portion 134 has an opening 140 which in this example is generally in the shape of a half circle. The outer perimeter of the first portion 134 around the opening 140 is a similar shape. Thus, the first portion 134 comprises a unshaped portion about the opening. Attached to a wall across the straight side of the half circle is wall 139 which extends perpendicularly away from the first plane. This is attached to tongue 136. Tongue 136 is resiliently biased downwardly towards and preferably into the opening 140 of the first portion 134. The size of wall 139 determines the number of papers which can be accommodated by the clip. The wall 139 may be substantially flat or may be curved.
b is a cross-section along line A-A of
In preferred embodiments of the present invention, the clip shown in
a to 8d which show a further clip embodying the present invention. The clip 300 has a first side 302 and a second side 304. Side 302 is arranged to contact one side of a sheet bundle or the like and side 304 is arranged to contact the other side. The clip is manufactured from a resilient material such that the sides 302 and 304 are biased, at least towards their edges, towards each other. The two sides 302 and 304 are joined by spine portion 306. Spine portion 306 extends along only part of the length of the respective edges of sides 302 and 304. On side 302, a tab portion 308 is provided. Tab portion 308 extends generally in the same plane as side 302 and outwardly from spine portion 306. Thus, in use, the top of a sheet of paper will contact with the inner surface of spine portion 306 and tab portion 308 thus projects outwardly. As far as side 304 is concerned, the part of the side contiguous with region 306 is free.
Reference is now made to
The clip can have any suitable shape. In the arrangement shown in
In one embodiment of the present invention, a cut out portion 322 is provided on at least one surface, for example, surface 304. This cut out portion has an arrow with an arrow head 306 defined adjacent to the end of side 304 remote from spine portion 306 and adjacent tab portion 308. The body of the arrow is curved and generally follows the curved edge 316 of the upper surface 304. This is for decorative purposes and could be any other shape. The arrow head is used to show the user the direction in which the clip needs to be moved in order to be slid on to the sheets of material.
The clip shown in
The tab part of the clip may be of or have a layer of any suitable material on which the user is able to write using a pen, ball point pen, pencil, felt tip or any other suitable writing instrument. Embodiments of the invention provide the advantage that the user does not have to have a special marker in order to write on the tab. The layer or material which is writable can be any suitable material and by way of example may be paper, certain types of plastic, rubber, rubber compounds. For example rubber or rubber compounds have a Shore Hardness of around 95 can be used. The Shore Hardness may be at least 70. More preferably the Shore Hardness is at least 80. Preferably, the Shore Hardness is between 70 and 90. The writable portion may be such that images written with certain writing instruments such a ball point pen, felt tip pens, or pencil can be erased with for example thermoplastic or the like erasers. The clipping part may be made of any suitable material such as wire, metal, steel, plastics or the like.
Reference is now made to
The clip 450 shown in
Also shown in
The embodiment shown in
a and 11b show a modification to the embodiment of
Those parts which are similar or the same as shown in
In embodiments of the present invention, the tab part can take any suitable form.
It should be appreciated that the method described in relation to
In one embodiment of the present invention, the plastic material may be blue or any other suitable color and the write and erase rubber material already discussed, may be white. The rubber material can be flowed on to the plastic.
The triangular clipping part used in some embodiments has the advantage of increasing gripping ability without creasing or damaging plastic. However, as mentioned previously, the clipping part can take any suitable form.
Embodiments of the present invention have described the presence of a tab portion on which the user is able to write. It should be appreciated that in some embodiments of the present invention, clips with pre-printed portions may be provided on the clips. The pre-printed words can be any suitable words such as for example “sign here”; “section 1”: “part 1”; “index”; “read”; “news”; “project” or the like.
It should be appreciated that embodiments of the present invention can be provided in any suitable shape. Any aspects of any embodiment can be combined with any aspect of any other embodiment.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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GB 0407824.2 | Apr 2004 | GB | national |