1.  Introduction 

Staplers have no single inventor but George McGill was the man who placed a patent for a ‘bendable paper fastener’ in 1867, introducing the first staplers into the market (Bostitch, 2018). Over the next twenty years, staplers underwent many variations; when staples were begun being made with wire in the 1880s (Office Museum, n.d), some staplers used pre-formed staples or could be fed a length of wire (Invention and Tech, 2002). Some were meant to be used with a mallet (Invention and Tech, 2002) but nothing was widely used until the introduction of the Hotchkiss No. 1 Paper Fastener in 1895 (Invention and Tech, 2002) after staplers formed staples from straight pins (Office Museum, n.d). 

The 1930s introduced Parrot Speed company, now Swingline, which invented the magazine open channel stapler in 1938 (Wall Street Journal). This is the widely used stapler today that allows the user to reload staples without extra tools (Invention and Tech, 2002). Swingline’s bright red stapler, featured in ‘Office Space’ 1999, garnered an influx of customers and popularity to the company, cementing Swingline as a top brand in office supplies (Wall Street Journal). The Swingline Optima 25 Reduced Effort Staplers Reduced Effort Staplers Reduced Effort Stapler, released in 2015 (Swingline), is a virtually silent stapler that doesn’t jam and requires minimal pressure by the user making it a reliable option for consumers.

(Image from Slideshare of stapler parts)   

2. Technical Description 

 The Swingline Optima 25 Reduced Effort Staplers Reduced Effort Staplers, made up of plastic and metal, use ¼ inch staples and have a paper capacity of 25. It weighs .96 ounces and its dimensions are 7.1 by 3.1 by 1.9 inches (Amazon, n.d). Swingline staplers consist of three main parts: the handle, the carrier, and the base. The handle has a top housing which includes an additional side cover, a spring, and a blade. The carrier has a tension spring, staple pusher, staple support, and staple carrier. The base has a pivot pin with its retainer, anvil plate, and base cover.

The top housing of the Swingline stapler is made of rubber trim and hard plastic. This creates a soft grip for consumers to apply pressure and hold. The Swingline staplers have a blue hard plastic side cover in their top housing, which further secures the carrier cover. 

The space between the top housing and the blue plastic Swingline has a spring, which allows the stapler to increase the pressure from the pressure already applied. The carrier spring allows the stapler to recover from the pressure and maintain an accessible base. 

(picture of red staple pusher, held by taut tension cord, and black pin on top holding tension cord tautly in Swingline Optima 25 Reduced Effort Staplers Reduced Effort)

            

On the outward tip of the top housing, there is a blade. The blade of the Swingline staple pushes the staplers into the anvil plate and punctures the paper.

The top housing spring is located directly under the top housing. This spring, in addition to the spring in the carrier cover, guides the pressure from the consumer and gives the stapler a smooth push. 

Underneath the carrier cover, there is a tension spring. The spring is held tautly by a small gear on top. This allows the spring to move back and forth within the staple carrier to guide the staple pusher and staples to the front of the stapler. 

The tension spring is connected to a red plastic staple pusher. This pusher follows the push of the tension spring and makes the staples stay at the front of the stapler, in preparation for the pressure. 

The staple support gives the staples a cover to their carrier. It also is what the tension spring is attached to and helps add pressure to the staples to push them towards the edge of their carrier. 

The staple carrier is where all the staples are loaded into. The carrier holds the staple pusher attached to the tension cord. 

The pivot pin holds everything in the stapler together. From the top housing to the staple carrier, all parts of the Swingline stapler has a single hole on the end. That is where the pivot pin is inserted. The pin rests within a retainer to make sure everything is held together.

The anvil plate sits on the base of the stapler, and it’s what pushed the staplers into the paper. The indents in the anvil frame force the straight pin staples to curve and puncture the paper.

(base cover of Swingline stapler) 

The base cover on the Swingline stapler is made up of thick rubber, making the stapler more comfortable to hold. There is an indent on the base cover of the Swingline stapler that molds into your thumb. This makes the stapling process without a desktop easier. Additionally, the rubber base cover prevents the stapler from moving around on a desktop. 

3. Conclusion 

The Swingline stapler is an innovation because it provides jamless silent stapling with minimal effort. The trough of the stapler, where staplers feed into the anvil plate and are bent by the blade, is the perfect size for the staples in the magazine. This prevents jamming before it occurs. The blade of the Swingline is sharp and thick. Because of the efficacy of the blade, as well as the indents in the anvil plate being the perfect groove for the blade, the Swingline is virtually silent when stapling paper. These attributes of the Swingline Reduced Effort Optima 25 act reliably with the input of minimal pressure. The spring between the blue plastic cover and top housing, in addition to the top housing spring, makes the experience of pressure applied to the top of the stapler smoother. The smooth push of the stapler and multiple uses of springs, including a taut tension cord, require the consumer to input a casual amount of pressure. 

Works Cited

Staplers, Paper Fasteners, Paper Clips. (n.d.). Www.officemuseum.com. Retrieved May 13, 2022, from https://www.officemuseum.com/staplers.htm

Street Journal, G. A. F. R. of T. W. (2002, July 2). Cult Film, 1999’s “Office Space,” Transforms Swingline Stapler. Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB1025580993822908760

 Swingline Reduced Effort Optima 25.(n.d). Amazon

The History of Staplers. (2018, May). Bostitch Office. https://bostitchoffice.com/articles/history-of-staplersWohleber, C. (2002). The Stapler | Invention & Technology Magazine. Www.inventionandtech.com. https://www.inventionandtech.com/content/stapler-0