Who invented the "staple"?

Answer 1

A German company named Bostitch.

Answer 2

The first stapler in recorded history was from 18th century France. The legend says that the handmade stapling machines or fasteners were developed for King Louis XIV of France in the 1700s. Each staple was inscribed with the insignia of the royal court, as required.[1]

The growing uses of paper in the 19th century created a demand for an efficient paper fastener.[2] Modern paper fastening devices started with the patent of the first paper fastener on September 30, 1841 by Samuel Slocum. This crude device stuck pins on paper to fasten them.

Unfortunately, a thorough examination of Slocum's patent drawing and description would indicate that this machine was not a paper fastener at all, but a machine that stuck a number of pins to paper for the purpose of packaging them in quantity. Historically, Samuel Slocum's life's work was the development and sale of pins. His invention was solely for the purpose of marketing the pins that he manufactured.

On August 7, 1866, the Novelty Paper Fastener was patented by the Patent Novelty Mfg Co. It allowed a single staple to be loaded and was used to mainly bind papers or books, but also carpet, furniture or boxes. Staples for the fastener were manufactured by the P.N. Mfg Co. in several sizes: 3/16 inches, 1/4 inches, 3/8 inches, and 1/2 inches.

On July 24, 1866, George W. McGill was awarded U.S. Patent No. 56,587 for a small, bendable brass paper fastener, the precursor to the modern staple. On August 13, 1867, he received U.S. Patent No. 67,665 for a press to insert the fastener into paper. He showed his invention at the 1867 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, and continued to work on these and other various paper fasteners through the 1880s. On February 18, 1879, Patent No. 212,316 was given for the McGill Single-Stroke Staple Press. This device weighed over two and a half pounds and was able to load a single 1/2 inch wide wire staple at a time and drive it through several sheets of paper.
Clipless Stand Machine
Clipless Stand Machine

In the late 1800s and up to today, a small number of devices were developed and patented that punched paper and or folded paper to fix sheets together without a physical clip. One early example is the Clipless Stand Machine (made in Newton, Iowa) that was sold from the 1880s into the 1920s (illustration at left). It created a tongue in the paper that was folded back around to hold the paper together. Bump’s New Model Paper Fastener was competing technology that worked on a similar cutting and weaving technology.

Answer 3

go to