A long time ago, people invented all kinds of writing materials, such as papyrus in ancient Egypt, paper in China, parchment in Europe and so on. These trivial things record the bits and pieces of human society and need to be properly preserved. To save, we must first solve the problem of fixing, so the problem of fixing paper is highlighted. The previous solution was to drill holes or cut seams on paper, then string them together with cloth strips or ribbons and fix the two ends with wax. This method has been used until today, but it is still very troublesome.
Another method is to fix it with a pin. It is said that after Semu people fixed their clothes with pins made of iron or copper in 3000 BC, the use of pins became more and more extensive. However, due to the limitation of manufacturing technology, the cost is very expensive. At that time, British law even stipulated that this rare treasure must be sold on a specific day. After the industrial revolution, the production of pins has entered a new era, and its cost has been greatly reduced. Finally, the word pin money appeared, which shows that pin is cheap and widely used.
Fixing the paper with a pin also has traces, but it is much better than fixing the cuts with a tape. However, the pins produced in batch are easy to rust, and the pins that fix the paper are rusty and pollute the paper, which is unsightly, and the pinholes left by frequent paper patting are also unsightly. As a result, people began to imagine a new gadget for fixing paper.
In order to solve this problem, the "paper clip" appeared in the19th century. The earliest paper clip was a metal plate with two small teeth, and the paper was sandwiched between the metal plate and the small teeth. This paper clip will also leave marks on the paper, but it won't scratch the paper or fingers like a pin. This paper clip was patented by 1864, and since then, the edge of the document paper will never be torn by a pin.
Since then, various paper clips have come out one after another. Finally, a paper clip with a spring device appeared, which was similar to the paper clip we use now, but the material at that time could not meet the requirements, because steel wire was still a new thing in the second half of the19th century. It is not easy to choose a material that satisfies Hooke's law.
After steel was widely used, the earliest paper clips came out. We don't know how the design of paper clips got into the mind of Norwegian Johan Vaaler. He invented this gadget in 1899, but because there was no patent system in Norway at that time, he applied for this invention in Germany instead. During World War II, Norwegians pinned paper clips on the neckline of their clothes to protest the German invasion.
Vera's invention was patented by 190 1 in the United States, as shown in the figure 1. The description of the patent is as follows: an elastic material, such as iron wire, is bent into a rectangle, a triangle or other shapes, and the first section and the second section of the iron wire are finally parallel. We can see that the paper clip he invented is very similar to today's paper clip, but there is an important difference, that is, there are fewer paper clips than now. The disadvantage of this paper clip is that it is not easy to open when clamping files. One more lap is not complicated, but the inventor didn't think of it.
1896, Mathew Schooley, an American, also applied for this patent, but there is still one less winding, but the first and second wires overlap, not parallel.
Cornelius Joslin also applied for a patent for paper clips at 1900, as shown in Figure 2. This paper clip is quite useful, but it will still damage the paper or make it fall off. 1935, he invented a new paper clip made of elastic iron wire.
However, this paper clip was later replaced by a gem paper clip. Later, it almost became synonymous with paper clips. The exact inventor of this paper clip is unknown, but it is deeply loved by users. Some people praise "being a gem" for posterity, and believe that archaeologists will give it a high evaluation in the future. Among all inventions, "gem" is perfect! Gem can do its job just by applying Hooke's law. People think that the invention of paper clips has come to an end, and any improvement is clumsy and useless.
But there are still inventors who refute this statement. 1934, Henry Lancnau thinks his patent is better than "gem". His improvement is to make the heresy of the paper clip square, and the other section is V-shaped, so that the paper is easier to clip in. The two ring parts of the V-shape are very close and have strong clamping force.
Rancknu called his design "the perfect diamond". In fact, the librarian really thinks that this paper clip is not easy to scratch the pages.
192 1 A man named Karady applied for a patent. He made the return path of the paper clip very close to the paper, and the needle body was made into a "knot", which could not only clamp the paper but also hurt it. Only then did the paper clip take its present shape.
When the design is finalized, the processing technology of bent iron wire is becoming more and more mature. So a variety of paper clips with different paper qualities and thicknesses appeared. People began to pursue beautiful and generous appearance, so this became the new goal of the inventor of paper clip. The changes of the current paper clip mainly lie in the following points: 1, and plastic skins of various colors are added to the outer layer of the paper clip. In fact, this makes the function of paper clips relatively weakened, but consumers ignore these shortcomings. This confirms the influence of style and aesthetics on the evolution of appliances.
Paper clips made of all plastics appeared in the 1950s, which was a novelty at that time, but its use soon became apparent. Because plastic paper clips are not magnetic, they will not damage computer data and will not hurt the copier when copying.