(* posted before but lost during a server facility power outage)

Problem - Staples, the kind you use to staple together sheets of paper, don't feed correctly when there are only 15 or so staples left in the stapler. The staples jam up in the stapler, and you have to pry them out with a knife. Or they come out all twisted, and the twisted staples are very difficult to remove with a staple remover.

Adding another brick of staples doesn't solve it, because the old brick of staples is too short to be stable. It just pops up or goes crooked. The only thing to do is pop them out and throw them away, or put them back in the staple box in the hopes that they will magically mend themselves onto all the other 15-stable nubs in there.

Solution - Manufacture staple bricks with a stabilizer affixed to one end. The stabilizer has the exact shape and size of a brick of 15 staples. It makes the brick the size and shape of a brick that is 15 staples longer. The stablizing extension could be made of plastic or metal. The stabilized brick is loaded into any normal stapler, with the stabilizer-end toward the back of the stapler. As you use up the brick, the stabilizer keeps the staples stable right down to the last staple. No staples are wasted! When you use the last staple in the brick, the stapler will no longer press down all the way (since it is hitting the stabilizer) and you know it is time to reload.

Camera film comes with a "Leader" to make it easier to load. So does reel-to-reel tape. So why shouldn't staples have a "Follower?"
-- robinism, Jul 28 2004

Halfbakery power outage http://www.halfbake...hatsnew.html#outage
Some information about the power outage from the site owner. [robinism, Oct 17 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]

Something like "I applaud your effort to solve the problem, but isn't there a much simpler solution, in just using a better stapler, like the one in my hand?"
-- robinism, Jul 28 2004


The power outage seems to have hit the "Stapling" section extra hard, because there was another stapling idea that was lost; Something about "Sideways stapling" from david scothern.
-- robinism, Jul 28 2004


He reposted [Robinism] under product: office supplies.
-- gnomethang, Jul 28 2004


[moderator request: How about getting rid of the power outage stuff from the title? As it is now it seems to be more centered on the outage rather than the invention idea.]
-- bristolz, Jul 28 2004


Why not just sell a reusable stabilizer brick with cheap staplers?
-- Worldgineer, Jul 28 2004


I don't see much benefit to a disposable stabilizer. If a stabilizer is to be used, I would suggest that it should be a reusable device designed to crimp onto the end of a 'brick' of staplers by fitting in-between the grooves on the staples. It may have to be custom-designed for a particular manufacturer's staples, but that shouldn't be too hard.
-- supercat, Jul 28 2004


[bristolz] I tried changing the title but got an error message, saying "Smooth Stapling not found on server"
-- robinism, Jul 28 2004


Ah, I see. There must yet be remnants of the old idea lurking so it wouldn't let you name the replacement idea with an identical name.

In this case, I have changed the title to a less giant message.
-- bristolz, Jul 28 2004



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