Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Oh, patents! Paperclip machine

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

If you thought paper clips were easy… think again, or just take a peek at the drawing from patent US636272, titled Machine for making paper-clips, awarded Nov. 7, 1899, choc full of cams, pulleys, pinions, winders and plates!

That’s a lot of wire-bending machinery for the little paperclips that hold several sheets of paper together, and that were to forever replace pins, at the end of the 19th century!
Below are the remaining figure drawings of the paper-clip machine as disclosed in US636272

And incidentally, you will have to admit that patents and their drawings, are some of the most beautiful historical documents on record! No other documents, except perhaps blueprints, could better document all the details of the inventions that have rocked history. Ooooh, patents! 

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