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Paper C Srib
Paper C Srib
paper clip (or sometimes paperclip) is a device used to hold sheets of paper together, usually
made of steel wire bent to a looped shape (though some are covered in plastic). Most paper clips
are variations of the Gem type introduced in the 1890s or earlier, characterized by the almost two full
loops made by the wire. Common to paper clips proper is their utilization of torsion and elasticity in
the wire, and friction between wire and paper. When a moderate number of sheets are inserted
between the two "tongues" of the clip, the tongues will be forced apart and cause torsion in the bend
of the wire to grip the sheets together.
Contents
History[edit]
According to the Early Office Museum, the first patent for a bent wire paper clip was awarded in the
United States to Samuel B. Fay in 1867. This clip was originally intended primarily for attaching
tickets to fabric, although the patent recognized that it could be used to attach papers together.[2] Fay
received U.S. patent 64,088 on April 23, 1867. Although functional and practical, Fay's design along
with the 50 other designs patented prior to 1899 are not considered reminiscent of the modern
paperclip design known today.[3] Another notable paper clip design was also patented in the United
States by Erlman J. Wright on July 24, 1877, patent #193,389. This clip was advertised at that time
for use in fastening together loose leaves of papers, documents, periodicals, newspapers etc.[2]
The most common type of wire paper clip still in use, the Gem paper clip, was never patented, but it
was most likely in production in Britain in the early 1870s by "The Gem Manufacturing Company",
according to the American expert on technological innovations, Professor Henry J. Petroski.[4] He
refers to an 1883 article about "Gem Paper-Fasteners", praising them for being "better than ordinary
pins" for "binding together papers on the same subject, a bundle of letters, or pages of a
manuscript".[5] Since the 1883 article had no illustration of this early "Gem", it may have been
different from modern paper clips of that name.
The earliest illustration of its current form is in an 1893 advertisement for the "Gem Paper Clip".[6][7]
[8]
In 1904 Cushman & Denison registered a trademark for the "Gem" name in connection with paper
clips. The announcement stated that it had been used since March 1, 1892, which may have been
the time of its introduction in the United States.[7] Paper clips are still sometimes called "Gem clips",
and in Swedish the word for any paper clip is "gem".
Definite proof that the modern type of paper clip was well known in 1899 at the latest, is the patent
granted to William Middlebrook of Waterbury, Connecticut on April 27 of that year for a "Machine for
making wire paper clips." The drawing clearly shows that the product is a perfect clip of the Gem
type.[9][10] The fact that Middlebrook did not mention it by name, suggests that it was already well
known at the time. Since then countless variations on the same theme have been patented. Some
have pointed instead of rounded ends, some have the end of one loop bent slightly to make it easier
to insert sheets of paper, and some have wires with undulations or barbs to get a better grip. In
addition, purely aesthetic variants have been patented, clips with triangular, star, or round shapes.
[11]
But the original Gem type has for more than a hundred years proved to be the most practical, and
consequently by far the most popular. Its qualities—ease of use, gripping without tearing, and storing
without tangling—have been difficult to improve upon. National Paperclip Day is May 29.[12]
The Gem-type paperclip has become a symbol of inventive design, as confirmed below – although
falsely – by its celebration as a Norwegian invention in 1899. More convincing is its appropriation as
logo of the Year of Design (L'any del dessiny) in Barcelona 2003, depicted on posters, T-shirts and
other merchandise.
Middlebrook 1899 patent for a paper clip machine showing that the Gem was already in
common use (top and bottom)
Paper clip icon on poster advertising the Year of Design in Barcelona 2003
Unsupported claim[edit]
It has been claimed,[13][14][15] though apparently without evidence, that Herbert Spencer, the originator
of the term "survival of the fittest", invented the paper clip. Spencer claimed in his autobiography to
have invented a "binding-pin" that was distributed by Ackermann & Company, and he shows a
drawing of the pin in his Appendix I (following Appendix H). This pin looked more like a
modern cotter pin than a modern paper clip, but it was designed to hold sheets of paper together. It
is approximately 15 cm unfolded.
Norwegian claim[edit]
National symbol[edit]
The originator of the Norwegian paper clip myth was an engineer of the Norwegian national patent
agency who visited Germany in the 1920s to register Norwegian patents in that country. He came
across Vaaler's patent, but failed to detect that it was not the same as the then-common Gem-type
clip.[21] In the report of the first fifty years of the patent agency, he wrote an article in which he
proclaimed Vaaler to be the inventor of the common paper clip.[22] This piece of information found its
way into some Norwegian encyclopedias after World War II.
Events of that war contributed greatly to the mythical status of the paper clip. Patriots wore them in
their lapels as a symbol of resistance to the German occupiers and local Nazi authorities when other
signs of resistance, such as flag pins or pins showing the cipher of the exiled King Haakon VII of
Norway were forbidden. Those wearing them did not yet see them as national symbols, as the myth
of their Norwegian origin was not commonly known at the time. The clips were meant to denote
solidarity and unity ("we are bound together"). The wearing of paper clips was soon prohibited, and
people wearing them could risk severe punishment.[23]
The leading Norwegian encyclopedia mentioned the role of the paper clip as a symbol of resistance
in a supplementary volume in 1952, but did not yet proclaim it a Norwegian invention.[24] That
information was added in later editions. According to the 1974 edition, the idea of using the paper
clip to denote resistance originated in France. A clip worn on a lapel or front pocket could be seen as
"deux gaules" (two posts or poles) and be interpreted as a reference to the leader of the
French Resistance, General Charles de Gaulle.[25]
The post-war years saw a widespread consolidation of the paper clip as a national symbol. Authors
of books and articles on the history of Norwegian technology eagerly seized it to make a thin story
more substantial. They chose to overlook the fact that Vaaler's clip was not the same as the fully
developed Gem-type clip.[26] In 1989 a giant paper clip, almost 7 m (23 ft) high, was erected on the
campus of a commercial college near Oslo in honour of Vaaler, ninety years after his invention was
patented. But this monument shows a Gem-type clip, not the one patented by Vaaler. The
celebration of the alleged Norwegian origin of the paper clip culminated in 1999, one hundred years
after Vaaler submitted his application for a German patent. A commemorative stamp was issued that
year, the first in a series to draw attention to Norwegian inventiveness. The background shows a
facsimile of the German "Patentschrift". However, the figure in the foreground is not the paper clip
depicted on that document, but the much better known "Gem". In 2005, the national biographical
encyclopedia of Norway (Norsk biografisk leksikon) published the biography of Johan Vaaler, stating
he was the inventor of the paper clip.[27]
The giant paper clip in Sandvika, Norway. It shows the Gem, not the one patented by Vaaler.
Postage stamp issued in 1999 to commemorate Vaaler's paper clip. In the background his
German "Patenschrift". 1901. The depicted paper clip is not the one he invented, but the
successful Gem clip.
Other uses[edit]
Wire is versatile in its nature. Thus a paper clip is a useful accessory in many kinds of mechanical
work including computer work: the metal wire can be unfolded with a little force. Several devices call
for a very thin rod to push a recessed button which the user might only rarely need. This is seen on
most CD-ROM drives as an "emergency eject" should the power fail; also on early floppy disk
drives (including the early Macintosh). Various smartphones require the use of a long thin object
such as a paper clip to eject the SIM card and some Palm PDAs advise the use of a paper clip to
reset the device. The track ball can be removed from early Logitech pointing devices using a paper
clip as the key to the bezel. A paper clip bent into a "U" can be used to start an ATX PSU without
connecting it to a motherboard (connect the green to a black on the motherboard header). One or
more paper clips can make a loopback device for a RS232 interface (or indeed many interfaces). A
paper clip could be installed in a Commodore 1541 disk-drive as a flexible head-stop. The steel wire
from a paperclip can be used in dentistry to form a dental post.[28]
Paper clips can be bent into a crude but sometimes effective lock picking device.[29] Some types
of handcuffs can be unfastened using paper clips. There are two approaches. The first one is to
unfold the clip in a line and then twist the end in a right angle, trying to imitate a key and using it to
lift the lock fixator. The second approach, which is more feasible but needs some practice, is to use
the semi-unfolded clip kink for lifting when the clip is inserted through the hole where the handcuffs
are closed.[citation needed]
A paper clip image is the standard image for an attachment in an email client.[30]
Trade[edit]
In 1994, the US imposed anti-dumping tariffs against China, on paper clips.[31]
See also[edit]
Clippy, a paper-clip assistant in Microsoft Office