A staple remover is a device that allows for the quick removal of a staple

Staple (fastener)

A staple is a type of two-pronged fastener, usually metal, used for joining or binding materials together. Large staples might be used with a hammer or staple gun for masonry, roofing, corrugated boxes and other heavy-duty uses...

 from a material without causing damage. Although a simple metal wedge can be used, and is found on the ends of some stapler

Stapler

A stapler is a mechanical device that joins sheets of paper or similar material by driving a thin metal staple through the sheets and folding the ends. Staplers are widely used in government, business, offices, and schools....

s for that purpose, this method tends to tear fragile paper

Paper

Paper is a thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon, drawing or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....

s. For light gauge

American wire gauge

American wire gauge , also known as the Brown & Sharpe wire gauge, is a standardized wire gauge system used since 1857 predominantly in the United States and Canada for the diameters of round, solid, nonferrous, electrically conducting wire...

 staples, many people instead use a device consisting of two opposing wedges on a pivot. For convenience, this device has a spring

Spring (device)

A spring is an elastic object used to store mechanical energy. Springs are usually made out of spring steel. Small springs can be wound from pre-hardened stock, while larger ones are made from annealed steel and hardened after fabrication...

 that returns it to the open position after use.

Some staplers, mainly small ones that are about 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) long contain an integrated staple remover. This is basically a piece of metal that is slid under each "curled" side of the staple and turned to loosen the staple.

Staple removers are known as decleaters in many former British colonies, such as Barbados

Barbados

Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...

.

Use

Proper use of the opposing wedge staple remover is debated.
The two major methods are described below.

Practical Method

1. Simultaneously clip the 2 folded pieces with the 2 corresponding tines of the remover, raising them from the paper.
2. Gently clip the front flat side while pulling the entire staple gingerly out of paper to discard.

Individuals can complete this task with minimal damage having been inflicted upon the previously conjoined pages.

Reverse Method

1. Forcefully clip the front flat side of the staple, causing the folded tabs on the reverse side to open and pull through the entry holes. This has the undesirable side effect of tearing the paper as the folded taps pull through.

Design

The design is focused on functionality and robustness with no unnecessary decoration (unless one includes the ergonomics of the handle) and minimised number of parts to lower costs and production time. The device works with a pincer action to unfold and pull out a staple in one motion. The modern staple remover is believed to have been conceptualized by an Irish housewife, Meghan Rooney. However, Miss Rooney had initially intended the design to function as an implement to remove stitching and not as a staple remover.

Blades

The two pivoting blades interlock each other. They are made of chrome-plated steel, which is harder than the thin ductile wire of the staple and strong enough to withstand the force required to remove it. The chrome plating provides a mild rust-resistance suitable for use in an office environment away from any liquids. Though the blade is made from what was originally sheet metal, the right angles and clean edges mean that a punch and die method of production would not be suitable. Therefore, the piece of sheet metal is cut using the process of blanking in a mechanical press, then bent in a press brake. This is a highly automated method which allows for a production rate of up to 1,500 units per minute.

Torsion springs

The torsion spring in this staple remover is a standardised component that appears in many other products, such as clothes pegs. It has two loops. The spring is made of chrome-plated steel, which is used because there is a point of minimum stress where continued use (opening and closing the staple remover) will not cause failure through fatigue. They are mass produced by a spring winding machine which cold winds wire around an arbour before heat treating to make it harder. The spring is then chrome plated. The machinery to do this is large, expensive, but has a high production rate. That is why the springs are usually bought off-the-shelf from a tier 1 supplier rather than produced in house.

Plastic grips

The plastic grips are in fact unnecessary and the device could still be operated without them. They provide enhanced ergonomics so the user does not have to press their fingers against sheet metal. Injection moulding of thermoplastics are normally used through the use of an automated injection moulding machine, which shoots liquid plastic into a mould where it is left to set. Such processing is commonplace, not very labour intensive, cheap, and capable of producing high quantities. Plastic is used as it is the easiest, but also the cheapest and most readily available material that can be formed into such fluid shapes.

Pin axle

The pin axle provides a cylindrical bar from which the blades can rotate. It is made of stainless steel, which will not rust in areas that have been worn by contact with other metals. The process to create such a pin axle is quite intensive and hence it is bought off-the-shelf from a supplier. They are made by a specialised machine which cuts thick wire into a suitable length and then die punches the head of the pin. The supplier normally runs specialised machinery that is capable of producing large amounts of products at a high rate for a low cost.

History

The form of destapler described above was invented by William G. Pankonin of Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

. A patent

Patent

A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....

 application for the same was filed on 12 December 1932, granted on 3 March 1936 and published on 3 April 1936 as patent document US 2,033,050.

A modified version, also capable of removing broken staples, was patented by Joseph A. Foitle of Overland Park, Kansas

Kansas

Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

, but does not see widespread use, despite overcoming several disadvantages of the former device by a simple, yet novel and inventive, modification. The patent for the latter invention was filed on 28 May 1969 and was granted on 28 December 1971, published as US 3,630,486 A. An excerpt from the patent application reads as follows:

"... A device for removing broken portions of wire staples ... comprising a pair of overlying planar arms pivoted together on an axis normal thereto, said arms having cooperating notches ... whereby relative pivotal motions ... may be engaged over the projecting portion of a broken staple..."