Maintenance Technology September 2017 - 7

KICKER
UPTIME

was Thomas Briggs, founder of the
Boston Wire Stitching Co. In 1914, he
introduced the first portable stapling
machine (a cumbersome precursor to
the 1924 desktop stapler that would
use strips of pre-formed staples). But
let's back up a few years.
In the Midwest, 40-yr.-old George
P. Bump had been fascinated by the
creative ways office clerks assembled
multi-page letters and small documents. He came up with a better
idea-one that fastened papers
together without the use of metal clips.
Bump completed his first working
model, a desktop design, on Mar. 1,
1909, and filed for a U.S. Patent on
May 14. His patent was issued on June
24, 1913. A year later, the Bump Paper
Fastener Co. was established in La
Crosse, WI, to manufacture the device.
There was more to Bump's invention, though-an improvement of

his desktop model in the form of a
hand-held version using the same
technology. This device for "fastening
paper or like sheets together," as the
application reads, was patented on
July 21, 1914. Sales took off. As a
1916 magazine article stated, "These
fasteners have been sold all over the
entire globe. Many thousands are
being shipped every month to foreign
countries. . . " and ". . . put La Crosse
on most every business man's desk in
the entire world." Advertisements went
further, claiming "The New Model
Bump Paper Fastener is recognized as
a modern office necessity."
One of those modern office
necessities graced my grandfather's
"business- man's desk" for many years,
and now resides on mine. Even now, I
marvel at its little duck bill and the way
it engages paper to do the intended
job: With a simple squeeze of the hand,

it punches a v-shaped hole with an
adjacent slit in which the end of the
v-shaped flap is automatically tucked.

To the point
As for the moral of this story? Making
new ideas work and continuously
improving them over time was
important when it came to revolutionizing methods for fastening sheets of
paper together. The same holds true
for our reliability and maintenance
efforts today-and improvements for
the future. MT

Bob Williamson, CMRP, CPMM
and member of the Institute of Asset
Management, is in his fourth decade
of focusing on the "people side" of
world-class maintenance and reliability
in plants and facilities across North
America. Contact him at
RobertMW2@cs.com.

Remember in the movies when the Cavalry came
to your rescue, just in the nick of time?
We got your back like that.
* Staff augmentation - skilled, trained, and experienced
* Strict compliance with site and operational safety
* Precision in-place machining and code welding
* OEM support ensures optimal equipment for your job
* Project planning and management assistance
* Engineering support and custom equipment mfg.

Rapid response you can depend on, and you'll like our charges.

Give us a call...

Regional Service Offices across the U.S. * www.tritool.com
SEPTEMBER 2017

(916) 288-6100
(888) 345-5015

©2017

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Maintenance Technology September 2017
