Hand operated multiple die punch

Claim 1

A multiple die, manual punch comprising a base for supporting sheets to be punched, a housing located transversely across the back of the punch having a bottom connected to and spaced slightly above a portion of said base and a top, a plurality of dies reciprocable within said housing between up and down positions, the tops of said dies protruding through first apertures in said top above said housing, the bottom of said dies in down position extending into second apertures in said base, said bottoms of said dies and said second apertures cooperating to shear sheets positioned on said base, a transversely extending actuating bar, first and second hinge means fixed on opposite ends of said bar and each having a hinge axes, said hinge means mounting said bar on said punch for oscillatory movement about the hinge axes of said hinge means, a handle for moving said bar, said bar being substantially uniform in cross-section throughout its length, said hinge means being located so that their hinge axes are located at different distances from the plane of the bottom surface of said bar, said bar being located by said hinge means so that said handle may be swung from inoperative to operative position; and as said handle approaches operative position, said bottom surface of said bar contacts and depresses the top of an endmost die and then serially contacts and depresses the tops of the other said dies, whereby holes are punched in said sheets sequentially rather than simultaneously.