Four-bar upright punch

A punch for punching at least one sheet of paper, comprising:

• a base;
• a support portion having a paper tray oriented at a generally upright angle with respect to the base to punchably support a sufficient portion of the sheet of paper to prevent an unsupported portion of the paper from falling over and withdrawing from the support portion;
• and
• at least one punch mechanism including an actuating arm driving a drive member that is operably associated with the support portion to punch at least one hole in the sheet of paper upon actuation of the punch,
• wherein the support portion is movable with respect to the base upon movement of the actuating arm.

A punch for performing a punching operation upon at least one piece of paper, comprising:

• a base;
• a support member movable upon actuation of the punch and configured to accommodate and locate the paper in an upright punching position;
• and
• at least one punch element configured to punch a hole in the paper upon actuation of the punch, wherein paper chips expelled from the paper are visible to an operator in an operating position to provide confirmation of the punching operation.