EP0219775A1 - Loose-leaf binder, particularly for EDP data sheets - Google Patents

Abstract

A folder (20) for paper sheets, in particular EDP paper sheets (32) is specified, which have at least two punch holes (34) at a distance from one another on their lateral edges. Elastic alignment pins (36) for receiving the paper sheets 32 are attached to a carrier (22). Brackets (38, 40) serve to fix the alignment pins (36) and the paper sheets (32). The alignment pins (36) are attached at one end to the carrier (22). The brackets (38, 40) consist of telescopic tacking rails (38) which receive the other ends of the alignment pins (36). The carrier (21) is a one-piece injection molded part which forms the base (22), back (24) and cover (26) in a stable unit.

Description

The invention relates to folders for sheets of paper, in particular computerized paper sheets, which have at least two punch holes at a distance from one another at their lateral edges, with a support on which elastic alignment pins for receiving the sheets of paper are attached through the punch holes, and with holders for fixing the Alignment pins and sheets of paper.

Such folders are commercially available and are used, for example, to hold lists, programs, evaluations or the like printed out by the computer. The sheets of paper can either be individual sheets of paper or stacks of sheets of paper in Form a zigzag fold. The already existing transport holes on the edges of the paper sheets can be used.

A conventional folder 10 of this type is shown schematically in FIG. 1. A stack of sheets of paper 12 in landscape format can be seen, which have punched holes 13 at their lateral edges at equal intervals. Lined-up pins 16 pass through the punching holes 13 located on the very outside and also penetrate holes 15 in a tacking rail 14. A slider 17 is pushed onto the two ends of the tack rail 14, which receives the protruding end of the alignment pin 16 in its interior and bends it in the direction of the tack rail 14 when it is pushed on.

To cover the paper sheets 12, a soft cover sheet 18 made of plastic is provided in the known folder 10, which is connected to the binding rail 14. The underside of the arrangement, not shown in FIG. 1, is designed in the same way. The line-up pins 16 have a knitting needle-shaped shape of any length and are bent at their two ends by the respective slides 17. On the underside of the arrangement, a further tack rail 14 is provided for receiving the alignment pins 16.

Such folders 10 of conventional design, however, have numerous disadvantages. Since the cover sheets 18 are made of thin, soft material, such folders 10 can only be stored horizontally, since they have no stability. However, since the folder 10 is thicker in the back area than on the opposite side, a wedge-shaped structure results, several of which are difficult to stack, since otherwise the crooked stack easily slips.

In addition, there is not only one format for sheets of paper, especially computerized paper sheets, but different formats. One knows both portrait formats with punch holes on the long sides as well as landscape formats with punch holes on the transverse sides. In addition, the dimensions in the longitudinal and transverse directions are by no means uniform. Even if the commercially available EDP paper sheets have almost a DIN A4 format, its standard dimensions of 210 mm x 297 mm are generally not met. Rather, portrait formats with a height of 305 mm and a width of 235 mm, 240 mm and 250 mm are known. Landscape formats are known to be 203 mm and 228 mm high and 305 mm, 315 mm and 322 mm wide.

This fact is taken into account in the conventional folder of the type described above in that the tack rail 14 has a plurality of holes 15 at its ends at a distance from one another in order to adapt to the paper formats. However, an adjustment is only possible to a small extent; a folder designed for EDP portrait formats cannot be used for EDP wide formats and vice versa, since the differences in length of the binding rails would be much too great.

But also the adaptation of a folder in the area of the respective portrait formats on the one hand and landscape formats on the other hand creates difficulties. The tack rail 14 must in any case have the length of the largest IT paper format. If EDP paper sheets with somewhat smaller dimensions are then to be filed, the alignment pins 16 can indeed be implemented, as is indicated in FIG. 1, but the staple rail 14 then protrudes clearly at least on one side above the stack of paper sheets 12. This not only results in an unattractive appearance, but also entails the risk of injury to the user.

From FR-PS 20 95 449 a similar folder of this type is known, which has a bottom and a lid as loose individual parts, which also form tack rails. For this purpose, the bottom and lid have mutually opposite pairs of openings for receiving alignment pins, one of these pairs of openings consisting of slots in order to have a certain possibility of adjustment for sheets of paper of different widths. However, this does not result in a stable arrangement, since the folder has no back and there is only a loose connection between the bottom and the lid by the filing pins themselves. In addition, the punched holes of the paper sheets in such a known folder are heavily used and can easily be damaged or torn out, because the alignment pins themselves are only loosely arranged in the slots and are not adequately fixed. Furthermore, this known arrangement has an unsightly appearance because a back is completely missing. In practice, the adjustment options are completely inadequate, since only one type of format can be accommodated in the arrangement. The known arrangement does not provide for the optional placement of landscape and longitudinal formats. To insert or remove sheets of paper, it is necessary to take the arrangement apart and remove the lid completely.

DE-GM 19 83 046 describes a cover rail for devices for lining up perforated documents, which has two rail parts which can be displaced relative to one another, in order thereby to set the total length of the cover rail for the respective intended use. The problem of accommodating sheets of paper of different formats in one and the same folder is just as little addressed there as the placement of the folder itself in order to avoid storage problems.

The object of the invention is therefore to provide a folder for sheets of paper, in particular IT paper sheets, which can be accommodated well, a protected recording of Guaranteed paper sheets, is suitable for portrait and landscape paper sheets and with which a versatile adaptation to different dimensions of the paper sheets can be carried out in a simple manner.

The solution according to the invention consists in designing a folder of the type mentioned at the outset such that the carrier is designed as a one-piece injection-molded part which forms the bottom, back and lid in a stable unit, that the bottom of the carrier has holes arranged on two lines running perpendicular to one another , in which the alignment pins are fastened in a removable manner, and in that the holders have telescopic tack rails which receive the projecting ends of the alignment pins and are arranged separately from the cover.

According to the invention, a single folder is sufficient for all conventional standard formats, e.g. Quasi-A4 formats. When switching from larger sheets of paper to smaller sheets of paper, the binding rail does not protrude above the stack of sheets of paper, since the binding rail is only pushed together and there is thus no risk of injury. There are no storage problems of the folders according to the invention, since these can be set in the usual way in registries and can have the usual height dimensions such as standardized office folders. The folder according to the invention can be quickly converted if other paper formats are to be accommodated.

The one-piece carrier and the holders or their parts are expediently made of plastic, in particular a polyolefin. Polypropylene is particularly suitable, so that these parts can be manufactured as injection molded parts. The line-up pins also expediently consist of plastic, which gives them a certain elasticity, expediently of polyamide.

The holes are advantageously provided parallel to the edges of a rectangular base and arranged at a predetermined distance, in particular that of the transport holes of computerized paper sheets. Since certain paper formats have already become established for computerized paper sheets, one can manage with a relatively small number of holes, which are arranged in the area of three corners of a floor.

The holes are advantageously formed in the bottom of the carrier as molded-in blind holes which have floating skins that can be performed on the outside of the bottom or the carrier. As a result, the folder has a substantially smooth outer appearance, and the webs can be pierced with the alignment pins if necessary, so that the alignment pins are pushed through and held in the ground with a clamping effect.

In a special embodiment it is provided that the holes in the floor on the outside of the carrier have depressions for receiving the respective head of the alignment pins, and that the nail-shaped alignment pins are provided near their heads with areas of increased friction for frictional use in the carrier. The head of the aligning pin then does not protrude outwards after its insertion and the aligning pins are securely held in the carrier.

In a further development of the folder according to the invention it is provided that the telescopic tack rail consists of two plug-in injection molded parts, each of which has a through hole at its outer ends for receiving a line-up pin as well as a receiving area for an attachable or insertable slide for locking the line-up pins. A single hole at the two outer ends of the tacking rail is sufficient.

The telescopic tacking rail has on one part a guide opening into which the other part can be inserted with a projection with a complementary cross section, the two parts being displaceable against one another under frictional engagement. The cross sections of the guide opening or projection can be round, circular or oval, but also rectangular. It is important in this context that the two parts of the stitching rail have a sufficiently large overlap area so that the two parts can be pushed together and apart in a large area. In one embodiment, the guide opening of the stitching rail is designed as a through opening and receives a rod-shaped projection in its interior. In another embodiment, the guide opening is designed as a U-shaped groove and has holding legs pointing inwards on the upper side. In a further embodiment, the guide opening is formed by a ring on one part of the tack rail, which surrounds the insertable projection of the other part.

Each part of the tack rail expediently has at least one elastic projection, which are each arranged in the same line of motion and form the stops which secure the tack rail against being pulled apart completely. This prevents unwanted detachment of the parts from each other.

It is particularly expedient if the receiving areas for the slides have the same cross-sectional profiles as the guide opening for receiving the projection of the telescopic tacking rail. In particular, one part of the telescopic stitching rail can be designed continuously as a U-shaped profile part with holding legs pointing inwards on the upper side. This simplifies the manufacture of the arrangement, and the tacking rail itself, in particular when pushed together, has a uniform, attractive appearance.

Furthermore, it proves to be expedient if the outer edge of the cover is provided with an additional lining mechanism on the inside facing the floor. This additional line-up mechanism is used to accommodate notes and additional information on conventional paper sheets, which are designed without punch holes like the EDP paper sheets.

• Fig. 1 eine perspektivische Draufsicht eines her­kömmlichen Ordners;
• Fig. 2 eine perspektivische Draufsicht eines er­findungsgemäßen Ordners, in dem EDV-Pa­pierbögen mit Querformat abgelegt sind;
• Fig. 3 eine der Fig. 2 ähnliche Darstellung eines erfindungsgemäßen Ordners, in dem EDV-Pa­pierbögen im Hochformat abgelegt sind;
• Fig. 4 eine perspektivische Draufsicht eines Trä­gers für den erfindungsgemäßen Ordner;
• Fig. 5 eine schematische Darstellung zur Erläute­rung, wie ein Aufreihstift in ein Loch im Boden eingesetzt wird;
• Fig. 6 eine perspektivische Draufsicht einer ersten Ausführungsform einer teleskopierbaren Heft­schiene für den erfindungsgemäßen Ordner;
• Fig. 7 eine perspektivische Draufsicht einer an­deren Ausführungsform der teleskopierbaren Heftschiene im zusammengebauten, ausgefah­renen Zustand;
• Fig. 8a und Fig. 8b perspektivische Darstellungen der bei­den Teile der teleskopierbaren Heft­schiene gemäß Fig. 7 im getrennten Zu­stand; und in
• Fig. 9 eine perspektivische Darstellung der teleskopierbaren Heftschiene im zu­sammengebauten und zusammengeschobenen Zustand.

The invention is explained in more detail below, also with regard to further features and advantages, using the description of exemplary embodiments and with reference to the accompanying drawing. The drawing shows in

• 1 is a top perspective view of a conventional folder;
• 2 shows a perspective top view of a folder according to the invention, in which EDP paper sheets with landscape format are stored;
• 3 shows a representation similar to FIG. 2 of a folder according to the invention, in which EDP paper sheets are stored in portrait format;
• 4 shows a perspective top view of a carrier for the folder according to the invention;
• Fig. 5 is a schematic illustration for explaining how a stringing pin is inserted into a hole in the floor;
• FIG. 6 shows a perspective top view of a first embodiment of a telescopic stitching rail for the folder according to the invention;
• 7 shows a perspective top view of another embodiment of the telescopic tacking rail in the assembled, extended state;
• 8a and 8b show perspective representations of the two parts of the telescopic stitching rail according to FIG. 7 in the separated state; and in
• Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the telescopic tack rail in the assembled and pushed together state.

The basic structure of the folder according to the invention results from FIGS. 2 to 4, to which reference should first be made. The folder is generally designated by the reference numeral 20 and has a carrier 21 which has at least one base 22, but preferably also a back 24 and a cover 26, which are connected to one another via fold lines 23 and 25 which can be permanently bent. A grip hole 28 is provided in the back 24. The lid 26 is provided on its outer edge 31 on the inside facing the bottom 22 with an additional alignment mechanism 30, which is used to hold notes or the like, in particular to hold paper sheets that do not have punch holes on the edge like the conventional EDP paper sheets .

In the bottom 22 of the carrier 21, a series of holes 42 are provided, which expediently lie on two lines 43 and 45, which are arranged at a right angle to one another. These holes 42 serve to receive elastic alignment pins 36, which are inserted into these holes 42.

In one embodiment, the alignment pins 36 are inserted through the holes 42 and are then supported with their heads 37 on the outside against the bottom 22, while their front end 39 serves to receive sheets of paper. In another embodiment, not shown, can the alignment pins are inserted from the inside into the holes 42 and fastened there, for example by welding, gluing or screwing into a thread, for example a threaded bushing inserted into the respective hole.

The holes 42 can be formed as through holes or as blind holes 42 which are open on the inside 29 of the bottom 22 and have a bottom which is formed by a floating skin 44 on the outside 27 of the bottom 22. To attach the respective alignment pin, this floating skin is pierced from the outside with the alignment pin 36 and the alignment pin 36 is pushed through to its head 37 until it stops. In this position, it is held in a frictionally locking manner. For this purpose, the alignment pin 36 can have an area of increased friction in the vicinity of its head 37, so that the alignment pin 36 is prevented from falling out undesirably.

In an embodiment that is not shown, the holes 42 in the base 22 can have depressions on the outer side 27 of the carrier 21 in order to receive the respective head 37 so that it practically does not protrude outwards. The holes 42 on the two lines 43 and 45 are arranged at predetermined intervals, which correspond to the distances of the computer paper sheets. For conventional EDP landscape formats, the holes 42 on the line 45 should be arranged so that at least landscape formats with a width of 305 mm, 315 mm and 322 mm can be accommodated, while the holes 42 should be arranged on the line 43 in such a way that at least portrait formats can be accommodated, the short edge length of which is 235 mm, 240 mm or 250 mm, while the long edge length is usually 305 mm.

Fig. 2 shows the accommodation of sheets of paper 32 in landscape format, which has punch holes 34 on two edges. It can be seen that the stack of sheets of paper 32 is lined up pins 36 is received, the punch holes 34 penetrate on the inside of the folder 20 and pass through holes in a telescopic booklet 38. Furthermore, a slide 40 is indicated, which is pushed over the outer end of the stitching rail 38 and thereby bends and clamps the front end 39 of the alignment pin 36.

FIG. 3 shows the placement of a stack of paper sheets 32 in portrait format, 32 punch holes 34 being provided along the long side of the paper sheets. Here, too, the alignment pins 36 pass through the stack of sheets of paper 32 and holes in the telescopic tacking rail 38 and are each clamped on the front with a slide 40.

It should be pointed out that for both embodiments according to FIGS. 2 and 3 one and the same tack rail 38 is used, the parts of which can be plugged into one another, so that the tack rail 38 can be brought to the desired length.

Details of such a telescopic tacking rail 38 are shown in FIG. 6. The tacking rail 38 consists only of two parts, a first part 46 and a second part 48, the first part 46 being inserted into a guide opening 60 with a projection 47 is formed by a ring 49. The two ends of the parts 46 and 48 each have only a single through bore 54 in their base, this bore 54 being used to receive the front end 39 of the alignment pin 36. Furthermore, at least at the outer ends of the two parts 46 and 48 outwardly pointing webs or legs 50 and 52 are provided, which serve in the receiving areas 56 and 58 for receiving or guiding the respective slide 40, which has a U-shaped cross-sectional profile and with its inward-looking legs reaches under these webs 50 and 52. In the space between the bottom of the slide 40 and the respective up take-up area 56 and 58, the protruding end 39 of the respective alignment pin 36 is received.

A further embodiment of the telescopic stitching rail 38 is shown in FIGS. 7 to 9 and consists of a first part 66 and a second part 68. The part 66 has an overall length A , the part 68 has a length B , the minimum overlap area between the both parts 66 and 68 are designated by C , while the reference symbol D indicates the length by which the part 66 with its projection 67 can be inserted into the guide opening 62 of the part 68.

One part 66 carries on its projection 67 elastic pins or projections 70, while the other part 68 has bulges or projections 71 which are arranged in the line of movement of the other projections 70 and limit the pulling apart of the two parts 66 and 68. At least the projections 70, possibly also the projections 71, are designed to be elastic in order to enable the two parts to be inserted into one another for the first time. The arrangement is expediently such that the two parts 66 and 68 can only be separated from one another by applying a force which is substantially greater than the force usually applied to move the two parts against one another. Accidental loosening of the two parts is reliably prevented.

As can be seen from FIG. 7, the maximum length of the stitching rail 38 is given by
Lmax = A + B - C,
while the minimum length of the telescopic tack rail 38 is given by
Lmin = A + B - C - D.
The two values for Lmax and Lmin are chosen so that all values of the usual widths and heights of computer paper sheets are covered.

The two parts 66 and 68 of the telescopic tacking rail 38 each have a through bore 64 at the respective outer ends of their receiving areas 76 and 78, which serves to receive the front end of the respective alignment pin 36. In these receiving areas 76 and 78, the two parts 66 and 68 are designed as U-shaped profiles which have holding legs 69 pointing inwards on their upper side and thus delimit a box-shaped cavity into which a slide 40 can be inserted in each case (cf. 9). The slide 40 has on its underside a groove 41 which serves to receive the front end 39 of the alignment pin 37. The slider 40 itself has recesses in the longitudinal direction on its upper side, into which the holding legs 69 are inserted.

A particularly simple design results if, as shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, one part 68 forms a continuously U-shaped profile, the guide opening 62 of which receives both the projection 67 of the part 66 and the respective slide 40.

8a and 8b show the two parts 68 and 66 in the disassembled state, the two end faces which can be moved relative to one another being designated by the reference numerals 72 and 74. 7, the end faces 72 are at a distance D from one another, while in the pushed-together state according to FIG. 9 they abut one another.

The bores 54 and 64 in the receiving areas of the telescopic stitching rail 38 have a distance from the outer end face of the stitching rail 38 which is equal to the distance between the punched holes 34 of the paper sheets from their closest outer edge. This distance has a value of approximately 6 mm in conventional computer paper sheets. As a result, the stitching rail 38 is flush with the stack of sheets of paper 32, regardless of the particular format of sheets of paper to be filed.

Regardless of the special design, the stitching rail 38 can be flat, the stitching rail 38 having a low overall height. The respective projection for setting the desired length of the stitching rail 38 can be designed as a flat profile and inserted into a slot-shaped, flat guide. The range of displacement can be of the order of 100 mm, with enough space at the outer ends for inserting the slider, and thereby a telescopic stitching rail 38 is available which covers the edge lengths of all common quasi-A4 formats.

Claims (15)

1. Folder for paper sheets, in particular EDP paper sheets (32), each of which has at least two punch holes (34) at a distance from one another on their lateral edges, with a carrier (21) on which elastic alignment pins (36) for receiving the paper sheets ( 32) are provided through the punched holes (34), and with brackets (38, 40) for fixing the alignment pins (36) and the paper sheets (32), characterized in that
that the carrier (21) is designed as a one-piece injection molded part, which forms the bottom (22), back (24) and cover (26) in a stable unit,
that the bottom (22) of the carrier (21) perpendicular to two lines (43, 45) which run to one another and which have holes (42) in which the alignment pins (36) are fastened so that they can be plugged,
and that the brackets (38, 40) have telescopic tack rails (38) which receive the projecting ends (39) of the alignment pins (36) and are arranged separately from the cover (26). 2. Folder according to claim 1,
characterized,
that the one-piece carrier (21) and the holders are made of plastic, in particular a polyolefin or polypropylene. 3. Folder according to claim 1 or 2,
characterized,
that the alignment pins (36) consist of plastic, in particular of polyamide. 4. Folder according to one of claims 1 to 3,
characterized,
that the holes (42) are provided parallel to the edges of a rectangular base (22) and are arranged at a predetermined distance, in particular the distance between the transport holes (34), from computerized paper sheets (32). 5. Folder according to one of claims 1 to 4,
characterized,
that the holes (42) in the bottom (22) of the support (21) are formed as molded blind holes (42) which have performable webs (44) on the outside of the bottom (22) or the support (21). 6. Folder according to one of claims 1 to 5,
characterized,
that the holes (42) in the bottom (22) on the outside of the carrier (21) have depressions for receiving the respective head (37) of the alignment pins (36),
and that the nail-shaped aligning pins (36) in the vicinity of their head (37) are provided with areas of increased friction for frictional use in the carrier (21). 7. Folder according to one of claims 1 to 6,
characterized,
that the telescopic tacking rail (38) consists of two pluggable injection molded parts (46, 48; 66, 68), each of which has a through hole (54, 64) at its outer ends for receiving a line-up pin (36) and a receiving area (56, 58; 76, 78) for an attachable or insertable slide (40) for locking the alignment pins (36). 8. Folder according to one of claims 1 to 7,
characterized,
that the telescopic tacking rail (38) has at one part (48, 68) a guide opening (60, 62) into which the other part (46, 66) can be inserted with a projection (47, 67) with a complementary cross section, wherein the two parts can be moved against one another under frictional engagement. 9. Folder according to claim 8,
characterized,
that the guide opening (62) is designed as a through opening and receives a rod-shaped projection (67) in its interior. 10. Folder according to claim 8 or 9,
characterized,
that the guide opening (62) is designed as a U-shaped groove (67) and has holding legs (69) pointing inwards on the upper side. 11. Folder according to claim 8 or 9,
characterized,
that the guide opening (60) is formed by a ring (49) on one part (48) of the stitching rail (38) which engages around the insertable projection (47) of the other part (46). 12. Folder according to one of claims 1 to 11,
characterized,
that each part (66, 68) of the stitching rail (38) has at least one elastic projection (70, 71), which are each arranged in the same line of motion and form the stops which secure the stitching rail (38) against complete pulling apart. 13. Folder according to one of claims 1 to 12,
characterized,
that the receiving areas (76, 78) for the slide (40) have the same cross-sectional profiles as the guide opening (62) for receiving the projection (67) of the telescopic tacking rail (67). 14. Folder according to one of claims 1 to 13,
characterized,
that one part (68) of the telescopic stitching rail (38) is continuously designed as a U-shaped profile part with holding legs (69) pointing inwards on the upper side. 15. Folder according to one of claims 1 to 14,
characterized,
that the cover (26) is provided on its outer edge (31) on the inside facing the floor (22) with an additional lining mechanism (30).

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