EP1870251A1

EP1870251A1 - Holder for documents and other articles

Info

Publication number: EP1870251A1
Application number: EP06253178A
Authority: EP
Inventors: designation of the inventor has not yet been filed The
Original assignee: Royal College of Art
Current assignee: Royal College of Art
Priority date: 2006-06-20
Filing date: 2006-06-20
Publication date: 2007-12-26
Also published as: WO2007148051A1

Abstract

A holder is described that is suitable for holding sheets of paper or other articles comprising:
a first jaw (10) and a second jaw (12) connected together by a hinge having an axis, wherein the jaws are pivotable with respect to each other about the axis of the hinge to open and close the jaws, and wherein the first jaw is movable with respect to the other jaw in the direction of the hinge axis;
a cam surface (34); and
a resilient element (14) arranged to urge the first jaw in an axial direction against the cam surface, said cam surface being configured to urge the said first jaw to pivot about the hinge towards the second jaw under the influence of the resilient element, whereby the jaws are urged together to clamp material between them.

Description

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a device for holding documents or other articles. It is especially concerned with holding of documents in ring binders or lever arch folders but finds broader application in holding a variety of small articles.
Ring binders and lever arch files are a common systems for holding documents and sheets of paper and retaining them within a file. A pair of holes are punched in one edge of a document and the holes are threaded onto spaced loops (rings or arches) to hold the document in place. Unfortunately, the presence of holes in the boarders of documents detracts from the document's appearance and removes some of the documents itself, which might be important. Furthermore it is unacceptable to put holes in important documents, for example, legal documents. In other cases it might be difficult and/or cumbersome to put holes in particular items, for example, brochures and magazines.
In order to hold documents within a ring binder or lever arch file, it is common to use a wallet that has a pocket for holding a document and a strip bordering the pocket having holes punched in it that can be used to hold the pocket in a ring binder or lever arch file. Thus there is no need to punch holes in the document itself. Unfortunately, the use of wallets detracts from the appearance of the document in the file and it is also quite time consuming to put documents and papers into the wallet and/or remove them from the wallet. Furthermore, wallets cause the documents to hang over the dividers and restrict pages from being flipped through.
Filing systems are also known in which two parallel prongs are provided and documents are suspended from the prongs by means of holes punched in their margins, which is similar to the holes punched in the margins for ring binders and lever arch files.
It is also known to display goods by mounting the good on card and suspending the cards from prongs.

Disclosure on Invention

According to the present invention, there is provided a holder comprising a first jaw and a second jaw connected together by a hinge having an axis, wherein the jaws are pivotable with respect to each other about the axis of the hinge to open and close the jaws, and wherein the first jaw is movable with respect to the other jaw in the direction of the hinge axis;
a cam surface;
a resilient element arranged to urge the first jaws in an axial direction against the cam surface, said cam surface being configured to urge the said first jaw to pivot about the hinge towards the second jaw under the influence of the resilient element, whereby the jaws are urged together to clamp material between them.
The hinge may comprise a passageway, which is optionally integral with the second jaw, and an element, which is optionally integral with the first jaw, that can pivot within, and move axially within, the passageway. The resilient element may be located at one end of the passageway to urge the element along the passageway towards the said cam surface.
The holder may also include a second cam surface that is configured to move the said first jaw to pivot about the hinge away from the second jaw to open the jaws when the first jaw is moved axially away from the first cam surface.
In the case of the hinge being in the form a passageway, the first and/or second cams may be provided in the wall of the passageway, for example in the form of an opening or groove in the wall of the passage. Alternatively, the cam surfaces could be provided in the passageway.
The first jaw may be connected to the element sliding within the hinge passageway by a connector, in which case, the connector may be urged against the first and/or second cam surface to close and open the jaws.
The holder preferably also includes holes for supporting the holder within a ring binder/arch lever file mechanism or to suspend the holder. If used in a ring binder or a lever arch file, the holes should be spaced apart by a distance of at least 80mm, that is to say the distance separating the further extremities of the two holes should be greater than 80mm. This allows the holder to be threaded onto the rings or lever arches of a ring binder or a lever arch file, which are spaced 80mm apart, to fit onto the holes in the holder. The holes may be provided along the length of the hinge, e.g. one can be provided at the end of the passageway and the other in the slidable element. At least one of the holes (preferably the hole in the slidable element) may be elongated to allow the jaws to be opened even when fitted onto a ring binder or lever arch mechanism.

Detailed Description of Drawings

There will now be described, by way of example only, an embodiment of a holder in accordance with the present invention by reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the holder;
Figure 2 is a rear view of the holder;
Figure 3 is a front view of the holder;
Figure 4 is a plan view of the holder;
Figure 5 is an end view of the holder; and
Figure 6 is an exploded perspective view of the components of the holder.

Detailed Description of the Best Mode for Putting the Invention into Operation

Referring initially to Figure 6, the holder is made up of three components, namely a bottom jaw 10, a top jaw 12 and a helical spring 14.
The bottom jaw 10 has a ridged clamping surface 16, which is integrally formed with a hollow cylindrical wall 20 via a connecting portion 18. The cylindrical wall 20 contains a cylindrical passageway 24 extending from a blind end (not visible but indicated by the dashed line 22), and an open end 26. Part of the cylindrical wall facing the corrugated clamping surface is missing and the resulting opening is indicated by the reference number 28. An open channel 30 extends axially along the top of the wall 20 and connects the opening 28 with the open end 26 of the passageway 28; the channel 30 extends all the way through the cylindrical wall 20 to the passageway 24. The faces 32, 34 of the cylindrical wall 20 that border on the wall opening 28 are slanted with respect to the axis of the passageway 24 and form cam surfaces; in other words, the cam faces 32,34 are part helical in shape. The functions of the opening 28 and the channel 30 are explained below.
The helical spring 14 is, in use, located at the end of the passageway 24, abutting the blind end 22.
The jaw 12 has a corrugated clamping surface 36, which is connected via first and second webs 38,39 with a cylindrical rod 40. The diameter of the rod 40 is such that it can snugly fit within passageway 24. A boss 42 is provided at the end of the rod 40 that be pushed onto one end of the helical spring 14 and ensures that the helical spring is centred on the end of the rod 40.
The width of the web 38 is just smaller than the width of the open channel 30. The rod 40 is inserted into the passageway 24 by passing the end of the rod through the open end of the passageway and guiding the web along the channel 30. The rod 40 is pushed into the passageway 24 until the web 38 lies in the wall opening 28, whereupon the top jaw 12 can be pivoted towards the bottom jaw 10. When the rod has been pushed far enough into the passageway for the web to lie in the opening 28, the rod 40 compresses the spring 14 between the end wall 22 of the passageway 24 and the boss end of the rod 40. Accordingly, the spring urges the web 38 against the helical face 34 on the right hand side of the opening 28, as seen in Figure 6. Because the face 34 is helical and slants downwardly and rearwardly with respect to the axis 49 of the passageway (see Figures 3 and 4), the spring 14 urges the web 38 against the face 34, which acts as a cam surface and causes the jaws to close and clamp on any document or material between the jaws. The clamping force will depend on the slanting angle of the face 34 and the force exerted by the spring 14.
The assembled holder is shown in Figures 1 to 5 with the jaws in the closed position. As can be seen in Figure 5, the corrugations in the top and bottom jaws fit into one another to increase the clamping efficiency.
The jaws can be opened by squeezing the end 46 of the top jaw and the end 48 of the bottom jaw together, which moves the rod 40 further into the passageway 24 and compresses the spring 14. The movement of the rod 40 down the passageway 24 moves the web 38 away from the face 34 and towards the other slanted end face 32 of the opening 28. This other slanted face 32 also acts as a cam surface, causing the web 38 to ride up and the top jaw 12 to move away from the bottom jaw 10 and release documents or other articles clamped to the jaw.
The rod 40 and the passageway 24 act together as a hinge that allows the jaws 10,12 to pivot about an axis 49 (see Figure 4).
Holes 50,52 are provided in the bottom jaw 10 beyond the blind end 22 of the passageway 24 and in the top jaw 12 at the far end of the rod 40. These holes can be threaded onto the rings or arches of a ring binder or a lever arch file for retaining the holder within the file or to suspend the holder. In ring binders and lever arch files, the distance between the rings and arches is 80mm and so the holes 50,52 should be spaced apart by a distance of at least 80mm, that is to say the distance separating the further extremities of the two holes should be greater than 80mm. Hole 50 in the top jaw may be elongated as shown to allow the jaws 10,12 to be opened even when fitted onto a ring binder or lever arch mechanism.
One substantial benefit of the present invention is that the holder can be made relatively thin and so does not take up a large amount of space in a file and thereby does not prevent other holders/ documents being added to a ring binder file or a lever arch file. In addition, the fact that the hold can be opened by pressing in an axial direction as opposed to a vertical direction, means that less space is needed to open the holder and it can be opened in situ in a file.

Claims

A holder suitable for holding sheets of paper or thin articles comprising
a first jaw (10) and a second jaw (12) connected together by a hinge having an axis, wherein the jaws are pivotable with respect to each other about the axis of the hinge to open and close the jaws, and wherein the first jaw is movable with respect to the other jaw in the direction of the hinge axis;
a cam surface (34);
a resilient element (14) arranged to urge the first jaw in an axial direction against the cam surface, said cam surface being configured to urge the said first jaw to pivot about the hinge towards the second jaw under the influence of the resilient element, whereby the jaws are urged together to clamp material between them.
A holder as claimed in claim 1, wherein the hinge comprises a passageway (24), which is connected to the second jaw, and an element (40), which is connected to the first jaw, that can pivot within, and move axially within, the passageway.
A holder as claimed in claim 2, wherein the resilient element (14) is located at one end of the passageway (24) to urge the element (40) along the passageway towards the said cam surface (34).
A holder as claimed in claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the cam (34) is provided in a wall (20) of the passageway (28) or in the passageway (28).
A holder as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the first jaw (12) is connected to the element (40) sliding within the hinge passageway (28) by a connector (38), and the connector is urged against the cam surface (34) to close the jaws.
A holder as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, which includes a second cam surface (32) that is configured to cause the said first jaw (12) to pivot about the hinge away from the second jaw (10) to open the jaws when the first jaw is moved axially away from the first cam surface (34).
A holder as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6, which includes at least one hole for supporting the holder within a file mechanism or to suspend the holder.
A holder as claimed in claim 7, which includes a pair of holes that are spaced apart by a distance of approximately 80mm.
A holder as claimed in claim 7, wherein one of the holes is elongated to allow the first jaw to move in the axial direction while still being engaged on a file mechanism.