EP2006117A1

EP2006117A1 - A lever-arch type file mechanism

Info

Publication number: EP2006117A1
Application number: EP07075998A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Chun Yuen To; Hung Yu Cheng
Original assignee: World Wide Stationery Manufacturing Co Ltd
Current assignee: World Wide Stationery Manufacturing Co Ltd
Priority date: 2007-06-11
Filing date: 2007-06-11
Publication date: 2008-12-24
Also published as: CN101323220A; CN201176055Y; EP2002989A1

Abstract

A lever-arch type file mechanism (10) is disclosed as including a base (12), two rings secured to and extending upwardly from the base for engaging holes in pieces of paper, each ring including a post (18a,18b) fixed to the base (12) and an arch (24a,24b) movable relative to the base (12) and the post (18a,18b), and a lever assembly (30) operable to move the arches relative to the posts (18a,18b) between a first configuration in which the rings are closed and a second configuration in which the rings are open, the lever assembly including at least a first link (32) and a second link (40), in which the first link is pivotable downwardly to open the rings, the second link is pivotable downwardly to close the rings, and both first and second links extend through a same ring (18a,24a), and the mechanism (10) includes a third link (36) carrying a roller (64) movable along a bent rod (22) joining the arches (24a,24b).

Description

This invention relates to a lever-arch type file mechanism for retaining a stack of hole-punched paper, in particular such a mechanism adapted to be affixed to a substrate, e.g. a cardboard cover, to form a lever-arch type file.
In a conventional lever-arch type file mechanism, a one-armed lever is provided for pivoting a pair of arches relative to a pair of fixed posts to allow pieces of hole-punched paper to be retrieved from or inserted into the file mechanism, and for closing the posts and arches to form a pair of closed rings to retain the paper therein. The pair of arches are joined by an intervening shaped portion on which a roller attached to the lever travels during pivotal movement of the lever, to effect opening or closing of the ring pairs.
In operating such a conventional mechanism, the lever is downwardly pivoted to close the ring pairs formed by the posts and arches and upwardly pivoted to open the rings. It is however well known that it is easier for a user to downwardly pivot a lever than to upwardly pivot a lever. Thus, the user often finds it relatively difficult to open the ring pairs.
DE 146 173 C discloses a lever-arch mechanism with a pair of openable ring pairs with an intervening bent rod, which are engaged with a baseplate by a pair of clamps. The mechanism includes a first lever which is pivotable about an axis. The first lever has an operating end and an opposite end which is pivotally engaged with a link. The link is pivotally engaged with the bent rod. By way of such an arrangement, downward pivotal movement of the first lever will pull the bent rod from its lower position to an upper position to thereby pivot the movable part of the openable ring pairs from the fixed pins to open the rings. When the ring pairs are thus opened, a second lever is pivotable from its lower position to an upper position. This second lever may be pivoted downwardly from its upper position to its lower position to close the ring pairs.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a lever-arch type file mechanism and a lever-arch type file with such a mechanism in which the aforesaid shortcoming is mitigated, or at least to provide a useful alternative to the trade and public.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided lever-arch type file mechanism including a base; at least two rings secured to and extending upwardly from the base for engaging holes in at least a piece of paper, each said ring including a post member fixed to said base and an arch member movable relative to said base and said post member; and a lever assembly operable to move said arch members relative to said post members between a first configuration in which said rings are closed and a second configuration in which said rings are open; wherein said lever assembly includes at least a first link member and a second link member, wherein said first link member is pivotable downwardly to open said rings, and wherein said second link member is pivotable downwardly to close said rings, and wherein both said first and second link members extend through a same ring, characterized in that said mechanism includes a third link member carrying a roller movable along a bent portion joining said arch members.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a lever-arch type file including a substrate fixedly engaged with a lever-arch type file mechanism, said mechanism including a base; at least two rings secured to and extending upwardly from the base for engaging holes in at least a piece of paper, each said ring including a post member fixed to said base and an arch member movable relative to said base and said post member; and a lever assembly operable to move said arch members relative to said post members between a first configuration in which said rings are closed and a second configuration in which said rings are open; wherein said lever assembly includes at least a first link member and a second link member, wherein said first link member is pivotable downwardly to open said rings, and wherein said second link member is pivotable downwardly to close said rings, and wherein both said first and second link members extend through a same ring, characterized in that said mechanism includes a third link member carrying a roller movable along a bent portion joining said arch members.
An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of an example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1A is a front view of a lever-arch type file mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 1B is a top view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1A;
Fig. 1C is a bottom view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1A;
Fig. 1D is a left side view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1 A;
Fig. 1E is a right side view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1A;
Fig. 2 is an exploded view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1A;
Fig. 3 is a top perspective view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1A in a ring-closed configuration;
Fig. 4 is a bottom perspective view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 3;
Fig. 5A is a front view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 3;
Fig. 5B is a left side view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 5A;
Fig. 5C is a rear view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 5A;
Fig. 5D is a right side view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 5A;
Fig. 6A is a front view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 5A in a ring-open configuration;
Fig. 6B is a top view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 6A;
Fig. 6C is a left side view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 6A;
Fig. 6D is a right side view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 6A;
Fig. 7 is a top perspective view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 6A;
Fig. 8 is a bottom perspective view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 7;
Fig. 9A is a front view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 7;
Fig. 9B is a left side view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 9A;
Fig. 9C is a rear view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 9A;
Fig. 9D is a right side view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 9A;
Fig. 10A is a front view of the lever assembly of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1A in a ring-closed configuration;
Fig. 10B is a top perspective of the lever assembly shown in Fig. 10A;
Fig. 11A is a front view of the lever assembly of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1A in a ring-open configuration;
Fig. 11B is a top perspective of the lever assembly shown in Fig. 11A; and
Fig. 12 is an exploded view of the lever assembly of the mechanism shown in Fig. 10A.

Figs. 1A to 1E show various views of a lever-arch type file mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention, generally designated as 10. As shown more clearly in Figs. 2 to 4, the mechanism 10 has a generally flat base 12 made of a metal or metal alloy sheet. The base 12 has four holes 14 through which securing elements, e.g. rivets, may be received for fixedly engaging the mechanism 10 to a substrate, e.g. a cardboard cover, to form a lever-arch type file or such like paper-retaining devices.
The base 12 also has two holes 16 along a major side thereof, through each of which a lower end of a post 18a, 18b is received for fixing the respective post 18a, 18b to the base 12. Along an opposite parallel major side of the base 12 are two clamps 20 for engaging a bent rod 22 joining two arches 24a, 24b. By way of such an arrangement, the arches 24a, 24b may be pivoted about an axis T-T passing through two straight portions 26 of the bent rod 22. When the bent rod 22 is installed in the mechanism 10, the straight portions 26 of the bent rod 22 are received within the clamps 20. The bent rod 22 may thus be swivelled to pivot the arches 24a, 24b relative to the base 12 and the posts 18a, 18b between a first position in which free ends 25a, 25b of the arches 24a, 24b mate with upper free ends 19a, 19b of the posts 18a, 18b to form two closed rings extending upwardly from the base 12, and a second position in which the free ends 25a, 25b of the arches 24a, 24b are out of contact with the upper free ends 19a, 19b of the posts 18a, 18b to form two open rings.
In the ring-open configuration, pieces of hole-punched paper may be inserted into or retrieved from the posts 18a, 18b and the arches 24a, 24b; in the ring-closed configuration, the pieces of paper are retained by the closed rings formed by the posts 18a, 18b and arches 24a, 24b. Below and acting on the bent rod 22 is a spring leaf 28 which urges the bent rod 22 to the ring-open position.
A lever assembly 30 is provided for controlling the pivoting movement of the bent rod 22, and thus that of the arches 24a, 24b. The lever assembly 30 is made up of five inter-connected links 32, 34, 36, 38, 40. As shown in Fig. 2, an end of the link 32 is connected with an end of the link 34 by a rivet 42 for relative pivotal movement about an axis P-P which moves during operation of the lever assembly 30. A second end of the link 34 is connected with an end of the link 36 by a rivet 44 for relative pivotal movement about an axis F-F which moves during operation of the lever assembly 30. The link 36 is connected with the link 38 by a rivet 46 for relative pivotal movement about an axis L-L which moves during operation of the lever assembly 30. The link 38 is connected with the link 40 by a rivet 48 for relative pivotal movement about an axis S-S which moves during operation of the lever assembly 30.
Both the links 32, 40 are engaged with an ear 50 extending upwardly from and integral with the base 12 by a rivet 52, such that both links 32, 40 are pivotable about a common axis N-N which is fixed relative to the base 12 and the posts 18a, 18b. The third link 36 is also engaged via a rivet 54 to a plate 56 extending upwardly from and integral with the base 12 for pivotal movement about an axis M-M, which is fixed relative to the base 12 and the posts 18a, 18b. It can be seen that the distance between the axis M-M and the base 12 is longer than the distance between the axis N-N and the base 12. It can also be seen that the axes P-P, F-F, L-L, S-S, M-M and N-N are all parallel to one another and perpendicular to the axis T-T, irrespective of the movement of the axes P-P, F-F, L-L, and S-S during operation of the lever assembly 30.
Both links 32, 40 are for manual operation by a user for selectively opening and closing the rings formed by the posts 18a, 18b and arches 24a, 24b. To provide further comfort in use, the free ends of the links 32, 40 are fixed with (e.g. by moulding) a respective plastics piece 58, 60. The two plastics pieces 58, 60 may be of different colours (e.g. red and green) to signify the different functions of the links 32, 40. In the present embodiment, the distance between the axis N-N and the free end of the link 32 is the same as the distance between the axis N-N and the free end of the link 40, although the two distances may be different. The link 36 carries, through a spindle 62, a roller 64 for rotational movement on and along the middle portion of the bent rod 22 joining the arches 24a, 24b.
Turning now to Figs. 5A to 5D, which show various views of the lever-arch type file mechanism 10 in a ring-closed configuration. It can be seen that both the links 32, 40 extend through the same ring formed by the post 18a and the arch 24a. Upon downward pivotal movement of the link 32, the link 36 (which is connected with the link 32 via the intermediate link 34) will be caused to pivot in the direction indicated by the arrow K, whereupon the roller 64 is pivoted upwardly away from its lowest position shown in Figs. 5A to 5D to the upper position shown in Figs. 6A to 9D.
When the roller 64 is thus moved away from its lowest position, the spring leaf 28 is allowed to pivot upwardly to cause the bent rod 22 to pivot away from the posts 18a, 18b to open the ring pairs. The plate 56 has a curved protrusion 66 (see Figs. 3 and 6A) extending from a major surface thereof for limiting the extent of pivotal movement of the link 36 in both directions. Because of the connection of the link 36 with the link 40 via the intermediate link 38, pivotal movement of the link 36 in the direction indicated by the arrow K will cause the link 40 to pivot upwardly to the position shown in Figs. 6A to 9D. When the mechanism 10 is in the ring-open configuration, pieces of hole-punched paper may be received within or retrieved from the posts 18a, 18b or the arches 24a, 24b.
It can be seen that, when in the ring-closed configuration shown in Figs. 3 to 5D, the distance between the base 12 and a free end of the link 32 is longer than the distance between the base 12 and a free end of the link 40, whereas in the ring-open configuration shown in Figs. 6A to 9D, the distance between the base 12 and the free end of the link 40 is longer than the distance between the base 12 and the free end of the link 32.
Turning to the ring-open configuration shown in Figs. 6A to 9D, downward movement of the link 40 will cause the link 36 to pivot relative to the plate 56 in the direction indicated by the arrow J shown in Fig. 9A, whereupon the roller 64 will be brought back to its lowest position in the ring-closed configuration as shown in Figs. 3 to 5D, which pivots the bent rod 22 to the ring-closed position against the upward biasing force of the spring leaf 28. Again, because of the inter-connection among the links 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, downward pivotal movement of the link 40 will cause the link 32 to pivot upwardly back to the position shown in Figs. 3 to 5D. When the mechanism 10 is in the ring-closed configuration, the closed rings formed by the posts 18a, 18b and arches 24a, 24b can retain pieces of hole-punched paper.
Figs. 10A and 10B show the relative position of the links 32, 34, 36, 38, 40 when the mechanism 10 is in the ring-closed configuration, whereas Figs. 11A and 11B show the relative position of the links 32, 34, 36, 38, 40 when the mechanism is in the ring-open configuration. Fig. 12 shows in more detail the inter-connection among the links 32, 34, 36, 38, 40.
It should be understood that the above only illustrates an example whereby the present invention may be carried out, and that various modifications and/or alterations may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention.
It should also be understood that certain features of the invention, which are, for clarity, described in the context of separate embodiments, may be provided in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features of the invention which are, for brevity, described in the context of a single embodiment, may also be provided separately or in any appropriate sub-combinations.

Claims

A lever-arch type file mechanism (10) including:
a base (12);

at least two rings secured to and extending upwardly from the base (12) for engaging holes in at least a piece of paper, each said ring including a post member (18) fixed to said base (12) and an arch member (24) movable relative to said base (12) and said post member (18); and

a lever assembly (30) operable to move said arch members (24) relative to said post members (18) between a first configuration in which said rings are closed and a second configuration in which said rings are open;
wherein said lever assembly (30) includes at least a first link member (32) and a second link member (40),
wherein said first link member is pivotable downwardly to open said rings,
wherein said second link member is pivotable downwardly to close said rings, and
wherein both said first and second link members extend through a same ring (18a, 24a),
characterized in that said mechanism includes a third link member (36) carrying a roller (64) movable along a bent portion (22) joining said arch members.
A mechanism according to Claim 1 further characterized in that a plastics piece (60) is fixed to a free end of said second link member.
A mechanism according to Claim 1 or 2further characterized in that said first and second link members are pivotable about a common first axis (N-N).
A mechanism according to Claim 3 further characterized in that said first axis is fixed relative to said base.
A mechanism according to Claim 1 further characterized in that said third link member is pivotable relative to a second axis (M-M) which is substantially parallel to said first axis.
A mechanism according to Claim 5 further characterized in that the distance between said second axis and said base is longer than the distance between said first axis and said base.
A mechanism according to any of the preceding claims further characterized in that said first link member is connected with said third link member via at least an intermediate fourth link member (34).
A mechanism according to any of the preceding claims further characterized in that said second link member is connected with said third link member via at least an intermediate fifth link member (38).
A mechanism according to any one of Claims 5 to 8 further characterized in including a plate member (56) extending from said base, wherein said third link member is engaged with said plate member for pivotal movement about said second axis.
A mechanism according to Claim 9 further characterized in that said plate member includes means (66) for limiting the extent of pivotal movement of said third link member.
A mechanism according to Claim 3 further characterized in that the distance between said first axis and a free end of said first link is substantially the same as the distance between said first axis and a free end of said second link.
A mechanism according to Claim 3 further characterized in that the distance between said first axis and a free end of said first link is different from the distance between said first axis and a free end of said second link.
A mechanism according to any of the preceding claims further characterized in that downward pivotal movement of said first link member brings about upward pivotal movement of said second link member.
A mechanism according to any of the preceding claims further characterized in that downward pivotal movement of said second link member brings about upward pivotal movement of said first link member.
A mechanism according to any of the preceding claims further characterized in that when said arch members are in said first configuration, the distance between the base and a free end of said first link member is longer than the distance between the base and a free end of said second link member.
A mechanism according to any of the preceding claims further characterized in that when said arch members are in said second configuration, the distance between the base and a free end of said second link member is longer than the distance between the base and a free end of said first link member.
A lever-arch type file including a substrate fixedly engaged with a mechanism according to any of the preceding claims.