GB2224469A

GB2224469A - Binder mechanism

Info

Publication number: GB2224469A
Application number: GB8922454A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Graeme Paterson
Original assignee: Bensons International Systems Ltd
Current assignee: Bensons International Systems Ltd
Priority date: 1988-10-05
Filing date: 1989-10-05
Publication date: 1990-05-09
Also published as: GB8823414D0; GB8922454D0

Abstract

A binder mechanism for releasably securing papers in a folder or on a backing member by means of elements which pass through holes punched in such papers comprises one or more flexible elements (30) secured at one end to a base member (21), the free ends (30b) of the flexible elements being received within guide slots (22) formed within the base member, thereby forming the elements into loops with a manually releasable pawl member (35) adapted to engage ratchet teeth (24) formed on the strap, so as to hold the free end of the strap 30 adjustably and releasably within the guide slot (22). <IMAGE>

Description

Title: "Binder Mechanisms" Description of the Invention This invention relates to binder mechanisms for securing papers or the like releasably in a folder by means of elements which pass through holes punched in such papers.

One main type of such mechanism comprises a ring binder mechanism of the kind incorporating a longitudinal base member with two or more rings mounted thereon at spaced positions along the length thereof, each ring comprising two separable ring elements, the elements being formed into two opposing sets which are disposed on opposite lateral sides of the centre line of the base member and mounted thereon for movement between respective open and closed positions. Such mechanisms are relatively expensive to manufacture and have the disadvantage that the rings, which may be of various shapes and sizes, are of pre-determined invariable dimensions, so that the overall thickness of the folder in which the mechanism is mounted is determined by the dimensions of the rings and not by the quantity of paper secured thereby.

Another main type of mechanism, which is less expensive to manufacture and does not present the last-mentioned disadvantage, utilises laces or other flexible elements which are secured at one end to the folder, pass through holes in the paper, and are releasably secured at the other end to the folder in an adjustable manner. Such mechanisms allow the overall thickness of the folder to be determined by the quantity of paper secured therein, but are generally rather difficult to use and are prone to deterioration over a prolonged period of use due to the required flexing of the elements each time paper is inserted or removed.

It is an object of the invention to provide a novel binder mechanism in which the above-mentioned disadvantages are largely eliminated, and a folder incorporating such a mechanism.

According to the invention we provide a binder mechanism for releasably securing punched paper or the like, the mechanism comprising at least one flexible element secured at one end to a base member which is adapted for securing to a supporting member, the base member also affording guide means for receiving the free end of the flexible element, thereby forming the element into a loop, and releasable securing means for adjustably holding the free end of the flexible element within said guide means.

Thus, the size of the loop formed by the flexible element may be varied according to the quantity of paper secured in the folder, whilst the free end of the flexible element may be released and secured simply and easily.

Additionally, the size of the loop may be varied either to hold the papers firmly or to hold them loosely in the manner of a ring binder thus enabling the pages to be turned.

Preferably, the flexible element is formed as a strap made of plastics material, with integral ratchet-teeth, and the securing means incorpates a complementary displaceable pawl member to engage said ratchet-teeth, preferably with manually operable means for disengaging said pawl member when required.

Two or more of such flexible elements may be secured to a common longitudinal base member. Whether provided on a common base member or on individual base members, when mounted on a binder the flexible elements may be arranged with their free ends all extending in the same direction or in two sets, for example, alternately in opposite directions. The latter arrangement has the advantage that the papers may be divided into two sets, one on each side of the mechanism, and the loops may be opened whilst both sets of papers continue to be located by some of the flexible elements in a manner similar to the ring elements of a conventional ring binder mechanism, thereby facilitating the removal and insertion of single sheets in the middle of an existing stack of sheets secured within the binder.

The invention further resides in a binder comprising such a binder mechanism mounted on a supporting member.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein FIGURE I shows a perspective view of a binder incorporating a mechanism in accordance with the invention; FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary underneath plan view illustrating one embodiment of mechanism in accordance with the invention, in a nonoperative condition; FIGURE 3 is a transverse section through the mechanism of Figure 2, but in an operative condition; and FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating an alternative embodiment of binder mechanism in accordance with the invention.

Referring firstly to Figure I, a binder 10 for leaves of punched paper (not shown) comprises a folder II having front and rear cover members 12 and 13 foldably interconnected by a spine member 14, with a binder mechanism 20 in accordance with the invention mounted, in this case, on the rear cover member 13. However, other arrangements are possible. For example the mechanism 20 could be mounted on the spine member 14; in some cases the spine member could be omitted; and in some cases the binder could comprise a single generally flat supporting member like the rear cover 13 alone so as to provide an article resembling a 'clip-board'.

The binder mechanism 20 as illustrated includes a base member 21 which is adapted to be secured to the cover member 13 in any suitable manner, e.g. by means of rivets or other suitable fasteners. The base member, in this embodiment, carries two spaced flexible elements 30 which, as shown, are formed into loops by passing the free ends 30b of the elements through guide and fastening means afforded by the base member 21 as hereinafter described.

The construction of the guide and fastening means can most clearly be seen from Figures 2 and 3. In the embodiment illustrated, the base member 21 comprises a moulded plastic member with two flexible elements in the form of thin straps 30 formed integrally therewith or secured thereto at one end 30a in any appropriate manner so as to extend outwardly from one longitudinal side of the base member.

The guide means for the receipt of the free end of the straps comprise a respective transversely extending slot 22 in alignment with the fixed end 30a of the corresponding strap, with an opening 23 in the upper face of the base member adjacent to the longitudinal side thereof opposite that at which the strap 30 projects. As can be seen from Figure 3, the strap 30 is bent into a loop and the free end 30b is passed into the opening 23 so as to extend into and through the slot 22, as indicated in chain-dot lines.

To enable the strap to be retained in any selected position of adjustment within the slot 22, the strap is formed over a substantial proportion of its length with a row of recessed ratchet-teeth 24, and the base member 21 includes a resilient pawl member 35 which is formed with complementary teeth 24a to engage those of the strap. The pawl member 35 is formed integrally with operating members in the form of buttons 26 which in use project from the upper side of the base member 21 to enable the pawl member 35 to be displaced downwardly out of engagement with the ratchet teeth 24 so that the strap 30 may be partially or wholly withdrawn from the slot 22.

Whilst this mechanism may be constructed in any convenient manner, in the illustrated embodiment the pawl member 35 is formed integrally with the base member 21. As seen most clearly in Figure 2, the base member is formed with a generally square recess 27 at its underside, which is partially bridged by a bar 28 in which the opening 23 is formed. A strip 29 extends from the bar 28 to form the upper side of the guide slot 22, and on each side of the strip 29 the recess 27 defines in combination therewith a pair of square openings 31. A further bar 32 extends across the slot 22 at the underside of the base member 21 adjacent to the fixed end 30a of the strap 30, so as further to guide the free end 30b of the strap as it is inserted through the slot 22.

The pawl member 35 is formed as part of a generally square moulding 25 which is integrally connected with the bar 28 by means of a thin flexible portion 33 which forms a hinge. L-shaped slots 34 formed in the moulding 25 define a T-shape flexible tongue with pawl teeth 24a formed at the centre of the cross-piece of the T on one side, and with the buttons 26 protruding from opposite end portions of the cross-piece of the T on either side of the pawl teeth 24a.

The moulding 25 is formed with a pair of tapering projections 36 which are arranged so as to be a snap-fit within corresponding tapering holes 37 formed in the bar 28.

Before the base member 21 is secured to the folder II, the moulding 25 is folded inwardly into the recess 27 so that the projections 36 engage in the holes 37 and so that the pawl member 35 is arranged with the pawl teeth 24a in opposed relation to the strip 29, as seen in Figure 3, whilst the buttons 26 project through the openings 31 on opposite sides of the strip 29.

In use, the strip 30 can easily be threaded through punched holes formed in leaves of paper to be secured in the binder, and then the free end 30b can be inserted into the opening 23 so that it is guided along the slot 22, over the pawl 35 and bar 32. The arrangement is such that the resilience of the pawl 35 ensures that the pawl teeth 24a engage the ratchet teeth 24 on the strap 30 so as to prevent the latter being withdrawn.

However, when it is required to remove sheets of paper, the buttons 26 are depressed to release the pawl teeth 24a from the ratchet teeth 24, thereby enabling the free end 30b of the strap 30 to be withdrawn from the slot 22.

It will, of course, be appreciated that other arrangements are possible, and in particulor the pawl teeth may be formed on a tongue which extends longitudinally of the base member 21, so that there is a single button adjacent to the strap 30. Alternatively, instead of forming the pawl member 35 integrally with the base member, it may be provided by a structurally separate member with an appropriate operating mechanism, which could be arranged to release the pawl members of each of the straps 30 simultaneously.

Whilst the illustrated embodiment affords two straps 30 at relatively widely spaced positions on the common base member 21, it will be understood that in some cases a similar, possibly extended base member may carry a greater number of such straps, e.g four or six or more. Where four or more of such straps are provided, instead of all the straps being disposed at the same longitudinal edge of the base member, they may instead be arranged into two sets, one set at one longitudinal edge and the other set at the other edge.

Preferably, but not necessarily, the straps are arranged alternately on opposite sides of the base member.

In such a modification illustrated in Figure 4, two straps 40 are arranged adjacent to one another in a pair so as to extend from opposite longitudinal sides of the base member, forming a pair of closely spaced loops adapted to pass through a pair of closely spaced holes punched in the paper.

A single operating button 41 is associated with the two straps so that they can be released simultaneously. This arrangement simulates a conventional ring binder insofar as a stack of sheets of paper can be separated into two sets one on each side of the base member, whilst the loops are closed. The loops may then be released and each unthreaded from one of the sets of papers whilst each set of papers remains located by the other set. A similar effect can, however, be achieved without arranging the straps in pairs. Thus, whilst, in Figure 4, the two straps 40 are arranged in closely spaced relation as a unitary pair, it will be appreciated that there may, for example, be four straps spaced at equal intervals along the length of the base member, two arranged to extend from one longitudinal edge of the base member, and two arranged to extend from the other longitudinal edge.

It will be appreciated that the size of the loops formed by the strap 30 or 40 can easily be adjusted so that papers within the folder 11 are either firmly held, or are free to be turned over the loops. Likewise, the free ends of the loops may readily be released so as to facilitate the addition or removal of further sheets of punched paper, and where there is no spine member or the spine member is of flexible or foldable construction, the overall thickness of the binder 10 will be determined by the quantity of paper it holds at any given time, rather than by the predetermined and invariable height of the rigid rings employed in conventional ring binders.

Further, whilst it is convenient for all the straps required for a single binder to be provided on a single, common base member, it is possible for single straps (e.g. as in Figure 3) or pairs of straps (e.g. as in Figure 4) to be provided on respective smaller base members, the requisite number of base member then being mounted at appropriate positions on the binder to provide the desired number and spacing of straps in any given case.

The features disclosed in the foregoing description, or the accompanying drawing, expressed in their specific forms or in terms of a means for performing the disclosed function or a method or process for attaining the disclosed result, may, separately or in any combination of such features, be utilised for realising the invention in diverse forms thereof.

Claims

CLAIMS:

I. A binder mechanism for releasably securing punched paper or the like, the mechanism comprising at least one flexible element secured at one end to a base member which is adapted for securing to a supporting member, the base member also affording guide means for receiving the free end of the flexible element, thereby forming the element into a loop, and releasable securing means for adjustably holding the free end of the flexible element within said guide means.
2. Binder mechanism according to Claim I wherein the flexible element is formed as a strap made of plastics material, with integral ratchet-teeth, and the securing means incorporates a complementary displaceable pawl member to engage said ratchet-teeth.
3. A binder mechanism according to Claim 2 wherein manually operable means are provided for disengaging said pawl member when required.
4. A binder mechanism according to anyone of the preceding claims comprises two or more of said flexible elements secured to a single base member.
5. A binder mechanism according to Claim 4 wherein said flexible elements are arranged with their free ends each extending in the same direction from said base member.
6. A binder mechanism according to claim 4 wherein said flexible elements are arranged in two sets, those of one set being arranged with their free ends extending away from the base member in the oppposite direction to those of the other set.
7. A binder comprising a generally flat supporting member having one or more flexible elements which are each secured at one end to a base member mounted on said supporting member, the base member also affording guide means for receiving the free end of the flexible element, thereby forming the element into a loop, and releasable securing means for adjustable holding the free end of the flexible element within said guide means.
8. A binder according to Claim 7 wherein the flexible element is formed as a strap made of plastics material, with integral ratchet-teeth, and the securing means incorporates a complentary displaceable pawl member to engage with said ratchet-teeth.
9. A binder mechanism according to Claim 8 wherein manually operable means are provided for disengaging said pawl member when required.
10. A binder according to anyone of Claims 7 to 9 comprising two or more of said flexible elements secured to said supporting member.
11. A binder according to Claim 10 wherein said flexible elements are arranged with their free ends each extending in the same direction.
12. A binder according to Claim 10 wherein said flexible elements are arranged in two sets, those of one set being arranged with their free ends extending in the opposite direction to those of the other set.
13. A binder according to anyone of Claims 10 to 12 wherein said flexible elements are carried by a single base member which is mounted on the support member.
14. A binder according to anyone of Claims 7 to 13 wherein the supporting member comprises part of a folder.
15. A binder mechanism comprising a base member and flexible element substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in Figures 2 and 3 of the accompanying drawings.
16. A binder mechanism comprising a base member and a poir of flexible elements substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in Figure 4 of the accompanying drawings.
17. A binder substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in Figure I of the accompanying drawings.
18. Any novel feature or novel combinction of features disclosed herein and/or as shown in the accompanying drawings.