GB2427850A

GB2427850A - Binding machine for closing wire comb binding elements

Info

Publication number: GB2427850A
Application number: GB0513478A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Gary Badham; Gareth Owen Morgan
Original assignee: Acco UK Ltd
Current assignee: Acco UK Ltd
Priority date: 2005-07-01
Filing date: 2005-07-01
Publication date: 2007-01-10
Anticipated expiration: 2025-07-01
Also published as: GB2427850B; GB0513478D0

Abstract

The binder binds pages of a document together using a wire comb. It has a comb closing mechanism with a channel 32 having two side walls 20b, 22b and a base (figure 3, 34). At least one of the side walls 22b is moveable by a rack 24 and gear 26 mechanism to reduce the width of the channel. The base 34 of the channel is moveable between a first position close to the lower edges of the channel side walls and a second position spaced from and below their lower edges. It is biased towards the first position by a spring. A partly bound document, with the open part of the comb downwards, is placed into channel 32. The comb deforms when the side walls move towards each other. Its vertical dimension increases, forcing the base to move downwards increasing the depth of the channel. The motion of one side wall towards the other is limited to match the comb size by a mechanism connected to a dial (figure 3, 38). The binder also includes a punch to punch a line of holes in a document.

Description

Title: Improvements relating to binders

Description of Invention

The invention relates to improvements in binders, particularly to the kind of binder which uses a wire comb to bind documents and to the wire comb closing mechanism.

Binders which use a wire comb to bind documents are well known. They do however suffer from a number of disadvantages with regard to the manner in which they operate. Two such disadvantage relate to the operation of closing the wire comb, by deforming the wire comb, after the pages of the document have been punched and placed on the comb. In particular there are problems in the prior art binders with the retention of the comb in the wire comb closing mechanism, and with the control of the extent to which the wire comb closing mechanism deforms the comb. It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a binder which addresses these disadvantages.

According to the invention there is provided a binder operable to bind together pages of a document using a wire comb, the binder having a wire comb closing mechanism with a channel with a first side, a second side and a base, at least one of the sides being moveable to reduce the width of the channel and thus close the wire comb to bind the pages of the document, wherein the base of the channel is moveable between a first position close to the lower edges of the first and second sides and a second position spaced from and below the lower edges of the first and second sides.

Preferably when the first and/or second side(s) of the channel is/are moved to reduce the width of the channel and close the wire comb the vertical dimension of the wire comb increases and the base is moved to its second position.

Conveniently the base is biased towards the first position by resilient spring means and when the first and/or second side(s) of the channel is/are moved to reduce the width of the channel and close the wire comb the vertical dimension of the wire comb increases and the base is moved to its second position against the bias of the resilient spring means.

The wire comb closing mechanism may further include a means to limit the movement of the or each movable side of the channel to reduce the width of the channel.

The means to limit the movement of the or each movable side of the channel may include a user selectable control, a cam member and a cam follower.

A binder wherein the user selectable control determines the position of the cam member and the cam follower is secured relative to the at least one moveable side of the channel, and interaction of the cam member and cam follower limit the movement of the at least one side of the channel.

A binder wherein the user selectable control and cam member are both secured to an axle for rotation with the axle.

A binder wherein the cam member is circular and secured to the axle eccentrically.

A binder wherein the cam follower is generally oval and is located around the cam member.

A binder wherein the cam follower includes a tongue which is secured relative to the at least one moveable side of the channel by a pin.

An embodiment of a wire comb closing mechanism for a binder according to the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a wire comb closing mechanism of a binder according to the invention, with other parts removed to enable a clear view of the relevant parts; Figure 2 is a section through the wire comb closing mechanism of Figure 1 in the middle from front to back; Figure 3 is a section through the wire comb closing mechanism of Figure 1 laterally through the channel which receives the wire comb to close it; Figure 4 is a view from the left hand side of the wire comb closing mechanism of Figure 1; Figure 5 is a section through of a partly bound document, ready to be placed in the wire comb closing mechanism of Figure 1, and Figure 6 is a section through the now fully bound document after it has been operated on by the wire comb closing mechanism of Figure 1.

A binder of the kind to which the invention relates includes a punch mechanism to punch holes along one edge of the pages of the document to be bound, and a means to hold the wire comb in place whilst the pages are placed onto the comb. These features are well known and will not be described further as the present invention does not relate to them. However, the invention relates to a wire comb closing mechanism of the binder as used from that stage of the binding process to the completion of the process.

Figure 5 shows, in section, a partly bound document, in which a wire comb 12 is in its initial open condition, and pages 14 of a document which have been punched and placed on the wire comb 12. Figure 6 shows, in section, the now fully bound document, in which the wire comb 12 is in its closed condition, thus retaining the pages 14 of the document in place. The invention relates to a wire comb closing mechanism which is operable to close the wire comb and thus to take the partly bound document of Figure 5 and produce the fully bound document of Figure 6, thus deforming the wire comb 12 from its initial open condition of Figure 5 to its closed condition in Figure 6.

Referring now to Figures 1 to 4, a wire comb closing mechanism 16 of a binder includes a chassis 18. Secured to the chassis 18 at the front thereof is a first extrusion 20 which has a top wall 20a, a side wall 20b and a bottom wall 20c. Movably secured to the chassis 18 is a second extrusion 22 which has a top wall 22a, a forward facing side wall 22b, a bottom wall 22c and a rearward facing side wall 22d. On the inner face of the top wall 22 is a rack 24 which is engaged with a pinion gear 26 mounted on a hexagonal axle 28 for rotation therewith. On the left hand end of the axle 28 is an arm 30 for operation by the user of the wire comb closing mechanism 16 of the binder to move the extrusion 22 forwards and backwards on the chassis 18, as will be described later.

The side wall 20b of the first extrusion 20 and the forward facing side wall 22 of the second extrusion 22 form the side walls of a channel 32. The channel 32 has a base 34 mounted below the chassis 18, for movement between a first position close to the lower edges of the side wall 20 of the first extrusion 20 and the forward facing side wall 22b of the second extrusion 22, and a second position further away from them. The base 34 is biased towards the first position by resilient spring means 36. The reason for the movement of the base 34 will become apparent when the manner of operation of the wire comb closing mechanism 16 is described below.

The wire comb closing mechanism 16 further includes a means to limit the movement of the second extrusion 22. This comprises a user settable dial 38, in this case on the right hand side of the binder, on an axle 40. The user settable dial 38 has identified on it the various diameters of wire comb 12 available for use with the binder, and is secured for rotation with a selector wheel 42 (which is normally hidden from view of the user inside a corner of the binder). On the other end of the axle 40, on the left hand side of the binder, and secured for rotation with the axle 40, is a cam member 44. The cam member 44 is engaged with a cam follower 46, one end of which is pivotally secured to the second extrusion 22 by pin 48 through tongue 49. The cam member 44 is generally circular and is secured to the axle 40 for rotation therewith, eccentrically. The cam follower 46 is generally oval and is located around the cam member 44.

Thus, the extent to which the second extrusion 22 can be moved towards the first extrusion 20 is limited when the rear portion of the cam follower 46 abuts the cam 44 and cannot move further forwards.

Operation of the wire comb closing mechanism 16 will now be described. The partly bound document, as shown in Figure 5, is placed in the channel 32, with the open part of the wire comb 12 towards the bottom of the channel 32. The user then pulls arm 30, which rotates the hexagonal axle 28 and thus the gear 26. As the gear 26 is meshed with the rack 24 movement of the arm 30 forwards and downwards moves the second extrusion 22 forwards, and thus the forward facing side wall 22 thereof moves towards the side wall 20 of the first extrusion 20 and the channel 32 is reduced in width. Thus the side wall 20b of the first extrusion 20 and the forward facing side wall 22 of the second extrusion 22 come into contact with the sides of the wire comb 12 and deform the wire comb 12 to close it to the position shown in Figure 6.

As the wire comb is deformed the vertical dimension of the wire comb 12 increases, and this forces the base 34 to move downwards below the chassis 18 to increase the depth of the channel 32. In the prior art the base of the channel does not move and the partially bound document therefore, on occasions, is forced upwards out of the channel during the binding process.

The provision of a moveable base 34 to the channel 32 has been found to be advantageous in retaining the partly bound document in place in the channel 32 during the operation of the wire comb closing mechanism 16.

However, for optimum binding, the degree to which the width of the channel 32 is reduced during the operation of the wire comb closing mechanism 16 needs to be varied in a controllable fashion for different diameters of wire combs. For example if a large diameter wire comb 12 is inadequately deformed the pages 14 of the document might readily come off the wire comb 12, or if a small diameter wire comb 12 is deformed more than it should be it will be difficult to turn the pages 14 of the document as they will have inadequate space to move within the wire comb 12. Thus the wire comb closing mechanism 16 is provided with the means to limit the movement of the second extrusion 22, and thus to limit the degree to which the width of the channel 32 is reduced. The user turns the dial 38 until the required wire comb size is aligned with a mark for the operable size. This automatically sets the cam 44 and cam follower member 46 such that the second extrusion 22 is moved the optimum distance, and no further, during operation of the wire comb closing mechanism 16 for the size of wire comb 12 being used to bind the document.

Although the embodiment described uses first and second extrusions to provide the walls of the channel 32 other forms of component may provide the sides of the channel, and although a rack and pinion is described to move the second extrusion to reduce the width of the channel 32, other forms of construction may be used as appropriate to provide this movement.

Furthermore, both sides of the channel may be moved to reduce its width if desired. In addition a movable base to the channel may be provided by other forms of construction, and the manner in which the degree of reduction of width of the channel is controlled may also be varied. Such variations may still fall within the scope of the present invention.

When used in this specification and claims, the terms "comprises" and "comprising" and variations thereof mean that the specified features, steps or integers are included. The terms are not to be interpreted to exclude the presence of other features, steps or components.

The features disclosed in the foregoing description, or the following claims, or the accompanying drawings, 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, as appropriate, may, separately, or in any combination of such features, be utilised for realising the invention in diverse forms thereof.

Claims

Claims 1. A binder operable to bind together pages of a document using a

wire comb, the binder having a wire comb closing mechanism with a channel with a first side, a second side and a base, at least one of the sides being moveable to reduce the width of the channel and thus close the wire comb to bind the pages of the document, wherein the base of the channel is moveable between a first position close to the lower edges of the first and second sides and a second position spaced from and below the lower edges of the first and second sides.
2. A binder according to claim I wherein when the first and/or second side of the channel is/are moved to reduce the width of the channel and close the wire comb the vertical dimension of the wire comb increases and the base is moved to its second position.
3. A binder according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the base is biased towards the first position by resilient spring means.
4. A binder according to claim 3 wherein when the first and/or second side of the channel is/are moved to reduce the width of the channel and close the wire comb the vertical dimension of the wire comb increases and the base is moved to its second position against the bias of the resilient spring means.
5. A binder according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the wire comb closing mechanism further includes a means to limit the movement of the or each movable side of the channel to reduce the width of the channel.
6. A binder according to claim 5 wherein the means to limit the movement of the or each movable side of the channel includes a user selectable control, a cam member and a cam follower.
7. A binder according to claim 6 wherein the user selectable control determines the position of the cam member and the cam follower is secured relative to the at least one moveable side of the channel, and interaction of the cam member and cam follower limit the movement of the at least one side of the channel.
8. A binder according to claim 7 wherein the user selectable control and cam member are both secured to an axle for rotation with the axle.
9. A binder according to claim 8 wherein the cam member is circular and secured to the axle eccentrically.
10. A binder according to claim 9 wherein the cam follower is generally oval and is located around the cam member.
11. A binder according to claim 10 wherein the cam follower includes a tongue which is secured relative to the at least one moveable side of the channel by a pin.
12. A binder substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
13. Any novel feature or novel combination of features described herein and/or in the accompanying drawings.