IL115802A - Loose leaf folder - Google Patents

Description

LOOSE LEAF FOLDER 749/95 D-l 26.10. 1995 FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to loose leaf folders in general and, more particularly, to closure elements for retaining loose pages in a file folder or binder.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Loose leaf files and folders of various kinds have long been known in the art. These generally include a front and back cover with a fastener mounted therein. One common style of fastener includes two elongate tongues, arranged to extend through a pair of holes punched in the pages, and a plastic or metal locking element which slides onto or around the tongues and secures them against movement.

These tongues typically consist of thin plastic tubes or strips, such as shown in UK Patent 927 , 51 3 , a tightly wound metal coil, such as shown in UK Patent 1 , 200 , 592 , or thin, flat strips, such as seen in US 2 , 289 , 949 . These tongues are threaded through holes punched in the pages to be filed, and then must be threaded through the locking element, or the locking element is inserted around them, thereby locking the tongues against movement.

Fastening and unfastening these fastening members is a time consuming process. Furthermore, when the tongues are locked in place by the locking elements, the folder cannot be opened flat in order to read the innermost margin of the page, or to photocopy a page in the middle of the folder. Rather, the fastener must be opened, all the pages on top of the desired page must be removed, and only then can the desired page be removed, copied and returned to its place.

Proposed solutions to this problem include ring binders and the loose-leaf binder which includes a fastener which consists of two opposed rigid tubes, one arranged to slide telescopically into the other. Before opening the binder, the pages are moved onto one or the other of the tubes, then the fastener is opened and the page can be removed. These binders are awkward to operate and are not suitable for a relatively flat file folder .

Accordingly, there is a long felt need for a fastener which securely retains loose pages in a folder or binder but which is fast and easy to open and close. Further, it would be very desirable to have such a fastener which permits photocopying of a page in the middle of the folder without removing any pages from the folder .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided a loose leaf folder including a cover member and two elongated, semi-rigid, elastic leaf-engaging tongues coupled to the cover member, the length of the tongues being at least three quarters the width of a loose leaf.

Preferably, the length of the tongues is the same as the width of a loose leaf.

Further according to the invention, there is provided a loose leaf folder including a foldable cover member defining a front cover and back cover, and two elongated, semi-rigid, elastic leaf-engaging tongues threaded in the cover member, the length of the tongues being at least three quarters the width of a loose leaf.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the front cover includes a folded engagement portion through which the tongues are threaded and the tongues are locked in place by frictional engagement therewith .

Still further according to the present invention, there is provided a hanging folder for loose leaf pages including a foldable cover member, four substantially rigid hanging elements coupled to the cover member, and at least two elongate, semi-rigid, elastic leaf-engaging tongues, each threaded through the cover member and two of the hanging members, the length of the tongues being at least three quarters the width of a page.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will be further understood and appreciated from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a plan view of a folder constructed and operative in accordance with one embodiment of the invention in a page engaging orientation; Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the folder of Fig. 1 taken along line A-A; Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the folder of Fig. 1 when filled with pages and in an open orientation; Fig. 4 is a schematic illustration of the capacity of a folder according to the invention; Fig. 5 is a detail view of a folder constructed and operative in accordance with another embodiment of the invention; and Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a hanging element of the folder of Fig. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to file folders which do not require a separate locking or retaining element to hold the tongues which retain loose leaf pages in place. This is achieved by providing leaf-engaging tongues which are semi-rigid but elastic and whose length is at least three quarters the width of a page to be filed in the folder. Preferably, the length of the tongues is the same as the width of a page, or any other length which prevents the tongues from disengaging from the folder or the pages therein during reading or separation of the pages .

It will be appreciated that pages generally are removed from a file folder in order to copy them. It is a particular feature of the present invention that loose leaf pages are retained in the folder in a secure fashion without fear of falling out, yet the file can be opened and the pages separated to a substantially flat orientation which permits photocopying of any page in the folder. Thus, in most cases, there will be no need to remove pages from folders according to the present invention, since pages can be copied with the file intact. In any case, when necessary, inserting and removing pages from the folder is relatively quick and simple, since no separate locking element need be attached or removed.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, there is shown a file folder 10 constructed and operative in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention including a cover 12 and two tongues 14. According to the illustrated embodiment, cover 12 is foldable along a center fold 18 to form a front cover 20 and a back cover 22.

Tongues 14 can be coupled to cover 12 in any fashion, such as threading through holes 16, stapling, or affixing in any other known manner. It will be appreciated that, alternatively, tongues 14 can be the two ends of a single element threaded through cover 12.

Tongues 14 are formed of a semi-rigid but elastic material, such as semi-rigid plastic or metal, including, but not limited to, flexible polypropylene and steel.

This is to permit the tongues 14 to bend without folding and to return to their original shape when not under pressure. Tongues 14 may have any desired shape, including a substantially flat strip, a tube, a hemisphere cross-section, or any other shape which permits easy threading of the tongues through the holes in loose leaves to be filed, while providing ease of locking. A tightly wound metal coil or spiral spring forms a particularly effective tongue. Pulling tongues 14 outwardly tightens the pages. A bend 15 can be provided at the tip of each tongue for ease of grasping and pulling the tongues.

In the embodiment of Fig. 1, back cover 22 includes a fold 24 through which holes 26 are punched for receiving tongues 14. Fold 24 may be glued, stapled as at 25, or otherwise affixed to back cover 22 after tongues 14 have been inserted therein.

It is a particular feature of the present invention that tongues 14 are substantially longer than those in conventional files. In conventional files, the tongues are about one quarter to one third the width of a page, which is generally little more than the capacity of the file, which is generally about 2 cm. In the present invention, on the other hand, the length of tongues 14 is at least three quarters, and preferably the same as the width of a loose leaf page to be filed in the folder. This length permits manufacture of file folders having as much as three times the capacity of conventional folders, i.e., on the order of 5 cm. This capacity is indicated by reference C in Fig. 4 which shows a file according to the invention expanded to its full capacity. This elongation provides flexibility of movement of pages back and forth within the folder and permits frictional locking without fear of pages falling out of the folder.

In particular, this shape and length of the tongues permits the folder to be opened with the pages separated to a substantially flat orientation, as shown in Fig. 3, to permit access to the entire document, even the innermost margin, and to permit photocopying of a page without folding or mangling the folder. Furthermore, this retaining element is inexpensive to manufacture and does not interfere with holding or reading pages in the folder .

Referring now to Fig. 5, there is shown a file folder 30 constructed and operative in accordance with another embodiment of the invention. Folder 30 is a hanging folder which includes a foldable cover member 32 defining two folds 34 for engaging four hanging elements 36. Preferably, the edges of folds 34 are glued to cover member 32 so as to prevent hanging elements 36 from falling out. Each hanging element 36, best seen in Fig. 6, is a substantially rigid element including a hook 37 and at least one longitudinal slot 38. Two tongues 40, here shown as spiral springs, are threaded through cover member 32 and through slots 38 in hanging elements 36. It will be appreciated that slots 38 are substantially longer than the width of tongues 40, thereby permitting extension and retraction of the hanging elements 36 without falling out of the folder.

It is a particular feature of the invention that pages in the folder can be inserted in chronological order, with the newest on the bottom and the oldest on top which can be read like a book. This is the reverse of conventional filing. In this case, the tongues will be inserted from front to back, permitting easy addition of new pages to the back. This also makes the folder more attractive when open.

It will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to what has been described hereinabove merely by way of example. Rather, the invention is limited solely by the claims which follow.

Claims (12)

1. A folder for holding loose leaf pages comprising: (a) a cover member; and (b) two elongated, semi-rigid, elastic leaf-engaging tongues coupled to said cover member; wherein the length of said tongues is at least three quarters the width of a loose leaf page.

2. The folder according to claim 1, wherein the length of the tongues is substantially the same as the width of a loose leaf page.

3. The folder according to claim 1, wherein: (a) said cover member is foldable along a central axis to define a front cover and a back cover; (b) said tongues are coupled to said back cover.

4. The folder according to claim 3, wherein said front cover includes a folded engagement portion through which said tongues are threaded and said tongues are locked in place by frictional engagement therewith.

5. The folder according to claim 4, wherein said folded engagement portion is affixed to said front cover.

6. A folder for holding loose leaf pages comprising: (a) a cover member foldable along a central axis to define a front cover and a back cover; and (b) two elongated semi-rigid leaf-engaging tongues coupled to said back cover; wherein said front cover includes a folded engagement portion through which said tongues are threaded, said tongues being locked in place by frictional engagement therewith; and wherein the length of said tongues is at least three quarters the width of a loose leaf page.

7. The folder according to claim 6, wherein said length of said tongues is substantially the same as the width of a loose leaf page.

8. A hanging folder for loose leaf pages comprising: (a) a foldable cover member; (b) four substantially rigid hanging elements coupled to said cover member; and (c) at least two elongate, semi-rigid, elastic, leaf-engaging tongues, each threaded through said cover member and two of said hanging members, the length of said tongues being at least three quarters the width of a loose leaf page.

9. A folder according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said tongues include a tightly wound spiral spring .

10. A method of filing punched loose leaf pages in a folder including a back cover and a front cover, the method comprising the steps of: (a) coupling two elongated semi-rigid elastic leaf-engaging tongues to said back cover, the length of said tongues being at least three quarters the width of a loose leaf page; (b) threading said tongues through the punched loose leaf pages; (c) providing a folded engagement portion in said front cover through which said tongues are threaded; and (d) locking said tongues in place by frictional engagement with said folded engagement portion.

11. A folder substantially as shown and described hereinabove in connection with any of Figs. 1 to 4.

12. A folder as claimed in claims 1-7 and substantially as illustrated in any of the drawings. D-l 74995ap.doc