IL176244A - Document file folders and a stand for leafing, removing and inserting sheets therein - Google Patents

Description

176244/6 A DEVICE FOR SELECTIVE REMOVING OR INSERTING OF SEPARATE DOCOMENT SHEETS DEVICE FOR SELECTIVE REMOVING OR INSERTING OF SEPARATE DOCUMENT SHEETS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND PRIOR ART 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for leafing and selective removal or insertion of sheets within the folders, and various forms thereof, and also to a folder for filing documents sheets with perforations using a metal plate with bendable legs for inserting sheets . 2. Description of the Related Art Folders for keeping documents in a neat and orderly manner are extensively used in office work. Widely used folders comprise an elongated metal plate with two bendable legs, whose middle portion is fastened to the back cover sheet, for inserting documents sheets with perforations .

Reference is made to Figure la, which is a schematic perspective view of a folder 50. Folder 50 includes a cover having a back cover sheet 1, elongated metal plate 2 with bendable legs 3 fastened to the latter, onto which documents sheets are inserted, a holder (not shown) for fixing sheets on legs 3, and a front cover sheet 5.

Folders save the space required for documents storage, since the folder thickness always corresponds to the total thickness of the inserted documents, and are of low cost.

Browsing through loose documents stored in documents folders described above is rather difficult and becomes especially inconvenient when removing or inserting sheets in the middle of a stack of documents, for instance, when it is necessary to copy them. In order to remove or insert one or more sheets from a specific location in the middle of a stack of documents inside a folder 50, all the documents above the specific location must be removed from legs 3 of folder 50. During the procedure, one can easily misalign the removed documents, so that the perforations in the sheets do not coincide any more, which makes re- insertion of the documents back onto legs 3 very difficult, especially when the stack includes sheets of different sizes.

Reference is also made to Figures lb, lc and Id illustrating prior art lever arch binding devices 60 and a typical folder utilizing the lever arch binding device 60. The operations of leafing documents held in a folder, their removal from or insertion into the middle of the document stack can be performed easily enough, if the documents are kept in folders that are also called "file holders" (Israeli Patent No. 21700) or "file wrappers" (USA Patent 5713551 given to Doerner Ulf) comprising clamps that can be opened and closed by means of a lever- spring mechanism, onto which the documents are inserted. The folders having clamps that can be opened and closed are also widely used, but they are of relatively high cost and are limited and in saving space occupied by stored documents, since the folder size is not adaptable to the amount of sheets retained in it, and often they take extra space.

One solution enables the removal or insertion of one or more sheets from a specific location in the middle of a stack of documents inside folders 50 with bendable legs 3 is described in USA Patent 4869613 ('"613"), given to Corey Thomas. The device described in patent '613 includes an elastic U-shaped element, which tubular end portions are temporarily fitted onto legs 3 of folder 50, and the upper sheets of the stack are shifted onto the U-shaped element, which is then disconnected from legs 3 of folder 50 together with the sheets inserted thereon. Thereafter, a sheet can be removed or inserted, and then the U-shaped element with the upper sheets can be fitted again, and the upper sheets can be shifted to legs 3 of folder 50. The solution provided by-patent '613 is rather labor-consuming, especially when it is necessary to copy several documents from various places within the stack. Furthermore, it is practically impossible to leaf the sheets because of the elasticity of the U-shaped element .

JP patent JP5338391, given to OSADA TOYOHIRO et al, describes a method wherein a pair of legs is provided on one end of a back cover, holes for inserting the legs and a plastic rail are integrally provided on a top cover, and a fastener for fixing the inserted legs is slidably mounted on the rail.

GB patent GB191411693 (see Figure Id) , given to Kummer Max, describes files having filing-posts with grooves or flattened portions to permit of the insertion of a cord or an auxiliary holder. Device 60 is employed to retain the sections of papers in correct order when removed from the main file. According to GB191411693, the grooves or flats in or on the sides of the fixed vertical posts of an arch file are continued along the movable arch member. Separate flexible metal strips, bent over to retain the papers, may be used. Device 60 is designated to keep loose documents in a proper order and cannot accommodate separate documents contained inside a folder 50.

Thus there is a need for and it would be advantageous to have a device that will enable a fast and convenient way to remove or insert one or more sheets from a specific location in the middle of a stack of documents inside a folder.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is then the intention of the present invention to provide devices that will enable a fast and convenient way to remove or insert one or more sheets from a specific location in the middle of a stack of documents inside the folder.

According to the teachings of embodiments of the present invention used in a folder for filing documents with perforations in their sheets, the folder including a one piece cover having a front cover sheet and a back sheet, a metal plate with bendable legs fastened to the back cover sheet of the cover. Both the front cover sheet and the back sheet have perforations substantially coinciding with the perforations of the filed documents, whereas the bended legs are generally positioned tangent to the inner edges of perforations in the front cover sheet and the back sheet.

According to the teachings of embodiments of the present invention there are also provided a device for fast and convenient leafing and selectively removing or inserting individual documents sheets held by folders mentioned before. The front cover sheet of the folder, is made with perforations that also coincide with perforations in the back cover sheet, when the front cover sheet is unfolded (opened) towards the back cover sheet by generally 360° . When the front cover sheet is opened towards the back cover sheet, the folder is in an opened state.

The device of the present invention includes a base with openable/closeable clamps hingedly fixed thereon, whereas the free ends of the clamps being disconnected or closed up with the free ends of two generally straight prongs fastened to the same base. When the folder is in the opened state and containing filed documents and is temporarily mounted onto the prongs of the device for current work. The prongs are equipped with attaching elements (for example, magnets) to keep the folder legs aligned with and attached to the prongs, and the openable and closeable clamps are set in motion by a lever-spring mechanism.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will become fully understood from the detailed description given herein below and the accompanying drawings, which are given by way of illustration and example only and thus not limitative of the present invention, and wherein: FIG. la (PRIOR ART) is a schematic perspective view of a suspendable prior art folder.

FIG. lb (PRIOR ART) is a schematic perspective view of a prior art a lever arch binding device.

FIG.lc (PRIOR ART) is al a schematic perspective view of a suspendable prior art folder utilizing the device shown in Figure lb.

FIG. Id (PRIOR ART) is a schematic perspective view of another suspendable prior art folder utilizing arch lever device.

FIG.2a is a schematic perspective view of a suspendable folder, inserted into the device according to embodiments of the present invention.

FIG.2b is a cross-sectional view taken along A-A line in Figure 2a.

FIG.3 is a fragmentary perspective view of a suspendable folder having perforations in the cover sheets for insertion of the folder onto the prongs of the device .

FIG.4 is a fragmentary perspective enlarged view with spatial separation of elements showing one of prongs of the device having a magnetic element for retaining the folder leg aligned with the prong.

FIG.5 is a fragmentary perspective enlarged view of one of the prongs of the device with a lock for retaining the folder leg aligned with the prong in the form of a cut-through slot.

FIG.6 is a cross-sectional view taken along B-B line in Figure 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Before explaining embodiments of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of the components set forth in the host description or illustrated in the drawings .

Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art of the invention belongs. The methods and examples provided herein are illustrative only and not intended to be limiting.

By way of introduction, it is the intention of the present invention to a device that will enable a fast and convenient way to remove or insert one or more sheets from a specific location in the middle of a stack of documents inside the folder .

Reference is made to Figure 2a, which is a schematic perspective view of a suspendable folder 150, inserted into a device 160 according to embodiments of the present invention. Reference is also made to Figure 2b, which is a cross-sectional view taken along A-A line in Figure 2a.

Reference is also made to: Figure 3, which is a fragmentary perspective view of a suspendable folder 150 having perforations 6 and 7 in cover sheets 1 and 5 for the insertion of folder 150 onto prongs 14 of device 160.

To provide convenient browsing through documents 4 and selective removal or insertion of sheets from and into folder 150, folder 150 is mounted, for the period of time required for performing the operations, onto device 160, according to embodiments of the present invention. To enable the mounting of folder 150 onto device 160, perforations 6 are created in back cover sheet 1 coinciding with the bending sites of legs 3, so that legs 3substantially coincide with the perforations in documents sheets 4 inserted onto legs 3. Perforations 7 in front cover sheet 5 are created such that they coincide with the perforations in document sheets 4, after the opening front cover sheet 5 by 360°, such that back cover sheet 1 and front cover sheet 5 are generally adjacent to each other. By way of example, Figures 2a and 3 show a suspendable folder 150 having a hanging mechanism including a strip 8 fit to suspension element 9. When mounting folder 150 onto device 160, strip 8 should be turned by 90° with respect to the position shown in Figure 3. For a more precise coincidence of perforations 6 and 7 after folding cover sheet 5 and strip 8, embossments 10 are optionally made at locations designated for folding.

Device 160 shown in Figure 2a comprises openable and closeable clamps 12 fabricated as a single component from a circular cross -section rod, which are hingedly fastened in points 15 and 16 onto plate base 17. A lever- spring mechanism consisting of lever 18 with pressure roller 19 fastened at rotation axis 20 and flat spring 21 allowing an easy and fast connection and disconnection of clamps 12 with prongs 14 mounted onto base 17. The forging device mechanism is given by way of example only, and other mechanisms, such as D-shaped binding rings, having openable and closeable clamps 12 and generally straight prongs 14 can be used.

A folder 150 is inserted on the generally straight prongs 14, which pass, together with legs 3, through perforations 6 and 7 in cover sheets 5 and 1, and then through the perforations of documents sheets 4.

Reference is also now made to Figure 4 , which is a fragmentary perspective enlarged view with spatial separation of elements showing an embodiment of a prong 14 , having a magnetic element 22 for retaining leg 3 aligned with prong 14. Collars 23 of prongs 14 below magnetic tip 22 prevent legs 3 from transverse displacements, as well as end portion 27 of clamp 12, which gets in contact with the ends 26 of prong 14.

In other embodiments of the present invention, another mechanism for attaching legs 3 to prongs 14 is described. Reference is made to Figure 5 , which is a fragmentary perspective enlarged view of showing an embodiment of a prong 14 of device 160, having a lock for retaining leg 3 aligned with prong 14, in the form of a cut-through slot 25. A cut-through slot 25 is made in the upper portion of prong 14, wherein the upper end of leg 3 is inserted after placing folder 150 into device 160, and locks leg 3 to prong 14.

A sufficiently precise matching of pointed ends 26 of prongs 14 with ends 27 of clamps 12 adjoining them, when they are closed, is obtained by mating cavities 28 at ends 27 of clamps 12, as shown in Figure 4 . All coupling sites between the elements of device 160 serving for the displacement of documents sheets and having cross-sections of different shapes, are made with tapering transition portions to facilitate the displacement of the sheets. An example of such portion is grove 29 shown in Figure 4 , where the circular cross-section of clamp 12 changes into a semicircular cross-section of prong 14. Similarly, the end portions of collars 23 or grooves 24 also have tapering transition portions.

Referring back to Figure 2a, base 17 of device 160 can be fastened to either onto a flat panel 30, or on the desktop or and other generally plate surface using, for example, vacuum chucks. In a portable embodiment of device 160, base 17 can be fastened onto a rigid cover such as a cardboard cover.

Although this invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is to be understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example only and that numerous changes in the detailed construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

Claims (12)

10 176244/6 WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A device for selective removing or inserting separate document sheets with perforations from or into a folder with front and back cover sheets and an elongated metal plate fastened to said back cover sheet and having bendable legs onto which said document sheets are inserted wherein said back and front cover sheets have perforations coinciding with the perforations in said document sheets, and when said front cover sheet is unfolded by 360°, thereby bringing said front cover sheet to be adjacent to said back cover sheet, said perforations in said front cover sheet coincide with said perforations in said back cover sheet, the device comprising: a) a base; b) an openable/closeable clamps, wherein said clamps are hingedly fixed onto said base; and c) a prongs fixed onto said base, wherein said prongs comprise attaching elements to align and to attach said legs with said prongs, wherein the free ends of said clamps are disconnected or connected with the free ends of said prongs, and wherein said prongs can pass through said perforations of said cover sheets and said document sheets together with said bendable legs which are bent upwards, thereby enabling the insertion of said folder containing said documents onto said prongs, and locking said prongs and said legs in an aligned position.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein said base provided with fastening means to fasten said base to a generally flat surface.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein said fastening means are selected from the group of fastening means including: vacuum chucks, screws, nails, rivets, etc.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein said generally flat surface, is a table or a desk. 176244/6

5. The device of claim wherein said generally flat surface, is a heavy panel.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein said generally flat surface, is a light panel.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein said generally flat surface, is the inner side of a back lid of a hard cover folder.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein the cross-section of said prongs has a generally semicircle shape, and wherein the flat surfaces of said prongs are facing each other.

9. The device of claim 1, wherein said attaching elements are magnets.

10. The device of claim wherein said magnets are built into said prongs .

11. The device of claim 1, wherein said attaching elements are slotted cuts in the upper portions of said prongs, wherein the free ends of said legs fitting therein.

12. The device of claim 1, wherein collars prevent vertical bending of said legs and displacements in the transverse directions, wherein said collars are made at least in one section of each of said prongs or over its entire length.