JPH04353499A - Ring binder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To simply, automatically associate a structure of a ring binder by a machine. CONSTITUTION: The ring binder comprises a base member 12 for holding a plurality of ring members 14, and an opening mechanism 20 for opening the plurality of the members 14 at both ends of the member 12. The mechanism 20 has a fastening means for fastening the opening mechanism at a closed position. The member 12 holds an upper fastening member 24, and an oscillating lower member 30 by the member 24. The members 14 are mounted at the member 30, and the mechanism 20 is oscillatorily held an outside of the lower member and inside of the upper member between the lower member 3 and the upper member 24 at both ends of the binder.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to ring binders such as loose leaf binders.

0002

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A variety of loose-leaf paper ring members are known in the art, all of which are movable between closed and open positions so that sheets can be removed from the ring.

[0003] Such a conventional ring member has the disadvantage that it is difficult to open the ring member, and in particular,
A drawback is that it is difficult to open large paper rings that require strong closing forces to keep the paper from coming loose from the ring. In the past, several ring members have been devised to overcome this drawback, but all of them have complicated structures and must be manually assembled during assembly.

0004

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a ring binder which eliminates these drawbacks, has a simple structure, and can be automatically assembled by a machine.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The ring binder of the present invention has a base member that holds a plurality of ring members, and an opening mechanism that opens the plurality of ring members at both ends of the base member,
Each opening mechanism has locking means for securing the opening mechanism in its respective closed position, the platform member has an upper securing member, the upper securing member holds a swingable lower member,
A ring member is attached to the lower member, and at each end of the binder, the opening mechanism is pivotally retained between the lower member and the upper member, outside the lower member and inside the upper member. Features.

[0006]

The advantages of the present invention are that the ring binder can be opened easily, that the sheets of the ring binder do not come off from the ring members in the fixed state, and that Since the ring binder has a structure in which the opening mechanism is held inside the member, the ring binder can be automatically assembled by a machine.

In addition, the platform of the opening mechanism acts on the lower surface of the swingable lower member to move the lower member upward and swing, thereby causing the ring members attached to the lower member to move toward each other. Separate and open.

[0008] Preferably, the fixing means comprises a projecting member which cooperates with a corresponding projecting member provided on the underside of the upper member. In particular, when the opening mechanism is pushed in an outward direction, the protruding member disengages from the protruding member.

[0009] As an alternative to this, the securing means comprises part of an opening mechanism, which opening mechanism is located above the center between the upper and lower members of the platform member.

0010

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIGS. 1 to 5 show a ring binder 10, which is a loose-leaf binder. ring member 14 (one of these three ring members 14 is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5), an open locking mechanism 20 at each end of platform member 12 (only one of these open locking mechanisms is shown); ).

The base member 12 has an upper fixing member 24,
The upper fixing member 24 is curved in a U-shape in cross section and holds a swingable lower member 30 between the overlapping surfaces 26, which are mutually arranged along the longitudinal axis of the binder 10. It has two swingable transport rails 32.

The ring member 14 is connected to the swingable lower member 3.
0, specifically the ring component portion (i.e. component portion 14a) of each ring member 14.
One of the ring members 14 is mounted on a transport rail 32, and another ring component (not shown) of each ring member 14 is mounted on another transport rail (not shown).

The upper member 24 also includes fixing means 34 for fixing the ring binder 10 to a paper holder or the like.

The two transport rails 32 are movable (that is, swingable) alternately between an upper position and a lower position by the action of the opening and fixing mechanisms 20 at both ends of the transport rails.

The opening mechanism 20 is swingably held at both ends of the upper fixing member 24, and includes a swingable lower member 30.
upper member 24 and lower member 30 so as to engage opposite ends of the
A release mechanism 20 is placed between them. Specifically, this opening mechanism has two protrusions 33 and 35 (see FIGS. 4 and 5) located on both sides of the opening mechanism 20 and overlapping each other,
These protrusions 33, 35 are inwardly surrounded by curved ends 37 at both ends of the upper member 24;
3 and 35 are disposed outside of each of the upper and lower portions of the outer end 39 of the transport rail 32, and are arranged to engage the lower member 30 with the upper member 24, and are arranged to engage the lower member 30 with the upper member 24. The opening mechanism 20 is swingably held in between.

Further, the opening mechanism 20 is held between the upper member and the lower member so that it can swing, but in other cases, it is fixedly attached between the upper and lower members (that is, the opening mechanism 20 is mounted between the upper and lower members). ).

To automatically and easily attach the opening mechanism 20 between the upper member 24 and the lower member 30, the upper member 24
The entire outer end is substantially unobstructed by downwardly depending flaps or the like. As a result, the opening mechanism 2
What you need to do to incorporate 0 into the ring binder is
Opening mechanism 20 directly between upper member 24 and lower member 30
, and then simply press and clip (ie, pinch) the overlapping ends 37 of the ends 26 of the top member together. The outer end of the upper member 24 is substantially unobstructed by downwardly hanging flaps or the like, resulting in material savings. In this regard, there is a 2% to 4% material savings over conventional arrangements.

The ring binder 10 has one fixed position (see FIG. 1) and two non-fixed positions (see FIGS. 2 and 3).

To achieve this, the opening mechanism 20 at both ends has a first projecting member 36 which cooperates with a projection 38 on the underside of the upper fixing member 24 on the platform member 12. .

The ring binder 10 has two closed positions (see FIGS. 1 and 3) and one open position (see FIG. 4).
and has.

[0021] To accomplish this, the opening mechanism 20
It has a second projecting member 40 which is engageable with the underside of the two swingable transport rails 32.

[0022] In particular, the fixation is effected by a first protruding member 36 which cooperates with a protrusion 38 such that in the closed and fixed position (see FIG. 1) the protruding member 36 When placed on the protruding surface of the portion 38 and in the unfixed position, the protruding member 36 is placed on the side of the protrusion of the protruding portion 38 . In the closed and fixed position, the second protruding member 4
0, there is no contact with the lower surface of the transport rail 32, and the ring member 14 is in a fully closed position. However, in the closed and unfixed position, the protruding member 40
2 and causes the transport rail 32 to move slightly upward (but does not cause the transport rail to swing upward).

On the other hand, the opening of the ring member 14 is performed by the opening mechanism 20, and when the opening mechanism 20 is pushed completely outward, the protruding member 40 engages with the lower surface of the conveying rail 32, thereby , these rails are flipped up (ie, snapped), at which point the ring members 14 are fully open and the ring binder 10 is free and unsecured.

Furthermore, the opening fixing mechanism 20 has a third protruding member 42, and can be moved from an open and unfixed position to a closed and fixed position, or from an open and unfixed position to a closed position. Immediately close the ring member 14 in any of the unlocked positions. In particular, the third projecting member 42 has an outer protrusion 44 that engages the upper surface of the transport rail 32 and swings downward as it moves downwardly on the rail.

FIGS. 6 to 10 show a ring binder 5.
0, this ring binder is conceptually the same as the binder 10 shown in FIGS. 1-5. These two binders differ mainly in the structure of the opening and fixing mechanism 20.

The opening mechanism 20 of the ring binder 50 shown in FIGS. 6 to 10 is swingably held at both ends of the upper fixing member 24 and engaged with both ends of the swingable lower member 30. , an opening member 20 is fixedly disposed between the upper member and the lower member. Specifically, the opening mechanism 20 has protrusions 52 (see FIGS. 9 and 10) at both ends, which protrusions 52 press together the pressed ends 37 (see FIGS. 9 and 10) of the overlapping ends 26 of the upper member 24. 9), and at the same time, the protrusion 52 is located outside the outer end 39 of the conveyor rail 32, so that the protrusion 52 is engaged between the lower member 30 and the upper member 24. Place them in a fixed position. Further, the opening mechanism 20 is held between the upper member 24 and the lower member 30 and is movable in a swinging manner, but in other cases, the opening mechanism 20 is fixed between them and movable (i.e., in the lateral direction). do not move).

To automatically and easily attach the opening mechanism 20 between the upper member 24 and the lower member 30, the upper member 2
The entire outer end of 4 is substantially unobstructed by downwardly hanging flaps or the like. As a result, all that is required to incorporate the release mechanism 20 into a ring binder is to install the release mechanism 2 directly between the upper member 24 and the lower member 30.
0 and then simply press and clip (ie, pinch) the overlapping edges 37 of the ends 26 of the top member together. The outer end of the upper member 24 is substantially unobstructed by downwardly hanging flaps or the like, resulting in material savings. In this regard, there is a 2% to 4% material savings over conventional arrangements.

Ring binder 50 has two closed positions (see FIGS. 6 and 7) and one open position (see FIG. 8). This is similar to the ring binder 10 of FIG.

To achieve this, the opening mechanisms 2 at both ends
0 has two different engagement means, namely, a first engagement means as a protruding member 54 that cooperates with the lower surface of the swingable conveyance rail 32 and a first engagement means that is engageable with the upper surface of the swingable conveyance rail 32. It has second engaging means as a protruding member 56.

Specifically, the protruding member 54 engages the underside of the transport rail in the closed position shown in FIG. Push up the bottom of the transport rail to the open position shown. Thereby, the opening mechanism is pulled inward, closing the ring, and the protruding member 56 acts on the top of the transport rail 32 in the open position shown in FIG. 8 and in the closed position shown in FIG. 6 or 7. Push the transport rail 32 down to the position.

The ring binder 50 also has one fixed position (see FIG. 6) and two non-fixed positions (see FIGS. 7 and 8). This is similar to binder 10 shown in FIG. Specifically, the fixing mechanism 20 has an essentially “b” cross-sectional shape, and the upper portion of the “b” cross-sectional platform portion 58 has a pair of flat surfaces 60;
This pair of planes 60 acts on the lower surface of the upper member 24. In the unlocked position of FIG. 7, the upper surface 60 does not engage the lower surface of the upper member 24, but once the locking mechanism 20 moves inwardly, the upper surface 60
It makes contact with the upper member 24 . However, at the same time, it is desirable that the protruding member 56 of the platform portion 58 be in contact with the upper portion of the transport rail 32 .

In particular, the front wall 62 of the platform portion 58 of the opening mechanism 20 is centered by an angle α, for example,
6 is shown in FIG. Thus, if the paper held by the ring 14 has the same amount of force trying to open the ring, in these fixed positions, that force will cause the front wall 62 to move as shown in FIG. As the mechanism 20 tries to move to the right to some extent, the mechanism 20 becomes unfixed. Therefore, the upper member 24 and the conveyor rail 3
2, the front wall of platform portion 58 is clamped to prevent movement and maintain mechanism 20 in these fixed positions. In particular, the distance of the front wall 62 between the plane 60 and the bottom of the protruding member 56 is slightly longer than the distance between the upper member 24 and the lower transport rail when pushed downwards, thus securing the and tightening, which plays a fixed effect.

The upper end 62a of the wall 62 bends smoothly so that it will not cut or damage the lower surface of the base member 12 when the mechanism 20 is moved.

The advantages of the ring binder 10, 50 are that the ring binder 10, 50 is easy to open, the papers inside the ring binder do not come off the ring member, and the opening mechanism of the lower member is placed on the outside. The advantage of keeping the opening mechanism of the top member internal is that the ring binder can be assembled by machine.

Although reference numerals are written in the claims for convenience of comparison with the drawings, the present invention is not limited to the structure shown in the accompanying drawings.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a ring binder that is closed and fixed according to a first embodiment of the ring binder of the present invention.

[Fig. 2] Cross-sectional view of the ring binder of Fig. 1 when closed and not fixed.

[Fig. 3] Cross-sectional view of the ring binder of Fig. 1 opened and unsecured.

FIG. 4 is a partially sectional perspective view of the ring binder of FIG. 1 closed and secured;

FIG. 5 is a partially sectional perspective view of the ring binder of FIG. 1 closed and secured;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a ring binder that is closed and fixed according to a second embodiment of the ring binder of the present invention.

[Fig. 7] Cross-sectional view of the ring binder of Fig. 6 not closed and secured.

[Figure 8] Cross-sectional view of the ring binder of Figure 6 opened and unsecured.

FIG. 9 is a partially sectional perspective view of the ring binder of FIG. 6 closed and secured;

FIG. 10 is a partially sectional perspective view of the ring binder of FIG. 6 closed and secured;

[Explanation of symbols]

10,50 Ring binder 12 Base member 14 Ring member 20 Opening mechanism 24 Upper fixing member 30
lower part

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A ring binder, the ring binder (10, 50) comprising a plurality of ring members (1
4) and an opening mechanism (12) that opens the plurality of ring members (14) at both ends of the platform member (12).
20), each said opening mechanism (20) having fixing means for fixing said opening mechanism (20) in its respective closed position, and said platform member (12) having an upper fixing member (
24), the upper fixing member (24) holds a swingable lower member (30), and the ring member (14)
are attached to the lower member (30), and at both ends of the binder (10, 50), the opening mechanism (20) is attached to the lower member (30) and the upper member (
24), the ring binder is configured to be swingably held between the outer side of the lower member (30) and the inner side of the upper member (24). 2. The protruding member (4) of the opening mechanism (20)
2. A ring binder according to claim 1, wherein the ring binder 0) acts on the lower surface of the swingable lower member (30) to move the lower member (30) upwardly and swing it. 3. The protruding member (4) of the opening mechanism (20)
3. The ring binder according to claim 1, wherein the ring binder 2) acts on the upper surface of the swingable lower member (30) to move the lower member (30) downwardly and swing it. 4. The fixing means has a protruding member (36), and the protruding member (36) is attached to the upper member (24).
4. A binder according to claim 1, wherein the binder cooperates with a projection member (38) corresponding to the projection member (36) provided on the lower surface of the binder. 5. The protruding member (36) is arranged opposite to the protruding member (38), and the opening mechanism (20)
5. A ring binder as claimed in claim 4, in which the projecting member (36) disengages from the projecting member (38) when the projecting member (36) is pushed in an outward direction. 6. The fixing means includes the opening mechanism (20
), and a part of the opening mechanism (20) moves inward at an angle α between the upper member (24) and the lower member (30) of the platform member (12) to tighten. The ring binder according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the ring binder is arranged so as not to move. 7. The tightening part of the opening mechanism (20) first has an upper surface curvature (60), the surface curvature (60) having a corresponding curved upper member (24). secondly, an engagement member (
7. The ring binder of claim 6, wherein the ring binder has: 56) and engages an upper surface of the lower member. 8. The opening mechanism (20) is arranged between the upper member (24) and the lower member (30) surrounding at least one protrusion extending from both ends of the opening mechanism (20). The ring binder according to any one of claims 1 to 7, which oscillates. 9. Said respective protrusion (52) is arranged adjacent to an outer edge (39) of a side surface of said lower member (30) and on an overlapping side surface (2) of said upper member (24).
said top member (24).
) of the overlapping sides (26) of the outer edges (37)
The ring binder according to claim 8, wherein the ring binder is pressed together. 10. A ring binder according to claim 1, wherein the entire outer end of the upper member (24) is substantially unobstructed.