US1878321A - Loose leaf binder or filing cover - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 20, 1932. POULTQN 1,878,321

- LOOSE LEAF BINDER OR FILING COVER Filed June 10. 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 1- //y EN T01? 'fTT P/VEKV Sept. 20, 1932. I I G. POULTON 1,378,321

4 LOOSE LEAF BINDER 0R FILING COVER Filed June 10; 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I Q I NVE /ZZZZZQF Patented Sept. 20, 1932 T TATE om.

GERALD rourpron, or BROMLEY, ENG-LAND roost: LEAF BINDER on Firms COVER Q Applicationfiied June o. 1930, Serial No. 460,266, and in Great Britain November 28, 1929.

This invention has reference to improvements in loose leafblnders or fillng covers of the kind in which fasteners, secured to or passed through one of two covers, andinthe 5 form of tongues of flexible .metal, pass through perforations in the loose leaves to be bound together, and througha strip or/flap of material, or through the, opposite cover,

. over which their free end portions are bent to hold the sheaf ofleaves in place. i V

'An object of the present invention is to provide for use with fastenerssuch as referred to, washers'so constructed that the bent over free end portions ofthe fasteners, afterbeing passed through the leaves and a strip orfiap, oropposite cover, can be en; gaged therewith and become firmly held in place thereby but in a readily detachable manner so as to admitof the addition or the removal of leaves asmay be 'desire d, the ar-' rangement being 'such that when the free end portions of the fasteners are bent over and engaged with the washers, the leaves will .2 be firmly and neatly held together.

7 The invention also has for its object so to construct the washers that when any desired number of leaves have been assembled and held together, they can be permanently clamped together by thefasteners and Wash- 36 ers, of which there will usually be two, so as in effect ;toformja bound volume of neat and advantageous form.

To attain these objects, each washer, made of thin sheet materiahfor instance,,thinsheet metal, is provided with'oppositely arranged projections'or fingers that overlap the'washer and have their free ends spaced at a distance apart less than the width of the fastener to 4d beused therewith, and spaced at distance apart at their roots rather morethan the width of the fastener, so that the free end portion of the fastener, after being. passed through a sheaf of leaves, can" be bentfover the washer and by slightly bending'or twist ing it sideways, canbe passed first under one of the fingers'and then under the other finger so as to become held down in positionthereg by, this operation being reversed when" it is desired todetach thexfastener from thewash er toadmit of theadditionv or rem'ovalof one or more leaves.

" To admitof any desired number of leaves, after being bound. together in the manner described, being. permanently clamped to bent down for engagement with, the holding portions of the washer;

.gethertoform a complete volume, the fingers Washers such as described, adapted for use" 1n the. mannerset forth, canbe constructedin various ways.

In the accompanying illustrative ldra wings', Fig.1 showsin plan and'Figs. 2 and3,

in elevation at right angles to "one another,-

one construction of washer according to the invention. Fig. 3 shows the to afiap, Figs, 4:, 5 and 6 are respectively washer fixed similar views to 1, 2 and 3 showing a modified construction. 1 Figs. 7fand.8 show, lnelevation, at right angles to one'fanother,

and Fig. Qinpla n, one constr'uction'of flexible metal fastener. according to the invention.

Fig. 10 shows in elevation, aimodified'con.

struction of fastener, and Figs. 11 and 12 show'resp'ectively in plan and'elevation, a c'on struc'tionof washer for. use therewith'J' Fig. 13 shows inelevation a further modified construction of fastener'l Fig. 14. shows aloose leaf binder embodyi g the invention with one cover thereof open and"Fig..1 5 is a section on the line l5 15 of Figgl l. :Fig'. 16 is a detail view showing a modification. I i

In the example shown in 'F'igs.1,j2 and 3, each washer 'is made {by stamping in a rec tangularfshapedpiece 'of-Ithin sheet metal. .1, 1

wedge-shaped hole 2 (Fig.1 1)

, a. double'truncated longitudinallyextending 00" V and bending apart less thanthe widthv of the fastener to be extend, so'as to form. fastening project ons".

to one side of the piece of metal, the two 019- posite angular shaped portions of the metal left at opposite sides of the hole, to formsists of'a' piece of thin sheet metal 1 formed v with. two opposite edge portions, preferably of rectangular shape as shown,-which are bent over the intermediate portion so as to form two opposed fingers 1'? 1?, the free edges orjapices'of which are spaced at a' distance engaged therewith in the manner hereinbefore described. In this cas'e'the fingers may be incline'dto'or be more or less parallel with the intermediate portion ofthe washer. They are shown inclined thereto. 1 v f In each case, the washer 1, may as shown,

he formed, as bypunching, with 'a transverse slot4 through which the free end'portion of the associated fastener can bepassed before being bent down and engaged with thefingersj ofthe washer; 1 i p e a j "Asit will usually be desirable to secure two such washers, at a suitable fixed distance apart,to a strip or flap of cardboard or other material, or to one of the covers of the binder,

that is.t bear against thesheaf of leaves at one sidefthereof and through which two fasteners pass", each washer maybe provided on the side thereof opposite to that provided with the fingers, with projections that can be passed through slits in the said strip or flap or, cover and be clinched: over the opposite. side thereof so as'to the'washer enna-- nentlyto the strip or flap, or cover. a

For this purpose, when the washeris made in the manner first hereinb'efore described (Figs; 1,2 and 3) the. piece of metalstamped' out of each washer 1 to form the aforesaid double truncated wedge-shaped hole Ztherein, maybe slit at the c'entrejofits'length to form two truncated wedge-shaped portions- 5, that' areintegral withthe washer and arebent at right angles to the washer at the 1 wideends of the'holer2 therein and to the opposite side of the .washer' to thatfrom which the oppositely arranged fingers 3 ,31

for the purpose set'fortha 8 'shows how the portions 5, 5 of the washerc'an be passed through a flapori cover A and be clinched over'the same to fastenlthe' washer thereto;

or the pieceof metal from which a washer of either of the kinds hereinbefore described 7 s s e say n e q eqin gs-4 t end:

6, be provided with fastening projections, for the purpose mentioned, by stamping out portions 6 of the opposite ends thereof and bending the resulting. portions at right angles to the washer as shown.

The flexible metal fasteners for use with washers constructed as described, can be of various kindsl 3 Each fastener may, as shown in Sand 9, consist of a single narrow str p 'ofisheet metal 7 connected at one end to apiece of-sheet metal 8, constituting a base piece,. that is formed, bystamping, with a double truncated wedge-shaped hole 9, the

metal froinwhich is slit centrally of its length and the'resulting two truncated wedge-shape portions; 10 of metal b'entat right angles to the base piece fso that they can be passed through corresponding slits in a strip or flap of cardboard or other material connected to one of the covers ,of'the binder and clinched over theopposite side thereof to securely fix theba'sepiece to-the strip or flap, the narrow strip 7 of metal connected to the said base piece 8 being then bent at right angles to the latterto form afastener for passage through loose sheets a'nd a washer such as hereinbefore described.

Or, as shown '10, the fasteners employed may e'ach'befof the kind having two narrow parallel limbs 7 7 connected atone end to a base piece 8 andjadapted, after being passed through loose leavesand-a' washer constructed as hereinbefore' described, to have their free end portions separated and turned down in opposite direction. a In this case, each washer may, as shown inFigs. 11 and 12, be formed with'two'holeswithtw o sets of 0ppositely-inclined fingers 3,3 of the kind hereinbefore described and-with a transverse slot 4 betweenthem to receive the. two limbs 7, 7110f thefastener, sothat the free end portions of such limbs can be turned downin. opposite'directions"and each of thern be engaged with 'one of the sets of oppositely inclined fingers 3, 3 in the manner'hereinbefore described'for a single set of fingers. v The construction of thewashersand fasteners may be such asto-prevent thefree end portion; of each fastener when inserted in its wa her, from "being withdrawn fjendways therefrom. For thi's pu1",pose,as shown in Fig. 13,each fastener may be formed with und'ulatingornotched edges 7: and each washer withftwo ribs'or pr0jections,1,1 (Figs. 1 and 1) with which the undulating or notched edges of; the'fastener can be engaged when the fastener is inserted between them after having beeninserted under 'the fingers 3, 3

on the washer.

The invention can be applied to loose leaf binders ofvariouskinds. Y It can howeverad- V v'antageously, be applied toa loose leaf binder of the kind shown in Figs; .1 1: and item;

comprising. a ifiexibleg back 11 having. bent;

. one or other of the kind hereinbefore de-.

over portions or flaps 11*, 11 that are, slotted at 11'. to receive the fasteners 7, and covers 12 and 13 each of which is formed-with a narrow marginal portion or flap 12 or 13 through which the fasteners 7 can pass without interfering with the covers which are thus free to be opened about an edge 12 or 13 coincident with the back of'a sheaf of leaves 14 held between the bent over portions 11 11 of the flexible back 11. Theleaves 14; are formed with corresponding slots for the passage of the fasteners 7 Washers of scribed are secured to the top of the flap 13 of the cover 13 as shown, and the portions 8 connected to the fasteners 7 are secured to or bear against the lower side of the flap .12

of the cover 12. Theflap .ll of the flexible back 11 may be secured, as by anadhesive, to the flap 12 of the front cover 12 as in Fig.

15, or it may be in one piece with the flap 12 of the front cover 12, the said flaps 11 and 12 being formed by suitably folding the material constituting the back 11, cover 12 and flaps 11 and 12 as indicated in Fig. 16. The flexible back 11 may advantageously be adapted, as by scoring, corrugating or creasing it from top to bottom, in known'manner, and as shown at 11 in Fig. 14, to admit of the flaps 11, 11 that bear against'the opposite sides of a sheaf of leaves 14 between them,

assuming positions at right angles to the intermediate part 11 with sheaves of leaves of different thickness, the slots 11 in the flaps -11 of the flexible back 11 are made long, as

shown, so as to admit of the back accommodating itself to sheaves of leaves of varying thickness without being aflected bythe fasteners which passthrough the slots in its flap portions 11 11 7 What I claim is 1. For use with a loose leaf binder provided with a flexible flat metal fastener, a washer formed of thin sheet Inaterialand having therein a single transversely arranged slot, and at one side thereof, two oppositely inclined fingers arranged directly opposite each other and adjacent-to said slot,yeach finger being normally inclined to said washer at an angle less than aright angle for the purpose set forth.,

2. For use with a loose leaf binder provided with a flexible flat metal fastener, a washer formed of thin sheet material and having therein a single transversely arranged slot, and at one side thereof, two oppositely inclined fingers arranged directly opposite each other and adjacent to said slot, each finger being normally inclined to said washer at an angle of about for the purpose set forth.

3.. For use with a loose leaf binder pro vided with a flexible flat metal fastener, a washer formed of thin sheet'material and having therein asingletransversely arranged slot',-anda lso a longitudinally extending hole,

hole, two oppositely inclined'fingers arranged directly opposite each other "and adj acent to to said washer at an angle less than angle, for the purpose set forth.

l. For use with a loose leaf binder provided with a flexible flat metal fastener, a

a right washer formed of thin sheet material and having therein a single transversely arranged slot,and also a longitudinally extendinghole,

said slot, a longitudinal, hole and adjacent to said slotand at each side thereof and extending from theoppiosite longitudinal edges of the corresponding longitudinal hole, two oppositely inclined fingers, arranged directly opposite; each other, each finger being normally inclined to said washer at an angle less than a right angle, for the purpose set forth. 6. For use with a loose leaf-binder provided-with a flexible flat metalfastener, a washer formed of thin sheet material having therein, intermediate of its length, a transversely' arranged slot and at each slde of said slot, a longitudinal hole and adjacent to said slot and at each side thereof andextending from the opposite longitudinal edges of the corresponding longitudinal hole, two oppositely inclined flngers arranged directly opposite' each other, each finger being normally inclined to said washer at'an angle of about 45, for the purpose set forth. v

7. In a loose leaf binder comprising. 0p

and extending from opposite sides of said positely arranged binding members and flexsaid members and adapted to be passed through loose. leaves between said members and the second member andto be bent over the latter member,-the combination witheach fastencr'of a washerformed of thin sheet material having a-single transversely arranged ible flat metal fasteners engagedwith one of slot therein through which the corresponding fastener can be passed and provided with two oppositely inclined fingers arranged directlyfopposite each other and adjacent'to said slot, and having their free ends spaced at a distance apart. less thanthe widthof the corresponding fastener, each finger being nor mally inclinedto said washer at an angle less than 90, for the purposeset forth.

, 8. In a loose leaf binder-comprising oppositely arrangedbinding members andflex} ible fiat metalfasteners engaged with" one of said slot, each'finger being normallyinclined v i said members andpadapted tobe passed throughloose leaves betweensaid members and the second member and. to be bent over the latter member, the combination: witlreach l fastener of a washer formed of thin sheet ma.-

terial having a single transversely arranged slot therein through which the corresponding-fastener can be passed and provided with I two oppositely inclined fingers arranged directly opposite each otherand adjaeentto said slot, and having their free endsspaced at a distance part less than the width of the corresponding fastener, each finger beingv V normally inclined to said washer at an angle about 45, for the purpose set'forth.

9; A loose leaf binder according to claim i 7 wherein the washer is formed with a transversely arranged slot through which the cor- -responding fastener can be passed, with a longitudinal hole and with a single pair'of oppositely inclined fingers arranged adjacent "to said transverse slot and having their free ends spaced at a distance'apart less than the width of'the corresponding fastener, eachv finger extendingfrom one .edge'of said longitudinal hole and normally inclined'to the fastener at an angle ofabout to: said washer, for the purpose set forth.

10..A' loose leaf binder comprising oppositely arranged binding members between which loose leaves can be clamped, two flex- 1ble flat metal fasteners secured to one of sa1d members and each comprising two parallel limbs adapted to be passed through loose leaves and the second member and to be bent in opposite directions oversaid second member and two washers attached to said second member and each formed intermediate of its length with a transverse slot through which the two limbs of the corresponding fastener can be passed and provided at each side of said slot and-adjacent thereto with a pair of oppositely inclined fingers arranged directly opposite each other and having their free ends spaced at a distance apart lessthan the width of the limb of the corresponding fastener thatis to be engaged therewith, each finger being normally inclined to said washer at an angle'less than-90 for the purpose set forth.' I r 11. A loose leaf binder according to claim 10, wherein each finger'is normally inclined to said washer at, an angle of about 455, for e w the purpose set forth- Signed at London,E ngland, this 20th day of May, 1930; r

p GERALD POULTON. I

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