US1978386A - Index card member and method of making - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 23, 1934. B. G. RAND INDEX CARD MEMBER AND METHOD OF MAKING Filed Aug. 24, 1951 I :11 a: mu". I: l

afc d 1 Ali $11 g l' h I l l I I Patented Oct. 23, 1934 PATENT OFFIC INDEX CARD MEMBER AND METHOD OF MAKI Benjamin G. Rand, North Tonawanda, N. Y., assignor to Remington Rand Inc., Buffalo, N. Y.

Application August 24,

4 Claims.

. This invention relates to record members or 1 record member holders for card index files or the like and a method of treating said members that will facilitate hinging of the record members T without,.or in conjunction with, perforated zones.

Card index members for receiving index records or index cards are mounted in trays and in overlapping relation with each other in such manner that the lower edges of each member projects slightly from the preceding overlapping upper member. Suitable lugs or strips are employed for positioning the members in this internesting relation and the opposite end portions of these strips are adapted to slide in guide slots along the sides of the trays. In searching among files of this kind it is necessary to bend the record member or record member holder in hinging relation transversely across its upper portion. Heretofore, it has been customary to perforate a zone across this portion of each member in order to facilitate the hinging operation. However, in record members for holders composed of fiber material which has been glazed or which is stiff, considerable inconvenience has been experienced in manipulating the hinging members.

It is the purpose of this invention to provide a record member or holder and to treat the hinging zone of the record member or holder in such manner that the glazing and stiffness at this 10- cation are so reduced as to be ineffective in resistingbending of the member. In accomplishing this treatment the sheets of fiber of which the members or holders are constructed are di- I rected between rollers, one of which has a groove ers which are rotated in the direction opposite.

to that in which the first-named rollers are rotated, and thereby pressing the rib in an opposite direction from that in which it was pressed in the first rolling operation. Several rollers of this kind are employed depending upon the degree of stiffness or glazing of the fiber material or upon the degree of limpness required at the hinging zone of the member. 1 Then the material is directed over several folding rollers which alternatelyfold the material in opposite directions and alternately flatten it. After the material has thus been treated, it is fabricated into card holders or record members.

For a better understanding of the invention reference may now be had to the accompany- 1931, Serial No. 559,082

ing drawing forming a part of this specification, of which Fig. 1 is a plan of an index record member or holder in which the invention is embodied;

Fig. 2 is a cross section, on a larger scale, taken substantially along the line II-II of'Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary diagrammatic plan of an apparatus for practicing the method embodying the invention;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary diagrammatic eleva- 3 5 tion of the apparatus shown by Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan, on a larger scale, of a pair of rollers employed in practicing the invention, the material being operated upon being shown in cross sections; and

Figs. 6, '7, 8, 9 and 10 are cross sections, taken substantially along the lines VI-VI, VII-VII, VIIIVIII, IX-IX and X-X, respectively, of Fig. 3.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawing an index record member or holder 19 is shown which comprises a card holding portion 20, a marginal strip portion 21, and a supporting strip 22 adapted. to inter-fit with a corresponding part of an adjacent record member. End portions 23 of the backing strip extend beyond the opposite edges of the record member and are adapted to slide in guides of 'a tray. Suitable transparent sheaths 24forming a pocket, and slots 26, serve as means for facilitating the mounting of the record member therein or the member 19' itself may serve to receive 1 record data written directly thereon. This kind of arrangement is clearly shown in Patents No. 1,525,513, February 10, 1925 and No. 1,539,206, May 26, 1926.

The upper portion of the member 19 has a hinging zone 27 connecting the portions 20 and 21 which is very flexible and may be hinged in either direction without material resistance. Since the body portion of the member 19 is somewhat resilient and stiff, special treatment of the hinging zone is proposed in order that searching in the files containing these record members may be facilitated.

As best shown by Figs. 3 and 4 a sheet of fiber material 28 from which record members, such as the member 19, are made, is directed through a guide 29 and thence between a plurality of pairs of driven rollers 32 and 33. The material is trained alternately in opposite directions from one roller 32 to the next succeeding roller 32 in such manner as to describe a sinuous path, and the rollers 33 are arranged in staggered relation with respect to the rollers 32. It has been found convenient to arrange the rollers 32 in contiguous relation one above the other with their axes in substantially the same plane.

Each of the rollers 32 is provided with a groove 34 and each roller 33 is provided with a rib 36 slightly smaller in size than the groove. The groove and rib of each pair of rollers are complementaland serve to press out a rib in the hinging zone 3'! of the fibrous material adjacent one edge thereof and corresponding to the zone 27 of the record member 19. After the fibrous material has thus been provided with a rib pressed therein the material is turned in its" direction of travel betweenthe groov 34 'and rib 36 of the next succeeding rollers thereby pressing the hinged zone outwardlyinoppositedirection. This alternate pressing out of a rib-inthe fibrous material in opposite directions serves to dissipate the original stiffness and glazing of the material.

After passing between the last pair of rollers 32 and 33, the material 28 directed against a vertical folding roller 40 and thence to-a-hori- =-zontal roller-'42.

Thus, the rollers 40 and l2 serve; tofoldthe material upwardlyand then in fiat laminated form as'shown by Figs; 6 and 7 respectively. Then the material is directed "through a flattening device 43 whichdisposes the surface of the material in a common plane. This operation is substantially repeated with the exception that the rollers 44 and 45 serve to fold the edge adjacent the hinge zone 3'7 downwardly and flat against the body of the material as shown by Figs. 9 and 10 instead of upwardly in the manner shown by'Figs. 6 and '7. The flattenneatness in the assembly and operation of the file equipped with these card holders. In addition the hinging zone 27 as provided by this invention results in theproductionof card holders that will lay'back easily and freely in use and do not require manual holding in laid back position while entries are madeon the records.

This invention, therefore, provides a card holder structure, together with the method of manufacturing the hinging section by which relatively stiff sheet material may be used, and at the same time free and efficient operation of the card holders is secured in practicing the invention.

Theseoperations may be performed upon record members which have been perforated along the zone 27, although under ordinary conditions the treatment described in this specification is suffi- -cient to provide an adequately flexible and nonresilient hinging zone.

*Although only one form of the invention has been shown and described in detail, it will be apparentto those skilled in the art that the inven- "tion is not so limited but that various changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or from the scope of the aping a narrow zone in'rib-like form in opposite directionsin a sheet of record member material,

folding under roller pressure the portion of the material in said narrow zone alternately, and flattening out the-material-betwecn each folding operation.

3. Amethod of treating record members for cardindex files that comprises rolling a sheet of material to forma pressed-out rib in a zone adjacent one edge of-the material, alternately pressing the materialin successive phases of operation to press-the zone in the rib-like form in opposite directions, and foldingthe materialalong said zone.

4. A method of treating record members for card index files that comprises rolling a sheet of material to form a pressed-out rib in a zone in succeeding phases of operation to press said zone in rib-like form in opposite directions, folding the material along said zone in opposite directions, and flattening the material after each folding operation. v

BENJAMIN G. RAND.

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