US2244176A - Loose-leaf binder - Google Patents

Description

Jungs, 1941. J, SCHADE 2,244,176

LOOSE-.LEAF BINDER Filed April 24, 1939 AfA 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 amv WA DE Patented June 3, 1941 LOOSE-LEAF BINDER .lohn Schade, Holyoke, Mass., -assignor to National IBlank Book Company, Holyoke, 'Mass., a corporationof Massachusetts ApplicationAprl 24, 1939, Serial No. 269,556

(Cl. "M9-17.)

3 Claims.

This invention relateslto an improved loose-leaf binder, particularly of the type .used to hold loose-leaf sheets of the visible index bookkeeping kind. In such binders, the user, in addition to inserting 4new sheets, frequently wants to vshift some of the visible index sheets longitudinally of the back to change, for instance, their chronological or alphabetical order. According to the present invention, the binder is `constructed to provide for the utmost flexibility and simplicity of action for this purpose and at the same time has numerous novel features which render the structure more satisfactory and serviceable Aover a period of rough use such as these binders are subjected to. l

The `manner in which my structure `has been arranged to accomplish the .desired results -can best be understood from a reading of the specification in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig, 1 is a top plan View of the binder, with ,the covers opened and broken away to save drawing space, andshowing the prong sets in one of several overlapped ,positions determined by a novel latch mechanism;

Fig. 2 is a sectional `View online 2-2 of` Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 -is a topfplan viewof a sufficient part of the right hand portion of Fig. 1 .to show howthe prong sets maybeofset longitudinally an amount equal to the distance betweena pair `,of binding holes in -an index sheet;

Fig. Y4 -is a view ofthe parts-of Fig. 3 but illustrating how these parts lmay Vbe manipulated so that theprong sets are oiset :longitudinally twice the-space between binding holes;

Fig. 5 -is'an enlargedsectional view on-line 5-5 of Fig. 4 and shows details of part ofthe mechanism used to lcontrol the amountof longitudinal offset given the prong' sets;

Figs. 6 to 8 are fragmentary top plan views -of a .portion of I,the structure of .'Fig. .1 showing fthe various overlapped `positions to Awhich `the pr'ong sets may move under control of a novel "latch mechanism; and

Fig. 9 is a. side elevation taken on line ll- .9 of Fig. 2.

Referring `first to Figs.` 1, 2 and 9, the `binder consists generally of a pair of Z'shaped angular back plates 5 and B, having `their short depending legs 3 pivoted together by means of a vpiano hinge at v1. The long upstanding legs 8 "and '9 terminate in a series of spaced Vhinge eyes ill towhich are pivoted covers l2 and V43 b y means of hinging `strips 14 Aand I'5 which "have hinge eyes 'I6 that are complementary to hinge eyes l l and `pivotally connected thereto as indicated.

Secured to each of the long legs 8 andv 3 of plates 5 and 6 by any suitable means is an anchor plate Il and a hood ,member I3, this last to prevent :the binder from scarring surfaces on which it maybe used and to add a finished appearance. Each anchor plate l1 has a series of hook shaped tongues which extend laterally from the top edge ofthe plates through the spaces between hinge eyes Il to form a track for the prong carrying p1ates'2l and 22, see Fig. 2. As this last figureshows, plate 2| is a simple flat plate which lies parallel tothe long leg 8 of plate 5 and carries a series of prongs 23 which extend in an arc over the plates 5 and 6 adjacent a similar set of prongs 24 .carried by plate 22, which lies ,parallel toleg 9. However, plate V22 is angularin cross section with the short leg of the angle overlying the flat surface of plate 6.

`In the binder herein shown plate 2| is stationary, being secured `to leg 8 in any suitable manner as for instance by spot welding, While plate 22` may slide longitudinally `in the Ytrackway formed bythe `tongues '2,0 of the right hand anchorplate I1.

As will be plain from the description thus far, the overlap ofrprongs 23 and 24 can be varied by pivoting the Z , plates 5 and 6 around hinge 'l while ,their longitudinal position may be varied by `sliding plate 22. Among the features oi my invention are the novel means vused to control these positions of the prongs to produce a new exibility :and positiveness of action not heretofore available.

As appears in Figs. 1 and 2, overlying short leg 25 ofplate 22 and secured thereto is the short angular rack Vmember having its toothed portion extending downwardly through a slot 3l inrplate 6. Rack member 30 has its teeth in engagement with pinion lteeth 32 on pinion 33 pivoted at 34 to theibottom of plate 6. As is clear from Fig. 1, Aprong carrying plate 22 may be moved longitudinally to displace `the prong set 24 by merely rotating pinion 33 about its pivot 34, the depending armY of the rack 30 by cooperation with `slot 3| serving to guide one end of the lower edge'of plate 22 and the other end of the lower edge beingpguided by clip 35 riveted as shown to plate 6.

In addition to the pinion teeth 32, pinion 33 has a set of gear teeth 38, see Fig. 1, which are formed on a larger radius than teeth 32. The

engaged by a series of slots 39 cut in the depending skirt of an angular slide 40 which overlies plate 6, see Figs. 1, 2 and 9, and may slide between limits thereon parallel to the axis of the central hinge l.

At its forward' end, slide 48 has a pair of downwardly directed tabs 4| struck out of the material of the slide, the tabs extending through a slotl 42 cut in plate 6 with their extremities rebent to underlie the bottom surface of plate 6 and secure the forward end of slide 48 to said plate, see Fig. 3. Towards its lower end, slide 40 has secured to it a pin 43 extending through a slot 44 likewise cut in plate 6. As is shown in Fig. 5, this pin 43 has an enlarged head underlying plate 6 to maintain this end of the slide 46 in sliding contact with plate 6.

Comparing Figs. 1 and 4, it will be seen that slots 42 and 44 in plate 6 are dimensioned so that they act to limit the motion of slide 40 to the two extreme positions to which pinion 33 can be moved by cooperation of gear teeth 38 and slots 39 (see also Fig. 9). As will also be apparent from these figures, when the slide 48 passes from its normal position of Fig. 1 to its maximum displaced position of Fig. 4, the prongs24 have been displaced longitudinally from prongs 23 a ldistance corresponding to twice the distance between adjacent binding holes in the binding sheets. To make this clear, note in Figli therdistance between lines X and Z which shows the displacement of prong 24 from the position of Fig. 1, while the distance X--Y is the normal distance between binding holes in the index sheet.

While the mechanism just described provides for a longitudinal prong offset equal to twice the distance between binding holes in index sheets, I have found that normally an offset just ,equal to the distance between binding holes is the'most likely to be used. I therefore have provided a specially constructed handle which not .only serves as a convenient means to shift slide 49 but also is constructed so that it may be rocked to two different positions, in the first of which it limits the motion of slide 49 to half its normal or full stroke so that the longitudinal displacement of prongs 24 is only equal to the distance between binding holes, and in the second of which it allows for the full stroke of slide 48. Referring to Figs. 3 to 5 and 9, this handle consists of a fiat angular member 58 having a vertical offset 58 at one end and pivoted' as at 5| near'the lower end of slide 49. A short leaf spring 52 is riveted to member 50 and holds a small ball bearing 53 which can pass freely through a hole 5 4 in member 59, into either of two seats 55 kand 56provided in slide 49, see Fig. 5. At the lower end, slide 49 likewise has a vertical stop 5'! and a rebent keeper 58 formed integrally from-the lmaterial of the slide as shown. This stop T and the keeper 58 limit the rotation of member 50 about pivot 5| to the two positions shown by Figs. 3 and 4, while the ball 53 actsas a spring pressed detent to maintain the member 5|) in either posi-Y tion. f

Member 59 has a nose 59 formedg-at'itsforward end and in the position of member 59V shown in Fig. 3 this nose overlies a slot 68 in slide 46. Extending upwardly through slot Suis a tongue 6| struck up from. plate 5. Therefore, if the handle 50 is left in the position of, Fig. l and the slide 49 moved by grasping vertical offset 58', the nose 59 contacts the tongue 6| and the motion of the slid'e is limited toene-half the maximum, the prongs being displaced only the distance From the above it is clear that the user is allowed a choice of the amount of longitudinal displacement to be given the prongs and can control the displacement by merely shifting the handle 58. This feature makes the binder extremely exible for rapid use in shifting operations of more than one kind or distance and when combined with the latch mechanisml about to be described' andy which controls the overlapped relation of the prong setss results in various desirable binder manipulations being possible and more conveniently than heretofore.

Referring now to Figs. 1, 5 and 9, plates 5 and 6 are notched midway between their ends as at 79 and 'll to provide for a pair of. latch mem-bers l2 and '13 having gooseneck extensions of the same curvature. As is indicated, member 72 is xedly attached to the bottom of plate 5 and has its gocseneck portion extending through slots 19 and 'H and underlying plate 6, see Fig. l. Latch member 13 is, on the other hand, pivotally connected as at 'F4 to the bottom of plate 6 and has its gooseneck portion extending to and underlying plate 5. Along one edge, member 73 has a nose or dog I5 which can engage a series of shoulders 16, l1, '18, formed as serrations along the adjacent edge of member '12.to allow the plates 5 and 6 to be separated different amounts and thereby vary the overlap of the prongs 23 and 24. On the opposite edge, member 'I3 has a pair of cam surfaces I9 and 8|] which are constructed to cooperate with the top edge 8| of slot 19 and act as an escapement in a manner to be described. To rotate mem-ber 13 and thereby release the latch mechanism, a trigger rod 85 is provided which is in the form of a long nat bar with. oppositely disposed offset ends 86 and 8l',.and which `is positioned to be parallel and inside of the depending leg 3.0i', plate 6, see Figs. 1 and 5. Trigger rod 85 is dimensioned so that the offset 8l lies beyond the lower end of the binder to form a convenient handle. Offset 86 protrudes through a` slot cut in the depending leg 3 of plate 6, see Fig. 9, and forms a support for that end of the trigger. Where the trigger rod underlies latch member 13, it has an upstanding integral lug 88 which passes through a hole in member 13. A spring 89 (see Figs. 5 and 9) is tensioned about depending lugs 9|! and 8| on plate 6 and' has its end engaging a shoulder 92 on trigger rod 85, the spring being wound to force the trigger member 85 in a direction to engage members 12 and '13. Thus the user may disengage latch member 13 from member 12 yby simply pressing on offset 87, the upper end of notch 1| in plate 6 being provided' with a slot 93 located on the depending leg 3 to allow for the motion of member 13, see Fig. 9.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 6 to 8, I will explain lin detail how the latch mechanism operates and what the function of cam surfaces 'I9 and is. In Fig. l, the book is in the position to which it will fall due to its own weight when the covers are opened. Usually this rposition is inconvenient for writing, as it is diicult to get at the sheets near their binding edges. The user may then push oifset 81 (see Fig. 1) sufliciently to lift nose l5 clear of shoulder 'I6 and then release the pressure. As the two plates start to separate under their own weight, cam 19 hits the top edge 8| of slot 18 and aids the spring 89 (see Fig. 1) lin forcing nose 15 downwardly in a direction to strike shoulder 11 and the separation stops with the prongs overlapped as in Fig. 6, the prong sets 23 and 24 each having moved the distance from A to B. rIlhen if it is desired to still further decrease the overlap, offset B1 is again pushed `and when nose 15 clears shoulder 11, `cam B forces the nose in a direction to abut shoulder 13 as shown in Fig. 7, the prongs moving from B to C. If the offset is :again pushed to release the latch the lprongs will open to the position shown by Fig. 8 where the various leaves on the prongs will be nearly flat and new ones can easily be inserted.

In this final position of Fig. 8, the curved edge 86 of member 13 in front of nose 15 `contacts a similar edge 91 of member 12. Then 'all that is necessary to close the book is to manually rotate the ,plates and E towards each other around hinge 1, the edge 9S of member 13 sliding over the various shoulders 18, 11 and 16 of member 12.

It is to be noted that in describing the above operation it has been stated that the offset 81 is pushed and released because the shape of cam surfaces 19 and 8D is such that while they force the nose 15 in a direction to ,contact the various shoulders, they are eiiective only part of the Way, that is they stop contacting the top edge 8l while the nose 15 and shoulder 16, 11 or 18 are still slightly separated. Therefore, if the offset 31 were held inward, the plates 5 and 6 would pass at once to the Wide open position of Fig. 8.

Thus, in eiect, these surfaces 19 and 80 aid the spring 89 in bringing the nose 15 into contact with shoulders 11 and 18 and act like an escapement to assist the spring 89 in forcing the latch mechanism to act correctly. It is, of course, evident that the particular latch mechanism shown can be varied in many ways by those skilled in the art, once its principles are understood and I do not therefore wish to limit myself to the exact form shown, that being merely a preferred embodiment. For instance, if it is found desirable to mal-:e the escapement effective to .positively force the nose 15 into eng-agement with shoulders 11 and 18, all that is necessary is to change the shape of cam surfaces 19 and 3! so that they bear on the top edge 8| until the nose 15 contacts the shoulders 11 `and 13. Such a structure will not, however, be as `flexible as the preferred form .because in changing the overlap of the prongs from the position shown in Fig. 1 to that of Fig 8, the oifset 81 will have to be depressed three times.

The flexibility of this binder can now be understood because as it will be remembered, the offset relation of the prongs can be varied at any time independently of the overlapped relation and the amount of variation which is produced can be varied. Therefore, assuming that the binder is positioned with the plates :as shown in Fig. 6 which is the normal writing position as previously explained, if the book is not too full of index sheets the prong sets 23 and 24 may clear the binding holes in these sheets which are impaled on each others .prongs and whatever offsetting or varying or chronological order is desired ,can be done in this position.

If the book is full, it is a simple matter to touch the offset 81 to open the book to the position of Fig. '1 and the prongs 23 and 2li will just barely overlap allowing for index shifting with a maximum number of bound sheets.

On the other hand, the book can be opened to the position of 8 from any other position, i. e,. the position of Figs. 1, 6 and '1, by simply lpressing on offset 81 and not releasing the pressure and this independently of the oiiset relation of the prongs.

It is, of course, clear that the number of shoul- - ders 16, 11 and 18 on fixed latch member 12, as well las their position, :can be varied to provide for different angular ,positions of plates 5 Iand E, and that the escapement means provided by cam surfaces 19 and Si! can be made eifective in case the number of notches is increased by providing suitable additional cam surfaces.

It will be seen from the foregoing that I have produced a binder for the purpose described which, though considerably involved in mechanical details, has been so arranged that its operation from the standpoint of the user is much simpler and allows more rapid work.

What I .claim is:

l. A binder having a back portion including two hingedly connected plates, -a set of prongs supported at the side edge of each plate, latching mechanism for controlling the angular relation of the hingedly connected plates and .consist- .ing of a lixed latch member on one plate having a series of notches along one edge, a pivoted latch member on the other .plate having `a dog adapted to engage said notches in said fixed latch member, a spring-pressed operating member adapted to releasably hold said pivoted latch member engaged with said fixed latch member, and additional means on said pivoted latch memn ber to cooperate with one of said plates and force the pivoted member towards engagement with the xed member when passing from one notch to another.

2. The structure of claim 1 with said lastnamed means lconsisting of cam surfaces on said .pivoted latch member cooperating with one of said lplates for the purpose described.

3. A binder having a back portion including two hingedly connected plates, a set of prongs supported at the side edge of each plate, latching mechanism for controlling the angular relation of the hinged-ly connected plates and consisting of a fixed latch member on one plate having a fiat gooseneck `portion with a series of notches along one edge, a pivoted latch member on the other plate having a flat gooseneck portion of the same curvature as said first-mentioned goosene-ck portion, :and having a dog adapted to engage said notches in said fixed latch member, a springpressed operating member adapted to releasably hold said pivoted latch member engaged with said fixed latch member, and additional means on said .pivoted latch member to cooperate with one of said plates and force the pivoted member into 4engagement with the fixed mem-ber when passing from `one notch to another.

JOHN SCHADE.

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