US2510662A - Loose-leaf post binder - Google Patents

Description

June 6, 1950 s. sc 2,510,662

LOOSE-LEAF POST BINDER Filed Jan. 8, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet l T T INVENTOR 6 ll: 6 7 7 I fin/m d'mmsnd'c /aas /7 m 1-7 BY @gJW ATTORNEYS June 6, 1950 s. sc 2,510,662

LOOSE-LEAF POST BINDER Filed Jan. 8, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l N V E NTO R fkM/r Jumz5r$cm4oz BY @JJM ATTORN EYS Patented June 6, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICJE LOOSE LEAF POST BINDER Frank tanley Sc a H y ke, M ss, assign r to National Blank Book Compan Holyoke, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application January 8, 1947, Serial No. 720,741

This invention relates leaf post binders-and particularly to the meoha nism for mounting,v fastening. and. releasing the posts in the back of a binder case.

The purpose of. the invention is to make a better structure at lower cost than compe itive binders now on the market. The way is. done will need to be expl ined in detail. After the de ail is understood the inv ntion will be seen in the combination. of parts.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 indicates a. binder case consisting of a back portion and two hinged covers before the loose leaf binder mechanism is mounted on the back portion;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of post binder mechanism in assembled condition;

Fig. 3 is a side view at the mechanism in F 2.;

Fig. .4 isv abottom view;

Fig. 5 is a plan view 01.5 a one piece channel member;

Fig. 6 is an end view of the member in Fig. 5 as indicated;

F '1 is a plan vi w of a comp nion one piece channel member;

Figv 8 is an end view of the member shown in Fig. '7 as indicated; a

Fi 9 is a side view of the member shown in gigs; and a viewed as. indicated by arrows in r g.

Fig. 1 i a s ction on line ill-:10 oi Fi 8; and

Figs. 11, 12, and 13 are plan, si e and bo tom. ws p v y of a form of post. preferred for use in the mechanism. V

a In Fig, 1 a typical binder case havin covers, I and 2 separated by a back portion 3 is shown with the covers in open position, but Without loose leaf binder mechanism attache Such mechanism is fastened to the back por i n 3,

usually by rivets. ,An example of my imp oved loose leaf binder mechanism construction, i which my preferred form of binder po t mounting is incor orated, is shown in Figs. v2a .3 and. 4 in completely assembled .form ready to beattached to a binder case back. This mounting consists of a U-sha-pcd channel member 4 in which a second U-shaped' channel member 5 is cradled. The channel member 5 is a pt d to slide back and forth from a central locking position within a guideway provided by upturned side walls 6 of channel member 4 against frictional restraint and within certain limits, as wi l be explained later. The side walls 6 are folded over, as shown in Fig. 6, to form a track to receive side walls i of channel m ber 5. In addition notches 8 are out in side walls 6 to receive socket portions 9 and In of loose lea! sheet'retainin post members H, said members ll no mally bridging th h ped channel m mbers. as shown in Fig. 2, while retaining a stack of looseleaf sheets. Prongs l2 and I3 Iormed inside 4 Claims. (01.129424) to improvements in loose w lls l f channel member 5, see Figs. il. and 1 are adapted to. enter the, socke s 9 nd Fi l2l to lock the sheet carrying post members H. in sheet retaining position, or to be withdrawn to one side or the. other to a post member r leasin position when the. channe member 5 is s d within guide chann 4'. t w ll be not as hown. in Figs. 9. and lb and as viewed in those fi r s. pron s 12. are so form d ha t ey p int to the left, While prongs l3 p in to the r ght. Thus. if the channel member 5 c ntral y disposed within channel member 4, a in Fig.2, both sets f pr ngs l2 and I3 ex end through heir re pccr tlvfe. socket portionsoi post members ll locking said post. members. in sheet ret in ng p s on- F om this central position, and c ns der n Fi 2, 9 and 10, ii sliding m mber 5 is m ved to the ri ht pro gs '2 are withdra n from s cketporions 9 of post. members. ll leaving ha sid onlocked and free to. swing out. of no ches 8 'fo the addition or removal of loose leaf hee sn s p sition the side of post members it c ntamins sock tpo tions it remains locked inp ace by he deeper penetration of said socket portions U! by prongs 13. If sliding member 5 is moved to the left prongs [3. are withdrawn from socket por tions 10 of post members I l leaving that side un-. locked. In this position the side of the po members containing socket portions a remains locked in place by the deeper penetration of sai socket portions by the prongs. [2.

To guide and limit the sliding motion of memhe 5 nm mber 4 a d tent-like arrangement is provided by the coop ration of an upstruck button-like projection is of the channel memb r 4 with a centering hole [5 and Slots l6 and U in the channel m mber 5. In addition slo s 18 are out in member 5 in which the shanks oi rivets (not shown) are accommodated while the meme bar 5 is being shifted to one side or the other, The slidable channel member 5 has uptu ned end flanges 19' to facilitate the transfer of the trio.\ tionally restrained channel member 5 by band from its central position in the channel 4 in which the projection M of channel member A is held within the centering hole 15 of member 5.

to a post member release positionr in wh ch. pro- .jectionl4 rides in either slot IE or slot l1-i ;ho

position chosen depending on which side of co member ll requires freedom.

Reviewing briefly the operation, and considering particularly the assembled binder mechanism as shown in'Figs. 2, 3 and 4, the post members H are released on one side or the other when the channel member 5 is moved Within the guideway formed by channel member 4 by pressure on either of the flanges !9, so that the projection I4 rides out of the central hole IS in channel meme bar 5 against the frictional resistance offered by the bottom of channel member 5 until it drops into either slot [6 or ll as determined by the direction of the pressure applied to the flange member concerned. This motion of the channel member is continued until either prong [2 or prong l3 of member 5 clears notch 8 in the side wall 6 of member 4. This frees one side of the post members H on one side so that loose leaf sheets may be added or removed. The action of returning the channel member to the central position locks the post members once more in sheet retaining position. I

As shown in Figs. 4 and 5 the metal at the bottom of channel 4 is relieved on both sides of projection M by slots to impart a spring-like quality to the strip 2! on which projection I4 is carried. So that, in effect, the projection l4 acts as a spring detent to locate the channel member 5.

Frequently loose-leaf post binders are used to contain records which are preferably locked in place after a period of use, so that, although reference may be made to the contents of said book, nothing may be added or removed without damage to the binder. Provision is made for this function in the improved structure of Figs. 2 to 10 by means of a locking tab 26 formed in the side 6 of the channel member by a U-shaped slot 2! cut therein, Fig. 3, and a rectangular opening 28, Fig. 9, cut in the side of channel member 5. When member 5 is in post member locking position, that is, centrally located in channel 4, as has been explained, the locking tab 26 coincides with the rectangular opening 28 so that, if the stiff tab 26 is bent into the opening 28 by force it will remain in this position by reason of the inherent inflexibility of the metal in small tab form used and so prevent any relative displacement of one channel member with respect to the other. There will be no easy way to bend the tab 26 back because the bound sheets will fill up and block off the inside of the U-shaped assembly.

.The nearest prior art known to me is seen in Patent No. 1,876,232 of 1932'. It will be seen on comparison that the structure of said patent is relatively cumbersome to make and assemble and entails a relatively high cost of manufacture. Analysis of the old and the new structure will show that the new one is a much simpler one for the user to understand and use. One purpose of the two structures is the same, that is means whereby the fastening devices on both sides of a group of leaves may be concurrently operated and will release the leaf-securing members at either of their ends without, at the same time, releasing their other ends. This being so the new and useful structure of this invention disclosed is to be measured by the better way to accomplish the common purpose.

In the different structure, to accomplish the main purpose, there have been disclosed several structural features to make the binder more useful.

Having disclosed the invention, the claims are:

l. A loose leaf post binder comprising a channel member to be fastened on the inside of a, binder case back panel, a second channel member cradled in the first one to slide back nd forth, both sides of the first channel member having slots spaced along their upper edges, a set of posts, each having eyes at its opposite ends to rest in the said slots, both sides of said second channel member having spaced bayonet slots with their short portions opening through their upper edges, the slots being formed to straddle said eyes, the long portions of the bayonet slots on one side being in reverse relation to those on the other side and all parallel and close to said upper edges of their channel member, all constructed and arranged so that prongs are provided above said long slot portions to fit the eyes of said posts and sliding of the second channel member in the first channel member to different positions may cause the prongs to engage the post eyes on one side while disengaging the eyes on the other side or oppositely engage and disengage them or engage the eyes of the posts on both sides.

2. A loose leaf post binder comprising a channel member to be fastened down on the back panel of a binder case, the upper edges of said member being turned inwardly and downwardly to form slides, a second channel member cradled to slide in the first one with its upper edge portions engaged in said slides, a set of posts each having eyes at its two ends, a set of short corresponding slots to pass the post eyes down or up for positioning orremoving post ends with relation to corresponding top portions of both channel members, long slots closely adjacent to and parallel to the top edges of the second channel member and opening into its first named slots, the ones to pass the post eyes, the long slots on one side extending fromits connected short slots in the opposite direction to that of the corresponding long slots on the other side, thematerial of the channel above the long slots being dimensioned to fit the eyes of said set of posts in the form of prongs, all constructed and arranged so that upon sliding the second channel member into balanced position with relation to the first member all the posts will ,be fastened in the binder in sheet retaining position, upon sliding to the right the posts will be released at corresponding ends on one side of the binder while being retained on the other side and upon sliding to the left the binder eyes will be released and retained respectively on their opposite sides.

3. The structure of claim 2 in combination with cooperating limiting means, part on one and part on the other of said channel members, to determine their functional positions of post retaining, post releasing on one side, and post releasing on the opposite side of the binder.

i. The structure of claim 2 in combination with a small opening through one side of the second channel member, a, small tab to align with said small opening in the side of the first channel member when the two members are in balanced or sheet post retaining positions with prongs in all the eyes of all the posts, the metal of the channel members being adapted when the tab is bent into said small hole by a forcing tool to lock the binder parts for the prongs to retain all the posts in sheet retaining position against any normal attempt to release them.- Y

FRANK STANLEY SCHADE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 789,185. Suchert May 9, 1905 835,171 Walker Nov. 6, 1906 1,662,874 Valkenburgh Mar. 20, 1928 1,876,232 Hutchings Sept. 6, 1932 1,891,037 Auburn Dec. 13, 1932 1,909,320 Unger May 16, 1933 2,148,789. Unger Feb. 28, 1939 2,164,659 McChesney et a1. July 4, 1939

Images