US2592373A - Transparent sheet protector - Google Patents

Description

rim s, 1952 G. W. AMBERG TRANSPARENT SHEET PROTECTOR Filed July 20, 1949 \\/if; fig/ v\\ IN VEN TOR.

Patented Apr. 8, 1952 TRANSPARENT SHEET PROTECTOR Gilbert W. Amberg, Kaikakee, Ill.. assignor to Amberg File and Index Company, Kankakee, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application July zo, m49', serial No. 105,776

This invention relates to an improved protecting, supporting and reinforcing unit for carrying materials desired to be displayed in loose leaf note books and at the same time obviating the necessity of removing the protective device during the display of such materials. More particularly, this invention is directed to new and improved reinforcing means to be employed in conjunction with a transparent plastic or sheet acetate folder.

It will be readily understood that in many lines of commercial sample display work, photographs or data sheets may be conveniently employed to illustrate a particular product or service. For this purpose, convenience of use has suggested the loose leaf note book as an applicable form in which to carry such materials. At the same time, the repeated handling of such materials, photographs, diagrams and the like resulted in much wear and tear on the displays. The solution of this vexing problem called for some method of protection from abrasion and the caustic effects of repeated handlings. Transparent sheets of some type designed to separate and cover the display materials seemed to be a fair solution, except that their use introduced added bulk to the note book and inconvenience to the user in that the note book rings or post connectors caused progressive wear and tear on the transparent protective sheets, often resulting in the tearing away of the protective sheets in the areas through which the note book rings had been inserted.

Reinforcement methods and means have been utilized in the past to obviate the disadvantages of tearing the plastic sheets, but other consequential disadvantages appeared, such as undue bulk, weight and thickness, and also binding of the reinforcing means when turning the protective units with the enclosed displays, especially if the note book contained a large number of sheets. Still another disadvantage has presented itself where single, transparent sheets or separators were used between the individual display sheets in that often the sheets which were to be protected would fray and tear along their outer edges, due to the canting of the protective sheets on the note book rings, requiring frequent renewal of the displays.

It is one of the objects of this invention to overcome the disadvantage of the tearing of the transparent sheet protectors and the display materials by the note book rings through the utilization of a new and improved metal reinforcing member which will absorb all the wear from the l claim. (cl. lai- 20) note book rings and, thusly, prevent wearing and tearing of the protector sheets and displays. l Another object of this invention is to provide a new and useful reinforcing metal protector sufficiently thin to prevent binding of the transparent folders during the leafing operation of the note book displays.

A further object of this invention is to provide a reinforcing annular ring of sufficient thinness to prevent undue bulkiness of the protective units and so arranged in the unit that its outer surfaces do not extend beyond the outer surfaces of the protective transparent cover leaves.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a protective unit that will prevent the wearing and fraying of the edges of the display materials.

These and other objects will appear as the following specification proceeds, and with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure l is a plan View of a protective unit made in accordance with the specification of this invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged, partial plan view of the binder receiving portion of the folder viewed in Figure l showing the construction, location and features of the annular protection ring; and

Figure 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Figure 2 showing the construction and arrangement of the annular protection ring on the upper leaf of the folder shown in Figure l.

The display folder or protective unit shown in Figure 1 is composed chiefly of a suitably sized, single sheet ID of thin, transparent substantially incompressible and flexible material folded back on itself through a straight angle, or along an imaginary axis displaced a desired distance from an imaginary vertical center line. Folded in this fashion, the single sheet I0 comprises an upper leaf ll and a slightly wider lower leaf l2. The excessive width of the lower leaf l2 may be folded back on the upper surface of the lower leaf through another straight angle, or 180, to form a holding lip I3 under which the upper leaf Il may be inserted (see Fig. 1).

In the particular form of the invention shown in Figures l, 2 and 3 an inner filler sheet I4 may be inserted between the upper and lower leaves for purposes of mounting the display materials thereon. Such a filler sheet is not essential to the sense of my invention as seen in that figure, however. A series of two or more apertures l5 may be punched along the left hand margin of the unit for receiving note book binding rings, not shown. In the preferred form shown in Figure 1, the apertures appear as annular openings, although other suitable shapes may be desirable and employed without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.

Means for reinforcing the apertures I5 and preventing tearing of the transparent sheet I0 around these openings, comprise a series of protective reinforcing members II, herein shown in their preferred form as annular in shape. The reinforcing members I'I may be made of any thin, pliable metal, such as brass or copper, and are of a class of conventional type, fiat-headed rivets Well known to those familiar with the art. Two or more of these reinforcing members are inserted in 'the desired apertures I5 of thev upper leaf I I and pressed thereon under hammer blow or pressures until their upper and lower heads I8 and I8, respectively, are pressed atly together with the adjacent and surrounding sheet IU firmly held therebetween (see Fig. 3). It will be noted that, depending on the requirements and location of the binding rings, the reinforcing members may be placed in any two or more of the apertures I5 along the left hand margin of the upper leaf, as seen in Figure l, thus making a readily adaptable and convenient reinforcing means for receiving the note book rings.

To aid in ease of assembling the display materials in the folder and to reduce the binding effect of the inserted folder on the note book rings, relief apertures 20, registering with the apertures I5 and reinforcing members I "I, may

be punched out of the lip I3, the filler sheet I4 and the lower leaf I2. Such apertures 20 are enlarged over the size of the apertures I5 cut in the upper leaf. This construction is to be preferred, since the enlarged openings reduce the over-all bulk and thickness of the folder in its closed state and permit greater facility in inserting the note book rings through the reinforced apertures I5. In this respect, it is 'to be noted that with the enlarged openings 20 opposite the reinforcing members I1, the over-all thickness of the members I'I is not greater than the combined thickness of the three-ply edgeA consisting of the upper and lower leaves and the lip. This desirable feature means less bulk, and is due to the at headed construction of the reinforcing members I1 (see Figs. 2 and 3) While I have herein shown and described a preferred form in which this invention may appear, it will be readily discernable that numerous changes, modifications and the use of equivalents may be used Without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention, and, therefore, I do not wish to be limited to the specic embodiments herein illustrated, except as may appear in the following appended claim.

I claim as my invention:

For use in a looseleaf style of notebook binder, a transparent display protective unit comprising, a substantially rectangular first leaf element, a second leaf element superposed coextensively with said first leaf element and integrally joined therewith along one marginal edge, a lip element, overlapping a second marginal edge of said second leaf element opposite said one marginal edge thereof, and integrally joined with said rst leaf element; a plurality of spaced binder receiving apertures formed in said second leaf element beneath said lip, a plurality of opencentered, metal rivets, one mounted in each of said apertures and having opposite head ends thereof turned radially outward to meet opposite faces of said second leaf element for reinforcing the periphery of said apertures therein, said rivet head ends protruding outwardly from said opposite faces of said second leaf in an amount substantially not in excess of the thickness of the adjacent portions of said lip and second leaf elements, and enlarged relief apertures formed in both said lip and first leaf element registeringly with the protruding heads of said rivets, each for receiving one of said protruding rivet heads therein, whereby the thickness of that marginal edge of said unit in which said rivets are mounted does not exceed substantially'the combined thicknesses of both said leaf elements and said lip element.

GLBERT W. AMBERG.

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

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,018,459 Walker Feb. 27, 1912 2,232,975 Schade Feb. 25, 1941 2,463,833 Vernon Mar. 8, 1949

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