US2851038A

US2851038A - Fastener

Info

Publication number: US2851038A
Application number: US369276A
Authority: US
Inventors: Jr Charles M Carman
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1953-07-21
Filing date: 1953-07-21
Publication date: 1958-09-09
Anticipated expiration: 1975-09-09

Description

p 1 c M. CARMAN, JR v 2,851,038

' FASTENER Filed July 21, 1953 INVENTOR.

ayi CHARLES M. CARMA N, JR.

" atent Claims. (Cl. 129-41) This invention relates to fasteners which are commonly used to bind papers in a file, particularly those fasteners having spaced prongs which pass through perforations 1n the papers and which are bent and bound against the stack of papers by a form of keeper or keepers.

One object of this invention is to provide keepers suitable for binding down prongs manufactured either of metal, as in the conventional fastener, or of other materials, such as certain plastics which have strengths comparable to those of metals and flexibilities and bending lives superior to those of metals, and which have costs lower than those of metals.

Another object of this invention is to provide keepers which may at all times be left combined in a single unit with the prongs and base, thus avoiding the hazard of misplacing the keeper and eliminating several time-consuming hand motions and fatiguing mental coordinations required of operators of conventional fasteners.

Another object of this invention is to provide a fastener of the utmost simplicity, both in manufacture and operation, and of neat and pleasing appearance.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will emerge more clearly in the following description, with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of the primary embodiment of this invention, showing the left prong and keeper closed to bind a stack of papers, and the right prong and keeper opened to a position ready to impale fresh sheets of paper.

Figure 2 is a plan view of a keeper.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along the longitudinal medial line of the primary embodiment of this invention, showing how the prongs are locked in closed position by the keepers, and how the free ends of the prongs may be concealed and held flat beneath the top layer or layers of papers.

Referring to the drawing, 1 indicates the. base of the fastener, at the ends of which the spaced prongs 2 are established to normally project upwards through the perforations 3 of a stack of papers 4. Each prong is threaded through the apertures 5 of a keeper 6, which serves to span the orifice of the well of perforations and prevent the papers from sliding off the prongs when the fastener is in a closed and binding position, and which by friction locks itself at a fixed position on the prong, but which when the fastener is in an open position comes into longitudinal alignment with the prong, allowing papers to be removed or added to the file.

Each keeper is formed with two apertures, and may be formed of metal Wire bent to the shape of a figure eight, as in Figure 2, with the apertures left unclosed at the free ends of the wire near the transverse medial line of the keeper, but with the tips 7 of the wire bent at an angle inward toward the longitudinal medial line of the keeper and toward the center portion 8 of the keeper; in a manner that the inward surfaces of the bends 9 are each transversely opposite to a corresponding inward surface of a bend 10 at the end of the center portion 8;

the inward surfaces of the bends 9 and 10, the tips 7 and the center portion 8 acting all together to form bearing surfaces for assisting in looking the keeper in a fixed position on the prong when the fastener is in a closed and binding position; the tips 7 being of sufficient length to prevent the keeper from rotating in its own plane and becoming thus disengaged from the prong of the fastener; the length of the keeper'overall being suflicient to span the well of perforations in the stack of papers; the width of the keeper being small enough to permit the keeper to be inserted through any of the perforations of the papers; and the thickness of the keeper being as small as possible consistent with adequate strength.

In assembling the keeper on the prong, the free end of the prong may be threaded first upward through that aperture of the keeper which lies closest to the transverse medial line of the fastener when the keeper is horizontal in the approximate position it would occupy as part'o-f the closed and binding fastener, this aperture being hereinafter known as the inside aperture. Thence the free end of the prong may be threaded downward through,

that aperture of the keeper which lies farthest fromthe transverse medial line of the fastener when the keeper is in said position, this aperture being known hereinafter as the outside aperture. Thence the free end of the prong may be doubled back and threaded again, downward, through the inside aperture. The prongs and keepers may be left thus assembled when the fastener is in an open position ready for the impaling of papers, and the doubled

portions

12 and 13 of the prongs may .be given a sharp crease 16, to facilitate said impaling,

at the point of natural fold between the portions 12 and s 13, which is determined when the free ends 11 ofthe prongs lie flat, spanning the wells of perforations in the papers, so that the tips 14 of the prongs project inward of the inward edges of the perforations. With the free ends of the prongs in said position, the point of natural fold where the crease 16 will be made will vary only according to the thickness of the stack of papers, but for any given thickness the free ends of the prongs will be in position to underlie the freshly-impaled sheet or sheets of paper, and the fastener may then be closed to binding position simply by pushing the portions 13 of the prongs in an inward direction, in a manner that the free ends of the prongs delve their paths inwardly, concealed from view and held flat beneath the topmost sheet or sheets of paper, and in a manner that the keepers, carried inwardly by the rolling folds between the

portions

12 and 13 of the prongs, ride over the perforations 3, span them, and come into locking position.

The free ends of the prongs may be flared at the points 15 on the longitudinal edges of the prongs, in a manner that the distance longitudinally from the tip 14 of a prong to the nearest flare 15 is greater than the diameter of the perforations in the papers, and in a manner that the width of the flared portion of the prong p near its free end is greater than the width of the apertures of the keeper, but less than the diameter of the perforations of the papers and less than the length of the apertures of the keepers. Thus, to open the fastener, it is only necessary to pull upwardly and outwardly on the portions 13 of the prongs until the keepers are carried outwardly by the flares 15 to a position where the inward ends of the keepers are outward of the outward edges of the perforations and until the tips 14 of the keepers emerge through the perforations from beneath the topmost sheet or sheets of paper. Then, if the portions 13 of the prongs are released, they will spring inwardly, until the point of natural fold between the

portions

12 and 13 corresponds with the crease 16 and the free ends of the prongs ride over the wells of perforations, span them, and come to rest with the tips 14 pro- Fatented Sept. 9, 1955 nate in an edge oblique to the longitudinal edges of the prongs, in order that they may tend to-shear away-from one another and from the bodies of the opposite prongs during theclosing operation. of any suitable bendable material and of any suitable length, but preferably of a length that, when the fastener' is in a closed and binding position, the tips 14 will not. project outwardly of the outward edges of the stack of papers.

It will be understood that my description has been illustrative rather than restrictive, and that many details may be changed or modified without departing from the spirit or scope of my invention. I do not desire to be restricted to the exact details of construction described except as limited by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination with a stack of papershaving aligned openings providing at least one bore, a fastener comprising a base larger than any of said openings, at least.

one flexible elongated prong extending from said base, said prong being dimensioned for insertion through said bore for extension from a side of said stack, and an elongated fiat rigid keeper having longitudinally spaced apertures, each of said apertures being dimensioned widthwise of said keeper for slidably receiving said prong, each of said apertures having a dimension lengthwise of said keeper at least as great as the dimension of said aperture widthwise of said keeper, said apertures in each keeper being spaced apart for a dimension substantially equal to the thickness of said flat keeper, said keeper being dimensioned in width for insertion through said bore with said prong and being dimensioned in length for spanning said bore, said prong being threaded through one of said apertures and being reversely folded through another of said apertures for slidably mounting said keeper upon said prong with the length of said keeper parallel, to they length of said prong and functioning to orient said keeper inspanning relation across said bore at said stack side upon sliding of said keeper upon. said prong to said stack side.

2. A fastener for a stack of papersor the like having aligned openings providing at least one bore comprising, a base larger than any of said openings, at, least one flexible elongated prong extending from. said base, said prong being dimensionedfor insertion through said bore for. extension of a free end of said prong from. a side of said stack, and an elongated flat rigid keeper. formed with. longitudinally spaced apertures, each of said apertures being dimensioned widthwise of said keeper for slidably receiving said prong with the length of said keeper parallel to the length of said prong,.each of said apertures being substantially elongated in a direction lengthwise of said keeper, the spacing between said apertures in each keeper being of a dimension substantially less than the dimension of each aperture widthwise of said keeper, said keeper being dimensioned in.

width for insertion through said openings with said prong and being dimensioned inlength for spanning said openings, the arrangement ofsaid apertures and. the threading of said prong therethrough functioning to dispose said keeper fiat against said stack side and. in spanning relation across said bore thereat when said keeper is dis- The prongs maybe-madeplaced on said prong into engagement with said stack side, said free end of said prong being enlarged to a dimension greater than the width but less than the length of any of said apertures for contingently retaining said keeper on said prong.

3. A fastener for a stack of papers or the like having aligned openings providing a pair of transversely spaced ,bores comprising, a base adapted for mounting on one side of said stack between said bores and having flexible elongated prongs dimensioned for insertion through said bores for extension from the, opposite side of said stack, and an elongated flat rigid keeper slidably mounted on each of said prongs dimensioned in width for insertion through one of said bores and in length for spanning one of said bores, each of said keepers having first and second apertures arranged between first and second ends and an intermediate portion, each of said apertures being dimensioned widthwise of said keeper of a dimension substantially equal to the width of one of said prongs and being substantially elongated lengthwise of said keeper, the spacing between said apertures in each keeper being of a dimension substantially equal to the thickness of said fiat keeper, each of said prongs being inserted through said first aperture of one of said keepers and folded over said intermediate portion and reversely folded through said second aperture and around said second end and returned through said first aperture and under said first end with the free end of said prong projecting in the direction of the other prong, said free end portions being formed with complementary oblique termini cooperating upon. engagement to urge said end portions away from. one another upon contact.

4. A fastener as described in claim 3 in which the free endof each prong is enlarged to a dimension greater than'the width but less than the length of any of said apertures.

5. A fastener for a stack of papers or the like having aligned openings providing a pair of spaced bores comprising, a base adapted for mounting on one side of said stack, a pair of flexible elongated prongs spaced for insertion through said bores and extending from said base, each of said prongs being dimensioned in width for insertion through a respective one of said bores, and. an. elongated fiat rigid keeper for each of said prongs, each of said keepers being dimensioned 'in width for insertion through a respective one of said References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 14,974 Grant Nov. 2, 1920 349,993 Hamilton Sept. 28, 1886 501,308 Whiting July 11, 1893 2,105,836 Lang Jan. 18, 1938 2,253,464 Spector Aug. 19, 1941 2,468,072 Innacelli Apr. 26, 1949