Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
The present inven-tion relates in general
to new and improved holders Eor sheet-form
materials, in particular to holders for sheet-
form documents that are removably supported in
hanging relationship on posts engaging correspond-
ing performations spaced along one edge of -the
documents.
Holders for sheet~form documents or
similar materials are well ]cnown in the art.
It is further known to support such documents
in hanging relationship from supporting posts
in channel-shaped holders wherein the channel
may constitute a rigid performed structurel or
where it is formed by wall sections pivotably
movable with respect to each other that may be
locked into a rigid channel-shaped configuration.
Examples of such sheet-form document holders
appear in U.S. Patent No. 3,980,360, as well
as in U.S. Patent No. 4,056,296 which corresponds
to Canadian Patent No. 1,058,473 all assigned
to the assignee of the present application.
The document holders described and
illustrated in the aforesaid patents employ
spaced posts that engage correspondingly spaced
performations along the edge of the aforesaid
shee-t-form materials to support the latter in a
hanging position. The supporting posts may be
integral with one side of the channel-shaped holder
or they may be separate and removable. Holders
that have integrally fixed posts lack the flexibility
to accept documents in which the spacing of the
performations is different from the spacing of
the posts. This is not the case where the
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posts are removable and may be inserted into
selected holes of the document holder. In the
latter case Eastening means must be provided
to assure that the posts are securely retained
in place after being inserted :into the holder.
Further, to facilitate the rap:id insertion or
removal of documents, the posts must engage
the holder in a manner permitting easy withdrawal
from the latter. Finally, the posts must
always be perpendicular to at least one wall
of the document holder to facilitate the
aforesaid document removal and insertion and
to prevent the enlargement of the post-receiving
perforations or other damage to the documents.
The foregoing conditions must be reconciled
with the requirements for economy which make
it desirable to pre-form the holder as well as
the removable posts by convenient processes
such as molding of a plastic material. The
molded posts must have sufficient strength to
carry a sheaf of documents in their hanging
position, or while the holder is temporarily
open and the posts are supported at one end
only.
Prior art document holders for sheet-form
materials have not been responsive to these
different and, in part, mutually conflicting
requirements. Where plastic supporting posts
are employed in channel-shaped document holders
of the type under discussion here, they are
usually integral with, i.e. part of, the
holder itself. Thus, they lack the requisite
versatility to accommodate sheet-form materials
having different perforation spacings.
Where removable posts are employed in
prior art apparatus, the resulting structure
often lacks the requisite rigidity to assure
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that the posts remain perpendicular to the
holder at all times. If these posts are of
the snap-in type, special tools for the insertion
and withdrawal of the posts may be necessary.
Further, an undue amount of force may be
required to remove the posts or the locking
connection of the posts to the holder may not
be reliable. If threaded posts are used that
engage pre-threaded holes in the document
holder, it poses the problem of economically
providing internally threaded holes as part of
the molding operation of the holder, or as a
subse~uent manufacturing operation.
In some arrangements, e.g. in the holder
described in the aforesaid U.S. Patent No. 3,980,360,
the posts are never completely removed when
sheet-form materials are inserted or taken
out. During such an operation the posts are
withdrawn from one wall section only and are
loosely retained in the opposite wall section
pending the removal or the addition of documents.
It frequently happens during such an operation
that one or more posts are dislodged from
their withdrawn position by the inadvertent
action of the operator. Where that occurs,
the dislodged post effectively blocks the
channel and interferes with the ongoing insertion
or removal of the documents.
It is a primary object of the present
invention to provide an improved document
holder which is not subject to the foregoing
disadvantages.
It is another object of the present
invention to provide an irnproved holder for
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sheet-form materials which may be econom.ical.ly manu:Eactured
and which permlts the ready removal and insertion of materials
by an operator withou-t -the requirement Eor special tools.
Thus by one aspect oE this invention there is provid-
ed a plastic holder of the type adapted to form an elongate
channel for retaining sheet-form materials, comprising:
opposite first and second channel wall sections including
oppositely positioned first and second holes respectively form-
ing hole pairs spaced along the length of said channel;
a plurality of removable posts adapted to engage selected
hole pairs to bridge said channel, said posts being Eurther
adapted to support a plurality of sheet-form materials engaged
through correspondingly spaced perforations located near one
edge of each sheet;
each of said posts being formed of a plastic and includ-
ing a head adapted to accept a driving tool;
a threaded tapping section adjacent said head and having
a uniform major diameter; and
a shank section terminating said post and havin~ a uniform
outside diameter adapted to clear said first hole~
said tapping section being adapted to cut a thread in the
interior of said first hole of the selected hole pair to
removahly fasten said post in said first wall section;
whereby said head is posit~oned within said first hole ~nd
the free end of said shank section is positioned in said second
hole of said selected hole pair when said post is fully inserted
in said channel-form holder.
By another aspect of this invention there is provided
a self-tapping supporting post formed of plastic and adapted
to engage a supporting structure having a flexural elastic
modulus less than that of said post, comprising:
a head adapted -to accept a driving too;
a threaded tapping section adjacent said head having a
uniform major diameter and a predetermined axial length, said
tapping section being capable of çutting a thread in a preform-
ed hole of said supporting structure adapted to removably fasten
said post therein; and
a shank section having a substantially uniform outside
diameter termina-ting said post, said post being adapted when
fastened to said supporting structure to support sheet form
articles suspended from said shank section.
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a document holder
which incorporates the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a bottom view of the holder of Fig. 1 in
its closed position;
Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken
along line 3-3 of Fig. 2; and
Fig. 4 illustrates an exploded, cross-
sectional view of an open document holder and
a support post.
With reference now to the drawings, Fig.
1 illustrates in perspective view a channel-
shaped holder 2 which incorporates the present
invention, together with sheet-form documents
10 supported in hanging relationship on the
holder. While the invention is not so limited,
the holder shown is of the type wherein a pair
of wall sections ~ and 6 are connected by
means of a hinge section 8 which permits the
wall sections to pivot relative to each other.
The documents 10 are supported on a plurality
of support posts 12 that engage selected ones
of a series of holes 14.
The holder is shown in locked position in
Fig. 1. Wall sections 4 and 6 are capable of
closing and locking on each other to form a
channel closed at both ends. The closed
channel form is best shown in the cross-
sectional view of Fig. 3. A pair of slide
buttons 16 is adapted to be moved to one side
to unlock the holder. This permits the wall
sections to be pivoted away from one another
about hinge section 8 so as to free the posts
12 to release documents supported thereon or
to accept new ones.
When in use, document holder 2 is adapted
to rest on a pair of support rods that engage
a pair of ~-shaped channels 18 at each end of
the holder. Alternatively, a suitable support
rod may engage a round channel 20 of the
holder to support the latter in place, while a
suitable surface above the left hand portion
of hinge 8 prevents rotation about the axis of
channel 20. ~he support rods and the aforesaid
surface have been omitted from Fig. 1 for the
sake of clarity.
Fig. 2 is a bottom view of the holder
illustrated in Fig. 1, documents 10 being
omitted to show the interior construction of
the holder. With wall sections 4 and 6 in
the closed position, corresponding portions of
the wall sections are in contact with each
other as shown. As best illustrated in Fig.
3, support posts 12 bridge the channel defined
by the closed wall sections, each post engaging
a hole 13 in wall section 4 and a hole 14 in
wall section 6, respectively. The constructional
details of holes 13 and 14 are best illustrated
in Fig. 4, in which the post is shown separate
from the holder~ Hole 13, which is initially
formed without screw threads, extends through
a boss 22 formed on the inside surface 24 of
wall section 4. Hole 13 further mates with a
counterbore 32 that opens onto a larger
counterbore 30. The latter in turn opens onto
the outside surface 34 of wall section 4. A
flat annular shoulder 36 is formed between
counterbores 30 and 32. Hole 14 extends
through a boss 26 formed on the inside surface
28 of wall section 6 and terminates in a
countersunk opening 38 facing boss 22.
The document holder is illustrated in its
open position in Fig. 4. Wall section 4 is
assumed stationary, while wall sec-tion 6 is
seen to pivot around the axis defined by hinge
section 8. Post 12, which is shown separately,
includes a flat pan head 42 which is adapted
to seat in counterbore 30 so as to be flush
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with, or below, the outside surface 34 of wall
section 4. The underside 43 of head 42 is
flat and contacts the aforesaid flat shoulder
36 to assure the perpendicularity of post 12
when the latter i5 fully inserted into hole
13. Head 42 further includes a slot or kerf
44 adapted to accept a screw driver or similar
driving tool.
Post 12 further includes a threaded
tapping section adjacent head 42. The tapping
section has a uniform major diameter slightly
smaller than the inside diameter of counterbore
32, but greater than the inside diameter oE
hole 13. The length of the tapping section is
chosen so that it does not protrude beyond
hole 13 when post 12 is fully inserted therein.
Tapping section 46 is followed by a shank
section 48 which terminates in a rounded free
end. Shank section 48 has an outside diameter
adapted to clear hole 13 when post 12 is
inserted into the closed holder and to mate in
a close sliding fit with hole 14. The length
of the shank section is chosen such that, by
the time tapping section 46 enters counterbore
32, the free end of the shank section is
positioned within hole 14 by an amount sufficient
to constrain post 12 in a position normal to
both wall sections of the holder. At the
point when post 12 is fully inserted into wall
section 4, the free end of shank section 48 is
either flush with or short of the outside
surface 40 of wall section 6.
In a preferred embodiment, the holder is
molded from polypropylene, e.g., from a talc-
filled polypropylene material having a flexural
elastic modulus in the range of 3-6~5 x 10 p.s.i.
The posts may be molded from nylon, e.g., from
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a glass-filled nylon material having a flexural
elastic modulus of the order of 13 x 105 p. 9 . i . T~le
aforesaid moduli define the property of the
molded plastic in each case, which allows cold
forming and flow. The glass-filled nylon
posts, being molded of a s-tronger plastic than
the holder, have a higher flexural elastic
modulus.
In operation, the shee-t-form documents
that are to be supported in the holder are
examined to determine the location of their
perforations. If the holder is used for the
first time for a particular document perforation
spacing, posts 12 are inserted into appropriate
ones of holes 13, selected to be in alignment
wi-th the perforations of the sheet-form materials
held by the closed document holder. The
operator inserting the post is initially
guided by counterbore 32. Thereafter, the
insertion of the free shank end into hole 14,
together with the action of counterbore 32,
assures that the post is positioned normal to
wall section 4 and that the subsequent thread
cutting operation is carried out wi-th the post
in the latter position.
Under the urging of an ordinary screw
driver in slot 44, tapping section 46 (whose
flexural elastic modulus exceeds that of the
holder), then cuts a thread into the interior
surface of hole 13. The action continues
until the underside 43 of pan head 42 seats
firmly on shoulder 36 of counterbore 30. The
contact between surfaces 43 and 36 further
assures that, when post 12 is fully inserted,
shank section 48 will extend from boss 22 at
right angles to wall section 4.
Once post 12 is screw-fastened to wall
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10~9~74,
section 4, it provides the rigidity and
strength of an integral post, while retaining
the capability of rapid removal to accommodate
different types of documents. Thus, if the
document holder is to be used for documents
having perforations with a different spacing,
one or more of posts 12 may be withdrawn from
their respective holes 13 by unscrewing. I'he
withdrawn posts are ready for re-use to tap
threads into other holes that correspond to
the new perforation spacing. At some future
point in time when it is desired to use the
original perforation spacing, the posts may
again be used by screwing them into the
previously threaded holes 13.
With the support posts 12 fastened in
position in wall section 4, documents may be
inserted or withdrawn by the operator by
opening the holder. As pointed out above,
this is done by sliding buttons 16 to one side
to unlatch the two wall sections from each
other. After the desired documents are added
or removed from posts 12, the holder is closed,
as illustrated in Fig. 4. It will be noted
that the countersunk opening 38 serves to
guide the free end of shank section 48 (shown
in dotted outline in Fig. 4), as wall section
6 pivots to the right while the holder is
closing.
While the invention has been described
and illustrated with respect to a particular
document holder, it will be clear that it is
applicable to holders of different types,
e.g., holders having various configurations,
as well as holders capable of supporting
different types of sheet-form materials.
Different types of plastic materials may be
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employed for the holder as well as for the
supporting posts. Further, various substitutions,
modifications and changes may be effected,
which clearly fall within the intended scope
of the invention.
The present invention repxesents an
important advance in the art by providing a
holder for sheet-form materials together with
novel self-threading supporting posts, both of
which may be readily and economically manufactured
by well known molding techniques or the like.
The invention thus solves many of the problems
of prior art document holders which lack the
requisite versatility, or the requisite rigidity
and strength that assure that the posts are
perpendicular, or which fail to provide ease
and economy of manufacture.
From the foregoing discussion, it will be
apparent that numerous modifications will now
occur to those skilled in the art which fall
within the spirit and scope of the invention
as defined by the appended claims.
