Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
2~0~661.
TITLE: A LOOSE-LEAE PHOTO ALBUM
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a loose-leaf binder, and
more particular to a loose-leaf binder, such as a
loose-leaf photo album or a loose-leaf file binder,
having a plurality of pages neatly piled together,
every abutting two of which are detachably and
rotatably connected to each other by a plurality of
axially aligned hinge members alternately formed along
a pair of corresponding edges of said pages.
In Fig. 1, a conventional loose-leaf binder which
is sold in the market is shown. This conventional
loose-leaf binder comprises a plurality of pages (A)
neatly piled together, every abutting two of which are
detachably and rotatably connected to each other by a
set of hinge members (B) comprising a plurality of
axially aligned hinge seats (Bl) alternately formed
along a pair of corresponding edges of the abutting two
pages.
However, the user of this conventional loose-leaf
binder has to prepare a number of hinge wires (B2)
which are apt to injure his/her fingers and are also
difficult to insert into the axially aligned hinge
seats as they are curved and/or the hinge seats are not
precisely aligned or manufactured.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A feature of the present invention is to provide a
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loose-leaf binder having a plurality of pages neatly
piled together, every abutting two of which are
detachably and rotatably connected to each other by a
plurality of axially aligned hinge members alternately
formed along a pair of corresponding edges of said
pages; the improvements being characterized by: every
neighboring two of the axially aligned hinge members
being rotatably engaged with each other by an axially
concave knuckle and an axially protruded pillar which
are respectively formed at said hinge members' adjacent
axial ends, said axially concave knuckle also having an
outer wall formed by one of said adjacent ends, said
wall having a longitudinal slit extending from the end
having said concave knuckle,.and said axially protruded
pillar being adapted to be inserted into and received
- within said concave knuckle via said longitudinal slit.
Another feature of the present invention is to
- provide a loose-leaf page comprising a piece of
cardboard which has an edge having a plurality o~ first
hinge members and a plurality of second hinge members
- alternately formed on.the two sides along said edge, so
that a similar page with similar hinge members can be
rotatably connected with said loose-leaf page by
engaging its second hinge members with the first hinge
members of said loose-leaf page; the improvements being
characterized by: said first and second hinge members
respectively having two end portions, one part of said
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end portions respectively having an axially concave
portion defined by a wall formed therearound,
constituting an axially concave knuckle, said wall also
having a longitudinal slit extending from said
knuckle's free end, traversely passing through said
wall and connecting with said axially concave portion,
and the rest of said end portions respectively having a
pillar axially protruded therefrom, said pillar being
adapted to be inserted into a corresponding knuckle of
a similar loose-leaf page via said longitudinal slit.
Therefore, in accordance with this invention, the
loose-leaf pages can be easily connected with each
other by insertion of the pillars into the axially
concave knuckles of the adjacent hinge members.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Other features and advantages of this invention
will become apparent in the following detailed
description of the preferred embodiments of this
invention with reference to the accompanying drawings,
in which:
Fig.l is an exploded perspective view of a
conventional loose-leaf binder;
Fig.2 is an exploded perspective view of a loose
leaf binder according to this invention;
Fig.3 is a schematic view of a single loose-leaf
page which has been assembled according to Fig. 2;
Fig.4 is a schematic view of the hinge members
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which are assembled by means of insertion of the pillar
into the openings through a slit;
Eig.5 is a sectional view of a pair of hinge
members of Fig. 4 ;
Fig.6 is a schematic view of a plurality of loose-
leaf pages which have been assembled and overlapped
together;
Fig.7 is a schematic view of a hinge member of
another embodiment assembled according to this
invention;
Fig.8 is a sectional view of a hinge member of Fig.
7;
Fig.9 is a schematic view of the hinge members of
another embodiment assembled according to this
invention;
Fig. 10 is a schematic view of the hinges members
of still another embodiment assembled according to this
invention; and
Fig. 11 is a schematic view of the hinge members of
yet still another embodiment of this invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring now to Fig. 2, a loose-leaf binder is
shown, which comprises loose-leaf pages 1, a pair of
tapes 2, 2', a content page 3 and a photo strut 4. The
loose-leaf pagés 1 are made of a plastic material which
is integrally formed as a longitudinal plate. On the
loose-leaf pages 1 are disposed a plurality of first
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hinge members 11 and a plurality of second hinge
members 12 alternately formed on the two sides and
along the edge of said loose-leaf. A pair of pillars
111 are respectively formed at the two sides of the
first hinge member 11. Moreover, a pair of axially
concave knuckles 121 are disposed along the two sides
of the second hinge member 12. In addition, a
longitudinal slit 122 extends from the free end of the
axially concave knuckle 121, traversely passing through
the wall of said knuckle and connecting with said
knuckle 121. The slit 122 is substantially tapered,
and has an opening of which is gradually enlarged,
radially from a first end of the longitudinal slit 122
which abuts with the axially concave knuckle 121, to a
second end of the same, which is opposite to the first
end, finally forming a passage way which is adapted to
receive the axially protruded pillar 111. The slit 122
is adapted to be passed through the axially protruded
pillar 111 so that said pillar 111 may be received
within the axially concave knuckle 121. Thus, a loose-
leaf binder has a plurality of neatly piled pages,
every abutting two of which are detachably and
rotatably connected to each other by a plurality of
axially aligned hinge members 11, 12, alternately
formed along a pair of corresponding edges of said
pages. Every neighboring two of said axially aligned
hinge members 11, 12 are detachably and rotatably
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engaged with each other by an axially concave knuckle
121 and an axially protruded pillar 111 which are
respectively formed at their adjacent axial ends. The
axially concave knuckle 121 has an outer wall formed by
one of said adjacent ends, defining an axially concave
portion, the wall having a longitudinal slit 122
e~tending from the free end of the concave knuckle 121,
traversely passing through the wall and connecting with
the axially concave portion of said knuckle 121, and
said axially protruded pillar 111 being adapted to be
inserted into the concave knuckle 121 via said
longitudinal slit 122.
Referring again to Fig.2, a content page 3 is
substantially a rectangular page with gold foil
attached to its margins. In addition, as shown in
Fig.3, two layers of a cardboard-like material 2, 2',
the joining surfaces of which are coated with a glue-
like substance, are separated at one edge and
simultaneously and tightly attached via said glue-like
substance, to both the loose-leaf pages 1 and the
content page 3. Thus, the loose-leaf pages 1 and the
content page 3 are integrally formed. A pair of
receiving pockets are respectively provided on the
upper and the lower portions of the content page 3 in
order to receive photos.
Referring now to Fig.4 , assembly of a plurality of
hinge members 11, 12 is provided. Every neighboring
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two of the axially aligned hinge members 11, 12 are
rOtatably engaged with each other by an axially concave
knuckle 121 and an axially protruded pillar 111 which
are respectively formed at their adjacent axial ends.
The axially concave knuckle 121 has an outer wall
formed by one of the adjacent ends, the wall having a
longitudinal slit 122 extending from the free end of
the concave knuckle 121, and the axially protruded
pillar 111 being constructed to be inserted into the
concave knuckle 121 via said longitudinal slit 122.
Referring to Fig. 5, a sectional view of a pair of
hinge members 11, 12 is shown. The hinge members 11, 12
are made of a flexible material and the opened space of
the first end of the hinge members is smaller than
every orthographically projected space of the traverse
cross-section of the protruded pillar 111 so that the
axially protruded pillar 111 can be snapped into and
Stably received within the axially concave portion of
the knuckle 121, via the longitudinal slit 122.
Referring to Fig. 6, a plurality of' loose-leaf
pages are overlapped and piled together. Each loose-
leaf page l comprises a piece of cardboard which has an
edge with a plurality of first hinge members 11 and a
plurality of second hinge members 12 alternately formed
on the two sides along said edge, so that a similar
page with similar hinge members can be rotatably
connected with a loose-leaf page 1 and another of said
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similar pages can be rotatably connected with a loose-
leaf page 1 by engaging its second hinge members 12
with the first hinge member 11 of one of said loose-
leaf pages. Wherein the first and second hinge members
11, 12 respectively have two end portions, one part of
the end portions respectively having an axially concave
portion defined by a wall formed therearound,
constituting an axially concave knuckle 121, the wall
further having a longitudinal slit 122 extending opened
from its free end, traversely passing through said wall
and connecting with the axially concave portion, and
the rest of the end portions respectively having a
pillar 111 axially protruded therefrom, the pillar 111
being adapted to be inserted into a corresponding
knuckle 121 of a similar loose-leaf page via said
longitudinal slit 122. Thus, a photo album of this
invention is complete when all the loose-leaf pages
with hinge members are rotatably piled together.
Referring to Fig. 7, another embodiment according
to this invention in which a hinge member 11 with a
pillar X at one end and a concave knuckle Y, having a
slit Y' at the other end, is shown. In Fig. 8, a
sectional view of a hinge member is provided.
Referring to Fig.9, each hinge member can be engaged
with another hinge member by the insertion of a pillar
X into another concave knuckle through the slit Y'O
According to the method of the above-mentioned first
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embodiment, together with hinge members of the second
embodimentr a complete photo album may be created.
Referring to Figs. 10 and 11, the length of the
longitudinal slits Y', 122 of the hinge members 11, 12
of the second and first embodiment are adapted to be
shorter than the depth of the axially concave portions
of the concave knuckles Y, 121 of the hinge members 11,
12 of the second and first embodiment, so that the free
ends of the pillars X, 111 of the hinge members 11, 12
can be fitted into the bottom of said axially concave
portions of said hinge members 11, 12 after said
pillars X, 111 of said hinge members 11, 12 are
inserted into said concave knuckles Y, 121 of said
hinge members 11, 12 via said shorter longitudinal
slits Y', 122. In this way, the radially engaging
force between the hinge members 11, 12 can be
increased. Therefore, the loose-leaf binder of this
invention can be used to connect with heavy loose-leaf
pages.
The above embodiment is given by way of example
only and various modifications may be made without
departing from the scope of the invention.
