Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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This invention relates to a ring mechanism for
loose leaf binders and the like.
In previously known ring mechanisms, each of the elements
forming the ring extended upwardly from the carrier rails t'nrough
apertures in the cover rail. The ring elements extended
arcuately from the cover rails such that in their ~
closed position the ring ele~.ents formed a generall~r
circular closure with the top portion of the carrier
rail. ~ing to the manner in which the ring elements
were attached to the carrier rails through the cove~
rail, the sheets of loose leaf paper which were thread-
ed- on the ring elements did no-t lie against the bindex
cover up to the apertures in the edge of the sheet. As
a result, thP loose leaf paper could never lie flat
across its total surface since the hody o~ the cover
rail is of substantial height. ~his not only impaired
the ability o the U5el' to write on the loose leaf pap~x
~U~ IG~ m~ln~ o~ pap~r w~ h
could ~e held by the ring mechanism by an amount equal
to the height of the cover rail.
In United States Patent No. 3,263,687 Weichert
describes a ring mechanism for overcoming these dif-
ficulties in which one of the ring elements-is at~ached
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to the bottom surface of the carrier rail and extends
parallel to the surfaee of the binder cover before angling
upwardly to meet the second ring element which is con-
ventional design. Grooves are provided in the cover mem-
ber to accommodate the movement of the ring element from itsclosed position to its open position. ~hile the ring
mechanism described in United States Pa-tent No. 3,263,687
works satisfaetorily for its intended purpose, i-t is an
e~pensive mechanism to produce in view oE the fact that
specialized tooling is required to attaeh the angled
ring elelllent to the ~ottom of the cove~ rall and in view of
thc fact that grooves must be provided in the cover member.
In another previously known ring meehanism, an
angled ring element of the oeneral type shown in United
States Patent No. 3,263,68~ was attached to -the top of
the carrier rail and extended upwarcily throuclh an aper-
ture in the top oE the cover rail. ~lowever, since the
;l'`'!l~`d t:`in~ elllent~ clicl not lie alonc~ thc~ surface~ oE
the binder covcr, this ring mechanism had the same draw-
baeks as the previously described ring mechanism havingtwo clrcuate ring c~ llts; namely, that it did not allo~-
the sheets of loose leaE paper to lie flat against the
binder cover and reduced the storage capacity of the ring
mechanism by the height of the cover rail.
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The disadvantages oE the foregoing structures may
be overcome by providing a ring mechanism which allows
the loose leaf paper to lie flat against the binder cover
thereby increasiny the storage capacity of the ring mech-
anism and which can be manufactured on conventional equip-
ment for the manufacture of ring mechanisms without the
necessity for the expensive tooling required to produce
ring mechanisms of the type shown in United States
Patent No. 3,263,687.
It has been-found that these disadvantages can be
overcome by providing a ring mechanism to be mounted on
a generally planar cover member. The mechanism has a
resilient cover rail having turned down edges and aper-
tures spaced inwardly from such edges. First and second
carrier rails are nested in side by side relationship
between the side edges of the cover rail such that the
combined width of the carrier rails is greater than the
distance between the ,side ed~es of the cover rail in it~
unstressed position thereby permitting the carrier rails
to be moved between two over center positions. ,A first
ring element is mounted on the first carrier rail~ A
second r,ing element is mounted on the second carrier
rail. The ring elements extend from the carrier rail
through the apertures in the cover rail. The first ring
~5 element has a r.lesh end, a straight portion extending
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-- 5
angularly towards the plane of the cover member, a second
straight portion extending parallel to the plane of t.he cov-
er member closely adjacent to the cover member, and a hooked
portion extendlng from the second st.raight port.ion upwards
from a cover member over the periphery of the cover rail and
downwardly t.hrough one of the apertures in the cover rail t.o
the first carrier rail. The second ring element extends from
the second carrier rail to a mesh end adjacent to the mesh
end of the first ring element, such that the ring elements
define a closed loop when the carrier rails are in one of
the over cent.er posit.ions and the mesh end of the second
ring member is spaced from t.he mesh end of the first ring
member when the carrier rails are in the other of the over
cent.er positions. The mechanism includes means for mounting
the cover rail to the cover member so as to permit minor re-
lative angular displacement when the carrier rails are moved
from one of the over center positions to the other of the
over center posit.ions.
In dra~ings which illustrate preferred embodimen~.s
~f the invention:
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a ring mechanism
mounted on a cover.
Fig. 2 is a sectional view of a ring mechanism of
Fig. 1 t.aken along line 2-2 illustrating the mechanism in
t.he closed position.
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Fig. 3 is a section view similar to Fig~ 2 illustr-
ating the mechanism in the open position.
Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a second ring
mechanism according to the invention mounted on a cover.
Fig. 5 is a section view similar to E'ig. 2
taken along line 5-5 of Fig. 1 illustrating a means of
fastening the mechanism to a cover~
Fig. 6 is a perspective view from below illustrating
one end of the mechanism of Fig. 1.
Fig. 7 is a section view taken along line 7-7 of
Fig. 4 illustrating a means of fastening the mechanism
to a cover. (Figs. 4 and 7 are on the same single sheet~.
~eferring to Fig. 1, the ring mechanism 10 is
mounted on a generally planar cover member 12 and has a
plurality of ring sets 14 for receiving sheets of paper
15 with holes spaced to be compatible with the ring sets
14. The ring mechanism 10 includes a cover rail 16 and
is relatively loosely secured to the cover member 12 by
fasteners 18. The fasteners 18, preferably rivets,
permit minor relative angular displacement of the cover
rail 16 relative to the cover member 12 in the manner
and for the reasons set out moxe fully below.
Referring to Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings, it can
be seen that the rLng set 14 consists of a first ring
element 20 and a second ring element 22. The firs-t
ring element 20 is carried on a first carrier rail 24
and is mounted on the first carrier rail 24 by passing
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the first end 28 of the ~irst ring element 20 through an
aperture (not shown) in the :Eirst carrier rail 24 and
then flattening the end 28 against the bottom o~ the
first carrier rail 24. The ~irst ring element 20
consists of a mesh end 36, a generally straight portion
38 extending outwardly and downwardly from the mesh
end 36 towards the plane of the cover member 12, a
second generally straight portion 40 extending parallel
to the plane of the cover member 12 closely adjacent to
the cover member 12 and a hooked portion 42 extending
from the second straight portion 40 over the outer peri-
phery 44 of the cover rail 16 and downwardly through an
aperture 34 in the cover rail 16 to the first carrier
rail 24.
As shown in Figs. 2 and 3 the second ring element 22
is carried on a second carrier rail 26 and similarly
mounted on the second carrier rail 26 by passing the
first end 30 of the second ring element 22 through an
aperture (not shown3 in the second carrier rail 26 and
then flattening the end 30 against the bottom of the
second carrier rail 26. The second ring element 22
extends arcuately upwardly from the second carrier
rail 26 through an aperture 32 in the cover raii 16 to
a mesh end 35.
The cover raii 16 is provided with inwardly turned
edges 46, 48 for ret~ining the first carrier raii 24 and
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the second carrier rail 26. The outer e~ge 50 of the
first carrier rail 24 lies against the inwardly turned
edge 46 of the cover rail 16 and the inner edge 52 of
the first carrier rail 24 lies against the inner edge
54 of the second carrier rail 26. The outer edge 56
of the second carrier rail 26 lies ayainst the
inwardly turned edge 48 of the cover xail 16. The
cover rail 16 is formed from a resilient material and,
in its unstressed condition, such as is shown in both
Figs. 2 and 3, the combined width of the first
carrier rail 24 and the second carrier rail 26 exceeds
the distance between the inwardly turned edges 46, 48.
This permits the carrier rails 24~ 26 to move from a
first over center position as shown in Fig. 2 to a
second over center position as shown in Fig. 3 thereby
permitting the ring elements 20, 22 to move from a closed
position as shown in Fig. 2 to an open position as
shown in Fig. 3 thereby permitting the introduction of
loose leaf paper 15 to the ring sets 14.
In use, the loose leaf paper 15 is retained by the
ring sets 14 which are normally in their closed position
as shown in Fig~ 2. When it is desired to add additional
loose leaf sheets 15 to the ring set 14 or to remove
loose leaf sheets 15 from the ring set 14, the ring
elements 20, 22 are simply pulled apart manually until
the carrier rails 24, 26 lock into the second over center
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position shown in Fig. 3. ~s the portion 40 of ring
element 20 is closely adjacent the cover member 12
there would be inter~erence if the cover member 12 and
cover rail 16 were completely rigid and rigidly inter-
connected by the rivets 18. However, owing to themanner in which the ring mechanism 10 is attached to the
cover member 12 by the rivets 18, the cover rail 16
moves slightly with respect to the plane of cover
member 12 to eliminate objectionable interference.
When it is desired to close the ring sets 14, the ring
elements 20, 22 are simply forced together manually
until the carrier rails 24, 26 return to the first
over center position shown in Fig. 2.
With reference to Fig. 2 it can be seen that the
cover rail 16 and the carrier rails 22, 26 are sub-
stantially symmetrical about the plane 60 shown in dotted
lines. The mesh point between mesh ends 35 and 36
is displaced to one side of plane 60. Ring element 20
with its relatively long straight portion 38 will
accommodate a substantial amount of paper sheets 15.
In order to have convenient access to the lower sheets
of the stack adjacent to the cover member 12, the
arcuate ring element 22 must accommodate substantially
the same amount of paper as is accommodated by portion 38.
This may be accomplished by offsetting the mesh point
toward element 20 as illustrated thus giving greater
effectiv.e length to the ring element 22.
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The ring mechanism illustrated in Fig. 4 is
similar to that of Fig. l except that triggers or boosters
are provided to assist in opening and closiny the ring
elements. Those familiar with such ring mechanisms will
be familiar with the operation of the triggers. Movement
of the triggers in a direction towards each other closes
the ring elements while movement of the triggers away
from each other opens the ring elements. The triggers
are attached to the cover rail 16 and to each of the
carrier rails 22 and 24.
In the ring mechanism of Fig. 1 the cover rail
16 comprises a pair of apertures 92 at either end to
accommodate fasteners 18. In the case of the trigger
style mechanism of Fig. 4 the cover rail 16 comprises
a pair of bushings 94a to accommodate -the fasteners 94.
In each case means are provided to permit minor relative
rotation between the ring mechanism 10 and the cover
member 12.
Typically, mechanisms of the type illustrated in
Fig. 1 have a flattened dimple portion at the end
through which the apertures 92 may be punched~ One method
of permitting the desired relative rotation is to use
rivets 18 which are loosely received by the apertures 92.
An alternative is to punch a dimpled area in the vicinity
of the apertures 92 in order that the portion of the
cover xail which contacts the cover member 12 comprises
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a curved sur~ace. This may comprise a part~spherical
dimple 96 shown in Fiy 5 or one or more rib-like dimples
such as those illustrated at g~ in Fig 6.
There are various wa~s of achieving the desired
relative xotation with mechanisms of the trigger type
illustrated in Figs. 4 and 7. One method involves use of a
fastener, typicall~v a rivet 94, which is loosely received
within the bushin~ 94a. Alternatively the bushing
may be provided with a curved upper surface 100
at the area of contact between the head of the fastener
and the bushing. Such curved surface will permit small
relative movement. 5imilarly,the bushing 94a used may
be of sufficient length so as to project below the
lowermost plane of the cover rail 16 as illustrated in
Fig. 7 with the lower surface 102 of the bushing having
a curved sur~ace where it contacts the cover member 12
to facilitate the slight movement desired.
In all cases, the flexi~ility of the cover material,
usually plastic covered cardboard contributes to desired
relative movement between the ring mechanism and
the cover. However, other means or combinations of
means may be used in addition to those described herein.
With reference to Fig. 1 it will be noted that the
cover comprises a spine portion 104 and a flap portion 106
which overlies the ring mechanism 10 when the binder is in
its fully closed position. The flap 106 of the cover me~ber 12
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12
will lie against the ring elements 20, 22. It has been
found that if the f~ap 106 is supported at -the point of
mesh between ends 35 and 36 the ring element 22 may
deform with continued use particularly i weiyht is
placed on the cover flap 106 such as for example if
additional binders or printed texts are stacked on the
cover flap 106. Over time this deformation of the
ring element 22 results in a failure of the ring set 14
since the mesh end 35 of ring element 22 no longer
squarely contacts the mesh end 36 of the ring element
20. The misalignment causes tearing of paper as the
sheets are moved past the mesh point and in the worst
case may permit paper to be released without opening
the ring elements. It has been found that this failure
can be avoided if the flap 106 rests solely on the ring
element 20 in the ~icinity o~ the bend between the
mesh end 36 and the straight portion 38 rather than at
the mesh ~rd 36. ~ccordingly, it is desirable that the
point of contact between the flap 106 and ring element
20 be at the uppermost portion of the ring element 20.
For this reason mesh end 36 slopes downwardly toward
the cover member 12 from the end of the straight portion
38 to the point of contact with the mesh end 35 of the
ring element 22.
