CA1269010A

CA1269010A - Book binding method, paper sheets binder and adjustable spine

Info

Publication number: CA1269010A
Application number: CA000531966A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Rickson Sun; Dennis Joseph Boyle; Craig Field Sampson; Cynthia Louise Benjamin; David Michael Kelley
Original assignee: TAURUS HOLDINGS Inc
Current assignee: TAURUS HOLDINGS Inc
Priority date: 1986-03-14
Filing date: 1987-03-13
Publication date: 1990-05-15
Anticipated expiration: 2007-05-15
Also published as: DE3786292T2; DE3786292D1; EP0241960A2; ES2040739T3; KR870008708A; US4730972A; KR940005910B1; JPH0688464B2; JPS62270390A; EP0241960B1; EP0241960A3

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A two-part binding system includes one or more bifurcated posts integrally extending from a clamping strip or member. The posts are inserted into one or more apertures in a stack of punched paper or other material and a second clamping strip having one or more integral or separate latching buttons inserted over and around the posts. Each button includes one or a pair of toothed pawls integrally hinged to a cross bar extending across a button aperture. The posts contain a series of transverse ratchets facing each other. As the second strip and its integral or snap-in latching button is manually pressed over the posts toward the first clamping strip, the teeth of the pawl teeth ratchet successively into the posts toward the base of the posts until the stack of paper is firmly grasped and the teeth mesh with a final transverse ratchet. At this position, the strips are bowed putting the edges of the stacked sheets in compression. A spine is also disclosed which has a series of parallel spaced score lines, and is bent around the edges of both clamping strips and firmly adhered to the strips. A simple tool to unlock the pawls is also disclosed. This allows substitute pages to be inserted into the stack and the same clamping strips to be manually reconnected.

Description

~Z~10 lBOOK BINDINC METHO~, PAPER SHEETS BINDER
2AND ADJU~TABLE SPINE
3 Rlckson ~nmi) Su~
4 David M. Kelley Craig F. Sampson 6 Cynthia L. Ben~amin 7 Dennis J. Boyle BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
ll Field of the Invention 12 This invention pertains to a book binding method and 13 blnder for retalning and clamping a margin of apertured 14 material such as a stack of hole punched ~heets. More l~ particularly, the invention i9 directed to blndlng elements 16 to blnd a shear of papers into a bound report or booklet 17 without the use of any machinery or hand tool. An improved 18 spine co~er may also be utillzed with the binder elements.
c~ 19 Material Information 21 Yarious binding systems have been utilized in the past 22 such as the common ring binder, the Acco fastener type, the 23 plastic ~piral binder, interlocking through-hole de~ices, 24 and the pla~tic headed ~tud and strips type. The latter two types of binders are exemplified by U.S. Patent 3,970,331 26 where ratchet teeth are employed on a stud which engage a 27 mating ratchet tooth with a blocking means for permanently 28 holding the matching teeth together; U.S. Patent 4,175,880 2g where alternate detent containing sleeves extend from binding strips into a stack of writing material; U.S. Patent 31 4,369,013 where studs integral with a strip are sheared and 32 headed by a machine to clamp a sheaf of papers between two 33 strlps; and U.S. Patent 1,841,989 which shows a wedge lock 34 binder for apertured sheets. U.K. Patent 950,768 shows a pair of ratcheted rods on a strip with toothed washers 36 forced downwardly on the rods to firmly grasp a stack Or 37 sheets. Hinged pawls have been employed in the so-called 38 cable tie art where a one-piece flexible strap with ratchet _ 1 _ 1.Z6~

1 teeth is utlllzed to clamp a bundle Or wlres. U.S. Patent

2 4,287,644 exempllfle~ thls art.

4 The prior art in most ln~tances requires the use of s special blndlng machlnery or hand tools and in most cases, 6 requires destruction Or the ~indlng element~ ir it 19 7 desired to replace a sheet ~ithin the bound stack. Further, 8 several Or the prior art de~ice~ have serration~ which tend g to tear the edges of the through-holes in the paper stack through whlch the bindlng elements pa~s and are not 11 adaptable to incorporation o~ spine covers or o~erall 12 booklet covers.

A binding method and system is disclosed which employs 16 in its preferred embodiment a pair of clamping members in 17 the rorm of 9trlp9 colaterally placed on opposed edges of a 18 wide ran~e oS thickne99e9 or a stack Or apertured material, 19 8uch a9 a 9heaf Or three-hole punched paper sheets or other panel9. One 9trip has a series of spaced bifurcated posts 21 havlng facing ratcheted surraces. The other strip termed 22 herein a ~locking button~ has an integral pair of hinged 23 pawls or a 9ingle hinge pawl. In a9sembled pre~sed-together 24 po9ition, the hinged pawls interlockingly mesh with inner one9 Or the ratcheted surfaces Or the posts to firmly hold 26 the 9tack. The blndlng 9y8tem save ror the pair Or rlat 27 clamplng member9 or edge 9trip~ is withln the stack o-28 apertured materlal belng bound resulting in a thin completed 29 prorile and permitting combination with a rlat cover and/or 8pine around the 9heets. The blfurcated post may be 31 circular or rectangular or other shape corresponding to the 32 aperture ln the 9heets, and is 9mooth on the outside 90 as 33 to prevent tearinB or abrasion Or the apertures in the 34 sheets belng assembled. A Belleville-sprlng like bowing is provided on the strlps when assembled, 90 as to firmly and 36 po9itively clamp an edge or margin portion of apertured 37 sheets and prevent loosenlng Or the stack or lnadvertent 38 pull-out oP one or more of the assembled sheets.

lZ6~ 0 2 No tool or machlne 19 requlred to as~emble the blnding

3 system, user hand and finger pre9~ure alone belng sufrlclent

4 to form the binding with no t1me-consuming rotatlon of parts. The system may be in~talled from either the top or 6 bottom of a horizontal stack of paper sheets or other 7 apertured materlal. The elements Or the two separate 8 clamplng member~ and the clamping members used with strips g may be integrally molded obY1atlng the nece~sity of any supplemental hardware. Pre~erably, the complete binding 11 ~ystem 19 of plastic material resulting ln a llght-weight, 12 easlly shipped and packaged, and attractive construction ln 13 a variety of colors. The con~tructlon allows one ~lze of 14 binder members or ~trlps to be usable over a wide range of lS thicknesses of the apertured materials from a few sheets to 16 as many as several hundred sheets in an assembled thlcknes~
17 of flve or slx or more centimeters.

l9 In normal usage, a permanent connection or bindlng results whlch cannot be accidentally opened. The 21 construction does allow the user, by deslgn, to manually or 22 wlth a slmple tweezer-like tool nondestructively unlock the 23 binder and to relieve the bowlng pressure. This permlts 24 removal and/or additlon Or sheets from and to the stack and reinsertlon of the same binding elements to reblnd the 26 9tack.

28 A partlcular appllcation of the lnstant binder system is 29 to replace a rlng blnder when the contents of that binder have been completed and it is contemplated that no addltlons 31 or deletions wlll be made. All the nece~sary apertures of 32 the sheaf of papers, normally three-hole punched papers, are 33 present so that the blnding elements can easily be clamped 34 on a vertical edge of the stack linearly with the row of hole~ and assembled. The ring binder which has an 36 acquisition cost of several times that of the binding system 37 of this invention is available for reuse and its former 3B contents is semi-permanently bound in a thinner, less-~26~ 0 expensive volume which takes up less shelf space or can be more easily stacked with other volumes than the ring binder itself.
An addltional feature of the invention is a universal spine or spine and cover combination which may be assembled around the clamping members to cover the spine of the assembled sheaf of papers, booklet or report to present a more finished and professional binding appearance. The universal spine is adjustable so as to accommodate various stack thicknesses.
The present invention is of general utility and may be used by the mlllions of owners of three-hole paper punches and the mlllions of buyers of prepunched three-hole and other paper throughout the world with the most simple instruction - Insert -Press - Break-off.
According to a broad aspect of the invention there is provided a method of binding a book having plurality of sheets formed with a plurality of spaced apertures adjacent a margin of said book comprising.
insertlng a flrst clamplng member, havlng a pair of spaced posts wlth ratcheted surfaces extending across said posts and faclng each other, lnto and through at least one of spaced apertures;
placlng a second clamplng member, havlng a hinged pawl means extendlng across said second clamping member, over said pair of posts such that sald pawl means meshes with at least one of said ratcheted surfaces;
presslng said first and second clamping members together with a force untll sald pawl means ls pushed into said spaced apertures :~ B
; .

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of said plurality of sheets and is forced into the most inward of at least one of said ratcheted surfaces dependent on the thickness of said plurality of sheets and the amount of said force; and then ~reaking-off at a ratcheted surface any excess of length of said posts which extends beyond said second clamping member outboard of said pawl means.
According to another broad aspect of the invention there is provided a binder comprising:
a first clamping member;
a pair of spaced posts extending integrally from said first clamping member, sald posts having at least one linearly-extending traversely ratcheted surface facing the other of said posts;
a second clamping member parallel to and spaced from said first clamping member to clamp a stack of apertured material therebetween;
a pawl member attached to said second clamping member and extending toward said first clamping member;
a first aperture extending through said second clamping member adjacent said pawl member; and means extending across said first aperture for hingedly mounting said pawl member and separating said first aperture into two channels such that, upon assembly of said clamping members on said apertured material, said posts extend through a margin aperture in said apertured material, respective ones of said spaced posts pass through respective ones of said channels, and said pawl member meshes with successive transverse ratchets of at least one of said ratcheted surfaces to firmly clamp said stack of 4a ~,~

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apertured material together.
According to another broad aspect of the invention there ls provided a binder system for a stack of edge apertured material comprising:
a first elongated clamping member extending along a stack edge and having a series of split posts, each of said split posts containing internal facing ratcheted surfaces;
`' a second elongated clamping member extending along a s~ack edge on an opposite side of said stack and having at least one pawl member;
means including said series of split posts extending between said members for fixedly clamping a range of thickness of said apertured material between said first and second clamping members by interaction of said at least one pawl member with said ratcheted surfaced; and further comprising:
a book spine;
means for attaching a first boundary edge of said spine to one of clamplng members;
a series of closely spaced parallel bending score lines extending along a length and width of said spine;
means including one of said score lines for bending a central portion of said spine around and covering an exposed edge of said clamped apertured material; and means including another of said score lines selected dependent on the thickness OL said apertured material, for bending a second boundary edge of said spine into contact with the other 4b - B

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of said clamping members after any excess length of said posts has been removed from said clamping members.
According to another broad aspect of the invention there is provided a paper stack binder for hole punched sheets of paper comprising:
a flrst elongated paper clamping member;
a series of split posts integrally extending from one side of said first clamping member for passing through aligned holes punched in said sheets of paper, each split post extending through one of said aligned holes, said posts having a series of transverse ratchets on facing surfaces of each split post; and a second elongated paper clamping member aligned with said first paper clamping member on an opposite side of a stack of said sheets of paper than said first paper clamping means, said second paper clamping member including a first aperture and a hinged pawl member withln said aperture and havlng at least one pawl hingedly meshing within one of said series of transverse ratchets when said first and second paper clamping members are pushed together on a range of thickness of said stack of said sheets of paper, said series of split posts traversing through said first aperture in sald second paper clamping member.
In accordance with another broad aspect of the invention there is provided a paper stack binder for hole punched sheets of paper comprising-a first elongated paper clamping member;
a series of split posts integrally extending from one side of said first clamping member for passing through aligned holes 4c ~'Z6~

punched in said sheets of paper, said posts having a series of transverse ratchets on facing surfaces of each split post;
a second elongated paper clamping member aligned with said first paper clamping member on an opposite side of a stack of said sheets of paper than said first paper clamping means, said second paper clamping member including a first aperture and a hinged pawl member within said aperture and having at least one pawl hingedly meshing within one of said series of transverse ratchets when said first and second paper clamping members are pushed together on a range of thickness of said stack of said sheets of paper, said series of split posts traversing through said first aperture in said second paper clamping member; and wherein said first aperture is essentially circular and said hinged pawl member bisects said first aperture to form a pair of channels essentially D-shaped in cross section and wherein said posts are essentially D-shaped in cross section, such that said posts slide through sald channels and said aligned holes in said sheets of paper.
According to another broad aspect of the invention there is provided a paper stack binder for hole punched sheets of paper comprising, a first elongated paper clamping member;
a series of split posts integrally extending from one side of said flrst clamping member for passing through aligned holes punched in said sheets of paper, said posts having a series of transverse ratchets on facing surfaces of each split post;
a second elongated paper clamping member aligned with said 4d 'IL~G~

~irst paper clamping member on an opposite s:Lde of a stack of said sheet~ of paper than said f irst paper clamping means, said second paper clamping member including a first aperture and a hinged pawl member within said aperture and having at least one pawl hingedly meshing within one of said series of transverse ratchets when said first and second paper clamping members are pushed together on a range of thic~nesses of said stack of said sheets of paper, said series of split posts traversing through said first aperture in said second paper clamping member; and further comprising means for hingedly mounting said pawl member to said second clamping member and in which said means for hingedly mounting said pawl member comprises:
a pair of upstanding linear members integral with and extending from diametrically opposite positions on said second clamping member at a periphery of said first aperture;
an integral crossbar extending between said upstanding linear members; and hinge means integrally attached to said crossbar and said pawl member.
According to another broad aspect of the invention there is provided a paper stack blnder for hole punched sheets of paper comprising:
a first elongated paper clamping member;
a series of split posts integrally extending from one side of said first clamping member for passing through aligned holes punched in said sheets of paper, said posts having a series of transverse ratchets on facing surfaces of each split pos~;

4e ~Z696~

a second elongated paper clamping member aligned with said first paper clamping member on an opposite side of a stack of said sheets of paper than said first paper clamping means, said second paper clamping member including a first aperture and a hinged pawl member within said aperture and having at least one hingedly meshing within one of said series of transverse ratchets when said first and second paper clamping members are pushed together on a range of thicknesses of said stack of said sheets of paper, said series of split posts traversing through said first aperture in said second paper clamping member; and further comprising means on said second clamping member for receiving fingers of a tweezer tool to release said hinged pawl from meshing with said transverse ratchets.
According to another broad aspect of the invention there is provided a bound book comprising:
a plurality of sheets each formed with a plurality of spaced apertures adjacent one margin;
a fist clamping member on one margin on one side of said book and covering at least two of said apertures;
a second clamping member on a margin on the other side of said book opposite of and aligned with said first clamping member said first and second clamplng members being movable toward each other to accommodate a range of thickness of said book;
wherein said first clamping member includes a pair of posts extending integrally from said first clamping member through said at least two apertures of said plurality of sheets toward said second clamping means and each of said posts includes a linearly-4f B

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extending, transversely ratcheted, surface facing a longitudinal central plane of said spaced apertures; and wherein said second clamping member includes integral pawl means hingedly mounted to said second clamping member for facing and meshing with successive transverse ratchets of said ratcheted surfaces to firmly clamp said plurality of sheets, said pawl means extending into ones of said plurality of spaced apertures of said plurality of sheets.
According to another broad aspect of the invention there is provided a binder comprising:
a first clamping strip having a first series of spaced apertures extending therethrough;
a first clamping member having a head insertable into ones of said first series of apertures, said first clamping member further including a pair of spaced posts extending integrally from said head, each of said posts having a linearly-extending transversely ratcheted surface facing the other of said posts;
a second clamping strip having a second series of spaced apertures extending therethrough;
a second clamping member having a head insertable into ones of said second series of apertures, said strips being positionable to clamp a stack of apertured material therebetween;
a pawl member attached to said second clamping member and extending toward said first clamping member;
a first aperture extending through said second clamping member adjacent said pawl member; and means extending across said first aperture for hingedly 4g B

126"35~

mounting said pawl member and separating said first aperture into two channels such that, upon assembly of said first and second clamping members in ones of said first and second series of strip apertures, respectively, and through said stack of apertured material, said posts extend through said apertured material, respective ones of said spaced posts pass through respective ones of said channels, and said pawl member meshes wi~h successive transverse ratchets of at least one of sald ratcheted surfaces to firmly clamp said stack of apertured material together.
According to another broad aspect of the invention there is provlded a binder for a stack of apertured paper comprising:
a first clamping member including at least one post extendible fully through an edge aperture in said stack, said post having a transversely ratcheted surface facing interiorly of said stack edge aperture and a smooth outer surface slidable on interior edges of said stack edge aperture; and a second clamping member including a hinged pawl extendible partially into said stack edge aperture and having at least one pawl member facing said post ratcheted surface which, upon assembly of said clamping members in said stack edge aperture, said pawl member meshes with successive transverse ratchets of said ratcheted post surface to firmly clamp said stack of apertured paper together.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a perspective view of the two-part binder clamping system.
Figure 2A is a partial cross-sectional view of the 4h B

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clamping elements including a double latch button in a iirst step in their assembly.
Figure 2B is a partial cross-sectional view of the clamping elements in a second step in their assembly.
Figure 2C is a partial crcss-sectional view of the clamping elements in a third step of their assembly showing a full clamping force on an assembled sheaf of apertured paper sheets.
Figure 3 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of a single latch button.
Figure 4A is a cross-sectional view of a single latch ~6g~10 1 button and spllt post showlng a rlr~t assembly step on a 2 9hear Or paper3.

4 Figure 4B i9 a cros~-3ectlonal view Or assembled clamping members utilizing a ~ingle latch button.

7 Figure 5 18 a top plan Yiew of the double latch button 8 clamplng member shown ln Flgure 1.

Flgure 6 is a cross-sectional view Or the double latch 11 button taken on line 6-6 or Flgure 5.

13 Figure 7 is an exploded perspective vlew Or the overall 14 blnding system with auxillary spine.

16 Figure 8 is a perspecti~e view Or a tweezer tool and 17 double latch button clamplng member ror releasing the 18 clamplng rorce.

Flgure 9 is a partial cut-away cross-sectional view of 21 the assembled binder system showing the releasing action Or 22 the tool o~ Flgure 8.

24 Figure lOA is a partial side view Or a post-containing clamping member with attached spine cover.

27 Figure lOB is a partial side view showing the rlrst step 28 in assembly Or the irst and second clamp members.

F~gure 10C i8 a partial side vlew lllustrating a 31 completed second step and the third step Or binder assembly, 32 namely, breakinB unneeded post extension~.

34 Figure 10D i9 a partial side view showlng the subsequent step Or bending the splne cover around the spine Or the 36 a88embled sheets.

38 Figure 10E is a partial side vlew Or the spine showing . . .

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l the next step of tearlng or breaklng orf excess ~plne 2 materlal and preparlng the latch button clamping member ror 3 recelpt o~ the spine.

Figure 1OF i~ a partial ~ide view Or a spine fully 6 a~embled on the two-part clamping members.

8 Figure 11 i9 a partial ~ide view Or a ~pine covering 9 includlng an lntegral overall cover for a clamped ~heaf of aPertured material.

12 Figure 12 i9 an exploded perspective view of another 13 embodiment of the binder.

Figure 13 is a cutaway cross-~ectional perspectlve vlew 16 of a modlfied snap-in T-post clamping member with a binding 17 strip.

l9 Flgure 14 i8 an exploded perspective partial view of a further embodiment of a clamped document and carrier strlps 21 therefor.

23 Flgure 15 is a perspective cross-sectlonal partial vlew 24 Or another embodiment taken along a marglnal plane lncludlng a series of rectangular apertures ln a paper stack.

28 Flgure 1 lllustrates a two-part blnder 10 whlch lncludes 29 a flr~t clamplng member 11 havlng lntegrally extendlng from B 30 a generally flat head of about 1.3cm ~quare or other 31 peripheral conflguration, ~ a bifurcated po3t forming a 32 pair of posts or legs 12a and 12b essentlally D-shaped ln 33 cros~ section. The pair of spaced split posts 12a and 12b 34 have ~ linearly extending tran3versely ratcheted surfaces 8 and 9 facing each other. The posts or legs may typically be 36 about 0.17cm in naximum thickness and 7-8cm in length, thus 37 accommodating a wide range of thicknesses Or stacked 38 material, namely, from that of a few sheets 0.05cm to about ~ Z6g~0 1 5cm ~or many sheet9. The ratchet~ ha~e a helght of about 2 0.03cm and a ~lope angle o~ about 59. The bifur¢ated post 3 has a dlameter about 0.6cm and a 0.3cm wlde slot between the 4 legs. The po~ts are made or a notch-sensitive plastic S mate r 1 al .
7 A second clamping member 14 generally matched ln 8 exterior conriguration to member 11 i9 positloned parallel g to and spaced rrOm the clamping member 11 on opposed sldes Or a 8heaf of apertured materlal such as three-hole punched 11 paper. Clamping member 14 may be made of molded nylon or 12 other pla9tlc material. A pawl member is integrally 13 attached to member 14 which together form a double latch 14 button. Pawl9 18 and 20 extend across an essentially circular aperture 24 ln member 14 formlng a palr of 16 oppositely ~acing es~entially D-shaped channels (Figure 5) 17 extending between the sidewalls o~ the aperture and the 18 mounted pawl member. The pawl member i9 mounted by a palr l9 Or diametrically opposed po~t3 15 and 16, al~o called hereln upstanding llnear members, extending integrally rrom member 21 14 toward9 the rir9t clamping member 11. An integral 22 cros~bar 17 extend9 across the top of posts 15 and 16 and 23 lntegrally mounts the palr of llnearly extending pawls 24 hlnged by hlnge mean~ 23 to cro99bar 17. Pawl 18 shown ln dotted llnes extends parallel to pawl 20 and llkewlse 19 26 lntegrally hinged to crossbar 17. Each o~ clamp members 11 27 and 14 have edge extenslons 6, 7, and 25, 26 respectl~ely, 28 whlch ald in transmltting a clamping force to the shear Or 29 papers to be clamped by the clamping members. Each Or the pawls 18 and 20 ha~e two or more clamping teeth 21 and 22 31 extending parallel to each other and transversely o~ the 32 pawls. Teeth 21 and 22, upon insertion of the post 12a and 33 12b into aperture 24 and the rormed es~entially D-shàped 34 channels, mesh succeedingly wlth each Or the raclng transverse ratchets 8 and 9 as the clamplng members are 36 slidlngly assembled on a shear Or apertured materlal.
37 Clamping member 11 may contaln a top aperture 5 to recei~e 38 part o~ the crossbar 17 when only a few sheet~ Or apertured ~;~6~

l materlal are belng bound. In 90me appllcatlon~ where a 2 con~lderable number o~ sheet~ are to be bound, the top Or 3 element 11 may be unperforated.

Figure 2A ~hows the a~embly operation whereln the posts 6 of clamping member 11 are placed within an aperture or 7 punched hole 41 of apertured sheet~ 40. The latch button 8 clamping member 14 i~ then mounted (arrow 47) and pre~sed g (arrow 48, Figurè 2B) downwardly o~er the post 12a and 12b wlth the pawl member 20 beinB ratcheted downwardly through a ll ~lot 4 between post~ 12a and 12b so that the teeth 21 and 22 12 Or pawl~ 20 and 18 mesh and unmesh with each of the 13 tran~ver~e ratchets on ratcheted ~urface~ 8 and 9. This 14 action l~ shown clearly in Figure 2B where the arrows 46 indicate the lnward movement of the pawls 20 and 18 as they 16 pass an inwardly directed top ridge 49 Or the ratchet~ 8 and 17 9. The user contlnues to push member 14 downwardly towards 18 member 11 as ~hown by arrow 50 (Figure 2C) until an l9 innermost transver~e ratchet 8a and 9a on the legs on which the u9er can erfectlvely apply pres9ure is reached. The 21 ratchet notche~ may be undercut wlth a reentrant surface 2 22 90 that any outward rorce on the clamplng members put~
23 additlonal locklng rorce on the pawl teeth and its 24 a890ciated transver8e ratchet. The 3heaf Or papers 40 are then rirmly clamped at point~ 55 and 54 on both ~ides Or the 26 9hear o- papers and each o~ the rlat ~ection~ Or clamp 27 member~ 11 and 14 bow as indicated at 52 and 53. The edge 28 portion~ Or the paper ~tack on either 9ide Or the aperture 29 41 are then under a Belleville-sprlng bowed compression and are flrmly grasped by the clamplng member~.

B 32 Member ~ 19 con~tructed of a notch sen~itive pla~tlc 33 such as ABS, l.e. acrylonltrlle butadlene styrene, of 34 surricient brittlenes~, e.g. about 200 Joules/meter, ~o that upon bending each Or the legs 12a and 12b outwardly against 36 the edge 57 of aperture 24 ln member 14, the franglble legs 37 12a and 12b break ofr es~entially acro~ a plane 56~
38 ad~acent edge 57 at the thln root of one of the transverse ~ `
.

l ratchet9 on the le89 leavlng a clean break generally rlu~h 2 w1th the top surrace Or member 14. The root o~ each ratchet 3 has surricient stres9 concentration so that it can be easlly 4 snapped Or~ at the aperture edges. The po~ts pas~ ~reely through the channels but are sufficiently close, e.g. about 6 0.008cm, to the edges Or the channels so that the post may 7 be pivoted around the edge~ to break-orf the excess po~t 8 materlal. In one embodiment Or the lnvention, this g completes the blnding assembly operation.
ll Figure 3 shows a ~econd embodiment o~ the seaond 12 clamping member ln which a single pawl 31, i.e. a single 13 latch button, is extended across aperture 33. The single 14 pawl 31 i9 on one 91de only Or a bar 28 bi9ecting a palr of integral up9Sanding po~t~ 29 extending from the inner 16 9urface Or clamping member 30. Opposite the pawl member 31 17 19 a flat 9urface 32 on the cro9s bar. As in the double 18 latch button embodiment of Figures 1 and 2, a pair Or l9 oppositely racing essentially D-shaped channels are formed by the bar and the 9ide walls Or aperture 33.

22 Operation Or the single latch button Or Figure 3 i~ ~een 23 in Figures 4A and 4B. The lntegrally attached po~ts 12a and 24 12b Or member 11 are in3erted into the apertures or holes 41 Or a shear of paper sheets 40 and into clamping member 30.
26 The smooth backs1de 32 o- bar 28 slides uninterrupted along 27 one set or transver~e ratchets 9 while the teeth o~ pawl 31 28 mesh with each ~ucceeding transversed ratchet 8. Manual 29 pressure is applied by pushing on the edges Or clamping member 30 while member 11 lies on a rlat, nondeflect1ng 31 surface such as a table or desk to a point where the rlat 32 portions Or member~ 11 and 30 are bowed as at 42 and 43 and 33 the teeth on tbe pawl are rirmly meshed with the innermost 34 transverse ratchet 8a on one of the racing side~ Or posts 12a and 12b. Arrows 35 in Figure 4A show the slngle pawl in B 36 the inward position where it is sliding past a ridgelor the 37 ratcheted surface and in Figure 4B, arrows 37 show the pawl 38 teeth me~hed into the rootfof transverse ratchet 8a. Ir ~z6~r.~?~

l deslred a ratchet 9urrace may be employed on only one Or the 2 tacing blrurcated posts. In such embodiment care must be ~ ~n~n~b~
D 3 taken to orient the number 11 90 thatl slngle pawl Or the 4 pawl ~r of the Fig. 4A, 4B embodiment is po~itloned

5 facing the ~ingle ratcheted surface. It is to be understood

6 that the exces~ post material i9 then broken off as more

7 particularly shown ln Flgure 10C leaving the ends Or the

8 birurcated post generally ~lush with the outer surface of g button latch member 30.
ll Figure 5 is a plan view Or the double latch pawl member 12 18 and 20 extending dlametrically across aperture 24 13 parallel to ridge sections 25 and 26. The pawls are hinged 14 by integral hinge9 23 to bar 17 which extends from post 15 15 and 16 rrom the inner surrace Or clamp member 14.

17 Figure 6 show~ a detailed cross-sectional view of the 18 double latch member 14 and integral pawl~ 18 and 20.

Figure 7 lllustrates a sheaf Or three-hole punched 21 paper. A strip 61 containing a set of three integral 22 up9tandins blfurcated po9t9 62, 63 and 64 is inserted into 23 apertures 68. The ~trip 60 i9 then placed over the posts 24 62, 63 and 64 90 that a set of latch buttons 65, 66 and 67 and pawls therein are aligned therewith. The birurcated 26 po9t9 pa9s throuBh the apertures 24 on either side of the 27 palr Or pawl members. Once exce~s post material which 28 extends exterlor Or ~trlp 60 when clamped and assembled is 29 broken Orr, then a 3pine 69 may be inserted over the edge Orthe spine Or paper stack. For certain applications where a 31 serles of rixed slzes Or stacked papers is to be utllized, a32 corresponding series Or spines 69 having an inner width 33 corresponding to the width between the exterior surraces Or 34 strip 60 and 61 is provided for covering the strlps and the spine Or the shear of papers. The spine cover may be 36 arfixed by adhesive or have surrlcient rlexibility to be 37 clamped over the clamping members and booklet spine.

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l As had been described, the above blnding 19 con~ldered 2 to be permanent and cannot accldentally be undone. Howe~er, 3 Flgure 8 does s~ow a simple tool tor releaslng clamp member 4 14 from lts assembly with clamp member 11. A tweezer-like 5 tool 70 having a pair of bi~urcated arms 71 and 72 is ~olned 6 by an integral U-shaped portion 73 and has at its open end, 7 a pair of grasp1ng ringers 74 and 75.

g Figure 9 indicate~ the action of gra~ping ~ingers 74 and 75 which are placed manually in a~utment with a linear bos~
ll 76 extending laterally across the top of each pawl member.
12 By squeezing arms 71 and 72 together, finger ends 74 and 75 13 grasp the boss and move the teeth 77 of the pawls out of 14 engagement with the transver~e ratchets 78 ~u~ of post B 15 12a and 12b. This permits removal of the post and the latch 16 button rrom the assembly and allows a few papers to be added 17 to the stack or ~ubstitute pages placed in the ~tack. It is 18 realized that since the post~ 12a and 12b have already been 19 broken of-, that there is not too much latitude to add much thickness of paper and still have a ~ecure re-engagement of 21 the pawl teeth with the tran~verse ratchets of the arms 12a 22 and 12b. In the event that multiple bifurcated posts and 23 lock buttons are employed along the strips, a ganged tweezer 24 device which would simultaneously squeeze each pair Or pawls inwardly would allow ror separation Or one strip rrom the 26 other. Alternatively, each lock button could be released a 27 few notche~ in seriatim until the whole assembly comes 28 apart.

- 30 Figure 10A through 10F illustrate a series Or steps for 31 the mounting Or a preferred rorm Or a book spine around the 32 clamping members 11 and 14. A book spine 79 has a variable 33 wldth and a boundary edge 80 mounted to the exterior surrace 34 Or clamping member 11 abutting a ridge 81 Or member 11 at perpendicular surface 45. Splne 79 contains a series Or 36 closely spaced parallel bending score lines extending along 37 the length and a desired width Or the spine. Score lines 83 38 extend over book spine portlon 82 and portions g4, 91 and 92 (Flgure 1OD). Each o~ the ~core llnes are approxlmately 2 0.038cm dee~ and are spaced approxlmately 0.25cm between 3 centers. The overall thlcknes~ of the ~plne materlal 1~
* typically about 0.076cm and made Or a plastic material such 5 as flexlble P\~C (polyvinyl chloride) pla~tic. After the 6 post~ 12a and 12b in an elongated ~trip clamping member 11 7 have been lnserted into the three apertures 41 say in a 8 three-hole paper stack 40, the latch buttons 14 are placed g over each set of posts 12a and 12b as seen in Figure 1OB and lO pushed downwardly to rirmly clamp the member~ 11 and 14 ll together as in Figure 2C. The end 80 of the spine 79 i9 12 firmly attached to the exterior Or clamping member 11 by 13 suitable adhesive, or integrally molded or extruded. In 14 Figure 10C the clamping members have been firmly brought 15 together, the interior teeth Or the pawls have locked with 16 the innermost ratchet surraces of the posts dependent on the 17 thickness Or the stack and the pressure exerted. The 18 unneeded ends 86 and 87 Or the posts are broken of r at the l9 top Or the latching buttons and removed.

21 As seen in Figure 1OD, the remaininB up-to-then flat 22 portion Or the spine 79, more particularly portion 82, is 23 folded at corner score llne 88 ~o that lnner surface of 24 spine portion 82 i9 flush with the spine 90 Or the stack Or paper sheets 40. The remainder 91 and 92 of the spine is 26 folded at score line 89 or other score line dependent on the 27 clamped thlckness of the ~tack and placed a8ainst ridge 93 28 on member 14. That portion 92 Or the spine that overhangq 29 the ridge i8 torn or broken off, Figure 1OE, by use of ridge 93 or a straight edge rule or the like, and discarded. A
31 protective strip 84 is remo~ed rrOm the top surface Or the 32 clamp plate 14 leaving an adhesive surface 94 exposed. The 33 remaining second boundary edge 91 on the spine i9 then bent 34 downwardly and a force applied by manual pressure indicated by arrow 95 on edge portion 91 against the adhe~ive 94 on 36 member 14 90 that portion 91 is adhered thereto. The outer 37 edge 91a of the spine abuts or i9 slightly ~paced to the 38 vertical edge 96 of the ridge 93 on member 14. The spine .

~z~

1 lateral boundary edBe9 are thu9 captured and protected 90 2 that they cannot peel away ea911y rrom the clamplng 3 members~ The resultant ~plne is flrmly afrixed to both 4 clamping member~ and covers the spine 90 of the ~tack of sheets.

7 Figure 11 i9 a further modification of the book 9plne in 8 which the book ~pine also include~ rull cover portions 97,

9 97a extending to outer edge9 of the o~erall cover. In this embodlment, the latchinB button 14 and the clamping member B 11 11 do not include rldges ~ . The co~er has a multitude of 12 9paced 9cored line9 83 at it9 center and on one cover end 98 13 which are bent 9ucce991vely around each Or the corners Or 14 the clamped 9tack Or apertured papers or dependent on the thlcknes~ of the stack. The portions Or the cover abuttlng 16 clamping members 11 and 14 are adhered thereto by suitable 17 adhesive. Any exces~ material on the outer edges Or the 18 cover end 98 may be broken O~r at score line9 99 or sheared 19 by a shearinB bar of a paper cutter or by scissors. Cover 97a generally will be the rront cover since its outer edge 21 97b will be rirst placed lnto posltlon with respect to the 22 unclamped margin of the paper 9tack. The da9hed llnes show 23 covers 97, 97a ln open posltion.

A rurther embodlment of the invention i9 9een in Figure 26 12 where snap-in buttons, snap-in posts, and strips are 27 shipped loose. A user inserts flat-headed buttons 100 and 28 flat-headed T-posts 101 in the appropriate holes 102 in the 29 strlps 103, dependent on the sheaf of paper~ belng two-hole or three-hole punched. Snap rldges 104 on the cl~mping 31 member heads and ridges 105 in the strip apertures 102 give 32 user feedback durlng as9embly and keeps the buttons and 33 posts from falling out whlle binding. When bound, flanges 34 119 on the ~trip edges bow and aid in keep the buttons and posts from pulling though the strips. The recesses 107 ln 36 the strips provide room for the bowing action. Flat-headed 37 dummy members 124 with perlpheral side edges may be provlded 38 to snap into the empty apertures 108, i.e. the unused ones .

1 oS the serie3 of lntermedlate apertures 102 ln both strlps 2 1 o3 ~ Ir de91red, partlcularly in the ca9e Or dlsslmllar 3 materlals Or constructlon~ the rlat-headed members may be 4 factory-assembled in the 9trips by swaging or other form o~
5 afflxation.

7 Figure 13 is a broken-a~ay cro~s-sectional perspective 8 ~iew showing the snap-action slightly ~lexible ridge~ 105 on g the strip and the ridge~ 104 on the periphery T-post top 109. An lnterference fit may also be employed. As ln the 11 other embodiments the serrated bifurcated posts 120 are 12 locked when assembled wlth a pawl member 121 Or a button An additional embodiment Or the invent~on is seen ln 16 Flgure 14. Again, buttons, posts and strips are shipped 17 loose. A user binds a document with individual posts 110 18 and buttons 111, and then slide9 carrier strip 112 onto the 19 protruding heads 114. The strip can be cut by the user to shorter lengths at the marks 122 indicated ror special 21 applications or the 9trip may be furnished to user with 22 score marks to allow various lengths to be broken off for 23 use with a shear Or letter or legal size paper, ror 24 example. A groove 115 ln the carrier strip 112 sllde~
lateraliy on lateral slde lips 118 torming a reentrant 26 groove 116 on the 9erle~ Or headed clamping members 27 extending in a plane above the plane Or the bound document 28 when the T-po~ts 110 and T-buttons 111 are assembled on the 29 document. In Figure 14 the document 117 is shown already bound and positioned to recei~e the rinishing carrier strips 31 112 on their top and bottom sides. Aperture 123 in head 109 32 allows the pawlts) ot the second clamping member to extend 33 therein when only a few sheet~ of apertured material are 34 belng clamped.
36 Figure 15 illustrates a further application of the 37 invention in which posts 212, 213 integrally extending from 38 clamping strlp 211 are rectangular in cross section and are Q

1 passed through rectangular apertures 268 ln punched paper 2 sheets 244. Apertures 268 are lnboard of a side or top 3 marglnal edge (not shown) o~ the paper sheet ~tack. As shown, the posts 212, 213 may be spaced so as to skip one or more Or apertures 268 90 that they pass through nonadjacent 6 apertures. As in the prior embodiments, serrated surfaces 7 forming transverse ratchets 208 are provided on facing sides 8 of po~ts 212, 213. A second clamping ~trlp 214, having g integrally hinged pawls 220 spaced correspondingly to the post~, is placed over the ends of posts 212, 213 which 11 protrude from the stack of sheets 244. The strip 214 is 12 then pressed inwardly with respect to strip 211 ratcheting 13 the pawls 220 on ratchets 208 to a retaining position within 14 the then bound stack. The protruding ends 286 of the posts are then broken off completing the assembly.

17 The above description Or embodiments of this invention 18 is intended to be illustrative and not limiting. Other 19 embodiments of this invention will be obvious to those skilled ln the art in view of the above disclosure.

33l

Claims

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS.

1. A method of binding a book having plurality of sheets formed with a plurality of spaced apertures adjacent a margin of said book comprising:
inserting a first clamping member, having a pair of spaced posts with ratcheted surfaces extending across said posts and facing each other, into and through at least one of spaced apertures;
placing a second clamping member, having a hinged pawl means extending across said second clamping member, over said pair of posts such that said pawl means meshes with at least one of said ratcheted surfaces;
pressing said first and second clamping members together with a force until said pawl means is pushed into said spaced apertures of said plurality of sheets and is forced into the most inward of at least one of said ratcheted surfaces dependent on the thickness of said plurality of sheets and the amount of said force; and then breaking-off at a ratcheted surface any excess of length of said posts which extends beyond said second clamping member outboard of said pawl means.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
mounting a spine cover over said first and second clamping members; and attaching said spine cover to said first and second clamping members.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
providing a series of first clamping members corresponding to the plurality of spaced apertures in said sheets on a first strip;
providing a series of second clamping members corresponding to the plurality of spaced apertures in said sheets on a second clamping strip;
aligning said strips with respect to said margin; and simultaneously pressing said clamping members and strips together to bind said book.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising, inserting discrete ones of said first and second clamping members into matching ones of a series of apertures in said first and second clamping member strips; and pressing said first and second clamping members and said strips together to bind said plurality of sheets.

5. A binder comprising, a first clamping member;
a pair of spaced posts extending integrally from said first clamping member, said posts having at least one linearly-extending traversely ratcheted surface facing the other of said posts;
a second clamping member parallel to and spaced from said first clamping member to clamp a stack of apertured material therebetween;
a pawl member attached to said second clamping member and extending toward said first clamping member;
a first aperture extending through said second clamping member adjacent said pawl member; and means extending across said first aperture for hingedly mounting said pawl member and separating said first aperture into two channels such that, upon assembly of said clamping members on said apertured material, said posts extend through a margin aperture in said apertured material, respective ones of said spaced posts pass through respective ones of said channels, and said pawl member meshes with successive transverse ratchets of at least one of said ratcheted surfaces to firmly clamp said stack of apertured material together.

6. The binder of claim 5 wherein at least one of said first and second clamping members includes means for storing spring energy wherein said clamping members have sufficient flexibility so as to be bowed when said posts are cinched together by meshing of said pawl member with successively transverse ratchets of said ratcheted surface, such that said apertured material is spring-bowed tensioned.

7. The binder of claim 5 in which said pawl member comprise a pair of linearly-extending pawls extending from said means for hingedly mounting wherein, upon assembly of said clamping members, each of said pawls mesh with a facing one of a ratcheted facing surface of one of said posts.

8. The binder of claim 5 wherein said first aperture and said margin aperture are essentially circular, said channels are essentially D-shaped in cross section and said posts are essentially D-shaped in cross section, such that said posts slide through said channels and margin aperture in said apertured material.

9. The binder of claim 5 in which said means for hingedly mounting of said pawl member comprises:
a pair of upstanding linear members integral with and extending from diametrically opposite positions on said second clamping member at a periphery of said first aperture;
an integral crossbar extending between said upstanding linear members; and hinge means integrally attached to said crossbar and said pawl member.

10. The binder of claim 5 in which said spaced posts, upon assembly through said margin aperture and said channels extend exteriorly of said second clamping member in a direction away from said first clamping member and wherein a wall of each said post adjacent a root of said ratcheted surface is sufficiently frangible to be broken away in a plane essential corresponding to a plane of an exterior surface of said second clamping member.

11. The binder of claim 5 wherein each of said first and second clamping members include an inwardly-facing ridge on opposed side edges, said clamping members having sufficient flexibility so as to be inwardly bowed when said posts are cinched together by meshing of said pawl member with successively inward transverse ratchets of said ratcheted surface, such that said apertured material is spring-bowed tensioned.

12. The binder of claim 5 wherein said first and second clamping members are elongated plastic strips having a length substantial the same as the height of said apertured material and wherein a series of sets of spaced posts and pawl members are linearly spaced, respectively, along said strips at positions corresponding to positions of a series of margin apertures in said apertured material.

13. The binder of claim 12 including three sets of spaced posts and three pawl members, respectively, on each of said first and second clamping members and in which said apertured material is a stack of three-hole punched paper sheets.

14. The binder of claim 5, wherein, upon assembly of said clamping members, said pawl member meshes with a most inward position of said transverse ratchets as permitted by the thickness of said stack of said apertured material such that said most inward position is within the stack of said apertured material.

15. The binder of claim 5 in which said posts are constructed of a hard sufficiently brittle plastic and wherein a stress concentration is present at the root of each transverse ratchet such that said posts may be snapped off along various positions on their lengths dependent on the thickness of the stack of said apertured material being clamped.

16. The binder of claim 5 in which said pawl member includes a notch adapted to be contacted after said first and second clamping members have been assembled on said apertured material by an auxiliary tool for moving said pawl member inwardly away from and released from meshing with said transverse ratchets to remove said second clamping member from said first clamping member.

17. The binder of claim 5 further comprising an undercut reentrant notch on each of said transverse ratchets such that any outward force on said first and second clamping members puts additional locking force on said pawl member and its associated transverse ratchet.

18. The binder of claim 5 in which said spaced posts have an effective peripheral dimension and shape, such that said spaced posts pass freely through said channels but are sufficiently close to edges of said channels such that the posts may be pivoted around said edges to break-off excess length of posts extending from said second clamping member.

19. The binder of claim 5 further comprising:
a book spine;
means for attaching a first boundary edge of said spine to one of clamping members;
a series of closely spaced parallel bending score lines extending along a length and width of said spine;
means including one of said score lines for bending a central portion of said spine around and covering an exposed edge of said clamped apertured material; and means including another of said score lines selected dependent on the thickness of said apertured material for bending a second boundary edge of said spine into contact with the other of said clamping members after any excess length of said posts has been removed from said clamping members.

20. The binder of claim 19 further including means including another one of said score lines selected dependent on the width of said other of said clamping members for tearing off remaining boundary edge material extending beyond said other of said clamping members.

21. The binder of claim 19 further including a binder cover including an integral spine;
said spine including a series of closely spaced parallel binding score lines extending along a length and a width of said cover dependent on a range of desired spine thicknesses;
means including said score lines to bend said cover about a prescribed range of spine thicknesses; and means to fixedly attach boundary edges of said spine to opposed exterior surfaces of said clamping members.

22. The binder of claim 19 in which said first and second clamping members, include integral longitudinal edge ridges extending outwardly from exterior surfaces of said clamping members; and in which said boundary edges of said spine, when assembled on said exposed edges of said apertured material and said exterior surfaces, are juxtaposed to said edge ridges such that peripheral edges of said boundary edges are protected from peeling off said exterior surfaces.

23. The binder of claim 5 further including a pair of elongated strips having a length substantially the same as the height of said apertured material, said strips having a series of apertures intermediate the ends of said strips; and wherein said first and second clamping member each includes a flat headed portion, said flat headed portions having a peripheral ridge adapted to snap into ones of said series of apertures and be held therein.

24. The binder of claim 23 in which said series of apertures are spaced on said strips to be indexed to standard two-hole and standard three-hole punched paper, whereby said strips and said first and second clamping members may be alternatively used for two or three-hole punched paper.

25. The binder of claim 24 further comprising a dummy flat-headed member having a peripheral ridge adapted to snap-in to unused ones of said series of apertures when said clamping members are assembled in said strips and said punched paper.

26. The binder of claim 5 wherein said first and second clamping members include a flat-headed portion and a reentrant groove extending between said flat-headed portion and said integral posts and said pawl member, respectively;
said binder further including a pair of elongated strips having internally grooved longitudinal edge portions; and wherein said reentrant grooves extend outwardly from a plane of assembled apertured material and said grooved longitudinal edge portions of said strips slide in said reentrant grooves to cover said first and second clamping members.

27. A binder system for a stack of edge apertured material comprising:
a first elongated clamping member extending along a stack edge and having a series of split posts, each of said split posts containing internal facing ratcheted surfaces;
a second elongated clamping member extending along a stack edge on an opposite side of said stack and having at least one pawl member;
means including said series of split posts extending between said members for fixedly clamping a range of thickness of said apertured material between said first and second clamping members by interaction of said at least one pawl member with said ratcheted surfaced; and further comprising:
a book spine;
means for attaching a first boundary edge of said spine to one of clamping members;
a series of closely spaced parallel bending score lines extending along a length and width of said spine;
means including one of said score lines for bending a central portion of said spine around and covering an exposed edge of said clamped apertured material; and means including another of said score lines selected dependent on the thickness of said apertured material, for bending a second boundary edge of said spine into contact with the other of said clamping members after any excess length of said posts has been removed from said clamping members.

28. The binder system of claim 27 further including means including another one of said score lines selected dependent on the width of said other of said clamping members for tearing off remaining boundary edge material extending beyond said other of said clamping members.

29. A paper stack binder for hole punched sheets of paper comprising, a first elongated paper clamping member;

a series of split posts integrally extending from one side of said first clamping member for passing through aligned holes punched in said sheets of paper, each split post extending through one of said aligned holes, said posts having a series of transverse ratchets on facing surfaces of each split post; and a second elongated paper clamping member aligned with said first paper clamping member on an opposite side of a stack of said sheets of paper than said first paper clamping means, said second paper clamping member including a first aperture and a hinged pawl member within said aperture and having at least one pawl hingedly meshing within one of said series of transverse ratchets when said first and second paper clamping members are pushed together on a range of thickness of said stack of said sheets of paper, said series of split posts traversing through said first aperture in said second paper clamping member.

30. The paper stack binder of claim 29 in which said split posts, upon assembly through said sheets of paper and said first aperture, extend exteriorly of said second clamping member in a direction away from said first clamping member and wherein a wall of each said post adjacent a root of said transverse ratchets is sufficiently frangible to be broken away in a plane essential corresponding to a plane of an exterior surface of said second clamping member, such that stacks of sheets of paper of various thickness may be clamped.

31. A paper stack binder for hole punched sheets of paper comprising:
a first elongated paper clamping member;
a series of split posts integrally extending from one side of said first clamping member for passing through aligned holes punched in said sheets of paper, each split post extending through one of said aligned holes, said posts having a series of transverse ratchets on facing surfaces of each split post;
a second elongated paper clamping member aligned with said first paper clamping member on an opposite side of a stack of said sheets of paper than said first paper clamping means, said second paper clamping member including a first aperture and a hinged pawl member within said aperture and having at least one pawl hingedly meshing within one of said series of transverse ratchets when said first and second paper clamping members are pushed together on a range of thicknesses of said stack of said sheets of paper, said series of split posts traversing through said first aperture in said second paper clamping member; and in which said at least one pawl includes two pawls extending across said first aperture wherein, upon assembly of said clamping members, each of said pawls mesh with a facing one of said ratchets on said facing surfaces of one of said posts.

32. A paper stack binder for hole punched sheets of paper comprising:
a first elongated paper clamping member;
a series of split posts integrally extending from one side of said first clamping member for passing through aligned holes punched in said sheets of paper, said posts having a series of transverse ratchets on facing surfaces of each split post;
a second elongated paper clamping member aligned with said first paper clamping member on an opposite side of a stack of said sheets of paper than said first paper clamping means, said second paper clamping member including a first aperture and a hinged pawl member within said aperture and having at least one pawl hingedly meshing within one of said series of transverse ratchets when said first and second paper clamping members are pushed together on a range of thickness of said stack of said sheets of paper, said series of split posts traversing through said first aperture in said second paper clamping member; and wherein said first aperture is essentially circular and said hinged pawl member bisects said first aperture to form a pair of channels essentially D-shaped in cross section and wherein said posts are essentially D-shaped in cross section, such that said posts slide through said channels and said aligned holes in said sheets of paper.

33. A paper stack binder for hole punched sheets of paper comprising:
a first elongated paper clamping member;
a series of split posts integrally extending from one side of said first clamping member for passing through aligned holes punched in said sheets of paper, said posts having a series of transverse ratchets on facing surfaces of each split post;
a second elongated paper clamping member aligned with said first paper clamping member on an opposite side of a stack of said sheets of paper than said first paper clamping means, said second paper clamping member including a first aperture and a hinged pawl member within said aperture and having at least one pawl hingedly meshing within one of said series of transverse ratchets when said first and second paper clamping members are pushed together on a range of thicknesses of said stack of said sheets of paper, said series of split posts traversing through said first aperture in said second paper clamping member; and further comprising means for hingedly mounting said pawl member to said second clamping member and in which said means for hingedly mounting said pawl member comprises, a pair of upstanding linear members integral with and extending from diametrically opposite positions on said second clamping member at a periphery of said first aperture;
an integral crossbar extending between said upstanding linear members; and hinge means integrally attached to said crossbar and said pawl member.

34. A paper stack binder for hole punched sheets of paper comprising, a first elongated paper clamping member;
a series of split posts integrally extending from one side of said first clamping member for passing through aligned holes punched in said sheets of paper, said posts having a series of transverse ratchets on facing surfaces of each split post;

a second elongated paper clamping member aligned with said first paper clamping member on an opposite side of a stack of said sheets of paper than said first paper clamping means, said second paper clamping member including a first aperture and a hinged pawl member within said aperture and having at least one hingedly meshing within one of said series of transverse ratchets when said first and second paper clamping members are pushed together on a range of thicknesses of said stack of said sheets of paper, said series of split posts traversing through said first aperture in said second paper clamping member; and further comprising means on said second clamping member for receiving fingers of a tweezer tool to release said hinged pawl from meshing with said transverse ratchets.

35. A bound book comprising:
a plurality of sheets each formed with a plurality of spaced apertures adjacent one margin;
a fist clamping member on one margin on one side of said book and covering at least two of said apertures;
a second clamping member on a margin on the other side of said book opposite of and aligned with said first clamping member said first and second clamping members being movable toward each other to accommodate a range of thickness of said book;
wherein said first clamping member includes a pair of posts extending integrally from said first clamping member through said at least two apertures of said plurality of sheets toward said second clamping means and each of said posts includes a linearly-extending, transversely ratcheted, surface facing a longitudinal central plane of said spaced apertures; and wherein said second clamping member includes integral pawl means hingedly mounted to said second clamping member for facing and meshing with successive transverse ratchets of said ratcheted surfaces to firmly clamp said plurality of sheets, said pawl means extending into ones of said plurality of spaced apertures of said plurality of sheets.

36. The book of claim 35 wherein said pawl means comprises a pair of linear-extending pawls, each of which mesh with a facing one of a pair of ratcheted facing surfaces on said posts.

37. The book of claim 35 in which said first and second clamping members are integrally formed on a pair of strips having a length substantially equal to the height of said sheets.

38. A bound book comprising:
a plurality of sheets each formed with a plurality of spaced apertures adjacent one margin;
a first clamping member on one margin one side of said book and covering at least two of said apertures;
a second clamping member on a margin on the other side of said book opposite of and aligned with said first clamping member said first and second clamping members being movable toward each other to accommodate a range of thickness of said book;
wherein said first clamping member includes a pair of posts extending integrally from said first clamping member through said at least two apertures of said plurality of sheets toward said second clamping means and each of said posts includes a linearly-extending, transversely ratcheted, surface facing a longitudinal central plane of said spaced apertures;
wherein said second clamping member includes integral pawl means hingedly mounted to said second clamping member for facing and meshing with successive transverse ratchets of said ratcheted surfaces to firmly clamp said plurality of sheets; and wherein a multiplicity of discrete first and second clamping members are disposed in said apertures, said first and second clamping members each including a flat rectangular head, and further including a pair of elongated strips including a series of rectangular recesses for receiving said flat rectangular heads, said strips having a length approximate the height of said sheets.

39. A bound book comprising:
a plurality of sheets each formed with a plurality of spaced apertures adjacent one margin;
a first clamping member on one margin on one side of said book and covering at leat two of said apertures;
a second clamping member on a margin on the other side of said book opposite of and aligned with said first clamping member said first and second clamping members being movable toward each other to accommodate a range of thickness of said book;
wherein said first clamping member includes a pair of posts extending integrally from said first clamping member through said at least two apertures of said plurality of sheets toward said second clamping means and each of said posts includes a linearly-extending, transversely ratcheted, surface facing a longitudinal central plane of said spaced apertures;
wherein said second clamping member includes integral pawl means hingedly mounted to said second clamping member for facing and meshing with successive transverse ratchets of said ratcheted surfaces to firmly clamp said plurality of sheets;
wherein a multiplicity of discrete first and second clamping members are disposed in said apertures, said first and second clamping members each including a flat rectangular head, and further including a pair of elongated strips including a series of rectangular recesses for receiving said flat rectangular heads, said strips having a length approximate the height of said sheets;
and in which said posts extend from one of said elongated strips and wherein said posts extend through non-adjacent ones of said spaced apertures, said flat rectangular heads having edge reentrant recesses and said strips having parallel edge portions slidable within said reentrant recesses to interconnect and cover said clamping members.

40. A binder comprising:
a first clamping strip having a first series of spaced apertures extending therethrough;
a first clamping member having a head insertable into ones of said first series of apertures, said first clamping member further including a pair of spaced posts extending integrally from said head, each of said posts having a linearly-extending transversely ratcheted surface facing the other of said posts;
a second clamping strip having a second series of spaced apertures extending therethrough;
a second clamping member having a head insertable into ones of said second series of apertures, said strips being positionable to clamp a stack of apertured material therebetween;
a pawl member attached to said second clamping member and extending toward said first clamping member;
a first aperture extending through said second clamping member adjacent said pawl member; and means extending across said first aperture for hingedly mounting said pawl member and separating said first aperture into two channels such that, upon assembly of said first and second clamping members in ones of said first and second series of strip apertures, respectively, and through said stack of apertured material, said posts extend through said apertured material, respective ones of said spaced posts pass through respective ones of said channels, and said pawl member meshes with successive transverse ratchets of at least one of said ratcheted surfaces to firmly clamp said stack of apertured material together.

41. The binder of claim 40 wherein said pawl member comprises a pair of hinged pawls, each of which mesh with a facing one of the ratcheted surfaces on said pair of spaced posts.

42. The binder of claim 40 in which the heads of the first and second clamping members are rectangular and said first and second series of strip apertures are rectangular recesses configured to receive said first and second clamping members.

43. The binder of claim 40 in which the heads of said first and second clamping members and said first and second series of strip apertures are configured such that said heads snap into and are held into respective ones of said first and second series of strip apertures.

44. The binder of claim 43 including snap ridges on peripheral edges of said heads of said first and second clamping members and cooperating ridges on peripheral edges of said strip apertures.

45. A binder for a stack of apertured paper comprising:
a first clamping member including at least one post extendible fully through an edge aperture in said stack, said post having a transversely ratcheted surface facing interiorly of said stack edge aperture and a smooth outer surface slidable on interior edges of said stack edge aperture; and a second clamping member including a hinged pawl extendible partially into said stack edge aperture and having at least one pawl member facing said post ratcheted surface which, upon assembly of said clamping members in said stack edge aperture, said pawl member meshes with successive transverse ratchets of said ratcheted post surface to firmly clamp said stack of apertured paper together.

46. The binder of claim 45 further including:
a first clamping strip positionable over a margin of said apertured sheets and a series of said posts integrally extending from said first clamping strip; and a second clamping strip positionable over an opposed margin of said apertured sheets and a series of hinged pawls integrally extending from said second clamping strip, such that said strips and said first and second clamping members clamp a margin of said stack of apertured paper.

47. The binder of claim 45 wherein said first clamping member includes a single post and said second clamping member includes a single pawl member.

48. The binder of claim 45 wherein said first clamping member includes a pair of said posts and said second clamping member includes a pair of said pawl members.

49. The binder of claim 45 in which said first clamping member includes two posts and said hinged pawl comprises a single pawl member whioh meshes with a single one of said ratcheted surfaces of a single one of said posts.

50. The binder of claim 49 in which only one of said posts of said first clamping member has a ratcheted surface.