US3251364A - Loose-leaf binding element - Google Patents

Description

y 1966 s. 1.. GOLDMAN 3,251,364

LOOSE-LEAF BINDING ELEMENT Filed Nov. 5, 1964 flttarned United States Patent 3,251,364 LOOSE-LEAF BINDING ELEMENT Sanford L. Goldman, 129 W. Walnut St., Long Beach, N.Y. Filed Nov. 3, 1964, Ser. No. 408,554 1 Claim. (Cl. 12924) This invention relates to a binding element for looseleaf binders, and particularly to a binding element having a relatively elongated back or mounting strip from which extend spaced loop or ring-like members for engaging and holding perforated sheets.

Generally stated, the binding element of the invention comprises an integral construction of an elongated back or mounting strip and longitudinally spaced flexible loop or ring-like members all made from a plastic material molded into a single piece. The plastic loops or ring-like members are integrally attached to one edge of the back along the length thereof by thin areas of contact which act as hinge joints permitting easy movement of the loops, and the free ends of the flexible loops are tapered to permit easy insertion into spaced apertures positioned near the opposite edge of the mounting strip. There are individual apertures for the flexible plastic loops, and the apertures are each provided with an indent or shoulder in the side wall thereof for firmly securing or holding the tapered ends of the loops therein until such tapered ends of the loops are set free from the indents or shoulders of the apertures by upward finger pressure on the tapered ends. The shoulder or indent in each aperture thus acts as a releasable lock or catch for the free end of the flexible lops. Each tapered free end of a loop is provided with a bulging portion. The combination of tapered free ends for the flexible plastic loops and the indented or shoulder constructions of the apertures provide snug fits for the tapered ends of the loops which snap into the apertures when the bulging portions pass below the upper wall of the indent or shoulder. The binding element may be secured to the inside of the loose-leaf book cover by riveting the mounting strip thereto.

Among the advantages of the binding element of the invention are: The tapered portions of the free ends of the flexible plastic loops fit snugly into the correspondingly positioned apertures in the mounting strip and snap into the indent or shoulder in the side walls of the apertures, thereby firmly holding the loops in closed position until it is desired to release the tapered ends of the loops from the apertures by upward finger pressure; and the thin areas of permanent contact of the flexible plastic loops with the mounting strip act as self-hardening hinges which become tougher and stronger with continued use of the loops, due to molecular compression in the hinge portion of the plastic material.

A more detailed description of the invention follows in conjunction with a drawing, wherein:

FIGURE 1 illustrates the binding element of the invention showing the mounting strip and the flexible plastic loops integrally joined to the mounting strip and spaced along the length thereof, as viewed from the top;

FIGURE 2 is a section taken along the line 22 of FIGURE 1 through the mounting strip and adjacent to a flexible plastic loop;

FIGURES 3 and 4 are greatly enlarged detail views showing the manner in which the flexible plastic loops are hingedly joined permanently to one longitudinal edge of the mounting strip, as a result of a molding operation. FIGURE 3 illustrates the position of hinge joint when the loop is in a closed condition, in which condition the tapered 'free end of the loop is inserted into the associated aperture in the mounting strip, while FIGURE 4 illustrates the position of the hinge joint when the loop is in an open 1 condition to receive sheets to be bound in the loose-leaf binder or to release sheets from the binder, in which open condition the tapered free end of the loop would be outside the associated aperture in the mounting strip; and

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the binding element secured to the inside of a cover of a loose-leaf binder or book.

The binding element of the invention, illustrated in varying degrees of particularity in FIGURES 1 to 4, is shown in FIGURE 5 in the manner in which it is used in the inside of a cover for a loose-leaf binder. The binding element comprises a relatively elongated back or mounting strip 10 and a plurality of flexible loops 12 as a single integral piece made from plastic material such as polypropylene. The mounting strip is secured to the inside of the book in any suitable manner, as by rivets passing through holes 14 spaced along the length of strip 10.

. The sheets of paper held by the binding element are designated 13.

The loops 12 are permanently secured to one edge of the mounting strip by thin areas of contact 16. These thin areas of contact 16 are, in practice, thinner than the thickness of the loops 12. The free ends of the loops 12 are provided with tapered portions 18 which are designed to be inserted into associated apertures 20 spaced longitu- 3 the free end of the loop, and the spacing between any two adjacent apertures is the same as the spacing between the correspondingly positioned two adjacent loops. Preferably, the spacings between adjacent apertures and adjacent loops are equal. Each aperture 20 is provided on its inside wall with an indent or shoulder 22 into which the bulging portion 19 of a loop can rest for firmly holding the free end of the loop when inserted therein, as shown in FIGURE 2. In FIGURE 2, the dot-dash line illustrates the loop 12 in its open condition, while the solid line illustrates the loop 12 in its closed condition with the upper sloping bulging portion of the tapered free end releasably locked or caught on the upper wall of the indent 22. There is a snug fit between the free end of loop 12 and the aperture 20 when the loop 12 is inserted into the aperture, and the loop snaps into a locked position when the bulge 19 is thrust into the shoulder or indent 22. The tapered end of the loop 12 is easily set free from the aperture 20 by upward finger pressure on that portion of the loop immediately above the tapered end.

In making the binding element of the invention, a twopiece mold, each piece of which has a cavity, is used. Powder granules of the plastic material, such as polypropylene granules, are melted into liquid form and the liquid plastic material is injected under pressure into the mold cavities. When the processing cycle of operations is completed, the mold is taken apart and the binding element consisting of mounting strip and flexible loops as a single integral one-piece element, as generally seen in FIGURE 1, is taken out from the mold. The hinge portion 16 is effectively a self-hardening hinge which becomes tougher and stronger with continued use due to, it is believed, the molecular compression in the thin areas of contact of the loop with the mounting strip.

What is claimed is:

A binding element for a loose-leaf binder comprising, as an integral one piece plastic member, a mounting strip and a plurality of flexible loops at right angles to said strip and on one side thereof, each of said loops comprising two upright portions at right angles with respect to said strip and joined at the upper part thereof, the first of each of said upright portions forming with said strip an Patented May 17, 1966 integrally molded hinge, said hinge being formed by thickened reinforced shoulder portions projecting outwardly from an edge of said strip and from an adjacent end of said first upright portion, said shoulder portions being joined only at their outer edges by a reduced area of rectangular cross-section, said area being thinner than the thickness of said loop, the line of said reduced area being parallel to said edge of the strip, said reduced area forming the hinge proper whereby each loop hinges about a line parallel to and spaced outwardly from said edge of the strip and outwardly from said end of the loop, and an angular cut-out section at the hinge line of the upright extending across the end of the upright on the side opposite the hinge, locking apertures in said strip on the opposite edge of said strip from said hinge side, said aper-' tures adapted to receive the free end of said second upright portion, a shoulder formed in the strip aperture on the hinge side thereof, the free end of said loop having a tapered surface on the end thereof and a bulging portion on the hinge side adapted to cooperate with said aperture shoulder to provide a locking action for said loop.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,441,873 1/1923 Moore 12924 1,816,021 7/1931 Meyerson 12924 2,321,559 6/1943 Trussell 129'-1 2,459,541 1/1949 Russell 129--24 X 2,495,180 1/1950 Phillips 1291 2,502,493 4/1950 Trussell 1291 3,087,498 4/1963 Vogel 129--23 3,111,949 11/1963 Duncan et a1. 12924 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,246,815 10/1960 France. 1,3 64,099 5/ 1964 France.

JEROME SCHNALL, Primary Examiner.

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