The field of this invention relates generally to ring binder mechanisms for retaining loose-leaf pages, and in particular to an actuator for a ring binder mechanism.
Typical ring binder mechanisms have a plurality of rings for retaining loose-leaf pages, such as hole-punched pages, in a file or notebook. The rings can be selectively opened to add or remove pages from the ring binder mechanism or closed to retain the pages while allowing the pages to be moved along the rings. Each of the rings includes paired ring members mounted on adjacent hinge plates that are joined together about a pivot axis. A housing, which is typically metal and elongate, supports the hinge plates within the housing for pivotal movement relative to the housing about the pivot axis. Often, the housing is generally arch-shaped (e.g., U-shaped or C-shaped) in cross-section, with bent-under rims that hold the hinge plates within the housing.
The housing of the ring binder mechanism typically has an exposed metal outer surface. This exposed surface often contains nickel plating, to which some people may be sensitive. Additionally, it is difficult and costly to print on a metal surface particularly where the metal surface is nickel-plated. The process of nickel plating can also present some environmental and work hazard issues. Accordingly, it is known in some instances to replace the metal housing with a housing constructed from a polymeric material.
The metallic or polymeric housing, in an undeformed state, is slightly narrower than the joined hinge plates when the hinge plates are in a coplanar position. As the hinge plates pivot through this coplanar position, they deform the resilient housing laterally outwardly and cause a spring force in the housing to urge the hinge plates to pivot away from the coplanar position, either upward to open the rings or downward to close the rings. When the rings are closed, the spring force of the housing resists hinge plate movement and thereby holds the rings together. Similarly, when the rings are opened, the spring force of the housing holds them apart. Typically, an operator can overcome the spring force of the housing by manually pulling the ring members of the rings apart or pushing them together.
Actuators may be provided on one or both ends of the housing for pivoting the hinge plates and thereby moving the rings between their opened and closed positions. In one known configuration, the actuators may include an upper arm disposed adjacent the upper surface of the hinge plates and a lower arm disposed adjacent the lower surface of the hinge plates. As one of or both of the actuators are pivoted away from the housing, the lower arm contacts the lower surface of the hinge plates and drives the hinge plates upward through the coplanar position thereby opening the rings. To close the rings, the actuator or actuators are pivoted in the opposite direction (i.e., toward the housing) so that the upper arm contacts the upper surface of the hinge plates and drives the hinge plates downward through the coplanar position thereby closing the rings.
Prior art actuators are often mounted on the housing for pivotal movement relative thereto using metal pivot pins. Commonly, the pivot pin is aligned with and inserted through openings in both the housing and the actuator. Once the pivot pin is properly inserted, one or both of its ends are flared to secure the pivot pin in place. In the manufacture of ring binder mechanisms, wherein thousands, or millions, or even tens of millions of ring binder mechanisms can be produced in a single month, mounting the actuators to the housings using conventional pivot pins can add significant manufacturing time and costs.
Thus, there is a need for a more economic, easier, and faster method of mounting actuators to housings during the assembly of ring binder mechanisms and for an actuator that facilitates such a method.
In one aspect, a ring binder mechanism for holding loose-leaf pages generally comprises an elongate housing, a ring support supported by the housing for movement relative to the housing, and a plurality of rings for holding the loose-leaf pages. The ring support has an upper surface and a lower surface. Each ring includes a first ring member and a second ring member. The first ring member is mounted on the ring support for movement with the ring support relative to the housing between a closed position and an opened position. In the closed position, the first and second ring members cooperatively form a substantially continuous, closed loop for allowing loose-leaf pages retained by the rings to be moved along the rings from one ring member to the other. In the opened position, the first and second ring members form a discontinuous, open loop for adding or removing loose-leaf pages from the rings. An actuator is mounted on the housing for pivotal movement relative to the housing for moving the rings from their closed position to their opened position. The actuator has a snap-lock connection with the housing.
In another aspect, an actuator for a ring binder mechanism generally comprises a yoke portion and a lever arm extending upward from the yoke portion. The yoke portion has a lower arm, an upper arm spaced above the lower arm, and a pair of outwardly extending pivot members. The pivot members are configured for snap-lock connection with the ring binder mechanism.
In yet another aspect, a method of assembling a ring binder mechanism generally comprises obtaining an elongate housing having longitudinal ends and securing a ring support to the housing for movement relative to the housing. The ring support has at least one ring member mounted on the ring support for movement with the ring support relative to the housing. An actuator is snapped onto one of the longitudinal ends of the elongate housing to thereby mount the actuator on the housing. The actuator is pivotable relative to the housing.
Other features will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter.
Corresponding reference numbers indicate corresponding parts throughout the views of the drawings.
With reference to
With reference to
The housing 102, as illustrated in
Referring now to
The housing 102 further includes a plurality of openings 144 (e.g., slots, holes, or the like) spaced along the length of the housing for allowing the rings 104 to pass through the housing while supported by the hinge plates 128. In the illustrated embodiment, the housing 102 includes six openings 144 with three of the openings located along one of its lateral sides 150 and three located along the opposite lateral side. The openings 144 along one of the lateral sides (the right side of the housing as viewed in
As seen in
The housing 102 is designed to resiliently deform such that the spacing between the lateral sides 150 thereof increases when the hinge plates 128 pass through a coplanar position, which applies an outwardly directed force to the lateral sides of the housing. In one suitable embodiment, the housing 102 is constructed of a resilient polymeric material. For example, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) has been found to be particularly resistant to fatigue type failure and capable of retaining its spring force over numerous cycles of operation. Because the housing 102 is constructed of a polymeric material, it can be readily fabricated in a variety of different colors, which is useful for color-coding notebooks. Additionally, printed text (either raised or imprinted) may be molded into or otherwise formed on the housing 102. Further, the polymeric material does not require nickel plating (as is usually the case with metal housings for ring binder mechanism) and is therefore agreeable to people who are sensitive to nickel.
In the illustrated embodiment, the entire housing 102 is molded as one-piece. However, the housing can be manufactured in different ways, including by being constructed in multiple pieces that are later joined together to make the housing, without departing from the scope of the invention. The housing 102 can also be made from non-polymeric (e.g., metallic) materials and be within the scope of some aspects of this invention.
As illustrated in
Each of the rings 104 are adapted to retain loose-leaf pages (not shown) on the ring binder mechanism 100. The three rings 104 of the illustrated ring binder mechanism 100 are substantially similar and are each generally circular in shape (
With reference again to
The housing 102 is suitably deformed in the opened and closed positions of the rings 104 so that the housing continuously applies a spring force to the hinge plates 128 for holding the rings in either their opened position or their closed position. Other constructions for biasing the hinge plates 128 or otherwise holding the rings 104 in their opened and/or closed positions may be used within the scope of the present invention.
The illustrated ring binder mechanism 100 includes two actuators 164 operable to move the rings 104 from their closed position to their opened position and from their opened position back to their closed position. With reference to
The upper and lower arms 182, 184 together define a notch 186 therebetween. The lower arm 182 of the yoke portion 180 of the actuator 164 has a beveled outer edge 183 (broadly, “a contact surface”) that is configured for engagement with the lower surface of the hinge plates 128. As illustrated in
With reference again to
The actuators 164 are mounted at respective ends 140, 142 of the housing 102 for pivotal movement of the actuator relative to the housing about a pivot axis 166. More specifically, in the illustrated embodiment, each of the actuators 164 are mounted to the housing 102 at respective mounts 130 and the pivot members 185 of the actuators are aligned with and extend through respective openings 135 formed in the mounts of the housing. It is understood that in another embodiment, the openings (or seats) can be formed in the actuator and the pivot members can be mounted on an inner surface of the lateral sides of the housing. As illustrated in
The actuators 164 are positioned and arranged so that pivoting movement of the actuators about the respective pivot axis 166 in the directions of arrows 172 shown on
In the illustrated embodiment, the actuators 164 are also positioned and arranged so that pivoting movement of the actuator about the pivot axis 166 in the reverse direction (indicated by the arrow 174 on
It is understood that the ring binder mechanism 100 can be formed with a single actuator instead of the two seen in the accompanying drawings. It is also understood that while two actuators 164 are provided on the illustrated ring binder mechanism 100 only one may be needed to move the hinge plates 128 between their downward and upward positions. That is, the rings 104 can be moved between the opened and closed positions using either one of the two actuators 164. In the illustrated embodiment, however, both actuators 164 have to be pivoted simultaneously to pivot the hinge plates 128 and thereby move the rings 104 between their opened and closed positions. It is further understood that the rings 104 can be moved between their opened and closed position by manually pulling the rings apart or pushing the rings together.
In use, when a user wants to open the rings 104, he or she can grasp the lever arms 194 of the actuators 164 and pivot both of the actuators in the direction of the arrows 172 shown in
When the user wants to close the rings 104, he or she can grasp the lever arm 194 and use it to pivot the actuators 164 in the direction of the arrows 174 (
With one of its pivot members 185 inserted into a corresponding opening 135, the actuator 164 is canted with respect to the housing 102. The other pivot member 185 (the left pivot member as viewed in
Upon insertion of the pivot member 185 of the actuator 164 into the opening 135, the resiliency of the housing 102 causes the lateral sides 150 to return to substantially their original, un-spread configuration as illustrated in
As seen in
Thus, the actuator 164 can be easily and quickly snapped onto the housing 102 during the manufacture of the ring binder mechanism 100. In the present embodiment, the actuator 164 has a snap-lock connection with the housing 102. That is, once the actuator 164 is mounted on the housing 102 manual removal of the actuator from the housing is inhibited. The actuator 164 located at the opposite longitudinal end 140 of the housing 102, as seen in
When introducing elements of the present invention or the preferred embodiments thereof, the articles “a”, “an”, “the” and “said” are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements. The terms “comprising”, “including,” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements other than those listed.
As various changes could be made in the above constructions and methods without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description and shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.
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20100166490 A1 | Jul 2010 | US |