The present invention relates generally to a system for adjusting pages from a first position to a second position, and more specifically to a combination of a binder and page system wherein the pages can be adjusted up and down.
Binders and insert pages are well known in the art. Standard binders typically provide for retaining the insert pages in a single vertical position. While such binders and insert pages according to the prior art provide a number of advantageous features, they nevertheless have certain limitations. The present invention seeks to overcome certain of these limitations and other drawbacks of the prior art, and to provide new features not heretofore available. A full discussion of the features and advantages of the present invention is deferred to the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The present invention generally relates to an adjustable page binder system. The page binder system generally comprises a binder having a plurality of ring connectors and a plurality of pages therein having a plurality of pairs of joined first and second apertures.
According to one embodiment, the pages of flexible substrates have a first surface, a second surface, and an edge. The substrates also have a plurality of pairs of first and second apertures, and a slit joining the first and second apertures of each pair, respectively.
According to another embodiment, the adjustable page binder system further comprises a binder having a front cover, a back cover, and a plurality of ring connectors therebetween. The plurality of ring connectors has a generally elliptical cross-sectional geometry with a major axis extending generally parallel to a binding of the binder. The ring connectors also have a leading edge and a trailing edge. The ring connectors are sized to fit within the first aperture of each pair of apertures in the flexible substrates, and the leading edges of the ring connectors are designed to separate the slit. This allows the ring connectors to be transitioned to the appropriate second aperture, and then back to the appropriate first aperture.
According to another embodiment, the adjustable page binder system may further comprise a first pair of shoulders at the connection between the first apertures and the slit, and a second pair of shoulders at the connection between the second apertures and the slit. The shoulders are provided to prevent opening of the slit until an appropriate amount of force is applied to the shoulder by one of the edges of the ring connector. The ring connectors may have a wedge at the leading edge, such that when an appropriate amount of force is applied the wedge will transition the slit from the normally closed state to the open state. After the ring connector is removed from the slit the shoulder and slit will transition again to the normally closed state.
Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following specification taken in conjunction with the following drawings.
To understand the present invention, it will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
While this invention is susceptible of embodiments in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail preferred embodiments of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the broad aspect of the invention to the embodiments illustrated.
Referring now to the figures, and specifically to
In one embodiment, a slit 26 joins the first and second apertures 22, 24 of each pair of apertures 20. In a preferred embodiment, the slit 26 has substantially zero-width. While the slit 26 is preferably of zero-width, other widths may also be used. For example, the slit 26 could be a channel which a ring connector 34 can pass through.
Referring to
The adjustable page binder system 10 further comprises a binder 28 having a front cover 30, a back cover 32 and a plurality of ring connectors 34. In one embodiment, the ring connectors 34 are located between the front and back covers 30, 32 of the binder 28, and they are aligned with each other along the length of the binder 28. As shown in
As shown in the figures, the ring connectors 34 also have a leading edge 36 and a trailing edge 38. The ring connectors 34 are sized to fit within the first and second apertures 22, 24 in the flexible substrate 12 and to allow the pages to be hinged on the ring connectors 34. The ring connectors 34, however, have a minor diameter 39 that is larger than the slit 26 thickness (which in one embodiment is approximately zero). The leading edge 36 and trailing edge 38 of each ring connector 34 is designed to open the shoulders 40 and separate the slit 26, as identified herein.
The geometry of the ring connectors 34 allows the ring connector 34 to separate the slit 26 and to assist in transitioning the ring connectors 34 from the first aperture 22 to the second aperture 24 within each pair of apertures 20. Once this occurs, the page 12 is “jogged” out of place such that a user can easily find the particular page 12. Thus, to mark a page 12, the user must simply jog the page 12, such that it is retained by the ring connectors 34 in the second apertures 24 respectively, as opposed to identifying the page 12 with a tab, or a post-it note, or folding the page 12. Accordingly, a user can easily set apart and later identify a particular page 12, even if the user does not have anything to mark the page 12 with. Once the user no longer wishes to have a particular page 12 marked, the user need simply jog the page 12 back to its original aligned position in the first set of apertures 22. To jog the page 12 back to its original or first position, the trailing edge 38 of the ring connectors 34 is pushed against the shoulder 40 to open the slit 26 to allow the ring connectors 34 to pass through the slit 26 again in transitioning the ring connectors 34 from the second aperture 24 to the first aperture 22. After the ring connector 34 passes through the slit 26, the shoulder 40 will revert to its original position and the slit 26 will close to prevent any undesired opening of the slit 26. Not only is this method of marking a page 12 simple for the user, it ensures that the substrate 12 will not be damaged from having a tab stuck on and peeled off, or from having been folded.
The ring connectors 34, as shown in
Thus, the shoulder 40 acts to secure the ring connector 34 in a particular aperture 22, 24 until an appropriate amount of force is applied to move the shoulder 40 and open the slit 26. For example, as shown in
Referring to
As shown in
As shown in
In a preferred embodiment, as shown in
Initially, the first, second, and third ring connectors 54, 56, 58 are all aligned so that they pass through the first aperture 22 in the first second and third series 48, 50, 52, of each of the substrates 12. Thus, all of the substrates 12 are initially aligned. As shown in the series of figures,
Several alternative embodiments and examples have been described and illustrated herein. A person of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate the features of the individual embodiments, and the possible combinations and variations of the components. A person of ordinary skill in the art would further appreciate that any of the embodiments could be provided in any combination with the other embodiments disclosed herein. Additionally, the terms “first,” “second,” “third,” and “fourth” as used herein are intended for illustrative purposes only and do not limit the embodiments in any way. Further, the term “plurality” as used herein indicates any number greater than one, either disjunctively or conjunctively, as necessary, up to an infinite number. Additionally, the term “having” as used herein in both the disclosure and the claims, is utilized in an open-ended manner.
It will be understood that the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or central characteristics thereof. The present examples and embodiments, therefore, are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and the invention is not to be limited to the details given herein. Accordingly, while the specific embodiments have been illustrated and described, numerous modifications come to mind without significantly departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of protection is only limited by the scope of the accompanying Claims.