Binders are typically used in home, office and school settings to provide portable storage devices for holding various contents. The binders can have a spine, front and back covers connected to the spine and a binding mechanism attached to the spine, and be configured to store notebooks, papers, pencil/pen pouches or the like. In some cases the hinge areas of such binders, along the spine, can crack or split and eventually fail.
In one embodiment, the present invention is a bound component including a first panel and a second panel pivotally coupled together along a hinge. Each panel includes an outer covering and a substrate positioned in the outer covering, wherein the outer covering of the first panel is directly coupled to the outer covering of the second panel to form the hinge. The substrates of the first and second panels are not directly coupled together. The bound component further includes a reinforcement extending over or forming at least part of the hinge.
Other objectives, advantages and features of the products disclosed herein will become more apparent from the following detailed description.
As shown in
In the illustrated embodiment the binding mechanism 20 takes the form of a three-ring binder or the like, including one or more binding rings 22. Each binding ring 22 may be separable into two separate ring halves or portions such that papers or other items can be placed into, or removed from, the binding mechanism 20. Each binding ring 22 may also be movable to a closed position in which the ring halves engage each other and form a closed ring to trap the bound contents therein.
The binding mechanism 20 may include one or more actuators 24 that are manually operable to move the binding rings 22 between the open and closed position. However, the binding mechanism 20 can take any of a variety of other forms or configurations besides ring binding mechanisms, and can include or take the form of a coil or wire binding (including spiral and twin-wire bindings), brads, clips, cords, ribbon, elastic connectors, adhesives, book-style bindings, and combinations thereof, depending upon manufacturing preferences. The binding mechanism 20 may also take the form of the binding mechanisms shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,717,638, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
It should be further understood that the bound component 10 need not necessarily include a binding mechanism 20 at all. In addition, the bound component 10 need not necessarily include the spine 14, in which case the covers 12, 16 can be directly pivotally coupled to each other. The bound component 10 can thus take the form of a binder, notebook, folder, folio, pocket, pocket divider, planner and the like. One or more pockets may be provided on the inner and/or outer surfaces of the front cover 12, back cover 16, and/or spine 14. For example,
The front cover 12, spine 14, and back cover 16 may each be made of a generally flat, planar material, with sufficient stiffness to retain their shape when the bound component 10 is stood upright/on end. For example, in one case the front cover 12, spine 14 and back cover 16 each include an inner substrate material 36 (shown in FIGS. 1A and 4A-4C) positioned between two or more layers of outer protective or decorative material 34. The inner material 36 can be made of any of a wide variety of materials, such as fiberboard, paperboard, cardboard, plastics, polymers or the like. The inner materials 36 may have a greater thickness and/or stiffness than the outer material 34 such that the inner material 36 provides the overall shape and thickness to the associated panel 12, 14, 16. The outer material 34 can provide a more durable, aesthetically pleasing, flexible/pliable or water resistant layer to the associated panel 12, 14, 16. The outer material 34 can be made of a variety of materials including plastics or polymers materials, sheets or film, including PVC, polypropylene, polyethylene, polyethylene vinyl acetate (PEVA), easy-processing polyethylene (EPPE), or other materials such as fabric, leather, or paper.
During manufacturing, a sheet of inner materials 36 can be positioned between two sheets of outer material 34 that each sheet of outer material 34 has a surface area/footprint greater than the associated sheet of inner material 36. The inner material 36 may have a surface areas that is at least about 90% of the surface area of the outer material 34/panel 12, 14, 16. In one case each sheet of inner material 36 is entirely captured/covered on all surfaces thereof by sheets of the associated outer material 34. The outer/perimeter edges of the outer material 34 may be joined together, sealing the inner material 36 therein and defining a fin or area 30, 32 extending outwardly beyond the associated inner material 36. The outer/perimeter/fin materials can be formed/joined by any of a wide variety of methods, including by welding, fusing, adhering, crimping, sewing, stitching, rivets, stapling, gluing, or other methods according to manufacturing preference. The fin areas extending along the free edges of the panels 12, 14, 16 form or define perimeter seal areas 30 (
During use of the bound component 10, the fin areas, particularly the hinge seal areas 32, may be subject to stresses when the bound component 10 is opened and closed, flexed, and otherwise stressed (e.g. compressed or sheared between other books or notebooks in a locker or backpack, etc.). Usage of the binding mechanism 20 (if present) may also put stress on the hinge seal areas 32. As a result, the hinge seal areas 32 may develop tears or cracks 40, particularly at the upper and/or lower ends of the hinges 15, as shown in
To strengthen the bound component 10 along the hinges 15/32, as shown in
As best shown in
In the embodiment shown in
In the embodiment shown in
The reinforcement 50 can be secured in place by attaching the reinforcement 50 to itself and/or portions of the associated panels 12, 14, 16, including the covering material 34 and/or substrate 36. The reinforcement 50 can be secured by, for example, the joining methods outlined above for securing together the outer/perimeter edges 30/32 of the outer material 34.
The reinforcement 50 reinforces and/or protects the hinges 15/32 from loads, wear and abrasion, and also spans, bridges, and reinforces the hinges 15/32 by providing greater strength and resistance to separation forces. In this manner the reinforcement 50 reduces stresses, cracks and tearing in the hinges 15/32. The reinforcement 50 can also be considered to constitute part of the hinge 15/32, and indeed if desired portions of the hinge seal area 32, including portions underlying the reinforcement 50 could be removed, in which case the reinforcement 50 can be considered to form part of the hinge 15.
In an alternate embodiment, as shown in
The reinforcement 50/strip 52 may be made of a relatively flexible/pliable material such that the strip 52 does not significantly inhibit the opening or closing of the bound component 10. For example, the strip 52 may be more flexible than the inner material 36, and in one case at least as flexible as the outer material 34. The reinforcement 50 may be made of a material that is stronger and/or more durable and/or tougher than the outer material 34. The reinforcement 50, when secured in place, may extend along the width of the front 12 and/or rear 16 covers (e.g. in a generally left-to-right direction along the top edge of the cover 12 in
The strip 52 may extend along the height of the panels 12, 14, 16 (e.g. in a generally up-and-down direction along the direction of the hinge 15 in
Having described the inventions in detail herein, it will be apparent that modifications and variations thereof are possible without departing from the scope of the inventions. It is to be understood that the bound component modifications and variations discussed herein could be used interchangeably with the various bound components described throughout this application.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/541,614, entitled BINDER WITH REINFORCED SPINE, filed on Sep. 30, 2011, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61541614 | Sep 2011 | US |