US 2006/0153630 A1Published application

Ring mechanism with collapsible ring members

AssigneeWorld Wide Stationery Mfg. Co., Ltd.

InventorHung Cheng

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Abstract

A ring binder mechanism for retaining loose-leaf pages includes a housing, two hinge plate, and rings. The housing supports the hinge plates for pivoting motion relative to the housing. Ring members of the rings are resiliently clamped to the hinge plates for conjoint movement with the pivoting hinge plates to move between an open position in which pages may be added or removed from the rings and a closed position in which pages are retained by the rings. The ring members are also pivotable about an axis generally perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the housing relative to the hinge plates between an upright configuration in which pages can be retained on the ring members and a collapsed configuration in which the ring mechanism can be stored or shipped.

Claims17

Dependent claims

A ring binder mechanism for retaining loose-leaf pages, the mechanism comprising:

a housing having a longitudinal axis;
hinge plates supported by the housing for pivoting motion relative to the housing;
rings for holding loose-leaf pages, each ring including a first ring member and a second ring member, the first ring member being moveable with the pivoting motion of a first hinge plate relative to the second ring member between a closed position and an open position, in the closed position the two ring members forming 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, and in the open position the two ring members forming a discontinuous, open loop for adding or removing loose-leaf pages from the rings, and
the first ring member of each ring being resiliently clamped to the first hinge plate, and the first and second ring members of each ring being moveable relative to the hinge plates between an upright configuration and a collapsed configuration.

1 more element

A ring binder mechanism for retaining loose-leaf pages, the mechanism comprising:

a housing having a longitudinal axis;
hinge plates supported by the housing for pivoting motion relative to the housing;
rings for holding loose-leaf pages, each ring including a first ring member and a second ring member, the first ring member being moveable with the pivoting motion of a first hinge plate relative to the second ring member between a closed position and an open position, in the closed position the two ring members forming 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, and in the open position the two ring members forming a discontinuous, open loop for adding or removing loose-leaf pages from the rings;
the first and second ring members each having a mated end, the mated end of the first ring member having a tongue and the mated end of the second ring member having a groove for receiving the tongue of the first ring member into operative connection with the groove, the tongue and groove each having a length substantially aligned with the lengths of the first and second ring members.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.