Assembly of ring binders and resulting product
AssigneeVan der Jagt 1980 Family Trust
InventorDavid C. Rager
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An elongated hollow rectangular spine or backplate formed of plastic material for supporting and securing ring hardware in a loose-leaf binder has spaced, parallel, front and back walls joined at the edges and a centrally disposed strengthening rib extending between the front and back walls longitudinally for the length of the back plate. The ring hardware is secured to the backplate by inserting circumferentially grooved metal rivets through apertures in the ring hardware, pressing into the backplate rib and sonically welding the rivet therein. The circumferential grooves on the rivet shank facilitate anchoring the rivets to the backplate rib.
Claims12
A ring binder having a spline formed of two separable plies secured along their edges and defining a longitudinally extending flat sleeve and having covers flexible secured to each of the edges of said spline,
- an extruded thermoplastic backplate positioned in said sleeve and comprising an elongated hollow rectangular member having spaced parallel back and front walls joined at their edges by opposing side walls,
- ring hardware comprising an elongated ring supporting plate and snap rings supported thereon at selected positions,
- said ring-supporting plate having a plurality of holes spaced along its length, and
- metal rivets extending through said spaced holes and sonically welded in said thermoplastic backplate.
A method of producing ring binders comprising
- providing a binder cover assembly comprising a spline portion comprising two separable plies joined longitudinally along their edges to provide a longitudinally extending flat sleeve, and two covers flexible secured one along each of the longitudinal edges of said spline,
- laying said binder cover assembly flat,
- placing a backplate in said spline sleeve comprising an extruded thermoplastic elongated hollow rectangular member having spaced parallel back and front walls joined at their edges by opposing side walls,
- placing a ring hardware member comprising an elongated ring-supporting plate and snap rings supported thereon at selected positions and a plurality of holes spaced along its length over the inner ply of said spline,
- inserting metal rivets through said spaced holes, through said inner ply, and into said thermoplastic backplate, and
- sonically welding said rivets in said backplate to secure said ring hardward member thereto.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.