US 6,142,697 AGranted

Ring lock for album or binder

AssigneeIntercraft Company

InventorRandall Dale Williams

Life of this patent

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Abstract

A lock for the rings of photo albums and other binders includes a lock and a security component to prevent opening of the album in a retail store and to prevent pilferage of the contents or the improper insertion of refill pages. Once a consumer has made an album selection, the security component is removed. Once removed, the lock is moveable between a first position in which opening of the album rings is permitted and a second position in which opening of the rings is prevented. The initial release of the security component preferably requires a tool. In the most preferred embodiment, the lock slides in a slot in a binder body and includes a lower ridge which aligns with an opening in a pair of spring plates to permit ring opening. When the ridge is moved away from the opening and into the cavity of the binder body, the rings cannot be opened.

Claims25

Dependent claims

A lock system for a ring binder comprising:

an elongate ring binder body having a front surface and a cavity;
at least one ring, each ring including a pair of ring elements, each of the ring elements including a first end extending through the binder body and into the cavity and a second end, the ring elements being arranged to move between a first closed position wherein the second ends are adjacent one another and a second open position in which the second ends are spaced apart from one another;
a pair of elongate plates extending along the binder body, the second ends of each pair of ring elements being coupled to different ones of the plates, the plates being arranged to resist movement of the ring elements between their first and their second positions;
and
a lock moveable between a locked position and an unlocked position, wherein the ring elements are allowed to move back and forth between their open and closed positions when the lock is in its unlocked position and the ring elements are prevented from being moved to their open position when the lock is in its locked position, and wherein the plates have adjoining edges and an opening is provided in at least one of the adjoining edges, the lock including a ridge aligned with the opening when the lock is in its unlocked position.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.