Ring binder mechanism

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

• a housing;
• hinge plates supported by the housing for pivoting motion relative to the housing;
• rings for holding the loose-leaf pages, each ring including a first ring member and a second ring member, the first ring member being mounted on a first hinge plate and moveable with the pivoting motion of the 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 form 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 form a discontinuous, open loop for adding or removing loose-leaf pages from the rings;
• an actuator mounted on the housing for movement relative to the housing for causing the pivoting motion of the hinge plates, the actuator comprising a flexible first portion and a body;
• a locking element for releasably locking the closed ring members in a locked position and releasing the closed ring members to move to the open position in an unlocked position;
• an intermediate connector connecting the locking element and the first portion of the actuator for conjoint translational movement with the first portion so that movement of said first portion produces translational movement of the locking element;
• the first portion of the actuator being adapted to flex relative to the body of the actuator during operation of the actuator to close the ring members in response to a force exerted on the locking element by at least one of the hinge plates resisting movement of the locking element toward the locked position;
• the actuator being operable to pivot the hinge plates toward the closed position while the locking element is held stationary relative to the housing by said at least one hinge plate to offset movement of the locking element from the pivoting movement of the hinge plates.

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

• a housing;
• rings for holding the loose-leaf pages, each ring including a first ring member and a second ring member, the first ring members being movable relative to the housing and the second ring members between a closed position and an open position, in the closed position the first and second 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 first and second ring members forming a discontinuous, open loop for adding or removing loose-leaf pages from the rings;
• first and second hinge plates supported by the housing for pivoting motion relative to the housing, said first ring members being mounted on the first hinge plate and moveable with the pivoting motion of the first hinge plate between the closed and open positions;
• an actuator moveable relative to the housing to cause the pivoting motion of the hinge plates, the actuator being moveable between a first position in which the ring members are in the closed position and a second position in which the ring members are in the open position, the actuator comprising a body, an upper lip connected to the body and positioned to pivot the hinge plates and move the rings to the closed position when the actuator moves from the second position to the first position, a lower lip connected to the body by a living hinge and positioned to pivot the hinge plates and move the rings to the open position when the actuator moves from the first position to the second position;
• a travel bar comprising a locking element, the travel bar being moveable by the actuator between a locked position in which the ring members are held in the closed position by the locking element and an unlocked position in which the ring members can move from the closed position to the open position;
• wherein the actuator further comprises a flexible arm connected to the body, the flexible arm being adapted to push the travel bar toward its locked position when the actuator moves from the second position to the first position, the flexible arm being adapted to deform during movement of the actuator from the second position to the first position to offset movement of the travel bar from the pivoting movement of the hinge plates.