A PAPER-RETAINING MECHANISM

TECHNICAL FIELD This invention relates to a paper-retaining mechanism and a document file incorporating such a mechanism.

BACKGROUND ART

Various paper-retaining mechanisms have been available. In one type of such conventional paper-retaining mechanisms generally called lever-arch type file mechanisms, a one-armed lever is pivotable to pivot a pair of arches relative to and away from a pair of fixed posts to allow pieces of hole-punched paper to be retrieved from or inserted into the file mechanism, and to pivot the arches towards the posts so that the posts and arches form a pair of closed rings to retain the paper therein. The pair of arches are joined by an intervening crank on which a roller attached to the lever travels during pivotal movement of the lever, to effect opening or closing of the pair of rings. In operating such a conventional file mechanism, the lever is pivoted downwardly to close the ring pairs formed by the posts and arches and is pivoted upwardly to allow a spring leaf to act on and pivot the arches away from the posts to thereby open the rings.

A problem associated with such a conventional lever-arch type file mechanism is that when the lever is pivoted to an upper position to open the rings, the lever is in contact with or is at least very close to an underside of one of the arches, such that paper can only be inserted into or retrieved from the posts, but cannot be inserted into or retrieved from the arches.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a paper-retaining mechanism and a document file incorporating such a paper-retaining mechanism in which the aforesaid shortcoming is mitigated, or at least to provide a useful alternative to the public.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a paper-retaining mechanism including a base; at least two post members fixed to said base; and at least two arch members movable relative to said base and said post members between a closed position in which said arch members are in contact with said post members to form two closed rings and an open position in which said arch members are out of contact with said post members

whereby said rings are open; characterized in including a switch reciprocatable along a substantially straight line between a first position and a second position to selectively move said arch members between said closed position and said open position.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a document file including a substrate engaged with a paper-retaining mechanism, said mechanism including a base; at least two post members fixed to said base; and at least two arch members movable relative to said base and said post members between a closed position in which said arch members are in contact with said post members to form two closed rings and an open position in which said arch members are out of contact with said post members whereby said rings are open; characterized in including a switch reciprocatable along a substantially straight line between a first position and a second position to selectively move said arch members between said closed position and said open position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of examples only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is an exploded view of a paper-retaining mechanism according to a first embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a front view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1 in a ring-closed configuration;

Fig. 3 is a right side view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a left side view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a top view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a front perspective view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 7 is a rear perspective view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 8 is a bottom perspective view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 9 is a front view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1 in a ring-open configuration;

Fig. 10 is a right side view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 9;

Fig. 11 is a left side view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 9; Fig. 12 is a top view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 9;

Fig. 13 is a front perspective view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 9;

Fig. 14 is a rear perspective view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 9;

Fig. 15 is a bottom perspective view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 9;

Fig. 16 is an exploded view of a paper-retaining mechanism according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 17 is a front view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 16 in a ring-closed configuration;

Fig. 18 is a right side view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 17; Fig. 19 is a left side view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 17; Fig. 20 is a top view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 17; Fig. 21 is a front perspective view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 17; 5 Fig. 22 is a rear perspective view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 17;

Fig. 23 is a front view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 16 in a ring-open configuration; Fig. 24 is a right side view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 23; Fig. 25 is a left side view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 23; Fig. 26 is a top view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 23; 0 Fig. 27 is a front perspective view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 23; and

Fig. 28 is a rear perspective view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 23.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

A paper-retaining mechanism according to a first embodiment of the present invention is 5 shown in Figs. 1 to 15, and generally designated as 100. The mechanism 100 has a generally planar base 102 to which two posts 104 are fixedly engaged. A pair of arches 106 are joined with each other via a cranked rod 108. The arches 106 are integrally formed with and movable simultaneously with the cranked rod 108. 0 The arches 106 are engaged with the base 102 via a pair of clamps 110 on the base 102.

The clamps 110 allow the arches 106 to pivot relative to the posts 104 and the base 102 between a closed position in which free ends of the arches 106 mate with and are in contact with free ends of the posts 104 to form two closed rings (as shown in Figs. 2 to 8), and an open position in which the free ends of the arches 106 are out of contact and are thus out of mating5 engagement with the free ends of the posts 104, so as to open the two rings (as shown in Figs. 9 to 15). When the arches 106 are in the open position, pieces of hole-punched paper may be inserted into or retrieved from the posts 104 and the arches 106. When the arches 106 are in the closed position, such pieces of paper may be retained by the rings formed by the arches 106 and the posts 104.

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The mechanism 100 has a bridge 112 which is fixedly engaged with the base 102. The bridge 112 is made integrally of a metal plate and has two slanted legs 114 joined with an intermediate platform 116. The platform 116 is thus fixed relative to, and raised above and apart from, the base 102 by the legs 114. Each outer longitudinal end of the legs 1 14 has a bent

5 portion 118 for fixedly engaging the bridge 112 to the base 102. The platform 116 has an elongate straight slot 120. When the bridge 112 is fixedly engaged with the base 102, the

platform 116 is parallel to the base 102. For clarity purposes, the bridge 112 are shown in Figs. 2 to 5 and 9 to 12 in dotted lines.

A switch 122 is engaged with the platform 116 of the bridge 112 for relative reciprocating movement along the slot 120 in a straight line. As shown in Fig. 1, the switch 122 has a slide button 124 and an actuator 126 which are engaged with each other for relative straight-lined reciprocating movement relating to the platform 116 of the bridge 112. The actuator 126 has an upper actuating part 128 with a surface 130 facing towards the base 102, and a lower actuating part 132 with a surface 134 facing away from the base 102.

Referring to Figs. 2 to 8, when the switch 122 is in the leftmost position (in the sense as shown in Fig. 2), the surface 130 of the upper actuating part 128 acts on an upwardly bent portion 136 of the cranked rod 108 to keep the arches 106 in the closed position. Pieces of paper may be retained by the rings formed by the arches 106 and the posts 104 when in this ring-closed configuration.

When the switch 122 is moved rightward (in the sense as shown in Figs. 2 and 9), the surface 130 of the upper actuating part 128 moves out of engagement from the cranked rod 108, whereas the surface 134 of the lower actuating part 132 moves into contact with and along, and acts on, the cranked rod 108 from below. During this rightward movement, the surface 134 of the lower actuating part 132 raises and pivots the arches 106 away from the posts 104, and thus from the closed position to the open position. When the switch 122 is in the rightmost position (as shown in Figs. 9 to 15), the arches 106 are in the fully-open position, and when the mechanism 100 is in this ring-open configuration, pieces of hole-punched paper may be inserted into or retrieved from the posts 104 and the arches 106.

When the switch 122 is then moved leftward, the surface 134 of the lower actuating part 132 moves out of contact with the cranked rod 108, whereas the surface 130 of the upper actuating part 128 moves along and acts on the cranked rod 108 from above, depressing the arches 106 towards the posts 104, and thus pivoting the arches 106 from the open position to the closed position. By way of such an arrangement, the switch 122 may be manually operable to reciprocate relative to the platform 116 of the bridge 112 to selectively open or close the rings. It can be seen that the rightmost and leftmost positions which may be occupied by the switch 122 are both between the rings formed by the posts 104 and the arches 106.

It can be seen that, instead of having a spring leaf acting on and biasing the arches 106

towards the ring-open position (as in the case of conventional lever-arch type file mechanisms), no biasing means is provided for in this mechanism 100, and the arches 106 are actively moved to the ring-open position by the action of the surface 134 of the lower actuating lever 132.

5 The paper-retaining mechanism 100 may be fixedly engaged, e.g. by screws or rivets, to a substrate, e.g. a cover made of cardboard, metal, plastics, or a combination of two or more of these materials, to form a document file.

A paper-retaining mechanism according to a second embodiment of the present invention0 is shown in Figs. 16 to 28, and generally designated as 200. Similar to the mechanism 100 discussed above, the mechanism 200 also has a generally planar base 202 to which two posts 204 are fixedly engaged. A pair of arches 206 are joined with each other via a cranked rod 208. The arches 206 are integrally formed with and movable simultaneously with the cranked rod 208. 5

The arches 206 are engaged with the base 202 via a pair of clamps 210 on the base 202. The clamps 210 allow the arches 206 to pivot relative to the posts 204 and the base 202 between a closed position in which free ends of the arches 206 mate with and are in contact with free ends of the posts 204 to form two closed rings (as shown in Figs. 17 to 22), and an 0 open position in which the free ends of the arches 206 are out of contact and are thus out of mating engagement with the free ends of the posts 204, so as to open the two rings (as shown in Figs. 23 to 28). When the arches 206 are in the open position, pieces of hole-punched paper may be inserted into or retrieved from the posts 204 and the arches 206. When the arches 206 are in the closed position, such pieces of paper may be retained by the rings formed by the 5 arches 206 and the posts 204.

A major difference between the mechanism 200 and the mechanism 100 is that a platform 216 relative to which a switch 222 is reciprocatable is fixed with and integrally formed with the base 202. In particular, the platform 216 is integrally joined with the base 202 via an upwardly 0 extending plate 214. Both the platform 216 and upwardly extending plate 214 are stamped out and bent into the required shape and orientation from a same piece of sheet metal with which the base 202 is made. The plate 214 is perpendicular to the base 202, and the platform 216 is parallel to the base 202 and has a straight elongate slot 220.

> 5 The switch 222 is engaged with the platform 216 for relative reciprocating movement along the slot 220 in a straight line. As shown in Fig. 16, the switch 222 has a manually

operable slide button 224 and an actuator 226 which are engaged with each other for relative reciprocating movement relating to the platform 216. The actuator 226 has an upper actuating part 228 with a surface 230 facing towards the base 202, and a lower actuating part 232 with a surface 234 facing away from the base 202.

Referring to Figs. 17 to 22, when the switch 222 is in the leftmost position (in the sense as shown in Fig. 17), the surface 230 of the upper actuating part 228 acts on an upwardly bent portion 236 of the cranked rod 208 to keep the arches 206 in the closed position. Pieces of paper may be retained by the rings formed by the arches 206 and the posts 204 when in this ring-closed configuration.

When the switch 222 is moved rightward (in the sense as shown in Figs. 17 and 23), the surface 230 of the upper actuating part 228 moves out of engagement from the cranked rod 208, whereas the surface 234 of the lower actuating part 232 moves into contact with and along, and acts on, the cranked rod 208 from below. During this rightward movement, the surface 234 of the lower actuating part 232 raises and pivots the arches 206 away from the posts 204, and thus from the closed position to the open position. When the switch 222 is in the rightmost position (as shown in Figs. 23 to 28), the arches 206 are in the fully-open position, and when the mechanism 200 is in this ring-open configuration, pieces of hole-punched paper may be inserted into or retrieved from the posts 204 and the arches 206.

When the switch 222 is then moved leftward, the surface 234 of the lower actuating part 232 moves out of contact with the cranked rod 208, whereas the surface 230 of the upper actuating part 228 moves along and acts on the cranked rod 208 from above, depressing the arches 206 towards the posts 204, and thus pivoting the arches 206 from the open position to the closed position. By way of such an arrangement, the switch 222 may be manually operable to reciprocate relative to the platform 216 of the bridge 212 to selectively open or close the rings. It can be seen that the rightmost and leftmost positions which may be occupied by the switch 222 are both between the rings formed by the posts 204 and the arches 206.

It can be seen that, instead of having a spring leaf acting on and biasing the arches 206 towards the ring-open position (as in the case of conventional lever-arch type file mechanisms), no biasing means is provided for in this mechanism 200, and the arches 206 are actively moved to the ring-open position by the action of the surface 234 of the lower actuating lever 232.

The paper-retaining mechanism 200 may be fixedly engaged, e.g. by screws or rivets, to a

substrate, e.g. a cover made of cardboard, metal, plastics, or a combination of two or more of these materials, to form a document file.

It should be understood that the above only illustrates examples whereby the present invention may be carried out, and that various modifications and/or alterations may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention.

It should also be understood that certain features of the invention, which are, for clarity, described in the context of separate embodiments, may be provided in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features of the invention which are, for brevity, described in the context of a single embodiment, may also be provided separately or in any appropriate sub-combinations .