Abstract:
Folder for replaceable sheet music has an integral elastomeric band consisting of a plurality of stretchable or elastic strands hooked at its ends over outwardly-directed band holders attached to a back panel of the folder. Each strand may be provided with a pull tab for laterally stretching individual strands to accommodtae edgewise insertion and withdrawal of sheet music.

Description:
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a sheet music binder, and in particular to an improved system for replaceably holding individual pieces of sheet music therein. 
     A folder or binder for replaceable sheet music is provided with an elastomeric band consisting of an array of parallel stretchable strands. The band is hooked at its ends over outwardly-directed band holders attached to the spine or back panel of the folder. In one form of the invention, the band may be made of flat sheet-like material with adjacent strands being spaced apart laterally. Each band holder on the back panel may comprise a plurality of individual tangs over which the ends of the band are hooked, with the tangs entering the spaces between adjacent strands at the ends of such spaces and thereby holding the band taut in the folder. In another form, the band may be injection molded of an elastomer such as polyurethane, with inwardly-directed pockets at opposite ends of the band hooked over the plurality of tangs as a group or over a band holder which has but a single wide tang. In the molded version of my invention, each strand can be provided with a pull tab for enabling lateral stretching of the strand so as to permit edgewise insertion beneath and withdrawal of sheet music from beneath the laterally stretched strand. In both forms of my invention, the bands and strands are preferably integral, whether formed by molding, stamping, slitting or any other process. 
     It is an object of this invention to provide a simple and inexpensive sheet music binder in which the primary element for attaching folded sheet music therein is a relatively simple, unitary plurality of parallel strands which comprise portions of a band stretched over a bar fastened to the back panel of the binder. 
     Another object of the invention is to provide each of the strands with its own pull tab to enable each strand to be stretched out of alignment with the other strands, thereby enabling easy edgewise insertion and withdrawal of sheet music relative to the strands. 
     Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the description in which reference is made to the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sheet music binder in accordance with my invention, the binder being shown in open condition with a plurality of pieces of sheet music carried thereby. 
     FIG. 2 is a fragmentary exploded view of a molded form of my invention, for mounting on a bar which is fastened to a back panel of a folder. 
     FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view of a folder lying on its back with the elements of FIG. 2 mounted thereon and with one of the strands of the band being stretched or deformed to receive a piece of sheet music. 
     FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view illustrating the manner in which a molded band is hooked over a band holder. 
     FIGS. 5 and 6 are front and cross-sectional views respectively of the integral band of the FIG. 1 embodiment of my invention, FIG. 6 being taken essentially along lines 6--6 of FIG. 5. 
     FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a second form of my invention showing the band in relaxed condition and about to be mounted in the folder. 
     FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7, illustrating the band in a stretched condition and hooked over a plurality of tangs at the opposite ends of a band holder bar. In such condition, it is ready to receive sheet music. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     A sheet music binder in the form of a notebook or folder 10 is shown in FIG. 1. The folder 10 consists of a back panel 12, a front panel 14, and a rear panel 16. The back panel 12 is considered the primary structural element or spine of the notebook 10 and has fastened thereto on its inner surface a bar 18 having an outwardly directed band holder 20 at each end (FIG. 4). A band 22 has a portion 24 at each end thereof in which a pocket 26 is formed to snugly fit over the holder 20. While the band holders 20 may be separate elements mounted at the top and bottom edges on the inside face of the back panel 12, I prefer to utilize the single bar 18 and have offset portions at the ends to form the band-receiving ends of the holders 20. Bar 18 may be fastened in any fashion to the back panel 12, and is simply shown in FIG. 4 as being riveted thereto by means of a rivet 28. 
     FIG. 3 shows an empty folder 10, with a first piece of sheet music 30 about to be inserted and held by the folder. To accomplish this, a pull tab 32 is pulled inwardly, i.e., away from the inside face of the back panel 12. This stretches the associated one of strands 34, as shown in FIG. 3 to allow the sheet music 30 to be inserted edgewise beneath the stretched strand. Each of the strands 34 has its own pull tab, and the pull tabs are offset vertically as shown in FIG. 5 for ease of gripping between one&#39;s fingers. The pull tabs are placed generally midway between the ends of the strands to provide for easy insertion by deforming each strand from approximately near its center toward its ends. 
     The band 22 in this embodiment of my invention is preferably made of an injection molded elastomer such as polyurethane. For greatest cost effectiveness, the entire band, including its end portions 24 which contain the pockets 26, the strands 34, and the pull tabs 32 are preferably molded as a single, integral element. 
     Assuming that a folder has been provided with the bar 18 attached therein, one portion 24 can have its pocket 26 hooked over its respective holder 20, and the band stretched lengthwise until other portion 24 has its pocket 26 hooked over the opposed holder 20. That is the condition of the elements in FIG. 3, where they are ready for insertion of a first piece of sheet music 30 in the direction of arrow 36. 
     When the band 22 is initially placed over the ends of the holders 20, the band is sufficiently taut so that even if the folder is opened and facing downwardly, the sheet music will be nicely held therein. However, each of the individual strands 34 has sufficient elasticity to enable its deformation as shown in FIG. 3 for inserting and withdrawing sheet music. 
     Referring now to another embodiment of my invention illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8, a bar 18A is mounted on a back panel 12A by rivets 28A. The band holder in this embodiment includes sets of outwardly-directed tangs 38 at the outer ends of bar 18. A band 22A has a series of strands 34A which perform the identical sheet music supporting function described in the first-described embodiment. 
     The band 22A is made of flat flexible sheet-like material which may have voids 40 produced between adjacent strands by any of several techniques such as punching, piercing or stamping. The ends of the voids 40 are preferably rounded to minimize the possibility of tearing through the end portions 24A of the band 22A. 
     As seen in FIG. 7, band 22A is considerably shorter in length than bar 18A. This allows considerable longitudinal stretch of band 22A from the relaxed condition of FIG. 7 to the stretched, sheet music receiving condition of FIG. 8. To accomplish the stretching, one end portion 24A is first caused to have its voids 40 placed over tangs 38 at one end of the bar 18A. The opposite end portion 24A is then gripped, the band 22A stretched and the voids 40 placed over the tangs 38 at the opposite bar end. Once stretched and hooked over tangs 38 at both ends, the band 22A is ready for sheet music installation. Each strand may be gripped by one&#39;s fingers and moved out of alignment with the other strands as depicted in FIG. 3. Since the material is not molded as in the version which includes tabs 32, the strands themselves must be gripped. If the embodiment of FIGS. 7 and 8 is molded, it too can then be provided with tabs like 32. 
     The relaxed length of the bands in both embodiments is determined by the elasticity of the material used, its thickness, the width of the band, and other commonly known factors. Also, while I have described the removal of material between strands 34A to accommodate the thicknesses of adjacent pieces of sheet music, it is believed feasible to merely slit the material to form the strands, possibly punching a hole at each end of each slit to minimize any potential of the slit to tear outwardly through the end portion 24A. When produced in this manner, the widths of the tangs will provide the spaced-apart relation of the strands 34A. 
     It will be noted that a binder which includes a bar 18A with tangs 38 as the band holders will accept either the type of band 22A described in FIG. 7 and 8 or a band 22 described in the FIGS. 1-6 embodiment. If the latter molded band with pockets 26 is hooked over tangs 38, the width of the pockets 26 should preferably correspond to the dimension between the outside edges of each set of tangs. 
     Various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims.