Locking ring binder

A locking ring binder assembly has a resilient sheet metal cover and a pair of operating levers rotatably mounted on the covers. A detent consisting of a projection on the inside of the cover and a corresponding projection on the operating levers locks the binder in a closed position even though the operating levers are not rotated to an over center position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Various constructions of ring binders are known, in which a plurality of 
rings, normally closed, can be selectively opened to add or replace pages 
in a sheaf of pages held together by the rings. It is desirable that the 
rings be locked in closed position, for some applications, to prevent an 
inadvertent opening of the rings. 
To that end, a variety of constructions have been proposed, generally using 
a pair of levers at opposite ends of the frame of the binder, by which the 
rings can be selectively opened. When the levers, sometimes referred to as 
triggers, are in closed position, an interlock arrangement prevents the 
rings from being opened inadvertently. 
It is desirable to provide an improved construction for such a locking ring 
binder, to achieve the advantages of simplicity of construction, which 
promotes ease of manufacturing of a low cost locking ring binder. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved 
construction for a locking ring binder, by which the locking action is 
achieved by the interrelationship of a detent incorporating a first part 
carried by the cover or shield of the binder and a second part carried by 
a lever member adapted to selectively open the rings. 
The construction of the present invention provides the advantage of an 
economical and easily assembled locking ring binder structure, in which 
the operating levers are rotatable through a relatively small angle, which 
is less than over center position relative to their axes of rotation. 
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become 
manifest by an inspection of the accompanying drawings and the following 
description.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of a 
locking ring binder incorporating the present invention. The binder 
incorporates a plurality of two-part rings 10, 11 and 12, which may be 
selectively opened and closed, a cover or shield member 14, and a pair of 
operating levers 16 and 18 at opposite ends of the cover. The operating 
levers 16 and 18 are secured to the cover in a way which allows them to be 
rotated from a locking position as shown in FIG. 1, toward an unlocked 
position, in which the lever is moved away from the rings 10 and 12. 
When the levers 16 and 18 are moved to their unlocked position, the rings 
10, 11 and 12 may be opened manually if desired. However, if the levers 16 
and 18 are moved with a continued rotation, via beyond their unlocked 
position, they themselves force open the rings 10 and 12. 
The cover 14 is formed of resilient sheet material (FIG. 2), with a 
cylindrical upper surface 20, with U-shaped side margins 22 and 24, which 
trap a pair of hinge leaves or ribs 26 and 28, to which three parts of the 
rings 10, 11 and 12 are firmly connected. When the hinge leaves are in the 
position illustrated in FIG. 2, they form a "V", and the two-part rings 
are closed. If a force is applied to cause the hinge plates 26 and 28 to 
move upwardly, to form an inverted "V", then the righthand ring half 12a 
is rotated in a clockwise direction, and the half 12b is rotated in a 
counterclockwise direction, to open the rings. This movement is 
facilitated by a pair of L-shaped actuators 30 and 32, formed at the 
bottom of each of the levers 16 and 8. The actuators 30 and 32 move the 
hinge leaves 26 and 28 into their upper position as the levers 16 and 18 
are rotated, so that the actuators 30 and 32 bear on the underside of the 
leaves 26 and 28 to force them upwardly. This occurs when the lever 16 and 
18 are rotated from the locked position to the open position. In like 
manner, when the levers 16 and 18 are rotated from their open position to 
their locked position, the leaves 26 and 28 are forced downwardly to form 
the V-formation illustrated in FIG. 2. This occurs by means of a tongue 
34, which is provided at a center location in each of the levers 16 and 
18. 
The levers 16 and 18 are secured to the cover member 20, by virtue of tabs 
36 and 38, formed integrally with the cover member 14, which are received 
in slots 40 and 42 formed at the side edges of the levers 16 and 18. The 
tabs 36 and 38 are bent over, to retain the levers 16 and 18 in position 
at the ends of the cover member, but the slots 40 and 42 are sufficiently 
large to allow each of the levers 16 and 18 to rotate relative to the 
cover member, while being held in position by the bent over tabs 36 and 
38. 
FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 illustrate the three positions of the lever members 16 and 
18. FIG. 4 shows the open position, in which the lever member is rotated 
to its fully open position, so that the actuators 30 and 32 are rotated in 
a clockwise direction to force the leaves 26 and 28 upwardly as shown. 
During this rotation, the tongue 34 is also rotated in a clockwise 
direction to a raised position, which allows the leaves 26 and 28 to be 
raised. 
When the lever is rotated from the position of FIG. 4 into the position of 
FIG. 5, the tongue 34 urges the leaves 26 and 28 downwardly, into the 
closed position, as illustrated in FIG. 5. However, in this position, the 
rings may be readily opened manually, in which case the leaves 26 and 28 
are forced upwardly be means of manual pressure being applied thereto 
through the rings 10 and 12. This action causes the levers to rotate 
clockwise back to the opened position illustrated in FIG. 4. 
When the levers are moved further in a counterclockwise direction from the 
position of FIG. 5 into the position of FIG. 6, the horizontal upper 
surface of the central tongue 34 reaches a position under the end of the 
cover 20. This brings a projection 44, located on the horizontal upper 
portion of the tongue 34, behind a corresponding projection 46 formed on 
the inner surface of the cover 20. As the projection 44 passes underneath 
and beyond the projection 46, the cover 20 is deformed slightly, and then 
springs back to hold the lever in its closed and locked position. The two 
projections 44 and 46 form a detent. 
The continued counterclockwise rotation of the operating lever from a 
position of FIG. 5 into the position of FIG. 6 brings about a 
corresponding counterclockwise rotation of the tongue 34, so that the 
tongue 34 is engaged with the upper surface of the leaves 26 and 28. This 
holds the leaves in the downward locked position as shown in FIG. 6, as 
the detent projections 44 and 46 engage, with the projection 44 passing 
under and to the inside of the projection 46. This detent prevents the 
operating lever from rotating toward its unlocked or opened position 
merely by application of pressure to the rings 10, 11 and 12 and leaves 26 
and 28, because the clockwise torque applied by any attempt to open the 
leaves is insufficient to force open the detent. Gentle manual pressure 
rotating the lever toward its clockwise direction readily releases the 
detent force, however, so that the lever can be moved clockwise to its 
unlocked position as illustrated in FIG. 5, and then further to its open 
position as illustrated in FIG. 4. 
The dashed line 47 indicated in FIG. 6, which connects the point of contact 
of the tongue 34 with its axis of rotation, illustrates that the tongue 34 
of the operating lever has not moved to an over center or toggled 
position, when the operating lever is moved to its locked position. The 
line extends downwardly toward the left, indicating that an attempted 
upward movement of the leaves 26 and 28 would result in a clockwise torque 
tending to open the detent. However, the detent is held in closed position 
by the downwardly directed spring force of the cover, and an attempted 
upward movement of the leaves 26 and 28 is not sufficient to force open 
the detent. 
As shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, the operating lever rotates about an axis 5, 
by virtue of the tabs 36 and 38 being trapped in the slots 40 and 42. As 
illustrated in FIG. 6, this axis is located to the right of the tongue 34, 
so that an attempted upward movement of the leaves 26 and 28 tends to 
impart a torque in the clockwise direction about the axis 5. However, as 
indicated above, this is insufficient to release the detent formed by the 
projections 44 and 46. 
Preferably, the projection 44 is an upwardly directed projection, centrally 
located on the upper surface of the horizontal portion 47 of the tongue 
34, as best shown in FIG. 8. The projection 46 is preferably a downwardly 
deformed or staked portion at the outer edge of the sheet metal cover 20. 
It will appreciated that the present invention is formed of relatively few 
separate parts, since the cover and operating levers incorporate, in just 
three members, all of the structure required for pivotally mounting the 
operating levers and for providing the detent projections for locking the 
levers in their closed position, as well as the actuators 30 and 32 for 
opening the rings, and the tongue 34 for closing the rings. That central 
location of the tongue 34 on the operating levers 16 and 18 facilitates 
closing the rings 10-12 with a minimum of force, and also simplifies the 
construction of the operating levers, as separate tongues are not required 
for the two hinged leaves or plates. Also, because the levers are not 
required to rotate so far as to reach an overcenter or toggled position, 
movement between opened and locked positions can be accomplished with a 
great economy of motion. 
It is apparent that various modifications and additions may be made in the 
apparatus of the present invention without departing from the central 
features of novelty thereof, which are intended to be defined and secured 
by the appended claims.