Abstract:
An adapter for holding folded sheet music, cards or the like in ring binders without the need to punch holes or otherwise modify the music. The adapter is in the form of a wire clip that can be pre-attached to, and retained on, the music before the music is mounted in the binder, allowing fast changes of arrangements within the binder.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     61/280,691 filed 2009 Nov. 9 
    
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to the field of ring binders and adapters for same. 
     Background Art 
     Choral music, such as used by choirs and choruses, consists of sheets folded in the middle. The music could consist of one sheet or multiple sheets folded and assembled at the fold. Those comprising more than one sheet are often stapled along the fold. Such music is frequently held in binders or folders that can hold several selections of music, each of which can be opened, selection by selection and page by page as it is sung. A common three-ring binder is often used for holding the music, and that works well when the music has been punched with three holes. However, some organizations do not permit their music to be punched, especially those selections borrowed from other choral groups or music libraries. In these cases a separate adapter is required to hold the music to the three rings, or a folder other than a three-ring binder is used, leaving the music free to slide out during a concert. 
     One common adapter used to hold music in a typical three-ring binder is made from a narrow rectangle of thin plastic having three holes along one edge adjacent a long slot through which half the pages of the music may be slid, across to their fold. Either stapled or simply folded music is used with this adapter in the same manner, and the adapter works well for storage or general use, but is somewhat inadequate when the music is being presented in concert. Because this adapter does not clamp the music sheets within the slot it allows unstapled sheets of music to separate and become displaced from the fold. Misaligned folds hinder turning of the pages, a particular problem in music where sections of the score are repeated, requiring abrupt turning of pages backward and forward. Moreover, because the music is free to slide within the adapter slot, even the adapter itself can become misaligned with the fold line at the centerfold. 
     Similar problems exist with a metal wire adapter as taught by Squire et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,645,237), where a free-moving wire retainer is provided for each selection, but where again no provision is made to prevent slipping of sheets out from within the retainer. 
     There are also purpose-built music holding folders, having means incorporated to serve the same objectives as above. Some of them work well but have shortcomings either because the material they use makes them expensive or has a relatively short service life. Others are not easy to use and do not lend themselves well to changing the order of the music, especially when the change needs to be made in a hurry. Still others are limited by the number of musical selections they can hold. Examples include Clarke (U.S. Pat. No. 71,703) and Girard (U.S. Pat. No. 6,254,135) where a parallel series of elastic strands are employed, each strand to rest within the fold, yet each adjacent strand obstructing the free rotation of sheets that is normally necessary. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention is an improved binder adapter for use in ring binders, one such adapter used for each selection, and each such adapter providing a clamping force against the selection sheets to prevent them from slipping out of place. Each adapter may be preferably formed from a single piece of continuous wire. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a plan view of the adapter clip, showing its two rings for placement in a ring binder and its two clamping or pinch points for retaining folded sheet music against slippage. 
         FIG. 2  shows a magnified plan view of a preferred embodiment using flattened wire. 
         FIG. 3  shows a cross-sectional view of the pinch point in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4  shows a magnified plan view of an alternate embodiment using extra coils in the closed ring. 
         FIG. 5  shows a cross-sectional view of the pinch point in  FIG. 4 . 
         FIG. 6  shows a perspective view of the adapter clip being loaded. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     As most simply shown in  FIG. 1 , the adapter clip  10  comprises a straight length  20  of thin resilient material, such as spring wire, formed with a closed ring  30  at each extreme end and folded back into a loop  40  at a selected distance in from each end, such that a residual clamping force is attained at a pinch point  50  between each end loop  40  and the straight length  20 . 
     The center-to-center distance between the two closed rings  30  is selected to match the distance between end rings in the binder, and the adapter clip&#39;s overall length is selected to be greater than the page height of the sheet music or pamphlet envisaged. 
     In its simplest embodiment, the adapter clip  10  is formed entirely from wire of a circular cross section, and entirely in only two dimensions. In practice, however, simple modifications to this form can substantially improve its functionality. 
     For example, where two parallel round wires press against one another to form a clamp, there is a tendency for them to slip out of planar alignment and pass by one another. This tendency can be overcome by widening the contact point in some way, such that alignment becomes less critical. 
       FIG. 2  shows one preferred way to accomplish this by locally flattening the round cross section to afford a flat surface  60 , against which the parallel round cross section can bear without such sensitivity to misalignment. Similar results could be attained using wire of square or rectangular cross section. A detail of this type of widening is shown in  FIG. 3 . 
       FIG. 4  shows another widened configuration, wherein the end rings  30  are formed of more than one full coil, such that a paired couple of wires is presented to the opposing single-wire section at pinch point  50 . In this case, the single wire tends toward remaining in the crevice between the other two. A detail of this manner of widening is shown in  FIG. 5 . 
     In practice, material choices and cross-section may be largely influenced by tooling methods and costs. Though envisaged herein as simply made from round steel spring wire, having sufficient plasticity to allow bending into shape yet a high enough yield strength to maintain its shape under normal use, one could as well use wire of square cross-section to obviate flattening, or use heat-treatment to harden the wire after forming, or use an alternative material such as a fiber-reinforced composite. 
     A preferred embodiment would also include counter-bends  90  in the straight length of the wire, at or immediately beyond each of the pinch points, to afford clearance between the clip and the inserted music where the music extends beyond the pinch point. 
     Using the adapter clip can be effected in several manners. In one way, a number of empty adapter clips can be pre-loaded into a three-ring binder. To install music on a clip, its folded sheets are first unfolded into their flat configuration. One clip is selected and gripped near the center of its straight length  20 . Pulling outward, away from the binder, the straight length  20  bends elastically along its entire length so as to open the two pinch points  50 . One edge of the opened music  70  is inserted through the open pinch points  50  and slid across until the fold line coincides with the pinch points. Releasing the straight length  20  relaxes the pinch points  50  so that they clamp the sheets along their fold line  80 , after which the music can be re-folded around the clip  10  where it will retained until released, even if removed from the binder. 
     Another manner of use is to pre-load the adapter clip onto the music before inserting it into the binder. This method allows very quick re-arrangement of the music selections within the binder. Pre-loading is accomplished by sliding one the two pinch points  50  over an end of the fold line  80  of the music with the straight length along the inside of the fold, then flattening the music into its fully open position and buckling it across the fold line to permit sliding the free end of fold line  80  into the other pinch point  50 . Closing the folded music presents a configuration that may be freely inserted or removed as a unit from the binder. 
     As can be seen from the above, this adapter clip can be used in many sizes of binders and with many sizes of paper, folded cards or pamphlet, and even used as a hanger for such articles. For various uses, it can be made from a variety of resilient materials and with a variety of cross-sections.