Patent Publication Number: US-8118513-B2

Title: Binder lock mechanism including a manually adjustable locking bar

Description:
The present invention relates to a binder lock mechanism that comprises a manually adjustable locking bar and locking-hook parts co-operating with said bar. 
     Known mechanisms to provide locking of the holding prongs of binders in a desired intended shut or half-open position are of varying design and also having different functions. They are more or less intricate to manufacture as well as assemble but also to use. The mechanisms that consist of metal become heavy and costly as well as frequently require a complicated assembly of all details included. The mechanisms manufactured from plastic comprise complicated forms of the parts, and the strength of the lock parts also varies substantially between different makes and designs. For instance, it is not always exact motion actuation that is obtained when the actuation button of the mechanisms is pressed down to open the binder, owing to the complicated mutual co-operation of the parts and because of the slender dimensions and design of the parts, respectively. 
     Examples of a known mechanism are shown in US2002/0122687A1. In that connection, a manually actuatable depressable gripping member is present in order to be able to actuate the locking parts of the mechanism. However, said mechanism is extraordinarily complicated both to manufacture and also to operate. 
     Therefore, the main object with the present invention is primarily to solve, among others, the above-mentioned problems in a reliable and efficient way. 
     Said object is achieved by means of a binder lock mechanism according to the present invention that substantially is characterized in that pair-wise mutually overlapable locking-hook parts, projecting from a respective binder end half, connected with the same, and situated at mutual distances from each other—said binder end halves being connected by an intermediate pivot joint—present openings adapted to receive a respective lock lever connected with the locking bar and have a respective lock lever permanently received on the common binder end half in the mating opening in the assembled state, that said lock levers are arranged at the tip portion and at a waved part, respectively, of the locking bar in such a way that they are situated on a common line through the bar, which is retained by means of a counter-directed resilient tongue, situated on said locking bar, as well as a stopper and co-operatable counter-stoppers situated on the binder end. 
     The invention is described in the following in the form of a preferred embodiment example, reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which, 
    
    
     
         FIG. 1  shows in perspective a binder having a binder lock mechanism according to the invention applied thereto, 
         FIG. 2  shows the mechanism in a partly opened position, 
         FIG. 3  shows different sequences of the upper part of the mechanism in the various opening and locking positions, 
         FIGS. 4-6  show the function of the upper part of the mechanism in a shutting and locking position of the binder and the mechanism, 
         FIG. 7  shows the upper part of the mechanism in a shown locked position as sectioned, 
         FIG. 8  shows parts of the binder and the mechanism in a disassembled state before assembling, and 
         FIG. 9  shows the mechanism in the assembled state in one of the binder end halves. 
     
    
    
     A binder lock mechanism  1  comprises a manually adjustable locking bar  2  and a number of locking-hook parts  3 ,  4 ;  5 ,  6  co-operatable with said bar  2 . According to the invention, there are locking-hook parts  3 - 6 , projecting from a respective binder end half  8 ,  9 , connected with the same, and arranged situated in pairs  3 ,  5 ;  4 ,  6  at mutual distances A, B from each other and mutually overlapable in pairs, said binder end halves being connected by an intermediate pivot joint  7 . Said locking-hook parts  3 ,  5 ;  4 ,  6  present openings  10 ,  11  adapted to receive a respective lock lever  12 ,  13  connected with the locking bar  2 . Said lock levers  12 ,  13  are permanently received in mating openings  11  of the appurtenant locking-hook parts  4 ,  6  in the assembled state of the locking bar  2  on the common binder end half  9 . Said lock levers  12 ,  13  are arranged at the tip portion  14  and at a waved part  15 , respectively, of the locking bar  2  in such a way that the two lock levers  12 ,  13  are situated substantially on a common line  16  through the bar  2 . In that connection, the bar  2  is retained by means of a counter-directed resilient tongue  17 , situated on the same, as well as a stopper  18  and co-operatable counter-stoppers  19 ,  20  situated on the binder end  9 . 
     Said locking-hook parts  3 ,  4 ;  5 ,  6  have pair-wise mutually co-operatable stoppers  21 ,  22 , which are arranged in such a way that they, in the active stop position I, see picture  1  in  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 7 , respectively, place a lock lever  12  in one of the locking-hook parts  4  in a position right opposite a mating reception opening  10  of another locking-hook part  3 ,  5  included in the pair  3 ,  4 ;  5 ,  6 . More precisely, the stopper of one of the locking-hook parts  3 ,  5  is formed by a thickening  21  and having a straight edge  23  that in the stop position I is abutable against an edge portion  22  having a straight edge  24  of the other locking-hook part  4 ,  6 . 
     One of the pairs of locking-hook parts  3 ,  5  of one of the binder end halves  8  is arched and along which a curved row of at least two openings  10  is arranged. 
     Two pair-wise locking-hook parts  3 ,  4 ;  5 ,  6  are evenly distributed along the height extension of the binder and have planar pair-wise abutment surfaces  25 ,  26  co-operating with each other and against each other. 
     The locking-hook parts  3 - 6  and the locking bar  2  consist of a plastic material the locking-hook parts  3 - 6  having quadrangular shapes of the reception openings  10 ;  11  adapted to the cross-section shape of said lock levers  12 ,  13 . 
     The locking bar  2  is resilient and has, on the underside  2 A thereof, a lever portion applicable against a binder end  8 ,  9 , more precisely that said stopper  18  forms a said lever portion together with the remaining lower part  27  of the bar  2  that extends toward a gripping member  28  intended for the thumb or another finger. The locking bar  2  has a deflected abutment portion  29  at the area of the lower-situated lock lever  13  thereof just in order to get the two lock levers  12 ,  13  aligned  16  with each other. The resilient tongue  17  is situated at the side  2 A of the locking bar facing the binder end  9  and has, at the outer end  17 A thereof, a formed gripping part  30  for abutment against a fixed stopper  19  of the binder  31 . The locking bar  2  has a narrowed portion  32  in the area between the lower-situated opening actuation button  28  of the bar  2  and the deflected abutment portion  29  and that forms a joint of said bar  2 . Said joint  32  allows the button  28  and the remaining part  33  of the bar  2  up to said joint  32  to be turned around a stopper  18  underneath at the same time as the other part  34  of the bar  2  is actuated by a downwardly pulling force F provided thereby to be displaced in the longitudinal direction of the bar  2  so as to provide maneuvering of said lock levers  12 ,  13  in a common direction downward  35 . 
     When the button  28  is released, the bar  2  springs to move in the direction upward  36  toward the locking position I from said opened position II. 
     In order to allow easy insertion of the lock levers  12 ,  13  into mating intended desired openings  10 ,  11  in meeting locking-hook parts  3 ,  5  when the binder sides  37 ,  38  are shut together  39 ,  40 , the end portions  12 A,  13 A of said axially movable lock levers  12 ,  13  have a pointed, angled shape with the angulation, i.e., the chamfering  45 ,  46 , facing the appurtenant inter-connectable locking-hook part  3 ,  5 . 
     The assembly of the few parts included in the mechanism is also easy to carry out and is easily understood with the aid of the figures. The counter-stopper  20  comprises an external plate  48  that efficiently retains the bar  2  and prevents the same from moving out from said binder end  9 . 
     The function and the nature of the binder lock mechanism  1  described above should have been understood with the aid of the drawings. However, the function of the mechanism  1  of the appurtenant binder  31  will be explained briefly below. 
     The button  28  is pressed in the direction straight down  47  toward the end half  9  of the binder and turns around the stopper  18 , which abuts against said end half  9 . The remaining part  34  of the bar  2  is actuated, thanks to the bar  2  bending around the joint  32 , to be pulled in the direction  35  in such a way that the lock levers  12 ,  13  are properly pulled into the appurtenant openings  11  in the appurtenant locking hooks  4 ,  6  in order to freely allowing the remaining appurtenant pair of locking hooks  3 ,  5  to be turned out to open the binder or in to shut the binder. 
     In that connection, the paper-holding prongs  42 ,  43  of the mechanism can be allowed to space apart from or approaching each other, thereby making it possible to open and shut, respectively, the binder  31 . 
     When folding up the binder end halves  8 ,  9 , it is also possible to press down the button  28  manually, but it can also be shut just by closing the binder sides  37 ,  38  and the binder end halves  8 ,  9  against each other. Thereby, the locking-hook parts  3 ,  5  actuate the tips of the lock levers to be pressed downward in such a way that, upon continued shutting of the binder, the lock levers  12 ,  13  spring up  36  to be received by the correct hole  10  in the co-operating and meeting locking-hook part  3 ,  5 , for instance, such is shown in  FIG. 7 . If it is desired that another hole  10  receives the lock lever  12 ,  13 , the button  28  is pressed in and the binder halves are brought into the desired position in such a way that the lock levers  12 ,  13  end up right opposite the correct hole  10 . 
     Naturally, the invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the accompanying drawings. Modifications are feasible, particularly as for the nature of the different parts, or by using an equivalent technique, without departing from the protection area of the invention, such as it is defined in the claims.