Patent Publication Number: US-6988330-B2

Title: Calendar slide

Description:
This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/321,413 filed Dec. 17, 2002 now abandoned and hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 

   FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   This invention relates to document binders. More specifically, this invention relates to the art of binding calendars, posters, documents, and banners with a binding strip and a method for making the same. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Slides for binding a margin of a calendar, poster, document, banner, or other wall hanging are known in the art. Examples of prior art slides are shown in  FIGS. 1–4 , and such a slide  1  is generally an elongated strip of roughly V-shaped sheet metal. The vertex  2  of the elongated V-shaped strip of sheet metal separates the two sides or legs  3 , 4  of the V-shaped strip. Typically, one side or leg  3  of the V-shaped strip is shorter or narrower, and the other side or leg  4  is longer or wider. The slide  1  also typically contains a hanger  5  which, as shown in  FIG. 1 , is a separate piece attached to the V-shaped sheet metal strip or, as shown in  FIG. 2 , is part of the V-shaped sheet metal strip. The hanger  5 , shown in  FIG. 1 , is typically made out of plastic and is staked or attached at the approximate longitudinal center of the metal strip by one or more sheet metal burrs or rivets  6 . The V-shaped strip of sheet metal is attached to a calendar by folding or crimping it onto the margin of the calendar. The hanger  5  can then be used to hang and display the calendar at a desired location, e.g., a wall. The surface of the slide that is visible when it is displayed is often painted to prevent oxidization and for aesthetic purposes. Examples of slides are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,906,024; 2,042,912; and 6,042,319, each of which are hereby incorporated by reference. 
   The prior art also discloses an old version of a slide that includes two indentations in the longer, wider side or leg  4  of the V-shaped sheet metal strip, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,042,912. The indentations in the slide disclosed in that patent project outwardly, away from the associated leg  3  and are close to the ends of the slide. 
   There are a number of problems with these prior art slides. First, the slides have a tendency to stick together when they are stacked or nested tightly together. This is particularly problematic when a binding or tinning machine is being used to install a slide on a calendar. 
   Traditionally, an operator manually attached a slide to the margin of a calendar, one slide at a time, using a tinning machine. Accordingly, while stuck-together slides could be an annoyance, and could take extra time to separate, an operator could at least see the problem and separate the slides. More recently, however, newer binding or tinning machines have been developed with magazines or hoppers which hold a supply of the slides nested together. Accordingly, now when slides stick together, they not only become more difficult to feed from the magazine or hopper, but there is also an increased tendency for multiple stuck-together slides to be fed into the tinning station, causing the machine to jam or malfunction. 
   Another problem with the traditional slide is that, as shown in  FIG. 3 , when the slides are stacked or nested together, the attached hanger  5  and the associated rivets or burrs  6  tend to act as a fulcrum and, as the stack grows, cause one end of the slides to fan or bow out. This lack of stackable uniformity can increase the space required for shipping or storing the slides. In addition, when the slides fan, bend, bow, or curl, the capacity of the binding or tinning machine magazine or hopper is reduced. Decreasing the capacity of the tinning machine&#39;s magazine means that it must be more frequently refilled, thus decreasing the overall efficiency and productivity of the binding operation. 
   Additionally, when the slides shown in  FIGS. 1 and 4  are stacked or nested together in a tinning machine magazine or in the case of shipment or storage, the protruding indentations, bulges, burrs or rivets  6 , which often have rough edges, can scratch the painted exterior of an adjacent slide, causing unsightly marks and contributing to either a less than desirable end product, or a product that must be discarded due to quality control standards. For example, if the concave indentations are placed, as shown in the prior art &#39;912 patent, near to the longitudinal ends, the slide will have a tendency to medially sag, bend, or bow. Thus, this has the undesirable effect of creating a nonuniform stack of slides which results in a decreased tinning machine magazine capacity, increased difficulty in feeding the slides from a magazine, and increased likelihood of feeding malfunctions. Moreover, when the longitudinal center sags, bends, or bows, there is an increased tendency for the burrs or rivets to contact and scratch or mar the painted or coated exterior of the second wider bend portion. Such scratching or marring, especially at the visible center, when displayed, of the slide may, based on quality control standards, require the slide to be discarded, or sold at a lower price. 
   Moreover, when a slide with concave indentations is used in a binding or tinning machine, the crimping bars of the binding machine move directly against the painted and protruding surface of the concave indentations and tend to scratch or remove the paint from such protrusions. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   It is, therefore, an objective of the present invention to provide an improved slide that will not have a tendency to stick together when nested. 
   It is further an objective of the present invention to provide an improved slide that will maximize the capacity of the magazine of a binding or tinning machine. 
   It is another objective of the present invention to provide an improved slide which will have a reduced tendency toward scratching or marring when the slides are stacked or nested together or used in a tinning machine. 
   These and other objectives of the present invention are achieved with an improved slide. More specifically, in some embodiments of this invention, convex bulges are placed near the longitudinal ends of the slide and/or near the longitudinal center of the slide. These convex bulges provide an air gap between adjacent slides, thus lessening the likelihood of multiple nested slides sticking together. The multiple convex bulges also serve to promote a uniform stacking of slides in a tinning machine&#39;s magazine or when stored or shipped. Finally, the convex bulges also provide a buffer between the protruding rivets or burrs of a hanger and the slides&#39; painted or coated exterior, thus minimizing the possibility of scratches due to contact with adjacent slides. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The objectives and features of the invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a first prior art calendar slide; 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a second prior art calendar slide; 
       FIG. 3  is a front view of a plurality of calendar slides of  FIG. 1  with the hangers and rivets acting as a fulcrum to fan out the calendar slides; 
       FIG. 4  is an end view of a prior art calendar slide, such as shown in  FIG. 1 , with a hanger attached with a rivet; 
       FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a first presently preferred embodiment of the present inventive slide prior to installation on a calendar or other planar display item; 
       FIG. 5A  is a view similar to  FIG. 5  of another presently preferred embodiment of this invention; 
       FIG. 6  is an end view of the slide of  FIG. 5 ; 
       FIG. 6A  is an enlarged cross-sectional view of two slides of  FIG. 6  nested together; 
       FIG. 7  is a front view of a plurality of slides, according to this invention, stacked on top of one another; 
       FIG. 8  is a perspective view of another embodiment of the present inventive slide; 
       FIG. 8A  is a view similar to  FIG. 8  of another embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 9  is an end view of the slide of  FIG. 8 ; 
       FIG. 10  is an end view of the slides of  FIGS. 8 and 9  nested and stacked upon one another; and 
       FIG. 11  is a front view of the calendar slides taken on lines  11 — 11  of  FIG. 10 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   Presently preferred embodiments of the present inventive slide  10  are seen in  FIGS. 5 through 11 . It will be understood by those in the art that, while the present invention may be described as a calendar slide  10 , the slide  10  may be used to bind and hang or display any other desired display item, such as a poster, document, banner, wall hanging, or workpiece  12 . 
   The calendar slide  10  is typically made from a strip of sheet metal, although other substances with similar characteristics could be used. The typical sheet metal used is a cold rolled mild steel plate with a thickness of approximately 0.0062 inches; however, other types and/or sizes of metal could also be used. The sheet metal is bent to form longitudinal bend  14 , which creates a generally V-shaped channel from the sheet metal strip. The longitudinal bend  14  in the sheet metal channel separates a first bend portion or leg  16  and a wider second bend portion or leg  18 . According to one embodiment, the width of the first bend portion  16  is approximately 0.150 inches and the width of the second wider bend portion  18  is approximately 0.660 inches. These relative dimensions, while typical for usual application, could be proportionally or non-proportionally altered for special applications, such as an unusually large or heavy calendar or other display item  12 . Similarly, while the slide  10  will normally have different size bend portions or legs  16 ,  18 , a slide with generally the same size bend portions or legs  16 ,  18  may be used for unique applications, such as where a thicker installed slide  10  is desired or where a sheet metal fold is preferable to contact the fold in the calendar or other display item  12  when installed. The angular separation ∝ of the first bend portion  16  and the wider second bend portion  18  is approximately 38 degrees, although a greater or lesser degree of initial, angular separation could be used for particular applications. Each bend portion  16 ,  18  has respective interior surfaces  20 ,  22  and respective exterior surfaces  24 ,  26 . The exterior surfaces  24 ,  26  of the respective bend portions  16 ,  18  are normally coated, e.g., with paint, to prevent oxidization and/or to achieve a desired aesthetic effect. 
   In one embodiment, shown in  FIGS. 5 and 5A , a hanger, tab, or eyelet  28  is attached to the longitudinal center of the interior surface  22  of the wider second bend portion  18  by a metal burr, rivet, glue, or other suitable fastener  30 . While normally only one hanger  28  is utilized, and thus it is desirous for it to be medially positioned, when two or more hangers  28  are used, they are preferably proportionally spaced on the slide  10 . Moreover, the hanger  28  could, if desired, be attached to other parts of the slide  10 , for example, the exterior surface  26  of the wider second bend portion  18 . In another alternative embodiments shown in  FIGS. 8 and 8A , the hanger  32  is cut or stamped out of the wider second bend portion  18 . The slide  10  could also be used without a hanger  28 ,  32 , such as when a slide  10  is desired to be attached to the bottom of a calendar or other display item  12  for weight or aesthetic purposes. 
   Further, as shown in the embodiments of  FIGS. 5 and 8 , a pair of spaced convex bulges  34 ,  36  rise up, generally to a height of approximately 0.0200 inches, from the interior surface  22  of the wider second bend portion  18  toward the first bend portion  16 . The height of the convex bulges  34 ,  36  could be adjusted in view of the thickness of the hanger  28  and/or the thickness of the burr, rivet, or other fastener  30 . These convex bulges  34 ,  36  are generally laterally centered on the interior surface  22  of the second bend portion  18  and are also positioned relatively near to, and at a distance generally equal from, the respective longitudinal ends  38 ,  40  of the slide  10 . 
   According to the embodiments of  FIGS. 5 and 8 , a second pair of spaced convex bulges  42 ,  44  also rise up from the interior surface  22  of the wider second bend portion  18  toward the first bend portion  16 . These convex bulges  42 ,  44  are typically positioned near to the center of the slide  10  and at a distance generally equal from, the opposing side edges  46 ,  48  of the hanger  28 ,  32 . For longitudinally short slides  10 , or in other cases, it is possible that other configurations of convex bulges will be required to achieve the inventive purposes herein described. Conversely, for longitudinally long slides  10 , or in other cases, it is possible that more than four spaced convex bulges will be required to achieve the inventive purposes herein described. 
   Referring to  FIGS. 5A and 8A , still further alternative embodiments of the slide  10 ,  10   a  according to this invention are shown. These slides  10 ,  10   a  do not have the bulges  34 ,  36  proximate the longitudinal ends  38 ,  40 , but do include the bulges  42 ,  44  centrally located on the slide  10 ,  10   a . Moreover, while the bulges  42 ,  44  are shown as convex, they could readily be concave or another shape/configuration. 
   The calendar slide  10 ,  10   a  herein described, disclosed, and claimed, can be made by longitudinally bending a sheet metal strip into a generally V-shaped workpiece having the longitudinal bend  14  extending from the longitudinal ends  38 ,  40  of the sheet metal strip. The bending of the sheet metal strip creates the first bend portion  16  and the wider second bend portion  18 . While the sheet metal strip is normally pre-painted or coated, if such is not the case, an additional step of painting or coating at least the exterior surface  24 ,  26  of the sheet metal strip may be accomplished. Further, the method for making the inventive slide  10 ,  10 A is further achieved by forming a plurality of spaced bulges on the interior surface  20 ,  22  of one of the bend portions  16 ,  18 . One method to accomplish this is to impress one or more spaced concave dimples on the exterior surface  26  of the second wider bend portion  18  which, in turn, form spaced convex bulges  34 ,  36 ,  42 ,  44  on the interior surface  22  of the wider second bend portion  18 . If the hanger  28  is desired, the process also includes the step of attaching the hanger  18  on the generally longitudinal center of the interior surface  22  of the wider second bend portion  18  by means of the fastener  30 . Alternately, the process of making the slide  10  can include the step of cutting or stamping the hanger  32  in the generally longitudinal center of the wider second bend portion  18 . 
   The bulges  34 ,  36 ,  42 ,  44 , individually and collectively, serve a number of important functions. First, they prevent the slides  10 ,  10   a  from sticking together when nested together, as is shown in  FIG. 10 . Second, the spaced convex bulges  34 ,  36 ,  42 ,  44  provide that the slides  10  will uniformly lie, as shown in  FIGS. 7 and 11 , in a stack or tinning machine magazine. A uniform stack of slides  10 ,  10   a  in a magazine or hopper will increase the slide  10 ,  10   a  capacity of the magazine and will also reduce the likelihood of a misfed slide which can jam the tinning machine. Similarly, a uniform stack of slides  10 ,  10   a  promotes more efficient storage and transportation of the slides  10 ,  10   a , since less space per slide  10 ,  10   a  is required. These improvements contribute to increasing efficiency and productivity and thus lower costs. Finally, the spaced convex bulges  34 ,  36 ,  42 ,  44  prevent the rough edges of the burrs or rivets  30  from scratching or marring an adjacent slide  10  when the slides  10  are nested or stacked together. This improves the overall quality of the end product, thus again saving the expense of rejected items. 
   Further, the spaced convex bulges  34 ,  36 ,  42 ,  44  provide significant advantages over the pair of concave indentations shown in the prior art, i.e., U.S. Pat. No. 2,042,912. First, a single pair of concave indentations positioned near the respective lateral ends of the slide, as in the &#39;912 patent, is generally unsuitable to prevent the nonuniform stacking of slides  10 . For example, if the concave indentations are placed, as shown in the prior art &#39;912 patent, near to the longitudinal ends  38 ,  40  of the slide  10 , the slide  10  will have a tendency to medially sag, bend, or bow. Thus, this has the undesirable effect of creating a nonuniform stack of slides which results in a decreased tinning machine magazine capacity, increased difficulty in feeding the slides from a magazine, and increased likelihood of feeding malfunctions. Moreover, when the longitudinal center sags, bends, or bows, there is an increased tendency for the burrs or rivets  30  to contact and scratch or mar the painted or coated exterior  26  of the second wider bend portion  18 . Such scratching or marring, especially at the visible center, when displayed, of the slide  10  may, based on quality control standards, require the slide  10  to be discarded, or sold at a lower price. 
   Moreover, when a slide with concave indentations is used in a binding or tinning machine, the crimping bars of the binding machine move directly against the painted and protruding surface of the concave indentations and tend to scratch or remove the paint from such protrusions. In contrast, the use of spaced convex bulges  34 ,  36 ,  42 ,  44 , the painted exterior surface  26  of which is a depression, is not susceptible to the marring or scratching by a crimping bar of a binding or tinning machine. Moreover, a depression or dimple in the exterior painted surface  26  formed by the spaced convex bulges  34 ,  36 ,  42 ,  44  in the second wider bend portion  18  can be aesthetically more desirable than a pair of bumps or knobs on an otherwise smooth external surface  26 . Finally, the protrusions of the spaced convex bulges  34 ,  36 ,  42 ,  44 , which contact the item being hung, i.e., the calendar paper, poster board, etc., tend to provide the additional benefit of increasing the ability of the slide  10 ,  10   a  to grab, hold, and secure the item  12  sought to be attached to the slide  10 ,  10   a  and displayed. 
   While the spaced convex bulges  34 ,  36 ,  42 ,  44  serve an important function, it can also be appreciated by those skilled in the art that another suitable means could be used instead of, or along with, the bulges without detracting from the present invention. For example, a combination of convex and concave bulges, the use of a different channel material, a protective coating, or a disposable separator, such as a strip of paper, foam, cardboard, etc., could prevent adjacent channels from scratching each other when the channels are nested together, could prevent the channels from sticking together when nested, and could prevent nonuniform stacking of nested longitudinal channels. 
   From the above disclosure of the general principles of the present invention and the preceding detailed description of at least one preferred embodiment, those skilled in the art will readily comprehend the various modifications to which this invention is susceptible. Therefore, I desire to be limited only by the scope of the following claims and equivalents thereof.