Patent ID: 6916134

Claim:
In a ring binder mechanism having a flexible housing, a pair of blades held in edgewise compression by and within said housing so as to toggle between upward and downward extreme positions, and plural pairs of ring halves, each affixed to a respective one of the blades opposite to a corresponding ring half so that when the blades are at the downward extreme position, the tips of the rings meet, and when the blades are at their upward extreme position, the tips are apart, the improvement comprising: two pairs of opposed cutouts on said blades, defining two openings, one at either end of the ring binder mechanism, two sliding actuators, each having a longer leg and a shorter leg substantially perpendicular to said longer leg, said longer leg being confined within the housing below the blades, for sliding movement lengthwise of the housing between innermost and outermost positions, each said sliding actuator having a dimple protruding upward from its longer leg a distance such that said dimple forces the blades into their upward extreme position when said dimple is not aligned with said opening, said dimples and openings being disposed so that each dimple is aligned with its respective opening when said sliding actuators are in their innermost positions, but not when said sliding actuators are in their outermost positions; wherein one of said actuators alone cannot toggle the blades into the downward extreme position.