Patent ID: 7731441

Claim:
A ring mechanism for retaining loose leaf pages, the mechanism comprising: a housing; first and second hinge plates supported by the housing for pivoting motion relative to the housing; rings for holding the loose-leaf pages, each ring including a first ring member and a second ring member, the first ring member being moveable with the pivoting motion of the first hinge plate relative to the second ring member between a closed position and an open position, in the closed position the two ring members forming a substantially continuous, closed loop for allowing loose-leaf pages retained by the rings to be moved along the rings from one ring member to the other, and in the open position the two ring members forming a discontinuous, open loop for adding or removing loose-leaf pages from the rings; an actuator mounted on the housing for movement relative to the housing for causing pivoting motion of the hinge plates; a locking element for releasably locking the closed ring members in a locked position and releasing the closed ring members to move to the open position in an unlocked position; and an intermediate connector operably connecting the locking element to the actuator, the intermediate connector being deformable during movement of the actuator, wherein the intermediate connector is formed as one piece with the locking element.