US2188680A - Spiral binder - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 30, 1940. FMFARKAS 2,188,680

SPIRAL BINDER Filed Oct. 10, 1938 BY $5... Ma; ,c

ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 30, 19 40 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE srmu. mm

Irank F. Farkas, Chicago, lll.,.assignor of one-' half to Emil N. Farkaa cliicago, Ill.

appl cat on October 10, 1958. Serial No. 234.119

4 claims. (01. 129-1) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in binders for books, pamphlets, and the like.

More particularly, the invention relates to the well-known type of binder consisting of ahelically coiled wire, the convolutions of which'are spaced at the spacing of perforations along one edge of the leaves to be bound together. The

. coil is usually made of brass or steel wire1and i can be readily screwed into the..perforati0ns and thus act as a binder which permits the opening flat of the book. While such binders are extensively used, there are certain objections to their employment.

. Owing to the fact that the coil is made of metal, the weight of the book and, therefore, the cost of shipping is increased. ThisLis aggravated by the bulk of a p'ackagemade up of books bound with thm relatively stifl wire coils which can not be 9 radially collapsed. Books bound with a wire coil cannot, of course, be folded at right angles to the axis of the, cofl. i

The wire coil must have a substantially greater diameter than the thickness of the book and the convolutions must have the same spacing as the perforations, because otherwise the coil cannot be readily threaded through. the pages of the book. No matter how great care is exercised in this respect, the threading'is diilicult, particularly when the book is thick because, unavoidably, the relatively rigid wire convolutions will rub against the sides'of the perforations.

The wire could mar a glass or glossy wooden surface and special, rather expensive protective arrangements must be provided at least partly to cover the wire.

The leaves become easily torn by the com'para tively-flne wire of which the coil is formedfparticularly when the leaves are pulled at an angle of 40 45? to the axis of the coil as is the case when paging through the book. I

Still a further objection to such wire coils is that they spoil the appearance of the book and cannot be easily decorated. The wire coil isa prominent andoften inharmonious feature of the book's dress. This greatly detracts from tor disturbs the message that the cover of 9. pamphlet (e. g., of advertising matter) seeks to convey and partly on this account, as above stated, relatively costly and cumbersome arrangements have, been suggested to conceal such wire bindings.

It is the object of the present invention to avoid the drawbacks of'coiled wire binders by forming a helical coil, preferably of aflat and relatively thin strip of material, which is so pliable that it can be readily'deformed and which is sumciently rigid and resilient so that it can be screwed into the perforations and which willretain the shape into which it is molded. Various fibrous,

cellulosicQplastic, etc., materials, e. g., sheets of cellulose fibers, resins, etc., may be used for thispurpose. For the sake of brevity I shall use the word plastic" to designate all materials suitable for the purposes of the present invention.

To give the helical coil the'necessary' strength it is preferably formed of a flat strip having greater width than thickness. Such strips can be readily cut from a sheet of plastic material, wound around a mandrel and formed into a helical coil 15 by the application of heat and pressure. The surface of the finished coil must be smooth so that it can readily be screwed into the perforations of the leaves. The perforations must, of

course, have a larger diameter than the width of the strip from which the binder is formed. The perforations may be either round or oblong.

Preferably, though not necessarily, one of the ends of the spiral is pointed so that it can.be readily inserted into the perforations, and the other end is bent back upon itself or otherwise soarranged that it will not pass through a perforation. The enlargement of the end may also be omitted, because my spiral will sufliciently cling to the book and will not become unscrewed as readily as a wire spiral.

A spiral plastic cofl is much lighter and much more pliable than a steel 'or brass wire coil and yet it is stiff enough, if formed of flat stock,

' As a matter of fact, friction between the coil and the booklet and binder folded at right angles to the axis of the coil. It is suiiiciently resilient to regain its shape, and to accommodate itself when books provided with such binders are stacked. The leaves of the book will not be easily torn by the soft and, relatively pliable binder.

Thelimproved plastic binder will have no tendharmonious or decorative a part of the book's ency to mar table topsand readily lend itself to ornamentation, coloring and the application of advertising. It will be as inconspicuous, striking;

dress as the designer's fancy may dictate. Special arrangements for concealing the binding need Fig. 3 illustrates diagrammatically the method I of making my improved coil binder.

A spool Ill of a plastic ribbon I is mounted on a shaft II and the plastic ribbon is fed into grooves l2 in a steel mandrel l3 which is suitably heated. In order to feed the ribbon onto the mandrel l3, the latter is rotated and there is sui'licient resistance to the rotation of the spool on bar I l to insure a certain pressure between the ribbon and the heated surfaces of the grooves I2. This simultaneous application of heat and pressure will cause the plastic material to set into the shape determined by the grooves.

The plastic material will come oil the end of mandrel I3 set into a helical coil which may be cut into suitable lengths.

The coil can be screwed through the marginal perforations 2 of a stack of leaves 3. One end of the coil may be pointed as indicated at 4 so as to facilitate screwing through the perforations, and the other end may be doubled back upon itself as indicated at 5, acting as a stop.

What is claimed is: p

1. A binder for sheets having marginal perforations, consisting of a lengthof plastic material formed intoa helical coil which may be screwed into said perforations.

2. A binderfior sheets having marginal -perforations, consisting of a flat strip of plastic material formed into a helical coil which may be screwed into said perforations and which will regain its shape after radial and axial distortion.

3. A binder for sheets having marginal perforations, consisting of a length of flat plastic material formed into a helical coil which may be screwed into said perforations, the spacing between the convolutions being different from the spacing o the perforations.

"4. A binder for sheets having marginal permthe other end bent so that it will not pass throughj a perforation, said strip being formed into' a hellcal coil which may bescrewed into said perforations, and the convolutions of which are differently spaced than said perforations.

FRANK F. FARKAS.

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