US3260264A

US3260264A - Binding for books

Info

Publication number: US3260264A
Application number: US439539A
Authority: US
Inventors: Mckowen William
Original assignee: Meredith Publishing Co
Current assignee: Meredith Publishing Co
Priority date: 1965-03-15
Filing date: 1965-03-15
Publication date: 1966-07-12
Anticipated expiration: 1983-07-12

Description

July 12, 1966 w. M KOWEN 3,260,264

BINDING FOR BOOKS Filed March 15, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOQ WILLIAM M KOWEN July 12, 1966 w, McKOWEN 3,260,264

BINDING FOR BOOKS Filed March 15, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOQ WILLIAM M KOWEN United States Patent 3,260,264 BINDING FOR BOOKS William McKowen, Des Moines, Iowa, assignor to Mere- This invention relates to a binding for books of the type shown in my copending application Serial No. 153,- 310, filed November 20, 1961, now abandoned, the present application being a continuation-in-part thereof.

One object of the invention is to provide a binding for books which is made of suitable plastic material such as polypropylene or polyallomer wherein a binding unit for books and the like comprises a spine, a pair of flanges along opposite sides thereof and binding posts extending from one of the flanges toward the other and entering perforations of the other flange.

Another object is to provide the binding posts with heads and the perforations as well as the heads cooperatively shaped in cross section so that the heads can snap into the perforations under pressure during the assembly of the binding unit into a book, and the flanges will thereafter remain permanently connected.

Still another object is to provide a binding for books wherein the weight of the plastic is minimized, and the dimensions are kept small and therefore neat in appearance yet a perforation of suflicient depth to create a good lock in cooperation with the head of the post is had.

A further object is to provide the post with a head that is smaller than the post to facilitate ready entry of the posts through perforations of the book, the posts having transition portions from the main body of the post to the heads which are shaped or designed to facilitate proper and complete snap in of the heads relative to the perforations.

Still a further object is to provide a beveled edge around the outer end of the post, and the perforations with coneshaped entrance portions which cooperate to guide the post heads into the perforations during the assembling operation, and then a snap-back occurs to finally position the parts and create great holding power which eliminates post-holding failures.

An additional object is to provide a one-piece binding unit including hinges, binding posts and locking means for the posts, which unit eliminates the necessity of adding any separate parts whatsover and accordingly also eliminates the necessity of fastening such parts in position during production, thus resulting in high production rates in the binding of books.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of my binding for books, whereby the objects above contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims and illustrated in detail on the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective front view of a book with my binding applied thereto;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of one corner of the book and' shows the back of the book;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 33 of FIG. 2 showing the coaction of a head of a post with a perforation of an opposite flange, the book and its binding being fully assembled in this figure;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the binding unit in its initial shape;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view on the line 55 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a similar but diagrammatic view showing the perforation in one flange being associated with a head of a post;

3,266,264 Patented July 12, 1966 FIG. 7 is a similar diagrammatic view showing the position of the parts as the head of the post is snapped into a counterbored portion of the perforation under the action of assembly pressure;

FIG. 8 is a similar diagrammatic view showing the position of the parts after the snap-through action has been completed by the continuation of assembly pressure, and

FIG. 9 is a similar diagrammatic view showing the position of the parts when they spring back to normal position after the assembly pressure has been removed.

On the accompanying drawings I have used the reference numeral 10 to indicate a spine and the

reference numerals

12 and 14 to indicate a pair of flanges of my binding unit, 12 being a front flange and 14 a back flange. Binding posts 16 extend outwardly from the back flange 14. The spine, flanges and binding posts are integral, being formed by molding of plastic material such as polypropylene or polyallomer. The junctions between the spine and the flanges are in the form of hinge grooves 26 which provide thin sections 28' for hinging purposes and which can be flexed as shown in FIGS. 6, 7, 8 and 9 during assembly of the binding unit to the book.

The binding posts 16 are provided with heads 18. Each head comprises a cylindrical portion 20 having a beveled outer edge 22. The heads are of less diameter than the posts so as to facilitate entry into perforations of a book and are provided with shoulders 24 for a purpose which will hereinafter appear.

Each post has a transition portion 30 (see FIG. 5) comprising a cylindrical portion 32 and a cone-shaped portion 34 whereby the transition from full-post size to cylinder-portion (32) size is accomplished in a manner which facilitates assembly as will also hereinafter appear.

The opposite (back) flange 14 is provided with a perforation 36 for each binding post 16. Each perforation has a cone-shaped entrance portion 38 and a counterbore portion 39 having a shoulder 40 formed between the two. The portion of the flange 14 having the perforations 36 is of extra thickness as shown at 15 beyond the general surface of the flange shown dotted at 14 in FIG. 5.

The heads 18 are adapted to be snapped into the perforations 36 during the assembly of the book as shown in FIG. 3 wherein pages of the book are shown at 42, page cover boards are shown at 44 and flexible covers are shown at 46. The pages, cover boards and covers are all perforated for the posts 16, and when the parts are assembled the flexible covers 46 serve as hinges for the cover boards 44 in an obvious manner.

The snap-in operation of the heads of the posts with respect to the perforations of the binding unit presents several problems which are solved by the cooperating shapes of the post parts 2022-243234, and the

perforation parts

38, 39 and 40. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the beveled edge 22 facilitates entry of the head 18 into the perforation 36 by initially coacting with the cone-shaped portion 38 of the perforation. It will be noted, the head 18 is larger than the small end of the cone-shaped portion 38 of the perforation thus requiring considerable force to enter the head through the cone-shaped portion as shown in the half-way position of FIG. 7. Additional downward pressure as shown in FIG. 8, during assembly, will snap the heads through the cone-shaped portions of the perforations so that the heads enter the counterbore portions 39 thereof and finally when the pressure is released as in FIG. 9, the flange 14 will spring up to the position shown with the shoulders 24 engaging the shoulders 40 for completing the permanent binding of the book. In this position, it will be noted, the heads are countersunk in the counterbore portions 39 of the perforations so that they do not project beyond the upper surface of the additional thickness and are thus protected from catching on extraneous objects.

From the foregoing specification it will be obvious that I have provided a binding unit with snap-in post and perforation mechanism integral therewith and operable in a simple manner during the binding operation to effect such binding in a minimum of time requiring only the placement of the book on the binding posts, the folding of the binding strip around the back of the book and snapping the flange 14 onto the posts. There is nothing to add, no separate parts or the like, but merely by the application of pressure the perforations are forced over the heads of the posts. This results in high production possibility in the binding of books, and the finished product is a permanent binding which will withstand much hard usage.

The use of polyallomer is preferable as it remains flexible at temperatures well below zero and wont crack or become brittle and fracture. The additional thickness 15 reinforces the perforations 36 without the necessity of having the spine 1% and the

flanges

12 and 14 too thick to present a good appearance. Since the binding unit is entirely molded in a single piece and items molded of polypropylene and polyallomers are capable of being molded to precise dimensions the unit has built-in tolerance assuring uniform bindings and consistent results from book to book.

While I have shown page cover boards 44 and flexible covers 46, this unit of the book may be formed entirely of plastic material by Comptrusion molding developed by Eastman Kodak Company of Rochester, NY. Such a molding has two cover members, the hinges and the back portion integrally molded, the cover members being thick and the hinges and back portion thin. Obviously, such a molding can be substituted for the built-

up structure

44, 46 disclosed in the drawing (FIG. 3).

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts of my binding for books without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may reasonably be included within their scope.

I claim as my invention:

1. A permanently bound book having a binding for the leaves thereof comprising a spine, a pair of flanges along opposite sides thereof and solid binding posts extending from one of said flanges toward the other and having heads, said heads being of less diameter than said posts, said spine, flanges and binding posts being integral and formed of plastic material taken from the group consisting of polypropylene and polyallomer, the junctions between said flanges and spine being of thin section to permit said flanges to be flexed relative to said spine, the thickness of said thin sections being entirely inside said spine and flanges whereby said spine and flanges provide a channel-shaped binding element having substantially square and slightly rounded outer edges, the other of said flanges having openings therein to receive said heads, said openings each comprising a completely circular coneshaped entrance portion and a counterbore portion beyond said cone-shaped entrance portion which forms a completely circular flat shoulder facing outwardly, said heads being of greater diameter than the outer end of said coneshaped entrance portions, and of lesser diameter than the inner end of said cone-shaped portion, said heads being aligned with said inner ends when the flanges are brought together to permit forcing said heads through said outer ends when connecting said other flange to said binding posts, said heads having completely circular inwardly facing fiat shoulders coacting with said counterbore shoulders to permanently retain said heads relative to said other flange upon reception of said heads in said counterbore portions.

2. A book in accordance with claim 1 wherein said posts have cylindrical portions and tapered transition portions adjacent said shoulders of said posts which are of greater length than said cone-shaped entrance portions to permit said other flange to be forced onto said posts sufficiently so that said heads can be snapped into said counterbore portions during assembly whereupon said binding can then spring back with said shoulders of said counterbore portions engaging said shoulders of said heads.

3. A book in accordance with claim 2 wherein said heads of said posts have cylindrical portions which terminate in beveled outer edges initially cooperable with said cone-shaped entrance portions of said openings in said other flange to guide said heads into said counterbore portions.

4. A book in accordance with claim 1 wherein said other flange is thickened around said counterbore portions and said heads are of less thickness than the depth of said counterbore portions.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 937,191 10/1909 Spence 12923 X 1,461,954 7/1923 Wigginton 129-8 1,561,638 11/1925 Crowell 129-24 X 1,806,466 5/1931 Kernan 28125 1,876,419 9/1932 Hutchings 129-23 2,841,848 7/1958 Smith 12923 X 2,878,815 3/1959 Pluckebaum 129-23 2,940,199 6/1960 Goldberg 40-301 3,009,169 11/1961 Bodner 231 X 3,019,486 2/1962 Stinson 28129 X FOREIGN PATENTS 55,660 9/1921 Sweden.

JEROME SCHNALL, Primary Examiner.

Claims

1. A PERMANENTLY BOUND BOOK HAVING A BINDING FOR THE LEAVES THEREOF COMPRISING A SPINE, A PAIR OF FLANGES ALONG OPPOSITE SIDES THEREOF AND SOLID BINDING POSTS EXTENDING FROM ONE OF SAID FLANGES TOWARD THE OTHER AND HAVING HEADS, SAID HEADS BEING OF LESS DIAMETER THAN SAID POSTS, SAID SPINE, FLANGES AND BINDING POSTS BEING INTEGRAL AND FORMED OF PLASTIC MATERIAL TAKEN FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF POLYPROPYLENE AND POLYALLOMER, THE JUNCTIONS BETWEEN SAID FLANGES AND SPINE BEING OF THIN SECTION TO PERMIT SAID FLANGES TO BE FLEXED RELATIVE TO SAID SPINE, THE THICKNESS OF SAID THIN SECTIONS BEING ENTIRELY INSIDE SAID SPINE AND FLANGES WHEREBY SAID SPINE AND FLANGES PROVIDE A CHANNEL-SHAPED BINDING ELEMENT HAVING SUBSTANTIALLY SQUARE AND SLIGHTLY ROUNDED OUTER EDGES, THE OTHER OF SAID FLANGES HAVING OPENINGS THEREIN TO RECEIVE SAID HEADS SAID OPENING EACH COMPRISING A COMPLETELY CIRCULAR CONESHAPED ENTRANCE PORTION AND A COUNTERBORE PORTION BEYOND SAID CONE-SHAPED ENTRANCE PORTION WHICH FORMS A COMPLETELY CIRCULAR FLAT SHOULDER FACING OUTWARDLY, SAID HEADS BEING OF GREATER DIAMETER THAN THE OUTER END OF SAID CONESHAPED ENTRANCE PORTIONS, AND OF LESSER DIAMETER THAN THE INNER END OF SAID CONE-SHAPED PORTION, SAID HEADS BEING ALIGNED WITH SAID INNER ENDS WHEN THE FLANGES ARE BROUGHT TOGETHER TO PERMIT FORCING SAID HEADS THROUGH SIAD OUTER ENDS WHEN CONNECTING SAID OTHER FLANGES TO SAID BINDING POSTS, SAID HEADS HAVING COMPLETELY CIRCULAR INWARDLY FACING FLAT SHOULDERS COACTING WITH SAID COUNTERBORE SHOULDERS TO PERMANENTLY RETAIN SAID HEADS RELATIVE TO SAID OTHER FLANGE UPON RECEPTION OF SAID HEADS IN SAID COUNTERBORE PORTIONS.