Books – strips – and leaves – Book – element thereof – or accessory therefor – Binding
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-16
2001-01-30
Fridie, Jr., Willmon (Department: 3722)
Books, strips, and leaves
Book, element thereof, or accessory therefor
Binding
C281S029000, C281S015100, C281S038000, C281S028000, C402S008000, C402S060000, C402S500000, C402S502000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06179332
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a binder for loose sheets of paper. More particularly, the invention relates to a binder designed to prevent the removal and unauthorized copying of bound documents.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Unauthorized copying of documents is a problem which costs those in the document preparation business great sums of money. For example, stenography services are often used to transcribe legal proceedings, for example, depositions, court room arguments, meetings, etc. In addition to charging for the service of simply transcribing the proceedings, stenography services are also in the business of providing transcripts of the transcribed proceedings. In fact, most stenography services retain the rights to the transcribed materials and require that the customer purchase additional copies from the service.
While such an arrangement allows the stenography services to make additional money, it also helps those involved with the legal proceeding to maintain the integrity of the voluminous records developed during a legal proceeding. Specifically, when copies of transcripts are purchased directly from the stenography service, these copies are certified as true and accurate recordings of the original proceedings. When these transcripts are unbound and copied, papers are often lost and the integrity of the file is destroyed.
Unfortunately, many individuals involved with legal proceedings simply order a single copy of the transcript, copy it, and retain the original copy for court submission purposes. As discussed above, this often leads to inaccuracies and lost integrity of the files relating to the legal action, as well as lost income to the service that created the transcript. The cost for recreating such files greatly surpasses the simple cost of maintaining an integrally bound transcript and purchasing additional copies from the stenography service.
As such, a need exists for a binding system which allows simple binding of loose papers while also ensuring the integrity of the transcript by preventing the unauthorized removal and copying of the bound transcript. The present invention provides such a binding system.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a copy safe binder. The binder includes a cover member including a coupling flap and a cover panel linked by a first fold line. The binder further includes a coupling member associated with the coupling flap for attaching loose sheets thereto. The cover panel is provided with a security strip secured to the cover panel adjacent to the fold line for preventing access to the coupling member for the removal of loose sheets from the binder without destroying a fully assembled binder.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a binder wherein the cover member is a rear cover member, the coupling flap is a rear coupling flap and the cover panel is a rear cover panel.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a binder including a front cover member having a front coupling flap and a front cover panel linked by a second fold line, wherein the coupling member binds loose sheets between the front cover member and the rear cover member.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a binder wherein the coupling member includes a first coupling member associated with the front coupling flap and a second coupling member associated with the rear coupling flap.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a binder wherein the first coupling member is at least one prong extending from the front coupling member and the second coupling member is at least one aperture formed in the rear coupling flap for receipt of the at least one prong. The at least one prong and the at least one aperture cooperate to secure loose sheets between the front cover member and the rear cover member.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a binder wherein the security strip is an adhesive strip adapted for attachment to the coupling flap for preventing access to the coupling member for the removal of loose sheets from the binder without destroying a fully assembled binder.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a binder wherein the coupling member includes a first coupling member associated with the front coupling flap and a second coupling member associated with the rear coupling flap, and the adhesive strip secures the rear coupling flap to the rear cover panel for preventing access to the first coupling member for the removal of loose sheets from the binder without destroying a fully assembled binder.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a binder wherein the cover member, coupling flap and cover panel each include an interior surface and an exterior surface, and the adhesive strip is attached to the interior surface of the cover panel.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a method for binding loose sheets within a binder. The method comprises the steps of binding loose sheets within the binder and bonding the cover panel to the coupling flap to prevent access to the coupling member for preventing the removal of loose sheets from the binder without destroying a fully assembled binder.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description when viewed in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which set forth certain embodiments of the invention.
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patent: 3645637 (1972-02-01), Gustafson
patent: 4498828 (1985-02-01), Ackerman
patent: 4743048 (1988-05-01), Growswith, III
patent: 4887925 (1989-12-01), Groswith, III et al.
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patent: 5601312 (1997-02-01), Funkhouser
patent: 5674021 (1997-10-01), Hutnick
patent: 5727816 (1998-03-01), Ong
patent: 6010157 (2000-01-01), Pierson et al.
patent: 6047990 (2000-04-01), Mogelonsky
Fridie Jr. Willmon
Litt Arnold D.
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