Supports – Suspended supports
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-01
2001-10-02
Morano, S. Joseph (Department: 3617)
Supports
Suspended supports
C248S340000, C248S323000, C052S749100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06296219
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a suspension rail for an object of a flexible sheet material, the object having an edge formed by a reversed V-shaped fold, the suspension rail comprising two longitudinally extending side walls having lower edges and defining a longitudinally extending recess for receiving the edge of the object, and at least one of the lower edges of the side walls having a flange extending inwardly into the recess. The flexible sheet material may be paper, cardboard or a synthetic resin, and the object may be a folder, a binder, a drawing, or a map, for example.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In known suspension rails, as disclosed in DE AS 1,206,391, for example, it is necessary to slide the folded-over free edges of a folder, for example, laterally into the recess of the rail, and the free edges are then held in the suspension rail by means of the folds and the clamping effect of the rail. To prevent the folded-over free edges from sliding out of the rail, the opposite inner edges of the bent longitudinal ends of the rail are sinuous, or they may have small teeth or similar projections. This assures holding the folder securely in the rail but, because of the clamping action of the opposite inner edges, it is difficult to connect the folder to the rail or to detach it therefrom.
It is known from EP 0271,217 to snap the free edges of a folder into a suspension rail. To assure a secure hold, the folder edges are provided with a synthetic resin strip. This increases the production costs, and makes the subsequent environmentally friendly disposal of the folder more difficult.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is the primary object of this invention to improve a suspension rail of the first-described type so that it may be readily and easily connected with the object, such as a folder or a binder, and the object may be held in the rail without additional reinforcements of its edges and may be readily detached from the rail, when needed.
The above and other objects are accomplished according to the invention with the free leg of the reversed V-shaped fold of the object having a length of about 2 to 10 mm, preferably 3 to 8 mm, and most preferably 4 to 6 mm, and with the reversed V-shaped fold of an object being insertable into the recess from below to form a snap engagement with the flange for holding the object in the recess of the rail.
Unexpectedly, with such a construction of the suspension rail recess and of the edge of the object held therein, the free edges of the rail no longer need to exert a clamping effect and the free edges of the object need no longer be reinforced because the free leg of the reversed V-shaped fold has a sufficient rigidity to be held secured in the recess of the suspension rail.
According to a preferred embodiment, the suspension rail comprises an upper longitudinally extending recess defined by two side walls extending longitudinally above the first-named recess and having upper edges, at least one of the upper edges of the side walls having a flange extending inwardly into the upper recess, and the upper recess having a profile identical to that of the first-named recess. In this way, the suspension rail may be used with either side without requiring special orientation.
Also, the upper recess may be arranged for receiving a slider shaped to be inserted into the upper recess from above for snap engagement with the flange for holding the slider in the upper recess of the rail. The slider is usually comprised of a sheet material, for example an injection-molded synthetic resin sheet material.
Advantageously, a recess bottom extends transversely between the two side walls of the recesses, the recess bottom having stops at respective ends of the suspension rail for retaining the reversed V-shaped edge of the object in position. Preferably, the stops are stampings in the recess bottom.
According to another preferred embodiment, the side walls of the recesses have longitudinally extending projections for supporting the reverse V-shaped folds. This prevents the detachment of a temporarily overloaded suspended folder from the suspension rail, for instance.
Finally, the object may also be a binder having a back, the back being punched out to form the edge which has a reversed V-shaped fold. The punched-out edge may extend continuously or at spaced intervals along the back. In this way, it is possible to connect suspended binders from the suspension rail.
The suspension rail of the present invention operates on a totally different principle as compared to known suspension rails. The objects, such as folders, binders or drawings, are not slid into the rail but are locked into it by a snap connection and may be readily detached. This increases the re-usability usability of the suspension rail because the known suspension rails often remain connected to the suspended object because it is so difficult to separate them. This makes the suspension rail in large enterprises very cost-effective: for example, the costs are almost halved with suspended folders or binders because it requires only refillable folders or binders. Additional advantages are gained in space savings in archiving and storing, in the optimal operating ease of the slider, and in the possibility of color coding with colored suspension rails. Another important advantage resides in the ecological aspect because of the environmentally friendly disposal possibilities and the concomitant saving of resources.
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Avanti GmbH
Collard & Roe P.C.
Jules Frantz F.
Morano S. Joseph
LandOfFree
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