CA2040290A1 - Method and apparatus for removing selected papers from file folders - Google Patents

Abstract

Abstract of the Disclosure What is disclosed is methods and apparatus for removing selected submerged sheets of paper from stacks of paper fastened in file folders by Acco-type fasteners. The apparatus is a super-incumbant sheet remover consisting of a rigid plate having a paper clamp at one edge and notches on at least one edge for the prongs of the fastener which fastens the sheets of the stack in the file folder.

Description

~ 2~

3 YAP~RS FRoM ~ILE FOLD~RB

~ ~9~9l9~ _Inventio~
.~ , ~ ~ L5~_5h~ 3~ $nv~n~ion r~ Q~ to ~hod~
8 and apparatus for handling p~per~, ~nd more part1oul~rly to ~eth-~ OdB and apparatu~ for removlng ~elected; punch~d pap r8 ~rom fil~ folder~ whereln t~ey ~re se~ured by ~a~teners of the typ~
11 sam~tlme~ called Aoco ~stener~.
1~ Descri~tion of the Prior Art The ter~ ~prior art~ a~
13 u~ed herein or th any st~tement made by or on behalf of 2ppllcan~
14 means ~y that any document or thing r~ferr~d to a~ prior ~rt b~a~, directly or ln~erQntially, ~ date which ~8 ~arlier than 18 the èffective ~iling date here~f.
17 It ha~ been known for many year~ ~o retain pap~r~ in 1~ ~ile folder~ by means o what ~re 80~etime~ call~d ~co ~a~ener~4 19 A~ 18 well known to tho~e having ord1nary ~kill in th~
20 art, an Ac~o fa6tenar i8 comprised at lea~t o~ an elongated memb~r 21 fabricated f~om th1n, pli~nt, manually malleablQ or eas~ly ~or~-2~ able metallic materlal, which i8 g~n~rally c~lled a "b~se~ ln ~ th~ ~tatlon~ry trad~ uah a ba~e i~ gQn~r~lly divld~d lnto two 2~ outer portions, called "leg~, or "prong~", and a ~o~wh~t wid~r 2~ central portion calle~ the "body~.
26 A~ i~ also well kno~n; the method o using ~uch a ba~e 2~ con8~8~8 in affixing the body thereof to ~ file folder, ere~ting 28 the leg~ perpendicular to the body, pas~ing the punchinga in a 2~ plurality of ~heet3 to be filed over the legs, and then bending the leg~ again~t the top ~heet, thereby f~tening the~e sheet~
31 into the folder.
32 !~s ~ 20402~30 1 A~ i~ well known ln th~ ar~, the b~3e may be f~3t~n~d to tha folder by pa~slng itB 1~B through two hole~ punohed in ~ fl~p which i~ integr~l with the ~older, with the lege di3po~¢d 4 outwardly ~rom the folder~ or by ~dhering one f~e of ~he bas~
body to the folder.
A8 1~ al~o well known, the sheet~ to be ~i1Qd ~Y b2 7 3ecured to the ~older by s1mply turning the QUter endB 0~ the 8 . leg~ back again~t the top ~heet, or the outer end~ of the leg~
~ may be 1nterengdged with a rotalning device, ~om~times call~d a ~compres~orR, which bear~ upon the top ~heet and i~ provid~d 11 with sl~ding retainers ~or retaining the outer ends of the legs 12 in ln~erengagment with it.
1~ While A~co-type fastener~ have many advantage~, and 14 have found w~do if not univer~al aoceptanc~, their u~e g~v~
l$ ris~ to the probl~m of removing from a stack o~ pap~r~ f~s~en 1~ in a file folder by an Acco-type fastener one or mor~ selected 17 papers whlch are located ~$thln the stack, and then r~oring to 18 the 3tack th~ paper~ criginally lo~a~ed above the s~leot~d p~p~r~
1~ ~called hereln the ~superincumbent~ or ~overlying~ papers or 20 sheete~. ~his problem i~ grea~er, of oour e~ when th~ ~lected 21 p~pQrs ar~ at or near the bot~om of ~he ~tack. ~his proble~
22 will herein be called the ~ubmerged sheet removal problem~.
23 Ma~y expsdients have been adopted ln an attempt to 24 ~olve the ~ubmer~ed ~heet remov~l problem, such a~ the exped~ent 25 of inserting a reverse po~ltlQned base into the aligned hol~ ~n 2~ the ~heete o~ the ~tack after fir~t erecting the legs of the ~7 astener, rai~ing the superincumbent sheet~ on~o the rev~r~e-2~ po~itioned base, 1.i~ting off the ~uperincumbent eh~ets and th~
rever~e-positioned ba~e, liftlng off the selected ~heets, ~ealign-ing and reinsertimg the reverse-positloned ba~e, returning th~
31 superincumbent paE~ers to the etack, and removlng the rever~-32 p~sitioned base.

~ ~o~o~o I Devices are found in the prlor art which addr~ss the 2 ~ubmerged qheet removal problem, ~uch a~ a device which includes 3 ~ phir o~ tube~ which are passed ov~r the fa~tener b~0 1egs, 4 whereby the ~uperincumbent ~h~ets can be li~ted on~o ~ho tub~
. for removal ~rom the ba3e leg~ with thelr boles remaining in ~lig~ment. Such device~ are discloaed in Unit~d St~te~ Pa~ent 7 No8. ~,084,911 and 4,632,586, copie3 of which are ~uppli~ to 8 the United States Patent and Trademark ~f~1ce h*rewith.
~ Prior art su~mergad ~heet removal deYlce~ ~ald under the tradem~rk~ Copyclip, TIP-CLIP, Easiclip, and ~ocuClip ar~
11 ~hown and described in the cople~ of advert1sing liter~ture 8Up-~ pl~ed to the Patent and Trademark Office herewlth.
13 Such prior art expedient3 and devices, however, gener-14 ally require tha~ an element of a ~uperincumbent shee~ removal 15 dev~ce be aligned with ~nd then engaged w1th ~ch base 139 0 1~ the fastener in order to in~tall the device.
17 Further, su~h ~rior ~r~ exp~dlent~ and ~ev10e~ ln ~n-18 eral require that the superincumbent sheets be manipulatea a~ ~
lg group onto the superlncumbent 3heet removal device ate~ inst~l-20 ling the ~uperincumbent ~heet removal devlce~
~1 Yet further~ ~uch prior art expedient~ and device~ in 22 general require the realignment and reengag0ment o~ ~ai~ el~-ments with the a~tener b~e leqs, i.e., the rein~tallatlon of 24 the sup~rincumbent sheet r~moval device, when the superincumb~nt ~5 ~heet~ are returned to the file folder.
2~ Further ~till, these prior art expedients and devi~e~
~7 in general involve the m~nlpulation of the auperincumbent ~he~t~
28 aa a group in order to return them from the auperincumb~nt ~heet 2~ removal devic~ to their position on top of the r~mainder of the 30 ~tack when the ~uperincu~bent sheet~ are re~urned to the file 31 ~older.
32 /~/

2~ 3~
1 ~t i8 believ~d ~cha~ th~ Unit~d Stal:e~3 pa~ent~ ted 2 immediately below, which were adduced by an indeperldently ~ade 3 prior art ~earch, cohtain lnformation which i8 or might Ibe con-4 3trued ~o be ma~er~al 'co ~he examina1:lon of lthl~ p~ten~ appli~-tlon.
Patent lio. ~nventc~r 7 3,1~0,642 W. Smith . 3,476,360 R. Renfroe 1~ 3,996,667 G. B~rnard 9 4,462,736 C0 Jenkins No representation or ~dmi~ion i5 m~de that ~ny of 'chD
11 above-liste~ paten~ or o~her dooument~ iB part o 'che prls~r 12 ~rt, or th~t no more pertinent informa'cion ~E!Xi8t8.

14 Summary of the Invention l~i Accordingly, lt i8 an object of my invent$on to provide l7 m~thod~ and apparatus for rapidly and ~asily remo~ ng ~uperin~:um-l8 bent she~ts o paper from a selec~ed sheet or aheets fas'cer3ed in l9 a file folder by ~eans of an Acco;typ~ fast~ner, wh~eby to r~-~0 pldly and an~ily gain ~c~ to the ~elec~d ~h~t or ~h~t~ ~o~
~1 im~ediate remov~l ~rom th~ ile fol~er.
22 A further obj~ct of my invention 18 to provide ~uper-23 lncumbent sheet remov~l ~pparatu~ for rapidly and ea~ily remov1ng 24 superincumbent sheet~ of paper Prom ~ selected sheet or ~he~t~
fastened in a file folder by means o an ~cco-~ype fastener, 26 which apparatus make~ it unnecessary to manipula~s ~he sup~rln-27 cumbent sheets ont~ the apparatus after in~talling ~he ~pp~ratu~
28 in the ~tack of papers in the file ~older.
29 A yet ~urther object of my lnvention ls to proYld~
30 superincumbent ~hee~ removal apparatus which need no~ b~ rein-31 ~talled when re~urning the super~ncumbent ~he~t~ to the flle 32 folder.

j~

~no~h~r ob~e~ of ~y inv~ntl3n 1~ to provi~ uporln~
cumbant ~heet remov~l apparatu~ ~or rapidly and ell~ily removlng ~ ~uperinetlmb~nt 3h~et~ of pa1per from a selacted ~h~et or ~ ta 4 f~3tened in a f ile folder by means oiE an Acco-~cype fa~tener, no 6 part of which apparatus mu~t be aligl~ed w~ th the out-er end~ o~
. the legs of the asten~r ~hen removillg the ~uperincumbent sh~e3:a.
7 A y~t fur'cher obje¢t o~ my invention 1~ to provid~
8 superlncumb~nt shQqt removal ~pparntu~ for rapidly And ~a~ily 9 removing ~uper 1 ncumb~n~ ~heets of paper fron~ a ~elected she~t or 10 ~beets fa~taned in a file folder by mean~ of an Acs:o-type fa~ten~
11 er, no part of wh~s:h app~ratus must be fed into the allgned hole~
~2 of the sheet~ of,paper iE~cened in said file folder l:y said 13 f astener .
14 An adùitlonal object of my invention i~ to provid0 15 ~uperinr:umbent ~heet removal apparatus for rapidly and ea~lly 16 removing superincumbent ~heets of paper from a ~elected sheet or 17 sheet~ fast~ned ln a fila folder by means o~ an ~cco-~ypo ~a8~n-18 er, no part of whieh ~pparatu~ mu~'c be rein~er~ed into ~he aligneù
19 holea of the sheet~ r2maining on the leg~ of ~aid ~astener after 20 the r~moval therefrom of Elaid superinclJmben~c qhee~ a~ s~ld :23 aelected sheet or sheets.
2:2 Yet ans~ther object of my invent$on i~ to provid~ ~up~sr-23 incumbent 3heet r~mov~l ~ppi~ratu~ Por rapldly ~nd easily removing 24 superin~:umb~nt aheet~ of p~per from a sel~eted ~h~et or ~heet~
25 fa~tened in a file folder by means of 3n Acco-type fa~tener, 26 whlch apparatu~ maintain~ the holes in said ~upar incumbent ~hePts 27 in alignment without at any t~me pas~lng any alignment member 28 therethrough other than th~ l~g~ of said ~a~tener.
2~ Other objecta o~ my invention will in par~ be ob-riou8 3U and will in part appear hereinaf ter .
31 My invention, accordingly, compri~e~ the ~everal Bt~!~Es8 32 and the relation o one or ~nore ~uch 81:ep!3 w1 ~h re~pec~ to *ach ~ 2~ Z90 I o~ ~he o~hers, and the appar~tu~ embodying fe~turea o~ construc~
t$on, combination~ of el~m~nt~, ~nd ~rrang~me~nts of parts wh1ah 3 are ~dapted to ~ffect ~uch ~teps, all a~ exemplified in th~ fol-4 lowing dl~closure, and the 8COp~ 0 ~Iy invention will b~ indi~atsd in the ~pp~nd~d claim~.
B In accordance with a principal feature of my inv~ntion, 7 app~ratus 18 proYided for rap1dly andl ea~ily r~moving superincu~-8 .bent sheets of pap~r from a ~elected Rheet or ~haet~ f~sten~d in ~ a file folder by means of an Acco~tyE~e fastener, which ~pp~ratus includ~s a substantially rigid plate member adapted to underlie 11 ~nd support the superincumbent sheetY while they are remov~d 12 ~rom and r~turned to th~ Pastener.
13 In accordance with another principal feature of my 14 1nvention ~aid plate is provided with a clamp wher~by to ~ecure the ~uperincumbent sheet~ to 3aid plate with their punchings in 16 ali~nment during the re~oval of the ~uperincumbent ~heet3 rom 17 the fa~tener and dur1ng the restoration of the ~uperincumbent 8 ~1hsets to th~ fa~ten~r.
1~ In ~cordan~e with ~n additional pr1ncipal f~ature o~
~0 my invention a plurality o notch~ are provided in at le#~t on~
~1 ~id~ of said plate, a pair of said notches b2ing 80 loa~t~d th~t 22 when one ed~e o~ a ~he~t of paper punched ~ith ba~e prong recel~-23 ing holes bear~ ~gains~ ~ai~ clamp the notohes of said pair are 24 al1gned with sa~d hole~.
In accordance wl~h a yet further pr~nclpal fe~ure o~
2~ my invention such notches are provided on the two ~ide~ of ~aid ~7 plate adjacent the ~ide to which sa~d clamp i8 affixed.
28 In a~cordanc~ with another ~princip~l feature of ~y 2~ invention ~uch notches ~re provided on ~he side of ~aid pl~t~
opposite said clam~p.
31 In accordance with yet another principal featur~ o my 32 lnvention the method thereof co~pei~e~ the ~tep~ oE tl) erecting l the leg~ o~ said fastener, ~2) ral~ing at least the ends oÇ said 2 superincumbent ~heet~ remote from ~a~d fa~tener, and 13) insert-3 ing said plate bet~een said superincumbent sheet~ and said ~el 4 ect~d ~he~t or sb~ts~
. In accordan~e w~th a ye~ ~urth~r princlp~ a~ur~ o~
my inv~n~ion th~ m~thod o~ my invQntlon ~urther compr1~ ho 7 ~tep~ of (1) opening ~aid clamp ~2~, tran~lating ~aid plate p~r-allel to the baee of sald fastener untll the ba~ o~ aald cla~p ~ contacts one edge of ~ald ~uperlncum~ent sheet~, 13) tran~lating 10 ~id plate upward, i.s., toward ~aid fastener, until the legs of ll the ~ast~ner are located in two of ~id notche~, and ~4) cl~mping 12 ~aid ~uperincumb~nt sheets to said plate by means o~ ~aid cl~p.
~3 In accordance with another principal festur~ of ~y 14 inv0ntlon the method thereof further compri~e~ the ~tep~ of ~l) 15 lifting #aid plate from ~aid folder and thereby removing ~aid 1~ ~uperincumbent sheet~ from the legs of th~ fast~n~r, (2~ re~oving 17 tha selected she2t or ~heets fro~ the leg~ of the ~a~tener, (3 18 pa581ng the align~d hole~ of ~he superin~umb~nt ~heet~ clamped 1~ to said plate over he leg~ of sald fastener until ~aid plato 20 lies upon ~aid remainlng ~heets, (4) opening said clamp, ~nd ~5) 21 removing said plate from beneath ~aid superincumbent ~h~ets, 2~ For a fuller under~tanding of the nature and ob~ct~
23 of my invention, reference 8hnuld be had to the following d~t~ d 24 description, tek~n 1n connection with the ~ccompanying drawin~.
.
~6 ~rieP Description of the Drawin~s ~7 28 Fig. 1 i~ a p~r~pective view of a auperincumb~nt sheat 2~ removing apparatus embodying my invsntion~
Fig. 2 is an exploded p~rspective view ~howing a file 31 folder of well kno~n type from which a stack of superincumb~nt 32 sheets ha~ been remove~ by means of a ~uperincu~ben~ ~he~ r~moval ~ Z04~'30 1 d~vlc~ o~ my invention;
2 Flg. 3 i~ a pl~n vl~w o~ a superlncumbQn~ ~he~t rsmoYal 3 device of my invention, showing a preferred pat~ern of ~a~tener 4 leg r2ceivlng notches and the location of each of th~e notche~
wlth reapect to the clamp po~tion of th~ d~vic~
Flg. 4 la a partl~l s~tional vlew in el~v~tion.o~ the 7 ~up~r~ncumbent 3heet re~oval device of my inv~ntion ~hown in 8 ~iy. 3, taken on plane 4-4 of Fig. 3 and show~ng a preferred 9 form of clamp; , Fig~. S through ~ illustrate ~ ~erie~ of ~t~p~ o~ the 11 method of my invention for removing ~elected sub~rg~d ~h~et~
12 from a stack of sheets of p~per fa~tened in a fil~ folder by 13 means of an Acco-type fastener;
14 Fig. 10 ~8 a partial perspective view o~ an alternati~e lS form of file folder and the mode of cooperation therewith of the 1~ superincumb~nt shQQ~ r~mov~l device of the ~ir~ p~e~arr~d 0m-17 ~odlment of my inventlons and 18 F a partial per~pect~ve view o a loose-le~f 19 notebook and ~ persp~ctlve view cf an embodimen~ of ~h2 app~ra~u~
20 of my Invantion especially ad~pted for u~e with loo~e1ea 21 notebooks.

23 .

Xe$erring now to Fig. 1, there i~ ~hown a superincu~
2~ bent sheet removal device or sheet remover 10 constructed in 27 accordance with the first preferre~ embodiment of my inventisn, 28 As seen in ~ heet remover 10 is compri~ed of a 2~ flat plate 12 to one edge of which is afflxed a paper clamp 14 30 o~ well known type by mean~ of which one or a ~tack o~ sheet~ of 31 paper may be clamped to plate 120 ~2 X~402~3D
1 In the well known manner, paper clamp 14 i~ comprised 2 of a body portion 16, which 1~ immov~bly ~fflxed to pl~te 12, ~ ~nd a plvotally movable ~aw portion 18 the inner ends of ~hich 4 are received in the upper tubular portion o~ body portion 16, whareby ~aw 18 i~ plvot~ble about the! ~XiB 0~ the tubular portlon $ of ~ody portion 16.
7 A~o in the w~ll known manner, a pair of ~prlng~ 20, B 22 ~re provided wlthin ths ~ubular port10n of olamp body port~on 0 16, whereby ~aw 18 of qla~p 14 ia reoiliently blased toward th~
top of plate 12.
11 A~ further ~een ln ~19. 1, notche~ 24 are provid~d on 12 the three edges of plate 12 remote from paper clamp 14, 13 The 8ize and di~tribution of the notches 24 in the 14 plate of the superincumbent sheet remover of th~ flr~t preferr~d embodi~ent of my inventio~ are set out in detall her~inb~lo~ ln 16 connection with Fig. 3.
17 In the fir~t preferred embodiment of my invention, 18 plate 12 ~ fabrica~ed fr~m ~heet aluminum, thus pro~iding a 19 plate which i~ rigid yet l~ght in weight. It 18 to be ~ndsr 20 B~O~d, ho~ever, ~hat my inven~ion i~ no~ limi~ed to th~ ~mploy-~1 men of an aluminum plate, no~ to the employment of a m~tali~
22 plate, To the ~ontrary, the pl~tes of the ~heet r~movera of 2~ oertain embodiment~ o~ ~y in~entlon may be fabric~ted rom fill~
24 pla3tic~, fiberbo~rd, or any other material wh~h i~ suitably llgh~, rigid, and thin.
2~ Further, it iB tc be und~rstood that my invention 1~
27 not limi~ed to the employment o~ ~he par~icular p~per ~la~p ~hown 28 in Fig. 1. Rather, $t is to be under~tood that a wide variety 2~ of well known paper cl~mp~ may be employed in fabrica~ing supeE-incumbent sheet re~oval devi~es e~bodying my in~ention.
31 Referrincl now to Flg. 2, there i~ ~hown a file folder 3~ 30 of well known type in which i~ affixed an ~cco-type fasten~r Z040z9( 1 32, shown only in part~
~2 A~ will be ~vident: to tho3e h~vlng ordlnary ~kill in 3 the art, in~ormed by the present di~closure, the part~ oP f~terlar ~ 32 ~ctu~lly shown in Fig~ 2 are it3 t~o prong~ or legs 32', 3217o As will also be evident to those having ordinary ~klll IB in the ~rt, file folder 30 i8 compr$~ed of two panel~ 30' ,. 30"
7 which are par~ of a single ~he~ o~ a material 130metlme~ c~lleà
8 wtag" ~n the ~tationQry trade and are separately defined by a hinge t:rea~e or fold 30' ' ' .
My invention applie~ to file folders oP many different types~ suoh a~ the well known triple panel ~ile ~old~r found commonly in law of f i ces .
13 A~ i~ also well known to tho3~ hsving ord~nary ~kill 14 in the art, ~t i~ a ~::ommon practice to a~ix a plurality o~ su~h l~ f~Btener~ to variou~ panel~ o~ ~u~h f ile foldersO
1~ As further seen in Fl~. 2, a plurality of sheets c~f 17 psper 34, ~6 are àispo~ed in file ~older 30, each ~hee havlrlg 18 pair of punchings ln the re3pective one~ of whi~h prongs 329 ,, l!E~ 32'~ are~ received.
It i~ t~ be under3tood ~h~t the ~ingle ~he~t 34 i~ the 21 sheet wh~ch has been seleot~d ~or removal from file folder 30, 2~ and that the plurality of ~heets 36 are those de~ignated by the 23 terminology u~ed hereln as remaining sheet~
24 As further ~een in Fig. 2, a plurality 38 of ~h~et~
25 are di~posed above ~hee~ 34, with all of their punching~ i~ align-26 ment with prong~ 32', 32". Shee~s 38, as ~een in Fig. 2, are ~7 3uperincumb~nt sheek~, a~ that term i8 u~ed hereinO
28 AB further ~een in Fig. 29 auperincumbent sheets 30 .
~ are supported on ~ superincumbent ~hee~ removal device or shee~
33 r~mover lO con~tructed ln accordance with ~he firs~ pr~ferred 31 ~mbodi~ent of my inventlon, and ~hown in Fig. l.

~2 ~// ' 2 [)402~0 I As als2 seen ln Pig. 27 ~uperincumbent ~heet~ 3a ~r~
clamped to the plate 12 oP ~heet remover lû by pap~le cl~np 1~ ~, 3 and thus the puns:h$ngs 40, ~2 ln c~heets 38, are maintained ln 4 alignment by the action of cl~mp 14.
It will thu3 be ~een by tho~3e having ordlnary ~klll in .~ the ~rt, informe~ by the present disclo~ure, that upnn the. r~oval 7 o ~lected ~he~ 34 sheet remover 10 and ~uperlncumberl~ sh~et~
8 38 can be directly lowered ~o tbat prong~ 32' ~, 32' ~ pa88 through ~ the aligned punc:hed hole~ 40, 42 ln all of the suporin¢ulabent 10 sheet~ 38, restoring ail o~ the superincumbsnt ~heet~ 3B to ~-11 tener 32 ln one ms)tlon, 12 As al~o ~een in Fi~, 2, the two ~ommon ax~e of the ~ punched hole~ 40; 42 p~a through two notch~s 24-2, 24-4 in th~
14 upp~r edge of plate 12. .
~ Referring now to Fig. 3, there i~ shown a pl~n view oP
lB the ~uperlncumbent ~hee~ removal devlce or 3heet remov~r 10 o~
17 the first preerred embodlment of my lnvent~on" and particul~rly 18 the dimen~ions of the sheet remover of the first preferred embo~
19 $ment of my invent$on. It i~ to be under~tood, howev~r, that ~y invention $8 not limi~ed $n ~cope to eitber the sheet remover ~1 oonfiguratlon or ~he ~hae~ rQmov2r dim~naions ~ven in ~ig. 3.
~ It $~ to ~e particul~rly nota~ th~t the dimension oP
2~ ~he device o} the first preferred embodiment extending ~rom th~
24 bearing face 50 of papar clamp 14 to the oppo~ite edge 52 o~
25 plate 12 i8 8-1/2 lnches.
2~ It i~ o to be noted that, for clarity of di~u~ion, 27 the ten notches in the edge of plate 12 are particularly d~
28 gnated by the re~pected hypena~ed reference d~signa~ion~ 24~1 2~ through 24-10.
Thu~, lt will be ~een in Fig. 3 tha~ in ~he Pir~t pre~
31 ferred embodiment of my invention ~he distanee between the bot-3~ tom~ of the notche~ 24-2 and 24-4 i8 2-3/4 inches, whlch 18 th~

2~
1 standard di~ance betw~en ~he prorlgs or leg~ of a variety of 2 widely uRed Acco-type fa~tener~.
3 Similarly, the dl~tan~ between the botts:~m3 or inner 4 end of notches 24-1 and 24-3 i~ 2 3/4 inches, and the di~tance . between the bottom~ o~ no~eche~ 24-5 and 24-6 i~ 2-3/4 inches.
~i It is to be understclod that the di~position of 'che 7 nDtches along the los~er edge of plate 12 is the ~ame ~ the dl8-8 po~l'cion of the notche~ alorlg the upper e~ge of pl~te 12.
~3 Thus, both no,tch~ 24 1 and 2J.-~ are loca'ced 1-5/8 1.0 inches from edg~ 52 of plate 12 J notches ~4-7 and 2~/1-8 are inter- .
11 spac~d by 1-1/4 inche3 as are ns~tche~ 24-1 and 24-2 J *tc:.
12 I~ will thu3 be seen that notch 24-1 may ha seen to be 13 p~lred with notch 24-7 ~ notch 24-~ may be seen to be p~ir~d w~ th 14 notch 24-8; notch 241-3 may be seen to bs paired with 24-9$ and 1~ no~ch 24-4 may be ~en to be pair~d wl th notch 2~-10 s ln ~he l~i ~n~e that both notches o each pair are equld~stant from edge 17 52 of plate 12.
18 Referring now to F1g. 4~, there i~ shown in part~al 19 ~ectional view, along plane 4-4 of Fig. 3, the deta~l~ of paper clamp 14 and it~ cooperativs relationship with plate 12 and a 21 stack of papers 5~ di~po~d on plate 12.
22 As seen in f~g, 4, the body 16 of paper cla~p 1~ $8 23 secured to plat~ 12 by a suitable rivet 58, and a ~econd ri~et 24 60 tFig. 3).
~5 AB al~o ~een in Fig. 4, body 16 contain~ a coil spring 2ff 20 (along wi~h another coil spring 22 3hown in Fig. 1), which 27 coil ~pring~ strongly re~iliently biaa the bail or arm~ ~nd 28 crossbar 18 of paper clamp 14 against the upper surface o plate 2~ 12, or agains~ a stack of papers 5~ dispos~d thereupon.
It i8 to be understood that the amount of Eorc~ by 31 which bail 18 i~ thus re~iliently urged against plate 12 or paper 32 stack 5S i8 not ~o large that it cannot be overco~e by the thu~b 2~C3~
1 6~ of a user, whereby ~o rele~e paper ~tack 56.
While p~p~r cl~mp 1~ i~ not proYlded with d~t~ntin~
~ m~an whereby bail 18 1~ oau~ed to remain in a non-olamping E~
4 tion remote frc~m plate 1~ s~hen operated lnto that po~i~lon, the ~5 employment of ~uch deten'ce~ paper ~amp8 fall~ within th2 ~c:op~
of my inventis:~n.

. Method ~0 Referring now 'co F19B. 5 througb 9, the u~e of the ~1 ~h~et remover device of the fir~t preferred embodlment of my l:e invention will now be d~ rlbed ln detailO
13 The ~ 8 folder shown in Figs. 5 througb 9 i~ ~imilar 14 in all respec~ to the f ilQ fol~er shown in Fig . 2 and thu~ the 15 ~me reference numeral# rela~ing to the ile folder, She fastener 7 16 and the paper~ sho~n in F19. 2 are al~o u~ed in Figs. 5 through , 1~ 9, with tbe exception o~ the fac:'c that only a slngle ~emaining 18 paper 66 i8 3hown in ~19~. 5 through 9.
19 A~ ~aen ~n Fig. 5~ She flr~t ~tep~ of the method o~ y 20 invention consi~t in ~ rec ing fa0ter!er prongs 32~, 32" 7 t2 21 m~nu~lly raislrlg superincumbent paper~ 38 from ~ele~t~d pal?er 22 3~J (3) and inserting super~ncumbent ~heet remover 10 betw~n 23 ~up~rincumberlt sheets 38 ~nd ~olected ~heet 34.
24 As seen ~n Fig, 6, the next steps of the meth~:sd of my 25 invention con~ist in [4) ~ran~lating sheet remover 10 leftwardly 26 un~il the bearing face o~ paper clamp 14 besrs against th~
27 right-hand edge of ~uperincumbent ~heets 38; (53 trarl~latin 2~ Eheet remover 10 upwardly, l.e. ~ ~oward prong3 32', 32' ', until :~ these reBpectiv~ pron~B are recelved in notche~ 24-2, 24-4; and 30 ~6) manu~lly relea~ing bail 18 so that ~uperincumbent ~heeta 38 31 are cl~mped to plat:e 12 o ~heet remov~l device 10.
32 ~//

~ As seen in Fig. 7, the next atep~ of the m~tho~ o my 2 invention con~ist in (7) ral~ing sheet remover 10 from fold0r 30 3 ~o that superincumbent ~he~t~ 38 ~re together withdrawn ~rom 4 prong~ 32', 32" , their punchings remaining in align~en~ and 18) m~nually removing seleetQd ~heet 34 from pron~ 32', 3~
As then Reen in ~i9. 8, the next ~teps of the me.thod 7 of ~y lnventlon are ~9; low2ring sheet remover 10 and ~up~rlnoum-8 bent sh~et~ 38 clamped ~hereon ~o that prong3 32', 32" p~s~
~ upward through ~he pun hing~ in ~up~rincumbent shea~ 38S and (10) manually opening paper ~la~p 14 to release ~uperincumbent 1~ ~heets 38.
1~ As seen in Fig. 9, the last step (113 o tha method o~
1~ my invention i~ the ~ithdrawal of sheet remover 10 from between 14 ~uperincumben~ ~heet~ 38 ~nd remaining sheet 66.
1~ A~ter the remov~l o~ ~he~t remove~ 10, ~nd th~ m~nu~l 1~ release of bail 18, prong~ 32', 32'' will be manually turned 17 again~t the upper fa~e of the top sheet, engaged with a compres~cr 18 or otherwise5 whereupon all of ~he ~heets but th~ selected ah~et 19 ~rQ secured to flle folder 30by engagem2nt with prongs 32', 32''-Referring now tD Flg. 10, there i~ ~hown the method of 21 using superincumbent ~beet remover 10 of the fir~t preferred 22 embodiment of ~y inven~ion ln connec~ion wi~h ~no~her file folder 23 arrangeme~t wherein an Acco-type fa~ten~r ~8 i8 lo~at~d near the 24 center of the hinge creas~ o~ ~ f~le folder 74, rather th~n ad~-25 cent the center of the upper edge 76 of ~he right-hand p~nel of 2~ file folder 74.
~7 ~he metho~d of employing ~heet remover lD in connection 28 wlth this type of ~ile older i~ ~imilar to the method of my 29 lnvention shown ln Figs. 5 through 9, except that after rai~lng 30 the superincumbent sheet~ and in~erting sheet remover 10 betw~en 31 the superincumben~ ~hee~ and th~ sele~ted ~hee~ or shee~ he~

)2~3~

1 remover lo iB translated crosswise of the major dimen~lon o~
2 flle folder 74 until prong~ 68', 68" are seated in notche~
~ 5, 24-6, ~nd the ba~ring face o~ pa~r cl~mp 14 bea~ a~in~t 4 the oppoaite edge~ of the ~up~rln~umb~nt ~he~s.
~ A~ with the method ~hown and de~cribed ln conneotion 6 with Flgs. 5 through 9, pronga 68~, 68'' mu~t flrst be ere$t~d, 7 and a comprQs~or 70 removed if one ia u~ed~ A~ter kh~ removal 8 .sf the sel2cted sheet or sheet~, the re6toration of the super~
0 in~umbent sheet~ by mean~ of ~heet remover 10, and the withdrawal of sheet remover 10, prong~ 68', 68 " mu~t be tur~ed over the 11 upper sheet~ with or without oompr~sor 70.
12 Referring now to Fig. 11, there i~ shown an alternate 13 embodiment of my'inventlon whioh i8 de~igned ~or u~e in ~onnectlon 14 with loose-leaf notebook~ and the papers bound therein~
As ~een in Fig. 11, sheet remov~r 80 of this embodl~ent 16 of my invention consists of a rigid plate 82, which may be fabrl-17 ~ated from the same material as plate 12 of the ~irB~ pr~ferr~d 18 embodiment of my invention.
1~ As al~o seen in Fi~. 11, rigid plate 82 i~ provided with ~ paper clamp 84 which may be substantially identical to 21 paper clamp 1~ of the ~heet remover of the fir~t preferr~d e~bod-22 lm~nt of my invention.
~3 Plate 82 di~fer~ from ~late 12 of the fir~t prg~erred ~4 embodiment ln that it 18 of dif~erent ~hape, it8 length and width being sub~tantially equal to the length and width o~ the sheet~
26 of binder paper bound in the loose-leaf notebook 86 shown $n 27 Fig. 11.
28 Pla~e 82 al~o differs from plate 12 in tha~ lt i~ pro-2~ vided with but three notche~, 8~-1, 88-2, B~-3, which notches are of such depth and ~o located ~o a~ to embrace the ring~ 90-31 1, 90-2, 90-3 of looseleaf notebook 86 when plate B2 i6 passed 32 beneath a plurality of ~uperincumbent sheet~ unt~l the bearlng 1 face of clamp 84 contaGt~ the outer edge of tho~e ~uperincumbent 2 sheet~ 92~ as ~hown in Fig. ll.
~ It will thus be ~een that the ob~eat~ ~et forth 2bove, 4 among those made appar~nt from the preceeding de~cription, ar~
3 Qfficlently ~t~ained, and ~inc~ o~rt~in chan~e~ ~ay b~ mads in .~ the above construction~ and the method carried out th~reby.witbout 7 departing rom the ~cope of my invention, it i8 intended that 8 ~ll matter contained in th~ above description or ~hown in the ~ a~companying drawinga 8h~11 be int~rprete~ as 111UBtratiVe only, 10 and not ln a llmiting sense.
11 This, it i~ to b~ understood that the ~uperlncumben~
12 sheet r~movers of my invention may take many different forms, 13 all within the 8~0pe of my invention. For example, an emb~dim~nt 14 of my inv~ntion may be provided in which the plate is of ~ub3tan-15 tially the same shape a3 one o~ the standard ledger ~hee~ u~d 1~ in bookkeeping and generally malntained in ~ po~t blnd~ o~ w~ll 17 known type, in which ca~e the notch~s provi~ed on the edg~ o 18 the plat~ oppo~ite ~he paper cla~p will be of such ~h~pe and 1~ ~i~e a~ to a~comodate the well known exten~ible ~oet ~ound ~n 20 such post binder~.
21 It i~ also to be understood that the follow1n~ ~lalm~
22 are intended to cover all of the generic an~ Rpecific feature~
23 of my invention hereindescribed, and all statements o~ $he 3cope 24 of my invention which, a~ a matter of language, migh~ be ~aid ~o 25 fall therebetween.

2~

3~

~ -16-

Claims (4)

1. A sheet remover for removing the superincumbent sheets from a selected sheet in a file folder in which said sheets are fastened by a fastener having a plurality of manually malleable prongs, which prongs pass through holes punched in each of said sheets, comprising:
a planar, substantially rigid plate member; and a paper clamp affixed to said plate member for clamping said superincumbent sheets to said plate member.

2. A sheet remover for removing the superincumbent sheets from a selected sheet in a file folder in which said sheets are fastened by a fastener having a plurality of manually malleable prongs, which prongs pass through holes punched in each of said sheets, comprising:
a planar, substantially rigid plate member;
a paper clamp affixed to said plate member for clamping said superincumbent sheets to said plate member; and a plurality of notches formed in at least one edge of said plate member for receiving said prongs when said plate member is disposed beneath said superincumbent sheets and said paper clamp bears against said superincumbent sheets.

3. The method of removing a selected sheet or sheets of paper from beneath one or more superincumbent sheets, all of which sheets are fastened in a file folder by a fastener having a plurality of manually malleable prongs, which prongs pass through holes punched in each of said sheets, comprising the steps of:
erecting said prongs;
inserting a plate member between said selected sheet or sheets and said one or more superincumbent sheets;
clamping said superincumbent sheets to said plate member;
removing said plate member and said superincumbent sheets from said prongs; and removing aid selected sheet or sheets from said prongs.

4. The method claimed in claim 3 in which said plate member is provided with notches for receiving said prongs further comprising the steps of:
opening said paper clamps translating said plate member between said selected sheet or sheets and said one or more superincumbent sheets until said prongs are received in a corresponding plurality of said notches; and closing said clamp to clamp said one or more superincumbent sheets to said plate member.