Rotary Card Holder

The present invention relates to a rotary card holder having a rotor which is manually rotatable about a horizontal axis and carries a multiplicity of cards which are loosely mounted on the rotor and are sequentially presented to the view of a user as the rotor is manually rotated.

Rotary card holders are widely used for name and address lists, telephone indices and many other uses where it is desired to provide for storage of information which can be readily and conveniently retrieved. A rotary card holder is highly useful and convenient since the rotor will hold a large number of cards which can be presented to the view of a user merely by rotating the rotor.

The cards are loosely mounted on the rotor by means of T-shaped notches in the inner edges of the cards which fit loosely over T-shaped ribs extending circumferentially of the rotor. When the rotor is rotated in a direction away from the user, the cards on the side of the rotor facing the user are sequentially lifted up until they assume an upright position whereupon they are pivoted rearwardly by gravity so as to be separated from following cards and thereby presented to the view of the user. Conversely, if the rotor is turned in a direction toward the user, the cards are sequentially lifted up on the rear side of the rotor and when they reach an upright position, pivot forwardly by gravity. By reason of the pivotal mounting of the cards on the rotor, there is a greater mass of cards on the side of the rotor on which the cards are being lifted. Hence, if the rotor is manually turned and then released, the action of gravity on the cards tends to turn the rotor in the reverse direction until equilibrium is reached. A number of devices have been previously proposed for retaining the rotor in the position to which it has been turned. However, such devices have not been found to be entirely satisfactory. Among objections to devices that have been heretofore proposed, are that they are expensive to manufacture and assemble, not entirely reliable or are noisy in operation.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a rotary card holder having improved means for holding the rotor in the position to which it has been turned by the user. Thus, the card which the user desires to view is kept in viewable position until the rotor is again turned to select another card.

In accordance with the present invention as will appear more fully from the following description, a spring mounted in a knob by which the rotor is manually turned, frictionally engages an annular boss provided on the case in which the rotor is rotatably mounted so as frictionally to retain the rotor in a position to which it has been turned by the user. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the spring comprises a V-shaped leaf spring, the ends of which engage the inside of an annular flange on the knob while central portions are pressed by resiliency of the spring against the annular boss which is provided on an outer face of the case concentrically with a shaft by which the rotor is rotatably mounted in the case. The construction in accordance with the invention has the advantages of being simple and economical to produce and effective, reliable and silent in operation.

The nature and advantages of the invention will be more fully understood from the following description of a preferred embodiment which is shown by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a card holder in accordance with the invention. A single card is shown in broken lines to illustrate how the cards are mounted on the rotor of the card holder.

FIG. 2 is a side view looking at the left-hand side of the card holder as viewed in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view on a larger scale of the upper left-hand portion of the card holder shown in FIG. 1 but with the knob by which the rotor is rotatable removed.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the inside of the knob.

FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view taken approximately on the line 5--5 in FIG. 6, and

FIG. 6 is a cross section taken approximately on the line 6--6 in FIG. 5.

The rotary card holder shown by way of example in the drawings comprises a frame or case 1 having at opposite sides upstanding support portions 1a and 1b. As viewed from the side of the card holder (FIG. 2) the support portions 1a and 1b are approximately sector shaped. The case has a circular base portion 1c and is pivotally mounted on a circular base 2 by means of a pivot shaft 3 concentric with the base 2 and the base portion 1c of the case. The base 2 is provided with foot portions 2a by means of which it is adapted to rest on a desk or other suitable supporting surface. By reason of the pivotal mounting of the case 1 on the base 2, the case can be turned to whatever position is most convenient for a user. The case 1 and base 2 are conveniently molded of suitable plastic material.

A cylindrical rotor 4 extends between the two side supports 1a and 1b of the case 1 and is rotatably mounted in the case by a shaft 5 which projects from opposite ends of the rotor and extends through the side supports 1a and 1b in which it is rotatably supported by bearings 6. The rotor 4 is provided with circumferentially extending ribs 4a which are T-shaped in cross section to receive a multiplicity of cards C of which one is shown in broken lines in FIG. 1. The cards are provided at their inner edges with C-shaped notches C1 which are adapted to snap over the ribs 4a so as to mount the cards on the rotor 4. The notches C1 are of sufficient depth to permit a limited amount of pivoting of the cards relative to the rotor. In practice, a large number of cards are mounted on the rotor but for the sake of clarity, only one is shown in the drawing. The array of cards on the rotor may, if desired, include index cards having projecting tabs bearing suitable letters, numbers or other characters for identification.

The rotor 4 is manually rotatable about a horizontal axis by means of knobs 7 and 8 fixed on opposite ends of the rotor shaft 5. As seen in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 the knob 7 has an inwardly projecting hub portion 7a which fits tightly on an end of the rotor shaft 5. The shaft is preferably provided on one side with a flat surface engaging a corresponding flat surface in the hub 7a to assure that the shaft turns with the knob. Moreover, the hub is split longitudinally into three sectors and is embraced by a coil spring 9 which tends to constrict the hub and thereby retain it securely on the end of the shaft.

The knob 7 is further provided with an annular flange 7b which projects inwardly toward the side support 1a of the case. The flange 7b surrounds and is spaced radially from an annular boss 1d which projects outwardly from the side support 1a. The boss 1d in turn surrounds and is spaced radially from the hub 7a of the knob. The annular flange 7b and annular boss 1d are concentric with the axis of the shaft 5. The annular boss 1d is conveniently molded integrally with the case 1. Likewise, the knob 7 is conveniently molded of suitable plastic material with integral hub portion and annular flange.

In accordance with the present invention, spring means is provided between the annular flange 7b of the knob 7 and the annular boss 1d of the case frictionally to retain the knob 7 and thereby retain the rotor 4 in whatever position it has been turned by the user. As seen in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, the spring means comprises a flat, leaf spring 10 which is inserted between the annular hub 1d and the annular flange 7b so that the ends of the spring bear on the inside of the flange 7b while intermediate portions of the spring frictionally engage the outer surface of the annular boss 1d of the case. The spring 10 is rotationally fixed with respect to the knob 7 by engagement of ends of the spring with abutments on the inner surface of the annular flange 7b. The abutments are shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 as inwardly projecting teeth on the flange 7b. The series of teeth can extend throughout the circumferential extent of the flange and have the advantage that the spring can be assembled in any desired position with respect to the knob. Moreover, the tension on the spring can be selected when the spring is being assembled in the knob according to the teeth that the ends of the spring engage. However, it is sufficient to provide a single abutment for each end of the spring.

In relaxed condition the spring 10 is V-shaped as seen in FIG. 4. When the knob 7 is assembled on the shaft of the rotor, the spring 10 is bowed outwardly by the annular boss 1d so that the spring by its resilience is pressed into frictionally engagement with the boss. Since the boss is stationary and since the spring 10 is rotationally fixed with respect to the knob 7, frictional engagement of the spring 10 with the boss 1d retains the knob 7 and hence the rotor 4 in the position to which it has been turned by the knobs 7 and 8.

The knob 8 can, if desired, be identical with the knob 7 and provided with a spring frictionally engaging an annular boss on the outer face of the side support 1b. Alternatively, a spring may be provided in only one of the knobs in which event the other knob need not have an inwardly projecting flange and the respective side support of the case need not have an outwardly projecting annular boss.

While a preferred embodiment has been shown by way of example in the drawings, it will be recognized that modifications can be made while still retaining the substance and advantages of the invention. Thus, while the spring 10 is shown as a flat leaf spring bent to a V shape, it can be of different cross section and of different shape. Moreover, the positions of the annular flange 7b and the annular boss 1d can be reversed so that the flange is radially inwardly of the boss. In this event the spring is preferably rotationally fixed with respect to the boss and bears frictionally on the flange of the knob. Still other modifications will occur to those skilled in the art.