1. A ring binder mechanism for retaining loose-leaf pages, the mechanism comprising:
a housing having longitudinal ends;
first and second hinge plates supported by the housing for pivoting motion relative to the housing about a pivot axis;
rings for holding loose-leaf pages, each ring including a first ring member mounted on the first hinge plate and moveable with the pivoting motion of the first hinge plate, each ring further including a second ring member, the first ring member being movable relative to the second ring member so that in a closed position the two ring members form a substantially continuous, closed loop for allowing loose-leaf pages retained by the rings to be moved along the rings from one ring member to the other, and in an open position the two ring members form a discontinuous, open loop for adding or removing loose-leaf pages from the rings;
a travel bar and a locking element, the travel bar and locking element being free of fixed connection to the hinge plates and movable in translation relative to both the housing and the hinge plates, the travel bar being disposed for blocking the pivoting motion of the hinge plates in a locking position of the travel bar when the ring members are in the closed position;
an actuating lever mounted for pivoting movement relative to the housing further comprising two arms positioned to engage the hinge plates and produce the pivoting motion of the hinge plates; and
an elongate link connecting the actuating lever to the travel bar such that pivoting motion of the actuating lever produces the translational movement of the travel bar, wherein the elongate link is oriented so it extends longitudinally relative to the housing.
2. A ring binder mechanism as set forth in claim 1 wherein the two arms are separated by a channel, a portion of each hinge plate being received in the channel.
3. A ring binder mechanism as set forth in claim 2 wherein for each of the hinge plates, said portion that is received in the channel comprise a relatively narrow finger.
4. A ring binder mechanism as set forth in claim 1 further comprising a tension spring including a first end connected to the travel bar between two ends of the travel bar, the tension spring biasing the travel bar to a position toward one longitudinal end of the housing corresponding with the locking position of the travel bar.
5. A ring binder mechanism as set forth in claim 4 wherein the tension spring includes a second end connected to the hinge plates.
6. A ring binder mechanism as set forth in claim 4 wherein the tension spring includes a second end connected to the housing.
7. A ring binder mechanism as set forth in claim 6 wherein the travel bar is slidably fixed to the housing by at least one rivet.
8. A ring binder mechanism as set forth in claim 1 wherein the link comprises a wire.
9. A ring binder mechanism as set forth in claim 1 wherein the locking element is positioned between the hinge plates and the housing and substantially out of registration with an opening in the hinge plates when the travel bar is the locking position, the travel bar being moveable by pivoting movement of the actuating lever to a non-locking position in which the locking element is in registration with the opening in the hinge plates and does not block pivoting movement of the hinge plates.
10. A ring binder mechanism as set forth in claim 9 wherein the housing exerts a spring force on the hinge plates biasing the ring members against movement toward the open position with the ring members are in the closed position.
11. A ring binder mechanism as set forth in claim 1 in combination with a cover, the ring binder mechanism being mounted on the cover, the cover being hinged for movement to selectively cover and expose loose-leaf pages retained on the ring binder mechanism.
12. A ring binder mechanism as set forth in claim 1 wherein the link has an elongate opening therein for receiving a mounting post.
13. A ring binder mechanism as set forth in claim 1 wherein the link comprises an elongate beam having flanges on opposite sides.
14. A ring binder mechanism as set forth in claim 1 further comprising a pin pivotally connecting the link to the actuating lever.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A gas separation membrane, which comprises a porous support membrane and a gas-separating thin film that comprises a gas-separating resin as a main component, and which has an oxygen permeation rate not smaller than 100 GPU and an oxygen-nitrogen separation factor not smaller than 1.1.
2. The gas separation membrane according to claim 1, wherein the porous support membrane is a polymeric microporous membrane having a porosity of 20% to 80%, the gas separation membrane comprises the gas-separating thin film having an average thickness of 0.01 \u03bcm to 5 \u03bcm at least on one surface, andor the interior of the polymeric microporous membrane, the oxygen-nitrogen separation factor of the gas-separating resin being not smaller than 1.5.
3. The gas separation membrane according to claim 1, wherein the porous support membrane is a polymeric microporous membrane having a porosity of 20% to 80%, the gas-separating resin forms a thin film in an amount from 0.01 gm2 to 10 gm2 at least on one surface, andor the interior of the polymeric microporous membrane, and the oxygen-nitrogen separation factor of the resin is not smaller than 1.5.
4. The gas separation membrane according to claim 2, wherein the polymeric microporous membrane is a microporous membrane formed using a polyolefin as a main component.
5. The gas separation membrane according to claim 4, wherein the polymeric microporous membrane is a polyolefin microporous membrane manufactured by wet separation process.
6. The gas separation membrane according to claim 4, wherein the polymeric microporous membrane contains one or two types selected from among ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene having a viscosity average molecular weight of 300,000 to 4,000,000 and polypropylene having a viscosity average molecular weight of 100,000 to 3,000,000.
7. The gas separation membrane according to claim 2, wherein the polymeric microporous membrane is a microporous membrane comprising microfibrils having a network structure.
8. The gas separation membrane according to claim 2, wherein the polymeric microporous membrane has a thickness of 5 \u03bcm to 200 \u03bcm.
9. The gas separation membrane according to claim 2, wherein the polymeric microporous membrane has an average pore diameter of 1 nm to 300 nm by gas-liquid porometry.
10. The gas separation membrane according to claim 2, wherein the average pore diameter of the polymeric microporous membrane is 0.01 to 0.3 \u03bcm, and the pore diameter distribution index is 1.1 to 1.5 by a pullulan method.
11. The gas separation membrane according to claim 2, wherein the air permeability of the polymeric microporous membrane is 50 to 1500 seconds.
12. The gas separation membrane according to claim 2, wherein the piercing strength at 100\xb0 C. of the polymeric microporous membrane is 1 to 50 N.
13. The gas separation membrane according to claim 2, wherein the thermal shrinkage of the polymeric microporous membrane at 100\xb0 C. is not greater than 5% both in the longitudinal and transversal directions.
14. The gas separation membrane according to claim 1, wherein the gas-separating resin is a fluorine-containing gas-separating thin film comprising a fluororesin.
15. The gas separation membrane according to claim 1, wherein the gas-separating resin is a fluororesin having an oxygen-nitrogen separation factor not smaller than 1.5.
16. The gas separation membrane according to claim 1, wherein the gas-separating resin is a copolymer of perfluoro-2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxol and tetrafluoroethylene.
17. The gas separation membrane according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the gas-separating thin film ranges from 0.01 \u03bcm to less than 1 \u03bcm.
18. The gas separation membrane according to claim 1, wherein the gas-separating resin forms a thin film in an amount of 0.01 gm2 to 10 gm2.
19. The gas separation membrane according to claim 1, wherein the thermal shrinkage at 100\xb0 C. of the gas separation membrane is not greater than 5% both in the longitudinal and transversal directions.
20. The gas separation membrane according to claim 1, wherein the piercing strength of the gas separation membrane at 100\xb0 C. is 1 to 50 N.
21. The gas separation membrane according to claim 1, wherein the oxygen-nitrogen separation factor of the gas separation membrane is not smaller than 1.5.
22. A nitrogen enriching membrane comprising the gas separation membrane according to claim 1.
23. An oxygen enriching membrane comprising the gas separation membrane according to claim 1.
24. A method for manufacturing the gas separation membrane according to claim 1, comprising: a film formation step of obtaining a solution by dissolving a polymer resin in a plasticizer at a temperature not lower than the melting point of the polymer resin, obtaining then a gel by cooling said solution at a temperature not higher than the crystallization temperature of the polymer resin, and forming a film using the gel; a stretching step of forming a stretched film by biaxially stretching, by a 4-fold or more stretch ratio, the film obtained in the film formation step; a plasticizer removal step of removing the plasticizer from the stretched film obtained in the stretching step; and a coating and drying step of coating a solution of a gas-separating resin onto the polymeric microporous membrane obtained in the plasticizer removal step and drying the solution of the gas-separating resin.