Disc-Binding Systems

Information on disc binding systems and manufacturers.

Disc Binding is a loose-leaf notebook binding that uses discs to hold the sheets of paper together.

History

• Invented by Andre Tomas and Andre Martin (from whom the Atoma brand name was derived)
• Patented in 1948

Manufacturers and their Systems

Company	System Name	Availability
Aurora Productions	ADOC	Belgium
Atoma	Atoma	Belgium
Boxclever Press (formerly called “Organised Mum”)	Busy Days Planner	UK
Clairefontaine	Clairing	France
Ftdc (defunct)
Levenger	Circa	US
Rollabind		US
Me and My Big Ideas	Happy Planner
Myndology		US
Office Depot	TUL
Staples	ARC	US
Wiltdam Hannah		UK

Disc Sizes

According to Levenger:

Disc Size	Number of Pages
3″	450
2½″	400
2″	350
1½″	200
1″	150
¾″	120
½″	80
¼″	50

Exact numbers will depend on page thickness.

Page Sizes

European Systems

	A4	A5	A6
	210 ✕ 297 mm	148 ✕ 210 mm	105 ✕ 148 mm
	8.3″ ✕ 11.7″	5.8″ ✕ 8.3″	4.1″ ✕ 5.8″
ADOC	12-discs	8-discs	6-discs
Atoma	11-discs	8-discs	6-discs
Clairfontaine*	11-discs
Staples	11-discs	8-discs
William Hannah		8-discs	6-discs

^*Clairfontaine also make notebooks containing 165 ✕ 210mm (a kind of wide-A5) paper, bound with 8-discs.

US Systems

Common Name	EU	US	Number of Discs
Letter	216 ✕ 279 mm	8.5″ ✕ 11″	11 or 10
Junior* (Half Letter /  Memo)	140 ✕ 216 mm	5.5″ ✕ 8.5″	8
Compact		3.75″ ✕ 6.75″	7
PDA (index cards)		3″ ✕ 5″
Micro PDA (business-card size)		2″ ✕ 3.5″

*Not to be confused with “Legal Junior”.

• Rollabind – Letter, possibly others
• Levenger (US) – Letter, Junior, Compact
• Myndology – Letter (10-discs), Journal (6.5″ ✕ 8.5″ 8-discs), Index (5-discs), Note (2-discs)
• Office Depot (US) – Letter, Junior

Other Systems

• Busy Days – Size Unknown (9-discs)
• Happy Planner (7″ ✕ 9.25″)

Acknowledgements

• Image Public Domain, by Ryan Rassmussen, via Wikipedia