A ring mechanism for retaining loose leaf pages has a housing and hinge plates supported by the housing for pivoting motion relative to the housing. Ring members are mounted on the hinge plates and are moveable between a closed position and an open position. An actuator is mounted on the housing for movement relative to the housing for causing pivoting motion of the hinge plates. A locking element releasably locks the closed ring members in a locked position and releases the closed ring members to move to the open position in an unlocked position. An intermediate connector operably connects the locking element to the actuator. The intermediate connector is deformable during movement of the actuator.
