Sheet-material associating – With printing – Personalized printing
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-12
2001-10-16
Nguyen, Hoang (Department: 3748)
Sheet-material associating
With printing
Personalized printing
C270S058050, C412S004000, C412S013000, C412S019000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06302388
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates, generally, to an apparatus and a method for securing an item to a cover of printed material (e.g., a magazine or the like) and, more particularly, to an apparatus and a method for securing items to covers of printed materials for advertising and promotional value, and thereafter securing the covers to respective book blocks (e.g., groups of signatures), all in the same in-line processing system.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Collating and binding systems are well known in the printing industry for mass producing printed products, such as booklets, magazines, catalogues, advertising brochures and the like. Typically, one or more sharply folded and generally pre-printed blanks or signatures are sequentially fed by a number of spaced signature feeders. The signatures are delivered such that the signatures come to rest upon a collating conveyor which travels past the signature feeders. The conveyor gathers the signatures, one on top of the other, into a book block and moves the book block to a binding station where a cover is applied.
Recently, it has become desirable to secure items to printed products. As used herein, the term item refers to any object that is attached to a printed product by means other than by binding, and that is smaller (e.g., in surface area) than the printed product to which it is attached. For example, it may be desirable to secure a credit card, envelope, sample packet, computer diskette, musical CD, or other items to printed products. In order to accomplish this, it is known to glue the items directly to the individual signatures, one at a time, and then transport the signatures in a shingled stream to a downstream operation (e.g., the gatherer).
It can be appreciated that the transport of signatures from the attaching device to the subsequent operation can be difficult in view of the fact that the signatures have protruding items attached. This can result in problems associated with smooth transport of the signatures, particularly in a shingled stream. The problem is particularly evident in the case of magazine covers, which are typically fed individually from a stack by a cover feeder. Items secured to the covers tend to interfere with feeding the covers from the stack. U.S. Pat. No. 5,634,633 provides an apparatus and a method, in one aspect, to alleviate this problem by securing items to the covers after the covers are fed from the corresponding cover feeder, and before the covers are secured to signatures or book blocks.
Securing items to printed materials provides promotional and advertising benefits. However, existing apparatuses and methods often position items in areas of the printed materials other than the covers because this can be easier and more efficient to accomplish. In such cases, the items are not readily visible to subscribers or prospective purchasers absent the printed materials being opened- As a result, the initial advertising or promotional value of securing an item to a printed material is reduced.
Many existing apparatuses and methods require separate processes or processing lines to insert and secure items to printed materials and thereafter affix the created assemblies to book blocks. In other words, many existing apparatuses and methods require off-line procedures or separate processes if it is desired to secure items to the printed materials thereby diminishing the overall potential profit margin. Off-line procedures or separate procedures result in, as can be appreciated by those skilled in the art, among other things, increased production time and expenses.
Other known apparatuses and methods secure items to printed materials in off-line procedures but require a large amount of additional paper or stock which is then manipulated multiple times to provide a holding area for the items. As can be appreciated, using more paper or stock adds undesirable costs to the overall end products.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
There exists a need in the art for an apparatus and a method which secure items to the covers of printed materials such that the items are viewable without having to open the printed materials, for an apparatus and a method which are capable of accomplishing the foregoing feature in a single in-line processing system, for an apparatus and a method which allow items to be secured to the covers of printed materials without having to provide excessive material or stock for the covers, and for an apparatus and a method for securing items to the covers of printed materials which are more efficient and economical than what has hitherto been possible.
The present invention accomplishes the foregoing features and other features and solves the noted problems and other problems of the prior art by providing an apparatus and a method that secure items to covers before the covers are secured to signatures or book blocks. The covers preferably are adapted to enable the items secured thereto to be viewed from the outside without having to open the printed materials or book blocks. Moreover, items are secured to the covers and the covers are thereafter attached to book blocks in an in-line single operation, thereby eliminating the cost and complexity normally attributable to off-line or multiple step operations.
In one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a cover applicator for attaching covers to signatures and a signature supplier appropriately positioned to provide at least one signature to the cover applicator. A cover stack feeder is positioned along a conveyor line of the cover applicator to feed covers to the conveyor line. A folding mechanism is positioned along the conveyor line for selectively folding the covers to create flap portions on the covers. Preferably, single flaps are created on the covers. An item feeder is properly positioned along the conveyor line to feed items in separated relation to the covers such that the items are placed under the respective flap portions of the covers. An adhesive applicator is positioned along the conveyor line to deposit adhesive between the flap portions and the respective mating portions of the covers. The flap portions are secured to the covers to create envelope areas adaptable to surround and secure the items to the covers. Once an item is secured to a cover, the cover is secured to a book block. Alternatively, a perforated flap, slot or the like may be provided in the flap portions or other portions of the covers so that the items may be removed from the envelope areas of the covers through the flaps or slots. The folded envelopes and perforated flaps or slots are designed such that the items secured to the covers cannot be removed from the covers absent an intervening force.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a plastic like applicator is positioned along the conveyor line to deposit plastic like material directly over the items in order to secure the items to the covers. In this embodiment, folded flaps are not required to secure the items to the covers. After an item is placed on a cover, a plastic like shell is applied over the item to secure the item to the cover. In one aspect, the plastic like material mates with a bead of adhesive and in another aspect, the plastic like material is provided with its own sticky perimeter to mate with the cover of the printed material. To remove the items from the covers, the plastic like material is simply peeled off to allow access to the items, or the covers may be provided with removal perforated flaps or slots much like those previously mentioned. In this embodiment, because no extra material or stock is needed to create pockets on the covers, no extra expense is incurred since oversized covers need not be provided.
In a preferred embodiment, as noted, the covers are provided with cut-out openings allowing the items to be displayed through the covers of the printed materials. The cut-out openings are preferably smaller in size than the portions of the items being viewed so that the items do not inadvertently fall through the covers. Moreover, if the
Geres John C.
Graushar William T.
Michael & Best & Friedrich LLP
Nguyen Hoang
Quad Graphics, Inc.
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