Bookbinding: process and apparatus – Apparatus – Edge binding apparatus
Reexamination Certificate
2001-05-11
2004-01-06
Carter, Monica (Department: 3922)
Bookbinding: process and apparatus
Apparatus
Edge binding apparatus
C083S879000, C156S196000, C412S004000, C412S008000, C412S009000, C412S025000, C493S061000, C493S355000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06672815
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to binding books and, in particular, to preparing and applying book covers to bound stack to provide a soft cover book.
2. Description of Related Art
Bookbinding systems using binder strips are becoming increasingly popular. One such prior art system is disclosed in U.S. application Ser. No. 09/216,281 filed on Dec. 18, 1998 and entitled BOOKBINDING STRUCTURE AND METHOD. As will become more apparent, one disadvantage of the bookbinding structure and associated method disclosed in the '281 application relates to the last step where the cover is attached to the bound stack. This step requires a certain amount of skill and does not lend itself to the manufacture of multiple books.
There is a need for an improved method and apparatus to complete the manufacture of soft cover books. This would permit, for example, a bookstore to maintain a limited inventory of selected soft cover titles. When a customer enters the bookstore to purchase on the selected soft cover books, a clerk can simply download the text off the internet or from some other source. All of the book can then be printed in real time while the customer is waiting. Preprinted soft covers can then be prepared and applied to the book by a store clerk having minimal training and minimal bookbinding skills. In this way, a large number of titles can be made available and can be manufactured essentially on demand without the need of maintaining a large inventory of books.
In order to more fully appreciate the present invention, the prior art bookbinding structure and system noted above will now be described. Referring to the drawings,
FIG. 1A
is an exploded perspective view of the various layers one embodiment of a prior art bookbinding structure
1
. In the this embodiment, the bookbinding structure
1
includes an elongated substrate
6
having a length which corresponds to the length of the stack of pages (not depicted) to be bound and a width which exceeds the thickness of the stack by at least a minimum amount so that the edges of the substrate
6
will extend around the edge of the stack and slightly over the front and back pages of the stack, as will be described. Substrate
6
is preferably made of a formable material such as heavy weight paper.
A layer of pressure activated adhesive
3
is disposed on one surface of the substrate
6
, with a heat activated adhesive matrix
4
being disposed facing the opposite substrate surface. The pressure activated adhesive
3
is typically a permanently binding adhesive which, once activated by applying pressure, produces a relatively permanent bond. One such pressure activated adhesive is sold under the designation HL-2593 by H. B. Fuller Company of St. Paul, Minn. The Fuller HL-2593 pressure activated adhesive can be subjected briefly to high temperatures, up to about 425° F., without decomposing. The ability of the pressure activated adhesive
3
to withstand high temperatures is important because the bookbinding structure
1
is subjected briefly to high temperatures during the binding process, which will be described in more detail below. The pressure activated adhesive is preferably 0.003 to 0.005 inches thick.
The pressure activated adhesive
3
is covered with a removable release liner
5
, as shown in
FIG. 1A
, to act as a barrier between the pressure activated adhesive
3
and the environment. The release liner
5
is preferably a silicon coated paper, such as made by Akrosil, Inc. of Menasha, Wis. under the designation Silox™ SBL60SC F1U/F4B. The surfaces of the coated paper can have varying release levels, with a low or easy release level indicating that the paper can be separated with little force and a high or tight release level indicating the separation requires a relatively large amount of force. The designation F4B indicates that the release level of the liner surface contacting the pressure sensitive adhesive layer
3
has a medium release level, with the opposite surface of the liner having a low or easy release level as indicated by the designation F1U.
The heat activated adhesive matrix
4
is comprised of a center adhesive
4
A which extends along the longitudinal axis of the substrate
6
and a pair of outer adhesive bands
4
B. The center adhesive band
4
A, which is a heat activated adhesive of relatively low viscosity, is the primary adhesive for binding the pages together. The center adhesive
4
A is typically 0.015 inch thick. An adhesive, sold under the designation Cool Bind 34-1301 by National Starch & Chemical Company of Bridgewater, N.J., has been found to be suitable as the center adhesive band
4
A. The center adhesive band
4
A preferably extends over slightly less than the full length of the bookbinding structure
1
so that there are end gaps without the center adhesive
4
A. In addition, the center adhesive band is at least as wide as the thickness of the stack
13
to be bound so that all of the pages of the stack will be exposed to the low viscosity adhesive.
The outer adhesive bands
4
B are comprised of a heat activated adhesive of relatively high viscosity when activated and possesses a high degree of tackiness. The outer adhesive bands
4
B function to attach the substrate
6
to the front and back pages of the stack. The outer adhesive bands
4
B preferably extend along the entire length of substrate
6
and are 0.010 inch thick. An adhesive sold under the designation HB HL-1777 by H. B. Fuller Company of St. Paul, Minn., may be used for the outer adhesive bands
4
B.
The
FIG. 1A
bookbinding structure further includes an undercoat adhesive layer
7
disposed intermediate the adhesive matrix
4
and the substrate
6
. The undercoat adhesive is heat activated and is relatively thin, typically 0.003 inches thick. The undercoat is preferably the same type of adhesive used in the outer adhesive bands
4
B and functions to act as a barrier so as to prevent the low viscosity central adhesive band
4
A from passing through the substrate
6
. In addition, the undercoat adhesive prevents all of the low viscosity adhesive of central band
4
A from being drawn up between the pages of the stack which may leave essentially no adhesive intermediate the edges of the pages and the substrate
6
.
The manner in which the
FIG. 1A
bookbinding structure
1
is applied to the stack
13
and used to bind the stack will be subsequently described. However, once the stack of pages has been bound, the structure
1
and stack
13
appear as shown in FIG.
4
. As can be seen, the structure
1
is positioned on the bound edge of stack
13
. Note that the bound stack
13
does not include a cover at this stage of the sequence, with top of the stack being the first page and the bottom of the stack being the last page.
The pressure sensitive adhesive
3
is exposed by manually removing the release liner
5
as shown in the drawing. A cover assembly or book cover
2
is positioned on a flat surface as shown in FIG.
5
. The bound book
13
is then carefully positioned above the cover
2
so that the stack is aligned with the right hand portion of the cover, with the bound edge of the stack being positioned near the center of the cover. After alignment, the stack
13
is lowered on to the book cover
2
so that the bottom portion of the exposed adhesive contacts the cover. Once this occurs, it is not practical to attempt to realign the stack
13
relative to the cover
2
since the adhesive bond is permanent. Accordingly, it is important that the alignment be correct in the first instance. It has been found that an “L” shaped ruler, referred to as a carpenter's square, can be placed on the work surface and used to carry out the alignment. Among other things, the present invention to be described addresses this stage of the book assembly process.
As shown in
FIG. 6
, once the stack
13
has been properly positioned on the cover assembly
2
, the assembly is manually folded around the edge of the bound stack. Pressure is applied to the outer surface of the cove
Elliott William M.
Kasom Wayne
Parker Kevin P.
Steiner Evelyn
Carter Monica
Girard & Equitz LLP
Powis Parker Inc.
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