Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture – Methods – Surface bonding and/or assembly therefor
Patent
1994-01-19
1995-10-31
Simmons, David A.
Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture
Methods
Surface bonding and/or assembly therefor
156252, 156265, 156293, 156479, 156513, 156519, 156520, B32B 3118
Patent
active
054626250
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for producing tabbed or indexed sheets.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Tabbed or indexed sheets are used as dividers, for example, in ring binders or in other stationery applications. In the simplest form, the material forming a sheet is cut to define a tab projecting from its leading edge. However, where a number of such sheets are to be used, they each need to have their tab at a different position along the leading edge, and this complicates the manufacture. In addition, where the tab is formed of the sheet material, the tab may not be sufficiently strong to withstand wear and tear. Increasingly, reinforced tabs, for example of polyester sheets are provided. For example, each tab may be formed by a strip of the reinforcing material secured to the leading edge of the sheet. This has the advantage that the tabs are relatively strong, and additionally different colour tabs can be provided to aid the user distinguish between the sheets. The reinforcing material forming the tab may be arranged to leave a space between two facing parts whereby an insertable tab is defined. Furthermore, irrespective of the manner of their formation, each tab may be printed with a letter, a number, or other indexing marks so that a set of the tabbed sheets provides an index.
Because each tab is at a different position along the leading edge of its sheet, may be of a different colour, and may carry an index letter or number, the production of such tabbed or index sheets currently requires the use of large, complex and expensive machinery. Frequently, for speed, a quantity of sheets having one particular configuration are fabricated, and then a quantity of sheets having a different configuration are made, and so on. A collator is then used to form sets each including one sheet of each configuration. For example, in its first configuration, a sheet may have a tab at one end of its leading edge, the tab being printed with the letter "A". A second configuration of sheet may have a tab spaced from the one end of its leading edge by about the width of a tab and printed with the letter "B", and so on.
The present invention seeks to provide a method and apparatus for producing tabbed or indexed sheets which is simpler and more convenient than the known methods.
According to the present invention there is provided a method of producing a tabbed sheet from sheet material, the method comprising the steps of forming at least one aperture in the sheet material, inserting a length of reinforcing material through said aperture and securing the reinforcing material to the opposed faces of the sheet material, and cutting the sheet material to define a leading edge for the sheet from which said reinforcing material protrudes and defines a tab.
In a preferred embodiment, the reinforcing material within said aperture is folded to define a leading edge for said tab which remains uncut for strength.
In a preferred embodiment, said aperture is an elongate slot arranged proximate to and extending substantially parallel to the leading edge of the sheet to be formed. Preferably, the reinforcing material is inserted into the slot and is then folded and crimped to engage one edge of the elongate slot and to be substantially flat along the opposed faces of the sheet material. The reinforcing material may be secured to the opposed faces by any suitable means. In a preferred embodiment, the securing means may be heat sealing, thermoplastics, or thermosetting means. For example, the reinforcing material may be thermoplastics and arranged to adhere to the sheet upon heating.
In an alternative embodiment, each said aperture comprises a substantially elongate slot arranged proximate to and substantially parallel to the leading edge of the sheet to be formed, the aperture further having a cut out portion extending from one edge of the slot. As previously, a length of a reinforcing material is inserted into the aperture and secured to opposed faces of the sheet. The tab is defined suc
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Gordon David P.
Helmer Steven J.
Simmons David A.
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