Additional member attaching apparatus and binding system including the same

An additional member attaching apparatus connectable to a binder and configured to supply an additional member from outside of the binder and attach the additional member to a glue-applied spine of a book block stopped at an additional member attaching position inside the binder, the additional member attaching apparatus comprising:

• a roll accommodation unit that accommodates a roll of a continuous sheet of the additional member rotatably about an axis;
• a unwinding unit that unwinds and draws the continuous sheet of additional member from the roll accommodation unit to a trimming station;
• a trimming unit that is arranged in the trimming station and cuts and trims the continuous sheet of additional member unwound and drawn by the unwinding unit in accordance with a size of the book block to form a strip of additional member;
• wherein the trimming unit has a first cutter that cuts the continuous sheet of additional member, which was unwound and drawn by the unwinding unit, in a direction transverse to an unwinding direction by a length in accordance with a thickness of the book block, and has a second cutter that trims the additional member, which was cut by the first cutter, in the unwinding direction in accordance with a head-to-foot length of the book block,
• wherein the book block stopped at the additional member attaching position stands upright,
• wherein the additional member attaching apparatus further comprises an additional member transfer and attaching unit, the additional member transfer and attaching unit includes:
• a gripper configured to grip the strip of additional member while supporting an under face of the strip of additional member,
• a first gripper drive mechanism configured to cause the gripper to move between a retracted position inside a housing and a forward position outside the housing,
• a second gripper drive mechanism configured to cause the gripper to move between the forward position and a raised position above the forward position, and
• a handover unit configured to hand over the strip of the additional member from the trimming station to the gripper in the retracted position,
• wherein in a state where the additional member attaching apparatus is connected to the binder, the forward position of the gripper is right under the spine of the book block stopped at the additional member attaching position inside the binder, and the gripper in the raised position presses the strip of additional member to the spine of the book block.