Book Binding Adhesive Application Controller

A device for controlling the application of glue to the spine of a book during the bookbinding process, said device comprising:

• a glue wheel coated with glue for application to the spine of the book;
• a doctor blade to control the glue on the glue wheel;
• and
• a means for controlling said doctor blade to control the glue on the glue wheel.

A device for controlling the application of glue to the spine of a book in the bookbinding process, said device comprising:

• a glue pot for holding glue;
• a glue wheel place in said glue pot such that said glue wheel will pick up glue when present in the glue pot;
• a binder carriage holing a multiplicity of binder clamps;
• said binder clamps holding a stack of pages to be bound into a book, wherein the portion of the stack of pages extending from said binder clamp will create a spine of a book after the application of the glue;
• wherein said binder carriage moves said binder clamps through said system such that said spine of said book moves across a top portion of said glue wheel such that said glue is applied to said spine of said book;
• a doctor blade for controlling the glue on said glue wheel, said doctor blade positioned in close proximity to said glue wheel and having a means for adjusting the position of said doctor blade to prevent the presence of glue on the top portion of the glue wheel and to control the thickness of the glue on the top portion of the glue wheel;
• said means for adjusting the position of said doctor blade consisting of a servo motor attached to said doctor blade, wherein said servo motor can move the doctor blade from a closed position that prevents glue on the glue wheel from reaching said top portion of said glue wheel to an opened position that allows glue on the glue wheel to reach said top portion of said glue wheel and can control the position of said doctor blade between said closed position and said opened position to control the thickness of the glue on the top of the glue wheel;
• a control system for monitoring the position of the binder clamps within said binder carriage and in communication with said means for adjusting the positioning of said doctor blade such that the doctor blade can be opened and closed to precisely position the glue on the spine of the book;
• said control system consisting of an electric eye to monitor the presence of a book in one of the binder clamps, an encoder to monitor the movement of the binder clamps in the system, and a control device in electronic communication with said electric eye and said encoder, and in further electronic communication with said servo motor;
• wherein said control device consists of a computer running industrial operations software, and wherein said control device is provided parameters of operation including the size of the binder carriage, the number of binder clamps in said binder carriage, the spacing between binder clamps, the size of the spine of the book within the binder clamp, and the position of the top of the glue wheel, and wherein further said electric eye indicates to the control device the presence of a book in a book clamp, and said encoder provides movement of the binder clamp to the control system, and wherein said control system determined when to open said doctor blade based on the position of said book spine in relation to said top of said glue wheel, and wherein further said control system sends a control signal to said servo motor and said servo motor moves said doctor blade to said open position to impart glue on said book spine at said desired position, and wherein said control system sends a control signal to said servo motor moves said doctor blade to said closed position to stop the glue from reaching the top of said glue wheel and thus stop the glue at a desired position on said book spine.