Apparatus and process for binding books with molten adhesive

An apparatus for gluing a stack of aligned sheets into a pad or book by applying a molten adhesive to the spine of the aligned sheets, comprising means for clamping said sheets with the aligned edges to be glued facing downwardly, a crucible for adhesive, means for melting said adhesive in said curcible, a glue applicator roll dipping into the molten adhesive in said curcible and extending above said adhesive, and means for moving said crucible with said applicator roll along the spine of the aligned sheets, said moving means comprising a pair of spaced parallel chains each resiliently connected to said crucible with said applicator roll, a plurality of cross-bars connecting said chains, the cross-bars downstream of said crucible, for a distance equal to at least about the length of the sheets to be glued, being substantially circular in cross-section so as to contact the aligned edges, the cross-bars upstream of said crucible for at least about an equal distance being substantially flat in cross-section, and a drive for moving said chains and the crucible and applicator roll therewith below and longitudinally of the stationary stack of sheets so as to apply adhesive thereto, whereby said applicator roll applies adhesive to the aligned edges of said sheets, the flat cross-section of said upstream portion of said bars preventing them from contacting said edges after adhesive has been applied thereto.