System and method of manufacturing a single book copy
OwnerHarvey M. Rossinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A computer based book manufacturing, distributing and retailing system for the high speed reproduction of a single copy of a book is disclosed. The system is especially adapted for direct consumer sales since the manufacture of a selected book can take place at the point of sale. A master module includes a computer having a database of books to be selected, the books preferably being stored in a digital book-description format. Upon selection of a particular book from the database, a single copy of the book (including the text and a color cover) is printed by means of high speed raster printing engines. The system includes a binder for binding the text pages and the cover into a book.
Claims8
A book manufacturing system comprising:
- computer means for storing data corresponding to the text of and information concerning a plurality of books in a format retrievable by said computer means;
- selection means in communication with said computer means for selectively retrieving stored data corresponding to each of such books;
- means for high speed printing of the text of a selected one of said books on paper pages upon a signal from said selection means and command from said computer means;
- said format describing the cover of the book in a bit mapped color format, and wherein said computer means stores and selectively retrieves data corresponding to the color graphics of the covers of said plurality of books, and
- color printer means for reproducing the cover graphics of said selected one of said books on suitable cover material upon a signal from said selection means and command from said computer means.
A book manufacturing system comprising:
- computer memory means for storing data corresponding to the text of a plurality of books, and corresponding to cover graphics in a digital format,
- selection means for selecting portions of such data,
- computer means for retrieving said selected data in response to a signal from said selection means,
- means for high speed printing of said selected text data,
- means for reproducing the selected cover graphics, and
- finishing means for binding such reproduced text and such cover graphics together.
A method of high speed manufacture of a single copy of a book or of a selected portion of one or more books comprising the steps of:
- storing the text of a plurality of books in a computer in a bit mapped format,
- selecting a selected one of said books or a portion of a plurality of said books to be manufactured,
- commanding a computer to print the text of such selected books,
- raster image printing said bit mapped text of such selected books on paper pages,
- binding said paper pages together, and
- storing graphical information corresponding to a cover for said selected books in a bit mapped format,
- commanding a computer to reproduce said graphical information on a book cover, and
- binding said paper pages together with said cover therearound to form said selected one of said books.
A method of high speed manufacture of a single copy of a book comprising the steps of:
- storing the text of a plurality of books in a computer,
- storing a plurality of covers for books to be printed in said computer, said covers being stored in a bit mapped format,
- storing sales information relating to said plurality of books in a computer,
- providing means for a customer to scan said sales information,
- enabling the customer to select which book or a portion of a plurality of books,
- commanding a computer to print the text of said selected books and a cover in response to said selection,
- retrieving the text of said selected books from a computer,
- printing the text of said selected books on paper pages, and
- binding said paper pages together to form said selected one of said books.
A method of high speed manufacture of a single copy of a book comprising the steps of:
- storing the text of a plurality of books in a computer,
- storing sales information relating to said plurality of books in a computer,
- providing means for a customer to visually review said sales information,
- commanding a computer to print the text of a selected one of said books in response to a customer's selection,
- retrieving the text of said selected one of said books from a computer,
- printing the text of said selected one of said books on paper pages,
- binding said paper pages together to form said selected one of said books,
- storing graphical information corresponding to the cover of each of said books, commanding a computer to reproduce said graphical information on a book cover, and binding said paper pages together with said cover therearound.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.