US 5,785,479 AGranted

Automated spiral binding machine

AssigneeGeneral Binding Corporation

InventorsThomas Battisti, Adam Horwitz, Robert E. Slater

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Abstract

A machine is disclosed for withdrawing a spiral coil from a prepacked cartridge set of coils and spirally feeding that coil to a coil guide. A stack of sheets having prepunched holes along a side edge thereof is located so that its prepunched holes are aligned with the coil guide. A rotatable drive roller, proximate the coil guide, engages the withdrawn coil and spirally feeds the coil through the coil guide, such that the spirals of the coil sequentially pass through the prepunched holes. After the lead end of the coil has passed through the prepunched holes of the stack of sheets, it is crimped. The drive roller then reverses direction to spirally feed the coil backwards through the coil guide, whereupon the tail end of the coil is crimped. The movements in the machine are designed to vary dependent upon size of the coil.

Claims30

Dependent claims

An automated machine for spirally binding a stack of sheets having prepunched holes along a side edge thereof, said machine comprising:

a coil guide defining a lengthwise series of slots for positioning the spirals of a coil;
a rotatable drive roller for engaging said coil and spirally feeding said coil lengthwise through said coil guide;
a stack positioner movable relative to said coil guide while holding the stack of sheets, wherein said stack positioner accurately locates said stack of sheets with its prepunched holes lengthwise aligned with said coil guide, such that the spirals of said coil sequentially pass through the prepunched holes as said coil is fed along said coil guide;
a pair of coil crimpers, one for deforming the lead end of said coil after it has passed through the prepunched holes of said stack of sheets and the other for deforming the tail end of said coil;
and
a drive system for operating movements in said machine.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.