Electronic bookstore vending machine

A device for printing and binding a book, comprising:

• a receiving means for receiving data corresponding to a book's content;
• a formatting means for formatting the book's content into a book distribution;
• a printing means for printing the book's content on paper sheets upon receipt of a signal from said receiving means;
• a clamping means for clamping the printed sheets into a book block;
• a glueing means for applying glue to a spine of the book block;
• and
• a labeling means for attaching a spine cover label to the spine of the book, wherein said printing means prints a cover image on cover stock to create cover pages, wherein said cover pages are included in the book block clamped together by the clamping means and glued together by the glueing means, and wherein said spine cover label is attached to the spine of the book so as to overlap onto the cover pages.

A device for printing and binding a book, comprising:

• a receiving means for receiving data corresponding to a book's content;
• a formatting means for formatting the book's content into a book distribution;
• a printing means for printing the book's content on paper sheets upon receipt of a signal from said receiving means;
• a clamping means for clamping the printed sheets into a book block;
• a glueing means for applying glue to a spine of the book block;
• and
• a covering means for attaching a cover to the book block, wherein said printing means prints a cover image on cover stock to create a cover for the book, and wherein said covering means attaches said cover to the glued book block such as to cover the spine and pages of the book block.

A system for distributing and manufacturing books, comprising:

• an input means for inputting requests for books,
• a plurality of printing and binding means for printing and binding a book upon receipt of data corresponding to a book's content and control data, and
• at least one central distribution unit which receives a request for a selected book and causes said data corresponding to the selected books' content and control data to be transferred to said printing and binding means,
• wherein said central distribution unit and at least one of said plurality of printing and binding means are geographically separated, and wherein each printing and binding means for printing and binding books comprises:
• a receiving means for receiving data corresponding to a book's content;
• a formatting means for formatting the book's content into a book distribution;
• a printing means for printing the book's content on paper sheets upon receipt of a signal from said receiving means;
• a clamping means for clamping the printed sheets into a book block;
• a glueing means for applying glue to a spine of the book block;
• and
• a cutting means for cutting said paper sheets into smaller sheets,
• wherein said printing means prints multiple pages of the book's content on each paper sheet and said cutting means cuts said paper sheet into smaller sheets such that each smaller sheet has a book page printed on each side.

A method for producing and distributing books, comprising the following steps:

• creating a plurality of electronic text files corresponding to a plurality of books such that each electronic text file corresponds to one book's content, storing said plurality of text files, allowing a customer to order one or more of said plurality of books, transmitting the electronic text files corresponding to the ordered book(s) to a device capable of printing and binding said ordered book(s),
• wherein said device capable of printing and binding said ordered book(s) comprises:
• a receiving means for receiving data corresponding to a book's content;
• a formatting means for formatting the book's content into a book distribution;
• a printing means for printing the book's content on paper sheets upon receipt of a signal from said receiving means;
• a clamping means for clamping the printed sheets into a book block;
• a glueing means for applying glue to a spine of the book block;
• and
• a cutting means for cutting said paper sheets into smaller sheets,
• wherein said printing means prints multiple pages of the book's content on each paper sheet and said cutting means cuts said paper sheet into smaller sheets such that each smaller sheet has a book page printed on each side;
• and
• wherein said device is conveniently located for the customer and said ordered books are printed and bound such as to allow the customer to pick-up the ordered book(s) at said device within a short period of time.

A method for printing and binding a book, comprising the following steps:

• receiving data corresponding to a book's content;
• formatting the book's content into a book distribution;
• printing the book's content on paper sheets upon receipt of a signal;
• clamping the printed sheets into a book block;
• applying glue to a spine of the book block, and
• cutting said paper sheets into smaller sheets;
• wherein multiple pages of the book's content are printed on each paper sheet and said paper sheets are cut into smaller sheets such that each smaller sheet can have a book page printed on each side.

A method for printing and binding a book, comprising the following steps:

• receiving data corresponding to a book's content;
• formatting the book's content into a book distribution;
• printing the book's content on paper sheets upon receipt of a signal;
• clamping the printed sheets into a book block;
• applying glue to a spine of the book block;
• and
• attaching a spine cover label to the spine of the book, wherein a cover image is printed on cover stock to create cover pages, wherein said cover pages are included in the book block clamped together and glued together, and wherein said spine cover label is attached to the spine of the book so as to overlap onto the cover pages.

A method for printing and binding a book, comprising the following steps:

• receiving data corresponding to a book's content;
• formatting the book's content into a book distribution;
• printing the book's content on paper sheets upon receipt of a signal;
• clamping the printed sheets into a book block;
• applying glue to a spine of the book block;
• and
• attaching a cover to the book block, wherein said cover image is printed on cover stock to create a cover for the book, and wherein said cover is attached to the glued book block such as to cover the spine and sheets of the book block.

A device for binding a book, comprising:

• a paper sheet receiving means for receiving a plurality of paper sheets which are to be bound together,
• a clamping means for clamping the received plurality of paper sheets into a book block,
• a glueing means for applying glue to a spine of the book block, and
• a cutting means for cutting said paper sheets into smaller sheets;
• wherein multiple pages of text are printed on each paper sheet and said cutting means cuts said paper sheet into smaller sheets such that each smaller sheet can have a book page printed on each side.

A device for binding a book, comprising:

• a paper sheet receiving means for receiving a plurality of paper sheets which are to be bound together,
• a clamping means for clamping the received plurality of paper sheets into a book block,
• a glueing means for applying glue to a spine of the book block, and
• a labeling means for attaching a spine cover label to the spine of the book, wherein said printing means prints a cover image on cover stock to create cover pages, wherein said cover pages are included in the book block clamped together by the clamping means and glued together by the glueing means, and wherein said spine cover label is attached to the spine of the book so as to overlap onto the cover pages.

A device for binding a book, comprising:

• a paper sheet receiving means for receiving a plurality of paper sheets which are to be bound together,
• a clamping means for clamping the received plurality of paper sheets into a book block,
• a glueing means for applying glue to a spine of the book block, and
• a covering means for attaching a cover to the book block, wherein said printing means prints a cover image on cover stock to create a cover for the book, and wherein said covering means attaches said cover to the glued book block such as to cover the spine and pages of the book block.

A system for distributing and manufacturing books, comprising:

• an input means for inputting requests for books;
• a plurality of printing and binding means for printing and binding books upon receipt of book text data and control data;
• and
• at least one central distribution unit which receives requests for selected book texts and causes said book text and control data to be transferred to said printing and binding means,
• wherein said control distribution unit and said plurality of printing and binding means are geographically separated, wherein each of said plurality of printing and binding means comprises:
• a receiving means for receiving data corresponding to a book's content;
• a formatting means for formatting the book's content into a book distribution;
• a printing means for printing the book's content on paper sheets upon receipt of a signal from said receiving means;
• a clamping means for clamping the printed sheets into a book block;
• a glueing means for applying glue to a spine of the book block;
• and
• a labeling means for attaching a spine cover label to the spine of the book, wherein said printing means prints a cover image on cover stock to create cover pages, wherein said cover pages are included in the book block clamped together by the clamping means and glued together by the glueing means, and wherein said spine cover label is attached to the spine of the book so as to overlap onto the cover pages.

A system for distributing and manufacturing books, comprising:

• an input means for inputting requests for books;
• a plurality of printing and binding means for printing and binding books upon receipt of book text data and control data;
• at least one central distribution unit which receives requests for selected book texts and causes said book text and control data to be transferred to said printing and binding means,
• wherein said control distribution unit and said plurality of printing and binding means are geographically separated, wherein each of said plurality of printing and binding means comprises:
• a receiving means for receiving data corresponding to a book's content;
• a formatting means for formatting the book's content into a book distribution;
• a printing means for printing the book's content on paper sheets upon receipt of a signal from said receiving means;
• a clamping means for clamping the printed sheets into a book block;
• a glueing means for applying glue to a spine of the book block;
• a covering means for attaching a cover to the book block, wherein said printing means prints a cover image on cover stock to create a cover for the book, and wherein said covering means attaches said cover to the glued book block such as to cover the spine and pages of the book block.

A method for producing and distributing books, comprising the following steps:

• creating a plurality of electronic text files corresponding to a plurality of books such that each electronic text file corresponds to one book's content;
• storing said plurality of text files;
• allowing a customer to order one or more of said plurality of books;
• and
• transmitting the electronic text files corresponding to the ordered book(s) to a device capable of printing and binding said ordered book(s),
• wherein said device capable of printing and binding said ordered book(s) comprises:
• a receiving means for receiving data corresponding to a book's content;
• a formatting means for formatting the book's content into a book distribution;
• a printing means for printing the book's content on paper sheets upon receipt of a signal from said receiving means;
• a clamping means for clamping the printed sheets into a book block;
• a glueing means for applying glue to a spine of the book block;
• a labeling means for attaching a spine cover label to the spine of the book,
• wherein said printing means prints a cover image on cover stock to create cover pages,
• wherein said cover pages are included in the book block clamped together by the clamping means and glued together by the glueing means, wherein said spine cover label is attached to the spine of the book so as to overlap onto the cover pages, and
• wherein said device is conveniently located for the customer and said ordered books are printed and bound such as to allow the customer to pick-up the ordered book(s) in at said device within a short period of time.

A method for producing and distributing books, comprising the following steps:

• creating a plurality of electronic text files corresponding to a plurality of books, such that each electronic text file corresponds to one book's content;
• storing said plurality of text files;
• allowing a customer to order one or more of said plurality of books;
• and
• transmitting the electronic text files corresponding to the ordered book(s) to a device capable of printing and binding said ordered book(s),
• wherein said device capable of printing and binding said ordered book(s) comprises:
• a receiving means for receiving data corresponding to a book's content;
• a formatting means for formatting the book's content into a book distribution;
• a printing means for printing the book's content on paper sheets upon receipt of a signal from said receiving means;
• a clamping means for clamping the printed sheets into a book block;
• a glueing means for applying glue to a spine of the book block;
• a covering means for attaching a cover to the book block,
• wherein said printing means prints a cover image on cover stock to create a cover for the book, and wherein said covering means attaches said cover to the glued book block such as to cover the spine and pages of the book block, and
• wherein said device is conveniently located for the customer and said ordered books are printed and bound such as to allow the customer to pick-up the ordered book(s) in at said device within a short period of time.