Method of and apparatus for producing booklets
AssigneeWatkiss Automation Limited
InventorsChristopher Robin Watkiss, Robert Antony MacGregor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A booklet of sheets folded to create a curved spine is fixedly held by clamping jaws adjacent to the spine and a forming roller is passed one or more times along the length of the protruding spine with sufficient pressure to produce a flattening of the curvature of the spine. The deformation of the spine of the booklet means that the sheets lie flat after the treatment. A retractable stop plate defines the amount by which the spine protrudes beyond the jaws.
Claims22
A method of treating a booklet of sheets folded to create a curved spine, comprising the steps of:
- providing a booklet of folded sheets, the folded sheets having a spinal portion having a convex shaped end surface;
- fixedly holding the folded sheets along their length adjacent to and along the length of the spinal portion and at a predetermined lateral distance therefrom to leave a protruding portion of the sheets, the protruding portion having a predetermined width and including the spinal portion;
- providing a forming means;
- causing the forming means to pass longitudinally of the protruding portion to apply to the spinal portion from one end thereof to the other a force in the lateral direction sufficient to produce a deformation of the protruding portion, the deformation comprising a flattening of the convex shaped end surface of the spinal portion of the booklet of folded sheets.
A method of treating a booklet of sheets folded to create a curved spine, which comprises the steps of first depositing the folded sheets between a pair of open clamping jaws and into contact with a stop plate, then closing the jaws to fixedly hold the folded booklet adjacent to the spine to create a protruding portion, retracting the stop plate, passing a forming means along the length of the protruding portion with sufficient pressure to produce a flattening of the curvature of the spine, and opening the jaws to permit removal of the booklet.
A method of treating a booklet of sheets which are initially folded to create a curved spine, which comprises the steps of fixedly holding the folded booklet adjacent to the spine to create a protruding portion, and passing a forming means along the length of the protruding portion with sufficient pressure to produce a flattening of the curvature of the spine, in which the initial folding of the sheets is effected by displacement of a blade which acts on a flat set of sheets to fold them and deposit them into the position in which they are then fixedly held.
An apparatus for treating a booklet of sheets folded to create a curved spine, comprising:
- clamping means for fixedly holding a booklet of folded sheets, the folded sheets having a spinal portion having a convex shaped end surface and the clamping means being arranged to hold the folded sheets along their length adjacent to and along the length of the spinal portion and at a predetermined lateral distance therefrom to leave a protruding portion of the sheets, the protruding portion having a predetermined width and including the spinal portion;
- and
- a forming means displaceable to pass longitudinally of the protruding portion to apply to the spinal portion from one end thereof to the other a force in the lateral direction sufficient to produce a deformation of the protruding portion, the deformation comprising a flattening of the convex shaped end surface of the spinal portion of the booklet of folded sheets.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.