Binding system with sheet-wise formation of features

A method of binding sheets to form a document, the method comprising:

• delivering a plurality of sheets to a punch in a sheet-wise manner;
• punching at least one of the sheets with the punch to form a feature according to a punching schedule by controlling a sheet transport path and the punch to punch the feature at a variable depth in a direction substantially perpendicular to an edge of the sheet on which the feature is to be formed;
• stacking punched and unpunched sheets from the punch;
• and
• binding the stacked sheets to form a document,
• wherein the punching comprises:
• moving the punch in a first direction substantially perpendicular to an edge of the sheet on which the feature is to be formed, and moving the punch in a second direction substantially parallel to the edge of the sheet in which the feature is to be formed.

A sheet-wise binding system comprising:

• a sheet transport path for transporting a plurality of printed sheets in a sheet-wise manner;
• a trimmer configured to trim the edges of the sheets traveling through the sheet transport path to form a saw tooth edge feature;
• a stacking system for stacking the trimmed sheets;
• a binding system for binding the stacked sheets to form a finished document having the saw tooth edge feature;
• and
• a controller programmed to control the sheet transport path and the trimmer to trim the edges of the sheets at a varying depth according to a trim schedule to create the saw tooth edge feature,
• wherein the saw tooth edge feature includes a plurality of document portions, a first document portion including a plurality of trimmed sheets of a uniform first depth and a second document portion including a plurality of trimmed sheets of varying trimmed depths to expose a surface of a first visible trimmed sheet of an adjacent first document portion,
• wherein a portion of the trimmed sheet removed to the varying trimmed depth is an entire edge of the trimmed sheet.