Pre-glued page stacking and binding mechanism
AssigneeSilverbrook Research Pty Ltd
InventorKia Silverbrook
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A page stacking and binding system has a support tray for receiving pre-glued pages to be stacked, including a support surface; a drive system arranged so as to direct pages into the support tray, a vibrator interacting with the tray and a press device adapted to apply a compressive force to the stack of pages.
Claims13
A page stacking and binding system comprising:
- a) a support tray for receiving pages to be stacked, at least some of the pages having at least one pre-glued edge, the support tray including a support surface, on which the pages are stacked in position wherein their pre-glued edges are appropriately aligned for binding, and at least two side walls coupled to the support surface, the support surface having one corner that is lower than other portions of the support surface, and the two side walls extending substantially perpendicularly to each other, and meeting so as to define a corner, the corner being aligned with the lower corner of the support surface;
- b) a drive system arranged so as to direct pages into the support tray at a position above the support surface, thereby causing the pages to float into position on at least one of the support surface and the stack and against the two side walls;
- c) a vibrator interacting with the tray so as to induce vibration therein to assist in alignment of the pages as they float into position, thereby ensuring the stacked pages are aligned;
- and,
- d) a press device adapted to apply a compressive force to the stack of pages, the force being applied adjacent the pre-glued edges of the pages, to bind the pages.
A method of stacking and binding pages, at least some of the pages having at least one pre-glued edge, using a support tray including a support surface on which the pages are stacked and at least two side walls coupled to the support surface the support surface having one corner that is lower than other portions of the support surface, and the two side walls extending substantially perpendicularly to each other, and meeting so as to define a corner, the corner being aligned with the lower corner of the support surface, the method comprising:
- a) delivering pages one after another to the support tray, the pages being directed into the support tray at a position above the support surface, thereby causing the pages to float into position on at least one of the support surface and the stack and against the two side walls in position wherein their pre-glued edges are appropriately aligned for binding;
- b) vibrating the support tray during and after delivery to thereby align the pages in the stack;
- and,
- c) placing a compressive force on the stack adjacent the pre-glued edges of the pages, to bind the stack.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.