Book block clamp

A book block clamp for clamping and transporting book blocks along a conveying direction in a book block processing machine having an infeed portion in which book blocks are received, guided and clamped, comprising:

• an inner clamping jaw;
• an outer clamping jaw including a clamping plate which is arranged parallel to, and movable toward and away from, said inner clamping jaw;
• an actuation system for opening and closing the clamping jaws, whereby the clamping plate is initially laterally spaced from the inner clamping jaw to establish an opening width for receiving the book block during a receiving phase and then moved toward the inner clamping jaw to exert a clamping force on the received book block during a clamping phase;
• a support element located between the clamping plate and the inner clamping jaw, in parallel with the clamping plate and operatively associated with the outer clamping jaw;
• and
• a controller operatively associated with the support element for moving the support element into a position that is in spaced apart, parallel relation to the clamping plate, to reduce the width of said opening and thereby guide the received book block laterally during a guide phase between the receiving phase and the clamping phase.