Binding plant for hardcover books and a method of binding for these books

A binding plant for hardcover books, wherein each hardcover book is the type including a hardcover having a pair of cover boards and a book block having a text block of given thickness (TL), a backstrip (muslin) with a central portion defining a longitudinal axis and lateral binding flaps and a pair of endpapers with a free sheet, a paste down sheet and a respective fold, wherein, for formation of books blocks, and binding plant comprises:

• a binding equipment having a block input (IB) for receiving a text block and a cover input (IC) for receiving a cover;
• a book information detecting or setting device, for obtaining book data on the thickness of a text block to be bound;
• a false cover forming equipment for receiving and reciprocally positioning a backstrip and a pair of endpapers and carrying out a false cover;
• an electronic processing unit for controlling the binding equipment and the false cover forming equipment as a function of said book data;
• wherein:
• said false cover is defined by the pair endpapers sided to the central portion of the backstrip with margins of the paste down sheets close to the fold and glued to the lateral flaps of the backstrip;
• the false cover forming equipment is controlled by the electronic processing unit in response to the book data for arranging the folds of the endpapers at a pre-assembling distance associated with the thickness (TL) of the text block and gluing respective margins of the paste down sheets of the endpapers close to the fold with the flaps of the backstrips;
• the binding equipment is feedable, at the block input (IB), with the text blocks and, at the cover input (IC), with the false covers as said cover to be bound with the text block;
• and
• the binding equipment is controlled b the electronic processing unit for forming the book blocks, by gluing the central portion of the backstrip of said false cover with a binding edge of the text block and refolding on the text block the pair of endpapers, together with the lateral flaps of the backstrip glued to the paste down sheets,
• wherein the false cover forming equipment comprises an assembling station and an endpaper feeding and assembling device wherein the assembling station includes a working plane of support for a backstrip and a pair of endpapers to be assembled and defines a reference surface perpendicular to said working plane and passing through a longitudinal axis of a backstrip supported by said working plane,
• the endpaper feeding and assembling device is provided for moving a pair of endpapers up to the working plane of the assembling station with the folds at said pre-assembling distance, and gluing with the backstrip, and
• said endpaper feeding and assembling device operates at the sides of said working plane with arrangement of the folds symmetrical with respect to said reference surface.

A false cover forming equipment, for receiving and reciprocally positioning backstrips and pairs of endpapers for text books and carrying out false covers to be used in a binding plant for hardcover books;

• wherein each backstrip has a central portion for gluing with a binding edge of the text book and lateral flaps while each endpaper has a free sheet, a paste down sheet and a respective fold between the free sheet and the paste down sheet;
• wherein each false cover is defined by a pair of endpapers and a backstrip, wherein the pair of endpapers are sided to a central portion of the backstrip with the paste down sheets of the endpapers glued to the lateral flaps of the backstrip;
• and
• wherein said false cover forming equipment is provided for arranging the folds of the endpapers at a pre-assembling distance associated with a thickness (TL) of the text block and gluing margins of the paste down sheet close to the winding with the lateral flaps of the backstrips;
• said false cover forming equipment comprising:
• an assembling station and an endpaper feeding and assembling device wherein the assembling station includes a working plane of support for a backstrip and a pair of endpapers to be assembled and defines a reference surface perpendicular to said working plane and passing through a longitudinal axis of a backstrip supported by said working plane, and
• wherein the endpaper feeding and assembling device is provided for moving a pair of endpapers up to the working plane of said assembling station with the folds at said pre-assembling distance and assembling with a respective backstrips,
• said endpaper feeding and assembling device operating at the sides of the assembling station with arrangement of the folds symmetrical with respect to the reference surface.