EP0268562B1 - Book or brochure with inner book, equipped with a free cover back - Google Patents

Abstract

In order to be able to produce a book or a brochure which, by virtue of its use and its appearance, corresponds to the greatest extent to a classically bound book, but has the advantages of a brochure in terms of manufacture and price, the cover or wrapping (16) has an outer wrapping (17) which is laminated on its inside with a continuous flexible book block base material (18), and to which the book block (19) is bonded. A free book back is thus obtained which guarantees complete opening of the book from the first to the final page. <IMAGE>

Description

The present invention relates to a book or a brochure, equipped with a free spine cover, which consists at least of an outer cover, the ceiling parts of which are laminated from solid material on the inside and which has a free spine and one piece extending over the spine of the outer cover flexible book block carrier material, which is connected to the book block in the back area of the book block and the subsequent adhesive areas, but not to the outer cover, but outside of this area to the outer cover, but not to the book block.

In bookbinding circles one knows two completely different types of covers ("book types"). On the one hand, the traditional book with a prefabricated, thread-stitched or adhesive-bound book block, which is connected to end sheets or to the outermost sheets of the book block (the specialist speaks of an "integrated end") with a three-part, stable cover covered with a cover material. Characteristics of the book cover are the edges of the cover protruding from the book block as well as the free book spine. On the other hand, one knows the type of cover brochure, in which the adhesive-bound or thread-stitched book block is glued tightly to the back and usually also to the side with a 2 or 4 times fluted cover.

In addition to the qualitative and visual advantages that a bound book has over a brochure, a book has other significant advantages, including the possibility of opening it completely thanks to the free spine for the Reader is the most striking. In contrast, the brochure has the disadvantage, among other things, that it can never be opened completely, particularly in the case of inexpensive versions with perfect binding, because of the clamping effect in the collar of the brochure block. In addition, there is a risk that if the brochure is opened with excessive force, its glued back will at least be broken in the glue, which will largely weaken the binding.

Although brochures with protruding edges are already being produced today to give them a more sophisticated appearance, a brochure does not achieve the properties and quality level of a bound book.

Due to the completely different manufacturing processes for the industrial production of a book and a brochure, a book is much more expensive than a brochure. The time required to produce a bound book is significantly higher than for the brochure due to several manufacturing processes on different production lines (book block production, blanket production, joining the two parts).

On the other hand, a brochure can be produced at a high production speed in one manufacturing process, from gathering the content to the finished, trimmed end product on a production line. In particular, the brochure production eliminates the time-consuming and material-intensive ceiling production.

This situation, which speaks against the bound book in particular for price reasons, has led to attempts to develop mixed forms between the book and the brochure, which on the one hand contain the advantages of the brochure in terms of price and production technology, but in terms of quality and appearance as close as possible to the bound book come. So far, however, these attempts have been relatively few were successful and so far have not been able to assert themselves. One of these attempts is known under the trademark "flexcover" and from DE-A-33 03 196 and contains a printable cover cardboard that is punched, grooved, folded and double-glued in one production step and into a book with edges protruding on three sides and leads to a free but stiff back. Despite the advantages that this development offers compared to the conventional brochure, it also has disadvantages in terms of its book spine design compared to a bound book, because the book, respectively. Booklet block does not have a flexible free spine because it is glued to overlapping free end flaps of the folded cover carton, which means that this brochure can only be opened better than a conventional one in its central area, where the two end flaps overlap , in which the back of the brochure is made in one piece and stiff.

Another known solution for overcoming the aforementioned difficulties is known, for example, from DE-A-29 36 674, which describes a soft cover, which is equivalent to a conventional brochure cover, but in which a veil strip is glued to the back of the brochure and over which the booklet block with glue strips on the first resp. last sheet of the booklet block is connected to the cover. This proposed solution also does not make it possible to create a product that combines the technical and economic advantages of brochure production with the application-related and aesthetic advantages of the bound book.

Another proposal known from DE-A-31 09 114 provides for a fold-in strip to be glued into an envelope with which the booklet block is glued. This proposal has the same disadvantages as the previously proposed solutions.

The present invention has for its object to develop a book or brochure that, respectively. which, when used in the spine area, offers all the essential advantages of a bound book and leads to a book which has protruding binding edges and a free spine, but allows the advantages of brochure production to be exploited in terms of the manufacturing process and the price.

According to the invention, this object is achieved by a book or a brochure of the type mentioned at the beginning, in which the cover parts of the outer cover are laminated with the flexible book block carrier material in such a way that the outer cover and book block carrier material do not stick in the back area.

• Fig. 1 den Buchrückenbereich eines klassischen gebundenen Buches im Querschnitt, in
• Fig. 2 den analogen Bereich einer geklebten herkömmlichen Broschüre im Querschnitt, in
• Fig. 3 den vergleichbaren Bereich der vorerwähnten Mischform einer Broschüre mit freiem aber steifem Rücken im Querschnitt und in den
• Fig. 4 und 5 den betreffenden Bereich eines erfindungsgemässen Buches oder einer erfindungsgemässen Broschüre zeigt.

The possibilities and advantages that arise for the bookbinder as well as for the reader from the invention will become apparent from the following description. The latter is based on the enclosed drawing, which is in

• Fig. 1 shows the book spine area of a classic hardcover book in cross section, in
• Fig. 2 shows the analog area of a glued conventional brochure in cross section, in
• Fig. 3 shows the comparable area of the aforementioned mixed form of a brochure with a free but rigid spine in cross section and in the
• 4 and 5 show the relevant area of a book or brochure according to the invention.

For reasons of clarity, the material thicknesses of the book covers, brochure covers, end papers and the like are shown exaggerated in all figures. Also are Areas of the individual elements that are not important for a correct understanding of the present invention are shown in simplified form.

The person skilled in the art recognizes the structure of the spine of a classically bound book in FIG. 1. A book cover 1 made from three cartons 1a, 1b and 1c, which are connected to one another with linen, leather, paper or the like in a known manner, is glued to an attachment 2 comprising two attachment papers 2a and 2b. In the area of the book spine 3, a back gauze 4 is glued between the two cover boxes 1a and 1b of the book cover 1 and the two end papers 2a and 2b of the endpiece 2, the latter being firmly glued to the back 6 of the book block 5 over its entire width or by means of stitching connected is. Furthermore, the attachments 2a and 2b by narrow strips of glue 2c with the outermost sheet 5a, respectively. 5b of the book block 5 glued. The book block is connected to the book cover 1 by laminating the attachments 2a and 2b onto the book cover. The book block 5 thus suspended in the book cover 1 accordingly has the free back characteristic of a bound book, i.e. the back 6 of the book block 5 is not glued to the back insert 1c of the book cover 1. Therefore, the book block 5 has a flexible back 6 and can be opened from the first to the last page up to the waistband.

In contrast, a typical brochure, as shown in FIG. 2, has an envelope 7, which normally consists of semi-cardboard or the like material, which is firmly attached to the back 8 of the booklet block 9 and to each strip 9c of the outermost sheets 9a adjoining the back 8 and 9b is glued. This creates a stiff back of the brochure and the booklet block 9 cannot be opened up to the waistband. It does not matter whether a booklet block 9 that has been cut on three sides is put around an envelope 7 in such a way that edges are created, so that the brochure looks like a book at first glance, or whether the finished brochure with the cover 7 is trimmed smooth.

The mixed form shown in FIG. 3 between the book and the brochure differs from the two types of book described above, i.e. the classic book and the brochure, in that it has a cover carton 10 which is folded in on both ceiling edges 10a and 10b and the folded-in parts 11a and 11b are glued to the outside cover parts 12a and 12b. However, the two end regions 13a and 13b of the folded-in parts 11a and 11b remain unglued in the region of the grooved cover 14 of the cover. They overlap slightly without being firmly connected to one another and, like the cover 7 of the brochure according to FIG. 2, are glued to the booklet block 15. Since the latter is therefore not stuck in a continuous and rigid envelope, it can be opened in the area of the overlap 13c up to the collar in two brochure parts 15a and 15b. This mixed form of book, known under the trademark "flexcover", therefore has only a limited flexible back, in which the booklet block 15, like a bound book, is not glued to the cover 14 of the cover. Similar to the brochure, the booklet block 15 is, however, glued into an inflexible cardboard cover, which differs from the back of the brochure only in that it is separated and overlaps in its central area.

4, a book according to the invention, respectively. a brochure according to the invention is shown, which was created by using a free spine cover 16. The latter advantageously consists of a fixed outer envelope 17, grooved at fold points 17a, 17b, 17c and 17d, with two blanket parts 16a and 16b and a free back. It is thus similar to a conventional brochure cover 7 according to FIG. 2. In contrast to this, no booklet block 9 (FIG. 2) is placed in this outer envelope 17 glued in, because for this purpose it is glued to a flexible book block carrier material 18 in such a way that a glue-free zone remains in the area of the book spine 21, between the fold points 17a and 17d. Accordingly, only the two parts 16a and 16b of the cover 17, which act as covers, are laminated with the flexible book block carrier material 18, which gives them a desired increased stability and a book cover-like appearance. Similar to the bound book (Fig. 1), the book block 19 over a flexible loose strip of the flexible book block carrier material 18 with the cover, respectively. the free spine envelope 16 connected. The outermost sheets 19a and 19b at the front and rear of the book block 19 are also connected to the flexible book block carrier material 18 at lateral adhesive areas 18a and 18b. As a result, the perfect binding (or possibly the stitching) in the bundle when opening and opening this book, respectively. this brochure is no more stressed than with a classically bound book (Fig. 1). A free spine is created as with that, because the spine 20 of the book block 19, which is glued to the flexible book block carrier material 18 on two lateral areas 18a and 18b and its spine (18c), can become loose when the book or brochure is opened from the back of the free spine envelope 16, respectively. of the outer envelope 17, lift off.

The free spine cover 16 therefore offers, on the one hand, all the advantages of a classic book cover in terms of use, since it can be laminated on the inside, if necessary also covered on the outside and in the edge area, and the book block 19 can be hung in such a way that cover edges are formed on three sides. On the other hand, the free spine cover 16 offers all the advantages of a brochure cover 8 (FIG. 2) in terms of production. The book block 19, like a booklet block 9 (FIG. 2), can be inserted into the cover or in a single machine pass. the free spine envelope 16, respectively. the flexible book block carrier material 18 are glued.

One skilled in the art will readily recognize that the free spine cover 16 is an advantageous mixed form of a classic book cover and brochure cover. He makes use of the advantages of the book cover without accepting its manufacturing disadvantages, which in particular lie in the fact that for the bound book, two end papers must first be glued to the first and last sheets, on which the book block is hung in the cover on the hanging machine becomes. By using a flexible book block carrier material 18 instead of two end papers 2a, 2b (FIG. 1), the free spine cover 16 can be further processed in terms of production technology like a brochure cover 7. It therefore offers the advantages in this regard, without entailing the disadvantages of the brochure (FIG. 2), since the book block 19 can be opened completely into the waistband. The unsightly breaking of the back of the envelope is therefore avoided and the mechanical stress in the area of the adhesive / paper connection is reduced to a minimum.

Other advantages of the invention include the fact that the production of a book with such a free spine cover is considerably less expensive than classic, also industrial book production and is only slightly more expensive than the production of a brochure. It is also possible to equip this book / brochure mixed form with all the attributes of a bound book (capital band, drawing band, etc.) and thus bring it even closer to the bound book.

The traditionally fairly consistent separation of book and brochure in the bookbinding industry has prevented almost any development that would have made possible an advantageous combination of book and brochure. Only improvements in terms of manufacturing technology or specific improvements were possible, as illustrated, for example, by the "flexcover" brochure mentioned above. For the first time the book according to the invention or the Brochure according to the invention with a free spine cover clears the prejudice that only in a bound book can the book block be hung in the book cover using the two end papers and the back gauze or a similar reinforcing material, whereas the booklet block with the cover (Fig. 2) or folded Parts of it (Fig. 3) is glued to a rigid brochure back, which prevents the booklet block from opening up into the collar or at least makes it as difficult as possible. It can therefore be stated that the invention leads to a book without an attachment or a brochure with a free spine, depending on the materials from which the free spine cover 16 (FIG. 4) is made. It is entirely possible within the scope of the present invention, on the one hand, to provide a conventional book cover 1 (FIG. 1) instead of end papers 2a, 2b with a flexible book block carrier material 18. On the other hand, a conventional brochure cover 7 (FIG. 2) can also be provided with a flexible book block carrier material 18 (FIG. 4) and the brochure thus produced can be cut on three sides at the end. The present invention accordingly opens up a whole series of new possibilities for the bookbinder to produce and offer a large number of previously unknown variants of book or brochure equipment in an economical manner.

Claims (4)

1. A book or brochure with inner book (19), equipped with a free cover back (16), which at least consists of an outer jacket (17), in which the cover parts (16a, 16b) made of a strong material are lined on the inside, and which comprises a free back (21), and of a one-piece flexible inner book support material (18) extending over the back (21) of the outer jacket (17), which in the back region of the inner book (19) and lateral gluing regions (18a, 18b) joined thereto is connected to the inner book (19), but not to the outer jacket (17), and outside this region is connected to the outer jacket (17), but not to the inner book (19), with the cover parts (16a, 16b) of the outer jacket (17) being backed with the flexible inner book supporting material (18) so that the outer jacket (17) and inner book supporting material (18) are not glued together in the back region.
2. A book or brochure according to Claim 1, having an outer jacket (17) designed in one piece as a brochure jacket, which comprises a back (21) formed by grooving.
3. A book or brochure according to Claim 1, having an outer jacket (17) designed as a book cover having two cardboard covers and one back insert.
4. A book or brochure according to Claim 2, having an outer jacket (17) which is backed on the outside and comprises binding edges which are folded in.

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