GB987116A - Improvements in or relating to bookbinding - Google Patents

Abstract

987,116. Bending. JAMES BURN & CO. Ltd. March 28, 1961 [June 29, 1960], No. 22802/60. Heading B3E. [Also in Divisions B6 and B8] A stack of perforated sheets is bound together by means of a wire element 10 comprising a wire member initially bent to form open rings or prongs 12 having re-entrant portions 16 and connected by straight portions 13, as illustrated on the left-hand side of Fig. 1. The binding elements are fed forwardly step-by-step to a bookbinding machine by means of parallel strips 18 frictionally engaged between the legs of some of the prongs. The foremost element is lifted clear of the strips 18 by a pad 30 and into engagement with a spring-loaded pad 31. The element comes to rest opposite the gap between jaws 22, 23 and is retained in this position by projections 33 on the member 32 engaging between the legs of the prongs. The next element on the strips 18 is held in position by vertically movable fingers 28. The member 32 is advanced to position the raised element between the jaws 22, 23, with its upper forward edge abutting a vertically slidable member 39. At the same time, the fingers 28 are lowered and the strips 18 advanced whereby spring-loaded bars 34,. 35 depending from the lower edge of the member 32, maintain said next element in its correct position as it is brought between the pads 30, 31. A stack of sheets is placed on the table 37 with its perforated edge resting on the portions 13 of the raised element, the projections 33 forming a back stop for the stack. The lower jaw 22 and the rear portion 38 of the table are raised whereby the prongs are pressed against the upper fixed jaws 23 and bent about their reentrant portion 16 to close the rings (see righthand portion of Fig. 1) and bind the stack together. The strips 18 are advanced by means of two comb-shaped members 26 movable relative to each other to grip the strips therebetween and rotatable about a pivot 46 to feed the strips forwardly. As described and claimed in co-pending Specification 987,117, the binding elements may be carried by flexible plastic strips arranged end-on between the legs of some of the prongs and wound into roll form. Paper is interleaved between the convolutions of the roll to prevent the elements from interfering with each other. The strips pass through guides after leaving the binding station which turn them through 90 degrees to enable them to be wound on to a take-up spool. Alternatively, the strips comprise endless bands passing around a pair of intermittently rotated drums, the upper runs of the strips passing through gudes before reaching the binding station which turn them through 90 degrees to their end-on positions. The binding elements are placed on the end-on strips by hand. After leaving the binding station the strips are returned to their original positions to pass around said drums.