IES68875B2 - An apparatus for producing stationery covers - Google Patents

Abstract

The apparatus comprises a conveyor (3, Fig 1) which feeds covers 12 between upper arid lower rollers 20,21 which form lines of indentations 24 and ridges 25 in the spine region. A multi-line nozzle head 30 applies continuous beads 31 of adhesive onto the spine. The extremities of the cover on each side of the spine are held down by brushes 8 whilst a channel 17 is pushed downwardly against the spine and a pair of clamps 40 move inwardly to press the cover against the sides of the channel, thereby bonding the cover to the channel.

Description

Ant apparatus fon producing stationery covers The invention relates to an apparatus for producing stationery covers, more particularly covers incorporating spines of the type having a soft steel channel for reception of paper sheets between the covers.

European Patent Specification No. EP 404556 and PCT Patent Specification No. WO 94/04374 describe a device for applying stationery covers to documents by crimping the steel channel to hold the documents in place. A major advantage of this apparatus is that it is particularly easy for businesses producing small quantities of documents to purchase the stationery covers and then bind the documents in the covers using this apparatus in a simple manner.

The invention is directed towards providing an apparatus for producing the stationery covers which are used by the end users to bind the documents. The metal channels must be bonded to a cover board at the spine in a manner whereby the channel is located exactly centrally on the board, the channel is in precise alignment with the spine, the channel is uniformly and consistently adhered to the board, and adhesive does not protrude beyond the channel whereby it is visible to the end user.

According to the invention, there is provided an apparatus for producing stationery covers, the apparatus comprising:a support frame having a longitudinal bed on which processing operations are performed at different longitudinal positions; - 2 a conveyor running over the bed and comprising transverse and longitudinal guides for conveying a cover board having a central spine whereby the spine is in alignment with the conveyor direction, and means for varying the distance between the longitudinal guides; elongate resilient supports mounted over the conveyor for pressing down the board on both sides of the spine; an adhesive applicator comprising a controller, an adhesive tank, a nozzle means mounted centrally over the conveyor, and a flow controller operatively connected to the controller for controlling discharge of a plurality of continuous adhesive beads on the spine; and a placement station comprising a longitudinal recess in the bed defined between a pair of movable clamps; a channel magazine; a picking device comprising means for picking a channel from the magazine, for aligning the channel with the spine of a board located at the station, and for lowering the channel into the recess; and a controller comprising means for directing operation of the picking device and movement of the clamps inwardly as the channel is lowered whereby the board spine is pressed against the three sides of the channel as the resilient supports hold down the extremities of the board.

In one embodiment, the conveyor comprises a pair of parallel conveyor halves .

Preferably, the halves are laterally adjustable to vary the distance between the longitudinal guides.

In another embodiment, each half comprises a rail and a set of wheels running about axles and on the rail, and a drive chain for conveying the axles. In the latter embodiment, the wheels may be the longitudinal guides for the board.

In a further embodiment, the adhesive applicator comprises means for pre-setting a number of operational nozzles of the nozzle means in response to inputted instructions.

Ideally, the picking device of the placement station comprises a head having a pair of fingers comprising means for moving inwardly and outwardly to grip a channel from within.

In another embodiment, the magazine comprises an inclined chute mounted on the frame at one side of the conveyor, the picking device comprising means for picking the lowermost channel.

In a further embodiment, the apparatus further comprises a set of upper and lower rollers having ridges and corresponding grooves for forming guide lines in the board to define the spine before adhesive application.

Preferably, the roller set comprises means for forming a pair of guide lines for location of the channel base therebetween, and additionally a pair of ridges equidistant from the guide lines and being substantially wider, whereby they act to guide paper into the channel during subsequent binding. The roller set may comprise an upper roller having a pair of curved recesses and a corresponding lower roller having a corresponding pair of substantially rectangular ridges for forming the ridges in the board.

The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description of some embodiments thereof, given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in whichsFig. 1 is a diagrammatic side view showing an apparatus of the invention; Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic and cross-sectional front view showing a rolling operation of the apparatus; Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic front cross-sectional view showing an adhesive application operation of the apparatus; Figs. 4(a) and 4(b) are diagrammatic front crosssectional views showing placement of a channel on a board; Fig. 5 is a perspective view from above showing construction of a conveyor of the apparatus; Fig. 6 is a plan view showing the manner in which boards are conveyed in the apparatus; and Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic perspective view from above showing placement of the channel in more detail.

Referring to the drawings, and initially to Fig. 1, an apparatus 1 of the invention is shown in use. The apparatus 1 comprises a frame which includes various supports and bearings 2 for a conveyor 3 which runs along the length of the apparatus 1. The conveyor 3 runs over a bed on which the processing operations are performed. The apparatus 1 also comprises a roller set 4 downstream of which there is an adhesive applicator 5, and further downstream, a placement station 6. The placement station 6 comprises a channel magazine 7 in the form of an inclined chute mounted at one side of the conveyor 3.

Pairs of resilient supports, in this embodiment brushes 8, are mounted over the conveyor 3 for holding down extremities of boards which run on the conveyor 3, as described in more detail below.

The apparatus 1 is shown in operation in Fig. 1 in which 10 there is a stack 10 of blank cover boards 11 feeding onto the conveyor 3. At the roller set 4, a board 12 is produced having various ridges and indentation lines 13 formed symmetrically about a centre line of the board.

After passing under the adhesive applicator 5, the board 15 is represented by the numeral 14 and comprises a number of parallel adhesive beads 15 deposited centrally on the board. Finally, after passing through the placement station 5, the board has a soft steel channel 17 adhered to it's spine to form a stationery cover 16.

Referring now to Fig. 2, the roller set 4 is described in more detail. The roller set 4 comprises an upper roller 20 and a lower corresponding roller 21 which together form the indentation lines in the received board 11. The upper roller 20 has a pair of downwardly-extending rectangular ridges 22(a) and a pair of curved recesses 23(a). The arrangement of the ridges 22(a) and the recesses 23(a) is symmetrical. The lower roller 21 has a pair of rectangular grooves 22(b) for reception of the ridges 22(a) in the upper roller 20. Further, the lower roller 21 has a pair of rectangular ridges 23(b) for rolling within the curved recesses 23(a) in the upper roller 20. In Fig. 2, the upper and lower rollers 20 and 21 are shown spaced-apart, however, they are actually mounted with the grooves and ridges running in engagement whereby the board which passes between the rollers has various indentation lines formed, as shown in Fig. 2. These lines include a pair of indentations 24 which form guide lines for a channel 17. Equidistant on each side of the guide lines 24 there is a pair of relatively large ridges 25 which have a width of two to three times that of the guide lines 24. It has been found that the arrangement of a curved groove 23(a) and rectangular ridge 23(b) is particularly effective at forming such a wide ridge. The guide lines 24 and the ridges 25 are indicated generally by the numeral 13 in Fig. 1 and the board at this stage is indicated by the numeral 12.

Referring now to Fig. 3, the adhesive applicator 5 comprises a hot melt adhesive tank 27 shown in Fig. 1, beneath which there is a multi-line nozzle head 30 mounted centrally over the conveyor. The adhesive applicator 5 further comprises a microprocessor-based controller which regulates temperature zones within the hot melt adhesive tank 27 and also controls flow of hot adhesive to nozzles in the nozzle head 30 through heated supply hoses. Flow is controlled by a combination of the tank pressure and control signals from the controller.

As shown in Fig. 3, the adhesive applicator 5 operates to discharge a set of adhesive beads 31 centrally in a region between the ridges 25. The ridges 25 define the region of the board 14 which will contact the channel. It will be seen from Fig. 3 that the adhesive beads 31 are not applied across the full width of this region. This is to accommodate spread of the adhesive during placement at the placement station 6.

Reference is now made to Fig. 5 in which construction of the conveyor 3 is illustrated in more detail. The conveyor 3 comprises two halves mounted on each side ox a plastics platform 49 forming part of the bed of the frame. Each conveyor half comprises a driven chain 50 to which is connected a series of plastics carriers 51 which support shafts or axles 52 on which wheels 53 rotate. The wheels 53 run in a rail 54, the lateral position of which is adjustable by way of fasteners, not shown, to the bed of the frame. The wheels 53 act as longitudinal guides for a board being conveyed. The chain 50 also supports a number of pairs of lateral guides 55 of plastics material.

As shown by the interrupted lines of Fig. 5, a board is mounted between the lateral guides 55 and the wheels 53 so that it is held centrally on the conveyor and in precise alignment with the direction of travel. This is a very important aspect of the invention. It will also be appreciated that the conveyor may be adapted to convey boards of different widths by movement of the rails 54 in and out as appropriate. As shown in Fig. β, the conveyor 3 conveys cover boards to the roller set 4, and away from the roller set 4 to the adhesive applicator 5, and in turn to the placement station 6. While providing the conveyor 3 in two different halves, space is provided between the two halves for performing the operations. For example, the platform 49 provides a base for the board as adhesive beads 31 are applied and further, the space between the two halves is important for the placement operation, as described below.

Referring now to Figs. 4(a) and 4(b) and Fig. 7, operation of the placement station 6 is now described in more detail. Throughout the adhesive application and the placement operations, as shown in Fig. 4(b), a channel 17 is moved downwardly while the board 14 is stationery. The downward movement of the channel 17 pushes the central spine between the guide lines 24 downwardly into a recess in the bed of the apparatus formed between a pair of movable clamps 40 and a recess base 41. The downward movement of the channel 17 is coordinated with inward movement of the clamps 40 so that the board 14 is folded about the guide lines 24 so that it is pressed against the three sides of the channel 17. This operation is performed within four seconds of application of the adhesive beads and accordingly, these beads are still wet. Therefore, as the board is pressed against the channel 17, the adhesive beads spread to provide a uniform bond between the board and the channel 17. This is shown most clearly in Fig. 4(b). The inwardly-extending protrusions of the clamps 40 reinforce the ridges 25.

The placement station 6 comprises a picking device 59 having a base 60, a head 61, and a pair of fingers 62 which are controlled to move inwardly into a channel 17 at the bottom of the stack of channels in the magazine 7. When located within the channel 17, the fingers 62 are controlled to move outwardly to grip the channel 17 from within. The picking device 59 then moves sidewardly to a position centrally over the board 14 and then moves downwardly as indicated by the arrow A in Fig. 7. The subsequent action of the clamps 40 is illustrated by the interrupted lines in Fig. 7 to cause the channel to be bonded to the board. Immediately after placement of the channel, the adhesive has cured and the stationery cover is ready for packing.

It will be appreciated that the invention provides an apparatus which in a very simple and affective manner produces stationery covers for use in binding of documents. The construction of conveyor helps to ensure that the boards are at all times during processing squared to provide a very low defect rate caused by offcentre or skewed channels. It has also been found that the manner in which adhesive is applied is not only very ·· 9 efficient and quick, but it also provides a very consistent and uniform bond, without adhesive protruding from between the channel and the board. The brushes 8 act in a very simple way to help maintain the correct location of the board during the adhesive application and placement operations.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments hereinbefore described. For example, it is envisaged that the roller set 4 may be mounted off-line at a physically separate station. In this embodiment, the roller set may be mounted on a flat steel feed table. It is also envisaged that there need not necessarily be nine adhesive beads 31. There can be any desired number according to the manner in which the multi-line nozzle head 30 is controlled. The number of beads depends on the width or the spine. By deleting or adding beads at the extremities, the width of adhesive application is easily controlled. It is also envisaged that the ridges and indentations of the board may be formed by an embossing die and devices for applying heat and pressure. Instead of the nozzle means having a multi-line nozzle head, interchangeable heads with varying shims for different adhesive bead widths could be used. Further, it is not essential that the adhesive be a hot melt.

Claims (5)

1. An apparatus for producing stationery covers, the apparatus comprising:a support frame having a longitudinal bed on which processing operations are performed at different longitudinal positions; a conveyor running over the bed and comprising transverse and longitudinal guides for conveying a cover board having a central spine whereby the spine is in alignment with the conveyor direction, and means for varying the distance between the longitudinal guides; elongate resilient supports mounted over the conveyor for pressing down the board on both sides of the spine; an adhesive applicator comprising a controller, an adhesive tank, a nozzle means mounted centrally over the conveyor, and a flow controller operatively connected to the controller for controlling discharge of a plurality of continuous adhesive beads on the spine; and a placement station comprising a longitudinal recess in the bed defined between a pair of movable clamps; a channel magazine; a picking device comprising means for picking a channel from the magazine, for aligning the channel with the spine of a board located at the station, and for lowering the channel into the recess; and a controller comprising means for directing operation of the picking device and movement of the c1amps inwardly as the channel is lowered whereby the board spine is pressed against the three sides of the channel as the resilient supports hold down the extremities of the board.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the conveyor comprises a pair of parallel conveyor halves, and the halves are laterally adjustable to vary the distance between the longitudinal guides, and each half comprises a rail and a set of wheels running about axles and on the rail, and a drive chain for conveying the axles, and the wheels are the longitudinal guides for the board.

3. An apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the adhesive applicator comprises means for pre-setting a number of operational nozzles of the nozzle means in response to inputted instructions, and wherein the picking device of the placement station comprises a head having a pair of fingers comprising means for moving inwardly and outwardly to grip a channel from within, and the magazine comprises an inclined chute mounted on the frame at one side of the conveyor, the picking device comprising means for picking the lowermost channel.

4. An apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings .

5. A stationery cover whenever produced by an apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim.