WO2000012323A1

WO2000012323A1 - Apparatus for and method of repairing books

Info

Publication number: WO2000012323A1
Application number: PCT/NZ1999/000138
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gennaro Raffaele Amitrano; Abe Bernard Scott
Original assignee: Jadco Products New Zealand Limited
Priority date: 1998-08-27
Filing date: 1999-08-24
Publication date: 2000-03-09
Also published as: GB0107454D0; AU5454399A; GB2357460A; JP2002523269A

Abstract

An apparatus and method of repairing books. The apparatus comprises a kit which includes an end paper (1) having an obverse face (2). A transverse spine (6) extends from the obverse face (2) of the end paper (1) and each face (7, 8) of the spine is coated with an adhesive (9). A transverse line of adhesive is also placed on the obverse face (2) adjacent the junction of the spine (6) with the obverse face (2) to form a tip end (12). At least part of the obverse face (2) on the side of the spine (6) opposite the tip end (12) is coated with an adhesive (14) and in a highly preferred form the adhesive is protected by a release sheet which may be in the form of contiguous strips (15a, 15b).

Description

TITLE

Apparatus for and Method of Repairing Books

Field of the Invention This invention relates to a method of repairing the binding of books and to a means for carrying out the method.

Background to the Invention

Books tend to deteriorate over a period of time. Books which are subjected to heavy usage such as in libraries tend to deteriorate even more quickly because of wear and tear and other factors resulting from often heavy usage. One of the main results of the wear and tear is the likelihood of the backing shoulder joint becoming damaged or torn which can happen particularly if for instance the book is dropped. In addition it is well known that the first page of the book, often the fly leaf, can become damaged not only through usage but also because of information written or attached to the fly leaf. In extreme cases the fly leaf and other pages can be disfigured by the user. On many occasions these actions can tend to lessen the value of the book.

When the cover becomes detached or partly detached from the book, not only does this reduce the aesthetic appeal of the book, but it also increases the likelihood of further damage to the binding with either individual pages or signatures being liable to become detached from the book. The repair of damaged binding and other damage to books is expensive and time- consuming and previously required the expertise of a person skilled in the book binding trade to perform an adequate repair. For that reason it is difficult to have damaged books repaired quickly and efficiently and consequently the repair of damaged books is often delayed.

If the fly leaf of the book has been defaced, it is possible to glue a clean sheet of paper over the fly leaf or other damaged sheet adjacent the cover but that does not assist in the strengthening or the reinforcement of the binding of the book. Proposals have been made in the past for various methods of reinforcing and strengthening the binding of books, but these do not address the problem of strengthening the shoulder joints, that is the joint between the book and the cover.

Prior art United States patent specification 4744592 (the 592 patent) discloses a method and apparatus for protecting books. To repair a book, two laminate sheets are utilised with each sheet comprising a stiff sheet of the same size as the book which is adhered to a thin flexible transparent sheet which is wider than the stiff sheet to provide a flexible extension. The two laminates are applied to the outside of the book cover and each flexible extension is adhered to the spine and to the adjacent portion of the opposite cover. It is stated in the 592 patent that the method is particularly suitable for paperback books and periodicals. United States patent specification 5017070 (the 070 patent) discusses a method of reinforcement of a book which consists in attaching a laminate in strip form which has adhesive on one face. The adhesive is protected by a backing sheet which is split to provide three strips. The centre strip of the backing sheet is removed from the laminate and a straight edge is brought into contact with the reverse face of the laminate which is bent over the straight edge to define an exposed line of adhesive. The adhesive is brought into contact with the shoulder joint at the junction of the cover with the first inside page. The remainder of the release layer is removed and is adhered to either the cover or the inside page. The 070 patent also teaches that the laminate can be utilised for repairing torn pages. It has been found that the process described in the 070 patent does not provide adequate reinforcement of the cover, nor is it possible to satisfactorily repair damage that might be made to the shoulder joint of a book.

It is also known that when a book is to be subjected to heavy usage, such as in a public or similar library, that the life of the book can be limited because of heavy usage. On many occasions the heavy usage leads to damage to the book in the region of the shoulder and it is therefore desirable for a method and apparatus be available whereby the books can be protected before damage occurs. In the following disclosure and claims, the: term repair is intended to include both repair and protection.

Object of the invention

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved method of repairing books that does not require the application of trade expertise to enable a satisfactory repair to be made.

It is also in object of this invention to provide an apparatus by which the repair of a book can be carried out.

Disclosure of the invention.

The invention accordingly consists in a book binding repair kit comprising an end paper having an obverse face and a reverse face ,

a spine adhered to the obverse face and located substantially equidistantly from opposite ends of the end paper, the spine having two faces each of which is coated with an adhesive,

a bed of adhesive located on the obverse face of the end paper adjacent the junction of one face of the spine with the end paper to form a tip end and

at least part of the obverse face of the end paper on the other side of the spine is coated with an adhesive.

a bed of adhesive located on the obverse face of the end paper adjacent the junction of one face of the spine with the end paper to form a tip end and substantially all of the obverse face of the end paper on the other side of the spine s coated with an adhesive.

Preferably the adhesive is a moist adhesive protected by a release sheet.

Preferably the release sheet is comprised of a plurality of contiguous strips.

Preferably the tip end comprises a line of adhesive protected by a release sheet

Preferably the end paper is of a greater dimension that the open dimension of the book to be repaired.

Preferably the spine comprises a strip of mesh, a portion of which bonded to the obverse face of the end paper with the remainder of the strip forming the upstanding spine.

Preferably each face of the upstanding spine is coated with an adhesive protected by release sheets.

The invention also comprises a method of repairing a book by utilising an end paper having an obverse face and a reverse face,

a spine adhered to the obverse face of the end paper and located between opposite ends of the end paper, the spine having two faces each of which is coated with an adhesive,

a tip end formed by a bed of adhesive located on the obverse face of the end paper adjacent the junction of one face of the spine with the end paper and

at least part of the obverse face of the end paper on the other side of the spine is covered by an adhesive, comprising the steps of: activating the adhesive of the tip end, adhering the tip end to the contents side of the book adjacent the shoulder joint,

activating the adhesive on the face of the spine and adhering the face of the spine to the fly leaf of the book cover adjacent the shoulder joint,

activating the adhesive on the face of the spine and adhering that face to the inside face of the cover of the book adjacent the shoulder joint, and

activating the adhesive on the obverse face of the end paper and progressively _: adhering that face to the inside face of the cover of the book.

Preferably the adhesive of the tip end is a moist adhesive protected by a removable release strip. Preferably a plurality of contiguous release strips protect the adhesive on the obverse face of the end paper and the strips are sequentially removed as the obverse face of the end paper is progressively adhered to the inside face of the cover.

Brief description of the drawings.

A preferred form of the apparatus suitable for carrying out the the repair functions according to this invention will now be described with the aid of the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of the kit which can be utilised in the repair process ofa book.

Figure 2 is a sectional side view of a portion of the the kit illustrated in Figure 1 but drawn to an enlarged scale.

Figure 3 is diagrammatic view of a book and of the kit illustrated in Figure 1 but with the end paper in a folded condition prior to the application to a book.

Figure 4 is a view of the book illustrated in Figure 3 part way through the repair process.

Figure 5 is a view of the book illustrated in Figure 4 but with the repair process in a more advanced stage. Detailed description of the preferred method and apparatus.

As illustrated in the drawings, the end paper 1 (see particularly Figure 1) is preferably a single sheet of tough acid free paper which can be of any desired size and appropriate texture. Preferably the size of the paper is at least double the size of the book to be repaired. Although the end paper will normally be composed of a tough acid free paper, however it can be white or coloured or multicoloured of a random or specific pattern as required to suit the particular circumstances. In addition the end paper can be formed of an opaque or transparent material to enable matter already imprinted on either or both the faces of the cover or on the existing fly leaf to be exposed as will be hereinafter apparent.

The end paper has an obverse face 2 and a reverse face 3 (see particularly Figure 2). A portion of a strip of mesh such as mull cloth is bonded by adhesive 5 to the obverse face 2 of the end paper in a manner that the remainder of the strip will form an upstanding spine 6. In a highly preferred form, the spine 6 is located substantially equidistantly from both ends of the end paper. However the actual location of the spine can vary to suit particular circumstances. The spine 6 has a first face 7 and a second face 8 both of which are covered by an adhesive 9 which is protected by release sheets 10 and 11. Although the preferred form of adhesive is a moist adhesive which is protected by a removable release sheet, it is to be understood that other forms of adhesive as will be known to those skilled in the art, can be employed. If the adhesive is such that a release sheet is not required, then it will be necessary to otherwise activate the adhesive at the appropriate time. In another form instead of using the adhesive 9 and release sheets 10 and 11, double sided adhesive tape or other suitable adhesive can be utilised.

A line of adhesive is placed on one side of the junction of the spine 6 with the end paper to form a tip end 12 on the obverse face 2 of the end paper. The adhesive of the tip end 12 is conveniently protected by a release sheet 13. The obverse face 2 of the end paper on the opposite side of the spine 6 is covered with a layer of adhesive 14 which is protected by a number of contiguous release strips 15a, 15b, 15c and 15d. It will be understood that the number and size of the release strips will depend upon the proposed application of the end paper and of the size of the book to be repaired as will be further discussed herein.

To utilise the kit to repair a book, the book 20 (see Figure 3) is first opened to expose the fly leaf 21 and the inside face of the cover 22. If the joint 23 between the book contents and the cover is damaged, any loose paper or other debris is removed. If the fly leaf is damaged and is not required, it can be removed from the book content. The end paper is folded into the configuration indicated in Figure 3 and the folded edge 24 is pressed firmly against the cover and into the contents joint 23. The cover is closed and . marks (not shown in the drawings) are placed on the end paper to form a cutting guide which corresponds to the size of the book content. The folded end paper is removed from the book and it is trimmed to size using the cutting guide lines. The adhesive on the tip end 12 is exposed by removing the release sheet 13 and the tip end is placed firmly and evenly against the contents side of the joint 23. The adhesive is firmly pressed against the fly leaf or against the first page of the book content if the fly leaf has been removed, by applying pressure to the reverse face 3 of the end paper.

The release sheet 10 is removed from the adhesive on the face 7 of the spine to expose the adhesive and the spine is folded down onto the existing fly leaf or the first page of the book contents if the fly leaf has been removed and firmly adhered thereto by pressing on the obverse face 3 of the end paper. The release sheet 11 is next removed from the face 8 of the spine and the face 8 is firmly adhered to the inside face 25 of the cover by applying pressure to the obverse face of the cover as illustrated in Figure 5. The release strip 15a is removed and that portion of the reverse face 3 of the end paper having the exposed adhesive is firmly adhered to the inside face 25 of the cover by applying pressure to the obverse face of the end paper. The next contiguous release strip 15b is removed and the process repeated until all of the reverse face of the end paper is firmly adhered to the face 25 of the cover. Depending upon the size of the book to be repaired and the nature of the end paper, the adhesive can be covered by any suitable number of contiguous release strips 15 to allow a satisfactory bonding of the end paper to the cover.

Because of the nature of the adherence of the end paper and of the tip end 12, a strong bond is formed between the end paper and the cover and the repair of the book is complete.

Having been apprised of the nature of the invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the trade that modifications and amendments can be made to the particular sizes, shapes and construction of the component parts of the kit and still come within the general concept of the invention. All such modifications and amendments are intended to be included within the scope of this application.

Claims

1. A book binding repair kit comprising an end paper (1) having an obverse face (2) and a reverse face (3),

a spine (6) adhered to the obverse face (2) and located substantially equidistantly from opposite ends of the end paper (1), the spine (6) having two faces (7,8) each of which is coated with an adhesive (9),

a bed of adhesive located on the obverse face (2) of the end paper (1) adjacent the junction of one face of the spine (6) with the end paper (1) to form a tip end (12) and

at least part of the obverse face (2) of the end paper (1) on the other side of the spine (6) is coated with an adhesive (14).

2. The book binding repair kit claimed in claim 1 wherein the adhesive (14) is a moist adhesive protected by a release sheet (15).

3. The book binding repair kit claimed in claim 2, wherein the release sheet is comprised of a plurality of contiguous strips (15a, 15b).

4. The book binding kit of claim 1, wherein the tip end (12) comprises a line of adhesive protected by a release sheet (13).

5. The book binding kit of claim 1, wherein the end paper (1) is of a greater dimension that the open dimension of the book to be repaired.

6. The book binding kit of claim 1, wherein the spine (6) comprises a strip of mesh, a portion of which bonded to the obverse face (2) of the end paper (1) with the remainder of the strip forming the upstanding spine (6).

7. The book binding kit of claim 6, wherein each face (7,8) of the upstanding spine (6) is coated with an adhesive (9) protected by release sheets (10,11).

8. A method of repairing a book by utilising an end paper (1) having an obverse face (2) and a reverse face (3),

a spine (6) adhered to the obverse face (2) of the end paper (1) and located between opposite ends of the end paper (1), the spine having two faces (7,8) each of which is coated with an adhesive,

a tip end (12) formed by a bed of adhesive located on the obverse face (2) of the end paper (1) adjacent the junction of one face (8) of the spine with the end paper (1) and

at least part of the obverse face (2) of the end paper (1) on the other side of the spine (6) is covered by an adhesive, comprising the steps of: activating the adhesive of the tip end (12), adhering the tip end (12) to the contents side of the book adjacent the shoulder joint (23),

activating the adhesive (9) on the face (8) of the spine (6) and adhering the face (8) of the spine (6) to the fly leaf (21) of the book cover adjacent the shoulder joint (23),

activating the adhesive (9) on the face (7) of the spine (6) and adhering that face (7) to the inside face of the cover (25) of the book adjacent the shoulder joint (23), and

activating the adhesive (14) on the obverse face (2) of the end paper and progressively adhering that face to the inside face (25) of the cover (22) of the book.

9. The method of repairing a book as claimed in claim 8, wherein the adhesive of the tip end (12) is a moist adhesive protected by a removable release strip (13).

10. The method of repairing a book as claimed in claim 8, wherein a plurality of contiguous release strips (15a, 15b) protect the adhesive (14) on the obverse face (2) of the end paper (1) and the strips (15a, 15b) are sequentially removed as the obverse face (2) of the end paper (1) is progressively adhered to the inside face (25) of the cover (22).