GB2221190A - Book binding - Google Patents

Abstract

A method of binding a book wherein a plurality of sheets (60), having printed pages thereon, are assembled one on top of the other and secured together by means of a wire-stitch (61) threaded through each of the sheets, thereby to form a section of the book. A plurality of sections are then assembled one on top of another and secured to one another by means of glue. The sheets (50) can be reinforced by application of a strip of adhesive (51) to a fold line so that adjacent pages are glued together at their inner edges. Further reinforcement can be provided by introducing adhesive into apertures (62) punched through the sheets. <IMAGE>

Description

BOOK BINDING This invention relates to book binding.

Print finishers receive printed pages of books from printers, and they bind these pages into the finished article. Typically, a plurality of pages are printed on both sides of each sheet of paper received from a printer - for example, 8 or 16 pages per side.

The sheets are folded to define separate leaves usually, each leaf has one page on each of its opposite sides.

A variety of methods are used to bind books, the criteria for deciding upon a particular method in a particular situation depending, amongst other things, upon the number of leaves in the book, the quality of paper comprising the leaves, the prospective use to which the book will be put and the prospective selling price of the book. As a result of these different criteria, a number of alternative methods are available for binding for example, saddle stitching, perfect binding and sewing.Some of these methods will be briefly described, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a saddlestitched book opened at its centre pages; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the cover of the open book of Figure 1; Figure 3 shows a saddle stitch; Figure 4 is an end elevation of a square-backed book; Figure 5 shows a printed sheet as produced by a printer, with eight pages on each side; Figure 6 shows the sheet of Figure 5 folded to define the leaves of a book; and Figure 7 is a side elevation of a perfect bound book.

In order to provide a saddle-stitched book, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, the following steps may be carried out. A plurality of sheets, each comprising two pages printed on each side, are placed on top of each other in the desired order. The sheets are then folded down the centre in order to define single leaves, each having two pages, one printed on each side. One or more saddle stitches 2 are used to secure the plurality of sheets to one another. The saddle-stitch 2 is machine applied, the machine utilising a continuous length of wire which it pierces through the sheets 1 in the required positions along the centre line, and then the wire is folded back upon itself. The saddle stitch 2 has two arms 3, 4 which are visible when the book is opened at its centre pages (Figure 1) and a body 5 which is visible on the spine 6 of the book.The saddle-stitch 2, when removed from a book, appears like a staple (Figure 3).

Saddle-stitching, in practice, is a moderately cheap and quick method for securing sheets to one another. However, there is a limit to the number of sheets which can be assembled in this manner, as above this limit there is a tendency for the centre pages of the book to become detached, and accordingly for the book to gradually fall apart. Accordingly, the method tends to be used for pamphlets. Such pamphlets are generally meant to have only a short life.

A second known method, namely perfect binding, is used to form "square-back" books, as seen in Figure 4.

Such books have a square-back 6.

The method of perfect binding a book involves taking a sheet 7 (Figure 5), which may have, for example, eight pages 9 of the book printed on each side thereof, and folding this sheet along lines between the pages in such a manner that the pages are in the required order, one on top of the other (Figure 6). This provides one section 8 which, in this case, comprises sixteen pages.

A plurality of similar sections 8 are assembled, one on top of the other, then each of the respective edges 29 of the sections is sawn off in order to provide a straight edge 29, which is then roughened up and glue 30 is applied thereto, followed by the application to the outside thereof of a cover 10. Then, edges 11, 12, 13 of each of the respective sections 8 are trimmed by guillotine in order to complete the book. It will be appreciated that the trimming of the edges 29, 11, 12, 13 separates the leaves from one another, apart from their being held together by the glue 30.

The method of perfect binding provides a fairly cheap book, but as individual leaves are only held together by the glue 30, the book tends not to last a long time, the leaves, with use, eventually becoming detached.

An alternative method for forming a square-backed book is referred to as sewing.

The method for forming a sewn book involves folding sheets as described in relation to the perfect binding method. However, instead of gluing sections to secure them together, individual leaves of a section are sewn to one another along the fold between the pages, using thread. In this method, as opposed to the perfect binding method, the leaves of the sewn sections are secured to one another by the thread, and each section is also sewn to each other or each adjacent section. A cover may then be glued in position, around the secured sections. In this method, the gluing step principally serves to secure the cover to the sections, whereas in the perfect binding method, the gluing step secures the leaves together and to the cover. Sewn books are held together substantially by thread, not by glue.

Thus, in comparison to the first two methods, a sewn book has a prospective longer life. However, the sewing technique is relatively more expensive, and accordingly is only used to bind books which are to be sold at an appreciable price, and which are likely to have a substantial amount of use over a long period of time.

It is also of note that, in both perfect bound and sewn books, all pages comprising one section will be printed on the same quality paper, due to the fact that each page of each section originates from the same sheet of paper. Different quality paper, for example paper upon which photographs are printed, has to be incorporated in a separate section. Thus, for example, there is a tendency in perfect bound and sewn books, to group all photographs together irrespective of the place in the text at which the photographs are referenced.

The aforementioned methods have been known in the art of book binding for a substantial period of time.

We aim to provide a method for use in book binding, which may have advantages over the aforementioned methods in certain circumstances.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of binding a book, including the steps of: assembling a plurality of sheets of a book one on top of another, each sheet having a plurality of pages printed thereon; securing said sheets together by means of a piece of wire threaded through each of the sheets thereby to provide a section of the book; applying adhesive to at least one sheet of a section to further secure said one sheet to an adjacent sheet of that section; assembling a plurality of such sections one on top of another; and securing said sections together one on top of another.

The method may include the further step of folding each sheet to define a plurality of leaves. Each sheet may be folded in half to define two leaves. Preferably, said wire is threaded on or closely adjacent the fold.

Preferably, the folding step is carried out after the sheets of a sect-ion have been secured together.

Preferably, said adhesive is applied on or closely adjacent to the fold. Preferably, said adhesive is applied to a sheet substantially along the length of said fold. The adhesive may be applied between each sheet of a section.

The method may include the further step of forming an aperture in some or all said sheets of a section in order to define a continuous passageway between said sheets; and applying adhesive into said passageway, thereby to further secure said sheets together.

Said passageway may extend through all of the sheets of a section.

Said aperture may be formed and said wire may be threaded substantially concurrently. The adhesive may be applied and said wire may be threaded substantially concurrently. Preferably, a plurality of said apertures are provided at spaced apart intervals.

Two pieces of said wire may be provided at spaced apart intervals to secure the sheets of a respective said section together. Alternatively, three pieces of said wire may be provided at spaced apart intervals to secure the sheets of a respective said section together.

Preferably, said apertures are provided between said pieces of wire.

At least one of the sheets in one section may comprise paper of substantially different weight and/or quality to that of at least one other of the sheets of that section.

Preferably, the piece of wire is in the form of a saddle stitch, thereby to secure said sheets in position.

The or each piece of wire may be threaded through the sheets of each section such that its ends face outwardly of the section, into the spine of the book.

The adhesive may be applied into said passageway from a direction opposite to the direction from which wire is threaded through the sheets. Alternatively, adhesive may be applied into said passageway in the same direction as the direction from which wire is threaded through the sheets.

Preferably, said sections are secured to one another along one edge thereof, by means of glue.

Preferably, a cover is secured to said sections which are secured one on top of another.

Said cover may be secured by means of glue.

Some or all of the aforesaid steps may be performed by machinery or by hand.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a book bound according to the method of the first aspect.

In a variant of the first aspect, the step of securing sheets by a piece of wire may be omitted.

For a better understanding of the invention and to show how the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which: Figure 8 is a side elevation of two book sections; Figure 9 is an end elevation of a plurality of secured sections; Figure 10 is an end elevation of a bound book.

Figure 11, 12 and 13 illustrate a printed sheet prior to folding, in modified methods of the invention; Figure 15 is a perspective view of a plurality of sheets secured to one another by a modified method of the invention; and Figure 16 is a sectional view along line C-C of Figure 15. [Note some detail has been missed out for clarity] Printed sheets of a book are supplied by a printer, in separate piles, each pile comprising a plurality of sheets having identical pages printed thereupon. Advantageously, each sheet has two pages on each of its opposite sides. The sheets are supplied to a collating machine of known type, which machine assembles (for example) twelve different sheets into a defined order, the twelve sheets representing a section comprising forty-eight pages of the book (i.e. twelve sheets, four pages per sheet).The twelve collated sheets are then folded down their centres in order to define twenty four leaves, each having two pages, one on each side.

The twelve folded sheets of the section are secured to one another by threading wire through the sheets and securing this wire in position. To this end, the sheets may be stapled together or fixed together by means of one or more saddle-stitches disposed along the central fold. This may be done before folding, but may alternatively be done either after or during folding.

Similarly, further sheets are assembled into sections, utilizing twelve sheets, or any suitable number of sheets, until all the sheets of the book have been included in a respective section. The collating, folding and wire stitching steps may be carried out by a collating machine (or series of machines).

The sections are then collated into a desired order and adjacent sections are secured to one another as follows.

Suitable glue is applied around an end 20 of a section 21a (Figure 8). Then, an end 22 of an adjacent section 21b is moved towards the end 20 and abutted thereagainst. Thus, the ends 20, 22 of the respective sections 21a, 21b are secured to one another. In a similar fashion, further sections are secured together, in order to build up the book. When all the sections which comprise the book are suitably secured, the appearance is as seen in Figure 9.

It should be noted in Figure 9 that not all of the sections are necessarily of the same thickness, nor need all the leaves and/or sections be of the same quality paper.

Ends 20, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26 of each of six respective sections comprising the book are then secured to a cover 40 (Figure 10) by glue 41, which cover 40 may be temporarily held in place by a suitable clamp. When the glue 41 has dried, the clamp is removed. Sides of the book may then be squared off, in order to finish off the book. As an alternative, the cover may be glued only to the outer sections 20 and 26.

The steps involved in assembling the sections into the book may be carried out by hand, or advantageously, a machine to perform some or all of the desired tasks, may be provided.

All of the gluing steps may be carried out in a single operation.

The book produced by this process is generally square backed, and opens substantially flat.

We have found, much to our surprise, that the glue is sufficient to hold the sections of the book together, and no additional means to ensure securement of the sections to one another, besides the glue and cover, is required in some situations. The wire stitches may serve to key into the glue thereby to enhance securing of the sections together.

A particular advantage of the above described method is that, as compared to perfect binding and sewn binding of books, folding is substantially eliminated.

During formation of a book section, only one folding operation is required, but this is a simple folding operation that may be done on a collating machine - a separate, complex folding machine is not required.

In the above described example, a forty-eight page "imposition scheme" is effectively adopted: each section is composed of forty-eight pages, typically of A4 size. In perfect or sewn binding, an eight or sixteen page imposition scheme is usually the maximum available.

Referring to the discussion of prior art at the beginning of this specification, it will be recalled that the sixteen-page sheet 7 of Figure 5 requires a considerable degree of complexity in folding - an expensive automatic folding machine is required, to fold the sheet of Figure 5 into the configuration of Figure 6. Moreover, a substantial and expensive printing machine is required, to print the sixteen-page sheet 7 of Figure 5 in the first place. It is possible to print an even larger sheet such as 7, having thirty-two A4 pages printed thereon. However, this requires the largest printing machine that is presently available in the UK, with the attendant capital cost of both printing and subsequent folding.

Therefore, the above-described example of the invention is highly unusual, in providing a forty-eight page imposition scheme.

Preferably, methods embodying the invention have an imposition scheme of at least sixteen pages preferably more. The higher the imposition scheme (the greater the number of sheets), then the less proportion of wire there is in the finished book, and the lower the number of passes necessary in the collating/folding machine.

It will be appreciated that, in a book produced by the above described method, the leaves may be opened reasonably flat, without fear of them becoming detached.

Thus, in many respects, the book may have the advantages of a sewn book, whilst being much cheaper to produce.

As an alternative to the above-described and illustrated method, a plurality of leaves may be wirestitched together as by "side-stabbing" to form a section, and a plurality of such sections affixed together by glue, as described above. The principle difference is that, instead of being inserted in the fold of a section, each wire stitch is inserted near the fold but at right angles to the sheets or leaves in their finished positions. In such an arrangement, the wire stitches may rather obstruct the neat placement of sections side-by-side, and so in this respect, may be less preferable than the illustrated method.

In another alternative to the above-described and illustrated method, the wire stitches such as 2 may be reversed. That is, the stitches such as 2 may be so inserted that the body 5 of each stitch is visible in the centre fold of the respective section, with the arms 3, 4 projecting into the spine of the book.

This is a highly unusual arrangement, but due to the novel method of construction of the book, permits the free ends of each wire stitch 2 (which can sometimes be sharp and potentially harmful - especially to young children) to be safely covered by the book cover 40.

This disposition of the arms 3, 4 of the stitches such as 2 may assist keying of the wire stitches in the glue 41, whilst leaving safe, smooth body portions 5 of the wire stitches visible and accessible within the book. The body portions 5 may retain the inner leaves of each section more securely than the arms 3, 4.

In yet another alternative, glue may be applied to reinforce each section. For example, referring to Figure 11, a printed sheet 50 has four pages printed on each of its two opposite sides. Pages II, III, VI and VII are visible in Figure 11, separated by axes A-A and B-B - the other pages I, Iv, V and VII being printed on the opposite side of the sheet 50. Before folding of the sheet 50, a thin strip 51 of glue - for example 2 to 3mm wide - is applied along axis B-B, between pages II and VII. The sheet 50 is then folded about axis A-A so that pages II and III are glued together at their inner edges, as are pages VI and VII. (These gluing and folding steps may be carried out as a single operation).

Next, wire stitches are inserted along axis B-B and the sheet 50 folded about axis B-B, to make an eightpage section.

Similar sections are then collated and secured together with a cover, by gluing, to form a book much as described above.

It will be appreciated that the section formed from the sheet 50 requires trimming after folding, at least at the axis A-A, to separate the sheet 50 into four leaves. This may be done before or after the various similar sections are collated and/or secured together.

Wire stitching of the sheet 50 may be done before, during or after the second folding operation about the axis B-B.

Thus, each section formed from a sheet such as 50 may be reinforced and/or secured more positively, by the provision of the strip 51 of glue. This may be particularly useful where thinner quality papers are used.

It should be noted that the sheet 50 provides an 8-page section. This represents a movement away from the standard in the print finishing industry, where machines, such as those used in providing sewn books, are specifically adapted for folding and sewing 16-page sections. The method may also be of utility in binding two-thirds A4 sized pages or square pages. Thus the method may extend the range of page shapes and sizes and/or the number of pages which print finishers can suitably bind into books.

A modification of the Figure 11 embodiment provides a yet further alternative. In Figure 12, a printed sheet 70 has 6 pages printed on each of its two opposite sides. Figure 13 shows a printed sheet 80 having 8 pages on each of its two opposite sides.

In order 'two form a section, a strip of glue is applied down line 71 (Figure 12). The sheet may then be roll-folded as seen in Figures 14. Thus, a portion x of the sheet 70 is pivoted about a line 72, as indicated by arrow 74 (Figure 14a), towards a portion y of the sheet.

Portions x and y are abutted against one another and the glue 71 secures these two to one another. Similarly, the secured sections x and y may be pivoted about a line 76 (Figure 14b), as indicated by arrow 75, and a strip of glue may be provided on a line continuous with line 71 on a relevant surface of sheet x and/or sheet z in order to secure these together. Thus, a 12-page section is formed having a centre fold 79 in the direction of line 78. The section may be trimmed as necessary in order to define individual leaves. The 16-page sheet of Figure 13 may be roll-folded in a similar fashion to produce a 16-page section.

It will be appreciated in relation to the Figure 12 and 13 embodiments, that it may be necessary at some stage to score a line between leaves in order to define the centre fold 79. It may be advantageous to score this line as the leaves are being roll-folded. If glue is also applied at this time, it may be channeled into the centre fold and thereby the section may be relatively accurately assembled and secured. Accordingly, this is a preferred method.

It has been found to our surprise, that the sections formed in the method disclosed in Figures 12 and 13 (and to a lesser extent those formed in the method of Figure 11), are of substantial strength, largely due to layers of adhesive about the centre fold 79, which adhesive adds a substantial amount of strength to the spine of the section. Such is the strength of the soformed sections that a plurality of these may be bound into a cover by the method disclosed herein thereby to form a book. In this case, therefore, there may be no necessity for the sections to be wired stitched.

However, if additional strength is required the sections may also be wire stitched.

In order to increase the strength of any of the aforementioned embodiments, the embodiment to be described in relation to Figures 15 and 16 may be of utility.

Thus, sections may be reinforced and/or secured as follows. Printed sheets 60 (Figure 15) are laid one on top of another and secured by means of wire stitches 61 in a manner as aforementioned. In order to further reinforce and/or secure the sections 60 in position, the sections may be provided with apertures 62 at suitable positions on or closely adjacent to the centre fold 64 of the sections.

The apertures 62 may be formed by punching a hole through the sections. The so-formed apertures provide a continuous passageway 68 (Figure 16) through the sheets 60. The walls of this passageway may be non-smooth, particularly if the part of the sheets which is punched in order to form the aperture is not actually detached from the sheet, it being merely forced outwardly during punching.

Next, adhesive may be applied into the passageway by, for example, injecting it through the apertures or, simply applying adhesive into the aperture of an outer sheet of the section and allowing this to flow through that aperture and into the passageway under gravity. In both cases, adhesive may fill the passageway and thereby provide a continuous filament of adhesive in the passageway bonded to the walls of the passageway. This adhesive may help to secure sheets of the sections to one another.

The Figures 15 and 16 embodiment may be of particular utility when a large number of sheets are to be secured to one another, for example, in the case of 48-page sections or more.

It has been noted that the adhesive tends to most securely secure sheets to one another in the case of sheets are nearest to the sheet through the aperture of which the adhesive was initially injected or applied.

Thus, it is preferable to apply adhesive so as to result in the strongest adhesion between adjacent sheets where the wire stitch most weakly secures the sheets to one another. Thus, weakness of the wire stitching between sheets may be combatted by the strength of the adhesion between these sheet - that is, the methods complement one another.

The apertures 62 may be of any suitable shape.

They may be, for example, holes, slots or perforations.

It may be advantageous to form rectangular slots closely adjacent and parallel to the spine of the section.

The part of the sheet though which the aperture 62 is formed, may be simply pushed aside during its formation without any removal of material, as aforementioned. Alternatively, the material may be cleanly removed in a manner similar to that in which a conventional paper hole punch removes a circular piece from a sheet of paper during punching thereof.

Figure 15 shows apertures 62 along the centre fold 64. Alternatively, the apertures may be provided to one side of the centre fold, adjacent thereto.

An aperture may be formed at any time during the process of assembling sections of a book to be bound.

Suitably, however, they may be formed during wiring of sheets to one another. In this case, a suitable tool may be attached to a wiring machine so that, as this machine forces wires through the sheets of a section, it also punches apertures in the sheets. This may particularly be advantageous as, it will be appreciated, a separate step of forming the apertures would tend to increase the time (and cost) involved in binding a book.

It may be possible also to apply adhesive concurrently, or as soon as apertures have been formed in a section. In this respect, a punch for forming apertures may incorporate an adhesive applying means.

For example, the punch itself may have a passageway through which adhesive may flow.

Though the formation of apertures has been described with reference to its use with wire-stitched sections, it may of utility combined with any of the methods disclosed herein and, in particular, where sections are not wire-stitched.

Numerous methods of binding books have been mentioned in this Specification. For a particular situation, any of the methods may be of utility either singly or in combination with any other method, in order to provide a book bound to an acceptable standard.

It is thought that the costs involved in binding a book by methods as disclosed herein will be slightly more than those involved for perfect binding, but less than those involved in sewn books.

It is envisaged that methods as disclosed herein may be used to bind a book wherein the perfect binding method is inadequate, but wherein the costs involved in providing a sewn book are not merited.

The readers attention is directed to all papers and documents which are filed concurrently with this specification and which are open to public inspection with this specification, and the contents of all such papers and documents are incorporated herein by reference.

All of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and/or all of the steps of any method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and/or steps are mutually exclusive.

Each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

The invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoing embodiment(s). The invention extends to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), or to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the steps of any method or process so disclosed.

Claims (26)

1. A method of binding a book, including the steps of: assembling a plurality of sheets of a book one on top of another, each sheet having a plurality of pages printed thereon; securing said sheets together by means of a piece of wire threaded through each of the sheets thereby to provide a section of the book; applying adhesive to at least one sheet of a section to further secure said one sheet to an adjacent sheet of that section; assembling a plurality of such sections one on top of another; and securing said sections together one on top of another.

2. A method according to Claim 1, including the further step of folding each sheet to define a plurality of leaves.

3. A method according to Claim 2, wherein each sheet is folded in half to define two leaves.

4. A method according to Claim 3, wherein said wire is threaded on or closely adjacent the fold.

5. A method according to Claim 2, 3 or 4, wherein the folding step is carried out after the sheets of a section have been secured together.

6. A method according to Claim 3, wherein said adhesive is applied on or closely adjacent to the fold.

7. A method according to Claim 6, wherein said adhesive is applied to a sheet substantially along the length of said fold.

8. A method according to Claim 7, wherein adhesive is applied between each sheet of a section.

9. A method according to any of the preceding claims, the method including the further step of forming an aperture in some or all said sheets of a section in order to define a continuous passageway between said sheets; and applying adhesive into said passageway, thereby to further secure said sheets together.

10. A method according to Claim 9, wherein said passageway extends through all of the sheets of a section.

11. A method according to Claim 9 or Claim 10, wherein said aperture is formed and said wire is threaded substantially concurrently.

12. A method according to any of Claims 9 to 11, wherein said adhesive is applied and said wire is threaded substantially concurrently.

13. A method according to any of Claims 9 to 12, wherein a plurality of said apertures are provided at spaced apart intervals.

14. A method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein two pieces of said wire are provided at spaced apart intervals to secure the sheets of a respective said section together.

15. A method according to any of Claims 1 to 13, wherein three pieces of said wire are provided at spaced apart intervals to secure the sheets of a respective said section together.

16. A method according to Claim 14 or Claim 15, wherein said apertures are provided between said pieces of wire.

17. A method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein at least one of the sheets in one section comprises paper of substantially different weight and/or quality to that of at least one other of the sheets of that section.

18. A method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the piece of wire is in the form of a saddle stitch, thereby to secure said sheets in position.

19. A method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the or each piece of wire is threaded through the sheets of each section such that its ends face outwardly of the section, into the spine of the book.

20. A method according to any of Claims 9 to 19, wherein adhesive is applied into said passageway from a direction opposite to the direction from which wire is threaded through the sheets.

21. A method according to any of Claims 9 to 19, wherein adhesive is applied into said passageway in the same direction as the direction from which wire is threaded through the sheets.

22. A method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said sections are secured to one another along one edge thereof, by means of glue.

23. A method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein a cover is secured to said sections which are secured one on top of another.

24. A method according to Claim 22, wherein said cover is secured by means of glue.

25. A method of binding a book, the method being substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 8 to 16 of the accompanying drawing.

26. A book bound by a method according to any of the preceding claims.