GB2184981A

GB2184981A - A book and method of producing same

Info

Publication number: GB2184981A
Application number: GB08523634A
Authority: GB
Inventors: David Freestone-Barks
Original assignee: EASIBIND Ltd
Current assignee: EASIBIND Ltd
Priority date: 1985-09-25
Filing date: 1985-09-25
Publication date: 1987-07-08
Anticipated expiration: 2005-09-25
Also published as: GB8622996D0; GB2186526A; GB2184981B; GB2223450B; GB2186526B; GB2223450A; GB8523634D0; GB8923735D0

Abstract

A book comprising a cover having rigid cover leafs hingedly connected to a spine, an elongate channel shaped binding member secured to the cover to extend along the inner face of the spine and a group of pages bound along one edge in the binding member. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A book and method of producing same The present invention relates to a book, and a method of producing a book.

It is a general aim of the present invention to provide a book and a method of producing a book which is easy to perform and in particular enables hard covered bound books to be produced in small quantities.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a book comprising a cover having rigid cover leafs hingedly connected to a spine, an elongate channel shaped binding member secured to the cover to extend along the inner face of the spine and a group of pages bound along one edge to the binding member.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a cover for a book defined above, the cover including a spine made of a stiff material, and a layer of hot melt adhesive extending along the inner surface of the spine.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of producing a bound book including placing the group of papers to be bound in an elongate binding member so that one edge of the group of papers is located within the binding member, bonding said edge of the group of papers within said binding member, and bonding the binding member to a stiff spine of a cover.

A method of producing a bound book including hingedly securing an elongate channel shaped binding member in a cover having a spine and rigid cover leafs so as to extend along the spine and be movable relative thereto, placing a group of pages to be bound in said cover so that one edge of the group of papers is located within the binding member, and bonding the group of papers within said binding member.

Reference is now made to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of a book according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of part of the book illustrated in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a part cross-sectional view of the book illustrated in Figure 1 prior to bonding and also showing the cover in a pre-assembled condition; Figure 4 is a schematic part cross-sectional view of an alternative binding member; and Figure 5 is a schematic end view of a book according to an alternative embodiment of the invention.

The book 10 illustrated in the drawings includes a cover 12 having a spine 14 to which is hingedly attached a pair of cover leafs 1 5 and 16. Bonded to the inner surface of the spine 14 and extending longitudinally therealong is an elongate binding member 17. The binding member 17 encloses an edge of a group of pages 18 to be bound and is bonded to each of the papers of the group.

Accordingly, the.group of papers are bound to the spine via the binding member 17. The binding member 17 is of a channel-like crosssectional shape and is provided along its length with a layer of hot melt adhesive 20 which extends across the bottom and up the sides of the channel shape. Accordingly, the binding member 17 may be used to bind any number of pages up to a maximum number which define a group having a thickness which does not exceed the width of the channel defined by binding member 17.

The inner surface of the spine 14 is provided with a band of hot melt adhesive 25 which is located roughly centrally of the spine and extends longitudinally therealong.

To bind the group of pages in the cover, the group of papers are placed within the binding member which in turn is placed upon the inner surface of the spine. Heat is applied to the spine to cause the hot melt adhesive 10 and 25 to melt and cause simultaneous bonding of the papers to the binding member and the binding member to the spine. Alternatively the pages may be initially bound in the binding memebr 1 7 and then subsequently presented to the hard cover for bonding therein.

Since the binding member presents a large surface area to the spine, adequate bonding between the spine and binding member is assured without the need for accurate positioning of the band of adhesive 25 or the binding member relative to the spine.

Since the pages are reliably bonded within the binding member 17 again without the need for accurate positioning, bonding of the individual papers to the spine is reliably and easily achieved.

Preferably the binding member 17 has a flat bottom (as seen in the Figures) and is formed from a lightweight card. Advantageously, page leafs 30, 31 are hingedly connected (for instance by suitable fold lines) to opposite sides of the binding member 1 7 to provide a convenient means of inserting the group of papers into the binding member. Conveniently, binding members 17 having differing widths of channel are provided for insertion into covers having a spine of a given width. Preferably the width of a binding member to be inserted in a cover has a width which is at least half the width of the spine. In addition covers having spines of differing widths are also provided. In this way it is possible to cater for the binding of a wide range of thicknesses of groups of papers.

When the binding member 17 is formed from card, it is possible for the weight of papers to pull the glue layer from the card by causing the surface layer of the card to sepa rate from the remainder. A similar affect can be caused by opening the leafs 30, 31 through 180 . In order to reduce the likelihood of this happening the construction of the binding member 17 may be modified as shown in Figure 4. The binding member 17 shown in Figure 4 includes a layer of tear resistant material 50, which is preferably a woven material such as linen. The layer of material 50 is embedded within the band of hot melt adhesive 20 and is arranged to extend along the length of the binding member and across the majority of the width of the bottom wall 17a.After pages have been bonded in position the layer of material 50 acts to spread the weight of the pages across the bottom wall 1 7a and thereby reduces the likelihood of the surface layer of the card separating from the remainder of the bottom wall 17a.

The cover 12 is preferably constructed as illustrated more clearly in Figure 1. The cover 12 includes three separate sheets 40, 41, and 42 of a stiff material such as a heavyweight card. The sheets are hingedly secured together by means of a front covering layer 45 which is bonded to the front faces of sheets 40, 41 and 42 and which is wrapped around their edges in a conventional manner.

A strip of tear resistant material 47 is bonded to the rear face of sheet 41 and to marginal edges of sheets 40, 41 in order to complete the hinge connection between sheets 40, 41 and 42. Preferably the tear resistant material is a woven fabric such as linen. It is also envisaged that if necessary, the outer surface of the binding member 17 may also be defined by a layer of a tear resistant material.

The inner faces of sheets 40, 42 are covered by a sheet 48 of a suitable paper which is bonded in position in a conventional manner.

An alternative embodiment is illustrated in Figure 5 wherein the binding member 17 is permanently secured to the cover 12 during manufacture of the cover. The binding member 17 is provided with hot melt adhesive as described above.

The binding member 17 shown in Figures 5 and 6 is secured to respective cover leafs 1 5 and 16 via anchoring strips 50, 51. Each anchoring strip 50, 51 includes a flap portion 54 which is hingedly connected to a respective side of the binding member 1 7 via a fold line 55 and is also hingedly connected to the remainder of the strip via a fold line 57. The remainder of the strip defines an anchorage portion 58 which is bonded to the respective cover leaf 15, 16 and may subsequently be covered by a facing sheet 48. The fold line 57 of each strip 50, 51 is preferably arranged to be coincident with a respective hinge between a respective cover leaf 15, 1 6 and the spine 14. In this embodiment, the spine 14 need not be rigid and can be flexible.

The binding member 17 in the embodiment of Figures 5 and 6 is not secured directly to the inner surface of the spine 14 but is permitted to move relative thereto about the hinge connections defined by the fold lines 55 and 57. Such movement enables the relatively stiff cover leafs 15 and 16 to be opened whilst unaffecting the lie of papers bound within the binding member 17.

The flap portions 54 are preferably formed so as to be substantially the same height as the side walls of the binding member 17 so that the flat bottom of the binding member 17 rests against the inner surface bf the spine when the book is closed.

The binding member 17 and attached anchoring strips 50, 51 are preferably integrally formed from a strip of card of suitable stiffness which is appropriately folded.

Binding of pages into the cover shown in Figures 5 and 6 is simply achieved by placing the pages within the cover 12 with one edge located within the binding member 17 and then applying heat to the spine 14 in order to melt the adhesive located within the binding member.

Claims

1. A book comprising a cover having rigid cover leafs hingedly connected to a spine, an elongate channel shaped binding member secured to the cover to extend along the inner face of the spine and a group of pages bound along one edge to the binding member.

2. A book according to Claim 1 wherein the group of papers are bonded to the binding member of a hot melt adhesive.

3. A book according to Claim 2 wherein a layer of tear resistant material is embedded in the hot melt adhesive located in the binding member.

4. A book according to Claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein the spine is formed from a stiff material and the binding member is bonded to the inner surface of the spine.

5. A book according to Claim 4 wherein the inner surface of the spine is defined by a layer of a tear resistant material.

6. A book according to Claim 5 wherein the tear resistant material comprises a woven fabric.

7. A book according to any of Claims 4, 5 or 6 wherein the binding member is bonded to the spine by a hot melt adhesive.

8. A book according to Claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein the binding member is hingedly connected to the cover leafs.

9. A book according to Claim 8 wherein the binding member is connected to the cover leafs via anchoring strips, each anchoring strip having a flap portion hingedly connected along one side of the binding member and being hingedly connected to an anchorage portion which is bonded to the respective cover leaf.

10. A book according to Claim 9 wherein the binding member and a pair of anchoring strips are formed integrally from a stiff material such as card.

11. A book substantially as described with reference to and as illustrated in any of the Figures of the accompanying drawings.

12. A cover for a book according to any of Claims 1 to 7, the cover including a spine made of a stiff material, and a layer of hot melt adhesive extending along the inner surface of the spine.

13. A cover according to Claim 12 wherein the inner surface of the spine being defined by a layer of a tear resistant material.

14. A cover according to Claim 13 wherein the tear resistant material is a woven fabric.

15. A cover for a book according to Claims 1, 2, 3, 8, 9 or 10 including rigid cover leafs hingedly connected to a spine, an elongate channel shaped binding member extending along the inner face of the spine, the binding member being hingedly connected to the cover leafs so as to be movable relative to the spine, the binding member including a layer of hot melt adhesive.

16. A cover substantially as described with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3, 5 or 6 of the accompanying drawings.

17. A method of producing a bound book including placing the group of papers to be bound in an elongate binding member so that one edge of the group of papers is located within the binding member, bonding said edge of the group of papers within said binding member, and bonding the binding member to a stiff spine of a cover.

18. A method according to Claim 17 wherein bonding of the group of papers to the binding member is performed simultaneously with bonding of the binding member to the spine using a hot melt adhesive.

19. A method of producing a bound book including hingedly securing an elongate channel shaped binding member in a cover having a spine and rigid cover leafs so as to extend along the spine and be movable relative thereto, placing a group of papers to be bound in said cover so that one edge of the group of papers is located within the binding member, and bonding the group of papers within said binding member.

20. A method according to Claim 19 wherein the binding member is provided with hot melt adhesive and the group of papers is bonded within the binding member by applying heat thereto via the spine of the cover.

21. A method of producing a bound book substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.