GB2395682A

GB2395682A - Automatically detected identifiers on book sections in book manufacture.

Info

Publication number: GB2395682A
Application number: GB0227699A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Liam Mulally; Derek Geelon
Original assignee: Colorman Res & Developments Lt
Current assignee: Colorman Res & Developments Lt
Priority date: 2002-11-27
Filing date: 2002-11-27
Publication date: 2004-06-02
Anticipated expiration: 2022-11-27
Also published as: GB0227699D0; GB2395682B

Abstract

First book section 21 has an identifier which corresponds to its signature. The identifier may be regions of adjacent pages and/or part of a particular page. At checking station 26 optical reading heads (25, figure 3) detect the identifier and compare it with a stored identifier. If the identifiers match, the book section 21 is opened and dropped on to saddle 30. At checking station 32 optical reading heads (31, figure 8) detect the identifier on a second section 22 such as a cover and compare it with a second stored identifier. If the identifiers match, the cover 22 is opened and dropped on to saddle 30 over book section 21. The assembled book is calibrated for thickness at calibration station 35 and stitched at stitching station 36. It is transferred along conveyor 37 to three knife trimming station 38 at which its exposed edges are trimmed. Trimmed books are bundled and stacked at stacker bundler station 40.

Description

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delivering the checked first book section to a saddle; printing second sheets of paper with a second signature; 5 folding the printed second sheet into a second book section; automatically detecting an identifier of the second book section at a second collating station; 10 delivering the checked second book section onto the first book section on the saddle; stitching the book thus formed; and 15 trimming free edges of the book.

In one embodiment the second book section is a book cover.

In a referred embodiment the identifier of a book section is detected optically and 20 checked against a reference identifier for a particular signature.

Preferably the method comprises the in-line steps of: stacking the trimmed books into a stack; wrapping the stack of books; check weighing the wrapped stack; and automatically rejecting a stack if the stack is not within weight 30 tolerance.

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À t 1 8 À In one embodiment the stack of books is wrapped in a shrink wrap film and heat sealed. Preferably the stack contains a predetermined number of books and the method S comprises automatically counting the number of books delivered to form a stack.

In one aspect the sheets of paper are printed by: drawing paper from a reel stand; tensioning and registering the paper; printing a signature on one side of the paper; 15 printing a signature on the other side of the paper; drying the printed paper; chilling the dried printed paper; and remoisturising the printed paper.

Preferably the paper is dried at a temperature of from 175 C to 185 C, ideally at a temperature of approximately 180 C.

In one embodiment the paper, after drying, is chilled to a temperature of from 15 to 23 C, ideally to a temperature of about 20 C.

In another embodiment the method comprises the step of turning the sheet through 30 an angle of about 90 between withdrawal from the reel stand and tensioning and registering the paper.

:: e. c: e::: e: Brief Description of the Drawings

The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description thereof

5 given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig 1 is a block diagram of steps in a method for manufacturing printed sheets; Fig 2 is a block diagram of steps in a method for manufacturing books according to the invention; Fig 3 is a perspective view of a first signature checking station used in the 15 method of the invention; Fig 4 is a plan view of the checking station of Fig 3; Fig is a cross sectional view at the checking station of Fig 4; Fig 6 is a diagram illustrating various signatures; Fig 7 is an enlarged view of the checking of a signature at the checking station; Fig 8 is a perspective view of a second signature checking station used in the method of the invention; Fig 9 is a plan view of the signature checking station of Fig 8; Fig 10 is a cross sectional view at the checking station of Fig 8; and

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Fig 11 is a perspective view of a final checking station used in the book manufacturing process.

5 Detailed Description

Referring to the drawings, books are manufactured in accordance with the invention by first printing book sections as illustrated in Fig 1. Paper 1 in reel form is mounted on a reel stand 2 and led through an angle of 90 to a tensioning and registering 10 station 3. The paper is then led to printing stations at which indicia such as text is printed on both sides of the paper. A first printing station 4 may be used to apply a single colour and a second printing station 5 may be used to apply a second colour.

Each of the printing stations 4, 5 is in this case a heat set web offset printing press.

15 The printed paper is then led through a dryer 10 which is operated at a temperature of from 170 to 190 C, typically with a target temperature of 181 C to heat set the print. The paper is then chilled in a chiller 11 to a target temperature of about 21 C.

The heating and chilling results in a large amount of moisture being removed from the paper with consequent shrinkage. The paper is led through a re-moisturising 20 station 12 in which the paper is exposed to a mist of water to allow the paper to take up the moisture. After remoisturisation, the paper is turned again through 90 and folded at a folding station 13. The paper is then split into sections at a splitting section 14 prior to cutting in step 15. Sections are collected at a collecting station 16 and the collected folded sections are led to a jogger 17 and then to a stacker bundler 25 18 at which the sections are stacked together, strapped and then collected at an accumulating station 20. The layout of the various stations optimises throughout in the available space whilst the operating process ensures that high quality book sections are produced at maximum operating speed.

30 A number of different book sections are manufactured in this way, each book section having its own signature or sequence of pages. Depending on the size of the book to

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be produced there may be several different book sections. For ease of description the

following presumes that there are two book sections, a first section 21 corresponding to a first signature and a second section provided by a book cover 22 with a second signature. The first book section 21 has a signature with an identifier corresponding 5 to the signature. This identifier may be regions of adjacent pages and/or part of a particular page. There may be a number of such identifiers. The identifier is established and its image stored. The first signature 21 is presented to optical reading heads 25 at a first checking station 26 at which the identifier is detected and compared with the stored identifier. If the identifiers do not match, the book section 10 is rejected and not allowed to be opened and dropped onto a saddle 30. Similarly the second signature 22 is presented to optical reading heads 31 at a second checking station 32 at which the identifier of the second signature is detected and compared with the stored second identifier. If the identifiers do not match, the cover 22 is rejected and not allowed to be opened and dropped onto the saddle 30 over the book 15 station 21. In this way it is automatically guaranteed that the assembled book has the correct signatures in the correct sequence which provides a very high level of quality assurance with reduced wastage and downtime.

The assembled book is then calibrated for thickness at a calibration station 35 and 20 then stitched at a stitching station 36. The stitched book is then transferred along a conveyor 37 to a three knife trimming station 38 at which the three exposed edges of the book are trimmed. A number of trimmed books are assembled and bundled and stacked at a stacker bundler station 40. The number of books in a stack is checked by counting the incoming books at a sensor 41. The stack of books is then wrapped 25 and heat sealed in a plastics film at a wrapping station 42. The package 43 of wrapped books is again checked at a check weighing station 44. If the package is not within a target range a ram 46 is operated to remove the package to a reject bin 47 for rejected packages 48. The packaged books 43 which are within weight targets are finally packaged in a box 48.

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À À À, The invention provides an integrated method for manufacturing books in a high cost efficient manner with extremely high levels of quality assurance.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments hereinbefore described which may 5 be varied in detail.

Claims

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1. A method for manufacturing books comprising the steps of: printing first sheets of paper with a first signature; folding the printed first sheet into a first book section; 10 automatically detecting an identifier of the first book section at a first collating station; delivering the checked first book section to a saddle; 15 printing second sheets of paper with a second signature; folding the printed second sheet into a second book section; automatically detecting an identifier of the second book section at a 20 second collating station; delivering the checked second book section onto the first book section on the saddle; 25 stitching the book thus formed; and trimming free edges of the book.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the second book section is a book 30 cover.

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3. A method as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein the identifier of a book section is detected optically and checked against a reference identifier for a particular signature. 5

4. A method as claimed in any preceding claim comprising the in-line steps of: stacking the trimmed books onto a stack; wrapping the stack of books; check weighing the wrapped stack; and automatically rejecting a stack if the stack is not within weight tolerance.

5. A method as claimed in claim 4 wherein the stack of books is wrapped in a shrink wrap film and heat sealed.

6. A method as claimed in claim 4 or 5 wherein the stack contains a 20 predetermined number of books and the method comprises automatically counting the number of books delivered to form a stack.

7. A method as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the sheets of paper are printed by: drawing paper from a reel stand; tensioning and registering the paper; 30 printing a signature on one side of the paper;

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À printing a signature on the other side of the paper; drying the printed paper; 5 chilling the dried printed paper; and re-moisturising the printed paper.

8. A method as claimed in claim 7 wherein the paper is dried at a temperature of 10 from 175 C to 185 C.

9. A method as claimed in claim 7 or 8 wherein the paper is dried at a temperature of approximately 180 C.

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10. A method as claimed in any of claims 7 to 9 wherein the paper, after drying, is chilled to a temperature of from 15 to 23 C.

11. A method as claimed in any of claims 7 to 10 wherein the paper, after drying, is chilled to a temperature of about 20 C.

12. A method as claimed in any of claims 7 to 11 comprising the step of turning the sheet through an angle of about 90 between withdrawal from the reel stand and tensioning and registering the paper.

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13. A method for manufacturing books substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

14. Books when manufactured by a method as claimed in any preceding claim.