IE930611A1 - A book manufacturing process - Google Patents

Abstract

In a book manufacturing process a number of sets of printed sheets are prepared at a printing station (5), each set of sheets being associated with a particular book section which is formed by folding (10) the sheets. Set of different book sections are collated (50). The collated book sections are then corectly aligned by pushing them over a roughened surface which frictionally engages a lower side edge of each book section resisting forward movement of the book sections by a pusher arm, urging an associated end edge of each book section against the pusher arm and into alignment. The aligned book sections are then joined by adhesive at a binding station (56) and wrapped in a cover to form a book. After drying the adhesive, the free edges of each book section are trimmed (70). Each book is then weighed (80) to check it is complete and that no book sections have been omitted.

Description

APPLICATION No 'ii - 1 A Book Manufacturing Process This invention relates to a book manufacturing process.

According to the invention there is provided a book manufacturing process comprising the steps: preparing a number of sets of printed sheets each set 5 of sheets associated with a particular book section, each sheet having a number of printed pages arranged in a pre-selected orientation and position on the sheet; folding each sheet in a number of steps to form a book section having a number of sequentially arranged printed pages; stacking the book sections in bundles; collating sets of different associated book sections required for forming a book, aligning the book sections in each collated set of book 15 sections by pushing the book sections along a conveyor by means of a pusher arm and frictionally engaging a side of each book section to resist forward movement of the book sections by the pusher arm to urge each book section against the pusher arm, roughening a binding edge of each set of book sections; applying adhesive to the roughened edge for binding the book sections together; mounting a cover around an exterior of the se· sections to form a book; drying the adhesive for a preset time period; cutting the free edges of each book to form a book of a pre-set size; and weighing each book to determine if the weight of the book is within pre-set limits, rejecting any book having a weight outside said pre-set limits.

In a further embodiment, the book sections are stacked in bundles containing a pre-desired number of book sections by delivering each book section along a sheet feed conveyor to an inlet of a stacker, counting the number of book sections delivered along the feed conveyor, moving the feed conveyor laterally when a pre-set number of book sections required for each bundle has been counted to stagger the feed of book sections to the stacker to indicate each separate bundle of book sections.

In another embodiment, the process includes the step of feeding each printed sheet along a sheet feed conveyor to a folding machine for folding the printed sheet, viewing both sides of each sheet delivered along the sheet feed conveyor by means of a print detector device, stopping the sheet feed conveyor if no print is detected on a sheet, removing said sheet and re-starting the conveyor. produced, checking the delivering any rejected In one embodiment of the invention a pre-set number of printed sheets for a print run are prepared by printing sheet sections onto a continuous web on a web printing machine and then cutting the web into individual printed sheets corresponding to the sheet sections prior to folding the sheets to form book sections and stacking the book sections, counting the number of book sections book sections produced and book sections to a weighing device, sensing the number of rejected book sections by weight, sending a signal to the controller of the printing machine for extending the print run to print an extra number of sheet sections corresponding to the number of rejected book sections sensed by the weighing device.

In a further embodiment the process includes the step of preparing each set of printed sheets by mounting associated printing plates on a rotary printing press and operating the printing press to produce the set of printed sheets, each printing plate being mounted on an associated plate cylinder on the printing press by mounting a lead edge of the printing plate between lead clamp jaws within a recess in the cylinder for securing the lead edge to the cylinder, wrapping the printing plate around an outer surface of the cylinder and mounting a tail edge of the printing plate between tail clamp jaws within the recess, and tensioning the printing plate about the cylinder by even movement of the tail clamp towards the lead clamp, keeping the leading edge and trailing edge of the printing plate substantially parallel.

In a further embodiment each set of printing plates is prepared by punching a blank film and a blank printing plate with two sets of registration holes, one set of registration holes being common to both the film and the printing plate, mounting the film in a laser typesetter using a first set of registration holes and transferring an image of printed pages onto the film, aligning the film and the blank printing plate on an image setter using a second set of registration holes common to the film and the printing plate and associated with the image setter, and transferring the image from the film onto the printing plate, and mounting the printing plate on a plate cylinder of a printing press and operating the press to produce a set of printed sheets.

In another aspect the invention also provides apparatus for carrying out the book manufacturing process according to the invention.

The invention will be more clearly understood by the following description of some embodiments thereof, given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of a book manufacturing process according to the invention; Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic illustration of portion of the process; Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic side elevational view of a conveyor apparatus including a blank sheet detection device according to the invention for carrying out portion of the process; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the conveyor apparatus of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of portion of sheet folding apparatus used in the process; Fig. 6 is a detail elevational view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a plan view of a conveyor apparatus used in the process; Fig. 8 is a perspective view of apparatus used in the process for aligning collated book sections; Fig. 9 is a plan view of a book weighing apparatus used in the process; Fig. 10 is a detail elevational view of portion of the weighing apparatus; Fig. 11 is a diagrammatic illustration of portion of another book manufacturing process; Fig. 12 is an elevational view of a printing plate clamping mechanism for mounting a printing plate on a plate cylinder of a printing press for carrying out another process according to the invention; and Fig. 13 is a detail sectional view of the plate clamp of Fig. 12.

Referring to the drawings, and initially to Figs. 1 to 10 thereof, a book manufacturing process and apparatus according to the invention will be described.

Firstly, a number of sets of printed sheets are prepared at a printing station 5, each set of sheets associated with a particular book section, each sheet having a number of printed pages arranged in a pre-selected orientation and position on the sheet. Typically either twenty-four or thirty printed pages are provided on each sheet, with either twelve or fifteen printed pages on each side of the sheet.

To prepare the printed sheets for each set of printed sheet printing plates are made carrying the print design for each side of the printed sheet. These are then mounted on appropriate plate cylinders on a sheet printing machine which is operated to print a pre-selected number of printed sheets.

The sets of printed sheets are then delivered to a folding station 10 in which each sheet is folded in a number of steps to form a book section having a number of sequentially arranged printed pages. As will be seen in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 each sheet 12 is conveyed along a sheet feed conveyor 14 to a folding machine 15. The sheet feed conveyor 14 has a support frame 11 having spaced-apart rollers carrying a number of spaced-apart endless conveying ropes 13 driven by the rollers in direction of arrow (A) (Fig. 4), to deliver sheets 12 to the folding machine 15. As each sheet 12 is delivered along the sheet feed conveyor 14 it is viewed by means of a print detector device 16 having associated viewing heads 17 mounted above and below the conveyor 14 for viewing both sides of each sheet 12 delivered along the sheet feed conveyor 14. Any blank sheets are sensed by the print detector device 16 which will stop the conveyor 14 if no print is sensed on a sheet 12 to allow removal of said sheet 12 after which the conveyor 14 can be restarted. Thus, advantageously no blank sheets are passed to the folding machine 15.

Sheets 12 entering the folding machine 15 are folded in a number of steps, typically four or five steps, to form a book section 19. Each book section 19 is discharged from the folding machine 15 onto a conveyor 20 (Fig. 5) which feeds each book section 19 through a roller press 21. As each book section 19 is fed along the conveyor 20 a problem can arise due to air which enters between the folded leaves of the book section 19 and tends to lift the uppermost leaf 24 upwardly as shown in Fig. 6. If this is then fed through the press 21 the edge of the leaf 24 which is raised may be folded over with a crease in the press 21. To overcome this problem a guide 26 is provided spaced-apart above the conveyor 20 having a tapered leadin 27 to urge the uppermost sheet 24 of each book section downwardly so that it is flat as it enters the press 21.

Downstream of the press 21 the book sections 19 are delivered to a stacking machine 30 in which a number of each type of book section 19 are stacked in bundles containing a pre-desired number of book sections. Referring to Fig. 7, each book section 19 is delivered along a feed conveyor 35 and transferred to a conveyor 36 at an inlet of the stacker 30. The feed conveyor 35 comprises a table 38 around which pass a number of spacedapart endless conveyor cords 39 supported between a pair of rollers, namely a fixed drive roller (not shown) at one end of the table 38 and a movable follower roller 40 at the other end of the table 38. The roller 40 is mounted on pivotable support arms 41 movable by means of a ram or solenoid (not shown) to vary the angle of the cords 39 relative to the table 38. A counter 45 is also provided to count the book sections 19 delivered onto the feed conveyor 35. When a pre-set number of book sections 19, for example fifty, required for each stack have passed onto the feed conveyor 35 the roller 40 is displaced laterally thus changing the angle of the cords 39 relative to a longitudinal axis of the table 38 and the next fifty book sections are delivered to the stacker 30 off-set from the preceding fifty book sections. As they are moved laterally relative to the preceding set of book sections by the cords 39 between an inlet and an outlet of the conveyor 35. Thus, the book sections can be readily and easily counted and stacked in bundles containing a pre-set number of book sections. Also, the total number of usable book sections derived from a print run can be readily easily calculated. If there are not sufficient book sections for a particular production run, due to removal of defective book sections for example, the printing machine can be operated to print off another set of printed sheets to make up the required number of book sections for a particular production run.

The book sections are then mounted in a collating machine 50 for collating sets of associated book sections. The collated book sections are delivered along a conveyor 55 (Fig. 8) from the collating machine 50 to a binding station 56. The conveyor 55 has a base plate 58 along which collated sets 59 of book sections are pushed by means of a pusher arm 60. It will be noted that portion of the upper surface 61 of the plate 58 is roughened such as by knurling 62 which frictionally engages a side of each book section 19 in the set of book sections 59 to resist forward movement of the book sections 19 by the pusher arm 60 to urge each book section 19 against the pusher arm 60. Thus, advantageously all the book sections in the set 59 of book sections are aligned prior to entry into the binding station 56.

It will be appreciated that the surface of the conveyor plate 58 may be roughened in any suitable manner. Alternatively, a flap or arm may be mounted above the plate 58 to engage an upper side edge of the book sections as they pass along the plate 58. The arm may conveniently carry a brush or other friction element for frictionally engaging an upper side of each book section in the set of book sections as they pass along the plate 58 of the conveyor 55.

At the binding station 56, a binding edge of each set of book sections is roughened by scoring the edge of the set of book sections. Adhesive is then applied to the roughened edge for binding the book sections together and a cover is mounted around an exterior of the set of book sections to form a book.

Books discharged from the binding station 56 are carried along a conveyor to allow the adhesive to dry for a preset period, typically between two and five minutes. The books are then fed through a trimming machine 70 in which the free edges of each book are cut away to form a book of a pre-set desirable size.

Books discharged from the trimming machine 70 are fed to a weighing device 80 to determine if the weight of the book is within pre-set limits . This provides a check that each book has all the required book sections. Any book having a weight outside the pre-set limits is rejected. The weighing device 80 comprises a number of spaced-apart rollers 81 forming a book support. The rollers 81 are mounted on a support frame 82 forming part of a weighing mechanism which weighs any object placed on the rollers 81. Sensors 85 mounted above the rollers 81 detect entry and exit of a book 86 onto and off the rollers 81. When a book 86 is delivered onto the rollers 81, the weighing device 80 operates to check the weight of the book. The book 86 is then passed through an ejector 88 comprising a conveyor 89 having a ram 90 mounted at one side of the conveyor 89. A detector 91 is mounted directly above the conveyor 89. If the weight of a book passing along the conveyor 89 is within the correct limits, it is simply passed on to a discharge conveyor 95 for delivery to a packing station. Should the weight of the book, however not fall within the pre-set desirable limits, when the detector 91 senses the presence of the book 86 on the conveyor 89 the ram 90 is operated to eject the book onto a reject conveyor 96.

Referring now to Fig. 11 there is illustrated another book manufacturing process according to the invention. This process is largely similar to the process described previously, with the exception that the preparation of printed sheets, the folding of the sheets and the stacking of the book sections are carried out in a different manner as will be hereinafter described. This process is appropriate for use with a web printing press used for larger print runs. Firstly, a pair of printing plates are prepared as previously described and are mounted on the web printing press. The press is then operated on a print run 100 printing sheet sections onto a continuous web. The web is then cut into individual sheets corresponding to the sheet sections, the sheets then being folded to form a book section having a number of sequentially arranged printed pages. The book sections are then counted and a number of the book sections are stacked and bound in stacks. During the print run any book sections removed for quality control or due to rejection are delivered to a weighing device 110. The weighing device 110 senses the number book sections by weight and is connected to a controller of the printing machine which operates the printing machine to extend the print run 100 to print an extra number of sheet sections corresponding to the number of rejected book sections delivered to the weighing device 110. Thus, advantageously a pre-set desirable number of book sections is produced from each print run.

Referring now to Figs. 12 and 13, there is illustrated a plate clamp for clamping a printing plate on a plate cylinder of a printing press. This improved plate clamp allows rapid mounting and dismounting of printing plates on the plate cylinders of the printing press. The plate clamp, indicated generally by the reference numeral 120 is mounted within a recess 121 of a plate cylinder 122. The plate clamp 120 has a lead clamp 124 and a tail clamp 125 mounted within the recess 121. A lead edge 126 of a printing plate 127 is mounted between lead clamp jaws 128 and the printing plate 127 is wrapped around an outer surface of the cylinder 122 and a tail edge 130 of the printing plate 127 is gripped between jaws of the tail clamp 125. A cam operated mechanism allows quick clamping and release of the tail edge between the jaws of the tail clamp 125. An eccentric plate tensioning mechanism mounted within the recess 121 is operable to move the tail clamp 125 evenly towards the lead clamp 124, keeping the leading edge 126 and tail edge 130 of the printing plate substantially parallel. Thus, the printing plate can be readily easily and quickly mounted or removed from the plate cylinder 122.

Advantageously, each printing plate may be prepared by punching a blank film and a blank printing plate with two sets of registration holes. One set of registration holes is common to both the film and the printing plate. The holes are punched in each of the film and the printing plates by means of a punch (not shown) which has means to sense the position of a film or printing plate mounted in the punch to ensure that each is correctly aligned within the punch. The film when punched is mounted in a laser typesetter using a first set of registration holes associated with the laser typesetter for mounting the film on a drum of the laser typesetter. An image of printed pages is then transferred onto the film by means of a laser printer. Next the film and the blank printing plate are mounted on an image setter in alignment using a second set of registration holes common to both the film and the printing plate and associated with the image setter. The image of the printed pages is transferred from the film onto the printing plate in the image setter. The printing plate can then be mounted on a plate cylinder of a printing press using the other set of registration holes on the printing plate for alignment of the printing plate on a plate cylinder of the printing press. The press can then be operated to produce a set of printed sheets.

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

Claims (9)

1. A book manufacturing process comprising the steps: preparing a number of sets of printed sheets each set of sheets associated with a particular book section, each sheet having a number of printed pages arranged in a pre-selected orientation and position on the sheet; folding each sheet in a number of steps to form a book section having a number of sequentially arranged printed pages; stacking the book sections in bundles; collating sets of different associated book sections required for forming a book; aligning the book sections in each collated set of book sections by pushing the book sections along a conveyor by means of a pusher arm and frictionally engaging a side of each book section to resist forward movement of the book sections by the pusher arm to urge each book section against the pusher arm; roughening a binding edge of each set of book sections; applying adhesive to the roughened edge for binding the book sections together; mounting a cover around an exterior of the set of book sections to form a book; drying the adhesive for a preset time period; cutting the free edges of each book to form a book of a pre-set size; and weighing each book to determine if the weight of the book is within pre-set limits, rejecting any book having a weight outside said pre-set limits.

2. A process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the book sections are stacked in bundles containing a predesired number of book sections by delivering each book section along a feed conveyor to an inlet of a stacker, counting the number of book sections delivered along the feed conveyor, moving the feed conveyor laterally when a pre-set number of book sections required for each bundle has been counted to stagger the feed of book sections to the stacker to indicate each separate bundle of book sections.

3. A process as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 including the step of feeding each printed sheet along a sheet feed conveyor to a folding machine for folding the printed sheet, viewing both sides of each sheet delivered along the sheet feed conveyor by means of a print detector device, stopping the sheet feed conveyor if no print is detected on a sheet, removing said sheet and restarting the conveyor.

4. A process as claimed in claim 1 wherein a pre-set number of printed sheets for a print run are prepared by printing sheet sections onto a continuous web on a web printing machine and then cutting the web into individual printed sheets corresponding to the sheet sections prior to folding the sheets to form book sections and stacking the booking sections, counting the number of book sections produced, checking the book 5. Sections and delivering any rejected book sections to a weighing device, sensing the number of rejected book sections by weight, sending a signal to the controller of the printing machine for extending the print run to print an extra number 10 of sheet sections corresponding to the number of rejected book sections sensed by the weighing device.

5. A process as claimed in any preceding claim including the step of preparing each set of 15 printed sheets by mounting associated printing plate on a rotary printing press and operating the printing press to produce the set of printed sheets, each printing plate being mounted on an associated plate cylinder on the printing press by 20 mounting a lead edge of the printing plate between lead clamp jaws within a recess in the cylinder for securing the lead edge to the cylinder, wrapping the printing plate around an outer surface of the cylinder and mounting a tail edge 25 of the printing plate between tail clamp jaws within the recess and tensioning the printing plate about the cylinder by even movement of the tail clamp towards the lead clamp, keeping the leading edge and trailing edge of the printing 30 plate substantially parallel.

6. A process as claimed in any preceding claim including the step of preparing printing plates associated with each set of printing sheets by punching a blank film and a blank printing plate with two sets of registration holes, one set of registration holes being common to both the film and the printing plate, mounting the film in a laser typesetter using a first set of registration 5 holes and transferring an image of printed pages onto the film, aligning the film and the blank printing plate on an image setter using a second set of registration holes common to the film and the printing plate and associated with the image 10 setter, transferring the image from the film onto the printing plate, and mounting the printing plate on a plate cylinder of a printing press and operating the press to produce a set of printed sheets . 15

7. A process substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

8. A book whenever produced by the process as claimed in any preceding claim.

9. Apparatus for carrying out the process as claimed 20 in any of claims 1 to 7 substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. CJ\A:SPEC3\M3277JUN A BOOK MANUFACTURING PROCESS ABSTRACT In a book manufacturing process a number of sets of printed sheets are prepared at a printing station (5), each set of sheets being associated with a particular book section which is formed by folding (10) the sheets. Sets of different book sections are collated (50). The collated book sections are then correctly aligned by pushing them over a roughened surface which frictionally engages a lower side edge of each book section resisting forward movement of the book sections by a pusher arm, urging an associated end edge of each book section against the pusher arm and into alignment. The aligned book sections are then joined by adhesive at a binding station (56) and wrapped in a cover to form a book. After drying the adhesive, the free edges of each book section are trimmed (70). Each book is then weighed (80) to check it is complete and that no book sections have been omitted.