Patent ID: 6306072
Filing Date: 2001-10-23
Classification: B42C,B65H,G06Q

Abstract:
A method for production and decentralized delivery of printed products containing units of topical information subject to repeated updating in a system including at least one workstation, a system computer, central read/write electronic memory means, a plurality of decentralized input stations having operating means and a plurality of printers each associated with one input station of said plurality of input stations, the method comprising the steps ofwith the at least one workstation, preparing information units and electronically transmitting the prepared information units to the system computer,using the system computer for storing information units in the central read/write electronic memory means and for replacing stored information units which are no longer of current interest,offering at the plurality of decentralized input stations the information units,at selected ones of the plurality of decentralized input stations, selecting information units with the operating means of the input stations from the offered information units, each selection containing a freely selected number of freely selected information units and each selection constituting one order,electronically transmitting orders from the selected ones of the input stations to the system computer,compiling with the system computer data sets, each data set corresponding to one order, byretrieving data from the central read/write electronic memory means corresponding to the information units according to the one order,editing the retrieved data to represent two sequences of printable pages for a self-contained printed product, andadding identifying data for transmission of the data set to the printer associated with the input station from which the order was transmitted and control data for the printer associated with that input station,electronically transmitting each data set from the system computer to the one of the printers associated with the one of the input stations from which the corresponding order was transmitted,initializing printers in response to transmitted data sets for printing the two sequences of pages according to data sets, one on each side of a paper web, and for laying out the printed product as a folded stack,forming a Leporello-shaped printed product as printed pages 1 through n with folded edges separating the pages from each other, and arranging the printed pages on one side of the printable carrier in the succession 1, n, n-1, . . . (n/2)+2 and arranging the printed pages on the other side of the printable carrier in the succession 2, 3, 4, . . . (n/2)+1, andseparating from the paper web at each printer the printed parts of the paper web each of which constitutes one Leporello-shaped printed product according to one order.