Case-in device of adhesive bookbinder

A case-in device of an adhesive bookbinder includes a base inside which two shafts are rotatably mounted to be driven by a motor to rotate in opposite directions. A binding platform is pivotally mounted to the base and has two clamping plates movably supported thereon. The platform has two elongated slots and two guide rails corresponding to the slots. Each of the guide rails has two slides slidably mounted thereon and each corresponding to and connected through the respective slot to each of the clamping plates. Each of the slides has a roller rotatably supported thereon. The shafts have lever arms fixed thereon and the arms are sized to be engageable with the rollers and thus driving the clamping plates toward each other to clamp and the apply a force to a book disposed therebetween for adhesively securing the book cover to the book. A cam-follower pair is arranged between the platform and the base and is driven by the motor to have the platform inclined with respect to the base during a period of the book binding operation in order to facilitate positioning of the book on the platform. Biasing springs are arranged between the clamping plates and the platform to provide a normally opened condition of the clamping plates so as to receive the book placed therebetween.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention is generally related to an adhesive bookbinder and in 
particular to a case-in device of the adhesive bookbinder which provides a 
correct and precise operation of adhesively adding a cover to a book body. 
2. The Related Art 
Adhesive bookbinders have been widely used to bind books, such as 
magazines, text books, notebooks. As shown in FIG. 2 of the attached 
drawings, the general procedure of binding books with an adhesive 
bookbinder is holding the plurality of sheets that constitute the book 
body (step 10'), cutting the sheets (step 11'), applying adhesive to the 
book body (step 12') and then adding a cover to the book body by placing 
the cover on the book body and applying a force thereto to have the cover 
adhesively secured to the book body (step 13'). 
Thus, a conventional adhesive bookbinder comprises holding means 10 for 
holding the book body, cutting means 11 for cutting the sheets, adhesive 
applying means 12 for applying the adhesive to the book body and cover 
adding means 13 for adding and securing the book cover to the book body, 
as is schematically shown in FIG. 1. A case-in device may be incorporated 
in the adhesive bookbinder to perform some of these operations and a 
conventional case-in device of adhesive bookbinder is shown in FIGS. 3 and 
4 of the attached drawings and labelled with reference numeral 20. 
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the conventional case-in device 20 generally 
comprises a binding platform 21 and two support plates 22 and 23 fixed 
thereto to be spaced from each other to define therebetween a space for 
accommodating a driving motor 24 which is fixed to the plate 23 and two 
transmission shafts 28 and 29 rotatably supported between the support 
plates 22 and 23. A gear train 25 is arranged between the motor 24 and the 
two shafts 28 and 29, comprising a motor output pinion fixed to the motor 
spindle and two gears 26 and 27, to which the shafts 28 and 29 are 
respectively fixed, engaging the motor output pinion and thus driven by 
the motor in such a way to rotate in opposite directions. Each of the 
shafts 28 and 29 also has a further gear 31 or 30 fixed thereon so that 
the gears 31 and 30 are rotatable in opposite directions. 
The binding platform 21 has two pairs of elongated slots 32 to respectively 
correspond to two clamping plates 33 and 34 (FIG. 4). Each of the clamping 
plates 33 and 34 is connected to two racks 35 via slide blocks that are 
movably received within and guided by the slots 32. The racks 35 are 
respectively engaged by the gears 26, 27, 30 and 31 so that when the motor 
24 is actuated, the clamping plates 33 and 34 are driven to move relative 
to each other in opposite directions so as to apply force to a book and a 
book cover position between the clamping plates 33 and 34. A spring 36 is 
connected between each of the racks 35 and the binding platform 21 for 
biasing purpose. 
Such a conventional structure of the case-in device has several drawbacks. 
For example, the movement of the clamping plates is caused by the 
engagement between the racks and the gears and is completely guided by the 
contact engagement between the slide blocks within the slots. Since there 
are always plays or backlashes between the racks and the gears, the 
movements of the clamping plate may become un-smooth after a long term 
service of the device. Further, the tolerance between the slide blocks and 
the slots may be getting greater with the use of the device which may 
finally causes undesired mechanical interference therebetween so as to 
result in poor control of the movement of the clamping plates. This 
eventually causes a quality problem in binding books. 
Thus, it is desirable to have a case-in device of the adhesive bookbinder 
which eliminates/overcomes the problems or drawbacks encountered in the 
prior art. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a case-in 
device of an adhesive bookbinder wherein the movement of the clamping 
plates are guided by the sliding movements of slide blocks along guide 
rails so that no mechanical interference problem that has been encountered 
in the prior art may occur. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide a case-in device 
wherein the gearing type mechanical coupling between the driving motor and 
the clamping plates is replaced by a clamping type engagement so as to 
eliminate the problems caused by backlashes of the gearing engagement. 
A further object of the present invention is to provide a case-in device of 
which the binding platform may be selectively inclined to a desired angle 
to facilitate the positioning of the book to be bound thereon so as to 
increase the binding operation efficiency. 
To achieve the above objects, in accordance with the present invention, 
there is provide a case-in device of an adhesive bookbinder, comprising a 
base inside which two shafts are rotatably mounted to be driven by a motor 
to rotate in opposite directions. A binding platform is pivotally mounted 
to the base and has two clamping plates movably supported thereon. The 
binding platform has two elongated slots and two guide rails corresponding 
to the slots. Each of the guide rails has two slides slidably mounted 
thereon and each corresponding to and connected through the respective 
slot to each of the clamping plates. Each of the slides has a roller 
rotatably supported thereon. The shafts have lever arms fixed thereon and 
the arms are sized to be engageable with the rollers and thus forming a 
clamping engagement therebetween for driving the clamping plates toward 
each other to clamp and the apply a force to a book disposed therebetween 
for adhesively securing the book cover to the book. A cam-follower pair is 
arranged between the binding platform and the base and is driven by the 
motor to have the binding platform inclined with respect to the base 
during a period of the book binding operation in order to facilitate 
positioning of the book on the platform. Biasing springs are arranged 
between the clamping plates and the binding platform to provide a normally 
opened condition of the clamping plates so as to receive the book placed 
therebetween. 
The above objects, as well as features and advantages, of the present 
invention will become apparent by reading the following detailed 
description of a preferred embodiment thereof with reference to the 
attached drawings wherein:

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
With reference to the drawings and in particular to FIG. 5 wherein a 
case-in device adapted to be incorporated in an adhesive bookbinder in 
accordance with the present invention is shown, the case-in device 
comprises a hollow base 40 inside which a torque motor 41 and two 
transmission shafts 44 and 45 that are coupled to the torque motor 41 by 
means of gear train are disposed and a binding platform 50 which is 
disposed on the base 40 and has two plate-like movable clamping members 57 
and 58 movably positioned on an upper side thereof and coupled to the 
torque motor 41 by means of a clamping type coupling system to be driven 
thereby. 
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the hollow base 40 is a substantially W-shaped 
member having three spaced walls with two spaces defined therebetween for 
receiving the torque motor 41 and the transmission gear trains therein. 
Each of the two outside walls has two rods 49 fixed thereon and extending 
outward therefrom to serve as stops of which the function will be further 
described. 
In accordance with the present invention, the torque motor 41 may comprises 
controlling means to allow the motor 41 to be controlled in such a way 
that when its rotation in a first direction is stopped or jammed for a 
period of for example 2-3 seconds, its rotation will be reversed in an 
opposite second direction. The torque motor 41 has a spindle to which a 
pinion 42 is fixed. The transmission gear train for the two transmission 
shafts 44 and 45 comprises gear 421 or 423 fixed on the shaft 45 or 44. 
The gear 421 directly matches the motor pinion 42, while the gear 423 is 
coupled to the motor pinion 42 via an idle pinion 422 (also see FIGS. 5, 
11, 13 and 15) so as to be rotated in a direction opposite to the gear 
421. 
In the embodiment illustrated, the idle pinion 422 is mounted on a shaft 
491 extending between the walls of the base 40 and preferably constituting 
an inward extension of one of the stop rods 49 of one of the outside walls 
of the base 40. However, it does not need to be so. 
The two transmission shafts 44 and 45 are substantially parallel with each 
other and extending between and rotatably supported by the walls of the 
base 40. Each of the transmission shafts 44 and 45 has two ends extending 
out of the two outside walls of the base 40 with a lever arm 47 or 48 
fixed to each of the ends to be rotatable therewith. The lever arms 47 and 
48 are so dimensioned that when the motor 41 rotates in the first 
direction, both the transmission shafts 44 and 45 are driven to move in 
opposite directions and causing the lever arms 47 and 48 to get into 
contact with and thus stopped by the respective stop rods 49 so as to stop 
the rotation of the transmission shafts 44 and 45. As mentioned above, 
this will cause the motor 41 to rotate reversely in the opposite second 
direction after a 2-3 second period of stop. This will be further 
described. 
As shown in FIG. 6, the binding platform 50 has two elongated slots 51 and 
two guide rails 52 are fixed to the under side of the binding platform 50 
to respectively correspond to the slots 51. Each of the guide rails 52 has 
two slide blocks 53 slidably mounted thereon. Each of the slide blocks 53 
has a projection 54 sized to be movably received within and projecting out 
of the corresponding slot 51 at the upper side of the binding platform 50 
so as to allow the clamping members 57 or 58 fixed thereto to be movable 
therewith. The two slide blocks 53 on each of the guide rails 52 are 
respectively connected to the two clamping members 57 and 58. 
Each of the slide block 53 has a roller 55 rotatably supported thereon and 
the roller 55 is located substantially corresponding to the lever arms 47 
or 48, see FIG. 7, so that when the motor 41 rotates in the second 
direction, the lever arms 47 and 48 are brought into contact and driving 
engagement with the rollers 55 for driving the clamping members 57 and 58 
to move in opposite directions (due to the opposite directions of rotation 
of the shafts 44 and 45). 
As shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, the binding platform 50 that has the two 
clamping plates 57 and 58 supported on the upper surface thereof comprises 
two pivot connections 56 which pivotally connect the binding platform 50 
to the base 40 so as to allow the binding platform 50 to be rotatable 
about a pivoting axis defined by the pivot connections 56 and thus 
inclined with respect to the base 40. The binding platform 50 further 
comprises a roller 60, serving as a cam follower, mounted on the under 
side thereof. Corresponding to and engaged by the cam follower 60 (see 
FIG. 7), a cam 46 is rotatably supported inside the base 40 to be driven 
by the motor 41. In the embodiment illustrated, the cam 46 is directly 
mounted on one of the transmission shafts 44 and 45, which in the 
embodiment illustrated in shaft 44 as shown, to be driven by the motor 41. 
The cam 46 has such a contour that when the motor 41 is initially actuated 
when the binding platform 50 is assumed to be substantially horizontal, 
the engagement between the cam 46 and the cam follower 60 forces the 
binding platform 50 to inclined with respect to the base 40 by rotating 
the binding platform 50 about the pivot connections 56. Such an 
inclination is performed in an intermittent manner. In other words, the 
binding platform 50 may be inclined in a time period during each binding 
operation, namely a portion of the cycle of a book binding operation. 
As mentioned above, the clamping plates 57 and 58 are movably supported on 
the binding platform 50 and driven by the motor 41 by means of the slide 
blocks 52. Each of the clamping plates 57 and 58 further comprises a 
biasing member, such as a spring 59, connected between the clamping plate 
57 or 58 and the binding platform 50 to bias the clamping members 57 and 
58 away from each other so that a normally-open condition is achieved 
between the two clamping members 57 and 58, see FIG. 8. Preferably the 
springs 59 are located on the under side of the binding platform 50 in 
order to avoid interference with book case-in operation. 
As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, when the torque motor 41 is initially started 
and rotated in the second direction as mentioned above, the binding 
platform 50 is substantially horizontal or at a desired orientation 
depending upon the contour of the cam 46 and the clamping members 57 and 
58 are in open condition. A book case or cover 70 to be added to a book 
body 80 is placed on the clamping plates 57 and 58. The rotation of the 
motor 41 causes the binding platform 50 to incline to a desired angle by 
means of the clamping action of the cam-follower pair (46, 60), see FIGS. 
13 and 14, to facilitate the positioning of the book body 80 on the book 
cover 70. The book body 80 is moved downward to depress a central portion 
of the book cover 70 into between the two clamping plates 57 and 58 and a 
further rotation of the motor 41 causes the binding platform 50 back to 
the horizontal position, see FIGS. 15 and 16. The lever arms 47 and 48 
that are driven by the transmission shafts 44 and 45 are arranged in such 
a way as to get into contact with the rollers 55 of the slide blocks 53 
when the binding platform 50 is rotated back to the horizontal position so 
that a further rotation of the motor 41 drives the clamping plates 57 and 
58 to move toward each other and thus clamping and applying a force to the 
book 80 to have the book cover 70 securely attached to the book body 80. 
When the clamping plates 57 and 58 are caused to apply a clamping force to 
the book 80, the movement of the clamping plates 57 and 58 are 
substantially stopped which prevents the motor 41 from further rotation. 
As mentioned above, the motor 41 is controlled so that when its rotation 
in one direction is stopped for a period of 2-3 seconds, the motor 41 is 
caused to moved in an opposite direction. Thus, after the clamping force 
is applied to the book 80 for a period of 2-3 seconds, the motor 41 begins 
to rotate in a reversed direction, namely the first direction mentioned 
above, this releases and thus allows the book 80 to be removed out of the 
case-in device. In rotating in the first direction, the lever arms 47 and 
48 are caused to get into contact with and stopped by the stop rods 49. 
Then, again the motor 41 moves in the second direction so as to begin a 
next cycle of book binding operation. Such an operation is automatically 
repeated. 
As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, since the movement of the clamping members 57 
and 58 is guided by the sliding motion of the slide blocks 53 along the 
guide rails 52 so that mechanical interference between the clamping 
members 57 and 58 and the slots 51 of the binding platform that is usually 
encountered in the prior art may be eliminated. A more smooth operation of 
the case-in device may be obtained and the service life may be extended. 
Although a preferred embodiment has been described to illustrate the 
present invention, it is apparent that changes and modifications in the 
specifically described embodiment may be carried out without departing 
from the scope of the invention which is intended to be limited only by 
the appended claims. For example, there may be only one elongated slot 
formed on the binding platform and correspondingly, the platform has only 
one guide rod to movably suppport the slidable blocks that couple the 
clamping plates to the transmission shafts via a single lever arm on each 
of the shafts. Of course, the stop rods provided on the outside walls of 
the base may not be needed on both outside walls.