Apparatus for the combing-in and binding of punched sheets

An apparatus for the combing-in and binding of punched single sheets into a prefabricated wire comb having a multiplicity of teeth bent into circles and connected to one another, which are inserted into punched-out holes in the sheets, where the apparatus includes a closing device having a movable closing beam with a counter-pressure plate for bending the prefabricated wire comb into a circular shape. Retaining elements are arranged on the counter-pressure plate or a part connected to the counter-pressure plate, which position at least a part of the teeth of the wire comb. The counter-pressure plate is slidable under the closing beam with the retaining elements positioned such that the single sheets are inserted into the wire comb for binding.

TECHNICAL FIELD 
The invention relates to an apparatus for the combing and binding of 
punched sheets in a pre-fabricated wire comb comprised of a multiplicity 
of coils bent into circles and interconnected, which are inserted into 
punched holes in the sheets. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
With apparatuses of this kind sheets are bound in a book-like manner into 
brochures, catalogs, calendars, instructions for use, operating manuals, 
etc., in a so-called ring binder. 
Typically, after the holes have been punched into the sheets, the sheets 
are placed manually into the pre-fabricated wire comb in the desired 
order. The wire comb has at that stage not yet been bent into its final 
circular shape for this purpose, but is still open at the top, so that the 
coils of the wire comb can be placed in the punched-out holes of the 
sheets. When all the sheets have been properly inserted, the wire comb is 
laid manually under the closing beam of the apparatus. Following this the 
closing beam is pushed down by actuation of a lever, whereby the wire comb 
is clamped between the closing beam and the counter-pressure plate. During 
the closing movement directed further downward the wire comb rolls itself 
in an appropriate manner and forms the closed circular shape, so that the 
sheets are bound. 
What is tedious and time-consuming during such a binding operation, 
however, is the insertion or combing of the sheets into the coils. If the 
sheets are inserted into the coils by hand, this requires the proper 
skill. Afterwards great care must be taken with the wire comb and the 
sheets placed in it, especially when inserting it below the closing beam, 
in order that the beam does not slip out of the coils of the wire comb 
again. When a ring book that is to be provided with a suspension device is 
bound, such as, for example, a calendar, the suspension device must in 
addition be tediously threaded into the wire comb under the closing beam 
immediately before the binding operation. 
A simplified arrangement can be used where a prefabricated wire comb is 
clamped under a magnetic rail, with which the wire comb is at least held 
tight, thus making insertion of the sheets with two hands easier. One 
disadvantage of this approach, however, is that after careful insertion of 
the wire comb, which is still open, it must be transported to the closing 
beam by hand. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention is therefore based on the premise of improving an 
apparatus of the type mentioned above in such a way that it becomes easier 
to handle, especially one with which combing and binding can be carried 
out faster and with fewer problems. 
One object of the invention is to solve this problem by arranging retaining 
elements on the counter-pressure plate, which position at least a part of 
the coils of the wire comb, and where the counter-pressure plate with the 
retaining elements are adjustable from a position from which the sheets 
are inserted into the wire comb under the closing beam for binding. 
By means of the retaining elements according to the invention the wire comb 
is held tight for combing of the sheets so that the operator has both 
hands free for the combing operation. During the combing operation the 
wire comb is held securely by the retaining elements. Through 
adjustability (according to the invention) of the counter-pressure plate 
in the stated manner, an additional operation is then avoided, and one of 
the main advantages is that this prevents sheets from slipping out of the 
wire comb, which is still open. 
A further advantage of this is that any suspension device can be inserted 
into the wire comb after combing and before positioning under the closing 
beam, and more precisely without it slipping out again or shifting during 
transport by hand--as was formerly the case. 
Through the simplification according to the invention this is now also 
suitable for office purposes, because until now such bound ring books were 
generally produced only in printing shops, at bookbinders, etc., since 
their handling required the appropriate skill and practice. 
A simple embodiment of the retaining elements would be for them to have 
pins projecting upward from the counter-pressure plate. 
The upper ends can also serve in a simple way as hold-down elements for the 
teeth of the wire comb, with which the wire comb is positioned even more 
securely. 
The counter-pressure plate can be adjusted as desired in different ways. In 
general, a simple sliding guide in the housing of the apparatus is 
sufficient. 
The counter-pressure plate can be adjusted in a simple way by pushing it 
appropriately by hand. Actuation by a lever apparatus is, however, also 
possible. 
If the counter-pressure plate is moved by hand in a simple way, then it is 
an advantage if gripping recesses are provided in the contact surface of 
the counter-pressure plate or a plate is connected to it, so that, on 
gripping the sheets combed into the wire comb, it is possible to grip 
under the first sheet with one or more fingers and the entire unit can be 
shifted more easily. 
It is an advantage if provision is made for the counter-pressure plate to 
be slidable against the force of a return spring in the direction of the 
closing beam. In this way the bound ring book is again pulled back into 
the initial position automatically on termination of the binding 
operation, and can thus be taken out in an easy manner, whereafter the 
next combing operation can be performed after a renewed insertion of a 
pre-manufactured wire comb. 
A return spring unit can be created in very different ways. A simple manner 
is to make provision for the return spring unit to have at least one 
spring, one end of which is fastened to the counter-pressure plate or to a 
part connected to it, and the other end to a fixed part of the housing. 
It is an advantage if provision is made for the retaining elements to be 
vertically adjustable. 
In this way wire combs with different diameters can be simply used in the 
same apparatus. 
Vertical adjustability can be accomplished in a multiplicity of ways, care 
generally being taken that all retaining elements are as far as possible 
accordingly adjusted in the vertical direction in one single operation or 
with few manipulations. 
In a further embodiment of the invention, provision can be made for the 
rear plate of the closing beam to have recesses into which the hold-down 
elements of the pins can be slid. 
To be able also to use wire comb bindings with small diameters well, it may 
be necessary to bring the retaining elements as close as possible to the 
rear plate of the closing beam so as to prevent single sheets from 
slipping out. If corresponding recesses are then provided in the rear 
plate, when required the parts of the hold-down elements bent round 
towards the rear can be slid in a non-disturbing manner even as far as the 
recesses, in which way the retaining elements can be brought as close as 
possible to the rear plate. 
In practice, a spacing between the retaining elements of one inch has 
proven to be the most advantageous distance, because in this way the 
apparatus according to the invention can be used for the binding of the 
three pitches generally used, that is, 4:1, 3:1 and 2:1--related to a one 
inch pitch. 
It goes without saying that, when needed, however, it is also possible to 
make the distances between the retaining elements adjustable.

The apparatus according to the invention is basically of a well-known type, 
which is why only the parts important to the invention are dealt with in 
greater detail in the following paragraphs. 
In a housing 1 a punching apparatus 2 is arranged in the rear section, in 
which punching apparatus the individual sheets are laid in a slot 3 for 
punching out the holes, where they rest on a rear wall 4. By means of a 
suitable number of punching stamps 5, which are actuated via pressure 
pieces 6, the corresponding openings or holes are punched into the single 
sheets. The pressure pieces 6 are pushed appropriately back and forth 
horizontally by means of a toothed-wheel apparatus 7 and a toothed-wheel 
gear unit 8 working together with it, whose shaft 9 is actuated via a 
lever. For precise positioning of the single sheets to be perforated there 
is a stop 10. 
In the front area of the housing there is a threading and closing 
apparatus. For treading of the perforated single sheets in a desired 
order, a wire comb 11 that is still open is placed on a supporting surface 
12 which is connected to a counter-pressure plate 13. The supporting plate 
12 is slidable in horizontal direction together with the counter-pressure 
plate 13 in a guide (not shown in greater detail) in the housing 1. In the 
central area of the apparatus there is a closing unit 14, which has a 
closing beam 15, which is slidable in vertical direction. The closing beam 
15 is slid together with a vertical rear plate 16 through a rear rack 17 
and a gear unit 18 working together with it. The adjusting shaft 19 of the 
gear unit 18 is actuated by a lever 20. 
One end of a spring unit 22 is fastened to the counter-pressure plate 13 or 
a sliding plate 21 connected to it, whereas the other end of the spring is 
secured to the housing 1. 
A multiplicity of retaining elements in the form of pins 23 are pushed from 
below by the counter-pressure plate 13 through corresponding holes in the 
counter-pressure plate 13. The pins 23 are located beside one another 
spaced one inch apart. On the top side the pins 23 project upwards over 
the supporting surface and are angled off at their upper ends backwards in 
horizontal direction, thus forming hold-down elements 24. 
The apparatus according to the invention functions in the following way: 
For insertion of the single sheets previously provided with the appropriate 
holes in the punching unit 2 the apparatus is located in the position 
shown in FIG. 1. 
In that position single sheets 25 (see illustration in broken lines) are 
inserted into the wire comb, which is still open, which is provided in the 
usual way with a multiplicity of teeth that are stuck through the holes of 
the single sheets. The wire comb 11, which is appropriately positioned 
beforehand, is then held by the retaining elements 23, with the hold-down 
elements 24 securing the bottom teeth of the wire comb 11, which both 
permits a positioning of the wire comb 11 and also prevents the wire comb 
from twisting. In this way the single sheets 25 can be inserted from above 
and combed in. The wire comb 11 is positioned securely by the pins 23 and 
the hold-down elements 24. This means that despite the still open ring, 
suspension devices, such as, for example, a piece of wire for a calendar, 
can also be inserted. 
When the single sheets have been completely inserted, the counter-pressure 
plate is slid together with the supporting surface 12 and the sliding 
plate 21 in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 1 horizontally until the 
counter-pressure plate 13 comes to rest under the closing beam 15 (see 
FIG. 2). When this happens, the lever 20 is actuated and, by means of the 
gear unit 18 and the gear rack 17, the closing beam 15 is moved downward 
together with the rear plate 16. During this movement directed downward 
the wire comb 11 is rolled in until a closed ring has been formed, which 
terminates the ring binding. 
On termination of the closing operation the lever movement is reversed and 
the closing beam is again moved upward. Because of the spring force of the 
spring tension that has taken place during the sliding operation of the 
supporting surface 12 with the counter-pressure plate 13, the unit, 
consisting of supporting surface 12, counter-pressure plate 13 and sliding 
plate 21, is again pulled back into the initial position (in the drawing 
toward the right). In this way the finished ring book can be taken out and 
inserted into a new, open wire comb 11 and be held firmly by the retaining 
elements 23. 
As can be seen from FIG. 1 and the top half of FIG. 3, the rear plate 16 
has vertical recesses 26, which are arranged so that they are flush with 
the pins 23 and the hold-down elements 24. As can be seen from FIG. 2 and 
the bottom half of FIG. 3, in this way it is possible to run the 
counter-pressure plate 13 as close as possible to the rear plate 16, 
whereby the horizontal parts of the hold-down elements 24 can be pushed 
into the recesses of the rear plate 16. 
The shifting of the slidable unit can be done by hand by simply pushing the 
package of single sheets 2 correspondingly horizontally toward the left 
(per FIG. 1), whereupon the supporting surface 12, the counter-pressure 
plate 13 and the sliding plate 21 are shifted accordingly by friction. For 
this purpose grip depressions (see FIG. 3) are, if required, provided in 
the supporting surface 12 so that it is easier to grip underneath with the 
fingers and thus ensures that all sheets are also carried along and the 
sliding operation can be performed perfectly. 
It goes without saying that the sliding can also be performed by lever 
actuation or by actuation grips (not shown) projecting upward out of the 
supporting surface 12. 
In order also to perfectly secure wire combs of different diameters without 
problems, especially very small and also very large wire combs 11, the 
pins 23 can be vertically adjustable in such a way that their height 
projecting above the supporting surface 12 is adjustable so that the 
hold-down elements 24 can always hold the teeth of the wire comb firmly to 
prevent the wire comb from twisting. 
A vertical adjustment unit is, for example, shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, with 
FIG. 4 showing the positioning of a pin for a very small wire comb 11, 
while FIG. 5 shows the positioning of a very large wire comb 11. For 
vertical adjustment the pins 23 have a thread in the rear or bottom area, 
onto which an adjusting nut 28 is screwed. Between the adjusting nut 28 
and the underside of the counter-pressure plate 13, spacers 29 may be 
arranged, which may also have differing thicknesses corresponding to the 
desired height. 
In the case of wire combs with a fairly small diameter it may happen that 
on the closing movement, i.e. on rolling-in of the wire comb, the 
retaining elements 23 and the hold-down elements 24 cannot always 
perfectly slop out of the teeth of the wire comb again. For this reason it 
is an advantage if the retaining elements or pins 23 are bent back 
slightly (see arrow in FIG. 2) for such cases during the downward directed 
movement of the closing beam 15, i.e. on roll-in of the wire comb 11, so 
that they are freed from the teeth of the wire comb. 
This bending-back, i.e. the removal of the pins from the rear plate 16, can 
be coordinated, for example, with the closing movement of the closing beam 
15 so that no special actuation is required for bending back the pins 23. 
One possibility for this may, for example, consist in that the pins are 
manufactured from a punched part, with the pins projecting out of a 
punched base plate. If a wedge, for example, is then pushed in during the 
downward directed movement of the closing beam 15 likewise from above 
between the rear plate 16 and the pins 23 or the base plate, on which the 
pins are arranged, the pins are forcibly bent away. Care should then only 
be taken that the pins have sufficient inherent elasticity so that they 
can subsequently spring back again. It goes without saying that the pins 
23 are instead also pushed back a small distance in a simple way by hand 
or by a mechanical movement in the direction of the initial position.