Abstract:
The invention concerns a process for producing bound documents in any thickness, of the type wherein several sheets of material are loosely bound by at least one binding element, preferably formed from wire. According to an aspect of the invention, a process is provided for forming at least one binding element immediately prior to the binding process.

Description:
BACKGROUND  
         [0001]    The invention concerns a process for producing brochures in any thickness, of the type wherein several sheets of material are bound by a binding element.  
           [0002]    The process for manufacturing brochures using the so-called Wire-O® binding element in various sizes, for example, is well-known from the European patent applications 0 095 243-A1 and 0 095 245-B1.  
           [0003]    Wire-O® binding elements are defined as parallel separated wire loops with a loop length L, and loop spacing A and a wire diameter D, and are shaped into a binding ring using appropriate closing devices.  
           [0004]    The binding devices for the above-named patent applications are designed so that it is possible to process formed Wire-O® binding elements of varying loop spacing and lengths.  
           [0005]    In general, these devices have the disadvantage that in order to bind brochures with different formats and thicknesses, the required wire binding elements for the wire binding equipment, in the form of several pre-formed wire binding element supplies, e.g. material wound on spools or elements cut to the binding length, must be made available. A considerable number of supplies are needed in order to be able to bind the various brochure formats and thicknesses. In addition, in order to change the format of the brochures to be produced, the transportation and processing equipment must be adapted to the requirements of the different wire binding elements. This conversion requires costly designs of the transport and binding equipment, and therefore the binding process only becomes cost effective if a large number brochures are produced in one format. Smaller production runs are therefore not cost-effective and require large amounts of time to adjust the machinery.  
           [0006]    According to DE 28 47 700-A1, there is a process for the wire binding of writing pads, etc. in which a wire is pulled continuously from a wire supply and is shaped into a wave pattern by bending it forward and backward, and whereby the wave-shaped wire pattern is then bent into a C-shape transversely to the level of the waves. Form rollers with set diameters are used for the bending so that only wire binding elements with loop spacing and loop lengths that cannot be changed are produced.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0007]    According to one aspect of the invention, a process is provided for forming at least one binding element immediately prior to the binding process. Numerous other aspects are disclosed or apparent from the description provided herein. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]    [0008]FIG. 1 presents a schematic drawing of a process and apparatus according to an aspect of the invention.  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 2 presents a plan view of a binding element of a type implemented in the practice of one aspect of the invention.  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 3 presents an embodiment of a bound brochure using a single wire binding element according to an aspect of the invention.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 4 presents an embodiment of a bound brochure using multiple wire binding elements according to an aspect of the invention.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 5 presents an embodiment of a bound brochure using multiple, evenly spaced wire binding elements according to a further aspect of the invention.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 6 presents a schematic drawing of a wire supply having various wire spools, according to a further aspect of the invention.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 7 presents a schematic drawing of a crimping device with conveyor equipment used in one process, according to a further aspect of the invention, to create crimps in the wire binding elements. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0015]    Various aspects of the invention are presented by FIGS.  1 - 7 , which are not drawn to scale, and wherein like references in the numerous views are numbered alike. Referring now specifically to FIG. 1, a device labeled  200  according to an aspect of the invention is presented, which is used to produce brochures of varying formats and thicknesses as well as several arrangements for producing brochures of varying thicknesses or formats according to various further aspects of the invention, preferably formed from wire, and which are connected to and controlled by an electronic control device  110 .  
         [0016]    As illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and  6 , a wire supply  20 , equipped with wire supply spools  21 ,  22  and  23 , is shown with wires  1  of varying diameters D (e.g. a diameter between 0.8 mm and 1.2 mm), for example. Wires that are painted different colors and arranged according to diameter may be used in the practice of the invention, as well as other variations, without departing from the invention. According to one aspect of the invention, a binding element  41  is formed by bringing the wire  1  into the shape of a loop S by a wire bending device  40 , whereby the loop length L and the loop spacing A can be set to any value by the control unit  110 . The wire bending device cuts the resulting binding element  41  after reaching the number of loops specified by the electronic control unit  110 . The wire binding element  41  may take a variety of shapes, including the comb presented in FIG. 2.  
         [0017]    A conveyor  50  transports the binding element  41  to an insertion device  80 , that may include a bending and closing device  90 . According to a further aspect of the invention, sheet-like material  11 , which may be unprinted or printed on one or both sides is formed into a stack (superposed). The material  11  is equipped with a row of perforations  12  using a perforation device, before, during, or after stacking.  
         [0018]    The binding element may tailored to complement the perforations, or a standard array of performations may be implemented. The binding element  41  is inserted into the row of perforations  12  of the stacked sheets of printed material  11  using an insertion device  80  and is closed into a ring-like binding by the bending and closing device  90 . The stack of material  11  may then be transferred to an output device  100  by a suitable conveyor apparatus  70 , where it is ejected in finished form.  
         [0019]    According to another embodiment, crimps  61  are made in the middle of the S loop after producing the binding element  41  using a crimping device  60 . The crimping device  60 , as shown schematically in FIG. 7, consists of two horizontally adjustable bending molds  62 ,  62 ′ and a vertically moving bending die  64  with a spring-like holding device  63 . The bending molds can be moved concentrically to the bending die using a device that is not shown, in order to be able to bend different crimps  61  according to each loop length L. Putting the crimps  61  in the middle of the loop length L (see FIG. 2) is preferably done in stages on a loop by loop basis with a single bending die  64  by advancing the wire transport track  2  of the housing unit  54  that holds the pincers  51 . Optical edge sensors (not shown) determine the middle of the loop and determine the exact position of the wire loop in the crimping device  60 . The pincers that are guided by the spindle  52  can be transported across the wire transport track  2  using drive  52 , which is designed as a stepper motor, as shown in FIG. 7 in column X. In order to move the housing unit  54  parallel to the wire transport track  2 , the track has guide notches  55  into which the guiding pins  56  along the device&#39;s housing  200  lock. Movement parallel to the wire transport track  2  is achieved with the respective drives which are not shown. In the event that the position of the pincers  51  needs to be corrected, the drive  53  on spindle  52 , which is designed as a stepper motor, is activated using electronic control device  110 .  
         [0020]    In a further embodiment, the crimping device  60  comprises a number of bending dies  64  with the matching holding devices which corresponds to the maximum brochure format that can be bound.  
         [0021]    In a process according to one embodiment of the invention, a first step involves determining the format and thickness of the brochures to be bound.  
         [0022]    Determining the format, thickness and type of perforation for the brochures to be bound can occur by transmitting the parameters from the preceding devices to the electronic control device  110  and/or by using a sensor device that determines and transmits the format and thickness of the brochures, and even the type of perforation if applicable, to the electronic control device  110 . As used herein the term “format” is intended to mean the dimensions of the sheet being bound, length and width.  
         [0023]    During a second step, at least one production parameter for the binding element is determined via the electronic control device  110 , and in the third step, the binding element is created using electronically and mechanically interconnected equipment by:  
         [0024]    Feeding a wire to a wire bending device from at least one wire supply which contains one wire spool;  
         [0025]    Bending the wire into a flat, loop-shaped binding element using the wire bending device;  
         [0026]    Cutting and trimming the binding element using a cutting device and feeding the cut binding element to an insertion device;  
         [0027]    Feeding a stack of sheet-like printed materials with a row of perforations to the binding equipment using conveyors;  
         [0028]    Inserting the binding element into the row of perforations in the stack of sheet-like printed materials and then bending the binding element in a facet-like manner into a ring-like binding using a bending and closing device.  
         [0029]    Examples of production parameters include brochure thickness, wire diameter, wire length, or perforation spacing.  
         [0030]    The process of producing brochures of various formats and thicknesses using wire binding, preferably metal wire, has many advantages. The brochures can be bound completely automatically using binding elements that are created as needed with any loop length L, width L and wire diameter D, and where the number of loops can be produced to reflect the maximum length of the brochures to be processed. Converting or adapting the binding equipment is not necessary. It is possible to bind brochures using individual binding elements, which are spaced out evenly or unevenly, which allows for a high binding speed by binding the individual elements simultaneously. The automatic production and transportation process avoids deforming the binding elements that are created as needed, so the incidences of disruption are drastically reduced in comparison with conventional devices.  
         [0031]    A suitable wire bending device  40  is disclosed in a U.S. patent application Ser. No. x/xxx,xxx filed on even date herewith, entitled BINDING APPARATUS AND METHOD, naming Mario Litsche as inventor. A suitable closing device  90  is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. x/xxx,xxx filed on even date herewith, entitled APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SEGMENTED BENDING OF WIRE BINDING ELEMENTS, naming Hans-Peter Wurschum as inventor. The contents of both of these applications are hereby incorporated by reference, as if set forth herein. In referencing these applications, it is not intended to limit the invention to the specific devices disclosed, since it is evident that numerous variations and additional embodiments are possible.  
         [0032]    Although the invention has been described and illustrated with reference to specific illustrative embodiments thereof, it is not intended that the invention be limited to those illustrative embodiments. Those skilled in the art will recognize that variations and modifications can be made without departing from the true scope and spirit of the invention as defined by the claims that follow. It is therefore intended to include within the invention all such variations and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof.