Abstract:
A dual paper binding and multiple punch apparatus (10) includes a punch lever (17) operating bending blades (58) for bending flexible studs (63) of one binding strip (60) into grooves (62) on a second apertured binding strip (61) through which the studs pass after being passed through holes of a stack of apertured paper sheets. Racks (64, 69a, 69b and 69c) and gears (66a, 66b and 70) link the punch lever (17) to a pair of shuttles (68, 72) mounting the bending blades (58). The strips (60, 61) and paper stack (6) are first compressed by a rotory pressure bar (42) containing tangential fingers (36) cam operated by a slide bar (51) by manual movement. A cover (16) encloses the compression and stud bending mechanisms when not in use and is extendible to form an additional platen (23a) to support the paper stack (6) being bound.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application relates to U.S. application Ser. No. 07/381,612 filed Jul. 18, 1989 entitled Combined Paper 
     Punch and Binding Apparatus now U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,782 issued and assigned to Applicants, assignee The disclosure of such U.S. application is incorporated herein by reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to an apparatus for punching and binding a stack of margin punched hole paper sheets where binding elements enter through the punched holes. More particularly the invention is directed to a binding apparatus with additional capabilities than that apparatus disclosed in the related application including a binding station for so-called Velobind® PVB binding strips (Personal VeloBinder). The PVB binding utilizes a front strip having a series of typically six projecting flexible studs which pass through a margin apertured (typically six holes) paper sheets stack and through a six hole back strip. The projecting ends of the studs are bent about 90° into a series of six holding grooves on the backside of the back strip between the strip holes. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,674,906 and 4,685,700 exemplify the PVB-type binding strips per se. 
     Additionally the invention relates to an improved mechanism for clamping an assemblage of binding strips and a paper sheets stack and an improved binding station utilizing a Douvry-type binding element (U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,970,285 and 2,257,714) in the apparatus of the related application. 
     In the related application it was contemplated that the dual or triple punch mechanisms disclosed would be used with a Douvry-type binding in one binding station and with a Velobind® binding of the cut-off and upset stud type in a second binding station. That earlier type of Velobind binding is seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,354,783 and 4,369,013. 
     2. Related Art 
     A bending apparatus for bending the PVB-type of binding strips is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,906,157 where a pivoted lever arrangement moves a pair of blocks carrying rollers, with each block moving inward toward the center upon lever actuation to bend and snap the projecting ends of the flexible studs simultaneously into the back strip grooves. Other roller mechanisms have been proposed to bend the projecting end studs into the grooves. Initially in early commercialization, the bending of the stud projecting ends was accomplished by manual bending. 
     Further it has been contemplated that a pressure bar may be employed for compressing a pair of binding strips with a paper sheets stack therebetween as exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,354,783. In other devices a vertically movable motor-driven pressure bar is provided driven through racks and rollers fitting in side plate slots. These devices also include a stud bending mechanism having drum cams, transverse rods, and a pair of carriages with rollers which bend the projecting stud ends so that they snap into the strip grooves. This is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,015,138 issued May 14, 1991. 
     In another stud bending machine U.S. Pat. No. 5,017,071 issued May 21, 1991, provision is made for moving and clamping female strips and bringing them into contact with a paper sheets stack. A male strip with the projecting studs is moved upwardly to pass through the stacked paper apertures and the holes in the female strip. A crank shaft is turned and legs of a closer plate bends and depresses the projecting stud portions. A carriage is then moved to its loading position for the next cycle of operation. 
     One of the difficulties of the above machines is the care one must take to avoid improper loading of the strips. Such improper loading may damage the machine if the female strip is placed upside down and there is no downwardly-facing series of grooves to accept the bent studs ends. In such event the bent studs would have no space to move and the machine would be subjected to stresses and deformation which may cause permanent damage. Further, it is clear that the prior art stud bending machines are independent stand-alone items and have no capability of punching holes in a stack of paper sheets nor any capability of providing for other binding elements such as a Douvry-type binding: 
     U.S. Pat. No. 3,967,336 (Cutter) shows a punch lever for shifting and operating a Douvry-type binding mechanism. U.S. Pat. No. 3,122,761 shows a rotory lever for operation of a hook plate containing diagonal slots. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The apparatus of the present invention is used in binding a stack of punch hole paper sheets with either a Douvry-type binding element or Velobind PVB-type binding strips as desired. It does so in combination with a machine in which holes of various sizes and shapes may be punched in a stack of paper selects using a common pivoted lever or crank. The present invention utilizes that same crank to effect the bending of a binding element portion, i.e. the projecting stud ends of the PVB first (male) strip into grooves in the PVB second (female) strip. Further, novel means built into the machine on opposite sides of the machine housing provides an improved mechanism for uncurling the Douvry-type binder curled fingers and a simple mechanism for clamping the PVB strips and paper sheets stack prior to the bending of the projecting stud ends. Both these mechanisms are finger-operated through parallel, coextensive platen slots juxtaposed on opposite sides of the housing immediately adjacent to and below fixed platen surfaces. The fixed platens are adjacent the opposite linear edges of the housing through which marginal edges of sheets of paper are inserted to be punched. 
     A pivoted cover as described in the related application covers the Douvry-type binding station when not in use and a pivoted cover encloses the PVB-type binding station when not in use. The latter is a two-part cover which folds out from the housing and provides a platen extension to support an inward portion of the stack of paper sheets in a horizontal plane as the stack and the strips are being compressed and the studs projecting ends are being bent. 
     A bending mechanism is provided including a vertically moving rack pivotally connected to the punch lever or crank, and a pair of spur gears on a shaft, with one spur gear interconnected to a shuttle rack converting rotary motion to linear motion of the shuttle. The shuttle mounts a series (typically six) bending blades each with one or more camming surfaces which bend the stud ends. The bending blades are bifurcated so that in the event a female strip is placed upside down in the machine the upper part of the bending blades in last contact with the stud ends can flex downwardly if there is no groove present in the underside of the female strip in alignment with the bend path. This permits flexing of the bending blades upper parts and prevents any damage to the machine. 
     The compression clamping of the strips and paper sheets stack in the machine is provided by a slide bar extending within a platen slot, the slide bar having a pair of fixed cam followers extending laterally therefrom. A rotary pressure bar is journalled in the housing and has a series of fixed tangential fingers contacting, when rotated, the top of a top, male stud-containing strip so as to compress that strip against the paper sheets stack and the female back strip. The pressure bar is normally split in two parts with each part containing a 45° spiral cam channel engaged respectively by the pair of cam followers on the slide bar. Lateral movement of the slide bar by an operator&#39;s finger movement rotates the pressure fingers to compress the binding assemblage. 
     An improvement in the operation of the hook plate of the Douvry-type binding station includes a finger-operated sliding block in the housing accessed through a platen slot which block moves laterally along a square rotating rod having fixed spur gears on each end to ensure uniform parallel movement of the hook plate. An essentially flat plastic hook plate includes an angular camming groove extending along a top surface into which extends a cam follower integrally fixed to the sliding block, such that as the block moves linearly, the hook plate moves linearly in a direction orthogonal to the block movement. Motion of the hook plate thus uncurls the Douvry-type curled fingers (the binding element portion) so that the fingers can receive the apertures of the stack of paper sheets. Reverse movement of the sliding block by the operator&#39;s manual movement of a block slider allows the fingers to recurl completing a booklet binding. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus housing showing closed binding stations and the pivot motion of the operational punch crank. 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the apparatus showing a punch-out trash drawer for paper punch-outs and a two-strip flexible stud binding station with the cover platen folded out and the binding assemblage compression mechanism in the Up position. 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the apparatus showing a booklet in clamped and platen-supported position and the punch crank in Up position before pivoting downward to a dash Down position causing bending of the stud ends into the back strip grooves of the PVB binding. 
     FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the strips clamping mechanism. 
     FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the stud bending mechanism. 
     FIG. 6 is an elevational view of the spur gear-to-shuttle rack connection. 
     FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the crank-to-vertically movable rack connection. 
     FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the clamping pressure bar, binding strips and paper sheets stack taken on the line 8--8 of FIG. 3. 
     FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the Douvry binder-type binding station showing an extended hook plate and a segment of the looped binding. 
     FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of a slide block-to-hook plate connection. 
     FIG. 11 is a prior art cutaway perspective view of a round hole punch after stroke completion showing the lever connection to the housing. 
     FIG. 12 is a prior art cross-sectional view of the punch mechanism upon completion of a lever-operated punching stroke. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     A combined dual or triple paper punch and dual binding station apparatus 10 is seen in FIG. 1 where a housing 11 is placed on a horizontal work surface (not shown). The housing comprises a lower base portion 11a, and a substantially central upper housing 13 containing punch mechanisms 12. Linear paper stack entry edges 14 on opposing bottom edges of the upper housing permit entry in horizontal slots 14a and 14b, formed between edges 14 and the top surface 11b, of base portion 11a of a various number of paper sheets making up stacks 5 and/or 6 of paper sheets as seen in a prior art FIG. 12. Indicia 12a printed on surface 11b indicates the number, shape, spacing and size of the punch holes to be punched in a marginal edge of the particular paper sheets stack. Rectangular holes are illustrated for a Douvry-type binding. Round hole indicia 12a are employed (FIG. 2) adjacent to the opposite paper slot 14b. 
     The punch mechanisms 12 are simultaneously operated and have a common drive linkage and two parallel punch systems to punch holes in an inserted stack by downward movement of a crank or lever 17 extending parallel to the housing major longitudinal axis and pivoted in a housing cavity 18 with respect to the housing 11. Stack guides 39 assist in guiding a paper stack into one or both the slots 14a or 14b. 
     Housing base 11a houses a pair of binding stations which in non-use are enclosed by covers 15 and 16, respectively. In the illustrated embodiment, a binding station for a Douvry-type binding is under cover 15 and a VeloBind PVB-type binding station is under cover 16. A pair of elongated slots 20 and 32 extending parallel to lever 17 and the housing major longitudinal axis provide access to finger-operated slides 19 and 31 to provide for execution of particular binding steps in the binding stations to which they are associated. Thumb-nail depressions 4 provide for easy opening of covers 15 and 16. 
     FIG. 2 illustrate the opposite side of the overall apparatus with cover 16 in an open extended condition exposing a recess 30 for introduction of an apertured PVB-back or female strip and pressure fingers 36 for clamping both PVB-strips and a paper sheets stack therebetween in the binding station. In this illustration slide operator 31 is seen in the 31L (Left) position and the pressure fingers 36 in the Up (non-clamping) position . Opening of pivoted cover 16 exposes a fixed platen portion 22 and further pivoting of cover extension 23 around pivot 40 exposes an extended platen 23a. The two platens provide support for over half the width of a paper sheets stack inserted for binding into the female strip in recess 30. Bending blades 58 to effect bending of the PVB studs extend upwardly within slots 30a at the bottom of recess 30. The outer cover extension 23 contains support legs 24 which rest on the apparatus support surface in the extended position and rest in slots 29 in the fixed platen in a cover 16 closed position. A trash drawer 21 extending to a position under the punch mechanisms in upper housing 13 for reception of the punched-out centers of the holes formed in the paper sheets from action of the paper punch mechanisms, is slidable out from the end of base portion 11a for dumping. 
     As seen in FIG. 3 movement of slide operator 31 to the right (31R) functions to move pressure fingers 36 downward to effect clamping of the binding elements and the paper sheets stack. The ends 53 of the cantilevered pressure fingers 36 in the Down position contact the top of top (male) strip 60 of the PVB binding with the degree of clamping being dependent on the thickness of the paper stack 6 and the amount of &#34;Right&#34; movement of slide operator 31. Movement of the bending blades 58 is provided by movement of the punching lever 17 downwardly to the dash position in FIG. 3. 
     FIG. 4 illustrates the clamping mechanism in detail. Slide operator or knob 31 is press-fitted into a slide bar 51 which slides laterally on a support surface (not shown) in lower housing 11a. A pair of tang-type cam followers 52 extend outwardly from a vertical edge of the slide bar. A half-round cylindrical rotory pressure bar 42 is juxtaposed to slide bar 51 and includes a central shaft 54 rotatively journalled by suitable end bearings (not shown) and a central bearing 56. A pair of plastic, typically glass-filled nylon, finger segments 42L and 42R each containing a spiral camming channel 43 and a series of tangential cantilevered pressure fingers 36 are mounted on shaft 54. The cam followers 52 on the slide bar 51 move in the camming channels 43 such that movement of slide bar 51 to the right rotates the fingers downwardly to compressively clamp the binding elements 60 and 61 and paper stack therebetween together prior to bending of the extending studs of strip 60 extending beyond strip 61 (FIG. 8). 
     FIG. 5 and 6 illustrates the construction and operation of the bending blades 58 particularly the movement of the blade top tips 58t in slits 30a at the bottom of recess 30 into which strip 61 is to be placed. Bending blades 58, six in number for a six-stud binding strip, extend preferably integrally in groups of three from a pair of shuttles 68 and 72. The shuttles are driven by a gear and rack train comprising a vertically-movable rack 64 pivotably attached to lever support flanges 17a, the rack 64 being in engagement with a spur gear 66a fixed to shaft 67, a second spaced fixed spur gear 66b on the shaft 67 interconnecting to an upwardly-facing rack 69a at one end of the first shuttle 68 which has a second end rack 69b facing downwardly in engagement with a spur gear 70 rotatable with shaft 71, which gear 70 is also engaged with an upwardly-facing end rack 69c on the inner end of second shuttle 72. While a rack 69d is seen on shuttle 72 it has no function except to make the two shuttles common parts for cost savings. The resultant shuttle motions are in opposite directions toward the outer-ends as indicated by the arrow 7 &amp; 8 so that the three bending blades 58 on shuttle 68 move to the left to bend three studs and the three bending blades on shuttle 72 simultaneously move to the right to bend the other three studs. 
     The bending blades 58 are bifurcated including the blade top 58t and a blade bottom 58b. A space therebetween in the form of a U-shaped horizontal groove 58g is provided so that blade top 58t can flex downwardly in the event that female strip 61 is inserted into recess 30 in an upside down orientation where there is no strip groove 62 to receive a 90° bent stud. The groove 58g has sufficient depth to accommodate the resulting flexing and prevents damage to the overall apparatus. 
     FIG. 7 shows the connection of rack 64 to the lever support bracket 17a by a pivot pin 65. 
     FIG. 8 illustrates the clamping of the strips 60 and 61 and paper stack 6 between the pressure fingers 36 and the bottom of recess 30. After the pressure bar 42 has been rotated by manual linear movement of the slide operator 31 and resultant linear movement of the slide bar 51, pressure fingers 36 compress the strips and paper stack into a clamped condition. Lever 17 is then pivoted downwardly-moving the two shuttles (FIG. 5) and the bending blades affixed thereto. This is seen in FIG. 8 where three bending blades move to the left (arrow 7) and three blades move to the right (arrow 8) to effect bending (arrow 9) of each of the studs 63 of top strip 60 extending straight through the apertures in back strip 61 into a 90° bent position 63a in back strip grooves 62. As each bending blade advances against a straight stud both portions 58b and 58t initially contact the outboard and inboard portions, respectively of the studs. Immediately as shuttle motion continues only top tip portion 58t is in contact with its respective stud and the full travel of the shuttle and bending blades moves the stud ends in the trajectory of arrow 9 into strip grooves 62 where they are snapped into the grooves as in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,700 type binding. 
     FIG. 9 and 10 illustrate an improved Douvry-type binding station in which a slide operator or knob 19L (L standing for the left position) accessed in a slot 20 in the platen surface 11b, is connected to a slide block 75 movable on a square rotating shaft 78 having a fixed spur gear 79 at each end interconnecting with racks 79a on a hook plate 73 to ensure parallel movement of the hook plate. An integral follower 75f extends from the bottom of slide block 75 and rides in an angled horizontal slot 81 in hook plate 73 such that manual linear movement of slide operator 19L to the left results in orthogonal outward movement of plate 73 as indicated by arrow 80. The Douvry-type binding unit includes curled binding fingers extending integrally from an elongated spine 84 which fingers are captured by plate hooks 73a and uncurl to allow receipt of a stack of rectangularly apertured paper sheets on the uncurled finger ends 85. Movement of the operator 19 to the right moves the plate inwardly as indicated by arrow 82 allowing the binding fingers to recurl, binding the stack at its side margin as known in the prior art. 
     FIG. 11 taken from the related application illustrates the lever linkage which operates the punching mechanisms. The punching mechanisms per se do not form any part of the present invention other than that the punching lever also is utilized as illustrated in FIGS. 5-7 to operate the stud bending blades. As seen in FIGS. 11 and 12 the point D represented by pin 55 extends through slot 41 in vertical plate 27 and is movable vertically with respect to the lower and upper slot edges 56 and 56&#39;, respectively. One end of pin 55 is fixed in punch plate 26 and the other end is fixed in a socket 54 in a vertically movable bracket 46. Interposed under the bracket 46 is a round punch actuator angle bar 48 which contacts the top of punches 49 extending vertically aligned with selected ones of the round hole apertures 40 in the die plate 25. Punches may be provided in two, three or four and/or the six positions for the PVB-type of binding punch positions depending on the number and location of round holes desired in the paper sheets stack. A series of return springs 50 are provided within a punch housing, the tops of the punches 49 extending out from a top surface of the housing. Collars 77 such as a snap-ring are affixed to punches 49 which function to compress an associated spring 50 when the punch is driven downwardly. Upon raising the lever the pins are returned by the spring expansion so that the punch tops extend above their housing. Alternatively, the punches can be manually retracted by extension of bar 48 engaged beneath collars 77 in lieu of springs 50. 
     FIG. 12 illustrates the positioning of a marginal edge of a paper sheets stack 6 which has been guided into the proper position over and above an edge of die plate 25. The lever 17/37 is shown in the &#34;down&#34; position and pin 55 is at slot edge 56 and at its furthest position from slot edge 56&#39;. Upon the downward activation of the lever, pin 55 (and point D) moves down in a vertical straight line simultaneously driving both punch plate 26 and bracket 46 down so that both the rectangular punch elements 28 on the punch plate and the driven round hole punches 49 shear out rectangular holes and round holes, respectively, in paper sheets stack 5 and paper sheets stack 6, if in fact a stack has been inserted in both punch mechanisms 12 of the overall apparatus. The brackets 46 also contain a bottom tail portion 57 which slidably guides the brackets through apertures on die plate 25 and past abutting fixed vertical plate 27. 
     FIG. 11 also shows the four-bar linkage of the related application which affords a straight-vertical line punching stroke resultant from pivot movement of lever 17 and its internal support 37. The four bar linkage includes a coupler plate 33, a link 34, a crank lever extension 38, connected to a short link 35 (rocker arm), and long link 36. Pin 45 connects the lever support side sections 44 to extension 38 and link 34. 
     The above description of an embodiment of this invention is intended to be illustrative and not limiting. Other embodiments of this invention will be obvious to those skilled in the art in view of the above disclosure.