Abstract:
A binding-in and pressing machine ( 1 ) with a plurality of pressing stations ( 60 ) and heated joint forming rails situated on a reciprocating carriage ( 50 ). An alignment station ( 20 ) is provided for aligning the book case joints ( 2   a ) at the height of the joint forming rails ( 49   a, b ), including a height-adjustable alignment table ( 21 ) with rails ( 22, 23 ) for supporting the book ( 2 ) on the outer edges of its spine and guide elements ( 28, 6 ) for centering the book on the alignment table. A separate pre-forming station ( 40 ) is also provided that comprises the forming rail ( 51 ), clamping plates ( 41   a, b ), and joint rails ( 48   a, b ) that engage into the book case joints ( 2   a ) and counteract a downward movement of at least the book case joints ( 2   a ). The books ( 2 ) aligned in the alignment station ( 20 ) are transferred into the pre-forming station ( 40 ) while being clamped in lateral regions near the joints. The effective times available for realizing a functionally safe alignment and a permanent pre-forming of the books are extended due to the assignment of the alignment and pre-forming functions to two separate stations.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention pertains to a binding-in and pressing machine for the joint forming and pressing-in of book blocks cased in book cases.  
         [0002]     After casing-in the book block into the book case, a crease-free and permanent bond between the end sheets of the book block and the inner sides of the book is achieved by pressing-in the book. In industrial bookbinding, this full-surface pressing step is carried out on so-called binding-in and pressing machines together with the joint forming process, in which the book case joints are formed and glued.  
         [0003]     For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,921,322 describes a book pressing and joint forming machine that is assembled into a production line together with a casing-in machine. The book pressing and joint forming machine comprises a plurality of pressing stations that are arranged in a straight row and equidistantly spaced apart from one another, wherein each pressing station contains a pair of press plates that lie opposite of one another and serve for exerting pressure upon the sides of a book, and wherein the distance between the opposing press plates is adjustable. Pairs of oppositely arranged and heated joint forming rails are assigned to the pressing stations and realized adjustably with respect to their mutual distance in order to form the book case joints.  
         [0004]     The joint forming rails are situated on a reciprocating carriage and simultaneously serve as a transport means for advancing the books from station to station in a cyclic fashion, wherein the joint forming rails subsequently return into their starting position in order to receive and advance another book. Devices as they are known, for example, from DE 92 13 920 U1 are used for aligning a cased-in book in order to carry out the pressing-in and joint forming steps. Such an alignment device comprises a forming bridge for supporting a rounded book, a former for pressing the book block into the book case spine being supported on the forming bridge and alignment means that act upon the front edge of the book case. The thusly aligned book is transported into the first pressing station by means of a first transport means in the form of narrow press jaws that act in lateral regions near the joints and are arranged on the carriage, wherein the book is initially full-surface pressed above these press jaws by the press plates of this first pressing station, and wherein the joint forming of the book case is subsequently carried out during the additional transport by means of a first pair of joint forming rails. Due to the broad spectrum of book formats to be processed as well as the various shapes of book spines, the numerous forming bridges required need to be interchanged with corresponding frequency.  
         [0005]     DE 12 07 334 B claims a binding-in and pressing machine that acts upon a series of books and comprises a rotor that is movable about a vertical axis, wherein a plurality of pressing devices that respectively comprise one pair of opposing press plates is arranged on the periphery of said rotor. The rotor intermittently moves the pressing devices into successive pressing stations equipped with joint forming devices that respectively consist of a pair of opposing joint forming jaws. During the cyclic transport of the books through the individual processing stations, the pressure exerted upon the sides of the book is maintained and the joint forming device is closed in the respective stations in order to form the book case hinges and to transmit heat to these regions. In order to insert the books into the pressing devices, a book standing on its spine is raised between the press plates by means of a T-shaped lift carriage, wherein the book is taken hold of and clamped in position by said press plates. In the ensuing station, the press plates are opened such that the pressure exerted upon the book block via the book case is diminished. The book is now (pre-)formed by pressing one forming rail against the;; front edge cut of the book block such that the book block is pressed against the book case spine, wherein the joint forming jaws engage into the book case joints and thusly prevent the entire book from sliding downward.  
         [0006]     According to one additional development of this binding-in and pressing machine, the joint forming devices are arranged on and actuated in the same cycle with the pressing devices. The joint forming jaws therefore can remain closed during the rotation such that more time is available for heat to act upon the book case material. A machine according to this additionally developed concept is known from DE 44 22 783 A1, wherein the books are raised into the pressing devices with a loading table that contains prism rails for linearly supporting the book spines in this case. A punch is lowered onto the front edge cut of the book block in the same infeed station as soon as the joint forming jaws are closed and only a slight pressure, if any, is exerted upon the book by the press plates. The cycle of the rotor can only continue once the punch is moved out of the clamping region of the press plates. The cycle capacity of this particular construction is limited due to the numerous and partially very time-consuming functional steps in the infeed station, as well as the limited rotational dynamics of the rotor caused by the high forces of inertia. Although an increase in capacity can be achieved with this pair-by-pair arrangement of the pressing devices on the rotor, this type of arrangement is associated with a substantial additional expenditure for two parallel streams of books, particularly in the infeed and delivery regions of the machine.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     The present invention is based on the objective of making available a binding-in and pressing machine for the joint forming and pressing in of book blocks cased in the book cases, characterized by a comparatively simple and cost-efficient design which can improve the quality of the joint forming and pressing-in steps.  
         [0008]     According to one aspect of the invention, a simple and straightforward design of the machine is achieved by the assignment of the aligning and pre-forming functions to two separate stations, as well as the clamped transport of the aligned book blocks between these two stations. This machine makes it possible to achieve cycle capacities that were only possible with very complicated and expensive constructions until now, because the forming rail only carries out a short stroke when it is actuated and released. In addition, the effective times for ensuring a functionally safe alignment and a permanent pre-forming of the books are increased. The utilization of rails that act upon the outer edges of the book spines makes it possible to eliminate interchangeable parts on the alignment table. The clamped transport causes the lateral regions of the book case near the joints to be firmly glued to the end sheets before the pre-forming process. This means that the formation of creases is prevented during the subsequent initial engagement of the joint forming rails into the book case joints.  
         [0009]     Other advantageous characteristics of the binding-in and pressing machine are disclosed in the following description of one preferred embodiment as well as the figures.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING  
       [0010]      FIG. 1 , is a schematic top view of a binding-in and pressing machine;  
         [0011]      FIG. 2 , is a sectioned side view of the alignment station of the machine with a horizontally positioned feeding gate, wherein this figure is sectioned along the line II—II in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0012]      FIG. 3 , is the same sectioned side view, however, with the feeding gate in the vertical position, and  
         [0013]      FIG. 4 , is a sectioned side view of the pre-forming station of the machine, wherein this figure is sectioned along the line IV—IV in  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0014]      FIG. 1  shows a schematic top view of a binding-in and pressing machine  1  with pressing stations  60  that are arranged in a straight row and equidistantly spaced apart from one another. The pressing stations respectively contain a pair of oppositely arranged press plates  61   a, b  that serve for exerting pressure upon the sides of a book  2  and can be adjusted with respect to their mutual distance. Heated joint forming rails  49   a, b  assigned to the pressing stations  60  are respectively arranged opposite of one another pair-by-pair and adjustable with respect to their mutual distance. The joint forming rails form the book case joints  2   a . The joint forming rails  49   a, b  are situated on a carriage  50  and simultaneously serve as a transport means for advancing the books  2  from station to station in a cyclic fashion with a transport stroke HT. The joint forming rails then return into their starting position in order to receive and transport another book  2 .  
         [0015]     According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, an alignment station  20  and a pre-forming station  40  are arranged upstream of the pressing stations  60 . The infeed of the alignment station  20  is formed by a feed conveyor  50  with several adjacently arranged conveyor belts  5   a , on which the books  2  are flatly transported to a transfer position with their spine pointing forward. This transfer position is defined by the contact of the book spine with the contact tines  7   a  of a contact gate  7  that are supported in a pivoted fashion on supporting tines  6   a  of a feeding gate  6 . In the horizontal position of the feeding gate  6  shown in  FIG. 2 , the tines  6   a  and  7   a  engage into the intermediate spaces between the conveyor belts  5   a.    
         [0016]     The supporting tines  6   a  are accommodated on a common shaft and pivoted back and forward about the respective shaft axis via a lever  8  and a coupler  9  with the aid of a cam lever  10  with a cam roller  10   a  that is controlled by its movement along a cam plate  11 , between a horizontal position in which the book  2  is received from the transfer position and a vertical position in which the spine of the vertically arranged book  2  stands on an alignment table  21  of the alignment station  20 . The book  2  is not subjected to any sliding or gliding movements in this case, i.e., the books  2  are vertically positioned in a particularly careful fashion.  
         [0017]     The feeding gate  6  is illustrated in its vertical position in  FIG. 3 . The book  2  stands on the alignment table  21  and is vertically guided by the supporting tines  7   a  on one side and a guide plate  28  on the other side. The contact tines  7   a  are pivoted into their retracted position by lever links  12 . Their movements are controlled by a coupler  13  with the aid of a cam lever  14 , the cam roller  14   a  of which is controlled by a cam plate  15  in such a way that the contact tines  7   a  are oriented perpendicular to the supporting tines  6   a  during the vertical positioning movement and the contact tines continue their pivoting movement into the retracted position through recesses in the alignment table  21  when the book is vertical positioned thereon. As the feeding gate  6  is pivoted back, the contact tines  7   a  initially remain in the retracted position and are subsequently returned into the position in which they are oriented perpendicular to the supporting tines  6   a  during the course of the pivoting movement.  
         [0018]     The vertically positioned book  2  on the alignment table  21  is now aligned such that its book case joints  2   a  are arranged at the desired height. The outer edges of the book spine are supported by prismatic rails  22 ,  23  of the alignment table  21  that respectively contain an inwardly sloped, plane supporting surface, wherein the weight of the book  2  acts upon these prismatic rails. In order to increase the aligning forces in the alignment station  20 , holding-down means  62  may optionally act upon the front edges of the book cases and/or upon the front edge cut of the book block. The left rail  22  is realized adjustably in order to take into account different book thicknesses. This is symbolized in  FIGS. 2 and 3  by the double arrow VA drawn with broken lines. The alignment table  21  itself is guided on guide shafts  25  by a guide block  24  and can be adjusted between a raised position in which it aligns the books  2  and a lowered position in which it releases the book spine, by a pneumatic cylinder  27  mounted on a plate  26 . The height of the plate  26  can be adjusted as symbolized by V F  in order to adjust the alignment table  21  to a certain height for the alignment process.  
         [0019]     The aligned book  2  is laterally clamped in lateral regions near the joints by the clamping jaws  31   a, b  of a clamping conveyor  30  and transferred from the alignment station  20  into the pre-forming station  40  with a transport stroke H K . During this process, the lateral regions of the book case near the joints are firmly glued to the end sheets to such a degree that the formation of creases is prevented when the book is subsequently pressed into the book case joints for the first time. The alignment table  21  is situated in a lowered position during this process, and the feeding gate  6  is pivoted back into the horizontal position in order to receive an ensuing book  2 . In its vertical position, the feeding gate  6  with the retracted contact tines  7  has such a geometry that a free space for the right clamping jaw  31   b  is created.  
         [0020]     The clamping conveyor  30  with its clamping jaws  31   a, b  is situated on a carriage  35  that is linearly guided on guide shafts  36  such that it can be displaced between the alignment station  20  and the pre-forming station  40  with the aid of not-shown driving means. In this case, the transport stroke H K  is variable in accordance with the format to be processed, i.e., the book  2  that is fed to the alignment station  20  with a constant lateral edge always reaches the center of the pre-forming station  40 .  
         [0021]     Guide shafts  34  are arranged on the carriage  35  transverse to the transport direction. Holders  32 ,  33  are guided on the guide shafts, and the clamping jaws  31   a  and  31   b  are mounted on the respective ends of the holders and can be adjusted into a clamping position for receiving the books  2  from the alignment station  20  with the aid of pneumatic cylinders  37 ,  38 . The left pneumatic cylinder  37  has a stroke that not only takes into account the required clamping stroke of the clamping jaw  31   a , but also changes in the thickness of the books  2 . In order to limit the operational stroke to the value required for the clamping process, a cam roller  39  is provided on the holder  32  and supported on the guide rail  47  that is adjustable with respect to the thickness of the book when the clamping jaw  31  opens.  
         [0022]     The pre-forming station  40  is essentially composed of a forming rail  51  that acts upon the front edge cut of the book block, clamping plates  41   a, b  that laterally limit the book case and the joint rails  48   a, b  that engage into the book case joints  2   a . When the aligned book  2  is transferred into the pre-forming station  40 , the clamping plates  41   a, b  and the forming rail  51  are respectively situated in the retracted position as indicated with broken lines in  FIG. 2 . After the transfer, the book  2  initially is laterally clamped in position by the clamping plates  41   a, b . The clamping jaws  31   a, b  are then opened and the clamping conveyor  30  returns into the alignment station  20  in order to receive another aligned book  2 .  
         [0023]     Immediately after the book  2  is clamped in position in the pre-forming station  40 , the forming rail  51  is softly lowered onto the front edge cut of the book block. As soon as the joint rails  48   a, b  are adjusted into the book case joints  2   a  such that they exert a slight pressure, the pressure of the forming rail  51  is increased and the clamping force of the clamping plates  41   a, b  is diminished immediately thereafter. The book block is now pressed into the book case spine that is supported on the clamped book case joints  2   a  via the center strip and the end sheet. Different joint shapes can be realized in this case depending on the position and the clamping force of the joint rails  48   a, b . The clamping force of the clamping plates  41   a, b  is particularly important in this respect, because the clamping force can be diminished, according to a first operating mode, to such a degree that the book  2  to be post-formed is merely guided in a loose fashion between the clamping plates  41   a, b . During the post-forming, the book  2  is displaced downward until the edges of the book case come in contact with the joint rails  48   a, b . During this process, the cloth is pressed against the case edges in order to produce a sharp book case joint.  
         [0024]     In another operating mode, the clamping plates  41   a, b  act upon the book case with a high clamping force during the pre-forming. The joint rails  48   a, b  are simultaneously pressed against the book case joints with a high clamping force such that the book case cannot move downward when the forming rail  51  acts thereupon. This makes it possible to maintain a predetermined position of the respective joint rails  48   a, b  in the book case joint. A direct contact between the book cases and the joint rails  48   a, b  is prevented such that a book case joint of reduced sharpness is produced. The described second operating mode can also be used for books with thin book cases, for example, flexible book cases that are so thin that they do not provide a sufficient support edge for being placed on the joint rails  48   a, b  analogous to the first operating mode.  
         [0025]     The joint rails  48   a, b  are situated on the carriage  50  for the joint forming rails  49   a, b  and moved into the pre-forming station  40  during the return stroke of the carriage. After the pre-forming process is completed, the clamping force of the joint rails  48   a, b  is increased while the forming rail  51  and the clamping plates  41   a, b  are adjusted into their retracted position. The book  2  is now transferred into the first of the ensuing pressing stations  60  by means of the joint rails  48   a, b  that solidly engage into the book case joints  2   a . The book is received in this first pressing station while being positively clamped in position with the aid of press plates  61   a, b  and then transported from pressing station to pressing station in a cyclic fashion by the heated joint forming rails  49   a, b . The joint rails  48   a, b  are also heatable such that the plastic deformation of the book case joints  2   a  can already begin in the pre-forming station  40  when certain cloth materials are used.  
         [0026]     The forming rail  51  is realized in the form of an interchangeable part and held on a bolt  52  received in a block  53  that is guided on guide shafts  54 . The guide shafts  53  are mounted on a holder  55  of adjustable height. A pneumatic cylinder  56  for realizing the lifting movement of the forming rail  51  is also mounted on this height-adjustable holder.  
         [0027]     The clamping plates  41   a, b  are controlled by pneumatic cylinders  42 , and guide shafts  43  mounted on the clamping plates  41   a, b  are linearly guided in bearing blocks  44 . On the right side, the bearing block  44  is mounted on a plate  46  that is rigidly connected to the machine frame while the bearing block  44  on the left side is mounted on a plate  45  that can be adjusted with respect to the book thickness and on which the aforementioned guide rail  47  is also arranged. The adjusting device is not illustrated in detail but rather symbolized by a double arrow V D  drawn with broken lines.