Abstract:
This invention relates to an apparatus and method for making booklets. Such structures of this type, generally, employ a variety of creasing techniques in order to form the booklet.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This Application is a divisional of application Ser. No 10/949,125 filed Sep. 24, 2004 which is a division of application Ser. No. 10/426,272, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,827,679. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     This invention relates to an apparatus and method for making booklets. Such structures of this type, generally, employ a variety of creasing techniques in order to form the booklet.  
         [0004]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0005]     Prior to the present invention, as set forth in general terms above and more specifically below, it is known, in conventional booklets making processes to accumulate the media sheets flat, staple the accumulated media, and fold all of the bundled sheets together. The trimming operation is done at the very last by employing a large, powerful, industrial guillotine to trim all the sheets at once. This folding approach is inefficient and requires a lot of power. Also, undesired raised areas or “pillowing” are commonly located near the crease. While this method is traditionally the fastest way of forming a booklet in industrial environments where large quantities of booklets are being produced, the pillowing defect is not recognized as a quality item and, therefore, no attention is being paid to it. It is also known, in the booklet making art, to employ a sheet-by-sheet booklet making process. The disadvantage of this process is that the pages of the booklet were scored and creased in a single point at the middle as shown in  FIG. 1   a . As can be seen in  FIG. 1   b , undesired raised areas or “pillowing” resulted from this technique.  
         [0006]     It is further known, in the booklet making art, to accumulate the sheets of media in a flat position, staple the sheets of media in order to form a bundle, fold all of the sheets of media at once, and eject them from the booklet making apparatus. This apparatus does not trim the booklet, which results in creeping or a chevron-like defect. However, this creeping issue does not seem to present a serious problem since the booklets typically contain less than 10 sheets. On the other hand, pillowing is a serious result from using this device along with the large amount of power required to fold the booklets. Consequently, a more advantageous system, then, would be presented if the booklet making apparatus could efficiently produce booklets while eliminating creeping and pillowing.  
         [0007]     Finally, it is known, in the booklet making art, to produce a booklet having a multiple position hinge. Exemplary of such prior art is U.S. Pat. No. 6,363,851 (&#39;851) to J. Gerhard et al., entitled “Process for Producing Folded, Bound Printed Products, and the Printed Product Produced.” While the &#39;851 reference employs a multiple position hinge, the edges of the booklet are not trimmed which results in the creeping or chevron-like defect.  
         [0008]     It is apparent from the above that there exists a need in the art for a booklet making apparatus which is efficient in terms of power consumption, and which is capable of eliminating pillowing, but which at the same time is capable eliminating creeping of the media sheet edges. It is a purpose of this invention to fulfill this and other needs in the art in a manner more apparent to the skilled artisan once given the following disclosure.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0009]     Generally speaking, an embodiment of this invention fulfills these needs by providing a method for making a booklet, wherein the method is comprised of the steps of, locating a sheet of media substantially within a creasing device; creasing, on both sides, the sheet of media at a plurality of locations along the sheet of media; collecting the creased sheets of media until a desired number of creased sheets of media has been achieved; fastening the desired number of creased sheets of media to form a booklet; and ejecting the fastened booklet.  
         [0010]     In certain preferred embodiments, the pre-cut sheets of media are cut at various lengths in order to reduce creeping and eliminate a booklet trimming step. Also, the pre-cut sheets of media can be creased through the use of a variety of folding techniques. Finally, a stapling device can be used to fasten the desired number of sheets in order to form a booklet.  
         [0011]     In another further preferred embodiment, the power required to complete the booklet is substantially reduced because each individual sheet of media is creased alone. Also, the creeping effect is eliminated due to the use of the pre-cut sheets. Finally, the pillowing defect is eliminated due to the use of the multiple crease hinge.  
         [0012]     The preferred booklet making method, according to various embodiments of the present invention, offers the following advantages: ease-of-use; reduced power consumption; lightness in weight; good stability; good durability; excellent economy, reduced pillowing; and creep elimination. In fact, in many of the preferred embodiments, these factors of ease-of-use, reduced power consumption, economy, reduced pillowing, and creep elimination are optimized to an extent that is considerably higher than heretofore achieved in prior, known booklet making methods.  
         [0013]     The above and other features of the present invention, which will become more apparent as the description proceeds, are best understood by considering the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like characters represent like parts throughout the several views and in which: 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0014]      FIGS. 1   a  and  1   b  are [ 1  is a] schematic illustrations of a prior art booklet making technique wherein single folded sheets are accumulated ( FIG. 1   a ) and the sheets are fastened whereupon a pillowing defect results ( FIG. 1   b );  
         [0015]      FIGS. 2   a  and  2   b  are [ 2  is a] schematic illustrations showing how each pre-cut sheet is creased in two points ( FIG. 2   b  is a blown up view of the booklet spine shown in  FIG. 2   a ), according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0016]      FIG. 3  is a schematic illustration of a programmable, continuous, double fold crease and a programmable, discrete, double fold crease, according to another embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0017]      FIGS. 4   a  and  4   b  are [ 4  is a] schematic illustrations showing how the booklet lays flat ( FIG. 4   b  is a blown up view of the booklet spine shown in  FIG. 4   a ), according to another embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0018]      FIGS. 5   a - 5   c  are [ 5  is a] schematic illustrations of the steps ( FIG. 5   a - FIG. 5   c ) for completing a buckle double fold, according to another embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0019]      FIGS. 6   a - 6   c  are [ 6  is a] schematic illustrations of the steps ( FIG. 6   a - FIG. 6   c ) for completing a roller double fold, according to another embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0020]      FIGS. 7   a - 7   c  are [ 7  is a] schematic illustrations of the steps ( FIG. 7   a - FIG. 7   c ) for completing a 240 degree double parallel fold, according to another embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0021]      FIGS. 8   a - 8   i  are [ 8  is a] schematic illustrations of the steps ( FIG. 8   a - FIG. 8   i ) for completing a 360 degree double fold, according to another embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0022]      FIGS. 9   a  and  9   b  are [ 9  is a] schematic illustrations showing that multiple folds in the booklet spine are also possible, according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0023]     With reference first to  FIG. 1 , creasing is an essential process in booklet making. In standard industry processes for booklet making, the booklet is creased (folded) once it is finished ( FIG. 1   a ) and stitched. The last operation is trimming. However, as discussed above, this created a pillowing defect ( FIG. 1   b ). The present invention is related to a different approach in booklet making. In one embodiment of the present invention, the sheets of the booklet are processed one-by-one and subsequently stitched in order to complete the booklet.  
         [0024]     Another important aspect of the present invention is that the previously discussed “creep” defect can be eliminated. Creep is caused when the inside sheets of the booklet appear to be longer then the outside sheets when they are actually the same size. This creep defect can be eliminated by trimming each sheet progressively to a different length in order to leave the outside sheets of the booklet longer than the inside sheets of the booklet. Trimming the sheets in this controlled manner will make the edge of the booklet flat, thereby eliminating the creep defect.  
         [0025]     With respect to  FIG. 2 , one embodiment of the present invention is to take advantage of the precision drive mechanism (not shown) for progressively trimming each sheet to a different length in order to leave the outside sheets of the booklet longer then the inside sheets of the booklet. It is to be understood that the various sheets of the booklet could be cut shorter/longer in order to provide index pages for the booklet. As can be seen in  FIGS. 2   a  and  2   b , media sheet  8  is not folded at the exact middle of the sheet, but at two creases  6  centered about the middle. The distance between these two creases  6  will change from page-to-page according to its position in booklet  2 . For example, those creases  6  in the inside sheets  8  will be closer than the outside ones. It is to be understood that the inner most sheets could even be folded just once at the middle then two creases  6  could be used from the third sheet on out. It is to be understood that creases  6  between adjacent sheets  8  are located in close proximity to each other and the position between creases  6  of adjacent sheet  8  can be programmable. Finally, fastener  10  is conventionally used to stitch the various sheets of media together in order to form booklet  2  after sheets  8  are centered with respect to the device (not shown) for inserting fastener  10 . Preferably, fastener  10  is a staple in short, this crease distance variation will provide booklet  2  with a “square spine” with the additional advantage that it provides multiple hinge points.  
         [0026]     With respect to  FIG. 3 , there is illustrated sheet  8   a  that includes a programmable, continuous, double fold crease  6   a  and sheet  8  that includes a programmable, discrete, double fold crease  6 . As can be seen in the Figure, the continuous creases  6   a , that were normally located exactly opposite of each other on sheet  8  (discrete creases  8 ), are now located at an offset location from each other on opposites sides of the same sheet  8   a . This continuous crease  6   a  could provide a rounded edge for the booklet, if that is desired.  
         [0027]     With respect to  FIG. 4 , booklet  2  is illustrated. As shown in  FIGS. 4   a  and  4   b , booklet  2  lays flat since each sheet  8  has two hinge points or creases  6 . The “square spine” behaves as that of the perfectly bound book. The difference is that booklet  2  is fastened with only a couple of fasteners  10 .  
         [0028]     Another aspect of the present invention is the use of a discrete/continuous, double fold process for attaining a better crease. A double fold is created by creasing the media on one side of the media and then creasing the media again at that exact location, but on the opposite side of the media. Essentially, this breaks the media&#39;s fibers more efficiently and reduces the media&#39;s resilience or tendency to recover its original shape. Variations of this double fold process will be discussed below.  
         [0029]     With respect to  FIG. 5 , there is illustrated one embodiment for creasing sheets of media.  FIG. 5  shows apparatus  20  for creating a double fold for creasing sheets  8  of media. Apparatus  20  includes, in part, media sheet  8 , media guide  22 , media transport rollers  24 , media sheet guide plate  26 , media drive rollers  28 , pivotable media bail clamp  30 , media bail clamp  32 , and crease wheel  34 .  
         [0030]     Media sheet  8 , preferably, is any suitable media that can be formed into the booklet. Media guide  22 , preferably, is constructed of any suitable, durable material that is capable of being formed into a curvilinear shape. Media transport rollers  24 , preferably, are constructed of any suitable, durable material that is capable of transporting media sheet  8  towards media sheet guide plate  26 . Media sheet guide plate  26 , preferably, is constructed of any suitable, durable material that is capable of allowing media sheet  8  to traverse from media clamp  30  to media clamp  32 . Media drive rollers  28 , preferably, are any suitable drive rollers that are capable of traversing media sheet  8  a predetermined distance along media sheet guide plate  26  in order to form creases at desired positions along media sheet  8 . Media clamp  30 , preferably, is constructed of any suitable, durable material that is capable of securing media sheet  8  against media sheet guide plate  26 , such as by pivoting. Media clamp  32 , preferably, is constructed of any suitable, durable material that is capable of retaining media sheet  8  against media sheet had plate  26 . Crease wheel  34 , preferably, is constructed of any suitable, durable material that is capable of pushing a portion of media sheet  8  against an edge of media sheet guide plate  26  in order to form a crease in media sheet  8 .  
         [0031]     During the operation of apparatus  20 , as shown in FIG. [\] 5   a , media sheet  8  is conventionally fed along media guide  22  such that media sheet  8  interacts with media transport rollers  24 . Media transport rollers  24  cause media sheet  8  to slide along media sheet guide plate  26  and under media bail clamps  30  and  32 . At this point, crease wheel  34  is not in contact with media sheet  8  and media drive rollers  28  take control of media sheet  8  and attempt to locate the predetermined crease points along media sheet  8 .  
         [0032]     As shown in  FIG. 5   b , media bail clamp  30  pivots and secures media sheet  8  against media sheet guide plate  26  while media transport rollers  24  continue to force media sheet  8  towards media sheet guide plate  26 . At this point, buckle  36  is formed. Once buckle  36  is formed, crease wheel  34  moves in a direction orthogonal to the path of media sheet  8  in order to create a crease in media sheet  8  in one direction.  
         [0033]     As shown in  FIG. 5   c , the direction of rotation of media transport rollers  24  is reversed and media sheet  8  is forced downward by conventional means to make sure the when the direction of rotation of media transport rollers  24  is again reversed buckle  38  will be created. Once buckle  38  is formed, crease wheel  34  moves in a direction orthogonal to the path of media sheet  8  in order to create a crease in media sheet  8  in the same location on media sheet  8 , but on the other side of media sheet  8 . Media drive rollers  28  are then utilized in order to traverse media sheet  8  along media sheet guide plate  26  so that predetermined points along media sheet  8  can be creased.  
         [0034]     With respect to  FIG. 6 , there is illustrated another embodiment for creasing media sheet  8 .  FIGS. 6   a - 6   c  illustrate apparatus  50  for creating a roller double fold for creasing media sheet  8 . Apparatus  50  includes, in part, media sheet  8 , media guide  22 , media transport rollers  24 , media sheet guide plate  26 , media drive rollers  28 , pivotable media bail clamp  30 , media bail clamp  32 , and page wide rollers  40 .  
         [0035]     Page wide rollers  40 , preferably, are constructed of any suitable, durable material that is capable of pushing a portion of media sheet  8  against an edge of media sheet guide plate  26  in order to form a crease in media sheet  8 .  
         [0036]     During the operation of apparatus  50 , as shown in  FIG. 6   a , media sheet  8  is conventionally fed along media guide  22  such that media sheet  8  interacts with media transport rollers  24 . Media transport rollers  24  cause media sheet  8  to slide along media sheet guide plate  26  and under media bail clamps  30  and  32 . At this point, page wide rollers  40  are not in contact with media sheet  8  and media drive rollers  28  take control of media sheet  8  and attempt to locate the predetermined crease points along media sheet  8 .  
         [0037]     As shown in  FIG. 6   b , media bail clamp  30  pivots and secures media sheet  8  against media sheet guide plate  26  while media transport rollers  24  continue to force media sheet  8  towards media sheet guide plate  26 . At this point, buckle  42  is created. Once buckle  42  is formed, page wide rollers  40  move in the direction of arrow x in order to force media sheet  8  against an edge of media sheet guide plate  26  so that a crease in media sheet  8  is formed.  
         [0038]     As shown in  FIG. 6   c , page wide rollers  40  then move in the direction of arrow x′ in order to make a second crease at the same point in media sheet  8 , but on the other side of media sheet  8 . In this manner, media sheet  8  only needs to be stopped by media drive rollers  28  at the desired locations along media sheet  8 , clamped by media bail clamp  30 , and then acted upon by page wide rollers  40  in order to form the various creases along media sheet  8 .  
         [0039]     With respect to  FIG. 7 , there is illustrated another embodiment for creasing media sheet  8 .  FIGS. 7   a - 7   c  illustrate apparatus  100  for creating a 240 degree fold to crease media sheet  8 . Apparatus  100  includes, in part, media sheet  8 , media guide  22 , media transport rollers  24 , media sheet guide plate  26 , media drive rollers  28 , media crease bar  102 , and page wide rollers  104 .  
         [0040]     Media crease bar  102 , preferably, is constructed of any suitable, durable material that is capable of creasing media  8  when acted upon by rollers  104 . Page wide rollers  104 , preferably, are constructed of any suitable, durable material that is capable of pushing a portion of media sheet  8  against an edge of media sheet guide plate  26  and media crease bar  102  in order to form a crease in media sheet  8 . It is to be understood that the clearance between media sheet guide plate  26  and media crease bar  102  is such that media  8  can easily move between plate  26  and bar  102 , and allow media sheet  8  to be properly creased without movement of media sheet  8  along plate  26  and bar  102 . It is also to be understood that the clearance between plate  26  and bar  102  can be adjusted according to techniques known to those skilled in the art so as to compensate for different media thicknesses.  
         [0041]     During the operation of apparatus  100 , as shown in  FIG. 7   a , media sheet  8  is conventionally fed along media guide  22  such that media sheet  8  interacts with media transport rollers  24 . Media transport rollers  24  cause media sheet  8  to slide along media sheet guide plate  26  and under media crease bar  102 . At this point, page wide rollers  104  are not in contact with media sheet  8  and media drive rollers  28  take control of media sheet  8  and attempt to locate the predetermined crease points along media sheet  8 .  
         [0042]     As shown in  FIG. 7   b , page wide rollers  104  move in the direction of arrow x in order to force media sheet  8  against an edge of media crease bar  102  so that a crease in media sheet  8  is formed.  
         [0043]     As shown in  FIG. 7   c , page wide rollers  104  then move in the direction of arrow x′ to force media sheet  8  against an edge of media sheet guide plate  26  in order to make a second crease at the same point in media sheet  8 , but on the other side of media sheet  8 . In this manner, media sheet  8  only needs to be stopped by media drive rollers  28  at the desired locations along media sheet  8 , and then acted upon by page wide rollers  104  in order to form the various creases along media sheet  8 .  
         [0044]     With reference to  FIG. 8 , there is illustrated another embodiment for creasing media sheet  8 .  FIGS. 8   a - 8   i  illustrate an apparatus  150  for creating a 360 fold to crease media sheet  8 . Apparatus  150  includes, in part, media sheet  8 , media transport rollers  24 , media drive rollers  28 , media creasing rollers  152  and  154 , top insert roller  156 , and lower insert roller  158 . Media creasing rollers  152  and  154 , preferably, are constructed of any suitable, durable material that is capable of forming a nip between media drive rollers  28  and media creasing rollers  152  and  154 . This nip is where the crease is formed in media sheet  8 . Top and lower insert rollers  156  and  158  are constructed of any suitable, durable material that is capable of forcing a portion of media sheet  8  into the nip located between media drive rollers  28  and media creasing rollers  152  and  154 , respectively.  
         [0045]     During the operation of apparatus  50 , as shown in  FIGS. 8   a  and  8   b , media sheet  8  is traversed towards apparatus  150  by media transport rollers  24  Media sheet  8  interacts with the nip located between the two media drive rollers  28 . At this point, top and lower insert rollers  156  and  158 , respectively, are not in contact with media sheet  8  and media drive rollers  28  take control of media sheet  8  and attempt to locate by rotation of media drive rollers  28  (along the direction of arrows A and B) the predetermined crease points along media sheet B.  
         [0046]     With respect to  FIG. 8   c , top insert roller  156  forces a portion of media sheet  8  into the nip located between media drive roller  28  and media creasing roller  154  along the direction of arrow x.  
         [0047]     With respect to  FIG. 8   d , a first crease is formed in media sheet  8  by the rotation of media drive roller  28  along the direction of arrow B and the rotation of media creasing roller  154  along the direction of arrow C. Also, top insert roller  156  is moved away from the nip located between media drive roller  28  and media creasing roller  154  along the direction of arrow x′.  
         [0048]     With respect to  FIG. 8   e , media sheet  8  is traversed towards media transport rollers  24  by the rotation of media drive roller  28  along the direction of arrows D and E. In this manner, crease  160  is located substantially over the nip located between media drive roller  28  and media creasing roller  152 .  
         [0049]     With respect to  FIG. 8   f , lower insert roller  158  forces crease  160  of media sheet  8  into the nip located between media drive roller  28  and media creasing roller  152  along the direction of arrow y.  
         [0050]     With respect to  FIG. 8   g , media sheet  8  is creased on the other side of crease  160  by the rotation of media drive roller  28  along the direction of arrow D and the rotation of media creasing roller  152  along the direction of arrow F. Also, lower insert roller  158  is moved away from the nip located between media drive roller  28  and media creasing roller  152  along the direction of arrow y′.  
         [0051]     With respect to  FIG. 8   h , media sheet  8  is traversed towards media creasing roller  154  through the rotation of media drive rollers  28  along the direction of arrows A and B.  
         [0052]     Finally, with respect to  FIG. 8   i , media sheet  8  is traversed by media drive rollers  28  until a portion of media sheet  8 , upon which another crease in media sheet  8  is to the formed, is located substantially adjacent to the nip located between media drive roller  28  and media creasing roller  154 . Once the second location has been achieved, the second crease (not shown) can be formed according to the previously discussed steps as shown in  FIGS. 8   a - 8   h.    
         [0053]     Once media sheet  8  has been creased in at least two positions, media sheet  8  is forwarded to a conventional sheet-accumulating device. After the desired number of creased media sheets  8  has been collected to form a bundle, a final alignment or registration of the bundle is completed. Finally, the bundle is fastened and a finished booklet is ejected.  
         [0054]     With respect to  FIG. 9 , it is to be understood that any number of creases can be formed on media sheets  8  of booklet  2 . For example, as shown in  FIG. 9   a , media sheets  8  have been creased at three points ( 100 ,  102 , 102 ). As shown in  FIG. 9   b , media sheets  8  have been creased at four points ( 104 , 106 , 106 ,  104 ). It is to be understood that having more folds on every media sheet  8  could give better results. Clearly, as the number of folds increases and the angle subtended by media sheet  8  decreases, plastic deformation requirements for media sheet  8  are reduced which, in turn, reduces pillowing and increases the tendency of the booklet to lay flat.  
         [0055]     Also, the present invention can be embodied in any computer-readable medium for use by or in connection with an instruction-execution system, apparatus or device such as a computer/processor based system, processor-containing system or other system that can fetch the instructions from the instruction-execution system, apparatus or device, and execute the instructions contained therein. In the context of this disclosure, a “computer-readable medium” can be any means that can store, communicate, propagate or transport a program for use by or in connection with the instruction-execution system, apparatus or device. The computer-readable medium can comprise any one of many physical media such as, for example, electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor media. More specific examples of a suitable computer-readable medium would include, but are not limited to, a portable magnetic computer diskette such as floppy diskettes or hard drives, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory, or a portable compact disc. It is to be understood that the computer-readable medium could even be paper or another suitable medium upon which the program is printed, as the program can be electronically captured, via, for instance, optical scanning of the paper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted or otherwise processed in a single manner, if necessary, and then stored in a computer memory.  
         [0056]     Those skilled in the art will understand that various embodiment of the present invention can be implemented in hardware, software, firmware or combinations thereof. Separate embodiments of the present invention can be implemented using a combination of hardware and software or firmware that is stored in memory and executed by a suitable instruction-execution system. If implemented solely in hardware, as in an alternative embodiment, the present invention can be separately implemented with any or a combination of technologies which are well known in the art (for example, discrete-logic circuits, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), programmable-ate arrays (PGAs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and/or other later developed technologies. In preferred embodiments, the present invention can be implemented in a combination of software and data executed and stored under the control of a computing device.  
         [0057]     Once given the above disclosure, many other features, modifications or improvements will become apparent to the skilled artisan. Such features, modifications or improvements are, therefore, considered to be a part of this invention, the scope of which is to be determined by the following claims.