Patent Publication Number: US-2002009352-A1

Title: Book cover with a round-arch spine and a method for producing the same

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001] The present invention relates to a book cover for an album, a sketchbook and the like having a stable round-arch spine unaffected by a shape of an object to be bound, and a method for producing the said book cover.  
       DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART  
       [0002] As binding styles, there have been a round-arch spine and a squarish spine style. In a round-arch spine binding, an object for binding is first bulged and then sheathed by a book cover along rounds formed. Accordingly, not that an object is formed in accordance with a shape of a round-arch spine, but that a spine has to be shaped into a round to suit a backstrip of the object to be bound. With a method described above, difficulties stand in binding sheets having intervals therebetween and hinged yielding papers such as a mount for an album. Therefore, binding untouched sheets or hinged yielding papers has been impossible. In the case of a file and a holder comprised of a book cover and a content (for example, a pocket mount) both made from synthetic resin, a round-arch spine binding has been already adopted as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2,682,949 and Japanese Open Gazette No. H3-254999. However, since a conventional book cover with a round-arch spine is made from synthetic resin and wherein a mount is adhered to an exposing resin surface of a spine, a mount has to be synthetic resin and cannot be a paper in the view of adhesive characteristics of both the book cover and the mount. In the above binding, as a high frequency welding machine or a heat apparatus is required to bond resins, procedures has been complex and costs has been expensive. The present invention offers a book cover with a stable round-arch spine which has a simple composition and is unaffected by a material or a form of an object to be bound, and a method for producing the same.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003] To resolve the above problem, the invention in claim  1  adopts a book cover with a book cover with a round-arch spine comprising a mounting cloth with folding up corners thereof on which a pair of substratum paper and a spine affiche of synthetic resin are pre-positioned, and a backing paper adhered on a back surface of the mounting cloth wherein a round shape in the said spine affiche is produced by heat-forming.  
       [0004] As a producing method of a book cover with a round-arch spine, the invention in claim  2  adopts a procedure of placing a pair of substratum paper and a spine affiche of synthetic resin on suitable positions on a mounting cloth, a procedure of folding a top, a bottom and ends of right and left of the said mounting cloth inside, a procedure of adhering a paper to a back surface of a book cover, and a procedure of heat-forming the said spine affiche into a round shape. By using a spine affiche of synthetic resin, the said spine affiche can be heat-formed and retain a stable round shape thereof, which facilitate binding books with intervals or binding yielding papers. Also, a back surface of a spine affiche remains feasible to be bound with a conventional binding procedure because of a backing paper thereon. Furthermore, the invention in claim  2 , which adds a procedure of heat-forming a spine affiche to conventional procedures for producing a book cover, results in simplifying manufacturing apparatus and manufacturing processes and lightening costs as a process of adhering a synthetic resin mount to a synthetic resin book cover will not be needed. 
     
    
    
     BREIF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0005]FIG. 1 is a top view showing a structure of a book cover.  
     [0006]FIG. 2 is partly sectioned view showing an example of a heat-forming process.  
     [0007]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a book cover with a round-arch spine completed.  
     [0008]FIG. 4 is a partly sectioned view showing an example of a bound album. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
     [0009] Hereafter, preferred embodiments of a book cover with a round-arch spine in the present invention are explained referring to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a structure of a book cover. In this figure,  1  is a mounting cloth,  2  is a pair of substratum paper and  3  is a spine affiche. Conventional materials are used for the mounting cloth  1  and substratum paper  2 . As to the spine affiche  3 , a synthetic resin paper such as “peachcoat” (Nisshinbo Industries Inc.) and “yupo” (Oji Paper Co., Ltd.) are used.  
     [0010] As a book cover manufacturing process, adhesives are applied on a back surface of said mounting cloth  1  and said substratum paper  2  and said spine affiche  3  are placed on predetermined positions. Then a top and a bottom of said mounting cloth are folded and ends of right and left thereof are further folded. FIG. 1(A) shows the mounting cloth with a bottom thereof folded. After folding four corners up and treating thereof suitably, said backing paper  4  is adhered on a whole back surface remaining slight space at four corners (please refer to FIG. 1(B)). A synthetic resin paper used for a spine affiche in each processes has a surface characteristic equivalent to a paper made from organic fiber such as a conventional paper wood pulp and has a print aptitude and adhesiveness to stick and adhesive as well as natural paper, which enables to adapt a conventional book cover-adhering process. A round-arch shape in a spine portion is formed with a pair of heat-molds. As shown in FIG. 2, the said round-arch spine is formed by pressing with an even heat-mold  5  having desired roundness and an uneven heat-mold  6 . This process may be conducted by heating from outside. Since a synthetic resin paper used for a spine affiche is composed of radical material of thermoplastic resin, desired roundness is easily formed and maintained stably when the synthetic resin paper is heat-formed at a required temperature. With processes explained above, a book cover with a round-arch spine (P) as shown in FIG. 3 is easily manufactured.  
     [0011] A book cover with a round-arch spine produced with above processes can be bound with conventional binding processes. For example, as disclosed in Japanese Open Gazette Nos. H4-126297 and H6-320883, an album having intervals between mounts can be bound with a process of placing spacers between a plurality of mounts and supporting the said plurality of mounts by a pair of pinch-board, a process of applying heat-soluble adhesive on at a binding side of the said plurality of mounts, a process of bonding the said binding side to an interior surface of a round-arch spine, a process of cooling down the adhesive, and a process of removing the said spacers after the adhesive has consolidated. According to a book cover with a round-arch spine in the present invention, as the said book cover is previously shaped into a round-arch, a luxurious album can be produced with above processes.  
     [0012] As explained above, a book cover with a round-arch spine and a method for producing the same in the present invention can easily produce luxurious bound book with a round-arch spine since a roundness of a spine is stable even in binding sheets having intervals therebetween or in binding hinged yielding papers owing to the said spine affiche of synthetic resin, thermoplastic character of which enable a book cover to have the said roundness in the said spine in advance by heat-forming.  
     [0013] Also, like conventional bound books, as a backing paper is adhered to a back surface of a book cover, a paper is bound with a conventional binding method. Therefore, a luxurious appearance can be obtained without losing an exclusive quality sense.  
     [0014] Furthermore, since the present invention requires to add only one process of heat-forming a spine affiche to a conventional manufacturing processes which means a large facility such as a high frequency welding apparatus is not needed therein, time and cost involved with manufacturing procedures can be considerably lightened.