Patent Publication Number: US-9421811-B2

Title: Media binder

Description:
CLAIM FOR PRIORITY 
     The present application is a national stage filing under 35 U.S.C 371 of PCT application number PCT/US2012/026540, having an international filing date of Feb. 24, 2012, which claims priority to PCT application number PCT/US2011/038647, having an international filing date of May 31, 2011, and PCT application number PCT/US2011/038653, having an international filing date of May 31, 2011, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties. 
     BACKGROUND 
     As digital cameras gain popularity, the volume of digital pictures taken by users grows rapidly. Although these pictures may be conveniently stored in storage devices, at least some users prefer to store their pictures in a printed format. For those users, a media binder is a desirable option for storing their pictures. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1A  is a perspective view of an example media binder. 
         FIG. 1B  is a side view of the example media binder shown in  FIG. 1A . 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded view of an example inside assembly. 
         FIG. 3A  is a perspective view of the example inside assembly shown in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 3B  is a cross sectional view of the example inside assembly shown in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of an example spine clamp. 
         FIG. 5  is a flow diagram of an example method of manufacturing the example inside assembly shown in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 6  is an exploded view of an example case assembly. Need to add the slip-sheet in this drawing 
         FIGS. 7A-D  are various views of the example case assembly shown in  FIG. 6 . 
         FIG. 7E  shows a perspective view of an example slip-sheet. 
         FIGS. 8A-E  show examples that provide crease relief to a media binder. 
         FIG. 9  shows an example cover sheet of the example case assembly shown in  FIG. 6 . 
         FIG. 10A  shows an example spacer of the example case assembly shown in  FIG. 6 . 
         FIG. 10B  shows an alternate example spacer of the example case assembly shown in  FIG. 6 . 
         FIGS. 11A-B  are various views of another example spacer for a case assembly. 
         FIG. 12  is a flow diagram of an example method of customizing a case cover and finalizing a media binder. 
         FIGS. 13A-B  are various views of the media binder created using the example method shown in  FIG. 12 . 
         FIGS. 14A-C  show examples that create corner wraps for a media binder. 
         FIGS. 15A-B  are various views of another example media binder. 
         FIG. 16  is a flow diagram of an example method of customizing case covers and finalizing the example media binder shown in  FIG. 15A . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The present subject matter is now described more fully with reference to the accompanying figures, in which several examples of the subject matter are shown. The present subject matter may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the examples set forth herein. Rather these examples are provided so that this disclosure will be complete and will fully convey principles of the subject matter. 
     Traditionally, wrapping corners of a media binder with a cover material requires specialized tools and careful maneuvers in order to achieve a professional appearance. Similarly, processing the cover material of the media binder in order to force the cover material to bend smoothly in the spine area and prevent or reduce crease lines also requires specialized tools and is difficult to perform. Therefore, what are needed are ways to properly wrap corners and process binder covers to prevent or reduce crease lines that are easy to perform and less prone to errors. 
     Media Binder 
       FIGS. 1A and 1B  show an example of a media binder arrangement (also called a “media binder”)  100 . In the illustrations, the media binder  100  is opened approximately 180° from a closed position. In this position, physical media  110  inserted in the media binder  100  may be firmly secured in place while being viewed. Examples of the physical media  110  that may be secured in the media binder  100  described herein include photo paper, paper, card stock, business cards, fabric samples, carpet samples, synthetic membranes, acetate sheets, and the like. 
     The media binder  100  includes two primary components: an inside assembly and a case assembly. The inside assembly includes a front inside board  124   a , a back inside board  124   b , a binding mechanism  122 , a front paste down  126   a , and a back paste down  126   b . The case assembly includes a front surface board  132   a , a back surface board  132   b , a spine surface board  134 , a binding sheet  136 , and a transparent (or semitransparent) cover sheet  138 . The inside assembly, the case assembly, and their components will be described in detail below. 
     In examples disclosed herein, the appearance of the media binder  100  may be customized by adding a custom cover behind the cover sheet  138 . The case assembly and the inside assembly can be manufactured in advance (e.g., at a manufacturing site). The customization of the case assembly and the combination of the two assemblies can take place at the client side (e.g., at a retailer site). 
     Covers of the media binder  100  (e.g., the surface boards  132 ) may be utilized to enable the user to easily add, remove, and/or replace the physical media  110  in the media binder  100 . The binding mechanism  122  secures the physical media  110  inserted in the media binder  100  using forces (e.g., clamping forces of sprint clamps included therein), and the media binder  100  is configured to apply an opening force to the binding mechanism  122  to overcome the forces when the binder covers are opened. For example, when the media binder  100  is opened from a first position greater than approximately 270° to a second position at approximately 360°, an opening force is applied to the binding mechanism  122 , causing it to release any physical media  110  secured therein. 
     Inside Assembly 
       FIG. 2  shows an exploded view of an example of an inside assembly  200  that includes a binding mechanism  122 , a front inside board  124   a , a back inside board  124   b , a front paste down  126   a , a back paste down  126   b , a front release liner  128   a , a back release liner  128   b , and an alignment board  130 . The binding mechanism  122  functions to align the physical media  110  within the media binder  100  and securely hold the physical media  110  in place. The binding mechanism  122  includes one or more spring clamps (also called “spine clamps”) such as spine clamps  210   a ,  210   b ,  210   c ,  210   d ,  210   e , a tension sheet  220 , and a datum alignment member  230 .  FIG. 3A  and  FIG. 3B  are a perspective view and a cross sectional view of the inside assembly  200  assembled using the components shown in  FIG. 2 , respectively. 
     A spine clamp  210  is a fastening device that operates to securely hold the physical media  110  inserted between clamping surfaces of the spine clamp  210  in place. A spine clamp  210  may be configured to provide a clamping force to accommodate one or more sheets or pages of the physical media  110  such that the physical media  110  may be retained as the media binder  100  is being handled. Examples of the clamping force range between 0.1 and 5 pound-force (“lb”) per linear inch of clamping surface. The clamping force may be measured by measuring the force needed to open the spine clamp  210  by pulling at the edges of the clamp where the clamping surfaces meet. 
       FIG. 4  shows an example spine clamp  210  in which the opposing terminal ends of the clamping sides  54 ,  56  have respective edge features  64 ,  66 . In this example, the spine clamps  210  is formed of a rectangular sheet of material (e.g., spring steel, sheet metal, or a resilient polymeric material) that is bent along two parallel fold lines to form a backside  52  and two clamping sides  54 ,  56 , which have inner surfaces that define a respective holding volume (the “interior cavity”) in the shape of a triangular cylinder and operable to receive the physical media  110 . The opposing terminal ends of the clamping sides  54 ,  56  have clamping surfaces, which hold the physical media  110  inserted therebetween. The edge features  64 ,  66  are outwardly creased portions of the terminal ends of the clamping sides  54 ,  56 . In response to a sufficient applied force, the opposing inner surfaces of the clamping sides  54 ,  56  of the spine clamp  210  move away from one another from a closed state to an open state. 
     Referring back to  FIG. 2 , the tension sheet  220  operates to transmit an opening force to one or more spine clamps such as the spine clamps  210 . The tension sheet  220  typically includes a substantially inelastic body, which may be formed of one or more of a wide variety of different material compositions such as a substantially inelastic polymeric compound and a substantially inelastic textile fabric. The tension sheet  220  has a central portion  68  and first and second side portions  70 ,  72 . During assembly of the inside assembly  200 , the central portion  68  of the tension sheet  220  is securely affixed within the holding volumes of the spine clamps  210  between the datum alignment member  230  and the inner surfaces of the spine clamps  210 . In addition, the first and second side portions  70 ,  72  of the tension sheet  220  are attached to the front inside board  124   a  and the back inside board  124   b , respectively. In this way, the tension sheet  220  is operable to transmit an opening force from the inside boards  124   a ,  124   b  to the clamping surfaces of the spine clamps  210 . 
     The datum alignment member  230  operates to facilitate easy and proper alignment of the physical media  110  inside the media binder  100 . In addition, the datum alignment member  230  operates to limit the marginal width of the physical media  110  captured by the spine clamps  210 , which may result in a more aesthetically pleasing appearance. The datum alignment member  230  is secured together with the spine clamps  210  and the tension sheet  220  during assembly of the binding mechanism  122 , and includes a spacer  74  and an integral datum stop  76 . After assembly of the binding mechanism  122 , the spacer  74  extends through the holding volumes of the spine clamps  210  and the spine clamps  210  are secured at spaced apart locations along the spacer  74 . The spacer  74  has a planar datum surface  78  against which sheets of physical media  110  may be registered so that the opposite ends of the sheets present a clean edge to the user. The datum surface  78  also limits the insertion depth of the physical media  110  into the spine clamps  210  to reduce the marginal portions of the physical media  110  that are obscured by the binding mechanism  122 . In this regard, the spacer  74  has a thickness that positions the datum surface  78  a desired height above the central portion  68  of the tension sheet  220  within the holding volumes of the spine clamps  210 . The datum stop  76  is disposed at a distal end of the spacer  74 . The datum stop  76  has a datum stop surface  80  that is orthogonal to the datum surface  78 . The datum stop surface  80  provides a second edge against which the physical media  110  may be registered to achieve an aesthetically pleasing binding of the physical media  110  with aligned edges. A second datum stop may be provided at the opposite end of the spacer  74 . The datum alignment member  230  typically is formed of a rigid material (e.g., a rigid plastic or metal material). 
     The inside boards  124   a ,  124   b  operate to facilitate proper alignment of the binding mechanism  122  in the media binder  100 . Because the surface boards  132  function as levers in opening the binding mechanism  122 , misalignment of the binding mechanism  122  may cause the media binder  100  difficult to operate. Thus, proper alignment of the binding mechanism  122  is important for the media binder  100  to function properly. However, for reasons such as customizing the binder cover, the media binder  100  may be assembled by low proficiency workforce at sites equipped with no or few specialized tools (e.g., a retailer site, home). As will be described in detail below and illustrated in  FIG. 12 , the inside boards  124  facilitate a simple and error-proof process for properly aligning the binding mechanism  122  in the media binder  100  that requires little training for the user conducting the assembly and few tools. 
     The inside boards  124  typically are formed of one or more layers of rigid material such as paperboard, metal, fabric, plastic, and a stiff polymeric material. The thickness of the inside board  124  may vary (e.g., between 0.01 inch and 0.20 inch) as desired. The inside boards  124  may be prepared (e.g., cut) such that the primary direction of fibers in the inside boards  124  (also called “fiber orientation”, “grain direction”) is orthogonal to the orientation of the spine of the media binder  100  (also called the “spine orientation”). This arrangement, together with setting the fiber orientations of the surface board  132  to be parallel to the spine orientation, prevents or reduces the warping effect on the binder covers while maintaining their stiffness. 
     The inside boards  124   a ,  124   b  are attached to the side portions  70 ,  72  of the tension sheet  220  in parallel to the spacer  74 . The distance between the spine clamps  210  and the inside boards  124  as connected by the tension sheet  220  is important because it affects the operation range of the media binder  100  to open the binding mechanism  122  (e.g., the range of opening angles of the surface boards  132  when an opening force is applied to the spine clamps  210 ). Thus, the inside board  124  should be properly aligned with the binding mechanism  122  (e.g., parallel to the spacer  74 ) in the inside assembly to ensure that the media binder  100  has a desired operation range (e.g., opening angle between 270° and 360°). To ensure the proper alignment of the inside boards  124  and the binding mechanism  122 , the internal assembly is pre-assembled at a manufacturing site by experienced manufacturing workers using specialized tools. 
     A layer of adhesive (e.g., pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA)) is placed on the outwardly facing surface of the inside boards  124  (i.e., the surface opposite to the inwardly facing surface attached to the tension sheet  220 ) with the release liners  128   a ,  128   b  placed on top to protect the adhesive for ease of transportation and storage. The release liners  128  may be formed of one or more materials including paper, fabric, and plastic. The release liners  128  are removed before the inside assembly  200  and the case assembly are combined using the adhesive (e.g., at the retailer site). 
     The alignment board  130  is added to the inside assembly  200  to facilitate proper alignment of the inside assembly  200  and the case assembly in the media binder  100 . As shown, the alignment board  130  is a piece of rectangular board with a rectangular cavity in a corner. In one example, to facilitate simple and error-proof assembly of the media binder  100 , the size of the alignment board  130  is set to be approximately the same as (or similar to) the cover size of the media binder  100  (e.g., the front cover), such that the alignment board  130  and the case assembly can be easily aligned when the inside assembly  200  and the case assembly are combined, thereby ensuring the proper alignment of the inside board  124  in the media binder  100 . The alignment board  130  typically is formed of one or more layers of rigid material such as paperboard, metal, plastic, fiber, and a stiff polymeric material. During assembly of the inside assembly  200 , the alignment board  130  is inserted into the binding mechanism  122  such that the alignment board  130  registers with the spacer  74  and the cavity registers with the datum stop  76 . 
     The alignment board  130  can be used to align the inside assembly  200  with the case assembly, and can be removed and reused thereafter. The alignment board can have a special coating so that it can be passed through the laminator to clean the rolls after making books. The alignment board  130  maybe a flat board as shown in  FIG. 2 . Alternatively, the alignment board  130  may have thicker edges for fitting the inside boards  124  and the surface boards  132  inside the edges, and thereby facilitating easy alignment between the inside assembly  200  and the case assembly. Because the alignment board  130  provides the stiffness needed for handling the inside assembly  200 , the inside boards of the inside assembly  200  may be thin and/or less rigid. 
     The paste downs  126   a ,  126   b  are attached to the inwardly facing surfaces of the inside boards  124   a ,  124   b , respectively, for covering up the side portions  70 ,  72  of the tension sheet  220  attached to the inside boards  124 , which may result in a more aesthetically pleasing appearance. In addition, the paste downs  126  also function to further secure the tension sheet  220  to the inside boards  124 . The paste downs  126  are formed of a wide variety of different materials such as paper, plastic, metal, fiber, and film. 
       FIG. 5  shows an example method  500  of manufacturing the inside assembly  200 , which is shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3A -B. Other examples perform the steps in different orders and/or perform different or additional steps than the ones shown in  FIG. 5 . 
     In step  510 , the central portion  68  of the tension sheet  220  and the spacer  74  of the datum alignment member  230  are attached to an interior cavity (i.e., the holding volume) defined by the spine clamps  210 . The tension sheet  220  may be positioned in-between the spine clamps  210  and the datum alignment member  230 . The spine clamps  210  may be attached to the spacer  74  by inserting a coupling member through respective holes in the spine clamps  210 , by heat staking the spacer  74  to the spine clamps  210 , or by mechanically interlocking engagement features of the spacer  74  with respective engagement features of the spine clamps  210 . 
     In step  520 , the side portions  70 ,  72  of the tension sheet  220  are attached to the inside boards  124   a ,  124   b , respectively, over the clamp edge features  64 ,  66 . 
     In step  530 , a layer of adhesive (e.g., PSA) is placed on an outwardly facing surface of the inside boards  124   a ,  124   b  with release liners  128   a ,  128   b  placed on top to cover over the layer of adhesive. 
     In step  540 , the paste downs  126   a ,  126   b  may be attached to the inside boards  124   a ,  124   b , respectively, to cover over the portions of the side portions  70 ,  72  affixed to the inside boards  124   a ,  124   b.    
     In step  550 , the alignment board  130  is inserted into the binding mechanism  122  such that the alignment board  130  registers with the spacer  74  and the cavity registers with the datum stop  76 . 
     As noted above, proper alignment of the inside assembly  200  is important to ensure that the media binder  100  functions properly. Accordingly, the method  500  may be practices in a manufacturing site by experienced manufacturing workers using specialized tools to ensure proper alignment. 
     Case Assembly 
       FIG. 6  shows an exploded view of an example of a case assembly  600  that includes a spine surface board  134 , a front surface board  132   a , a back surface board  132   b , a binding sheet  136 , a layer of hot-melt adhesive  630 , a cover sheet  138 , and a spacer  610 .  FIG. 7A  is a perspective view of the case assembly  600  assembled using the components shown in  FIG. 6 .  FIG. 7B  shows the inside of the case assembly  600  as it is laid open on a flat surface.  FIGS. 7C and 7D  show a front view and a cross section view of the case assembly  600  in a closed position, respectively.  FIG. 7E  shows a slip-sheet which may be placed between the cover sheet  138  and the binding sheet  136 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 6 , each of the surface boards  134 ,  132   a ,  132   b  may be formed of a durable material (e.g., a textile), a rigid planar material (e.g., paperboard, metal, plastic, fiber, or a stiff polymeric material), or one or more layers of such materials. One spine surface board  134  is illustrated to form a spine base of the media binder  100 . In other examples, the spine base may include two or more spine surface boards  134 . 
     The fiber orientations of the surface boards  132 ,  134  may be set to be parallel to the spine orientation of the media binder  100 . This arrangement, together with setting the fiber orientations of the inside board  124  to be orthogonal to the spine orientation, prevents or reduces the warping effect on the binder covers while maintaining their stiffness. The thickness of the surface boards  132 ,  134  may vary (e.g., between 0.01 inch and 0.20 inch) as desired and is typically thicker than the inside boards  124 . 
     The binding sheet  136  functions to bind the surface boards  132 ,  134  together and may be composed of material such as a substantially inelastic but flexible textile fabric or paper. The surface boards  132 ,  134  are attached to the outwardly facing surface of the binding sheet  136  using an adhesive. As illustrated, the binding sheet  136  wraps around the side edges such as the unbound edges (i.e., the side edges opposite to the spine) of the surface boards  132 ,  134 . In other examples, the binding sheet  136  may or may not reach the side edges of the surface boards  132 ,  134 . The layer of hot-melt adhesive  630  is placed on the inwardly facing surface of the binding sheet  136 . 
     In one example, the binding sheet  136  is designed to facilitate the cover sheet  138  and/or a custom cover (e.g., a photo paper) to bend smoothly in the spine area and thereby preventing or reducing crease lines in the spine area. One such design is illustrated in  FIG. 8A . As shown, the binding sheet  136  is processed to include perforation lines  810 A-D parallel to the spine boards. The perforation lines  810  are approximate to the edges of the surface boards to create bending weak points that function to prevent or reduce sharp crease lines on the binding sheet  136 , the cover sheet  138 , and/or the custom cover inserted in between. For example, in the case assembly  600  the perforation lines  810 A and  810 D may be approximately 0.02 inch away from the inside edge of the front surface board  132   a  and the back surface board  132   b , respectively; and the perforation lines  810 B and  810 C may be approximately 0.02 inch away from the vertical edges of the spine surface board  134 .  FIGS. 8B-E  illustrates alternative/additional designs for providing crease relief. As shown in  FIG. 8B , a strip of thin elastic material (e.g., plastic)  820  (also called a crease relief apparatus or a crease relief component) may be attached to the binding sheet  136  adjacent to the surface boards  132  to provide extra elasticity and support to the binding sheet  136 . By distributing bending force on a small region of the binding sheet  136  (or the cover sheet  138 , the custom cover) to a larger region (e.g., the region covered by the crease relief component), the crease relief component prevents or reduces crease lines. As shown in  FIG. 8C , a strip of material (e.g., glue, plastic) may be applied to the corners formed by the binding sheet  136  and the inside edges of the surface boards  132 . As shown in  FIG. 8D , a strip of thin elastic material (e.g., plastic) may be partially attached to the binding sheet  136  adjacent to the surface boards  132  and partially affixed between the inside boards  124  and the surface boards  132 .  FIG. 8E  illustrates another design for the strip of thin elastic material. 
     Referring back to  FIG. 6 , the cover sheet  138  wraps around the surface boards  132 ,  134  and the binding sheet  136  and functions to form a pocket for housing a custom cover and to protect the custom cover from damages (e.g., scratches) and/or degradation due to natural elements (e.g., light and water). The cover sheet  138  may be formed of a transparent (or semitransparent) material such as plastic, an acetate material and a single or composite polymeric film (e.g., polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyvinyl chloride (PVC)). The marginal edges of the cover sheet  138  are folded over the side edges of the surface boards  132 ,  134 . One or more of the folded marginal edges are affixed to the inwardly facing surfaces of the surface boards  132 ,  134  (also called “engaged edges”, “attached edges”), while the remaining folded marginal edges are unattached (also called “unengaged edges”, “unattached edges”, “loose edges”) and can be opened such that a custom cover (e.g., a sheet of photo paper) may be inserted in-between the binding sheet  136  and the cover sheet  138  through the opening. In an example, a removable slip-sheet  700  is placed between the binding sheet  136  and the cover sheet  138 . The slip-sheet is illustrated in  FIG. 7E . As shown, the slip-sheet  700  is a piece of rectangular sheet  710  with a handle  720  at one end. In another example, the slip sheet may be a piece of rectangular sheet  710  only. The rectangular sheet  710  portion of the slip-sheet  700  is placed below the cover sheet&#39;s inwardly facing surface and is approximately the same as the size of the case assembly  600 . The handle  720  of the slip sheet  700  protrudes beyond the margin of the case assembly  600 . The slip-sheet  700  may be formed of paper or plastic. The slip-sheet  700  functions to prevent the hot-melt adhesive  630  to stick to the hot-melt adhesive on the cover sheet  138  and to provide a guide during the insertion of the customized photo into the pocket. Optional features may be added to the slip-sheet such as assembly instruction text, die-cut windows to see the inserted photo, and edge cut-outs to aid the slip-sheet removal. In an instance, a customized cover is placed below the slip sheet  700  i.e. in-between the slip-sheet  700  and the binding sheet  136 . Once the customized cover is placed, the slip-sheet  700  is removed from case assembly  600  by pulling the handle  720 . 
     Adhesive strips (e.g., PSA)  620   a ,  620   b  may be placed on the inwardly facing surface of the surface boards  132  (or the binding sheet  136 ) that contact the unattached, folded marginal edges of the cover sheet  138  with strips of release liner covering the adhesive strips. 
     In one example, the marginal edge of the cover sheet  138  over the unbound edge of the back surface board  132   b , along with a portion of the marginal edge over an adjacent side edge of the back surface board  132   b  are unattached. Two adhesive strips  620   a ,  620   b  are placed on the inwardly facing surface of the back surface board  132   b  corresponding to the loose edges. A layer of hot melt adhesive may be placed on the central area (e.g., the area surrounded by the marginal edges) of the inwardly facing surface of the cover sheet  138  or cover the entire inwardly facing surface for ease of manufacture. 
       FIG. 9  illustrates the layout of the cover sheet  138  according to one example. As shown, the cover sheet  138  includes black borders  910  on the areas wrapping around side edges of the surface boards  132 ,  134 . The marginal edges of the cover sheet  138  to be wrapped around the surface boards may vary in width—narrower in portions wrapped around the spine surface board  134  and the portion near the ends of the loose edges, for example. In one example, the portion of a side marginal edge that borders the engaged edge portion and the loose edge portion has an inward arc shape  920  that is the narrowest at the border point. As such, the loose edge portion forms a curve that functions to guide the custom cover into the pocket formed in between the cover sheet  138  and the binding sheet  136 . In one example, one marginal edge of the surface coversheet is longer than the marginal edge of the at least one surface board. The ends of a loose edge  930  are designed to facilitate creating corner wraps after the customer cover is inserted into the pocket. Example designs of the loose edge ends and methods of creating a corner wrap are described in detail below and illustrated in  FIGS. 14A-C . 
     The thickness of the cover sheet  138  may vary (e.g., between 0.001 inch to 0.020 inch) as desired but is typically thin enough to be wrapped around the side edges of the surface boards  132 ,  134  and to bend around the spine base, and is thick enough to be safely transported and handled, to reduce the likelihood of wrinkles if laminated, and to resist tearing during assembly and use. In one example, the cover sheet  138  is around 0.004 inch thick. 
     Referring back to  FIG. 6 , the spacer  610  is placed on the binding sheet  136  to fill the gaps formed between the spine surface board  134  and the front/back surface boards  132  such that the resulting the case assembly  600  has a relatively consistent thickness. As shown in  FIG. 10A , a diagram illustrating the structure of an example spacer  610 , the spacer  610  includes a spacer sheet  1010  and two spacer boards  1020   a ,  1020   b . In an alternative example, as shown in  FIG. 10B , the spacer  610  includes two spacer boards  1020   a ,  1020   b  connected to each other at their respective distal ends with connecting ridges  1030   a ,  1030   b . In an example, the connecting ridges  1030   a ,  1030   b  extend beyond the surface boards  132  to facilitate a convenient removal of the spacer  610 . The spacer sheet  1010  functions to bind the spacer boards  1020  and may be composed of material such as a substantially inelastic textile fabric, paper, or plastic. The spacer boards  1020  functions to fill in the gaps between the front/back surface boards  132  and the spine surface board  134  and may be formed of a durable material, a rigid planar material, or one or more layers of such materials. Comparing to the spacer boards  1020 , the spacer sheet  1010  is relatively thin in thickness (e.g., between 0.001 inch to 0.020 inch, such as 0.006 inch). The thickness of the spacer boards  1020  is similar to the thickness of the surface boards  132 ,  134  (e.g., between 0.01 inch and 0.20 inch). In alternative examples, the spacer  610  may be unsegmented and/or include additional features, such as teeth for creating perforation lines on the binding sheet  136  that may prevent or reduce crease lines, as illustrated in  FIGS. 11A-B . 
     Method of Creating a Media Binder with a Customized Cover 
       FIG. 12  shows an example of a method  1200  of creating a media binder  100  with a customized case cover from the inside assembly  200  and the case assembly  600 , which are shown in  FIGS. 2-3B  and  FIGS. 6-7D , respectively. Other examples perform the steps in different orders and/or perform different or additional steps than the ones shown. 
     In step  1210 , a custom cover is printed and, if needed, cut to a desired size and shape that can fit in the case assembly  600 , which is preassembled at the manufacturing site. 
     In step  1220 , the custom cover is inserted in-between the binding sheet  136  and the cover sheet  138  of the case assembly  600  through the opening formed by the loose edges of the cover sheet  138  and aligned with the surface boards  132 ,  134 . Since the cover sheet  138  is pre-attached to the surface boards  132 ,  134  through the engaged edges, the alignment is simple and error-proof. 
     In step  1230 , the slip-sheet  700  is removed from the case assembly  600 . 
     In step  1240 , the loose edges are wrapped around a corresponding surface board (e.g., the back surface board  132   b ) and attached to the surface board using an adhesive (e.g., PSA). The loose edge ends are wrapped to create a corner wrap. Example methods of creating a corner wrap are described in detail below and illustrated in  FIG. 14A-C . 
     In step  1250 , the case assembly  600  is passed through hot rollers (e.g., hot rollers of a laminating device) to bind the custom cover together with the cover sheet  138  and/or the binding sheet  136 , and thereby forms a finished binder cover appearance. As noted above, a layer of hot melt adhesive was placed on the inwardly facing surface of the cover sheet  138  and/or the outwardly facing surface of the binding sheet  136 . The heated rollers activate the hot melt adhesive to bind the custom cover to the cover sheet  138  and/or the binding sheet  136 . The heated rollers may also bind the loose edges to the surface boards  132 ,  134 . The spacer  610  is removed after the case assembly  600  is passed through the hot rollers. 
     In step  1260 , the inside assembly  200  and the case assembly  600  are combined to complete the media binder  100 . In one example, a cover (e.g., the front cover) of the case assembly  600  is placed into an assembly frame. The inside dimension of the assembly frame is designed to facilitate proper alignment between the inside assembly  200  and the case assembly  600 , and is approximately the same as the covers of the case assembly  600  and the alignment board  130  of the inside assembly  200 . One example of the assembly frame includes four L shape corner pieces that collectively define the four corners of the assembly frame. Another example includes two L shape corner pieces that defines two diagonal corners of the assembly frame. The assembly frame typically includes an elastic body, which may be formed of one or more of a wide variety of different material compositions such as an elastic polymeric compound (e.g., plastic foam). The release liners on the inside assembly  200  are removed and the inside assembly  200  is placed into the assembly frame such that the outwardly facing surface of the inside boards  124  become attached to the inwardly facing surfaces of the surface boards  132  using adhesive on the inside boards  124 . As a result, the media binder  100  is properly aligned, robust, and has a professionally finished and aesthetically pleasing appearance.  FIGS. 13A and 13B  illustrate a perspective view and a cross sectional view of the media binder  100  assembled using the method  1200 , respectively. 
     Because the inside assembly  200  and the case assembly  600  can be pre-assembled at manufacturing sites to facilitate easy customization, error-proof alignment, and simple assembly, the process  1200  has relatively few steps, all of which are relatively easy to perform and requires few special tools, and thus reduces mistakes that may happen during the assembly. As a result, the method  1200  may be practiced by low proficiency workforce at sites equipped with few specialized tools (e.g., a retailer site, home). The method  1200  may be applied to customize and/or assemble any binding solution that includes a case, and not necessarily to the examples of internal assembly and/or case assembly described herein. For example, the binding mechanism  122  can use perfect binding, stapling, stitching, or any other binding mechanism. 
     Corner Wrapping 
       FIGS. 14A-C  are diagrams that illustrate example designs of loose edge ends and methods for creating corner wraps using such designs. Corner wraps with professionally finished and aesthetically pleasing appearances can be created using these designs by low proficiency workforce at sites equipped with no specialized tools. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 14A . As shown, the loose edge end includes a rectangular shaped extra edge that extends from the edge end. There is also an end edge  1410  between the strip and the neighboring edge. The length of the end edge  1410  is greater than the thickness of the surface board  132 . In order to create a corner wrap, the neighboring edge is first attached (maybe in manufacturer site) to the surface board  132 . The extra edge is folded backward to overlay the loose edge (maybe in retail site), and the loose edge is then folded over to be attached to the surface board  132 . To facilitate the creation of the corner wrap, the extra edge is labeled “1” and the loose edge is labeled “2”, indicating their operational sequence. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 14B . As shown, a loose marginal edge  1420  and a neighboring marginal edge  1430  both have an end edge near the end. The lengths of the end edges are approximately the same as the thickness of the surface board  132 . A strip (e.g., of the same composition/material as the cover sheet  138 ) may be attached to the corner  1440  of the surface board  132  before the two marginal edges  1420 ,  1430  are attached to the surface board  132  to create the corner wrap. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 14C . As shown, similar to the design shown in  FIG. 14A , the loose edge includes an extra edge that extends from the edge end. Unlike the design shown in  FIG. 14A , the loose edge does not have an end edge that resembles the thickness of the surface board. After the neighboring marginal edge is attached, the extra edge can be wrapped inward to overlay the loose edge without overlaying the surface board, and the loose edge is then folded over to attached to the surface board and thereby creating the corner wrap. 
     Media Binder Using a Partial Printed Cover 
       FIG. 15A  shows an exploded view of an example of a media binder  1500  that uses a partial printed cover. In this example, the cover and the binding mechanism are pre-assembled into a single-piece media binder  1500  at a manufacturing site. The single-piece media binder  1500  has one or more pockets that enable the creation of a full cover customization at a client site (e.g., retailer site). Because components are aligned and pre-assembled at the manufacturing site, the process to customize the cover and finalize the media binder  1500  at the client site is simple.  FIG. 15B  is a perspective view of the media binder  1500  assembled using the components shown in  FIG. 15A . 
     As shown in  FIG. 15A , the media binder  1500  includes a cover layer, a binding sheet layer, a surface board layer, a binding mechanism  122 , a release liner layer, and a paste down layer. The surface board layer includes a front surface board  1520   a , a back surface board  1520   b , and one or more spine surface boards  1525 . The surface boards  1520 ,  1525  may be formed of a durable material (e.g., a textile), a rigid planar material (e.g., paperboard, metal, plastic, fiber, or a stiff polymeric material), or one or more layers of such materials, and may have a thickness between 0.01 inch and 0.20 inch. The binding sheet layer includes a binding sheet  1535  that functions to bind the surface boards  1520 ,  1525  together and may be composed of material such as a substantially inelastic textile fabric, or paper. 
     The cover layer includes a front cover sheet  1510   a , a back cover sheet  1510   b , and a spine wrap  1515 . The spine wrap  1515  attaches to the outwardly facing surface of the spine surface boards  1525  and adjacent portions of the surface boards  1520  (e.g., using an adhesive) and wraps around the side edges of the surface boards  1520 ,  1525  (e.g., by 0.08 inch or more) to ensure strong adhesion. The spine wrap  1515  may be formed of a durable material (e.g., a textile, plastic, organic such as leather). 
     The cover sheets  1510   a ,  1510   b  wraps around the side edges of the surface boards  1520   a ,  1520   b , respectively. The cover sheets  1510  may be formed of a transparent material such as an acetate material and a single or composite polymeric film, and may have a thickness between 0.001 inch and 0.015 inch (e.g., 0.003 inch). One or two of the marginal edges of the cover sheets  1510  are wrapped around the side edges of the surface boards  1520  and pre-attached to the inwardly facing surface of the surface boards  1520  (e.g., using an adhesive), leaving the remaining edges loose for inserting a custom cover through the opening. The remaining marginal edges of the cover sheets  1510  (the “loose edges”) may be loosely attached to the surface boards  1520  using an adhesive strip capable of repeated open and closure placed on the surface boards  1520 , and can be readily re-opened and/or re-attached. As illustrated, the loose edge is the unbound edge (i.e., the side edge opposite to the spine). Alternatively or additionally, the loose edges may also include the top edge, and/or the bottom edge. The spine wrap  1515  may overlap the cover sheets  1510  by attaching to a portion of the outwardly facing surface of the cover sheets  1510  (e.g., by 0.008 inch or more) to both hold the cover sheets  1510  in place and to provide a margin of error where a custom cover may be slide under. 
     The binding mechanism  122  includes one or more spine clamps such as spine clamps  210   a ,  210   b ,  210   c ,  210   d ,  210   e , a tension sheet  220 , and a datum alignment member  230 . The datum alignment member  230  is secured together with the spine clamps  210  and the tension sheet  220  during assembly of the binding mechanism  122 . The side portions  70 ,  72  of the tension sheet  220  are attached to the inwardly facing surface of the surface boards  1520   a ,  1520   b , respectively. 
     The paste down layer includes a front paste down  126   a  and a back paste down  126   b , and functions to cover up the portions of the tension sheet  220  attached to the surface boards  1520  and to securely bind the loose edges of the cover sheets  1510  to the surface boards  1520  once the binder cover is customized. During assembly, portions of the paste downs  126  close to the binding edge (e.g., adjacent to the spine) are attached to the surface boards  1520  to cover up the portions of the tension sheet  220  attached to the surface boards  1520 . The remaining portions of the paste downs  126  (e.g., away from the spine) remain unattached from the surface boards  1520 . A layer of adhesive is placed on the portions of the paste downs  126  unattached to the surface boards  1520   a ,  1520   b  with sheets of release liner (also called a “backing for paste down adhesive”)  1530   a ,  1530   b  placed on top to cover the adhesive for ease of storage, operation, and transportation. The release liner  1530   a ,  1530   b  also have handles for ease of removal, as illustrated in  FIG. 15B . The handles of the release liner  1530  may be folded around the paste downs  126   a ,  126   b , respectively, for ease of transportation and handling. The paste downs  126  are formed of any number of mediums such as papers and films. 
       FIG. 16  shows an example of a method  1600  of customizing case covers and finalizing the media binder  1500 , which is shown in  FIG. 15B . Other examples perform the steps in different orders and/or perform different or additional steps than the ones shown in  FIG. 16 . 
     In step  1610 , a front cover  1612   a  is printed and, if needed, cut to a desired size and shape that can fit into a front pocket  1615   a  of the media binder  1500 , which is preassembled at the manufacturing site. 
     In step  1620 , the loose edge  1625   a  of the front cover sheet  1510   a  is opened and the printed front cover  1612   a  is inserted into the front pocket  1615   a  from the resulting opening. 
     In step  1630 , the loose edge  1625   a  is wrapped around the front surface board  1520   a  and attached to the surface board  1520   a  using the adhesive strip on the surface board  1520   a.    
     In step  1640 , the release liner  1530   a  is removed from the front paste down  126   a  (e.g., by pulling the handle  1645   a ) and the unattached portion of the front paste down  126   a  is attached to the front surface board  1520   a  using the adhesive on the front paste down  126   a.    
     In one example, the paste down  126   a  is formed of a rigid planar material (e.g., paperboard or a stiff polymeric material). In this example, the layer of adhesive and the release liner  1530   a  covering the adhesive are optional, and, if they are not present, the loose edge  1625   a  may be simply inserted in between the front surface board  1520   a  and the paste down  126   a . As a result, in this example, the user may replace the front cover  1612   a  in the front pocket  1615   a  whenever desired. 
     In step  1650 , the steps  1610  through  1640  are repeated for the back cover to fully customize the case cover and finalize the media binder  1500 . Because the cover sheets  1510  are wrapped around the surface boards on the top, bottom, and unbound edges, the finished media binder  1500  forms a finished binder cover appearance. 
     A layer of hot melt adhesive may be placed on the inwardly facing surfaces of the cover sheets  1510  and/or the outwardly facing surfaces of the binding sheet  1535 , and the media binder  1500  may be passed through a laminating device to bind the printed covers to the cover sheets  1510  and/or the surface boards  1520 . The media binder  1500  may be passed through in a closed position with an insertion (e.g., the alignment board  610 ) to ensure a constant thickness of the media binder  1500  relative to the spine. Alternatively, the media binder  1500  may be passed through the laminating device without the insertion, or be fed into the laminating device from the unbound edge up to the spine wrap  1515  in an open position or a closed position. 
     The method  1600  is easy and does not require specialized tools for the customization, thus may be practiced by low proficiency workforce at sites equipped with no or few specialized tools (e.g., a retailer site, home). In addition, the printed covers used to customize the media binder  1500  are typically smaller than the printed covers used to customize the media binder  100 , and thus may be printed using smaller printers that are more common at retailer sites and home environment. 
     In examples described herein, colorful borderlines (e.g., black) may be placed on the cover sheet (e.g., the cover sheets  138 ,  1510 ) on areas wrapping around side edges of the surface boards. The borderlines can serve to hide the underlying material at the side edge, and if the borderlines extend to cover the outwardly facing surface of the surface boards, to cover skew in the printed cover placed behind the cover sheets. For example, a thin black border (e.g., extending 0.04 inch to 0.20 inch in thickness from the side edges) can be painted on the inside of the cover sheets  1510  to cover any misalignment of the printed covers inserted behind. 
     One skilled in the art will recognize that the configurations and methods described above and illustrated in the figures are merely examples, and that the described subject matter may be practiced and implemented using many other configurations and methods. It should also be noted that the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. Accordingly, the disclosure of the described subject matter is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the subject matter, which is set forth in the following claims.