Patent ID: 7984897

Claim:
A stitcher for binding variable thickness collations, comprising: a means for determining the thickness of a multi-sheet collation and issuing a thickness value signal indicative thereof; a stitch head operative to drive a stitch through the multi-sheet collation, the stitch head having a plurality of forming elements to form a binding stitch; an anvil operative to clinch the stitch to bind the sheets of the collation; a plurality of actuators operative to displace the forming elements to form the stitch, position the stitch head and anvil against opposite surfaces of the multi-sheet collation, drive the stitch through the collation, and clinch the ends of the stitch; and a processor, responsive to the thickness value signal, for controlling the actuators to form the stitch and bind the collation, wherein the means for determining the thickness of the multi-sheet collation includes a scanner for reading a scan code printed on a sheet of the respective collation, the scan code indicating of the number of sheets contained in the collation and wherein the processor determines the thickness of the collation by calculating product of the number of sheets in combination with thickness data relating to a representative sheet of the collation.