Patent ID: 6928914

Claim:
A book trimmer ( 1 ) for trimming the margins of a perfect bound book (B), said book having a plurality of text pages (P) and a cover (C), said book being generally rectangular and having two minor edges and two major edges, said text pages being bound to said cover along one of said major edges constituting the spine (S) of said book, said book to be trimmed along its minor edges and along the other of its major edges opposite said spine to said predetermined finished dimensions, said trimmer comprising a platen ( 19 ) and a trimming blade ( 15 ) cooperable with said platen, said blade being movable in a shear plane (SP) with respect to said platen between an open position in which the book may be inserted between said blade and said platen and a closed position in which the book is sheared between said blade and said platen, a holder ( 35 ) for gripping said book, a carriage ( 23 ) supporting said holder, a sub-frame ( 27 ) on which said carriage is mounted, said sub-frame along with said carriage and said holder being movable toward and away from said shearing plane, said holder and said book being rotatable relative to said carriage between a first holder position, a second holder position, and a third holder position where said holder positions are substantially 90 degrees from one another, said carriage being movable in transverse direction with respect to said sub-frame between a first carriage position in which said holder is in said first holder position, a second carriage position in which said holder is in said second holder position, and a third carriage position in which said holder is in said third holder position whereby with said holder in said first holder position and with said carriage in said first carriage position said book is positioned relative to said shearing plane such that actuation of said blade shears a predetermined amount of the margin of said book along a first edge of said book, with said holder in said second position and with said carriage in said second carriage position said book is positioned relative to said shearing plane such that actuation of said blade shears a predetermined amount of the margin of said book along a second edge, and with said holder in said third holder position and with said carriage in said second carriage position said book is positioned relative to said shearing plane such that actuation of said blade shears a predetermined amount of the margin of said book along a third edge thereby to produce a finished book trimmed to said predetermined finished dimensions.