Patent ID: 7458566

Claim:
A book block clamp for clamping and transporting book blocks along a conveying direction in a book block processing machine having an infeed portion in which book blocks are received, guided and clamped, comprising: an inner clamping jaw; an outer clamping jaw which is arranged parallel to, and movable toward and away from, said inner clamping jaw; an actuation system for opening and closing the clamping jaws, whereby the outer clamping jaw is initially laterally spaced from the inner clamping jaw to establish an opening width for receiving the book block during a receiving phase and then moved toward the inner clamping jaw to exert a clamping force on the received book block during a clamping phase; a support element located between the inner and outer clamping jaws and operatively associated with the outer clamping jaw; and a controller operatively associated with the support element for moving the support element into a position that is in spaced apart, parallel relation to the outer clamping jaw, to reduce the width of said opening and thereby contact and guide the received book block laterally before the book is clamped, during a guide phase between the receiving phase and the clamping phase.