Patent ID: 7325799

Claim:
An apparatus for treating a stack of sheets of sheet material, comprising first and second clamping jaws which define a gap therebetween and are movable relative to each other to increase and decrease the gap, means for folding a stack of sheets of sheet material about an axis to form a booklet having a spinal portion, the spinal portion having a convex end surface which extends in the direction of the axis, and means for inserting the booklet into the gap into a final position determined by the inserting means without the end surface contacting a stop located beyond the clamping jaws in the direction of insertion, in which the spinal portion lies between the jaws or protrudes therefrom by a predetermined distance in the direction of insertion, and means for moving the clamping jaws so as to decrease the gap therebetween and to apply a clamping force to the booklet.