Patent ID: 8052135

Claim:
A book binding apparatus for perfect book binding comprising: a conveying path (F); a series of processing units (B to D) arranged along the conveying path (F) for carrying out perfect book binding processing; a clamp unit ( 1 ) provided with a pair of clamping plates ( 1 a and 1 b ) and arranged for reciprocal movement along the conveying path (F); a clamp unit driving mechanism for reciprocating the clamp unit ( 1 ), the perfect book binding processing being carried out while a book block (P) is nipped between the pair of clamping plates ( 1 a , 1 b ) and the book block (P) passes through the series of processing units (B to D) in succession; two or more of the processing units (B to D) comprising pairs of members ( 2 b , 2 c ; 3 c , 3 d ; 4 a , 4 b ) which engage or come into contact with both sides of a back surface portion of the book block (P) protruding from between the pair of clamping plates ( 1 a , 1 b ), and gap adjustment means (M 2 to M 4 ) for moving the pairs of members ( 2 b , 2 c ; 3 c , 3 d ; 4 a , 4 b ) in directions toward and away from each other; a control section ( 7 ) for controlling the clamp unit ( 1 ) and the gap adjustment means (M 2 to M 4 ); and a measuring unit ( 6 ) for measuring a thickness of the book block (P), the thickness of the book block (P) being measured by the measuring unit ( 6 ) before the book binding processing of the book block (P) is started, a gap between the pair of clamping plates ( 1 a , 1 b ) before nipping the book block (P), and gaps between the pairs of members ( 2 b , 2 c ; 3 c , 3 d ; 4 a , 4 b ) of the processing units (B to D) being previously adjusted in correspondence with the thickness of the book block (P) based on the obtained measured value, when a thickness of a next book block (P) is measured by the measuring unit ( 6 ) during execution of the perfect book binding processing of a previous book block (P), the control section ( 7 ) is operative for storing the measured value of the thickness of the next book block (P) in a memory ( 8 ), when the previous book block (P) nipped between the pair of clamping plates ( 1 a , 1 b ) reaches a predetermined position on the conveying path (F), the gaps between the pairs of members ( 2 b , 2 c ; 3 c , 3 d ; 4 a , 4 b ) of the processing units (B to D) located upstream of a position of the previous book block (P) being adjusted based on the measured value stored in the memory ( 8 ), thereafter, when the previous book block (P) passes through the processing units (B to D), the gaps between the pairs of members ( 2 b , 2 c ; 3 c , 3 d ; 4 a , 4 b ) of the processing units (B to D) located downstream of the predetermined position being adjusted based on the measured value stored in the memory ( 8 ), and thereafter, after the perfect book binding processing of the previous book block (P) is completed, the gap between the pair of clamping plates ( 1 a , 1 b ) being adjusted based on the measured value stored in the memory ( 8 ).