Patent ID: 8870228

Claim:
A bound document having a front sheet, a back sheet, and one or more interior sheet(s), each sheet having a spine edge, the bound document comprising: a binding strip having: a flexible substrate having an interior surface and an exterior surface, a spine-alignment edge, a free edge opposite the spine-alignment edge and substantially non-perpendicular thereto, a face-attachment portion of the exterior surface adjacent to the spine-alignment edge, and a wraparound portion of the interior surface adjacent to the free edge, wherein a border is defined laterally between the face-attachment portion and the wraparound portion and substantially parallel to the spine-alignment edge; an adhesive layer arranged over the wraparound portion; and first and second spacers affixed to the interior surface opposite the face-attachment portion so that a fastener area is defined on the interior surface positioned adjacent to and between the first and second spacers such that the first spacer is on one side of the fastener area and the second spacer is on an opposite side of the fastener area, the first spacer having a first spacer thickness and the second spacer having a second spacer thickness; one or more fasteners binding the sheets and the binding strip together, the one or more fasteners driven through the fastener area and extending a head thickness above the face-attachment portion and a foot thickness below the back sheet, a fastener-foot area being defined on the back sheet; wherein the first spacer thickness and the second space thickness are at least as large as the head thickness, the spine-alignment edge of the binding strip and the spine edges of the sheets are substantially aligned, and the wraparound portion is bent so that the adhesive layer is in contact with the back sheet farther from the spine edge of the back sheet than the fastener-foot area.