Patent Application
20140232097
This invention pertains to the field of book binding and more particularly to a system for binding a set of sheets for a photo book.
In recent years, the proliferation of digital photography has provided consumers with a variety of options to store and use captured images. These options include various “soft copy” methods involving memory cards, memory sticks, CD's, DVD's, hard drives, on-line storage etc. These “soft-copy” options, while providing the environmental benefit of eliminating the paper, ink or dye, and other chemicals required for “hard-copy” output, are potentially less secure for long term storage due to media format obsolescence, storage media physical or chemical breakdown, and on-line storage companies disappearing. A variety of options exist for customers to print digital images, including conventional silver halide processing, ink-jet, thermal dye transfer, and electrophotographic methods. These “hard-copy” methods are capable of providing printed output which can last for many decades. Although customers can make such “hard-copy” prints at home, modern retail outlets provide kiosks and order-terminals where both prints and additional services can be requested and provided. Similar services are also available from on-line companies such as Shutterfly. An increasingly popular service provides photo albums or photo books with collections of images associated with a specific event, such as a vacation, family gathering, school function etc. The photo books are composed of printed images produced by any one of the printing methodologies described above that are bound together in book form.
Photo books can be constructed in various formats. For example, single sheets of printed material bearing an image on one side of the material can be bound together to form the photo books. Such photo books are generally less preferred as each printed page of the book will face a blank page (i.e. the non-printed backside of another printed page). This disadvantage can be eliminated by adhering together sheets of single-side printed media to produce a double-sided album page as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,791,692, U.S. Pat. No. 5,957,502, U.S. Pat. No. 6,004,061 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,047,683. U.S. Pat. No. 6,742,809 describes a strip of images folded in accordion manner such that each pair of adjacent images forms two sides of a page, the accordion folds being adhered together on the inside. Photo books produced by adhering two imaged prints together are typically thicker than single-sided sheet products, and this can result in a heavy and bulky product when the photo book contains a large number of pages.
The pages of printed images can be bound together in a variety of different ways to fabricate the photo books. Techniques known in the art for constructing photo books include binding the pages together using binder clips, staples, adhesive, stitching or ring binders. These methods vary widely in the attractiveness and durability of the resulting photo book, as well as the equipment and operator skill level required during the fabrication process. Generally, the methods to produce the most attractive and durable photo books have required expensive components or complex binding equipment operated by highly-trained operators. This has made it impractical to produce photo books in retail environments that offer photo printing services using photo kiosks.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,061,139 to Zoltner, entitled “Method for applying hard and soft covers to bound or unbound documents,” discloses a bindery system for applying hard or soft covers to form bound books. The system includes a metal
U-shaped channel which is bonded to the inside spine surface of the cover. Specialized equipment is used to crimp the U-shaped channel to bind the book pages.
A number of different binding systems have been proposed that utilize spring clamp mechanisms. U.S. Pat. No. 5,716,181 to Ebel, entitled “One piece self-binding system for binding documents,” discloses a binding system for use in a home environment that utilizes a spring binding to clamp pages into a bound book. A retaining piece is provided to hold the spring binding open until the pages are in place. The retaining piece is removed to clamp the pages into the book cover. U.S. Pat. No. 7,757,358 to Hoarau et al., entitled “Sheet retention mechanisms for spring clamp binders,” discloses a system for binding pages together using a spring clamp mechanism. U.S. Pat. No. 7,798,736 to Hoarau et al., entitled “Media binder arrangements,” discloses a media binder that includes spine clamps for securing the media pages. A tension sheet is used to transmit an opening force to the spine clamp. The components of such systems are generally too expensive and complex to be useful for producing low-cost photo books in a retail environment.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,866,274 to Malavazos et al., entitled “Device for binding sheets,” discloses a device for binding a plurality sheets that comprise a pair of identical binding members, each of which includes a base member and a plurality of binding posts. The binding posts are inserted through apertures on the other binding member. Each binding post has a continuous series of ratchet teeth adapted to engage with the ratchet teeth on a corresponding binding post on the other binding member. This approach has the disadvantage that after the binding pieces are assembled, a cutting device must be used to shave off the portion of the binding posts that protrude from the outer face of the base members.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,443 to Sullivan et al., entitled “Adjustable, releasable binding fastener,” discloses a fastening device having male and female fastener portions for binding a stack of paper. The female fastener portion includes a planar base having an aperture and an arcuate shaped collar with ratchet teeth facing the aperture on two opposing sides. The male fastener portion includes a post extending perpendicularly from a planar base. The post includes ratchet teeth adapted to engage with the ratchet teeth on the female fastening device when the post is inserted into the collar.
French patent document FR2668981A1 to Bourdarias discloses a device for assembling sheets into a packet. It comprises a pair of identical pegs, each having one side formed into a series of teeth. The pegs are designed to be inserted head-to-tail in a hole running through the sheets, the toothed sides being placed against each other. The total cross-section of the two juxtaposed pegs fits closely inside that of the hole. Each peg has a head which stops against one side of the packet.
There remains for a low-cost method to bind a set of sheets to form an attractive and durable photo book without the need for special purpose equipment or highly-trained operators.
The present invention represents a binding system for binding a set of media sheets, comprising:
first and second binder pieces, each including:
wherein the first and second binder pieces are adapted to bind the set of sheets of media by;
This invention has the advantage that is a simple, low-cost method to create a photo book utilizing simple parts that can be easily assembled by unskilled operators in a retail environment, or can be purchased by a consumer and assembled at home.
It has the additional advantage that no specialized equipment or adhesives are required to assemble the photo book.
It has the further advantage that the first and second binder pieces can be identical so that only a single part needs to be manufactured and inventoried for each book size.
It is to be understood that the attached drawings are for purposes of illustrating the concepts of the invention and may not be to scale.
The invention is inclusive of combinations of the embodiments described herein. References to “a particular embodiment” and the like refer to features that are present in at least one embodiment of the invention. Separate references to “an embodiment” or “particular embodiments” or the like do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or embodiments; however, such embodiments are not mutually exclusive, unless so indicated or as are readily apparent to one of skill in the art. The use of singular or plural in referring to the “method” or “methods” and the like is not limiting. It should be noted that, unless otherwise explicitly noted or required by context, the word “or” is used in this disclosure in a non-exclusive sense.
Commonly-assigned U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0248753 to Mindler, entitled “Binder clip,” and the related U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0251269 to Mindler, entitled “Binder clip,” both of which are incorporated herein by reference, describe a binding system that can be used to bind printed media sheets into a book (e.g., a photo book). The binding system includes a binder clip having flexible sidewalls biased to close around a rigid retainer for securing pages wrapped around the retainer or pinched by the binder clip and retainer to manually form a book.
The cylinder 100 has a cylinder length Lc (see
The retainer 110 has a retainer length Lr (see
In a preferred embodiment, the retainer length Lr and the cylinder length Lc are substantially equal to each other and to a height H of the book pages (i.e., the height of the media sheets 130). The arc-shaped cross-section of the retainer 110 has a retainer outer diameter Dro, a retainer inner diameter Dri, and an associated retainer arc angle θr (see the cross-sectional view in
The opening slot 115 has slot edges 118. In the illustrated embodiment, the slot edges 118 are parallel to each other. In other embodiments, the slot edges 118 can take a variety of different forms. For example, the slot edges 118 can be along radial lines extending out from the center of the circular arc. Alternately, the slot edges can be rounded or beveled.
In an exemplary embodiment, cylinder length and the retainer length are Lc=Lr=101.6 mm, for binding media sheets with a height H=101.6 mm (i.e., 4 inches); the cylinder outer diameter Dco=6.4 mm; the cylinder inner diameter Dci=3.3 mm; the retainer outer diameter Dro=13.0 mm; the retainer inner diameter Dri=8.6 mm, and the retainer slot width Ws=4.6 mm (corresponding to a retainer arc angle θr=295°). These dimensions have been found to provide good results for binding between 2 to 8 typical media sheets 130 of 148 gsm (g/m2) material, with an additional media sheet 130 acting as a front and rear cover made from a thicker/stiffer 270 gsm material. It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that these parameters can be adjusted for various applications to accommodate different media sizes and thicknesses and different numbers of media sheets 130. In some embodiments, a number of different cylinders 100 having different cylinder outer diameters can be provided for use with the same retainer 110 in order to accommodate different numbers of media sheets 130.
The retainer inner diameter Dri should be chosen so that the retainer 110 provides a clamping force F to bind the set of media sheets 130 when it is in a flexed position around the wrapped cylinder 100. Nominally, when the retainer 110 is in a relaxed state, the retainer inner diameter Dri should be somewhat less than the sum of the cylinder outer diameter Dco and a total thickness of the wrapped media sheets 130 so that the retainer 110 will be in a flexed position around the wrapped cylinder 100. This constraint can be relaxed somewhat due to the fact that the stiffness of the media sheets 130 will cause them to resist bending where they exit the opening slot 115. This can provide a clamping force on the media sheets 130 even when the retainer inner diameter Dri is somewhat larger than the sum of the cylinder outer diameter Dco and a total thickness of the wrapped media sheets 130.
Optionally, the binding system can include end caps 120 that cover the ends of the assembled cylinder 100 and retainer 110 (see FIGS. 1 and 2A-2B). In some embodiments, the end caps 120 include posts 125 and are adapted to be attached to the ends of the cylinder 100 by inserting the posts 125 into the hollow core 105 of the cylinder 100. Preferably, the posts 125 are sized to fit snuggly within the hollow core 105 so that they will not fall out. In some embodiments, the posts 125 are tapered such that the ends of the posts 125 have a diameter that is smaller than the cylinder inner diameter Dci, thereby enabling them to be more easily inserted into the hollow core 105. In some embodiments, the posts 125 can include retaining features (e.g., serrations) that are adapted to engage with the hollow core 105. Any type of retaining feature known in the art can be used in accordance with the present invention.
In some embodiments, a book title 140 can be provided on the spine of the bound book as illustrated in
The left retainer piece 200L and the right retainer piece 200R are adapted to be joined together to form a complete retainer into which cylinder 100 (wrapped with media sheets 130) can be inserted as shown in
In some embodiments, the left retainer piece 200L and the right retainer piece 200R include posts 220 that are adapted to be inserted into the hollow core 105 of the cylinder 100, thereby fastening the three pieces together. The posts 220 can include fastening features (e.g., serrations) that can be used to hold the pieces together. In some embodiments, the ends of the posts 220 are tapered such that the ends of the posts 220 have a diameter that is smaller than the cylinder inner diameter Dci, thereby enabling them to be more easily inserted into the hollow core 105.
In some embodiments, the left retainer piece 200L and the right retainer piece 200R can include fastening features (e.g., clips) on the abutting surfaces that are adapted to fasten the pieces together (not shown in
In the embodiment shown in
The left retainer piece 300L and the right retainer piece 300R are adapted to be connected together to form a complete binding system that can be used to bind media sheets 130 as shown in
In some embodiments, the left retainer piece 300L and the right retainer piece 300R each include an alignment pin 205 and a corresponding hole 210 adapted to receive the alignment pin 205 on the other retainer piece in order to facilitate alignment of the two retainer pieces during assembly. By positioning the alignment pin 205 and the hole 210 in appropriate complementary positions, the left retainer piece 300L and the right retainer piece 300R can be identical to each other. This has the advantage that only one type of retainer piece needs to be manufactured.
In some embodiments, the left retainer piece 300L and the right retainer piece 300R include connectors 310 that are adapted to snap together, thereby fastening the retainer pieces together. As the retainer pieces are pushed together, the connectors 310 flex slightly and slide past each other until the tabs slide past each other and snap into place, thereby preventing the retainer pieces from coming apart.
In some embodiments, the length of the left cylinder half 100L is substantially equal to the length of the left retainer half 110L and the length of the right cylinder half 100R is substantially equal to the length of the right retainer half 110R. In this case, when the two retainer pieces are assembled such that the left retainer half 110L is brought into contact with the right retainer half 110R, the left cylinder half 100L will also be in contact with the right cylinder half 100R. In other embodiments, the cylinder halves can be substantially shorter than the corresponding retainer halves. In this case, when the two retainer pieces are assembled, a gap will remain between the left cylinder half 100L and the right cylinder half 100R.
In a preferred embodiment, the left retainer piece 300L and the right retainer piece 300R are identical to each other. This has the advantage that only one type of retainer piece needs to be manufactured. To facilitate this, any alignment pins 205 and holes 210 should be placed in complementary positions, and the connectors 310 should be designed with appropriate symmetry.
In the embodiment shown in
In this case the retainer inner diameter Dri of the retainer 110 and the outer diameter of the end plugs 405 (i.e., cylinder outer diameter Dco) should be chosen according to the same considerations that were discussed earlier with respect to the
Preferably, the end plugs 405 have tapered ends 410 to facilitate easier insertion into the ends of the retainer 110. End caps 400 can be attached to the end plugs 405 to cover the ends of the retainer 110 when the end plugs 405 are fully inserted. In some embodiments, the end caps 400 and the end plugs 405 are formed together as single molded components. Alternately, the end caps 400 and the end plugs 405 can be formed as individual pieces and can be joined together (e.g., using glue).
The embodiment shown in
The invention is inclusive of combinations of the embodiments described herein. References to “a particular embodiment” and the like refer to features that are present in at least one embodiment of the invention. Separate references to “an embodiment” or “particular embodiments” or the like do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or embodiments; however, such embodiments are not mutually exclusive, unless so indicated or as are readily apparent to one of skill in the art. The use of singular or plural in referring to the “method” or “methods” and the like is not limiting. It should be noted that, unless otherwise explicitly noted or required by context, the word “or” is used in this disclosure in a non-exclusive sense.
The invention has been described in detail with particular reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention.
Reference is made to commonly assigned, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Docket K001375), entitled: “Binding system using concentric cylinders”, by Hochreiter et al.; to commonly assigned, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Docket K001449), entitled: “Binding system using arc-shaped retainer”, by Hochreiter et al.; to commonly assigned, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Docket K001376), entitled: “Binding system using a retainer clip”, by Hochreiter; to commonly assigned, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Docket K001457), entitled: “Binding system using one-piece retainer clip”, by Hochreiter; and to commonly assigned, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Docket K001377), entitled: “Binding system using two binding pieces”, by Hochreiter, each of which is incorporated herein by reference.
