Not applicable
Not applicable
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for producing books or other printed materials, and more specifically to an apparatus for creating customized books or other printed materials.
2. Description of the Background
Books and other printed materials typically comprise a series of signatures that have been bound together. Each signature consists of one or more printed pages, wherein the signatures are gathered on a gathering or binding line in a particular order, and are then stitched or glued together to form the book.
Saddle-stitch gathering lines are known and typically include a plurality of packer boxes or feeding devices positioned along a gathering conveyor in the form of a chain, wherein each packer box or a selected set of packer boxes delivers printed signatures in order onto chain spaces of the gathering conveyor. The gathered signatures are then bound, trimmed, bundled, and shipped using well known methods.
Using computer control systems, it is possible to customize a book or magazine in order to target a particular demographic group. This is typically accomplished by selectively enabling and disabling selected packer boxes along a binding line so that a signature designed to appeal to the targeted demographic group is inserted into the book at a designated location.
One known system selectively collates and binds signatures to produce different versions of a particular publication. A version code is associated with each recipient of a publication and is typically stored as part of the mailing list. A controller reads an address and a version code for a recipient and uses the version code to trigger only those packer boxes that contain signatures that are to be bound into a particular publication for that recipient. The controller then directs the address printer to print the address of the recipient on the bound book. The system described allows the creation of books in postal sorted order, wherein each book comprises a subset of signatures loaded into the packer boxes on the binding line where the subset is determined by the version code. This process of customization is called “selective binding.”
In another system for producing customized books, a particular packer box on a binding line is loaded with pre-personalized signatures, which are signatures printed with content personalized for a particular recipient of a book. The pre-personalized signatures are loaded into a packer box in postal sorted order and include indicia such as a barcode or other optically readable marking representing a code associated with the recipient. Upon feeding of a pre-personalized signature from the particular packer box, a reader senses the indicia, identifies the code, and transmits the code to the controller. The controller uses the code to select recipient information from the mailing list. The recipient information may include an address of the recipient, a version code, and/or a device control code. If selective binding is used, then the controller uses the version code to determine the signatures that are to be included in the book for the recipient and selectively triggers the packer boxes that follow the packer box containing the pre-personalized signature accordingly. The controller directs the address printer to print the address of the recipient on the book. The system incorporates a single signature personalized for the recipient to be included in a book. It should be apparent that the controller can use version code to trigger only those packer boxes that follow the packer box that is loaded with the pre-personalized signature.
According to one aspect of the present application, a book product apparatus includes a gathering line and a plurality of feeding devices adapted to dispense at least one signature onto the gathering line. The apparatus further includes a controller operatively connected to the plurality of feeding devices for controlling the operation of the feeding devices, wherein a comparison of two customer data sources generates instructions for the feeding devices.
According to another aspect of the present application, a method for producing books includes the step of supplying a controller, a gathering line, and a plurality of feeding devices, wherein the feeding devices are adapted to dispense at least one signature onto the gathering line based on instructions from the controller. The method further includes the step of comparing two customer data sources to generate the instructions to send to the feeding devices as to what signatures to dispense from the feeding devices.
According to yet another aspect of the present application, a book production apparatus includes a plurality of feeding devices configured to distribute signatures. The apparatus further includes a controller for reading customer data from a customer list and one or more recipient lists associated with one or more of the plurality of feeding devices, wherein the controller selectively activates the correct feeding device(s) based on a comparison of the customer list and the one or more recipient list.
Other aspects and advantages of the present application will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description and the attached drawings, in which like elements are assigned like reference numerals.
Other aspects and advantages of the present application will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description.
Referring to the drawings, a first embodiment of a book production apparatus 30, as seen in
A controller 50 is operatively connected to and controls operation of the feeding devices 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d . . . 32N. In particular, any number of the feeding devices 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d . . . 32N may be operated to feed an associated signature to the chain space 38 of the gathering line 40 to make a specific book. One or more of the feeding devices 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d . . . 32N may also include pre-personalized signatures therein that have been personalized for a specific customer or recipient and placed in the particular feeding device 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d . . . 32N in a pre-sorted sequence. One or more of the feeding devices 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d . . . 32N may also include non-personalized signatures, wherein all of the signatures in a particular feeding device 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d . . . 32N are identical. The pre-personalized and non-personalized signatures are loaded into the respective feeding devices 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d . . . 32N prior to beginning operation of the book production apparatus 30. As the pre-personalized and non-personalized signatures are depleted, additional signatures are added to the respective feeding devices 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d . . . 32N generally in pre-sorted sequence. Optionally, more than one feeding device 32a-32N may be provided for a signature to account for large print jobs and reduce the number of times the feeding devices 32a-32N need to be replenished. The apparatus 30 and controller 50 could recover in the event that the preprinted pages are not in perfect sequence and corresponding mailing rates would be accounted for as a result of the modified ordering, or optionally the gathering line 40 could be automatically stopped if the order is determined to be significantly maligned to allow for a manual recovery.
Referring to
Although a single controller 50 is described herein, for complex systems, the controller 50 may include any number of subcontrollers 63 as seen in
When the book production apparatus 30 is initialized, the controller 50 reads the master mailing list 62 to determine the first recipient. After creating a book for the first recipient, the apparatus 30 continues sequentially through the master mailing list 62 until a book is created for each recipient.
Each book is customized for a specific recipient, wherein for each recipient, the controller 50 reads the recipient lists 60a, 60b, 60c, 60d . . . 60M, the version code 61, and the master mailing list 62 and identifies a set of feeding devices 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d . . . 32N to trigger in accordance with the recipient lists 60a, 60b, 60c, 60d . . . 60M, the version code 61, and the master mailing list 62. The controller 50 also uses the respective recipient list 60a, 60b, 60c, 60d . . . 60M associated with each feeding device 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d . . . 32N that includes at least one pre-personalized signature to determine the recipient of the next pre-personalized signature therein. If the recipient of the next pre-personalized signature in a feeding device 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d . . . 32N matches the recipient of the book, the feeding device 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d . . . 32N containing the pre-personalized signature is added to the set of feeding devices 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d . . . 32N to be triggered. The controller 50 triggers all of the feeding devices 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d . . . 32N in the set in sequence to produce the book for the recipient in the manner described above.
The operation of the controller 50 will be explained in detail with reference to the example configuration of a controller 50 of
Still referring to the example configuration of
At block 72, the controller 50 sends signals to the appropriate feeding devices 32a, 32c, 32e to begin feeding signatures for creating a book for Customer 1. The signals for each feeding device 32a, 32a, 32c, 32d . . . 32N corresponding to a customer are spaced apart in time such that the corresponding signatures for a particular customer, such as Customer 1, land in the same chain space 38 of the gathering line 40 as that chain space 38 passes the feeding devices 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d . . . 32N that are to be actuated for the particular customer. Immediately after each feeding device 32a-32e feeds a signature or at the same time, block 74 directs optical sensors 90a-90e (
Reading of an identification may be asynchronous or synchronous. In particular, the identification in any apparatus 30 may be read just prior to triggering a feeding device 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d . . . 32N or just after the last signature was fed from a feeding device 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d . . . 32N, thereby exposing the next identification. Optionally, multiple signatures could be read in advance in a conveyor delivery system where signatures are shingled to expose the identifications of various signatures. Preferably, one or more subsequent signatures for each feeding device 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d . . . 32N are identified in each feeding device 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d . . . 32N at all times. In other words, depending on the design of the feeding devices 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d . . . 32N, multiple signatures could be in transit to the gathering line 40, thereby exposing the identification for signatures prior to the feeding of one or more signatures per feeding device 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d . . . 32N. The apparatus 30 and controller 50 may track the identifications for signatures in separate logical queues for each feeding device 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d . . . 32N, although this may also work without the look-ahead functionality just described. At any instant, the controller 50 knows in advance the recipient of the signature that is to be fed next for each feeding device 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d . . . 32N. In an alternative approach, the apparatus 30 and controller 50 could assume which feeding devices 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d . . . 32N are to be triggered for a particular recipient and then it confirms the signatures are correct when the signatures are fed. The reason there could be different approaches is: a) one or more identifications may not be accessible by the sensors 90a, 90b, 90c, 90d . . . 90N until the signature is placed in position in a book or in transit to the book (i.e., the identification(s) is located on a back side of the signature when in the feeding device 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d . . . 32N but the identification is exposed after the signature is fed); b) only one signature identification can be read prior to feeding (i.e., the front or top-most signature); or c) the signatures could be delivered in a shingled manner so that multiple signatures could be read in advance, enabling the system to “look-ahead” for inconsistencies.
Referring back to the example configuration of
Referring to the block diagram of
Preferably, the finished books are stacked appropriately into bundles to comply and maximize the value of the mail stream according to United States Postal Service regulations.
Referring again to
Numerous modifications to the present application will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the foregoing description. Accordingly, this description is to be construed as illustrative only and is presented for the purpose of enabling those skilled in the art to make and use the embodiments of the present application and to teach the best mode of carrying out same. The exclusive rights to all modifications which come within the scope of the appended claims are reserved.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/880,210 filed Jan. 11, 2007.
Number | Date | Country | |
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60880210 | Jan 2007 | US |