Patent Application
20130156528
This application claims priority from German Application No. DE 10 2011 056 612.0 filed Dec. 19, 2011, the contents of which are incorporated herein by this reference.
The invention relates to a method for processing press sheets for printed products, in particular book blocks.
Generic methods for processing sheets for printed products are known in the prior art. In particular, WO 2005/023555 A2 discloses an adhesive binding method and a corresponding device for executing this method, in which the press sheets to be bound for producing an adhesive binding are perforated on the fold edge, then folded and then assembled to form a book block. The perforation process is executed on the fold edge in such a manner that an interrupted perforation line forming a widened fold edge is punched in the form of a double slot perforation line. The double slot perforation line comprises one first and one second perforation line, respectively having slots of the same slot length, the slots of the first and second perforation line being produced in a press sheet in the manner that two consecutive slots of one perforation line have a distance of one slot length to each other. Further, the first and second perforation line extend parallel and at a distance from each other and have a longitudinal offset of one slot length to each other, so that the slots of the first perforation line are arranged respectively staggered to the slots of the second perforation line and a folding line is formed between the first and second perforation line. After folding, the fold sheets that result are assembled to form a block and are glued on the edge.
Folding the press sheets along the folding line of the double slot perforation line produces a double sheet comprising two mutually linked sheet sections, which are connected at least partially with each other on the folding line extending in the area of the fold edge. The slot-shaped perforation of the press sheet in the area of the folding line causes tab-shaped protrusions to protrude from the fold edge, preferably directly adjoining each other. Upon folding, these protrusions produced by the slot perforation leave open spaces in the sheet section area directly adjoining the fold edge. The open spaces of the respective sheet sections are at a distance to each other by one slot length, namely by one non-open area lying between two consecutive open spaces. The open spaces of the two connected sheet sections have a longitudinal offset of one slot length. If a plurality of such fold sheets are coated with glue in the folding area and arranged on top of each other so that the fold edges of the fold sheets are congruently superposed, the glue can penetrate the open spaces and the glue adheres between the tab-shaped protrusions and bonds them together. This causes the glue to penetrate deeply into the fold area. In addition, one open space respectively adjoins two sheet sections that have no open spaces at this position. This means that the open spaces of one sheet section connect two sheet sections not directly adjoining each other, namely by means of an adhesive bond through the open space of one sheet section. The same applies to the tab-shaped protrusions. Their position likewise alternates from one sheet section to another, so that the tab-shaped protrusions of each second sheet section correspond to the superposed fold sheets at the same positions respectively. The glue applied to the tab-shaped protrusions therefore respectively bonds one sheet section with the respective second following sheet section. The result of the prior art adhesive bond is an extremely stable and durable adhesive bond for printed products, in particular book blocks.
The disadvantage, however, is that in the case of books to be produced in small quantities and/or in small formats, in particular photo books, substantial processing and handling of the single press sheets is necessary, since each single sheet must be provided with the double slot perforation line and then folded. This makes the prior art method time-consuming and cost-intensive.
The object of the present invention is to improve the prior art method in order to enable more efficient and therefore more cost-effective production of book blocks, in particular in small quantities and/or in small formats.
One aspect of the present invention is that at least one first double slot perforation line is produced comprising one first folding line extending in a lengthwise direction of the press sheet is produced and at least one second perforation line comprising a second folding line extending in a crosswise direction of the press sheet is produced and that the alignment of the first and second double slot perforation line in relation to each other is such that the folding line of the one double slot perforation line extends between the slot end of one first slot of the first perforation line and the slot beginning of the second slot of the second perforation line of the second double slot perforation line which (second slot) directly follows the first slot. Such an arrangement of the intersecting double slot perforation lines ensures that the alternation of the slots takes place in the area of the folding line. In case of two perpendicularly intersecting double slot perforation lines it is also ensured that both the openings and the tab-shaped protrusions of one sheet section are offset against the openings and tab-shaped protrusions of the directly adjoining other sheet section preferably by one slot length. By means of one press sheet it is therefore possible to produce a plurality of sheet sections, which have the advantageous properties for creating the high strength adhesive bond, each sheet section forming one page of the book block to be produced.
In a preferred exemplary embodiment the first and second double slot perforation line are arranged in relation to each other so that the point of intersection of the first and second folding line lies respectively on the connecting line between the slot end of one first slot of the first perforation line and the slot beginning of the second slot of the second perforation line which (second slot) directly follows the first slot. This defines both the alignment of the first double slot perforation line to the second folding line and the alignment of the second double slot perforation line to the first folding line so that the first and second folding line respectively extend through the area in which the alternation of the slots is provided. Therefore, the meandering structure both of the first and the second double slot perforation line is completely retained, so that, even in the case of multiple folding of the press sheet on two perpendicularly intersecting double slot perforation lines it is ensured that the open spaces and the tab-shaped protrusions of two consecutive sheet sections have a longitudinal offset of one slot length.
Especially advantageously the distance of the two perforation lines of one double slot perforation line is chosen based on the mass-area ratio of the paper sheet to be processed. For example, this is between 0.3 and 0.4 mm at a paper thickness of 170 g/m2. The slot length is advantageously between 2 and 5 mm. Such dimensioning of the distance of the two perforation lines to the slot length advantageously results in double slot perforation lines that when folded along the folding line enable an optimal design of the tab-shaped protrusions and open spaces.
In particular, a rectangular press sheet is used, the press sheet being divided by the double slot perforation lines into a plurality of rectangular or square sheet sections. The double slot perforation lines therefore enable the production of a plurality of sheets of a book block from one press sheet, the sheet sections respectively having essentially the desired format of the sheets of the book block—with the exception of the edge trim and any non-printable margin areas. This enables improved utilization of the press sheet, i.e. the non-usable area of the press sheet is substantially reduced.
In a preferred exemplary embodiment a plurality of parallel first double slot perforation lines extending in a lengthwise direction of the press sheet and/or a plurality of parallel second double slot perforation lines extending in a crosswise direction of the press sheet are produced. The press sheet can be folded on these parallel double slot perforation lines, in particular it can be folded multiple times alternating in different folding directions, so that a zig-zag fold sheet is produced. This makes it possible to produce a plurality of pages of a book block easily and cost-effectively from one press sheet.
Preferably two consecutive double slot perforation lines have the same distance between each other, respectively. The distance between two consecutive first double slot perforation lines can be chosen to be different from the distance between two consecutive second double slot perforation lines, in order to produce rectangular sheet formats. In particular the distance of two consecutive first double slot perforation lines in relation to the distance of two consecutive second double slot perforation lines can have a ratio of 2/3.
In an especially advantageous embodiment, a plurality of fold sheets are arranged on top of each other so that the fold edges arranged respectively on the edge are superposed and the fold sheets are glued together in a folding area in which a plurality of fold edges are congruently superposed. Depending on the format of the fold sheet or of the desired book block format, either a plurality of book blocks arranged next to each other in a row on the fold sheet is produced simultaneously, or the fold sheet already corresponds essentially to the desired format of the book block—with the exception of the edge trim and any non-printable margin areas. This allows more efficient production of the book blocks.
For the case that a fold sheet is produced having one first edge length that corresponds at least essentially—with the exception of the edge trim and any non-printable margin areas—to one first edge length of the printed product to be produced and the second edge length of the fold sheet is a multiple of the second edge length of the book block to be produced, the book blocks produced simultaneously can have different contents. In this case the press sheet is printed for example in such a manner that the desired contents are provided in different rows or columns, so that after the zig-zag folding and the separation or the edge trim, the pages of the book block comprise the desired contents, the contents of the single book blocks being different. This can be used to achieve efficient production of small quantities, for example of photo books, etc.
In a further exemplary embodiment the fold sheet is folded after at least one first folding on at least one further double slot perforation line extending perpendicular to the fold edge, so that a multiple fold sheet is produced. This multiple fold sheet—again with the exception of the edge trim and any non-printable margin areas—has the format of the desired printed product, in particular a book block. This makes it possible to easily and cost-effectively produce especially book blocks with a small number of pages.
After the multiple fold sheet is produced it is glued in a folding area in which a plurality of fold edges on the edge are aligned on top of each other and the at least one additional fold edge extending perpendicular to the folding area is separated by side cutting. Preferably all other pages are cut by means of side cutting in order to separate the single sheet sections into single sheets.
Especially preferably, all double slot perforation lines are arranged in relation to a corner point of the press sheet or in relation to a corner point of the printable area of the press sheet. This ensures, despite fluctuations in the paper format, that all double slot perforation lines always have the desired distance from the point of reference and therefore also the desired distance to each other.
Further preferably, a press sheet is used that is printed on the front and back and the sheet sections separated from each other by the double slot perforation lines respectively constitute pages of the printed product.
According to a further idea of the invention, a plurality of double slot perforation lines extending parallel and at a distance to each other are produced, the parallel double slot perforation lines being arranged not offset to each other, so that the mutually corresponding slots are arranged at the same height on the press sheet. The mutually parallel double slot perforation lines therefore extend in phase to each other. In the production of a zig-zag fold sheet this achieves that the open spaces and the tab-shaped protrusions created by folding on the respective double slot perforation lines of two consecutive sheet sections respectively have a longitudinal offset of one slot length, so that from one sheet section to the next an alternating offset of the open spaces and tab-shaped protrusions created during folding and therefore bonding respectively of one sheet section with the respective second following sheet sections is achieved.
The method according to the invention also enables substantially improved utilization of the paper formats when printing using digital technology. In particular, multiple folds can be produced and therefore one large-format press sheet, for example in DIN A3++ format can be used to produce the formats DIN A4, DIN A5 through DIN A8.
Especially advantageously this results in a method for automatic one-off production of individual, personalized books.
The term “essentially” or “approximately” as used in the invention means deviations from the exact value by +/−10%, preferably by +/−5% and/or deviations in the form of changes that are insignificant for the function.
The invention is described below in more detail based on exemplary embodiments with reference to the drawings. Further embodiments, advantages and applications of the invention are also disclosed in the following description of the exemplary embodiments and the drawings. All characteristics described and/or pictorially represented, alone or in any combination, are subject matter of the invention, regardless of their being summarized or referenced in the claims. The content of the claims is also included as part of the description.
However, it is expressly noted that the invention is by no means limited to the exemplary embodiments provided.
The invention is illustrated in the drawings, where:
In
The perforation lines 2a, 2b; 3a, 3b are furthermore arranged parallel and at a distance to each other, the distance being D. Further, the double slot perforation lines 2, 3 respectively include a folding line 4, 5, the folding lines 4, 5 respectively extending parallel to the perforation lines 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b of their double slot perforation lines 2, 3. The folding lines 4, 5 are arranged in the middle between the perforation lines 2a, 2b; 3a, 3b and therefore form the middle longitudinal axis of the respective double slot perforation lines 2, 3.
In order to simultaneously produce from a single press sheet 1 a plurality of sheet sections 10, 10′ defined by double slot perforation lines for producing a high strength adhesive bond, according to the invention at least one first double slot perforation line 2 is produced on the press sheet 1 in the lengthwise direction LR of the press sheet 1 and at least one second double slot perforation line 3 is produced in the crosswise direction QR of the press sheet 1.
The alignment of the intersecting double slot perforation lines 2, 3 according to the invention takes place such that the fold line 4 of the first double slot perforation line 2 extends between the slot end SE of one first slot 3a.1 of the first perforation line 3a and the slot beginning SA of the second slot 3b.1′ of the second perforation line 3b of the second double slot perforation line 3 which (second slot) directly follows the first slot 3a.1
Preferably, the alignment of the first and second double slot perforation lines 2, 3 takes place such that the fold line 5 of the second double slot perforation line 3 extends between the slot end SE of one first slot 2a.1 of the first perforation line 2a and the slot beginning SA of the second slot 2b.1′ of the second perforation line 2b of the first double slot perforation line 2 which (second slot) directly follows the first slot 2a.1. The arrangement of the intersecting double slot perforation lines 2, 3 according to the invention offers the decisive advantage that also after folding of the press sheet 1 on the folding lines 4, 5, the regular, meandering course of the double slot perforation lines 2, 3 is retained. It is further achieved that upon arranging a plurality of superposed fold sheets 7, the open spaces 12 and the tab-shaped protrusions 13 of the superposed sheet sections 10, 10′ resulting from the folding respectively have a longitudinal offset by one slot length SL, so that adhesive joints are created through the open spaces 12 of one sheet section 10, 10′, connecting two sheet sections 10, 10′ not directly adjacent to each other. The same applies to the tab-shaped protrusions 13. Their position also alternates in the intersection of the double slot perforation lines 2, 3 according to the invention in the consecutive sheet sections 10, 10′, so that the tab-shaped protrusions 13 of each second sheet section 10, 10′ of the superposed fold sheets 7 are arranged at the same positions respectively. The glue applied to the tab-shaped protrusions 13 therefore respectively bonds one sheet section 10, 10′ with the respective second following sheet sections 10, 10′.
In a particularly preferred exemplary embodiment the first and second double slot perforation lines 2, 3 are arranged in relation to each other so that the point of intersection KP of the first and second folding line 4, 5 respectively lies on the connecting lines between the slot end SE of one first slot 2a.1, 3a.1 of the first perforation line 2a, 3a and the slot beginning SA of the second slot 2b.1′, 3b.1′ of the second perforation line 2b, 3b which (second slot) directly follows the first slot 2a.1, 3a.1. The intersection point KP is therefore in the center between the slot ends SE and slot beginnings SA of the slots 2a.1, 3a.1, 2b.1′, 3b.1′ adjoining the intersection point KP.
As can be seen especially in
As shown in
After providing the double slot perforation lines 2, 3, 6 the press sheet 1 is folded on at least one double slot perforation line 2, 3, 6. To illustrate the embodiment of the adhesive bond areas,
The further processing of the fold sheet 7 can take place in at least two different ways. A plurality of press sheets 1 can be successively transformed into a zig-zag fold sheet 7 in the manner described above. They are then arranged on top of each other so that the fold edges 8, 8′ are respectively congruently superposed. Afterwards the fold sheets 7 are glued together in a fold area in which for example the fold edges 8 and 8′ are superposed. The alternating arrangement of open spaces 12 and the tab-shaped protrusions 13 according to
The preliminary product thus produced can then be cut using a three-side cut, i.e. by cutting for example along the double slot perforation lines 3, 6 and the side opposite the adhesive bond area, so that a plurality of book blocks is produced simultaneously.
The fold sheet 7 shown in
To compensate for fluctuations in the paper format, preferably the double slot perforation lines 2, 3, 6 are arranged in relation to a corner point EP, which is either the corner point of the press sheet 1 itself or the corner point of the printable area of the press sheet 1. This can be achieved t regardless of the actual paper format, all double slot perforation lines 2, 3, 6 preferably always have the desired distance relative to each other and no deviations occur between a plurality of fold sheets 7 processed together.
In the following the further processing of the press sheets 1 provided with the double slot perforation lines 2, 3, 6 is described based on two exemplary formats. For the production of a book block in format DIN A4 portrait format, the press sheet 1 is folded on the middle double slot perforation line 3 according to
To produce a book block in DIN A4 landscape format, the edge area 11 protruding to the side from the double slot perforation line 2 is separated and the press sheet 1 is folded along the double slot perforation line 3. Afterwards a plurality of such fold sheets 7 can be superposed, in which process the cutting line produced by means of the double slot perforation line 2 serves as a gluing position for the superposed fold sheets 7. Afterwards, the single sheet sections of the fold sheets 7 are separated from each other and cut to size by a three-side cut.
To produce a book block in DIN A5 portrait format, the press sheet 1 is first provided with a double slot perforation line 2 that extends in the middle in lengthwise direction LR of the press sheet 1. Afterwards the press sheet 1 is folded along this double slot perforation line 2. The fold sheet 7 thus produced is assembled with other fold sheets 7 and glue is applied to the fold edges 8. The preliminary product thus produced is then separated at the double slot perforation lines 3 and cut in a three-side cut.
To produce a book block in DIN A5 landscape format, the processing takes place in the reverse sequence, i.e. the press sheet 1 is first folded on the double slot perforation line 3 provided in the press sheet 1 in crosswise direction QR. The fold sheets 7 thus produced are then arranged on top of each other, namely so that the fold edges 8 are congruently superposed. Then glue is applied in the area of the fold edges 8. After gluing, the preliminary product thus produced is separated along the double slot perforation line 2 and the separated book blocks are cut in a three-side cut.
Alternatively it is possible to produce a multiple fold sheet 9, so that the press sheet 1 is first folded, for example, along the double slot perforation line 2 and then folded on the double slot perforation line 3. The multiple fold sheet 9 thus produced comprises four sheet sections 10, 10′ that can be printed on both sides and therefore eight pages.
The processing of the press sheets 1 for producing book blocks in the other formats takes place in an analogous manner recognizable to persons skilled in the art. In this respect reference is made to the foregoing descriptions.
The invention was described above based on an exemplary embodiment. It is to be understood that numerous variations and modifications of the invention are possible without abandoning the underlying inventive concept.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 102011056612.0 | Dec 2011 | DE | national |
