1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus and method for making booklets. Such structures of this type, generally, employ a variety of creasing techniques in order to form the booklet.
2. Description of the Related Art
Prior to the present invention, as set forth in general terms above and more specifically below, it is known, in conventional booklets making processes to accumulate the media sheets flat, staple the accumulated media, and fold all of the bundled sheets together. The trimming operation is done at the very last by employing a large, powerful, industrial guillotine to trim all the sheets at once. This folding approach is inefficient and requires a lot of power. Also, undesired raised areas or “pillowing” are commonly located near the crease. While this method is traditionally the fastest way of forming a booklet in industrial environments where large quantities of booklets are being produced, the pillowing defect is not recognized as a quality item and, therefore, no attention is being paid to it. It is also known, in the booklet making art, to employ a sheet-by-sheet booklet making process. The disadvantage of this process is that the pages of the booklet were scored and creased in a single point at the middle as shown in FIG. 1a. As can be seen in FIG. 1b, undesired raised areas or “pillowing” resulted from this technique.
It is further known, in the booklet making art, to accumulate the sheets of media in a flat position, staple the sheets of media in order to form a bundle, fold all of the sheets of media at once, and eject them from the booklet making apparatus. This apparatus does not trim the booklet, which results in creeping or a chevron-like defect. However, this creeping issue does not seem to present a serious problem since the booklets typically contain less than 10 sheets. On the other hand, pillowing is a serious result from using this device along with the large amount of power required to fold the booklets. Consequently, a more advantageous system, then, would be presented if the booklet making apparatus could efficiently produce booklets while eliminating creeping and pillowing.
Finally, it is known, in the booklet making art, to produce a booklet having a multiple position hinge. Exemplary of such prior art is U.S. Pat. No. 6,363,851 ('851) to J. Gerhard et al., entitled “Process for Producing Folded, Bound Printed Products, and the Printed Product Produced.” While the '851 reference employs a multiple position hinge, the edges of the booklet are not trimmed which results in the creeping or chevron-like defect.
It is apparent from the above that there exists a need in the art for a booklet making apparatus which is efficient in terms of power consumption, and which is capable of eliminating pillowing, but which at the same time is capable eliminating creeping of the media sheet edges. It is a purpose of this invention to fulfill this and other needs in the art in a manner more apparent to the skilled artisan once given the following disclosure.