Printed media transverse binder

PRINTED MEDIA TRANSVERSE BINDER

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

0003The present invention relates to printed media production and in particular binding pages of printed media into bound documents

CO-PENDING APPLICATIONS

0005Various methods, systems and apparatus relating to the present invention are disclosed in the following co-pending applications filed by the applicant or assignee of the present invention simultaneously with the present application PCT/AU00/00518, PCT/AU00/00519, PCT/AU00/00520, PCT/AU00/00521 , PCT/AUOO/00523, PCT/AU00/00524,

0006PCT/AU00/00525, PCT/AU00/00526, PCT/AU00/00527, PCT/AU00/00528, PCT/AU00/00529, PCT/AU00/00530, PCT/AU00/00531, PCT/AU00/00532, PCT/AU00/00533, PCT/AU00/00534, PCT/AU00/00535, PCT/AU00/00536, PCT/AU00/00537, PCT/AU00/00538, PCT/AU00/00539, PCT/AU00/00540, PCT/AU00/00541 , PCT/AU00/00542, PCT/AU00/00543, PCT/AU00/00544, PCT/AU00/00545, PCT/AU00/00547, PCT/AU00/00546, PCT/AU00/00554, PCT/AU00/00556, PCT/AU00/00557, PCT/AU00/00558, PCT/AU00/00559, PCT/AU00/00560, PCT/AU00/00561 ,

0007PCT/AU00/00562, PCT/AU00/00563, PCT/AU00/00564, PCT/AU00/00566, PCT/AU00/00567, PCT/AU00/00568, PCT/AU00/00569, PCT/AU00/00570, PCT/AU00/00571 , PCT/AU00/00572, PCT/AUOO/00573, PCT/AU00/00574, PCT/AU00/00575, PCT/AU00/00576, PCT/AU00/00577, PCT/AU00/00578, PCT/AU00/00579, PCT/AU00/00581 , PCT/AU00/00580, PCT/AU00/00582, PCT/AU00/00587, PCT/AU00/00588, PCT/AU00/00589, PCT/AU00/00583, PCT/AU00/00593, PCT/AU00/00590, PCT/AU00/00591, PCT/AU00/00592, PCT/AU00/00594, PCT/AU00/00595,

0008PCT/AU00/00596, PCT/AU00/00597. PCT/AU00/00598, PCT/AU00/00516, and PCT/AU00/00517 The disclosures of these co-pending applications are incorporated herein by cross-reference BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION With the advent of the Internet has come the opportunity for the print media industry to publish "on-line" rather than producing and distributing traditional paper based publications On-line publishing has a number of advantages From the consumer's point of view, information is available on demand, information can be navigated via hypertext links, information can be searched, and information can be automatically personalized From the publisher's point of view, the costs of printing and physical distribution are eliminated and the publication becomes more attractive to advertisers as it can be targeted to specific demographics and linked to product sites On-line publication also has disadvantages Computer screens are inferior to paper At the same quality as a magazine page, a SVGA computer screen displays only about a fifth as much information Both CRT's (Cathode Ray Tubes) and LCD's (Liquid Crystal Displays) have brightness and contrast problems, particularly when ambient light is strong Ink on paper, being reflective rather than emissive is both bright and sharp in ambient light Accordingly, people have a natural preference to read newspapers, magazines, catalogues, brochures and other publications in a bound paper based format

0009Known digital printers, and in particular digital inkjet printers, do not make any provision for binding together the pages of printed media Such an arrangement would conveniently provide for bound document production in the small office/home office (SOHO) environment This would also permit some of the existing drawbacks of online publication to be addressed However, in the SOHO environment space is often at a premium Therefore, any provision for automatically binding separate pages into a bound document must not add a significant amount of extra space over that occupied by the printer

0010RECTΓJFTED SHEET (RULE 91) SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

0011It is an object of the present mvention to provide means to bmd pages of printed media into bound documents suitable for use in conjunction with a digital printer Accordingly, the present mvention provides a binding assembly for use with a digital printer havmg a support frame for mounting a pπnthead assembly for printing on pages of media, the binding assembly including a binding means mounted to the support frame wherein the binding means is adapted to bind the pages along a lme substantially perpendicular to the direction of travel of the page with respect to the support frame

0012Preferably, the binding means mcludes a glue sponge strip extending perpendicularly to the general direction of travel of the page with respect to the support frame In a further preferred form, retractable fingers periodically extend into the paper path for temporarily stopping the page to allow the glue sponge strip to apply a lme of adhesive to the page In some embodiments of this form of the mvention, the retractable fingers retract once the glue strip has applied adhesive to the page such that the page is gravity fed to a binding area where each page is sequentially adhered to the previous page It is further preferred if the retractable fingers retract once the glue strip has applied adhesive to the page such that the page is gravity fed to a binding area where each page is sequentially adhered to the previous page

0013It will be appreciated that the bmdmg means according to this embodiment applies the adhesive directly pπor to pressmg the adhesive against the previous page This is more effective than applymg adhesive to the rear of each page and sequentially pressmg each page to the subsequent page because any interruption m the printing process such as replenishing the paper supply may allow the adhesive applied to the last adhered page to deteriorate and become less effective

0014In another preferred form, the glue sponge strip is adapted to receive adhesive from an adhesive supply by capillary action In accordance with particularly preferred embodiments, the glue sponge strip is retained in a chamber adapted to seal the strip m an environment acceptable for maintaining adhesive performance when the strip is not m use In these embodiments, a cam shaft is provided to advance the glue strip through a closable aperture m the chamber into engagement with the surface of a page

0015In some embodiments, the bmdmg means mcludes an alignment means to align each page before it is adhered to the previous page Preferably, the alignment means is a rotating cam positioned to engage the edge of each page and slide them mto alignment

0016In a particularly preferred embodiment, the pπnthead is adapted to pπnt the full width of the page simultaneously

0017It will be appreciated that a printer according to this aspect of the mvention allows rectangular pages of media to move through the printer m a "landscape" orientation wherein the long side of the page is perpendicular to the direction of page travel As the pages move from a media storage area, such as the paper tray, to the bmding area, the overall distance that each page travels is reduced simply because they are in "landscape" oπentation as opposed to "portrait" onentation Consequently, the printer can have a relatively compact design mstead of an elongate design, which may be awkward to accommodate, where space is limited Notwithstanding the compact design, the present mvention still produces documents bound along the long edge of the page such that the document is held and read m the commonly preferred "portrait" oπentation

0018The present mvention also allows the production of pπnted matenal m the traditionally appealing form of a bound document rather than separate pages With the aid of modem printers and computer network technology, the mvention has many applications m on-lme publication of newspapers, magazmes, brochures and so on The present mvention will be descπbed with particular reference to the netpage system An overview of this system is set out below It has been developed to allow a large number of distπbuted users to mteract with networked information via printed matter and optical sensors thereby to obtain interactive printed matter on demand from high-speed networked color printers

0019For this purpose, the Applicant has developed a range of netpage printers Of these, the wallpπnter is designed to be wall mounted m the area where the user would normally first consume the morning news such as m the kitchen or beside the breakfast table In light of this, it is expected that the wallpπnter will be one of the most widely used of the netpage printers and therefore it will be descπbed m detail below to illustrate one specific embodiment of the mvention However, it will be appreciated that this is merely one example of the mvention, which may be embodied m many other forms BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

0020Figure 1 shows a plan view of the wallpπnter,

0021Figure 2 shows a front elevation of the wallpnnter,

0022Figure 3 shows a left side elevation of the wallpπnter,

0023Figure 4 shows a ghost view front elevation of the wallpπnter, Figure 5 shows a section view of the wallpπnter,

0024Figure 6 shows an enlarged section view of the upper part of the wallpnnter,

0025Figure 7 shows an enlarged section view of the lower part of the wallpnnter,

0026Figure 8 is a front three quarter view of the closed glue stπp assembly in isolation,

0027Figure 9 is a front three quarter view of the open glue stπp assembly m isolation, Figure 10 is a rear three quarter view of the open glue stπp assembly m isolation,

0028Figure 11 shows a section on centre of the glue stnp assembly,

0029Figure 12 is an end three quarter view of the open glue stnp assembly m isolation, and

0030Figure 13 is an end three quarter view of the closed glue stπp assembly m isolation

0031DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED AND OTHER EMBODIMENTS Note Memjet™ is a trade mark of Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd, Australia

0032In the prefeπed embodiment, the invention is configured to work with the netpage svstem, an overview of which follows The system is descπbed in this specification to reduce the need for external reference when attempting to understand the context in which the preferred embodiments and aspects of the present mvention operate

0033In its preferred form, the netpage system relies on the production of, and human interaction with, netpages These are pages of text, graphics and images pnnted on ordinary paper, but which work like interactive

0034Web pages Information is encoded on each page usmg ink, which is substantially invisible to the unaided human eye

0035The ink, however, and thereby the encoded information, can be sensed by an optically imagmg pen (the netpage pen) and transmitted to the netpage system

0036In the preferred form, active buttons and hyperlinks on each page can be clicked with the netpage pen to request information from the network or to signal preferences to a network server In one embodiment, text written by hand on a netpage is automatically recognized via the pen, allowing forms to be filled m In other embodiments, signatures recorded on a netpage are automatically venfied, allowing e-commerce transactions to be securely authorized

0037The netpage pen works m conjunction with a netpage pπnter, an Internet-connected printing appliance for home, office or mobile use The pen is wireless and communicates securely with the netpage pπnter via a short-range radio link

0038The netpage printer delivers, penodically or on demand, personalized newspapers, magazmes, catalogs, brochures and other publications, all printed at high quality as interactive netpages Unlike a personal computer, the netpage pπnter is an appliance which can be, for example, wall-mounted adjacent an area where the morning news is first consumed, such as in a user's kitchen, near a breakfast table, or at the household's pomt of departure for the day It also comes m tabletop, desktop, portable and miniature versions Netpages printed at their pomt of consumption combine the ease-of-use of paper with the timeliness and interactivity of an interactive medium

0039The netpage system is made considerably more convement because of the functional supeπoπty of the netpage printers At the heart of these printers are high-speed microelectromechanical system (MEMS) based Inkjet (Memjet™) pπntheads descnbed m vaπous co-pending and co-filed applications from the list above In the preferred form of this technology, relatively high-speed and high-quality pπnting is made more affordable to consumers In its prefeπed form, a netpage publication has the physical characteπstics of a traditional newsmagazine, such as a set of letter-size glossy pages printed in full color on both sides, bound together for easy navigation and comfortable handling

0040A netpage pπnter prints pages of photographic-quality images and magazme quality text at a rate of over 30 double sided sheets per minute (that is, more than 60 pages per minute) They come m a vaπety of forms, mcludmg wall-mounted versions, tabletop versions, portable versions, and pocket versions Given the nature of the netpage system, it is envisaged that one of the most commercially relevant forms of netpage pπnter will be the wall mounted version referred to as wallpπnter For convemence, the present invention will be descπbed m detail with reference to this specific version shown in the accompanying drawings The vertically-mounted netpage wallpπnter 600 is shown fully assembled in Figures 1 and 2 As best shown in Figures 4 and 5, it prints netpages on A4 sized media usmg duplexed Memjet™ print engmes 602 and 603 It uses a straight paper path with the paper 604 passmg through duplexed print engmes 602 and 603 which print both sides of a sheet simultaneously, m full color and with full bleed A multi-DSP raster image processor (RIP) rasteπzes pages to internal memory, and a pair of custom pnnt engme controllers expand, dither and print page images to the duplexed pπntheads m real time

0041An integral binding assembly 605 applies a stnp of glue along one edge of each pnnted sheet, allowing it to adhere to the previous sheet when pressed against it This creates a final bound document 618 which can range in thickness from one sheet to several hundred sheets The bmdmg assembly will be considered in close detail below with particular reference to Figures 7 to 13 Referring to Figures 1 to 7, the Wallpπnter 600 consists of a mam chassis 606, which accommodates all major components and assemblies It has a pivoting media tray 607 on the front upper portion, which is covered by a front molding 608 and handle molding 609 The front moldmg 608, handle moldmg 609 and lower front moldmg 610 can vary m color, texture and finish to make the product more appealmg to consumers They simply clip onto the front of the wallpnnter 600 A flexible pnnted circuit board (flex PCB) runs from the media tray 607 to the mam PCB 612 It mcludes four different color LEDs 613, 614, 615 and 616 and a push button 617 The LEDs show through the front molding and indicate "on" 613, "ink out" 614, "paper out" 615, and "eπor" 616 The push button 617 elicits pnnted "help" m the form of usage instructions, pnnter and consumable status information, and a directory of resources on the netpagenetwork Pnnted, bound documents 618 exit through the base of the wallpnnter 600 mto a clear, plastic, removable collection tray 619 This is discussed m greater detail below with specific reference to Figure 7 The wallpπnter 600 is powered by an internal 110V/220V power supply 620 and has a metal mounting plate 621 that is secured to a wall or stable vertical surface by four screws Plunged keyhole slot details 622 m the metal plate 621 allow for four spigots mounted on the rear of the printer to hook onto the plate As best shown m Figure 6, the wallpπnter 600 is prevented from bemg lifted off by a screw 623 that locates the chasis moldmg 606 to the plate 621 at one position behind the media tray 607

0042Referring to Figure 3, the side of the wallpπnter 600 mcludes a module bay which accommodates a network mterface module 625 which allows the pπnter to be connected to the netpage network and to a local computer or network The mterface module 625 can be selected and installed m the factory or m the field to provide the interfaces required by the user The modules may have common connector options, such as IEEE 1394 (Firewire) connection, standard Centronics pπnter port connection or a combined USB2 and Ethernet connection This allows the consumer to connect the wallpnnter 600 to a computer or use it as a network printer The mterface module PCB (with gold contact edge stnps) plugs directly mto the mam wallpπnter PCB 612 via an edge connector The different connector configurations are accommodated m the module design by use of a tool insert Fmger recesses 653 on either side of the module 625 allow for easy manual insertion or removal The mam PCB 612 is attached to the rear of the chassis 606 The board 612 interfaces through the chassis moldmg 606 to the mterface module 625 The PCB 612 also carnes the necessary peπpheral electronics to the Memjet™ prmtheads This mcludes a mam CPU with two 32MB DRAMs, flash memory, IEEE 1394 mterface chip, six motor controllers, vaπous sensor connectors, mterface module PCB edge connector, power management, internal/external data connectors and a QA chip Referring to Figures 4 and 5, paper 604 is placed mto a lunged top tray 607 and pressed down onto a sprung platen 666 The tray 607 is mounted to the chassis 606 via two lunges (not shown)

0043The paper 604 is positioned under edge guides before bemg closed and is automatically registered to one side of the tray by action of a metal spnng part An ink cartπdge 627 connects mto an mk connector molding via a senes of self-sealing connectors The connectors transmit ink, air and glue to their separate locations The ink connector moldmg contains a sensor, which detects a QA chip on the mk cartndge and veπfies identification pnor to printing When the front hatch is sensed closed, a release mechanism allows the sprung platen 666 to push the paper 604 against a motorized media pick-up roller assembly 626

0044Figure 6, shows a section through the replaceable ink cartπdge 627 It has bladders or chambers for storing fixative 644, and cyan 631, magenta 632, yellow 633, black 634 and infrared 635 inks As shown m Figure 4, the cartπdge 627 also contains a micro an filter 636 and an adhesive bladder 630 in a base moldmg The micro air filter 636 interfaces with an air pump 638 mside the pπnter via a hose This provides filtered air to the pπntheads to prevent ingress of micro particles mto the Memjet™ pπntheads which may clog the nozzles By incorporating the air filter 636 within the cartπdge 627, the operational life of the filter is effectively linked to the life of the cartndge This ensures that the filter is replaced together with the cartπdge rather than relying on the user to clean or replace the filter at the required intervals

0045The cartndge 627 has a thin wall casing 640 The ink bladders 631 to 635 and fixitive bladder 644 are suspended within the casmg by a pm 645 which hooks the cartπdge together This is a fully recyclable product with a capacity for printing and gluing 3000 pages (1500 sheets)

0046The motonzed media pick-up roller assembly 626 pushes the top sheet directly from the media tray 607 past a paper sensor (not shown) on the first pnnt engme 602 into the duplexed Memjet™ pnnthead assembly Two

0047Memjet™ pnnt engines 602 and 603 are mounted in a directly opposmg configuration along the straight paper path The paper 604 is drawn mto the first pnnt engme 602 by the powered pick-up rollers 626 where the position and size of the paper 604 is sensed and full bleed printing commences

0048Fixative is pnnted simultaneously to aid drying m the shortest possible time The Memjet™ pnnt engmes 602 and 603 mclude a rotary cappmg, blotting and platen device The cappmg device seals the Memjet™ pπntheads when not m use It uncaps and rotates to produce an integral blotter, which is used for absorbmg ink fired from the pπntheads during routine pπnter startup maintenance It simultaneously moves an internal cappmg device mside the Memjet™ pπnthead that allows air to flow mto the protective nozzle shield area The third rotation of the device moves a platen surface mto place, which supports one side of the sheet 604 during printing

0049As shown m Figures 7 to 13, the paper 4 passes from the duplexed pnnt engmes 602 and 603, mto the binder assembly 605 As the sheet 604 passes through the glue stπp assembly 673 a retractable stop 706 peπodically extends mto the paper path for temporaπly stoppmg the page to allow the glue sponge stπp to apply a lme of adhesive to one horizontal edge on the front side (apart from the first sheet of a document) The retractable stop 706 retracts once the glue stπp has applied adhesive to the page such that the page is gravity fed to a bmdmg area where each page is sequentially adhered to the previous page Figures 8 to 13 show the glue stπp assembly m detail It has a molded glue stnp housmg 683, a sponge glue stπp 681 on the front and a glue hose 641 that runs the length of the molding 683 and exits from one side The glue hose 641 has a seπes of holes along its length to provide glue to the glue stnp 681 When not m use, the glue stπp housmg 683 is covered by identical upper and lower lids 679 and 680 respectively The lids are pivoted m lunge blocks 684 attached to the metal support beam 674 Spπngs 685 close the lids together to form a seal around the sponge glue stnp 681 to prevent any significant detenoration of the glue when the glue stπp assembly 673 is not m use

0050When the camshaft 642 is activated, the glue stπp housmg 683 is pushed forward A wedge feature 682 on the side of the housmg 683 forces the lids 679 and 680 open to allow the glue stπp 681 to contact the pnnted page (not shown) As shown in Figure 10, metal stnp return spπngs 672 joining the glue stnp housmg 683 and the support beam 674 The return spπngs 672 return the housmg 683 to the moperative position as the lids 679 and 680 automatically enclose the glue stnp 681

0051It will be appreciated that this arrangement allows the media tray, binding station and collection station can be aπanged in "landscape" oπentation (short sides parallel to paper movement) to shorten the length of the pnnter This provides a relatively compact design that can more easily fit mto environments havmg limited space

0052The "landscape" bmder assembly 605 is best shown m Figure 7 It has a metal support chassis 686, a sprung molded bmdmg platen 687 that runs on four traverser rods, a molded angled platen which supports the document 618 after the sheet 604 has been moved across, and an exit hatch 690 The pnnted page 604 is fed in until it rests on the exit hatch 690 The bmdmg platen is propelled forward at high speed via a looped system of wheels and a sprung steel cable 693 that attaches to a powered cable winder shaft 694 As the cable winder shaft 694 is rotated, the cable loop 693 shortens and transports the bmdmg platen forward This powered shaft 694 has a slip clutch mechanism and provides the necessary speed to push the sheet 604 forward onto the rear of a previous sheet, glue/bind it then return under the action of return spπngs to the home position to accept the next pnnted sheet A smgle operating cycle of the reciprocating platen takes less than 2 seconds

0053The cable 693 is sprung to allow for positive pressure to be applied to the previous sheet to aid bmdmg Furthermore, the angled platen is shallower at the top than at the base m order to support the document 618 m an over axis configuration

0054A paper tapper 643 knocks the sheet 604 to one side of the binder assembly 605 as it is transported across to the angled platen The mam PCB 612 controls motors for the cable winder shaft 694, the tapper 643 and the exit hatch 690

0055When a document 618 is bound and fimshed, the powered exit hatch 690, which mcludes a tamper sensor, opens The tapper 643 also tap aligns the pnnted document 618 dunng ejection out of the bmder assembly 605 mto the collection tray 619 Plastic foils 698 on the lower front moldmg 610 work together with the hatch 690 to direct the fimshed document 618 to the back of the collection tray 619 and feed any further documents mto the tray without hitting existing ones The collection tray 619 is molded m clear plastic and pulls out of its socket under a certain loading Access for removing documents is provided on three sides

0056The mvention has been descnbed herein with reference to the specific examples only Skilled workers m this field will readily recogmse many vanations and modifications, which do not depart from the spiπt and scope of the broad inventive concept