2. Description of Related Art [0002] Sheet binding is one of the oldest known arts, and numerous methods and apparatuses are known in the art for permanently or temporarily securing sheets together.

Most of these known methods and apparatus are only economically suited for high priced or high volume commercial printing operations.

[0003] U. S. Pat. No. 4,986, 713 to Zoltner et al. (assigned to the same assignee and incorporate herein by reference) which describes a novel apparatus for applying preformed hard or soft covers to bound or unbound documents, provides a solution to many of these problems. However, this apparatus is still too complicated and uneconomical for the average business office environment. Particularly, this apparatus is poorly suited to very small (10- 150) document sets and, due to its complexity, is susceptible to failure due to accidental misuse. Further, due to the design of the Zoltner device, the individual parts of the device must be robust enough to withstand the high forces generated within the Zoltner device during the binding of a book. Consequently, the Zoltner device is heavy and its parts are expensive in both materials and production costs.

[0004] U. S. Pat. No. 5,226, 771 to Gardner (assigned to the same assignee and incorporate herein by reference) which describes a novel apparatus for applying preformed hard or soft covers to bound or unbound documents, provides a solution to many of the problems associated with current document binding devices, including the Zoltner binding device. The Gardner device is well-suited to very small (10-150) document sets, is lightweight, and is relatively inexpensive when compared to other like devices. The Gardner device also has a feature that enables the device to automatically adjust for the thickness of the document being processed.

[0005] Although an improvement over the Zoltner device, the Gardner device has a number of disadvantages. One disadvantage is that the device can only bind document sets having up to 150 sheets of 20 lbs. paper. Another disadvantage is that the Gardner device requires multiple device handle pulls to bind or debind a document set. Another disadvantage is that it is difficult for the average person to operate the Gardner device due to the high forces (up to 70 lbs.) which must be applied to a handle during the binding operation. Further, the design and construction of the machine is complicated, involving many parts, all of which must work in precise unison or the device fails to operate. For example, while the automatic adjustment for thickness of paper is desirable, this feature complicates the design and construction of the device, making the device more prone to failures. This ultimately leads to costly repairs and more importantly to interruptions in bind or debind commercial activities for the end user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0006] This invention provides a binding apparatus of reduced complexity.

[0007) The invention further provides a binding apparatus having minimal number of components designed and fabricated so as to eliminate or reduce component breakage or fatigue.

[0008] The invention further provides a binding apparatus suitable for binding or debinding document sets of all channel sizes, including for example document sets having AA channel size (1-40 pages of 20 lb. paper) to document sets having G channel size (up to 350 pages of 20 lb. paper).

[0009] The invention further provides a binding apparatus which requires a single handle pull of minimal personal effort to bind or debind a document set.

[0010] The invention further provides a binding apparatus which is simple to operate and is more economical than the conventional binding device.

[0011] In various exemplary embodiments of the binding apparatus according to this invention, the binding apparatus for binding a plurality of pages with a U-shaped channel member comprises a deforming mechanism to deform the U-shaped channel member to secure the plurality of pages into the U-shaped channel upon an application of a binding force to the deforming mechanism; a force applying mechanism to position the deforming mechanism in a preparatory position adjacent the U-shaped channel and to subsequently apply the binding force to the deforming mechanism; and a coupling mechanism to couple the deforming mechanism to the force applying mechanism; wherein the deforming mechanism comprises a cylindrical cam, a cam jaw coupled to the cylindrical cam, and an adjustable jaw.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0012] Various exemplary embodiments of the system and method of this invention will be described with reference to the following figures, in which like elements have been denoted with like reference numerals throughout the figures, and in which : [0013] FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a document bound by the present apparatus; [0014] FIG. 2A is a top plan view of one exemplary embodiment of an improved binding apparatus according to this invention; [00151 FIG. 2B is a right side view of the binding apparatus of FIG. 2A; [0016] FIG. 3A is a right side view of the binding apparatus of FIG. 2A with the handle in a substantially horizontal position and showing a document to be bound in the binding apparatus; [00171 FIG. 3B is a right side view of the binding apparatus of FIG. 2A with the handle in a substantially vertical position; [0018] FIG. 4 is a side plan view of the left side rail of the binding apparatus of FIG. 2A; the right side rail is a mirror image of the left side rail; [0019] FIG. 5A is a back plan view of the cam jaw of the binding apparatus of FIG.

2A; [0020] FIG. 5Bis a front plan view of the cam jaw of the binding apparatus of FIG.

2A; [0021] FIG. 5C is a right side view of the cam jaw of binding the apparatus of FIG.

2A ; [0022] FIG. 6A is a front plan view of the adjustable jaw of the binding apparatus of FIG. 2A; [0023] FIG. 6B is a right side view of the adjustable jaw of the binding apparatus of FIG. 2A; [0024] FIG. 7A is a front plan view of the cam of the binding apparatus of FIG. 2A; [0025] FIG. 7B is a right side view of the cam of the binding apparatus of FIG. 2A; [0026] FIG. 8A is a top plan view of the handle of the binding apparatus of FIG.

2A; [0027] FIG. 8B is a side plan view of one of the handle arms of the binding apparatus of FIG. 2A; [0028] FIG. 9A is a side plan view of the cam pressure plate of the binding apparatus of FIG. 2A; [0029] FIG. 9B is an end view of the cam pressure plate of the binding apparatus of FIG. 2A; [0030] FIGS. 10A-10D are schematic views of the binding apparatus of FIG. 2A showing the operational sequence for binding a document in accordance with the present invention; and [0031] FIGS. 11A-1 IF are schematic views of the binding apparatus of FIG. 2A showing the operational sequence for debinding a document in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS [0032] FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a document 80 bound by the binding apparatus of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the document, such as, for example, book 80 comprises pages 82 which are to be bound and a book cover assembly 84. The number of pages 82 which can be bound by the binding apparatus of the invention is in the range of 5 to 1,000, and in one exemplary embodiment, the number of pages 82 is between 10 and 400 pages.

[0033] As shown in FIG. 1, the book cover assembly 84 is formed by connecting two hard covers 88 to a U-shaped soft steel channel member 86 with a paper or fabric spine member 92. The spine member 92 covers the outer surface of hard covers 88, wrapping around their edges. Heavy paper face plates 90 are attached to the outside edges of the hard covers 88. To construct a book 80, the pages 82 to be bound are placed into the U-shaped channel member 86 along with the free ends of the face plates 90. After the pages 82 are squared up and centered in the U-shaped channel member 86, the unbound book 80 is placed onto the binding apparatus, as described below.

[0034] FIGS. 2A-2B show a top plan view and a side plan view of an exemplary embodiment of the binder apparatus 10 according to this invention. FIGS. 3A-3B show schematic side views of the binding apparatus of FIGS. 2A-2B with the document to be bound 80 in the apparatus. As shown in FIG. 3B, the apparatus 10 is a non-binding position with a handle 20 in a substantially vertical position. Unbound book 80 is placed in apparatus 10 when it is in the non-binding position. To bind the book 80, the handle 20 is moved from the vertical non-binding position shown in FIG. 3B to the horizontal binding position shown in FIGS. 2A-B and 3A. When the handle 20 is moved towards the binding position, a back jaw or cam jaw 22a is moved towards a front jaw or adjustable jaw 22b, which is held stationary by two jaw locking screws 28, such that book 80 (FIG. 3A) positioned in a book binding channel 24 is forced into a bound condition. A cylindrical cam 26, coupled to binding apparatus handle 20 by handle-cam rod screws 30, provides a moving pressure on the cam jaw 22a, thus forcing the cam jaw 22a to move towards the adjustable jaw 22b.

[0035] In particular, from the action of the cylindrical cam 26, the cam jaw 22a is moved towards the adjustable jaw 22b such that the U-shaped channel member 86 is bent inwardly, catching and compressing the pages 82. The cam and adjustable jaws 22a and 22b bear against the U-shaped channel member 86 through the spine member 92 at approximately the top quarter of the length of the uprights 86a of the U-shaped channel member 86.

Because the U-shaped channel member 86 is made of soft steel (as opposed to spring steel), the force of the jaws 22a and 22b plasticly deform the U-shaped channel member. As the uprights of the U-shaped channel member 86 plasticly deform inward from the force of jaws 22a and 22b, the paper pages 82 and face plates 90 become compressed between the approaching uprights 86a of the U-shaped channel member 86.

[0036] When the handle 20 is returned to the vertical non-binding position, the plasticly deformed soft steel U-shaped channel member 86 may undergo a minimal amount of elastic spring back. However, because the pages 82 were also compressed during the binding operation, they also elasticly spring back, thereby ensuring that the pages 82 are securely bound within the U-shaped channel member 86.

[0037] In the present invention, a single stroke of the movable cam jaw 22a against the U-shaped channel member 86 is all that is required to securely bind book 80. This feature reduces the amount of time needed to completely and securely bind the book 80.

Furthermore, the single binding stroke requires only minimal force to be applied to the handle 20 of the binding apparatus of the present invention due to the cam design.

[0038] Various other features of the improved binder apparatus 10 are described below. As shown in FIGS. 2,3A and 3B, the binder apparatus 10 includes a base plate 32 on which the binder apparatus components are mounted and/or attached. The base plate 32 has a generally square or slightly rectangular shape and includes top and bottom main faces 32a and 32b and four lateral side faces 32c. The base plate 32 is supported by foot pads 34 arranged in each of the four corners of the plate 32. In an exemplary embodiment, the base plate 32 is a solid metal plate, such as, for example, an aluminum plate, having a slightly rectangular shape. However, other configurations and materials for the base plate may be practiced within the scope of this invention, for example a hollow square shaped base plate of a hard plastic.

[0039] The binding apparatus 10 further includes two side rails 36a and 36b that are mounted on the base plate 32. As shown in FIG. 2, side rails 36a and 36b are positioned parallel to each other and on opposite sides of top face 32a of the base plate 32. The left side rail 36a and the right side rail 36b are secured to the top face 32a of the base plate 32 via rail locking screws (not shown) mounted from the bottom face 32b of the base plate 32.

[0040] The side rails 36a and 36b provide structural support to a number of binding apparatus components as well as provide a physical means for coupling the handle 20 to the cylindrical cam 26 of the binding apparatus 10. The shape, configuration and positioning of the side rails 36a and 36b on the base plate 32 also provide for a controlled closed pathway for the cam jaw 22a to move or travel during a bind or debind operation, as well as for a controlled closed pathway for the adjustable jaw 22b to move before being locked in the binding position by the two jaw locking screws 28.

[0041] FIG. 4 schematically illustrates a side plan view of the right side rail 36b of binding apparatus 10. It will be noted that the left side rail 36a is a mirror image of the right side rail 36b and includes all of the features and elements of right side rail 36b.

[0042] As shown in FIG. 4, a large side rail opening or void 42 and a small side rail opening or void 44 are formed in each of the left and right side rails 36a and 36b. The large side rail opening 42, in part, allows the end sides (shown in detail as items 60e in FIG. 6A) of the adjustable jaw 22b to be positioned within the binding apparatus 10. The height 42a of the large side rail opening 42 is approximately equal to the height 60a of the adjustable jaw 22b (shown in detail in FIGS. 6A-6B) to enable the ends 60e of the adjustable jaw 22b to fit closely within the large side rail opening 42 of each of the left and right side rails 36a and 36b. The length 42b of the large side rail opening 42 is such so as to accommodate the width (item 60b in FIG. 6B) of the adjustable jaw 22b and to allow the formation of a large number of book binding channel sizes. For example, the length 42b may be selected to allow adjustment of the jaws 22a and 22b to accommodate channel size AA (1-10 pages) to channel size G (350 pages) or more.

[0043] The small side rail opening 44, in part, allows the end sides (shown in detail as items 55e in FIG. 5B) of the movable cam jaw 22a to be positioned within the binding apparatus 10. The height 44a of the small side rail opening 44 is approximately equal to the height 55d of the lower portion 54 of the cam jaw 22a (shown in detail in FIGS. 5A-5C) to enable the lower portion 54 of the cam jaw 22a to fit closely within the small side rail opening 44 of each of the left and right side rails 36a and 36b. The length 44b of the small side rail opening 44 is such so as to accommodate the width (item 55b in FIGS. 5C) of the cam jaw lower portion 54 and a traveling rotational length of the cam 26 during bind/debind operations.

[0044] Referring back to FIGS. 3A-3B and 4, the left and right side rails 36a-36b each include a pin or post 40 that protrudes out of the inner side of the left and right side rails 36a-36b at approximately the far end region of the small side rail opening 44. Two springs 38 (one for each side rail) couple to side rail pins 40 at one end. At their other end, springs 38 attach to the back side of the cam jaw 22a at a coupling point (shown as item 46 in FIG.

5A) via pin 48. Springs 38 provide a pulling force onto the cam jaw 22a to enable the cam jaw 22a to retract toward the cam 26 when the handle 20 is raised to the full vertical position following the completion of a bind or debind operation.

[0045] Referring back to FIG. 4, at approximately the far end 50 of the side rails 36a-36b, openings or voids 52 are formed in each of the side rails 36a-36b. The openings or voids 52 are sized so as to allow the ends 27 of a rod 100 traversing in a longitudinal direction the cylindrical cam 26 to fit through the openings 52 and be coupled to the handle 20 of the binding apparatus 10 via handle-cam screws 30. Through this arrangement, the cam 26 directly couples to the handle 20 of the apparatus 10, with both ultimately being secured in place by the side rails 36a-36b which are fixedly mounted on the base plate 32.

[0046] FIGS. 5A-5C schematically show top, front and side plan views of the movable cam jaw 22a. As discussed above, the movable cam jaw 22a slides over the base plate 32 under the moving pressure caused by the rotation of the cylindrical cam 26 against the back side 56 of the movable cam jaw 22a. In an exemplary embodiment, the movable cam jaw 22a has an L-shape configuration with a substantially rectangular upper portion 53 and a lower portion 54 having a binding edge 56 extending along the entire length 55c of the lower portion 54. The binding edge 56 has an angled configuration that enables the movable cam jaw 22a to compress, bend and plasticly deform one side of the U-shaped channel member 86 of document 80 in the manner illustrated in FIG. 1, with the other side of the U- shaped channel member of the document being compressed, bent and plasticly deformed by the adjustable jaw binding edge, as discussed below.

[0047] The binding edge 56 is formed by shaping both the upper and lower sides of the movable cam jaw lower portion 54 at an angle. In one exemplary embodiment, the binding edge 56 has an angled configuration formed by shaping each of the upper and lower sides of the movable cam jaw lower portion 54 at about a 45 degree angle.

[0048] As discussed above, the movable cam jaw 22a couples to a pair of springs 38 at coupling points 46 via pins 48 (shown in FIGS. 3A-3B). In one exemplary embodiment, the springs 38 couple to each end 55f of the back side portion on the movable cam jaw lower portion 54. Springs 38 provide a pulling force onto the cam jaw 22a to enable the cam jaw 22a to retract toward the cam 26 when the handle 20 is raised to the full vertical position following the completion of a bind or debind operation.

[0049] FIGS. 6A and 6B schematically show a front plan view and a side view of the adjustable jaw 22b of binding apparatus 10. The adjustable jaw 22b has a semi-free coupling arrangement within the binding apparatus 10. That is, in the document binding. set up stage, the adjustable jaw 22b slides freely over the base plate 32 until it meets the pages of the document to be bound. At that position within the binding apparatus 10, the adjustable jaw 22b may be held stationary by the two adjustable jaw locking screws 28 (shown in FIGS.

2 and 3A-3B), which can be adjusted to precisely fix the location of the adjustable jaw 22b to accommodate different channel size documents, such as, for example, book 80.

[0050] In one exemplary embodiment, the adjustable jaw 22b has a generally rectangular parallelepiped shape having a binding edge 61 extending along the entire length 60c of the adjustable jaw 22b. The adjustable jaw binding edge 61 has an angled configuration similar to that of the movable cam jaw edge 56 to enable the adjustable jaw 22b to compress, bend and plasticly deform one side of the U-shaped channel member 86 of the document in the manner illustrated in FIG. 1, with the other side of the U-shaped channel member of the document being compressed, bent and plasticly deformed by the movable cam jaw binding edge 56 discussed above.

[0051] When disposed within the binding apparatus 10, the adjustable jaw 22b is positioned such that its end sides 60e are disposed within the large side rail opening 42. The height 60a of the adjustable jaw 22b is approximately equal to the height 42a of the large side rail opening 42 (shown in detail in FIG. 4). This configuration enables the ends 60e of the adjustable jaw 22b to fit closely within the large side rail opening 42 of each of the left and right side rails 36a and 36b. As discussed above, the length 42b of the large side rail opening 42 is such so as to accommodate the width 60b of the adjustable jaw 22b and to allow the formation of a large number of book binding channel sizes.

[0052] It will be noted that the width or thickness 60b of the adjustable jaw 22b is significantly larger than the width/thickness of the upper portion 53 of the movable cam jaw 22a. The adjustable jaw width or thickness configuration is selected in part to ensure that the adjustable jaw 22b remains stationary during bind and debind operations. In one exemplary embodiment, the adjustable jaw 22b has a solid configuration and is made of a metal, for example steel ; however, other adjustable jaw configurations and materials known or later developed in the art may be practiced within the scope of this invention.

[0053] FIGS. 7A and 7B schematically show front plan and side views of an exemplary embodiment of the cam 26 of binding apparatus 10 according to this invention.

As shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the cam 26 has a generally cylindrical shape. The cam 26 has a cylindrical opening 101 extending in a longitudinal or axial direction through the entire length 26c of the cam 26. The cam opening 101 is located off center from the axial direction of the cam 26. The cam 26 further includes a cam rod 100 that is positioned through the cam opening 101 and is fixedly coupled to the cam via welding and/or one or more screws (not shown). In one exemplary embodiment, the cam rod 100 has a solid configuration and is generally made of metal. The portion of the cam rod 100 that is positioned within cam 26 has a square configuration so that the cam rod 100 fits tightly within cam opening 101. The end portions 27 of the cam rod 100 that are disposed at each end 26e of the cam 26 body have a cylindrical configuration or shape. The two cylindrical cam rod ends 27 extend in an axial direction with the cam 26 body. Each cylindrical cam rod end 27 has a threaded groove at its radial center to fit a handle-cam screw 30 that is used to couple the handle 20 to the cam 26.

[0054] The cylindrical cam 26 is coupled to the binding apparatus handle 20 and the two side rails 36a-36b via handle-cam screws 30 (shown in FIGS. 2 and 3A-3B) tightened in the cam rod ends 27 threaded groove. During operation, when the handle 20 is moved towards the horizontal binding position, the cylindrical cam 26 provides the moving pressure on the cam jaw 22a to force the cam jaw 22a to move towards the adjustable jaw 22b. In various exemplary embodiments, the cylindrical cam 26 has a length 26c that is about equal to the length 53a of the upper portion 53 of movable cam jaw 22a. This configuration allows the moving pressure of the cylindrical cam 26 to be applied evenly and/or uniformly over the entire length 53a of the cam jaw 22a. Furthermore, this cam/cam jaw configuration eliminates or reduces fatigue and calibration issues associated with cam and jaw assemblies having unequal lengths.

[0055] The cam rod 100 and the cam rod ends 27 are positioned relative to the cam 26 in an off-center position relative to the radial center 26b of the cylindrical cam 26. That is, the radial center 27b of cam rod 100 and thus, each of the cam rod ends 27 is positioned at an off-set distance 27d from the radial center 26b of the cam body 26. During a bind/debind operation, the off-center positioning of the cam rod and cam rod ends 27 relative to the radial center 26b of the body of the cam 26 allows the cam 26 to rotate in an arc 27e and move in a forward manner towards the cam jaw 26a even though the cam 26 itself does not physically slide forward within the binding apparatus 10.

[0056] The off-set distance 27d between the radial center 27b of the cam rod 100 and cam rod ends 27 and the radial center 26b of the body of the cam 26 is pre-selected relative to at least the diameter of the cam 26, the width of the cam rod 100 and diameter of the cam rod ends 27, the length of the handle arms 21, and the thickness of the handle 20.

The off-set distance 27d between the radial center 27b of the cam rod ends 27 and the radial center 26b of the body of the cam 26 is selected such that a document is fully bound when the handle 20 reaches the handle rest supports 75 (shown in FIGS. 3A-3B) on the base 32 of the binding apparatus 10. The cam-handle configuration of the present invention allows a document to be bound using a single handle pull of minimal personal effort. In an exemplary embodiment, for a binding apparatus having a 1.5 in. diameter cam with 0.5 in. diameter end posts, the off-set distance 27d between the radial center 27b of the cam rod ends 27 and the radial center 26b of the body of the cam 26 is approximately 0.48 in. However, as stated above, the off-set distance 27d may have other values that are selected based on the dimensions and characteristics of the binding apparatus components and the requirement that a document is fully bound when the handle 20 reaches the rests 75 of base 32 of the binding apparatus 10 and achieves binding with a desired low pressure force applied to the handle 20.

Binding force is further controllable by selection of handle arm 21 length.

[0057] In one exemplary embodiment, the rotational arc 27e defined by the rotational movement of the cam rod ends 27 from a non-binding position A to a full-binding position B is about 150 degrees. In an exemplary embodiment, the distance defined by the rotational movement of the cam rod ends 27 from a non-binding position A to a full-binding position B is about 0.5 inches.

[0058] FIG. 8A schematically shows a top plan view of the handle 20 of binding apparatus 10, while FIG. 8B schematically shows a side plan view of one of the handle arms 21 of the binding apparatus 10. In an exemplary embodiment, the handle 20 has a generally cylindrical shape and is made of metal, for example, aluminum. It will be noted, however, that the handle 20 may have other shapes, such as, for example, elliptical or square, and may be constructed of materials other than metals, for example a hard plastic material or the like.

[0059] At each of its ends 20a, the handle 20 has threaded grooves 20b sized to fit threaded screws 65 that provide the coupling means between the handle 20 and the handle arms 21 at arm ends 21a. At their other end 21b, the handle arms 21 have a void or opening 21c that allow the handle arms to fit over and couple to the cylindrical cam posts 27 and to couple with the two side rails 36a-36b and cam 26 via handle-cam screws or pins 30. In an exemplary embodiment, the handle arms 21 have a blade-like rectangular configuration and are made of metal, for example steel. It will be noted, however, that the handle arms 21 may have other shapes and may be constructed of materials other than a metal, for example, a hard plastic material or the like.

[0060] FIGS. 9A and 9B schematically illustrate a side plan view and an end view of a removable cam jaw plate 70 of binding apparatus 10. The purpose of the cam jaw plate 70 is to prevent or minimize the wear of the cam 26 and cam jaw 22a from the stresses created by the metal-on-metal contact between the cam 26 and the cam jaw 22a. Further, the cam jaw plate 70 allows the binder apparatus handle 20 to bottom out during the binding process and reduces the cam jaw 22a from tilting during the binding or debinding process.

[0061] In an exemplary embodiment, the cam jaw plate 70 has a rectangular shape or configuration. The cam jaw plate 70 is positioned between the cam jaw 22a at a position on the cam jaw where the cam 26 contacts with the cam jaw 22a. The cam jaw plate 70 has a length 70a that is slightly smaller than the length 53a of the top portion 53 of the cam jaw 22a. However, length 70a may be equal to the cam length 53b. The width 70b of the back jaw cover 70 may be appropriately sized to fit between the cam jaw 22a and cam 26. The cam jaw plate 70 is generally made of a high density plastic material or similar material.

Since the cam jaw plate 70 is removable, it may be replaced with a new plate when needed, thus eliminating the requirement to replace the entire cam jaw and/or cam of the binding apparatus.

[0062] The operation of binding apparatus 10 is shown in FIGS. 10A-lOD. Sheets 82 to be bound are first straightened so that the top and right-hand edges of all sheets are aligned (FIG. 10A). With the binder handle 20 is in its horizontal position, the pages 82 to be bound are placed in the bookbinding bed 24 between the adjustable jaw 22b and the cam jaw 22a (FIG. 10B). The adjustable jaw 22b is then manually moved forward until it meets the pages 82 to be bound. Next, the two jaw locking screws 28 are tightened until the adjustable jaw 22b is held securely in the binding position. While keeping the adjustable jaw 22b in the locked binding position, the handle 20 is raised to the full vertical non-binding position and the pages 82 are removed from the binding apparatus binding channel/bed 24.

[0063] Next, a U-shaped channel member 86 is positioned in the binding channel 24 of the bookbinding apparatus 10 and the pages 82 and hard covers 88 are inserted into the channel member 86 (FIG. 10C). To bind the book 80, the handle 20 is moved from the vertical non-binding position shown in FIG. 10C to the horizontal binding position shown in FIG. 1 OD. To do this, the middle of binding handle 20 is grasped with both hands and pulled toward the operator and down until the handle reaches the full horizontal position and rests on a pair of elastomer-like stops (items 75 in FIGS. 3A-3B) disposed on the base plate of the binding apparatus. The channel member 86 has now been crimped against the pages 82 inserted therein to form a uniquely bound book. The handle 20 is now raised to its original vertical non-binding position in order to remove the bound book and to ready the binder for the next book bind.

[0064] The operation of binding apparatus 10 to debind a book is shown in FIGS.

11A-11E. To debind a bound document, such as, for example, book 80, the two jaw locking <BR> screws 28 are reversed, i. e. , untightened, until they are no longer visible inside the left and right side rails 36a and 36b. The two locking screws 28 need not be completely removed from the binding apparatus 10. Next, the binding apparatus handle 20 is raised to the full vertical non-binding position and the cam jaw 22a is pushed toward the back of the binding apparatus 10 as far as possible (FIG. 11A).

[0065] In the next step, a debinding wedge 75 is inserted into the book 80. The debinding wedge 75 is inserted into the book 80 such that a pointed edge 75a of the wedge 75 is positioned towards the spine 92 of the bound document. In various exemplary embodiments, the debinding wedge 75 is inserted as far as possible into the book and at approximately the center of the bound document 80. With the wedge 75 inserted into the book, the spine 92 of the book may be tapped on the base 32 of the binding apparatus to secure wedge 75 in the spine 92 of the book (FIG. 11B).

[0066] Next, the wedge 75, which has been placed into the book 80, is inserted into the right side rail 36b. To do so, the left side 75b of wedge 75 is positioned into the opening 44 of the left side rail 36a. The wedge is then placed into the grooves above the locking screws 28 on the backside of each side rail 36a and 36b. At this point, the spine 92 of the book to be debound will be facing the cam jaw 22a of the binding/debinding apparatus 10. It will be noted that for books having AA channel sizes, the spine 92 is inserted into a AA debinding accessory 76 which supports the spine 92 during the debinding process (FIG 11 C).

[0067] In the next debinding step, a larger debinding filler 77 is placed between the spine 92 of the book to be debound and the cam jaw 22a, and a smaller debinding filler 78 is placed between the cam and adjustable jaws 22a and 22b in the bookbinding channel 24 (FIG. 11D). Debinding fillers 77 and 78 may be made of plastic or alike. While keeping this arrangement, the handle 20 is pulled firmly to the horizontal binding position using both hands (FIG. l lE). The book 80 is now debound. Next, the handle 20 is raised to the full vertical position and the larger debinding filler 77 and the book cover 88 and pages 82 may be removed (FIG. 1 IF). Finally, the debinding wedge 75 and pages 82 are removed from the book cover 88 to allow the book cover to be used again to bound a book.

[0068] Although the invention has been described in detail, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.