METHOD FOR THE PRINTING LAYOUT OF BOOKS, MAGAZINES AND THE LIKE ON PRINTED SHEETS FOR THE GRAPHIC ARTS INDUSTRY

Abstract

The present invention is related to the field of diverse industrial techniques, where through the bookbinding of albums, classifiers, and printed, it allows implementing processes for making books combining various operations starting from simple sheets. In particular, the invention discloses a new method for book imposition, magazines, and similar, in print, for the graphic arts industry that seeks to organize the book pages to be collected in sheets. The method is characterized because it implies the structuration of a numerical matrix for the imposition of the pages on a sheet, considering the book page and printing machine size printing by groups of sheets and adding guiding flaps that allow better sheets identification.

Claims

1-13. (canceled)

14. A method for the imposition of books, magazines and similar print media for the graphic arts industry, the method comprising the following steps: establishing a printing capacity, comprising establishing a number of pages that a printer can simultaneously print according to the printing capacity and the size of the printer and according the size of a book page, determining the number of sheets that must be printed to produce a book, comprising dividing the number of pages of the book by a capacity of the printer, elaborating a model comprising a last sheet with a first flap and a second flap, each one of the first flap and the second flap being disposed respectively along the length and width of the last sheet, structuring of a numerical matrix within the model, comprising: organizing each sheet of the model in a matrix with columns and rows, associating a numbering of each of the pages of the book with a corresponding cells outlined in the numerical matrix; the page numbering begins in the first sheet in the cell corresponding to the first column and first row; the back of each cell showing a number that correspond to the back of the page; wherein a first numbering that begins in the cell of the first column and the first row of the first sheet continues to the cell of the first column and first row of successive sheets until all of the sheets are exhausted, once the first numbering is completed, a second numbering continues on to the cell of the first column and the second row of the first sheet and continues to the cell of the first column and the second row of successive sheets until all of the sheets are exhausted, once the second numbering is completed, a successive numbering continues on to the cell of the first column and a successive row of the first sheet and continues to the cell of the first column and the next successive row of the first sheet, and continues in this fashion until all of the sheets are exhausted, printing a first sheet, comprising printing an additional print run of about 5% to about 10% of the total number of sheets, printing a second sheet, comprising printing an additional print run about 5% to about 10% of the total number of sheets, printing the remaining consecutive sheets until all the sheets are printed, comprising an additional print run about 5% to 10% of the total number of sheets, locating all of the sheets in groups, comprising locating a first group of sheets on a table or flat surface wherein the first page of the first sheet is placed at the left top corner, and locating the rest of the groups of sheets on the table or flat surface adjacent to the first group of sheets, collecting all of the sheets manually, mechanically or electronically, and locating all of the sheets on top of one another at the end of the table or flat surface, on an inclined and preferably vibratory square, making a first cut of the sheets, joining trims of already-cut sheets, making additional cuts of the sheets according to the capacity of the book, conducting a book formation and final refining comprising placing already-separated groups of pages in a gluing machine and applying a hot glue or another gluing method to hold the book and place a cover thereon, and placing the book on a guillotine and making a final cut or trim.

15. The method according to claim 14 wherein all of the sheets to be printed comprise the same size except the last sheet; the last sheet comprising two flaps each one of about 1 cm and preferably located in width and height that is aligned with a machine registration.

16. The method according to claim 14 wherein the model comprises a marking disposed at the top of the model and in all of the sheets that correspond to the position of the printer's gripper such that the registration of the printed sheets is substantially constant.

17. The method according to claim 14 wherein structuring of a numerical matrix within the model further comprises: organizing each sheet of the model in a column and row matrix according to the number of pages that fit on the printer without having a predetermined limit of columns and rows.

18. The method according to claim 14 wherein structuring of a numerical matrix within the model further comprises: an ordering of the numbers associated with each cell; the ordering of the numbers being aligned with a guide located at the top of the sheet.

19. The method according to claim 14 wherein structuring of a numerical matrix within the model further comprises: associating the numbering of the book pages with mapped cells in the numerical matrix, starting with the numbering in the first sheet in the cell of the first column and the first row.

20. The method according to claim 14 wherein structuring of a numerical matrix within the model further comprises: showing, in the back of each cell, a page number that corresponds to the back of the page.

21. The method according to claim 14 wherein structuring of a numerical matrix within the model further comprises: a numbering of the pages that starts in the first cell of the first column of the first sheet and continues to the first cell of the second sheet and continues in a similar fashion to the first cell of successive sheets until all the sheets are exhausted.

22. The method according to claim 14 wherein the numerical matrix structuration in the model further comprises: once the first numbering is completed, a second numbering continues on to the cell of the first column and the second row of the first sheet and continues to the cell of the first column and the second row of successive sheets until all of the sheets are exhausted and until all of the numbering and all of the cells of the first column are exhausted.

23. The method according to claim 14 wherein the numerical matrix structuration in the model further comprises: upon all numbers being assigned to all the cells of the first column of each one of the sheets, the numbering sequence continues in a similar manner to the cell of the second column of the first row and further continues to the same cell of each successive sheet until all of the sheets in the sequence are exhausted; the method further comprising continuing the numbering in a similar fashion until the cell that belongs to the last column of the last row is numbered.

24. The method according to claim 14 further comprising: taking the book to the guillotine and pairing with the registration of the sheet to make a horizontal cut once all of the sheets are collected; a single cut separating the sheets and the trims of the pages such that the flaps will be located on the right side.

25. The method according to claim 14 wherein the rows of the pages already cut are joined together, maintaining an number established in the numerical matrix, and using the right flap as a guide that allows a lifting of the groups of sheets without counting them or having to visually ascertain that the group of sheets is complete, and taking into account the registration of the sheet; wherein the joining of the trims of the cut pages implies that the first group in the row is joined with the first row of the second group, and continuing in a similar successive fashion until all of the groups of rows are exhausted, thereby disposing them in the square considering the registration of the sheet.

26. The method according to claim 14 wherein making a second cut comprises placing the book on the guillotine to separate the sheets by columns and identifying the respective bottom flap to identify where the book ends.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0161] FIG. 1 is a top view of one embodiment of a group of model sheets that may be used in connection with the method according to the present invention; where the last sheet preferably has an additional 1 cm as flaps.

[0162] FIG. 2 is a top view of another embodiment of a group of model sheets with columns and rows that may be used in connection with the method according to the present invention.

[0163] FIG. 3. is a top view of one embodiment of two groups of collated sheets that may be used in connection with the method according to the present invention, and which are representative of an initial matrix numbering scheme and sequence.

[0164] FIG. 4 is a top view of another embodiment of two groups of collated sheets that may be used in connection with the method according to the present invention, which are applied to different capacities.

[0165] FIG. 5 is a top view of one embodiment of one group of collated sheets that may be used in connection with the method according to the present invention, which is representative of a numbering scheme until reaching the cell that corresponds to the last column and row.

[0166] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a group of stacked sheets that may be used in connection with the method according to the present invention, which is representative of the first sheet printing and its location on the table before the first cut.

[0167] FIG. 7 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a plurality of group of stacked sheets that may be used in connection with the method according to the present invention, which is representative of the location of the already printed sheets.

[0168] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a group of stacked or collated sheets that may be used in connection with the method according to the present invention.

[0169] FIG. 9 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a plurality of groups of stacked sheets that may be used in connection with the method according to the present invention, which is representative of the first horizontal cut of the sheets.

[0170] FIG. 10 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a plurality of groups of stacked sheets that may be used in connection with the method according to the present invention, which is representative of rows of joined pages where the right flap acts as a guide that allows lifting the groups without having to count them.

[0171] FIG. 11 is a perspective view of yet another embodiment of a plurality of groups of stacked sheets separated by columns (the flap indicates where the book ends) that may be used in connection with the method according to the present invention.

[0172] FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a further embodiment of a plurality of groups of stacked sheets that may be used in connection with the method according to the present invention, which his representative of the joining of the groups of pages to form a book.

[0173] FIG. 13 is a perspective view of an even further embodiment of a plurality of groups of stacked sheets and a book cover that may be used in connection with the method according to the present invention.

[0174] FIG. 14 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a book produced by the final cutting or trimming process according to the method of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0175] The present invention refers to a novel method for booking imposition, magazine and similar, printed, for the graphic arts industries, which seeks to organize the pages of a book to be collected in sheets/folios.

[0176] The method is characterized because it involves a numerical structuration matrix for the book pages imposition on a sheet and the incorporation of flaps, depending on the paper and the printer size, printing in groups of sheets. Finally, these groups of sheets are collected, and subsequently, the respective cuts are made to proceed with the gumming and placement of the cover.

[0177] This method optimizes the production process of small and medium printed books, reducing the collecting times of the books, once printed; given that, for instance, instead of collecting 100 groups of sheets from a book, in the case of a book of 200 pages, 10 sheets/folios or less must be lifted, depending on the book and the printing machine size, which represents a significant saving in book delivery times. Furthermore, with this way of placing the pages in the printing machine, books can be picked up to 10 percent of the time.

[0178] This method does not imply or entail the acquisition of additional machinery to that traditionally used; significantly reduces the time that is used to collect a book from the traditional methods, since instead of lift 2 pages at once, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20 or more are lifted depending in the book size, which means a gain in physical and human resources, time, and space.

[0179] Given the size of the sheets/folios that will be lifted to join the pages, barely would be lifted 2 pages from the same stack, which minimizes errors.

[0180] Another error that minimizes is the inverted sheets, doubles. Since joining the sheets/folios, the operator verifies the proper location of the sheets and given so that half-sheets/folios and quarters intercalate, resulting in almost impossible to place them inverted or repeated.

[0181] If a blank sheet is presented, it is easy for the operator to notice it and remove it, thus preventing the book from containing blank pages when they should have been printed.

[0182] Additionally, the claimed method's advantages are that no qualified labor is required for its implementation.

[0183] Following are described in detail the steps that allow to carry out the imposition method on printings for the graphic arts industry in the preferred application of the intention; this is not restrictive since it can be applied to different positions:

[0184] 1. Printing capacity definition: In this step must be established how many pages is the printer machine able to print at the same time; for this, the size of the machine and the size of the book page must be determined.

[0185] 2. Determination of the number of sheets/folios that hast to be printed to produce the book: Once the capacity and the total number of pages of the book have been previously defined, the number of pages of the book is divided by the capacity, and as a result, the number of sheets to be printed is obtained.

[0186] 3. Preparation of the model (FIG. 2): A model is assembled with the number of sheets required to print the book. When making the model, all the scale sheets being worked with are the same size, except for the last sheet that will carry at least an additional 1 cm in width and height (FIG. 1). This excess is identified as “flaps” and allows us to identify which is the last sheet since, as can be seen, it is larger than the rest of the sheets (FIG. 1). Next, it is necessary to consider the machine's gripper, which must be indicated at the model's top. The gripper is a registration that will serve as a basis for the image of the sheets to be in the same place, no matter what sheet it is, this guarantees that the image of each book (graphic box) can be seen as one when viewing the texts or figures against the light.

[0187] 4. Structuring the numerical matrix in the model (FIGS. 3, 4, and 5): In this step, each sheet of the model must be organized in a matrix with columns and rows depending on how many pages fit in the printing machine (capacity); for this, the numbering must be started on the first sheet in the cell of the first column and first row, taking into account that the order of the numbers must be aligned with the guide, which is at the top of the sheet; also, on the back, the numbers that go on the back of the page should appear. Then, it must continue with the numbering in the same cell, but in the second sheet, until the sheets are spent; once this numbering of the sheets is completed, the consecutive numbering is continued in the first sheet in the cell of the first column located in the second row. This process is repeated until the last sheet is reached; all the numbers are spent until the first column cells are finished.

[0188] Once the cells of the first row are spent, in all the sheets, it has to proceed in the same way with the cell of the second column, first row, and it continues in that same cell, sheet after sheet until all the sheets are exhausted in the sequence shown (FIG. 3); it continues until reaching the cell corresponding to the last column, last row; that is, the las number it has to be in most extensive sheet, last cell. That is the order in which the pages should be printed.

[0189] The matrix structuration does not have limits of columns or rows, and their assignation only depends on the size of the selected capacity.

[0190] 5. First sheet printing (FIG. 6): The first sheet is printed. If they were, as an example, a 1.000 book, should be printed, preferably, 1.050 sheets, anticipating faulty o spotted pages (this is known as maculature).

[0191] 6. Location of the first group of sheets (FIG. 6): That first pack of sheets is located on a table or flat surface, with page 1 in the left top angle.

[0192] 7. Second sheet printing: The second sheet is printed. Again, and following the same example, preferably 1.050 sheets.

[0193] 8. Location of all groups of sheets (FIG. 7): These sheets are located on a table or flat surface, considering the machine registration.

[0194] 9. Sheets collection (FIG. 8): Once correctly printed and located all the sheets, the operator begins to lift the sheets and places them one on top of the other at the end of the table in a square, considering the machine registration. As the last sheet is larger and equipped with protruding flaps (FIG. 1), it is possible to identify where the sheets of each of the books or magazines, or material that is being printed, end.

[0195] 10. First sheets cut making (FIG. 9): Once all the sheets have been collected, they are taken to the guillotine, considering the machine registration, where they are cut horizontally. A cut will separate the sheet, thus leaving the rows of pages.

[0196] 11. Joining the cut rows (FIG. 10): The rows of pages already cut must be joined, taking care of the established order in the numerical matrix. The right flap serves as a guide that allows lifting the groups without counting them or seeing the image to know that the group of sheets is complete, which minimizes errors and saves time.

[0197] The first group and the first line are joined, consecutively with the first row of the second group, and so on, until the end of the row group.

[0198] 12. Second cut making (FIG. 11): In this step, the material is taken back to the guillotine to separate the sheets by columns. Again, the respective flap is identified to know where the book ends (FIG. 1). This time it is the bottom flap. Thanks to this flap's arrangement, the pages have not counted, or the images are seen. Just locate the bottom flap, and that is where the book ends.

[0199] 13. Book formation and final refining (FIG. 12): Once the groups of pages are separated, they join to form a book. Next, the books are taken to the book gluing machine that applies hot glue to hold the books and receives the cover of each book. Finally, the book packages go back to the guillotine to make the final cut or trim. (FIGS. 13 and 14).

[0200] Books are ready to pack, after the last quality control check.

[0201] Based on the above, this model is proposed as a viable, practical, and economical solution for small and medium graphic arts companies to optimize the collection and assembly times of books, brochures, and magazines by up to 90 percent.