Means for opening covers of bound books

Claim 2

A mechanism for opening covers of bound books, comprising: a conveyor means for transporting bound books one behind another in the vertically upraised position with the book spine facing downwardly, sucker discs and support members disposed on the opposite sides of said conveyor means, means for moving said sucker discs and support members downwardly outward and in the forward direction in a synchronous manner with the advancement of said conveyor means while engaging the cover sheet of a bound book on said conveyor means to achieve opening of the cover sheet, retainers disposed on the opposite sides of said conveyor means for grasping and retaining most of the leaves in the bound book in their upraised position while the cover sheet is being opened, a pair of pusher members downstream of said sucker discs and support members on respective sides of said conveyor means and movable laterally inward with respect to said conveyor means to inwardly force the leaves which have accompanied the opened cover sheet, thus causing the same to assume upwardly curved form defining hollow spaces between the cover sheet and the curved leaves, and a pair of curved guide members disposed in juxtaposition to said pusher members telescoping said guide members into the hollow spaces thus formed and means for swinging upwardly to bring the curved leaves back to the vertically upraised position.

Claim 3

A mechanism according to claim 1, wherein said sucker discs and support members are supported by a pair of levers which swing outward and slidably move forward in a synchronous manner with the movement of said conveyer means.

Claim 4

A machine for jacketting bound books, comprising a mechanism for opening covers of bound books, said mechanism comprising a conveyor means for transporting bound books one behind another in their vertically extending upraised position with the book spine facing downwardly, sucker discs and support members disposed on opposite sides of said conveyor means, means for moving said sucker discs and support members downwardly outward and in the forward direction in a synchronous manner with the advancement of said conveyor means while engaging the cover sheet of a bound book on said conveyor means to achieve opening of the same, retainers disposed on opposite sides of said conveyor means downstream of said sucker discs for grasping and retaining most of the leaves in the bound books in their upraised position while the cover sheet is being moved to the open position, a pair of pusher members downstream of said sucker discs and movable laterally inward with respect to said conveyor means to inwardly force the leaves which have accompanied the opened cover sheet, thereby causing the same to assume upwardly curved form defining hollow spaces between the cover sheet and the curved leaves, and a pair of curved guide members downstream of said pusher members and means to telescope said guide members into the hollow spaces thus formed and to swing them upwardly to bring the curved leaves back to the vertically upraised position, a pair of retainer frames disposed behind said curved guide members for receiving and retaining all the interior leaves of the bound book in the upraised position, and a jacketting station including a means for feeding and applying a jacket sheet over and around the cover sheet moving on said conveyor means with said cover sheet in open position and the interior leaves raised therefrom.

Claim 5

A machine for jacketting bound books, comprising a mechanism for opening covers of bound books, said mechanism comprising a conveyor means for transporting bound books one behind another in their vertically extending upraised position with the book spine facing downwardly, sucker discs and support members disposed on opposite sides of said conveyor means, means for moving said sucker discs and support members downwardly outward and in the forward direction in a synchronous manner with the advancement of said conveyor means while engaging the cover sheet of a bound book on said conveyor means to achieve opening of the same, retainers disposed on opposite sides of said conveyor means downstream of said sucker discs for grasping and retaining most of the leaves in the bound books in their upraised position while the cover sheet is being moved to the open position, a pair of pusher members downstream of said sucker discs and movable laterally inward with respect to said conveyor means to inwardly force the leaves which have accompanied the opened cover sheet, thereby causing the same to assume upwardly curved form defining hollow spaces between the cover sheet and the curved leaves, and a pair of curved guide members downstream of said pusher members and means to telescope said guide members into the hollow spaces thus formed and to swing them upwardly to bring the curved leaves back to the vertically upraised position, a pair of retainer frames disposed behind said curved guide members for receiving and retaining all the interior leaves of the bound book in the upraised position, and a jacketting station including a means for feeding and applying a jacket sheet over and around the cover sheet moving on said conveyor means with said cover sheet in open position and the interior leaves raised therefrom.