Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02599772 2007-08-30
METHOD FOR ASSEMBLING NOTEBOOKS
This application claims priority to provisional Patent Application Serial No.
60/841,076,
entitled Method for Manufacturing Notebooks, filed on August 30, 2006. The
entire contents of
that provisional application are incorporated by reference herein.
The present invention is directed to a method for assembling notebooks, and
more
particularly, to a method for assembling various sized notebooks.
BACKGROUND
Notebooks are widely used as a device for storing and dispensing paper. Such
notebooks
typically include a binding mechanism, such as a spiral wire or twin-wire
binding mechanism, to
bind the papers together and to the cover of the notebook.
SIJMMARY
Jn one embodiment, the invention is a method for assembling a notebook
including the
step of storing a plurality of covers having generally the same size and
shape, each cover
including a front panel, a rear panel, and a flexible portion positioned
between the front and rear
panels. The method also includes storing a plurality of differently-sized
binding mechanisms
and receiving an order for a particularly-sized notebook. The method includes,
in response to the
order, accessing one of the covers and one of the binding mechanisms
corresponding to the
ordered notebook. The method further includes the step of joining the accessed
cover and the
accessed binding mechanism such that the flexible portion of the cover is
located inunediately
adjacent to the binding mechanism and allows the cover to conform to the
particular size of the
associated binding mechanism when the notebook is in a closed position.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 is a front perspective view of one embodiment of the notebook of the
present
invention, shown in its closed position;
Fig. 2 is a front perspective view of the notebook of Fig. 1, shown in its
open position;
Fig. 3 is a ffont perspective view of the notebook of Fig. 2, with the binding
mechanism
= and papers exploded away from the cover;
Fig. 4 is an end view of the notebook of Fig. 1; 1
CA 02599772 2007-08-30
Fig. 5 is an end view of the notebook of Fig. 4 utilizing a larger binding
mechanism;
Fig. 6 is a top view of a blank which can be used to form the cover of Figs. 1-
5; and
Fig. 7 is a flow chart illustrating a method for assembling notebooks.
' 5 DETAILED DESCRIPTION
As shown in Figs. 1-5, in one embodiment the notebook 10 of the present
invention
includes a cover 12 including front panel 14 and a rear panel 16 pivotally
joined together. The
cover 12 may include an inwardly-extending tab 18 coupled to the front 14 and
rear 16 panels.
In the illustrated embodiment, the tab 18 is pivotally coupled to the rear
pane116 along a fold
line 20 and includes a plurality of openings 22 extending along its length
thereof.
The notebook 10 includes a binding mechanism 24, such as a spiral wire or twin-
wire
binding mechanism. The binding mechanism 24 has a plurality of tunrns or
coils, each of which
is received through a corresponding opening 22 in the tab 18 to couple the
binding mechanism
24 to the cover 12. Each turn or coil of the binding mechanism 24 may also
extend through a
hole 26 in a sheet of paper 28 to bind the papers 28 to the cover 12., If
desired, the pages 28 may
be lined or ruled (not shown).
The cover 12 includes a flexible portion 30 located between the front panel 14
and the tab
18/rear panel 16. In the illustrated embodiment, the flexible portion 30
includes a plurality of
parallel equally spaced-apart fold lines 32 extending the entire height of the
cover 12/flexible
portion 30. The fold lines 32 can be crease lines, thirined, removed or
compressed areas of the
cover material, lines of weakness, or the like, such that the cover 12 is
predisposed to fold around
the fold lines 32. The flexible portion 30 can have a variety of widths (i.e.,
in the generally left-
to-right dimension of Figs. 2, 3 and 6, or extending perpendicular to the
binding mechanism 24),
but in one embodiment has a width of at least about 0.5 inches, or at least
about3/4 inch, or at
least about 1 inch, or at least about 3%, or at least about 5%, or at least
about 10% of the width
of the front 14 and/or rear 1.6 panel. The flexible portion 30 may extend
across the entirety of the
height dimension of the cover 12, and each fold line 32 may extend the entire
height of the
flexible porEion 30.
In order to assemble the cover 12, a blank 34 as shown in Fig. 6 may be
supplied. The
blank 34 can be made of a variety of.materials, such as plastic (i:e.,
polypropylene), cardboard,
paperboard, or combinations of these materials. The fold lines 32 can be
formed by a variety of
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methods. However, in one embodiment, when the blank 34 is made of die-cut
plastic, the cutting
die used to die-cut the plastic may include portions which compress or score
the blank 34 as the
blank 34 is formed to also form the fold lines 32. Thus in the die-cut process
the die defines the
outer perimeter of the blank 34, and also simultaneously forms the fold lines
32 (as well as any
other fold lines, if desired). This allows the blank 34 to be formed in a
single cutting stroke and
improves speed and efficiency of manufacture. The blank 34 may also include a
pair of fold
lines 36 adjacent to, and defining, the tab 18 (and tab portions 18a, 18b).
After the blank 34 is
provided, the tab portions 1 8a, 18b are folded together about ceintral fold
line 38 and joined, such
as by heat welding, adhesive heat welding, heat staking, sonic welding,
adhesives, mechanical
means or the like to form the tab 18. In the embodiment of Fig. 6, the tab
portions 18a, 18b each
include a set of holes 22a, 22b formed therein. After the tab portions 18a,
18b are folded about
the center fold line 38 and brought together, the holes 22a, 22b are aligned
to form a single
associated hole 22. Alternately, if desired, the holes 22 may be formed after
the tab portions 18a,
1'8b are joined.
Next, a binding mechanism 24 with (or optionally without) papers 28 bound
thereto, can
be procured/provided as shown in Fig. 3. The binding mechanism 24 can then be
coupled to the
cover 12, for example, by passing the binding mechanism 24 through the
openings 22 of the tab
18. The front panel 12 and flexible portion 30 can then be folded about the
binding mechanism
24 and papers 18 to move the notebook to the closed position, as shown in Fig.
1.
The flexible portion 30 allows the cover 12 to accommodate various-sized
binding
mechanisms 24. For exaniple, Fig. 4 illustrates the cover 12 bound to a
relatively small binding
mechanism 24, and Fig. 5 illustrates the cover 12 bound to a relatively large
binding mechanism
24. The flexible portion 30 allows the cover 12 to generally conform around
the differently-
sized binding mechanisms 24 such that when the cover, 12 is closed the front
14 and rear 16
panels are generally parallel, thereby allowing various differently sized
(i.e., % inch, %2 inch, or
% inch diameter) binding mechanisms 24 to be utilized to provide differently-
sized notebooks
10.
The ability of the cover 12 to accept various-sized binding mechanisms 24 may
be of
great benefit to a manufacturer/assembler. For example, it may be cost
effective, for various
reasons, to obtain covers 12 and binding mechanisms 24/papers 28 at rfifferent-
times and/or from
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different vendors or suppliers. The assembler/manufacturer can then inventory
or store a large
number of covers 12 and various-sized binding mechanisms 24 which are not
coupled to a cover
12. Once an order for notebooks is received, the covers 12 and appropriately
sized binding
mechanisms 24 can be accessed and assembled in a rapid manner..
For example, as shown in Fig. 7, at step 40 various covers 14 and differently-
sized
binding mechanisms 24 can be acquired and stored. The covers 14 and binding
mechanisms 24
may be acquired from vendoirs or suppliers, or can manufactured by the same
entity which does
the storing and/or assembly. Once an order for a particular size notebook
(presumably for a
plurality of notebooks) is received at step 42, the covers 12 and
appropriately sized binding
mechanism 24 are pulled from storage (step 44). The covers 12 and associated
binding
mechanisms 24 are joined (in step 46), in one case providing the notebook 10
shown in Figs. 1-5
and described above.
The binding mechanisms 24 may have paper 28 carried thereon before or after
being
coupled to the covers 12. Thus the binding mechanisms 24 may be stored with
paper 28 bound
thereon, or the paper 28 may be bound to the binding mechanisms 24 after the
binding
mechanisms 24 are pulled from storage of after the binding mechanisms 24 are
coupled to the
covers 12. Moreover, the binding mechanisms 24 may be purchased, manufactured,
or acquired
with or without the papers 28 bound thereon.
The use of the cover 14 of the present invention allows the
manufacturer/assembler to
store/inventory only a single size cover 12 which is adaptable to be used with
various differently-
sized binding mechanisms 24. This also allows a manufacturer to store a
relatively low number
of covers 12, thereby reducing inventory and storage costs. Thus the method
described herein
and shown in Fig. 7 provides a flexible and modular assembling process which
allows quick and
efficient processing of orders with relatively low costs.
Moreover, duties or tariffs can be imposed on imported paper products, such as
lined or
ruled paper products, and such duties or tariffs can be relatively high. These
duties or tariffs may
not apply, or may be lesser, for other components such as covers and/or
binding mechanisms that
do not qualify as paper products, or ruled or lined paper products, for duty
or tariff purposes.
Accordingly it may be more cost effective to import or manufacture the covers
12/ and/or
binding mechanisms 24 separate from the papers 28 to minimize the total value
of products
which are classified as paper products, or lined or ruled paper products.
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For example, it may be more cost effective for a domestic company to import
the Covers
12 and/or binding mechanism 24, and then bind the papers 28 thereto. Further
alternately, it may
be cost effective to import the covers 12, and then manufacture or
domestically acquire the
binding mechanisms 24 with the papers 28 bound thereto, and bind the binding
mechanisms
24/papers 28 to the imported covers 12. It may also be cost effective to
import the covers 12
separately from the binding mechanisms 24 with papers 28 bound thereto. In all
cases, however,
only a single size of covers 12 need to be manufactured/acquired/stored, as
the covers 12 can
accommodate differently-sized binding mechanisms 24 and thicknesses of papers
28. The
single-sized cover 12 allows the differing components of the notebook 10 to
reach the assembly
stage by differing routes but still ensures compatibility and flexibility in
manufacturing/assembly. Since binding mechanisms 24 are often
manufactured/assembled with
the papers 28 bound thereon, and notebooks are often imported in a fully
assembled condition,
this method represents a departure from traditional assembly methods.
The flexible portion 30 is illustrated as being formed of the same materials
as the front 14
and rear panels 16, with flexibility being imparted to the flexible portion 30
by a plurality of
parallel fold lines 32. However, it.should be noted that the flexible portion
30 can be made of a
material or materials that are different from the front 14 or rear 16 panels,
such as nearly any
material which has sufficient flexibility and conformity to allow the flexible
portion 30 to
naturally somewhat conform to the shape of the binding mechanism 24 when the
notebook 10 is
closed, and to allow the front 14 and rear 16 panels to be generally parallel.
In one embodiment,
the flexible portion 30 may merely have more flexibility than the front 14 or
rear 16. panels.
In addition, it should be understood that various other binding mechanisms 24
besides the
single wire or twin wire binding mechanisms described above may be utilized.
For example, a
three-ring binding mechanism, or various prongs, clips, book-style bindings,
adhesives and the
like may be utilized. In addition, the notebook 10 may not necessarily include
the inwardly-
extending tab 18, and the binding mechanism 24/papers 28 could instead be
directly bound to the
front panel 14, rear panel 16, a spine of the cover 12 or the like. However,
the use of inwardly-
extending tab 18 provides a surface which is sufficiently durable and flexible
to accommodate a
relatively large variety of sizes of binding mechanisms, and allows the
binding mechanism 24 to
be protected.
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Having described the invention in detail and by reference to the preferred
embodiments,
it will be apparent that modifications.and variations thereof are possible
without departing from
the scope of the invention.
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