A two page form of any material is less stable and more difficult to feed and collate, on nearly any stock weight. Stock type and basis weight can exacerbate this challenge. A 50# basis weight text is the minimum that should be considered when a two page form must be planned when using offset or coated stocks. Below a 50# basis weight, the mechanical calipers on the collator, designed to detect a mis-feed or double feed, simply will not work. Mechanical calipers are not sensitive enough to detect a form this thin. Two page forms on stock weights less than 50# basis weight could be missed during the feeding process and not discovered. This results in missing pages in the final product. If you must include a two page form(s) in your perfect bound project, consider increasing the basis weight of the stock to at least 60#. The additional paper cost will go a long way toward avoiding the production of a book with missing pages. An alternative planning option is to combine the two page form with other signature page count options. For example, combine the two-page and a four page into a six page signature. Or, redesign a two page and an eight page form to create six page and four page signatures. Allied Bindery can help you get creative in your planning approach, while helping to minimize potential production and quality problems.

Synthetic stocks, often used for flysheets, create additional challenges. A basis weight of 30# will not only be too thin to detect through the pocket feeder calipers, but the stock itself will have a tendency to curl into a cylinder shape. The curling of thin, synthetic stock generally takes place immediately after the flat cutting process. Curled stock simply will not feed through a collator pocket. The curling sequence can take place so rapidly that the synthetic sheet will often curl between the collator pocket and the binder. When this phenomenon occurs, the sheet will likely be bound crookedly into the spine of the book. Allied Bindery recommends synthetic stocks with a minimum basis weight of 32# to minimize the potential for curling.

Allied Bindery : Quality Creates Confidence

While binding is only 10 to 15 percent of the cost to manufacture a book, its value is immeasurable. Allied Bindery, of Madison Heights, MI, has always endeavored to make receiving that full value effortless for its customers. Allied’s primary goal is to produce a high-quality book, and a close second is to allow for flexibility. Being an early embracer of hot melt polyurethane (PUR) adhesive for spine gluing has helped it achieve both.

A trade binder in business since 1989, about a decade ago Allied noted an increased variety of paper stock coming in from printers. While traditional ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) adhesives were capable of handling many stocks, Allied recognized that PUR adhesives could accommodate virtually any stock. Combining that adaptability with PUR’s tolerance for extreme temperatures and excellent layflat properties, the shop decided to make it the standard on one of its two Kolbus binders.

The Kolbus KM470 binder came with a wheel pot applicator. The wheel pot was adequate for PUR adhesive application, but the open system resulted in daily residual adhesive waste, as well as extensive maintenance. In addition to labor-intensive, daily startup and shutdown processes, wheel pots require regular maintenance and refurbishing to stay in good working order. And, the open wheels were susceptible to contamination and foaming of the PUR, both of which negatively impact adhesive binding properties. Additionally, application control isn’t very precise, requiring over application of adhesive to ensure minimum coverage.

After some thorough research, Allied realized it could improve production efficiency and reduce waste and maintenance by using an extrusion application system. Working with Henkel, their adhesive supplier, Allied identified the Nordson BetterBook solution to meet the need for a closed extrusion system. The Better- Book solution incorporates a Nordson bulk melter and hose with its EP48V slot applicator to protect the adhesive from air/moisture exposure, while providing maximum application control.

“Some customers were initially concerned that PUR use would significantly increase the cost of the bookbinding process,” says Ed Doyle, managing director of Allied Bindery. “But, while PURs are more expensive than EVAs, use of the PUR extrusion application solution allows a 50 percent reduction in the volume of adhesive needed for proper bonding. And, the low-maintenance system also helps to reduce some labor overhead costs. The net result of PUR use is less than pennies per piece for a longer-lasting, finished book.”

Since Nordson’s is a closed system, the adhesive is protected from premature curing that starts as soon as the moisture in air reaches the adhesive. This means optimum bonding properties are retained by the PUR adhesive and eliminates the adhesive waste of having to dispose of exposed, prematurely-cured adhesive daily. And as the EP48V applicator uses slot and sniffback technology to limit exposure to air, adhesive system shutdown and startup are reduced to a matter of minutes rather than up to an hour for each process.

A Leader of the Pack

Always striving to be a leader rather than a follower, Allied was the first trade bindery to introduce PUR in the Upper Midwest and the first bindery in North America to implement extrusion application technology.

Perhaps the biggest challenge for Allied has been educating its customers. PURs do not support the main critical in-process test of bookbinders—the page pull test. While PURs develop the initial strength to be trimmed and shipped immediately, the traditional page pull test can not accurately be performed for approximately 24 hours. So, Allied has in place numerous quality checks, both automated and manual, visual and mechanical, to confirm spine glue application consistency in real time.

“You need to partner with your customers and your customers’ clients at the beginning of a project so that everybody understands the desired outcome and what is needed to achieve it,” says Doyle. “Part of this is project-specific education, but we also proactively send bi-weekly technical tips to keep customers up-to-date on process and material trends.”

Allied also became ISO 9001 certified to ensure a continuous commitment to structured, successful processes. It employees understand exactly what is important to the binding of every book, and the potential results if these exacting standards are not consistently met.

Currently, the ability to accommodate the increasingly short runs and finicky raw materials has Allied expanding into the world of digital print finishing. This is the next logical step for the establishment to continue to be a full-service bindery that’s partnering with its customers. PI

http://www.piworld.com/article/allied-bindery-uses-nordson-system-pur-adhesive-spine-glue-books-418714/1

  A significant risk that is often overlooked by a folder operator or web press operator is the size of the perforation blade or wheel.  If a perforation is too aggressive, i.e., lots of perf, not much paper remaining; the spine of the signature may break apart during the collation/gathering process at the bindery.

 The amount of paper that is left intact on the spine provides the only strength to hold the spine together during the collation process.  The mechanical gathering process in the bindery requires that the spine of a signature be pulled down into the collator grippers using vacuum suckers.  If the perforation blade or wheel used at the folder or press was too aggressive, the paper will peel apart at the spine of the signature when the vacuum suckers begin to the pull the form into the grippers.

  Once this happens, there is often no alternative other than to hand feed the affected signatures.  Hand feeding or hand collation results in increased expense and decreased production speed on the binder.  This is a phone call that the bindery does not want to make and the printer doesn’t want to receive.

A quick way to check the strength of the perforation is to flex and jog a handful of signatures at the folder or web press.  If the perforations show any indication of splitting or breaking apart during the hand jogging routine, they will break and fail during the mechanical collating process.  If this is noticed, it is time to change to a less aggressive perforation wheel or blade, thus helping to avoid unanticipated problems and additional charges during the binding process.

Spine and Hinge Score cracking is a common complaint when cross grain covers are used.  If the cover design requires full ink or dark ink coverage, cracking along the spine or hinge score becomes highly visible and can be viewed as an objectionable cosmetic defect by the customer.  The best opportunity to minimize this type of problem is to die score the spine and hinge score areas of the cover.  A die score is a superior choice to the wheel score that may be provided by a perfect binder or saddle stitcher cover feeder.  The die score, however, increases the cost of the project and may offset any savings generated by the use of a cross grain sheet.  Additionally, if the requirement to die score is not identified until after the cover has been shipped to the Bindery, both the additional cost and additional processing time will be unexpected.

Cross grained covers applied to a perfect bound book will likely result in a series of waves along the length of the spine.  Once the cover is adhered to the body of the book, any moisture that may be absorbed by the cover stock can expand the paper grain.  Since the cover will be held in place by adhesive along the spine, waviness will often be created as relative humidity is absorbed into the cover stock.  Although the book remains functional, this cosmetic imperfection may leave a customer dissatisfied with the end result.

Involving the Sales and Planning Professionals at Allied Bindery can help you avoid problems such as recognizing or avoiding potential problems with cross grain covers.  Give us a call and let us help you achieve your customer’s expectations.

 Simply stated, split binding is the utilization of two or more binding methods to achieve the end use requirements of your customers. In the example of the sports media guide, combining perfect binding and a mechanical binding technology such as coil binding, addresses the needs of both end user groups.  In the case of the educational media or text book, combining a perfect bind design for the student, with a loose leaf option for the instructor achieves the use requirements for both.

Understanding the end use requirements of your customer, in combination with the finishing capabilities of your trade bindery, may allow you to offer multiple binding options that achieve separate and distinct requirements of the end users.

Allied Bindery routinely produces projects that require a combination of perfect binding and mechanical binding, or perfect binding and loose leaf options.   Involving the Sales and Planning Professionals at Allied Bindery can help you determine the binding options that will work best for your customer’s requirements.