| 摘要 |
The present invention provides an apparatus and method for pre-registering boards for use in, for example, the manufacture of looseleaf binders and packaging products. Boards are dropped onto the base plate by an automatic process. Spine guides enable the spine portion of the boards to be secured for subsequent registering. The movement of the spine guides allows the spine portion of the boards to be placed accurately. The spine guides are attached to a spine guide rack which is located on the underside of the base plate. The spine guide rack operates through the use of pneumatic cylinders and enables the movement of the attached spine guides. The spine guides move along a spine guide trench and secure boards on the base plate. The spine guides are retracted when the boards are initially placed on the base plate and then start moving medially to squeeze the spine portion of the board such that it becomes perpendicular to the x-axis. The spine guides also allow for the requisite spacing in between the spine panel and the front and back board panels. This securing apparatus which includes, among other things, the movable guide bars and spine guides, enables the placement of boards and the subsequent binding process to be within desired tolerances. Once the spine guides have set the spine portion of the boards, movable guide bars begin pushing the front and back panels medially towards the y-axis. The movable guide bars will cease movement when the medial edge of the board panel comes into contact with the lateral edge of the spine guides. At this point, the movable guide bars-fixed perpendicular to the x-axis-will correct the panel positions such that the medial panel edges will achieve substantial perpendicularity with the x-axis.</PTEXT>
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