Date: September 2001
Subject: Response to RepKover, Redux
Hi Sue,
Thanks for copying me with your response to Mr. Young's correspondence
regarding recent changes to our RepKover (TM) binding processes. I have
reviewed two documents that established the standards and specifications for
RepKover/Otabind binding methods.
The first document is Patent #5,183,294, granted Feb. 2, 1993 to inventors
Bero Jukola of Keuruu, Finland and Werner Rebsamen of Rush, New York, and
assigned to Kustnnusossakeyhtio Otava of Helsinki, Finland. Mr. Otava is the
holder of the original Otabind Patent. The patent is quite specific regarding
the methodology of pre-assembling the covers with a flexible, firm, support
layer that's glued to the cover; however, the particular material and the
particular makeup of the adhesive used are not part of the patent description.
The second document that I reviewed is entitled "Otabind Specifications
Standard for Adhesive Lay-Flat Binding," published in 1992 by Otabind
International. This document does specifically address materials and
adhesives to be used for Otabind and RepKover bindings. Under Specification
8.2, RepKover Bindings, it states: "Specified and approved cloth for this
process shall be mounted onto the covers with PVA adhesives." Malloy does use
PVA adhesives to mount the material to the covers. Further on it states:
"Alternative materials for lining the covers may be used with customer's
permission."
Under Specification 13.4, Adhesives for RepKover Bindings, it states:
For RepKover bound bookblocks, either adhesive bound or sewn, the adhesives
specified are PVA's (Poly Vinyl Acetate), a generic name for water-based,
cold emulsion adhesives, one and two shots, flexible hotmelts including PVA
primers, and moisture reactive PUR's (Polyurethane resins).
After Repkover-binding over 28 million books over the past nine years using
PVA spine adhesives and a woven cloth binders cambric, Malloy has recently
changed to using a non-woven, latex-impregnated liner paper and moisture
reactive PUR adhesive for the spine glue. The paper liner was not an option
for us until recently, when we acquired a new machine that prepares the covers
offline prior to being bound. The new machine can apply either the paper-based material or the woven cloth-type material. The paper-based material does
offer considerable cost savings over the cloth that was previously used. The
PUR adhesives provide much greater bonding strength and durability, especially
on certain coated papers, than the PVA glues, with nearly the same flexibility
characteristics, so the lay-flat capability is not sacrificed for the greater
strength. The PUR adhesives actually add significantly to our material costs,
but we feel we waste fewer books during makeready on the binder, and the
product produced is stronger and more durable and, therefore, of higher
quality. We have only recently gone to using the PUR adhesives because of the
considerable investment in the required equipment to use PUR's, and because of
the substantial improvements made recently in the working characteristics of
the PUR adhesives available for book binding purposes.
I'm sorry that your customer has assumed that our current RepKover process was
a knock-off or "out of spec" product just because it was different from our
original books. There are binding processes that imitate the layflat binds
that do use inappropriate materials or methods and produce books that don'
t lay flat or are not as durable as RepKover books. This is one of the reasons
we like our publishers to include the RepKover logo on their products: their
customers will be able to recognize the book that has been bound according to
the established standards. We are a licensed RepKover binder using materials
and processes that do meet the standards and specifications established as far
back as when the patent was granted and the process was first developed.
The perception of quality is often as important as the reality of quality when
an individual is making a buying decision. If you receive feedback from other
customers questioning the quality, appearance, or other aspects of our binding
or printing, please let us know.
Thanks,
Jim Mitchell
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