## [Trimmer] 

[0020] Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, a structure of the trimmer will be explained. 

[0021] The trimmer comprises: a bound material feed- ing unit 2 for feeding a bound material 1 one by one; a table unit3 receiving the boundmaterial1 fromthe bound material feeding unit 2 thereon at a predetermined posi- tionand rotatable withthe bound material1 atevery pre- determined angle in such a manner that the bound ma- terial1 ispositioned ateach oftop,frontand bottomedge trimming positions; and a trim unit 4 arranged for move- ment in directions toward and away from the table unit 3. The trim unit 4 is configured to be moved between a trimming position and a stand-by position. The trimming position is adjacent to the table unit 3 for trimming a top edge area 1a, a bottom edge area 1b and a fore-edge area 1c of the bound material1, respectively. The stand- by position is away from the table unit 3. 

[0022] The bound material feeding unit 2 has a bound material loading table 24 on which a stack of the bound materials 1 isplaced.A path 25 fortransporting the bound material1 extendsbetweenthe table unit3 and the bound materialloading table 24.A discharge endof the path 25 is adjacent to the table unit 3, while a side section of a supplyend thereofisadjacentto thebound materialload- ing table 24. 

[0023] The bound material feeding unit 2 also has a bound materialfeedingmechanism thatfeeds the bound material 1 from the bound material loading table 24 to- ward the path 25,one byone.The bound materialfeeding mechanism has a pair of endless belts 39 extendi ng acrossand perpendicularly tothe path 25 fromboth sides of the bound material loading table 24, and rollers 40a and 40b between whichtheendless belts 39are extend- ed. A support bar 44 having substantially a reverse U- shape isfixed tothe pairofthe endless belts39.A plurality of suction heads 43 is mounted on the support bar 44 and faces downward. Suction heads 43 are spaced in a length direction ofthe supportbar44.Inthisway,the line of the suction heads 43 reciprocates between the bound material loading table 24 and the path 25 in a direction perpendicular to the path 25 by a drive of a motor 41. 

[0024] The bound material feeding unit 2 also has a bound materialtransporting mechanismwhich transports the bound material 1 received from the bound material feeding mechanism on the path 25 toward the table unit 3 along the path 25. The bound material transporting mechanism has an endless belt 45 extending along and above the path 25 and rotatably supported by a frame 38. The endless belt 45 is rotatably driven by a motor 46 mounted to the frame 38. A chuck 47 is hung with the endless belt45 andreciprocatesbetween the bound ma- terial loading table 24 and the table 10 on the path 25 by the drive of the motor 46. 

[0025] As described above, the bound material placedon the bound materialloadingtable 24 isabsorbed one by one by the line of the suction heads 43,and then, 

it is fed in the direction perpendicular to the transporting direction of the bound material 1 to the path 25 in which its back 1d faces forward. The absorption by the line of the suction heads 43 isreleased,thenthe boundmaterial 1 is gripped by the chuck 47 at this position. At this time, the face 33 of the chuck 47 comes in contact with the bottomedge 1bofthe boundmaterial1.Then,the bound material 1 is transferred to the chuck 47. Thereafter, the chuck 47 moves toward the table unit 3 on the path 25, and when the top edge 1a ofthebound material1 comes in contactwith the second uprightplate 32,itstops.Thus, the bound material 1 is positioned on the table 10 in the top-to-bottom direction. 

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[0026] The table unit 3 has a base 9 and a rectangular table 10 which is provided with the top surface for sup- porting a bottom surface of a section of the bound mate- rial1 exceptforthe top edge portion1a,thebottom edge portion 1b and the fore-edgeportion 1c thereon.Thetable unit 3 also has positioning means for positioning bound material 1 on the top surface of the table 10. 

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[0027] In this embodiment, the positioning means has a first upright plate 30 arranged on one side edge of the table 10,whereinaback 1d ofthe bound material1comes in contactwith the uprightplate 30.Thefirstupright plate 30 is coupled to a slide driving mechanism (not shown) attached to the bottom surface of the table 10. Further, the positioning means has a second upright plate 32 to which the top edge1a ofthe boundmaterial1 can contact. The second upright plate 32 is mounted on a feed screw 35 that is rotatably driven by a motor 34 supported by the base 9.In thisway,the firstandsecond uprightplates 30 and 32 move in directions toward and away from the table 10 and they stop at a predetermined position cor- responding to both a size and a receive position of the bound material 1 fed from the bound material feeding unit 2 (see Fig. 2). 

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[0028] The positioning means is further provided with a third upright plate 31 arranged opposite to the first up- right plate 30 with the table 10 therebetween, so that the fore-edge 1c of the bound material 1 comes in contact with the third upright plate 31. The third upright plate 31 is mounted on a feed screw 37 which is rotatably driven by a motor 36 supported by the base 9, like the second uprightplate32,so thatitmoves in directions toward and away from the table 10. When the bound material 1 is placed on the table 10, the third upright plate 31 moves in a direction toward the bound material 1 until the back 1d of the bound material 1 comes in contact with the first upright plate 30 and the third upright plate 31 comes in contactwith thefore-edge1c.Thisachieves the position- ing of the bound material 1 placed on the table 10 in the back-to-front direction (see FIG. 3). 

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[0029] The face 33 of the chuck 47 of the bound ma- terialfeeding unit2 thatcomes in contactwith the bottom edge 1b of the bound material 1 also functions as a part of the positioning means. It performs the positioning of the bound material1 in the top-to-bottom direction along with the second upright plate 32 (see FIG. 3). 

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