Bookbinding and the Conservation of Books
A Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology

bundling press ( bundling machine )

A type of press used to compress the newly folded sections of a book or group of books, usually of the same title. Bundling presses are usually of three types: 1) the hand-bundling press, which consists of a floor stand on which two jaws are mounted horizontally. One of the jaws is stationary and the other movable. The group of sections with strings around it is placed between the jaws and compressed by forcing the movable jaw towards the stationary one. The jaws are designed so as to allow for the tying of the bundles while under pressure; 2) the power-bundling press, which is either vertically or horizontally oriented, and in which a movable bed is driven toward a stationary head by power supplied by an electric motor through a system of gears and racks; and 3) the pneumatic bundling press, which may also be vertically or horizontally oriented, in which the movable jaw is driven by a piston to which power is supplied by compressed air. In all three types, when the sections of several books are to be bundled together, the groups are placed between boards, bundled, and the entire group, including boards, is tied before being removed from the press. (142 , 320 , 339 )