BENEFITS: Plastic Comb Binding is a durable, dependable and economical mechanical binding solution, offering a wide variety of binding element (document spines) colors. Additional benefts are:

• Spines can be custom imprinted.
• Finished documents can be edited
  (pages inserted and removed later)
• Bound documents open easily and lie flat.

APPLICATIONS: Reports, books, surveys, sales presentations, reference materials, training manuals, cookbooks and calendars.

SYSTEMS & FEATURES: Plastic comb binding equipment is available in manual and electric models. Many punching machines offer interchangeable dies for other types of binding. Inexpensive models are generally limited in the number of sheets they can punch at one time, which can slow production considerably. Punching capacity and cycling speed determine potential production capabilities.

COST: Manual combination Plastic Binding machines range from about $109 to $799. Light to medium duty electric systems sell for up to $1999. Heavy duty tabletop systems may cost $7-8000 for power punch and bind units. High production automated floor models are also available in price ranges in excess of $20,000.

HOW IT WORKS: Rectangular holes are punched in the paper sheets and covers to be bound. The binding elements or combs are typically 11" long plastic spines composed of a solid area on the back and 19 ring "fingers" (or teeth) spaced 9/16" on center. The combs are held in place and spread open by the binding macine. The punched holes in the sheets and covers are hooked onto the open binding comb. The comb is then closed in the machine and the bind is complete. Shorter lengths of binding combs can be purchased pre-cut, or they can be hand cut.

DOCUMENT THICKNESS: 3/16" elements can bind as few as 10 sheets. The largest elements are 2" and bind up to 425 sheets of 20# bond paper.

PRODUCTION SPEED: Depending on document thickness and level of equipment used, Plastic Comb binding production can range from up to four minutes per bind to up to 250 documents per hour.