Children Board Book Making Workflow

As parents already know, board books are a staple for babies and toddlers. These chunky books with thick cardboard pages can withstand chewing, throwing, and everything in between.

Unlike flimsy paper pages, sturdy board book pages encourage little kids to explore books through touch. Board books also often have bright colors, simple stories, and engaging textures.

Board books are made of sturdy cardboard called paperboard, instead of paper, to withstand the wear and tear babies and toddlers like to inflict on their “stuff.”

Paperboard is usually specified in gsm (grams per square meter). The higher the number, the thicker the cardboard. Generally, 350 gsm to 400 gsm provides enough thickness to resist bending, chewing, and throwing. 

So when finish the paperboard printing, we are going on a journey on how to make the children's board book.

First Step: Paperboard Folding in Half

Children's board book's main binding way is lay-flat binding, also called butterfly binding, which is two pages of thicker card paper mounting together with glue, and then self-cover or hardcover are glued to be a book. 

Board Paper Folding Machine

So need to fold the paperboard in half as the signatures, Board Paper Folding Machine with the simple set-up, using the plough folding way to fold the creased board paper to the signature, the Board Paper Folding Machine can handle a wide range of sizes, subsequently, the signatures are calendared on the fold line to flatten the back.

Second Step: Folded Signatures Mounting and Pasting

The folded paperboard signatures will be put on the different stations of Board Book Shaped Page Mounting and Pasting Production Line.

Board Book Shaped Page Mounting and Pasting Production Line, is the binding machine for children's board books. It consists of up to 12 working stations, every working station can be operated independently, fed with the folded paperboard signature, and then gathered, mounted, and pasted according to the order of pages, the Partial Gluing function can make various kinds of cartoon board books, such as punched board book, board book with lift up tabs pages, or the puzzling pages.  After gluing, make sure the glue not missing or spilling, and the glued book block will be sent to the pressing unit to form and flat press the whole book block.

Board Book Mounting and Pasting Production Line

Board Book Stacking and Flat Pressing Machine

Board Book Mounting and Pasting Production Line can finish the board book signatures gathering, mounting, and pasting at one stop, with high efficiency, saving time and labor.

Third Step: Three-Side Trimming and Corner Rounding for Board Book Block

The edges of board books are an important consideration when it comes to safety. To prevent any accidents or injuries, board books are designed with round corners instead of sharp square edges. Round corners eliminate the risk of a child getting scratched or poked by a sharp edge while handling the book.

High Speed Three Knife Trimmer

So when the board book blocks are finished the gluing and pasting, send them to the three-knife trimmer, first for book block front trimming, then head and tail trimming, the finished board book block will be sent to the Automatic High-Speed Book Block Corner Rounding Trimmer, the angle positioning trimmer system allows the book block's round corner is precise and smooth, the smooth round corners and edges allow children to handle the book with ease and comfort.

Automatic High Speed Book Block Corner Rounding Trimmer

For the short run board book block trimming, Digital Three Knife Trimmer with the dual head round corner trimmer trims the book block's two corners simultaneously, driven by hydraulic, stable, and cutting accuracy. 

Digital Three Knife Trimmer

Or if the board books need the head and tail band pasting, Digital Head Band Fixing Machine can be connected with the Digital Three Knife Trimmer directly, the head and tail bands are joined to the glue strip, cut according to the book block thickness, applied to the book spine, and then fixed with transparent adhesive tape.  

Digital Head Band Fixing Machine

Fourth Step: Cover Casing In

Children's board book binding has two types of cover casing in, one type is self-cover, and another one is hardcover case casing in.

Self-cover board book binding, which cover paper is the same as inner paper and the spine is not glued together. So that the readers can open the book easily. The binding process is all pages are two sheets of cardboard wrapped together and then wrapped on the cover.

Hardcover board book binding, which cover material is the same as normal hardcover book cover. The first inner page of paper is glued on the inside of the front cover and the final inner page of paper is glued on the inside of the back cover. The spine is also not glued, so that convenient for the readers to open.

Board Book Cover Casing In Machine

Automatic Board Book Soft/Hard Cover Casing In Machine, can be used for the board book's cover casing in, fitting for both the soft cover (self-cover) and hardcover case, preciously position, partial gluing, fitting for the various kinds of board book's casing in, such as normal board book and punched board book, with the function of automatic joint forming, fully pressing, keep the board book high quality and efficiency. Operating easily, high speed, and accuracy are the reasons for choosing.

it's worth noting that if choose the self-cover casing in, the three-side trimming and corner rounding process will be after the cover casing in, but if choose the hardcover casing in, the book blocks should be finished, the hardcover casing in will be the end process.

A Fully ASJ Children's Board Book Production Line in R.R. Donnelley's Workshop

Even in today's digital world, children's board books are still considered an important tool in "raising a reader," board book binding is a specialized method of bookbinding that offers numerous advantages for creating durable and engaging books for children. With the total automatic and high-speed inline production line, we take pride in producing high-quality board books that withstand the test of time and provide young readers with a memorable reading experience.