Booked carbonless business forms are still widely used products. It is very difficult to put a laptop or iPad or other electronic device in the hands of every employee. The old tried and true carbonless snap-out forms bound into a highly versatile and easy to use book is still a very viable approach for information gathering and the dispersal of billing documentation. Carbonless business form books are usually bound in one of four ways, these are the wrap-around cover, the triad cover, the flyleaf cover and the coil bound cover.

Wrap-Around Cover

A wrap-around cover is composed of a single piece of 150 lb Manila Tag scored in 4 places to wrap around the forms that are being bound into a book. The scoring of the cover is either done manually or by a scoring machine. The wrap-around cover provides protection for the forms. The cover also provides a flap that can be inserted between form sets to keep the next set of forms from imaging when pressure is applied to the first set of forms.

Return To Knowledge Base Start Page

Triad Cover

The triad cover is composed of two pieces of 150 lb Manila Tag. One of the pieces of tag is scored in two places. This piece of tag can be inserted in between the form sets to keep the image from transferring to more than one set of forms. The other piece is cut to the size of the form and provides a protective cover for the forms. The flyleaf portion of this cover may be printed on one or both sides. Tape can be added to the stub end of the book for a more finished appearance.

Return To Knowledge Base Start Page

Flyleaf Cover

The flyleaf is the most simple of the cover types. It is composed of a 1 piece of 150 lb Manila Tag cut to the size of the form. A piece of chip board forms the back of the book. As no provision is made for a flap to prevent transfer from set, to set, it is most often used with perforated single part forms. If it is used with multi-part carbonless sets, then an extra piece of chipboard can be inserted to use between the carbonless sets to prevent transfer between sets. The flyleaf cover can be printed on front and/or back.
Tape can be added to the stub end of the book for a more finished appearance.

Return To Knowledge Base Start Page

Coil Binding (aka Spiral Binding)

Forms can be bound in books using coil binding. It is also used for any book that you want to be able to lie flat, such as cookbooks, instruction manuals, musical scores, etc.. Coil binding is composed of either metal or plastic coil that looks similar to a spring. The coil is fed through specially punched holes and then is cut to size and crimped to keep the coil from backing out of the holes. When used for business forms there is usually a 150 lb Manila Tag cover with a chipboard backer. Covers may also be scored, as with the triad cover, to provide a division between the form sets for writing. Coil binding provides a book that will lie open and flat and is useful for many applications.

Three pieces of equipment are required for coil binding. A punch is used to create the holes along the edge of the document. Then a coil inserter is used to thread the coil through the holes in the cover. Some shops choose to do this step by hand. Finally the end of the coil is cut to size and then must be crimped to prevent the coil from coming loose from the book. This step can be done using crimping pliers that cut and crimp the coil simultaneously or by using a machine that has been designed for this specific purpose.

Return To Knowledge Base Start Page