When an important document has lots of sheets and lots of different sections, it is important that they are kept together in the same order. The document may have a contents page at the front stating where everything is so it is vital that the sheets stay in the right order to allow them to be found easily. This is particularly important with documents such as health and safety manuals or instruction guidelines as employees of a business may have to find this sort of information quickly in an emergency. Wire binding is a relatively new process, despite people all over the world using different methods to keep paper together for centuries. Wire binding is a cost effective way of keeping documents securely bound together.
When a document goes through a wire binding machine the first thing that happens is that a hole is punched through all of the sheets. These holes must be directly in line with one another or else the papers will not fit together perfectly and the document will not look professional. The holes will be aligned and then a curved wire spine is put into the machine. This wire spine is threaded through the holes and then, when all the paper is on the spine and aligned, the wire is closed down to make a full circle. This ensures that the paper cannot come off of the spine and will remain in the right place. This is sometimes known as spiral binding and the wire is available in a number of lengths and colours so the owner of the document can choose which one they think will be most suitable for their use. Some people choose to use a double loop, also known as Wiro binding, but this is for visual affect.
Another type of binding is comb binding. This is where round plastic spines are used to hold the pages of a document together very tightly. Comb binding does not allow for the same ease of movement that wire binding does but is a very effective way of holding sheets of paper together and protecting the spine.
Wire binders are most often used in notebooks and flip pads, either down the side or on the top of the sheets of paper. However, wire binding can be used in a variety of circumstances. It makes a long document look more professional than if the pages were just stapled together and is much more sturdy than just stapling. Adding a durable cover to a wire bound document will make it even more safe and look more impressive.
