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| United States Patent |
3,554,438 |
|
Van Malderghem
|
January 12, 1971
|
CORRESPONDENCE ASSEMBLY
Abstract
The envelope and data sheets combination comprises a top or face mailing
envelope member, a bottom or back mailing envelope member, and one or more
intervening insert members, which last-named may be a single data sheet,
multiple data sheets, a return envelope, or combinations thereof. The top
and bottom marginal portions and one side portion of one face and back
sheets are glued or pasted directly together to form the closed sides of
the pocket comprising the mailing envelope. A stub portion of the
intervening insert members and the remaining side portions of the face and
back of the envelope are glued together and the insert members are cropped
on the top and bottom and first-named side portion to be free of the glued
attachment of the envelope parts along those edges of the assembly. A line
of perforations in the face and back members of the envelope extend along
the first-named side portion inwardly of the line of gluing, and a keener
line of perforations extend along the opposite side edge of the insert
member.
In the simultaneous bursting of the envelope and removal of the insert, the
stub margin of the assembly is gripped outwardly of the position of the
keen line of separation in the insert, and the opposite extraction side
margin of the assembly is gripped in effect just outside of the line of
perforation in the envelope parts and, more importantly, to include the
free end of the insert which is preformed to extend that far, but no
farther. A sharp tug applied to the assembly tears the extraction end of
the envelope structure along the line of perforations and separates that
end portion from the main body of the envelope structure; and the gripped
free end of the insert comes along with that severed end portion of the
envelope but being unattached thereto. At the same time the insert is
separated from its stub portion at the opposite end of the assembly along
the line of keen perforations. Thus, the bursting of the envelope and the
removal of the insert occurs through a single quick movement.
Modifications include similar gluing and perforating patterns for inserts
including return envelopes of both side and top opening types.
| Inventors: |
Van Malderghem; Edmund G. (Lewiston, NY) |
| Assignee: |
Moore Business Forms, Inc.
(Niagara Falls,
NY)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
04/739,261 |
| Filed:
|
June 24, 1968 |
| Current U.S. Class: |
229/69 ; 206/232; 206/804; 229/314; 428/43; 462/6; 462/64 |
| Current International Class: |
B42D 5/00 (20060101); B42D 5/02 (20060101); B65d 027/10 (); B65d 027/34 () |
| Field of Search: |
229/69,70,73,85 282/11.5A,22
|
References Cited [Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Bockenek; David M.
Claims
I claim:
1. A manifolding correspondence assembly comprising an envelope including face and back panels and adapted to be closed on all sides, an insert enclosed within said envelope and having
one end secured to the corresponding end portion of the envelope by a readily severable line of connection, said severable connection being spaced a short distance from that end of the envelope, thereby defining between said severable connection and said
end of the envelope a portion at the extreme end of said assembly for grasping by the fingers of one hand during opening of the envelope, a transverse line of perforations extending across the opposite end portion of both panels of said envelope and
comprising a tear line and defining a relatively narrow removable extraction portion of the envelope adapted to be grasped by the fingers of the other hand for bursting of the envelope, the opposite end portion of said insert itself extending toward the
vicinity of said tear line a sufficient distance to be in registry with said removable extraction portion and therefore within the grip of said last-named fingers, whereby the bursting of the envelope by pulling on the removable extraction portion will
simultaneously serve to sever the connection of the first end portion of the insert from the envelope and withdraw said insert without further separation from the assembly parts or reaching into the interior of the envelope structure.
2. The assembly as set forth in claim 1 in which a thumb tab is cut from each of the panels of said envelope and extends from said tear line in the direction toward the first-named end portion of said envelope, the second-named end portion of
the insert lying between said thumb tabs to be gripped between them during the bursting and extraction movement.
3. The assembly as set forth in claim 1 in which said insert is provided with a stub permanently secured between face and back panels of the envelope at said first-named extreme end portion of the assembly, and the readily severable connection
comprising a line of keen perforations between the major portion of the insert and its stub.
4. The assembly as set forth in claim 3 in which said insert includes a return envelope having a foldable sealing flap bearing a strip of temporarily inactive adhesive adapted to be rendered effective by the recipient of the first-named envelope
and enclosures.
5. The assembly as set forth in claim 4 in which said return envelope has its sealing flap at the first-named end thereof just inwardly of its stub, said readily severable line of connection occurring between the sealing flap and said stub.
6. The assembly as set forth in claim 4 in which said sealing flap extends longitudinally of one margin of said insert return envelope at right angles to the extent of said readily severable line of connection.
7. The assembly as set forth in claim 1 which further includes a plurality of such envelopes in the form of multiple plies of webs adapted to provide a continuous series of manifolding forms to be passed through a business machine for uniform or
selective imprinting, said webs having a marginal feed strip at least at one side edge thereof, said webs including a top web of successive face panels of said envelope, at least one intermediate web of successive insert panels with an adhesive stripe of
the feed strip on one side edge for adherence to a unit of said top web, and a bottom web of successive envelope back panels each having an adhesive stripe registering substantially with the adhesive stripe on the insert panel web and additional lines of
adhesive along the three other margins of each back panel for adherence to the corresponding three margins of the units of said top web, the insert panel units of the intermediate web being cropped on its corresponding three margins to permit adhesive
contact directly between the units of the top and bottom webs.
Description
This invention relates to correspondence stationery and more particularly to envelope and business form manifolding assemblies in
both their aspects as individual units and as continuous connected series as for feeding through office machines for imprinting.
Correspondence systems of this general type contemplate a multiple form which may comprise a prestuffed mailing envelope, and potential applications of such systems are many. Some of the major applications include invoices, statements, past due
notices, utility bills, promotion mailings, premium bills, grade reports, fund raising and tax billing.
There have been several prior developments looking toward more efficient manifold imprinting of preliminarily stuffed envelopes and their contained insertions after sealing. Provision has also been made for the selective imprinting of the
inserts and optionally of associated external forms by the use of spot carbons or the like. Attempts have also been made to introduce features aimed to facilitate bursting or opening of the envelope and the removal of such inserts upon receipt by the
addressee.
However, there remained still some need for further improvement, not only in the basic structure of the assembly, but also in the development of modifications involving the inclusion of return envelopes in the assembly. It is therefore the
principal object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved envelope assembly of the character described which includes such desirable variants regarding bursting and removal of inserts as well as the inclusion of return envelopes of either
the side or end opening type; one important factor being the ability to burst the outer envelope and not only completely free the inserted material from attachment to the assembly, but to remove it therefrom by the single tear or bursting effort of the
recipient's fingers, At the same time the insert is freed from the stub comprised by the removed portions of the top and bottom plies.
Other features of novelty include the mode of putting together the assembly including the cutting of component parts and the provision of both pattern and stream pasting or gluing for sealing both types of envelopes.
Additional objects
and features of novelty will be apparent from the following specification when read in connection with the accompanying drawings in which several embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example.
In the drawings:
FIG. 1 is a plan view of the top sheet of the mailing envelope of a simple form of the invention;
FIG. 2 is a similar view of an insert sheet;
FIG. 3 is a plan view of the upper side of the back sheet of the mailing envelope;
FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view in perspective of a continuous multiple form assembly with the web components spread apart to illustrate the interfitting of the envelope and insert parts and the gluing or pasting thereof;
FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic view suggesting the overlapping relationship of the envelope and insert elements, the gluing, and the manner of gripping the assembly with the fingers to remove the insert;
FIG. 5a is a similar view of the same assembly just after the bursting of the envelope;
FIGS. 6 and 7 are perspective views illustrating the manner of gripping the assembly and removing the insert; FIG. 6 corresponding to FIG. 5 as respects the condition of the parts, and FIG. 7 corresponding to the situation suggested in FIG. 5a;
FIGS. 8 to 15 are plan views disclosing the construction of an envelope assembly involving a return envelope as well as a sheet insert, the elements comprising the FIGS. being identified as follows:
Fig. 8 - a file copy;
Fig. 9 - a spot tissue carbon;
Fig. 10 - face of mailing envelope;
Fig. 11 - sheet insert for addressee;
Fig. 12 - top of return envelope;
Fig. 13 - back member of return envelope;
Fig. 14 - back member of mailing envelope;
FIG. 15 is a transverse sectional view (similar in concept to FIGS. 5 and 5a) showing the positioning of the various components and their attaching and severing features as involved in the embodiment of FIGS. 8 to 14;
FIG. 16 is a view in perspective of the end opening return envelope comprised of the parts shown in FIGS. 12 and 13;
FIGS. 17 and 18, respectively, are plan views of the top and back elements of a return envelope for top opening; and
FIGS. 19 and 20 are similar views of parts comprising double width insert members combining a data sheet with the return envelope.
A rather simple form of the invention is shown in FIGS. 1 to 7 of the drawings and this will be described
first.
The mailing envelope portion of the manifolding continuous assembly included in this embodiment will be comprised of the elements illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3 of the drawings. The member 10 of FIG. 1 comprises the face panel of the mailing
envelope, and in this FIG. it is shown detached from the continuous web in which it is manufactured but it still retains the marginal strips 11 and 12 containing the feed holes 13 by means of which the strip or web is fed along with the other elements in
their corresponding webs through a business machine for appropriate imprinting.
A line of e perforations 15 occurs just inside of the feed holes of the marginal strip 12 and these perforations may be of normal spacing for providing the usual tear lines. A similar tear line is formed at 16 on the left-hand side of the
element and the tear lines 15 and 16 constitute means for removing the said strips 11 and 12.
A further tear line 20 is disposed in slightly inwardly spaced relationship with the tear line 16 and at a central point on this tear line within the element 10 a thumb notch 21 is cut, the purpose of which will be described later.
Before going to the back panel of the mailing envelope shown in FIG. 3, the simple insert sheet depicted in FIG. 2 of the drawings will be described. This sheet is designated 22 and is provided with the feed strip 23 in registration with the
feed strip 12 of FIG. 1 and a tear line 24 is provided corresponding to the tear line 15 of the face panel 10.
Just inwardly of the tear line 24 is a line 25 of stream paste, all of these features being provided on what can be called a stub member for the insert which stub member is designated 26.
The insert proper is cropped on both sides and the left-hand end to make it of a smaller size than the areas of the envelope members and a tear line 28 of perforations marks the boundary between the insert slip proper and the stub portion 26.
This line of perforations is what is known in the art as a "keen" and due to the spacing of the perforations affords much quicker and easier breakaway between the insert sheet and its stub the than in the normal tear line construction.
Now coming to the back panel of the mailing envelope, this member is indicated at 30 in FIG. 3 of the drawings and it is provided with feed strips 31 and 32 on the opposite edges thereof which are, of course, in registry with the feed strips on
the two elements just described. A tear line 33 registers with the tear lines 15 and 24 of the other members, and a tear line 34 registers with the tear line 16 of the face 10 of the envelope assembly.
Inwardly of the feed strip tear lines 33 and 34 are the lines of stream paste 36 and 37 and inwardly of the upper and lower edges of this back panel are pattern paste lines 38 and 39. These four lines of paste or glue serve to secure the face
panel 10 and the stub of the insert 22 in the form of a sealed envelope containing the insert.
The back panel 30 also is provided with an envelope opening tear line 40 and a thumb notch or tab 41 which correspond exactly with the similar opening or bursting tear line 20 and notch 21 of the first panel.
Now these three elements are made and assembled in multiple manifold web form suggested rather diagrammatically in FIG. 4 of the drawings. The uppermost web 10a is composed of successive envelope face elements 10 with their marginal feed strips;
the intermediate web 22a carries the inserts 22 in succession; and the bottom web 30a is comprised of the envelope back panels 30 and its marginal feeding strips.
It will be readily seen that the narrowing of the insert 22 permits the pattern paste lines 38 and 39 to adhere closely to the corresponding marginal portions of the face panel 10 and the stream paste strips 25 and 36 successively secure the stub
portions of the three parts together. The stream paste line 37, of course, seals the envelope on the left-hand or extraction side of the assembly. In the alignment of the elements of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 it will be readily perceived that the left-hand end
margin 22' of the insert occurs in registry with the other two elements at a point approximately between the registering envelope opening tear lines 20 and 40 and the occurrence of the stream paste line 37. This positioning insures that the insert 22 is
not glued to an envelope element at this point, but it also insures that the left-hand end portion of the strip 22 is clamped between the removable extraction end areas of the envelope panels. However, the thumb notch areas 21 and 41 afford a wider and
easier gripping area between which the tip of the insert sheet may be clamped. These are important features of the present invention in facilitating the separation of the parts.
The diagrammatic view in FIG. 5 illustrates the occurrence of the lateral glue points, the tear lines, and the positioning of the left-hand margins of the inserts. Incidentally, the embodiment of FIG. 5 shows two extra insert sheets 22 to
suggest that any reasonable number of inserts may be provided in the mailing envelope. In particular in FIG. 5, the top panel comprises the face element of the mailing envelope and is given the same designation 10 as the element in FIG. 1. The
successive inserts are designated 22-I, 22-II and a third one 22-III. The bottom or back panel is, of course, designated 30. The gluing effected by the stream paste 37 is indicated by crossed construction lines at the left-hand side of the FIG. and the
gluing effected by the stream paste lines 25 and 36 are indicated at the right-hand side. Of course, intermediate glue lines for multiple inserts would be provided as at 25a and 25b. Envelope bursting tear lines 20 and 40 are indicated on the left-hand
side of the FIG. by intersecting construction lines and the keen perforation tear lines 28 are similarly indicated near the right-hand side of the FIG.
The arrows 45 and 46 indicate the pinch points of the fingers of the operator at the left-hand or extraction side of the assembly and the arrows 47 and 48 indicate the pinch points of the fingers of the operator at the right-hand or stub side of
the assembly.
When gripped in this fashion by the fingers of the operator the situation would be as suggested in FIG. 6 of the drawings. Then by a snap movement of the fingers in opposite directions, the envelope bursting tear lines 20 and 40 come apart and
since the left-hand end portions of the insert element 22-I, 22-II and 22-III are within the pinching action of the fingers of the left hand these inserts will break away from their stub portions along the keen line of perforations 28. Thus the various
elements of the assembly will be pulled apart as suggested in FIG. 7 of the drawings and will separate as shown in FIG. 5a. The major portions of face member 10 and the back member 30, together with the stub portions of all of the elements will remain
in the right hand of the operator while the left hand removable extraction portion, held together by the stream paste 37, and the pinched end portions of the inserts 22 will remain in the left hand of the operator; and when the separation is completed as
indicated in FIG. 7 not only will the envelope have been burst open but by the same motion the inserts 22 will have been simultaneously removed, the left-hand chip element 37a held by the stream paste 37 being thrown away while the inserts 22 are
preserved for their intended use.
A modification of the construction is shown in FIGS. 8 to 16 of the drawings in which there are not only provided return envelopes and multiple inserts, but also file copies and other elements externally of the mailing envelope itself. The
various elements of this embodiment will be described in order from the top of the multiple pile downwardly and then the assembly and disassembly will be explained.
In FIG. 8 of the drawings is shown a file copy 50 which will normally correspond to one of the insert elements such as shown in FIG. 11. This file copy will, of course, contain the feed hole marginal strips 50a and 50b with their appropriate
tear lines.
In FIG. 9 there is shown a spot tissue sheet 51 for example for transferring the name and address of a customer to the next sheet which comprises the face of the mailing envelope. This carbon is spot coated at 51' and is provided along one
margin with feed holes 51b.
In FIG. 10 there is shown a sheet comprising the face of a mailing envelope and this element is designated 52, having the feed strips 52a and 52b on the respective opposite margins. This part is usually spot coated on the back in order to
transmit the desired information to the face of the first insert sheet shown in FIG. 11. An envelope bursting tear line is shown at 52' and the thumb notch area at 52".
In FIG. 11 there is shown a typical insert 53 which corresponds substantially to the insert 22 shown in FIG. 2 of the drawings and has the feed strip 53a at one side, the stream paste line 53' and the keen perforation tear line indicated at 53".
In FIG. 12 there is shown a panel 54 which will comprise the top or face panel of a return envelope. Customer identification may be transferred to this part by means of selective spot carbonizing on the back of insert member 53 (FIG. 11). It is
to be noted that this set is die cut and that the stub at the extraction side of the form is slit off. This part 54 is run during manufacture with only one row of marginal feed holes at the left-hand side which is slit off on the collator. However,
pattern paste lines between this panel and the back panel of the return envelope insures perfect registration.
In FIG. 13 at 55 there is shown this back panel layer with its feed strip 55a, stream paste line on the stub portion at 56, keen perforation tear line 57 and a flap area 58 joined to the main body portion of the area 55 by means of the fold line
59. The fairly broad stream glue line 60 comprises either a transfer tape or rewettable glue which will be used for the sealing of the return envelope portion of the insert package. The generally C-shaped pattern paste portions 61 when adhered to the
face panel 54 (FIG. 12) will form the pocket between parts 54 and 55 which will comprise the return envelope structure. Of course, the feed stub at the left-hand or extraction side of the form is cropped off.
Finally, in FIG. 14, there is shown the back panel of the main or mailing envelope and this is indicated by the reference numeral 65. This panel has the feed strip 65a and 65b for manufacturing and assembly purposes and is provided with stream
paste lines 65' and 65", pattern paste lines 66' and 66" all of which serve to hold the parts 52 and 65 together to form the mailing envelope package.
As in the case of the embodiment suggested in FIG. 3 of the drawings, the back panel 65 is provided with the bursting line 67 and the thumb notch area 68.
Thus, when the elements depicted in FIGS. 8 to 14 of the drawings are laid up in web form and then separated from each other, they will result in envelope packages as suggested in FIGS. 6 and 7 but with multiple insert elements and will be as
represented diagrammatically in FIG. 15 of the drawings. The top element will, of course, be the file copy 50 with its marginal feed strips 50a and 50b. The second one will be the carbon 51 with its coated area 51' and the feed strip 51b. Next will be
the top or face panel 52 for the main or mailing envelope. This element will, of course, have the feed strips 52a and 52b at either side thereof, the tear line 52' and the thumb notch or tab 52".
Next in line will be the message or data bearing insert portion 53 with its feed strip 53a, its stream paste line 53'. The keen perforation tear line for this insert portion is indicated by the broken line at 53". The top of the return envelope
is shown at 54 and the bottom or back panel at 55, this element having the feed strip 55a, the envelope assembly stream paste line 56, the keen perforation bursting line 57, the regluing line 60 on the flap portion 58 of the return envelope and the fold
line 59 whereby this flap may be bent over and secured to the body portion of the return envelope. The pattern glue line 61 is also indicated here.
Finally, the back panel portion 65 of the principal or mailing envelope is shown at 65 together with the feed strips 65a and 65b. Also the pattern glue strip 66" is indicated along with the envelope bursting tear line 67 and thumb notch area 68.
In FIG. 15 the widest bracket 70 indicates the complete multiple form web which is run through the business machine while the various typography elements are either uniformly or selectively inscribed from the file copy 50 on down to the back
panel 65 of the main envelope. Of course, after typography, the file copy 50 may be filed away, the spot carbon 51 discarded, and then the sealed and stuffed main envelope package indicated by the brackets 71 mailed out.
Then when the package comprising the main envelope parts 52 and 65, together with the various inserts is received by the addressee, he grasps the right-hand and left-hand portions at the points indicated by the arrows 45 and 46 at the left-hand
side and the arrows 47 and 48 at the right-hand side, and with a sharp tug while the left-hand ends of the insert parts 53, 54 and 55 are clamped as previously described these parts are readily severed along the lines 53" and 57, respectively, so that
the insert paper 53 and the return envelope 54, 55 are removed at the same time the main envelope is burst open. The return envelope assembly is indicated by the further bracket 72 and is shown in isolated form in FIG. 16 of the drawings.
Whereas FIG. 16 and the previous illustration show an end or side opening envelope, there is suggested in FIGS. 17 and 18 a way of providing a top opening envelope. Panel 54x in FIG. 17 comprises the face member of the return envelope and has
its feed strip 54a and the stub assembly glue line 54b. The line 54 c indicates the keen perforation tear line as in the other embodiments. The dotted line at 54d indicates a further tear line to permit the removal of the waste chip 54e for a purpose
to be described.
In FIG. 18 the back panel of the return envelope is shown at 55x and this panel is, of course, supplied with the feed strip 55a and the stub glue strip 55b. The keen perforation tear line is also shown at 55c and a substantially U-shaped pattern
paste configuration 55d is provided. At the upper edge of this back panel there is provided a pattern of rewettable glue at 55e which will be used to seal the return envelope when the flap 55f is folded over on the line 55g, of course, after removing
and discarding the waste chip 54e.
In FIGS. 19 and 20 of the drawings there is involved a form deeper than the forms previously outlined and another major difference is that one of the internal or insert parts may be eliminated if desired. In these FIGS. only the insert parts are
illustrated as the part 75 of FIG. 19 and the part 76 of FIG. 20. Needless to state, the mailing envelope and other extraneous copies will be double the size of the areas previously described.
The part 75 shown in FIG. 19 combines two functions into one. The lower portion 75b serves as the customer's copy of the data sheet while the top portion 75a constitutes the face panel of the return envelope.
Of course, the stub portions of these items are identical in the provisions of feed holes, longitudinal tear perforations and stream pasting with the return envelope structures described in connection with the other embodiments, and they need not
be particularly pointed out here.
The member 76 of FIG. 20 is divided in half by a fold line 76x and the upper half designated 76a comprises the rear panel of the return envelope to which the face panel 75a is applied and secured by means of generally U-shaped paste pattern 76c.
The lower half 76b comprises the flap of the return envelope and a rewettable glue stripe 76d is provided for sealing the return envelope, this large flap, of course, being turned over and secured to the face panel 75a of the return envelope when it is
assembled, meanwhile the data sheet 75b having been separated by the customer or addressee of the main package.
It is understood that various changes and modifications may be made in the embodiments illustrated and described herein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the subjoined claims.
* * * * *
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