CA1037915A - End construction for bellows type envelopes and the like - Google Patents

Abstract

A BLANK FOR FORMING A BELLOWS TYPE ENVELOPE

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A blank particularly suited for being folded into a bellows-type envelope by automatic machinery is provided. The blank includes longitudinal and latitudinal score lines for defining inward and outward folding of the blank. Further score lines define isosceles triangles which are adapted to be folded along the altitudes of the triangles and secured to define a bellows-type corner fold.

Description

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'' ~ BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION ,,'~, .Bellows-type envelopes are well known and are particular-`';, `, .,. ly useful in modern commercial practice to contain large quanti~
ties of material, and must,be capable of expanding to accept~
additions to the material accumulated therein. Numerous ' . constructions have been adopted: - for the purpose o making ~uch '~
: envelopes capable of expanding to receive large amounts of s-.
: material; for the purpose of making them durable; and for the . 'purpose of improving their hinging action. Such envelopes have . . reached a high degree of expandabili~y and durability, but ~hey are costly to manufacture because of the numerous manual opera- '.
tions required. Automatic machinery is available for making less.. ;~
,.,, complex forms of envelopes, but none is available for making ~
.. ,-.. conventional bellows-type envelope having good expandability ~and durability.

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~ 037 9 ~ 5 It has been found that durable, expandable, bellows-type envelopes may be designed, which nevertheless can be constructed ~1 upon automatic machinery. The present invention is directed I toward that end. Thus, it is an object of this invention to ¦ provide a blank which may be folded into a bellows-type envelope on automatic machinery, eliminating manual folding and manual gluing.
~¦ It is another object of the invention to provide a blank ¦ adapted to be folded into a bellows-type envelope which provides 1 .
for liberal expansion.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide an improved bellows-type envelope formed by machinery which will be strong and durable, resistant to tearing or deterioration with repeated use.
A still further object of the invention is to provide `~
a blank capable of defining an end construction for a bellows-type envelope in which, upon expansion of the en~elope, the side walls and the bottom wall will fall into proper position.
Still other objects and advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part be apparent from the specification.
The invention accordingly comprises an article of manufacture possessing the features, properties, and the rel~ ion of elements which will be exemplified in the article hereinafter described, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

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3~9~5 i BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

I' These objects and aclvantages as well as other objects and aclvantages may be attained by the construction shown by way j of illustration in the drawings in which:
¦ FIGURE 1 is a plan view of an unfolded blank for a bellows-type envelope constructed in accordance with the instant invention;
¦I FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the partially folded blank shown in Figure l;
FIGURE 3 is an external perspective view of an end of the ¦ completely folded and glued blank shown in Figures 1 and 2; and FIGURE 4 is an internal perspective view of the end of the completely folded and glued blank looking in the direction of the arrows, as shown in Figure 3. 3 -¦ DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
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Reference is now made to Fig. l,wherein a blank, I generally indicated at lO,may be embodied in an end construction ¦ for a bellows-type envelope, or in an expandable pocket, or even in such diverse objects as vacuum cleaner bags, merchandise bags and similar containers is depicted.
Blank 10 includes an inward and outward surface, having score lines in the respective surfaces for defining inward or outward fold lines. A score line on the inner surface effects folding of the blank toward the inner surface and a score line on the outer surface will effect a folding of the blank toward the outer surface.
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j1 The inward surface includes 3atitudinal score lines 11 ~and 13 and longitudinal score lines 17. The outward surface includes latitudinal score line 16 disposed in parallel with and equidistant from score lines 11 and 13, and longitudinal score lines 19 defining flaps 24. Additionally, score lines 25 lon the outward surface define isosceles triangles 20, each i~triangle having an altitude 22 defined by either score line 11 or 13, with the apex 23 of each triangle coincident with longitudinal score line 17, and the base 21 of each triangle defined by the edge of the blank. Il It is noted that the blank 10 depicted in Figs. 1 ll through 4 includes a cover flap defined by latitudinal score lines 27 on the inner surface for forming cover flap portions 26 and 28, in a manner to be discussed more fully below. Neverthe-less, the instant invention is directed to a blank for forming a bellows-type construction envelope, and thus a cover flap is not ! . required to practice the instant invention, and is included here- I
in for purposes of illustrating a preferred embodiment.
To form the blank 10 into a bellows-type envelope requires ~the following steps. Glue is placed on the inner surface of flaps 24 defined by score lines 19. Also, glue is placed on the outer surface of the isosceles triangles 20, defined by the triangular score lines 25. Thereafter, the blank is folded inwardly along score line 17 to define longitudinal flaps 18. Longitudinal flaps 18 are folded inwardly, as illustrated in Fig. 2. The 1' , ~ 4 _ :. . . .. , - . , . , - ~ ~

10379~5 i llflaps 24 defined by score line 19 are then folded outwardly along ¦Iscore lines 19. The blank 10 is then folded outwardly along jscore line 15, and inwardly along score lines 11 and 13. Addition-!ally, if a cover flap is included, inward folding along score lines 27 is effected.
The inward folding along score lines 11 and 13, following l,the outward folding along score line 16, defines envelope side ¦Ipanels 12 and 13, and envelope bottom panel 15 therebetween. The j ¦longitudinal flaps 18 coextensive with the side and bottom envelope panels are brought into registry by the inward folding ~¦of the blanks along score lines 11 and 13, so that half of each li triangle surface 20 on each side of the score line 11 and 13 3 having glue thereon is folded into each other. Finally, because the flaps 24 are not coextensive with the entire longitudinal flap 18, but instead are limited so as not to be coextensive ~with the triangles formed therein~ the inward folding along score lines 11 and 13 brings the glue side of flaps 24 into ` contact with outer surface of longitudinal flaps 1~ at a portion ¦
not coextensive with the triangles in longitudinal flap 18. The drying of the glue thereby completes the forming of a bellows-type envelope having expansion corners as depicted in Figs. 3 and 4.
Accordingly, it is noted that a blank constructed in accordance 5 with instant invention can be completely formed into a bellows- ~ -type envelope on straight line folding machinery without requiring, any manual operations.

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~ ~1 5 ¦1 It will thus be seen that the objects set for~h above, ,among those made apparent from the preceding description, are ,efficiently attained and, sinc:e certain changes may be made in the above article without departing from the spirit and scope ~of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description and shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.
It is also to be understood that the following claims ¦are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features ~of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said ~to fall therebetween.

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Claims (3)

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A blank particularly suited for being fully folded on automated straight folding machinery into a bellows-type envelope having inwardly folding side and bottom gussets comprising a sheet having a first side, said first side having a first score line for defining an outward fold, the other side of said sheet having two further score lines parallel to and equidistant from said first score line for defining inward folds and for forming said blank at the three sections, said sections including said first score line defining an inwardly folded bottom gusset; fourth and fifth score lines disposed on said other side at right angles to said first mentioned score line to define inner folded side panels on each section, triangular score lines being disposed on said other side of said sheet to define two inner folded isosceles triangles in each side panel, said triangles being astride said further score lines, each isosceles triangle defined by said tri-angular score lines including a base and altitude, said altitude being in registration with said further score lines so that said triangle is astride thereof, and the base of each triangle being an edge of said sheet, and sixth and seventh score lines parallel to said fourth and fifth score lines and disposed on said first side to define outwardly folding flaps, coextensive with a portion of said side panels, said outwardly folding flaps terminating at a point where the triangular score line intersects the edge of said side panel for defining inwardly folded side gussets and adhesive disposed in said triangles on said first outward side, said triangles having the adhesive thereon being folded into each other to secure same and define inwardly folded gussetted corners.

2. A blank as claimed in claim 1, wherein said blank includes a cover panel defined by eighth and ninth score lines parallel to said first mentioned and further score lines.

3. A blank as claimed in claim 1, wherein adhesive is disposed on the inward side of said flaps, and each said flap is secured to a portion of the outward surface of said side panel not coextensive therewith.