EP0271968B1 - Appareil pour le pliage d'un document postal en une pièce - Google Patents

Appareil pour le pliage d'un document postal en une pièce Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0271968B1
EP0271968B1 EP87304428A EP87304428A EP0271968B1 EP 0271968 B1 EP0271968 B1 EP 0271968B1 EP 87304428 A EP87304428 A EP 87304428A EP 87304428 A EP87304428 A EP 87304428A EP 0271968 B1 EP0271968 B1 EP 0271968B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
mailer
blank
water
sections
folding
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP87304428A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP0271968A2 (fr
EP0271968A3 (en
Inventor
David Dicker
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Transkrit Corp
Original Assignee
Transkrit Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Transkrit Corp filed Critical Transkrit Corp
Priority to AT87304428T priority Critical patent/ATE98571T1/de
Publication of EP0271968A2 publication Critical patent/EP0271968A2/fr
Publication of EP0271968A3 publication Critical patent/EP0271968A3/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0271968B1 publication Critical patent/EP0271968B1/fr
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B42—BOOKBINDING; ALBUMS; FILES; SPECIAL PRINTED MATTER
    • B42D—BOOKS; BOOK COVERS; LOOSE LEAVES; PRINTED MATTER CHARACTERISED BY IDENTIFICATION OR SECURITY FEATURES; PRINTED MATTER OF SPECIAL FORMAT OR STYLE NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; DEVICES FOR USE THEREWITH AND NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; MOVABLE-STRIP WRITING OR READING APPARATUS
    • B42D15/00—Printed matter of special format or style not otherwise provided for
    • B42D15/02—Postcards; Greeting, menu, business or like cards; Letter cards or letter-sheets
    • B42D15/04—Foldable or multi-part cards or sheets
    • B42D15/08—Letter-cards or letter-sheets, i.e. cards or sheets each of which is to be folded with the message inside and to serve as its own envelope for mailing
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B43—WRITING OR DRAWING IMPLEMENTS; BUREAU ACCESSORIES
    • B43M—BUREAU ACCESSORIES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • B43M5/00—Devices for closing envelopes
    • B43M5/04—Devices for closing envelopes automatic

Definitions

  • This invention relates to an apparatus for folding and sealing a one-piece mailer.
  • US-A-2,549,199 describes an envelope which carries gummed tabs which can be folded and sealed by applying moisture to the tabs.
  • the envelope described is to be manually handled.
  • U.S. Patent 4,055,294 describes a continuous web from which a series of connected one-piece assemblies are constructed.
  • various lines of perforations are provided in the web so that the web may be folded about a score line extending lengthwise of the connected assembly so that one portion overlies another portion of the web in order to define return envelope pockets therebetween.
  • Other lines of perforations are also provided to permit the remaining web portions to be folded over the previously folded portions to form a series of three-ply mailers.
  • use is made of a previously applied hot-melt adhesive in order to secure the folded over portions together.
  • the invention provides an apparatus for folding and sealing a one piece mailer blank having a plurality of sections contiguous in a feed direction therefor through said apparatus, said apparatus comprising a sheet paper conveyor for said mailer blank and means for folding said sections of said conveyed mailer blank onto each other in a direction of paper feed to force one section thereof onto an opposed section, characterized in that said mailer has remoistenable glue extending over each of two edge regions of the mailer blank at or adjacent those edges of sections which extend parallel to said feed direction and in that water applicator means is positioned to apply water along each edge regions of said mailer blank prior to folding of said sections of said mailer blank onto each other as said edge regions pass by the water applicator thereby to activate said glue so that said edge regions become bonded together when said sections are forced one onto an opposed section.
  • the mailer may be constructed with two or three foldable sections.
  • the mailer blank may be provided with one or two transverse fold lines to permit subsequent folding of a blank into a two-ply mailer or three-ply mailer.
  • the one-piece mailer may also have remoistenable glue disposed near a transverse edge for bonding to the other sections. Whether the mailer is a two-ply or three-ply mailer, this glue serves to seal the mailer transversely across the mailer without leaving a gap which might be inadvertently opened.
  • the one-piece mailer may be comprised by an assembly having a plurality of interconnected one-piece mailer blanks which are separated from each other by transverse burstable lines of weakening with separation taking place at predetermined such lines of weakening.
  • the mailer assembly is of one-ply constructions and is provided with removable strips of control holes along the longitudinal edges to facilitate feeding through various types of automatic machinery, for example, a laser printer.
  • each mailer blank is separated from the assembly, if continuous, by bursting along a transverse line of weakening. Thereafter, water is applied to the edges of each mailer to activate the glue strips and the blank is folded with the folded over sections being pressed together in order to effect a bonding of the sections together via the water-activated glue strips.
  • this glue is also activated by the application of water along the transverse edge prior to folding of the blank.
  • the remoistened glue effects a bonding of the transverse edge to a facing mailer section.
  • the apparatus of the invention may be constructed from a generally conventional folding apparatus modified by additional provision of a means for applying water to the edge areas of the conveyed mailer blanks.
  • the means for applying the water may include a water reservoir disposed below the conveyed mailer blanks and an applicator, such as a rotatably mounted wheel or capillary brush, for transferring water from the reservoir to the underside of a conveyed blank.
  • the means for applying the water may include a water reservoir and a nozzle which communicates with the reservoir and is directed towards a conveyed blank for transferring water to the conveyed blank by pressure or by gravity.
  • the folding apparatus is also augmented with a similar means for applying water to the conveyed blanks along the transverse edge.
  • the one-piece mailer is formed from a flat blank 10 of rectangular shape which is divided by transverse fold lines 14, 15 into three sections 11, 12, 13 which together are contiguous over the length of the mailer, a pair of longitudinal perforations 16, or other like lines of weakening extended along the blank 10 approximately one-half (1/2) inch (1.27 cm) from the respective longitudinal edges.
  • Each section 11, 12, 13 is also provided with a pair of remoistenable glue strips 17 along and between each respective longitudinal edge and a perforation 16.
  • each glue strip is 1/2 inch (1.27 cm) wide for a blank having a width of 8 1/2 inches (21.6cm).
  • the remoistenable glue is made of any suitable glue which can be reactivated with water such as a vinyl copolymer dispersion adhesive.
  • the mailer assembly 18 is formed of a plurality of interconnected one-piece mailer blanks 10 which are separated by transverse burstable lines of weakening 19.
  • the assembly 18 includes longitudinal strips 20 flanking remoistenable glue strips 17 and which are provided with control holes 21, for example for feeding through a laser printer for the application of information to the various mailer blanks 10.
  • Fig. 1 shows how each mailer blank 10 of three sections can be imprinted with information such that the upper two sections 11, 12, as viewed form a voucher including the address of a recipient while the lower section 13 is printed as a check.
  • the lower fold line 15 is made as a line of weakening, e.g., a perforation, to permit the section 13 to be subsequently separated from the section 12.
  • the backside of the mailer blank 10 may be provided with information, such as the return address of a sender, for example in one corner of the middle section 12.
  • the middle section 12 may be provided with a cut-out 22 and an overlying plastic film 23 to permit viewing of a printed address of the recipient on one section 13.
  • the longitudinal strips 20 may be removed and, thereafter, the individual mailer blanks 10 can be separated from the assembly 18 by bursting across those lines of weakening 19 which are not to be merely fold lines and locations at which one seclusion may be removed from the mailer but locations at which one mailer is separated from the next mailer.
  • each mailer blank 10 can be delivered to a folding and sealing machine or apparatus 24.
  • the machine 24 includes a tray 25 for receiving a stack of mailer blanks 10, means 26 for applying water to at least one side of the blank 10 along each longitudinal edge in order to activate the glue and means (not shown) for folding the sections 11, 12, 13 into overlying relation while pressing the opposed or facing longitudinal edges together to permit the activated glue strips 17 to bond the edges together.
  • the machine 24 is of conventional structure and need not be further described.
  • a feed means 27 in the form of a friction feed roller (Fig. 2) is provided to individually convey the blanks 10 from the tray 25.
  • Fig. 2 shows how the means 26 for applying water of which only part is visible in Figure 6 includes a pair of water reservoirs 28 each of which is mounted on the machine 24, a plastic tube 29 for delivering water from the reservoir 28 and an applicator 30 for transferring water from the respective reservoir 28 via the tube 29 to the edge of the conveyed blank 10.
  • each blank 10 is conveyed with the glue side facing the respective applicator 30.
  • each water applicator 30 is in the form of a rotatably mounted wheel 31 which is capable of picking up water from a reservoir 32 for application to the underside of the blank 10.
  • the applicator may be a brush 33 which extends upwardly from the reservoir 32 for wetting the conveyed blank 9 by capillary action.
  • the water applicator may be in the form of a nozzle 34 which communicates with the reservoir 32 so as to spray water onto the blank 10. Still further, as indicated in Fig. 9, the reservoir 32 may be disposed above the plane of the blank 10 so that water is fed by gravity through the nozzle 34.
  • the means for folding the sections 11, 12, 13 of the blank 10 is of conventional structure which employs folding plates which function to fold the blanks 10 on each other to form a three-ply mailer 35, for example, as shown in Fig. 4.
  • the mailer 35 can then be mailed in a conventional manner.
  • the check forming section 13 is folded up against the middle section 12 with the respective glue strips in facing relation to each other. Thereafter, the remaining section 11 can be folded up so that the glue strips 17 thereon face an unglued surface of the section 13.
  • the glue serves to bond the sections together into a sealed unit at the ends of the mailer 34.
  • the water applicators may be positioned to apply water to the downside of a blank as in Fig. 2 or the upside of a blank. In either case, the glue strips would be in facing relation to the applicators.
  • both edges may be torn off along the overlying perforations 16 so as to permit the remainder to be opened flat.
  • the lower section 13 can then be removed along the perforations 15 where made as a check.
  • the mailer blank 10 may also be provided with remoistenable glue in the form of a cross-web array of glue dots 17' disposed near a transverse edge, i.e. the top edge as viewed, of the upper section 11.
  • glue dots 17' are made of the same glue as the glue strips 17.
  • the dots 17' may be replaced by blocks or a line of glues.
  • the machines 24 may also include means 26' for applying water to the blank 10 along a transverse top edge, as viewed, in order to activate the glue dots 17' which may be present as shown in Fig. 11.
  • the water applying means 26' includes a reservoir 28' which is mounted at the upper end of a tray 35 for the folding means (not shown).
  • a plastic tube 29' extends from the reservoir 28' to an applicator (not shown) positioned under and in line with holes 36 in the tray 35 in order to transfer water to the leading transverse edge of a conveyed blank 10 on which the glue dots 17' are disposed.
  • suitable stops 37 are provided to stop movement of the blanks from the tray 35.
  • the sections 11, 12, 13 are folded and pressed, as above, with the remoistenable glue dots 17' of the top section 11 facing and bonding to the unglued surface of the check forming section 13.
  • a completely sealed unit is then obtained, i.e. a unit which is sealed at the sides as well as across the top (or bottom as the case may be).
  • the one-piece mailer 38 may be provided with lines 39 of remoistenable glue rather than stripes of glue as illustrated in Fig. 1. Further, a transverse line 40 of glue may also be provided at the upper edge.
  • the mailer blank 38 may also be shaped in a manner so that the lower two sections 41, 42 form the front and back of a return mailer while the uppermost section 43 forms a flap for closing the return mailer.
  • the lower sections 41, 42 are separated by a transverse fold line 44 while the flap 43 is separated from the section 42 by a similar transverse fold line 45.
  • the flap 43 may be shaped as illustrated so as to have two shouldered portions 46 above the fold line 45 and a contoured closing portion 47 containing the transverse line 40 of glue.
  • the mailer 38 may be folded in a similar manner to the mailers described above with respect to Fig. 10.
  • each mailer 38 is moistened along the longitudinal edges as well as along the upper edge to activate the remoistenable lines 39, 40 of glue.
  • the lower two sections 41, 42 are folded together about the fold line 44 while the flap section 43 is folded down over the back of the lower section 41 to form a closed mailer which can then be mailed in the usual manner.
  • One advantage of this construction is that the resulting mailer has the appearances of a conventional envelope.
  • the individual mailers may be "chopped" from a continuous web of paper so that the contour of the upper edge forming the flap section 43 is cut at the same time as the lower edge is being cut.
  • the flap section formed with a contour shape, but also the lower edge is formed with a recessed portion of mating shape.
  • the recess provides access into the pocket formed by the remaining two sections of the mailer.
  • the invention thus provides a relatively simple apparatus for the folding and sealing of one piece blanks into a mailer construction. Further, since the apparatus requires a rather inexpensive water applicator, the overall costs of making and using such an apparatus are at a relative minimum, for example as compared with folding equipment which require heaters in order to activate a hot melt glue on a mailer blank. Still further, since a remoistenable flue is used, the costs of fabricating the one-piece mailer can be held to a minimum.

Landscapes

  • Folding Of Thin Sheet-Like Materials, Special Discharging Devices, And Others (AREA)
  • Making Paper Articles (AREA)
  • Credit Cards Or The Like (AREA)
  • Orthopedics, Nursing, And Contraception (AREA)
  • Packaging Of Annular Or Rod-Shaped Articles, Wearing Apparel, Cassettes, Or The Like (AREA)

Claims (5)

  1. Appareil pour plier et cacheter un document postal (10, 38) formé d'une seule pièce, comportant une pluralité de sections (11, 12, 13) contiguës dans une direction d'avancement de ce document à travers ledit appareil, ledit appareil comprenant un convoyeur de feuilles de papier pour ledit document postal et un moyen pour plier lesdites sections dudit document postal transporté, l'une sur l'autre, dans la direction d'avancement du papier de manière à appliquer avec force une des sections de ce dernier sur une section opposée, caractérisé en ce que le document postal est pourvu d'une colle humidifiable (17) s'étendant sur chacune de deux régions de bord du document postal (10, 38) à l'endroit ou au voisinage de ces bords des sections (11, 12, 13) qui s'étendent parallèlement à ladite direction d'avancement et en ce qu'un moyen (26) d'application d'eau est disposé de manière à appliquer de l'eau le long de chaque région de bord dudit document postal avant le pliage desdites sections du document postal, l'une sur l'autre, lorsque les régions de bord passent devant l'applicateur d'eau de manière à activer ainsi la colle (17) de telle sorte que lesdites régions de bord collent les unes aux autres lorsque lesdites sections sont appliquées chacune sur une section opposée.
  2. Appareil selon la revendication 1, dans lequel ledit applicateur d'eau (26) comprend un réservoir d'eau (28) disposé au voisinage d'un document postal transporté dans le convoyeur (27) et un applicateur (30) pour transférer l'eau dudit réservoir jusqu'à un document postal transporté.
  3. Appareil selon la revendication 2, dans lequel ledit applicateur est une roue (31) montée de façon tournante.
  4. Appareil selon la revendication 2, dans lequel ledit applicateur est une brosse (33) s'étendant vers le haut depuis le réservoir (28) pour mouiller par action capillaire un document postal transporté.
  5. Appareil selon la revendication 1, dans lequel ledit moyen servant à appliquer l'eau comprend un réservoir d'eau (28) et une buse (34) communiquant avec ledit réservoir et dirigée vers un document postal transporté dans ledit moyen d'avancement pour transférer l'eau depuis ledit réservoir jusqu'à un document postal transporté.
EP87304428A 1986-12-16 1987-05-19 Appareil pour le pliage d'un document postal en une pièce Expired - Lifetime EP0271968B1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AT87304428T ATE98571T1 (de) 1986-12-16 1987-05-19 Vorrichtung zum falten eines einstueckigen faltbriefs.

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US94234986A 1986-12-16 1986-12-16
US942349 2001-08-29

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0271968A2 EP0271968A2 (fr) 1988-06-22
EP0271968A3 EP0271968A3 (en) 1989-12-20
EP0271968B1 true EP0271968B1 (fr) 1993-12-15

Family

ID=25477964

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP87304428A Expired - Lifetime EP0271968B1 (fr) 1986-12-16 1987-05-19 Appareil pour le pliage d'un document postal en une pièce

Country Status (3)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0271968B1 (fr)
AT (1) ATE98571T1 (fr)
DE (1) DE3788511T2 (fr)

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO1991018747A1 (fr) * 1990-06-01 1991-12-12 Kamskoe Obiedinenie Po Proizvodstvu Bolshegruznykh Avtomobilei (Kamaz) Lettre-enveloppe
DE10252550A1 (de) * 2002-11-08 2004-05-27 Focke Gmbh & Co. Kg Verfahren und Vorrichtung zum Herstellen von Falt-Coupons

Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2549199A (en) * 1948-07-12 1951-04-17 Hodska Nicholas Combination envelope and letter paper

Family Cites Families (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3845698A (en) * 1973-06-28 1974-11-05 Compucolor Inc Method of making an envelope containing a separate enclosure sheet
US3911862A (en) * 1974-11-04 1975-10-14 Pitney Bowes Inc Envelope flap moistening apparatus
US4284230A (en) * 1980-01-22 1981-08-18 Schultz Frank L Mailing assembly incorporating plural offer send and return mailing pieces
US4428794A (en) * 1982-08-04 1984-01-31 Xerox Corporation Apparatus for sealing envelopes
US4450037A (en) * 1983-06-22 1984-05-22 Pitney Bowes Inc. Envelope flap sealing device
DE3508114C1 (de) * 1985-03-07 1986-05-22 O. T. Drescher GmbH, 7255 Rutesheim Verfahren zum Verkleben von Erzeugnissen aus Papier,Folien usw.,insbesondere von Beschriftungsblaettern

Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2549199A (en) * 1948-07-12 1951-04-17 Hodska Nicholas Combination envelope and letter paper

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
Ullmanns Enzyklopädie der Technischen Chemie; 4., neubearbeitete und erweiterte Auflage; Band 14; pages 239-242 and 249; Verlag Chemie - Weinheim, New York; 1977 *

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP0271968A2 (fr) 1988-06-22
DE3788511D1 (de) 1994-01-27
DE3788511T2 (de) 1994-05-11
EP0271968A3 (en) 1989-12-20
ATE98571T1 (de) 1994-01-15

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