EP0505952B1 - Letter for advertising purposes - Google Patents

Abstract

The letter for advertising purposes is folded by the cross fold wrap-over method to form a letter wrap (21). In this case, adhesive is applied on some selected areas, by means of which adhesive the parts of the letter wrap (21) which have been folded together are glued to one another to guarantee adhesion of the letter wrap (21). A supplement (22) which is covered by a cover sheet is mounted on the outside of the letter wrap (21). In the vicinity of the supplement, the cover sheet is glued to the letter wrap (21) by means of applying adhesive (27) so that the supplement (22) is firmly bonded to the letter wrap (21). <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to a letter for advertising purposes with the features of the preamble of claim 1.

Letters for advertising purposes, hereinafter referred to as advertising letters, are available as insert letters and as so-called "self-mailers".

In the case of a slip-in letter, the letter and possibly also other parts of the letter and deposits are inserted into an envelope which is initially open and this envelope is subsequently closed. Deposits are also to be understood to mean objects which, with a relatively small base area, have a height or thickness which is greater than that of the letter and any other parts of the letter and which are therefore to be regarded as three-dimensional bodies. Such three-dimensional bodies are usually attached to a carrier sheet, which together with the letter and possibly other parts of the letter, such as. B. a return envelope, put in the envelope.

However, the starting point for the teaching of the present invention is not a slip-in letter, but a self-mailer (US-A-4,342,418). It is essential for this self-mailer that the letter is made from a continuous wrap. Specifically, this means that, starting from a generally rectangular blank, it is divided into a number of fields by transverse folds (transverse folds) and / or by longitudinal folds (transverse folds), which, depending on the type and number of folds present a corresponding number of rows and columns are arranged distributed. The blank is usually folded into a letter wrap in several folds along these folds. Adhesive orders can be applied either at the beginning or in between in order to glue different fields of the sales letter together. In the last folding process, the two fields or field groups which are folded onto one another are glued together along one of the free edges, usually along the edge located from the last folding point and oriented parallel thereto, to form the finished roll.

In the case of a self-mailer, deposits can be attached, including those in the form of three-dimensional bodies (US - A - 3,918,632, US - A - 3,426,961, GB - A - 2,175,250, DE - U - 1 687 170, DE - U - 8 005 368). But then the simple folding processes alone, even more the simultaneous gluing of folded fields, are severely hampered. In any case, this forces the production speed of the letter-making machine to be reduced in order to make it possible to manufacture the self-mailer with one insert at all.

In both types of letter, there is an additional difficulty that if the insert is to be used particularly effectively for advertising purposes and serves as an eye-catcher of the letter, a viewing window must be punched out on the envelope of the slip-in letter or on one of the outer fields of the self-mailer, which must be punched out on the inside the envelope or the relevant field of the self-mailer must be covered with a transparent film or, viewed from the outside, must be glued behind. Since the inserts usually have smaller dimensions than the letter itself and therefore the viewing window is smaller than the cover or letter page in question, the insert usually has to be attached to a specific position in the slip-on letter on a carrier sheet or to a specific field in the self-mailer the right side at a certain point so that it can be seen in the viewing window afterwards.

In the case of a self-mailer, in addition to the above-mentioned disabilities and difficulties, an insert also makes the division of the fields and their assignment to certain letter contents more difficult and generally restricted, because the field with the viewing window is always on the outside of the wrap and the field with it attached insert must be directly under the window.

It is also known to create an additional "compartment" for a loose insert on a flat, rigid body, for example on a flat postcard (DE-U-89 15 336, DE-A-35 30 227, DE-U - 19 08 878, EP - A - 0 119 412).

Based on the previously described known advertising letter in the form of a self-mailer with an insert that is independent of the wrap, the teaching of this invention is based on the object of impairing or increasing the cost of production as little as possible by means of the insert that is independent of the wrap.

The above-stated object is achieved in a letter with the features of the preamble of claim 1 by the features of the characterizing part of claim 1.

Characterized in that the additional letter part is attached in the form of a supplement on the outside of the finished letter wrap and both covered and connected to the wrap by an attached cover sheet, the letter wrap itself can be done in the simplest possible way with largely free division of the Content of the individual fields. Attaching the insert on the outside of the letter roll and covering the insert with the cover sheet are also relatively simple manufacturing processes. Since no more folding operations follow the attachment of the insert and the cover sheet, a relatively high production speed can be maintained.

An embodiment of the advertising letter according to claim 2 increases the advertising effectiveness of the insert considerably. In addition, the part of the outside of the wrap that is not covered by the insert remains available for further advertising information.

An embodiment of the advertising letter according to claim 3 makes it easier to attach the insert at a very specific point on the roll, so that the insert can no longer slip until the cover sheet is subsequently applied. This reduces the risk of malfunctions and allows a higher production speed.

An embodiment of the advertising letter according to claim 4 facilitates both the application of the adhesive application and the crease-free application of the cover sheet. In addition, this type of adhesive application favors the use of the surface areas of the roll lying outside the adhesive application for further advertising information.

An embodiment of the advertising letter according to claim 5 makes it easier for the mail recipient to quickly and easily get to the insert simply by separating the part of the roll and the cover sheet located outside the perforation, even before he has completely opened the advertising letter himself. This increases the incentive to deal with the sales letter. The same applies to a configuration of the advertising letter according to claim 6, wherein the insert can be removed relatively easily through the slot. The same applies to an embodiment of the advertising letter according to claim 7, in which the surface part of the cover sheet located between the two perforations can be easily removed in the manner of a tear strip and the insert is therefore easily accessible. Finally, this applies to an embodiment of the advertising letter according to claim 8, in which the cover sheet can be removed easily and simply as a whole.

In the design of the advertising letter according to claim 9, the appearance of the advertising letter is improved, in particular in the case of thicker inserts, by avoiding or subsequently eliminating larger voids between the cover sheet and the winding. In addition, this significantly reduces the risk of the cover sheet being pressed into the area surrounding the insert, particularly if the insert has a greater thickness.

Fig. 1a bis 4

verschiedene Einzelteile einer ersten Ausführungsform des Werbebriefes mit Beilage in verschiedenen Fertigungsstadien des Werbebriefes,

Fig. 5

den fertigen Werbebrief,

Fig. 6 und 7

zwei Stadien des Werbebriefes bei der Entnahme der Beilage,

Fig. 8

eine zweite Ausführungsform des Werbebriefes;

Fig. 9 und 10

zwei Stadien des Werbebriefes nach Fig. 8 bei der Entnahme der Beilage,

Fig. 11a Fig 11b

verschiedene Einzelteile einer weiteren Ausführungsform des Werbebriefes,

Fig. 12

den fertigen Werbebrief,

Fig. 13

ein Stadium des Werbebriefes nach Fig. 12 bei der Entnahme der Beilage,

Fig. 14 bis 17

verschiedene weitere Ausführungsformen des Werbebriefes zum Teil im Stadium der Entnahme der Beilage,

Fig. 18

einen Querschnitt des Werbebriefes im Bereich der Beilage.

The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to some exemplary embodiments of the advertising letter shown in the drawing. Show it:

1a to 4

different individual parts of a first embodiment of the advertising letter with an insert in different production stages of the advertising letter,

Fig. 5

the finished sales letter,

6 and 7

two stages of the sales letter when the insert is removed,

Fig. 8

a second embodiment of the sales letter;

9 and 10

8 two stages of the advertising letter according to FIG. 8 when the insert is removed,

Fig. 11a Fig. 11b

various individual parts of a further embodiment of the advertising letter,

Fig. 12

the finished sales letter,

Fig. 13

12 a stage of the advertising letter according to FIG. 12 when the insert is removed,

14 to 17

various other embodiments of the advertising letter, in part at the stage of removing the insert,

Fig. 18

a cross section of the advertising letter in the area of the insert.

The advertising letter 20 shown in FIG. 5 has a letter roll 21, which is referred to below as roll 21.

The wrap 21 is produced from a blank which is rectangular in the initial state and which is folded along a transverse folds (transverse folds) and / or b longitudinal folds (longitudinal folds) in a conventional manner to form the finished roll 21. These folds determine, looking back, which Division of the blank into a number of fields, which are arranged in a + 1 rows and / or in b + 1 columns. The term longitudinal fold point refers to the direction in which the blank and the resulting roll pass through the folding machine. Accordingly, the term crossfold refers to the direction at right angles to it. In relation to a specific blank and the letter roll that is created on it, these designations can also be interchanged if the blank is passed through the folding machine in an arrangement rotated by 90 °.

Depending on the intended use of the individual fields, adhesive applications are applied in a certain surface or arrangement pattern in various surface areas of the fields of the blank before the beginning of the folding processes or in between, by means of which the fields which are directly folded onto one another are glued to one another in the desired manner. At least before the last folding process, an adhesive application for the final glue is applied to the two fields which have recently been folded onto one another, generally along the edge which is distant from and parallel to the last fold, by means of which the wrapping as such is completed and held together.

An insert 22 (FIG. 1b) is attached to one outside of the winding 21. This insert 22 can have any shape. In Fig. 1b and in the following figures, it is shown with a rectangular plan. It must be assumed that this insert can have a certain thickness, measured perpendicular to the plane of the drawing. The upper and lower sides are expediently aligned flat and parallel to one another in order to facilitate attachment to the winding 21 and also facilitate subsequent shipping.

In order for the insert 22 to retain its predetermined position at the point at which it is to be attached to the winding 21, even when the winding 21 passes through the subsequent stations of the manufacturing machine, an adhesive application 23 is applied in the later area of the insert 22. Its arrangement pattern is at least approximately the same as the outline of the insert 22. Of course, this adhesive application can also be applied to the side of the insert 22 facing the winding 21 and the winding 21 itself can remain free of this application of adhesive. So that the insert 22 can be removed from the winding 21 as easily as possible, it is expedient to choose an adhesive for the adhesive application 23 which interacts with the supplement, or vice versa with the winding 21, in the manner of an adhesive seal, so that the connection of the Supplement 22 with the winding 21 acts more as a stitch than as a bond.

Instead of an adhesive application 23 limited to the area of the insert 22 for attaching the insert 22 to the winding 21, a larger part of the outside of the winding 21 or even its entire outside can be provided with an adhesive application. For this, e.g. B. a pressure-activated adhesive can be used, in which the insert 22 only has to be pressed. In the same way, the cover sheet 26 can then be connected to the winding 21. In addition, the insert 22 can be provided on the side facing the winding 21 with an additional adhesive application, which is approximately matched to this large-area adhesive application on the winding 21 such that when the two adhesives interact, a stitching in the manner of an adhesive seal results.

After the insert 22 has been attached to the winding 21, the insert 22 can be provided with a label 24. For this purpose, a code 25 is used, which is already present on the winding 21 anyway.

Since the stitching between the insert 22 and the wrap 21 could not withstand greater external forces, such as can occur when handling and shipping the advertising letter 20, a cover sheet is provided on the side of the wrap 21 on which the insert 22 is located 26 (Fig. 3b) attached. If the insert 22 is to be immediately visible on the finished advertising letter 20 for advertising psychological reasons, it is necessary for the cover sheet 26 to be transparent, at least in the area of the insert 22. It is expedient to use an overall transparent material, for example a transparent plastic film, for the cover sheet 26.

For fastening the cover sheet 26 to the winding 21, either the winding 21 is provided with an adhesive application 27 (FIG. 1a) or the cover sheet 26 is provided with such an adhesive application 27 (FIG. 3b).

The adhesive application 27 is applied in a specific arrangement pattern. This arrangement pattern here has two narrow surface strips 28, 29 which run parallel to longer edges of the cover sheet 26. The adhesive application 27 also has two surface strips 31, 32 which connect to the two ends of the surface strips 28 and 29 and thus result in a ring-shaped, self-contained arrangement pattern for the adhesive application 27. The surface strips 28, 29, 31, 32 are shown on the cover sheet 26 at a short distance from the edges. You can also connect directly to the adjacent edge of the cover sheet 26.

As soon as the cover sheet 26 is arranged over the insert 22 and is firmly connected to the winding 21 by means of the adhesive application 27 (FIG. 4), two perforations 33, 34 are also made here. Both perforations 33, 34 run from the front edge 35 to the rear edge 36 of the winding 21. The two perforations 33, 34 are of the type which are customary for tear-off edge strips in self-mailers.

The perforation 33 is arranged between the insert 22 and the surface strip 31 of the adhesive application 27, specifically close to the surface strip 31. The perforation 33 thus passes both through the winding 21 and through the cover sheet 26. The perforation 34 lies at the other narrow end of the winding 21 outside the surface area of the cover sheet 26.

After the two perforations 33, 34 have been provided, the advertising letter 30 is finished (FIG. 5).

The mail recipient can first separate the tear-off edge strip 35 from the advertising letter 20 (FIG. 6) which connects to the perforation 33 which passes both through the roll 21 and through the cover sheet 36. As a result, the adhesive-free interior 37 located within the adhesive application 27 is opened between the cover sheet 26 and the outside of the winding 21 facing it. The insert 22 can then be removed from this before the remaining part of the advertising letter 20 'is opened (FIG. 7). If the tear-off edge strip 36 along the perforation 34 is then also separated from the advertising letter 20 ', the advertising letter 20 can be unfolded in the narrower sense and its individual parts can be used further depending on the circumstances.

8 shows a sales letter 40 which is largely similar to the sales letter 20 with regard to its individual parts. With him, only the perforations to form tear-off edge strips are modified.

There is only one perforation 41 in the advertising letter 40. It is aligned parallel to the elongated edge 42 and the surface strip 43 of the adhesive application 44 adjacent to this edge 42. It is in turn arranged between the insert 22 and the area strip 43, in fact much closer to the area strip 43 than is shown in FIG. 8.

If the tear-off edge strip 45 adjoining the perforation 41 is separated from the advertising letter 40 (FIG. 9), the insert 22 can be removed from the interior 46 between the cover sheet 47 and the wrap 48 (FIG. 10).

A further modification of the advertising letter can be seen from FIGS. 11 to 13.

The advertising letter 50 (FIG. 12) has a wrap 51 and an insert 52 attached to it (FIG. 11a). The associated cover sheet 53 (FIG. 11b) is largely identical to the cover sheet 26 (FIG. 3b) of the advertising letter 20.

In the advertising letter 50, the perforations for removing the insert 52 have been modified. The perforations 54, 55 are only present on the cover sheet 53 (FIG. 11b). They run parallel to the elongated edges 56 and 57 of the cover sheet 53. They go through on both sides to the narrow edges 58, 59 of the cover sheet 53. Both perforations 54, 55 lie within the surface strips 61, 62 of the adhesive application 63 running parallel to the edges 56, 57. Of the two surface strips 64, 65 running at right angles to the surface strips 61, 62, at least one is at a short distance from the respectively adjacent edge 58, 59 of the cover sheet 53. In this way, the narrow surface section 66 of the cover sheet 53 (FIG. 11b and FIG. 12) located on the one hand between the two perforations 54, 55 and on the other hand outside the surface strip 65 can be gripped and lifted easily with two fingers and then the strip-shaped surface section 67 (FIG. 13) located overall between the perforations 54, 55 is detached from the advertising letter 50 due to the perforations in one piece. As a result, the insert 52 is freely accessible on the outside of the winding 51 and can be easily lifted off.

14 to 17 show some further modifications of the advertising letter.

In the case of the advertising letter 70 (FIG. 14), the cover sheet 72 attached to the winding 71 has a slot 74 in the region of the insert 73. The length of the slot 74 is greater than the smallest dimension of the insert 73. If one of the edges of the slot 74 is raised, an opening 75 is created through which the insert 73 can be removed from the space between the cover sheet 72 and the winding 71. To facilitate this, it is expedient to arrange the slot 74 in the vicinity of one end of the insert 73 so that the end adjacent to this end Stripped edge of the slot 75 from the adjacent end of the insert 73 and the insert 73 can be pulled out of the slot 75 more easily.

In the advertising letter 80 (FIG. 15), the cover sheet 82 is attached to the roll 81 by means of an adhesive application 83, the four surface strips 84, 85, 86, 87 of which adjoin one another in a ring. For this adhesive application 83, an adhesive is used which forms a releasable connection in the manner of an adhesive seal between the winding 81 and the cover sheet 82. It is also expedient here that at least one of the surface strips, expediently the two surface strips 86, 87 on the shorter edges of the winding 81 and the cover sheet 82, have a certain distance from the adjacent edge 88, 89 of the winding 81, so that the cover sheet there 82 easier to grasp and can be deducted as a whole from the winding 81.

In the case of the advertising letter 90 (FIG. 16) and the advertising letter 91 (FIG. 17) it is shown that the adhesive application for connecting the cover sheet to the associated wrap not only has to be applied in a ring-shaped, closed surface pattern, but also that two surface strips 92, 93 or 94, 95 can suffice, which are each arranged diametrically to the insert 96, 97 and can be attached either along the shorter outer edge or along the longer outer edge of the winding and the cover sheet.

In Fig. 18 it is illustrated that it is particularly useful with a thicker insert 96 that cover sheet 97 in the vicinity of the insert 96, i. H. in the lateral surface areas 98 to press closer to the winding 99. For this purpose, a thermoplastic plastic film is used for the cover sheet 97, which is softened by the application of heat after attachment via the insert 97 and is pressed more tightly around the insert 96 in the lateral surface areas 98 with a stamp-like tool. After the plastic film has cooled, it retains this tight-fitting shape, which is shown in FIG. 18 at a greater distance only for the sake of clarity.

Claims (9)

1. A letter for advertising purposes, having the features:

   - it is produced from a blank which is rectangular in its initial state,

   - the blank is subdivided by a transversely extending fold lines and/or by b longitudinally extending fold lines into a number of areas to form a + 1 rows and/or b + 1 columns, which are folded along the fold lines to form a package (21, 48, 51, 71, 81),

   - an adhesive layer is applied, at least along one of the free edges, on the inside of at least one of the two folds or groups of folds which were last folded together, by means of which adhesive layer the areas are adhesively bonded to each other to form the finished package (21, 48, 51, 71, 81),

   - an insert (22, 52, 73, 96) is provided, which is independent of the package (21, 48, 51, 71, 81),

   characterised by the features:

   - the insert (22, 52, 73, 96) is disposed on the outside of the package (21, 48, 51, 71, 81),

   - a cover sheet (26, 47, 53, 72, 82) is present,

   - the horizontal projection of which is larger than the horizontal projection of the insert (22, 52, 73, 96), and

   - which is disposed over the insert (22, 52, 73, 96),

   - an adhesive layer (27, 63, 83) is applied to the outside of the package (21, 48, 51, 71, 81) and/or to the side of the cover sheet (26, 47, 53, 72, 82) facing the package (21, 48, 51, 71, 81), outside the surface region of the insert (22, 52, 73, 96), by means of which adhesive layer the cover sheet (26, 47, 53, 72, 82) is attached to the package (21, 48, 51, 71, 81).
2. An advertising letter according to claim 1,
   characterised by the feature:

   - the cover sheet (26, 47, 53, 72, 82) is of transparent construction, at least in the region of the insert (22, 52, 73, 96) and preferably over its whole area.
3. An advertising letter according to either one of claims 1 or 2,
   characterised by the feature:

   - an adhesive layer (23) is applied to the package (21) in the surface region of the insert (22) and/or on the side of the insert (22) facing the package (21), which adhesive layer forms an adhesion seal with the opposite surface which is separable without destruction and which is resealable.
4. An advertising letter according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
   characterised by the features:

   - the pattern of application of the adhesive layer (27) comprises at least two surface strips (28, 29) for attaching the cover sheet (26) to the package (21),

   - which surface strips are disposed diametrally with respect to the insert (22), and

   - which are preferably aligned parallel to each other,

   - the pattern of application of the adhesive layer (27) optionally comprises two further surface strips (31, 32)

   - which are likewise disposed diametrally with respect to the insert (22), and

   - which are likewise preferably aligned parallel to each other, and

   - which preferably adjoin the first two surface strips (28, 29).
5. An advertising letter according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
   characterised by the features:

   - a common perforation (33) is provided on the package (21) and on the cover sheet (26),

   - which perforation is placed between the insert (22) and one of the surface strips (31) of the adhesive layer (27), and

   - extends over the entire length of the package (21) and of the cover sheet (26) with the formation of a tear-off edge strip (35).
6. An advertising letter according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
   characterised by the features:

   - the cover sheet (72) has a slit (74) in the region of the insert (73), the length of which slit is greater than the smallest dimension of the insert (73).
7. An advertising letter according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
   characterised by the features:

   - the cover sheet (53) has two perforations (54, 55),

   - which are preferably aligned parallel to each other and

   - which extend, at least at one end, as far as the adjacent edge (59) of the cover sheet (53),

   - the surface strip (65) of the adhesive layer (63) which is adjacent to this end of the perforation (54, 55) and which extends at right angles to the perforations (54, 55) preferably has an edge determined by the adjacent edge (59) of the cover sheet (53).
8. An advertising letter according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
   characterised by the features:

   - at least one of the surface strips (86, 87) of the adhesive layer (83) is at a defined distance from the edge (88, 89) of the cover sheet (82) which is adjacent to it,

   - an adhesive is used for this surface strip (86, 87) and for at least the initial section of the adjoining surface strips (84, 85), preferably for the entire length thereof, which forms an adhesion seal, which is detachable without destruction and which is re-sealable, with the outside of the package (81) which faces the adhesive,

   - if necessary, a layer of material which contributes to the adhesion effect is applied to the package (81), at least in the surface region of these surface strips (84 ... 87).
9. An advertising letter according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
   characterised by the features:

   - that the adhesive layer (27, 63, 83) is produced by welding the cover sheet (26, 47, 53, 72, 82), which consists of synthetic thermoplastic material, to the outside of the package (21, 48, 51, 71, 81).

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