GB2225748A

GB2225748A - Continuous stationery assembly

Info

Publication number: GB2225748A
Application number: GB8826098A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Jeremy John Plimmer; Barry Atkins
Original assignee: Kenrick and Jefferson Ltd
Current assignee: Kenrick and Jefferson Ltd
Priority date: 1988-11-08
Filing date: 1988-11-08
Publication date: 1990-06-13
Anticipated expiration: 2008-11-08
Also published as: GB2225748B; GB8826098D0

Abstract

A continuous stationery assembly includes an envelope forming sheet (10) which is provided along one margin with a longitudinally extending line (12) of adhesive. This sheet (10) has a longitudinal fold line (14) and the area of the sheet (10) has transverse lines (13) of adhesive such that when the sheet (10) is folded along such fold line individual sealed envelopes are defined between the two parts of the sheet (10). A document sheet (11) is adhesively attached to the shoot (10) along a margin opposite the longitudinal adhesive line and is formed with transverse slots aligned with the transverse adhesive lines. The document sheet (11) is of width less than half that of the envelope forming sheet. <IMAGE>

Description

CONTINUOUS STATIONERY ASSEMBLIES This invention relates to continuous stationery assemblies.

There already exists a well-established technique, whereby personalised documents can be produced within sealed envelopes for mailing to the addressees.

Generally speaking, the personalised details are added as a final operation by using an impact printer to print the documents already contained within sealed envelopes, by the use of suitable self-imaging or manifolding materials within the envelopes.

This method is not, however, suitable for security documents such as cheques, since the use of manifolding or self-imaging materials is not acceptable. Commonly, therefore, cheques are produced separately and manually or mechanically inserted into envelopes. This procedure is inefficient and time consuming and it is an object of the invention to provide a continuous stationery assembly which overcomes the above mentioned problems.

According to the invention there is provided a continuous stationery assembly comprising a continuous envelope-forming leaf provided along one margin with a longitudinally extending line of adhesive and with a plurality of spaced transverse lines of adhesive, said envelope-forming leaf being also provided with a window area, and a continuous document leaf of width less than half that of the envelope-forming leaf, said document leaf being attached to the envelope-forming leaf along the opposite margin thereof and having a plurality of transverse slots therein which are aligned with respective ones of the transverse lines of adhesive, the arrangement being that, in use, a plurality of separate sealed envelopes each containing a document can be formed by folding the envelope-forming sheet in half longitudinally, causing the transverse adhesive lines on the envelope-forming sheet to attach one side of the envelope-forming sheet to the other, and the longitudinal line of adhesive to attach the margins together, and separating the folded, adhesively sealed assembly into separate envelopes, said window area in the envelope-forming leaf exposing a corresponding area on the enclosed document.

Preferably, a weak adhesive attachment is provided between each document of the document leaf and the envelope-forming leaf at a position spaced from said other margin.

An example of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a continuous stationery assembly, Figure 2 is an elevation of the assembly and Figure 3 is a section on line 3-3 in Figure 2.

The assembly shown comprises an envelope-forming leaf 10 and a document leaf 11. In the particular example shown the document leaf comprises a plurality of documents in the form of cheques although the invention includes within its scope many other types of documents.

The envelope-forming sheet has sprocket holes along boors of its margins and has printed adhesive lines, nasty a longitudinal adhesive line 12 along one margin and a series of transverse adhesive lines 13, at positions spaced along the leaf 10. The leaf 10 is preferably formed along its longitudinal centre line with a scoured or creased line 14 for subsequent folding. The envelope-forming leaf 10 is provided with a plurality of windows 15 each covered by a suitable transparent material. Each window 15 lies in an area of leaf 10 bounded by the line 14, the adhesive line 12 and a corresponding pair of the adhesive lines 13.

The document leaf 11 is adhesively attached to the margin of the envelope-forming leaf opposite that at which the longitudinal adhesive line 12 is provided.

The width of the document leaf 11 is less than half that of leaf 10 so that the edge thereof remote from the margin at which it is attached to the leaf 10 does not overlie the line 14.

The document sheet has spaced, transverse slots cut in it, each such slot extending from adjacent the margin at which the leaf 11 is attached to the leaf 10 to the opposite edge of the leaf 11. This separates the document sheet 11 into a series of documents connected to a stub formed by the attached margins. The slots are aligned with the transverse adhesive lines 13.

The adhesive lines 12 and 13 may consist of remoistenable adhesive, but are preferably of heat activated adhesive. In this latter case the lines 13 may extend across the full width of the leaf 10 and a further adhesive line 16 may be provided along the margin of the document sheet.

The free ends of the documents formed by the document leaf 11 between the slots therein are preferably lightly adhesively attached to the leaf 10 to prevent them becoming inadvertently lifted and damaged during use. A thin line or row of dots of adhesive may be used for this purpose. The adhesive may be a low-tack adhesive to facilitate subsequent separation of the document from the envelope-forming leaf.

To use the stationery assembly described above it is passed through a suitable printer by means of which personalised details are printed on the document leaf 11 and, if required, on the left-hand half of the envelope sheet. Such details include the name and address of the addressee, which is printed on an area of the document sheet symmetrically positioned with respect to line 14 with the window 15.

The assembly is then passed into an envelope forming machine, which folds the leaf 10 in half along line 14, activates the adhesive, trims the sprocket holes from the margins and cuts the folded and adhesively sealed assembly into individual envelopes each containing a document.

It will be noted that the assembly requires personalised printing on one side only, as the address is visible through the window 15.

The assembly described has the advantages over a conventional data-mailer, in that the document in the eventual envelope has direct original personalised printing on it, rather than printing formed by carbon or other manifolding materials which are unsuitable for documents requiring a good security level, such as cheques and share certificates. The invention also enables such documents to be sealed into envelopes without requiring complicated, slow document inserting opeaat < ons.

Claims

1. A continuous stationery assembly comprising a continuous envelope-forming leaf provided along one margin with a longitudinally extending line of adhesive and with a plurality of spaced transverse lines of adhesive, said envelope-forming leaf being also provided with a window area, and a continuous document leaf of width less than half that of the envelope-forming leaf, said document leaf being attached to the envelope-forming leaf along the opposite margin thereof and having a plurality of transverse slots therein which are aligned with respective ones of the transverse lines of adhesive, the arrangement being that, in use, a plurality of separate sealed envelopes each containing a document can be formed by folding the envelope-forming sheet in half longitudinally, causing the transverse adhesive lines on the envelope-forming sheet to attach one side of the envelope-forming sheet to the other, and the longitudinal line of adhesive to attach the margins together, and separating the folded, adhesively sealed assembly into separate envelopes, said window area in the envelope-forming leaf exposing a corresponding area on the enclosed document.

2. A continuous stationery assembly as claimed in Claim 1 in which said transverse lines of adhesive are formed of a head activated adhesive.

3. A continuous stationery assembly as claimed in either preceding claims in which said document leaf is lightly adhesively connected to said envelope-forming leaf adjacent the free ends of the documents formed between said transverse slots.

4. A continuous stationery assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.