IE43558B1 - Improvements in or relating to business forms unit set assemblies - Google Patents

Abstract

1531624 Form set MOORE BUSINESS FORMS Ltd 24 Sept 1976 [17 Oct 1975 5 April 1976] 39695/76 Heading B6A A form set consists of a base sheet 14, a top cover 11 which has a flap 17 bonded to the base sheet and carries adhesive 16 which protrudes through a hole 18 in the base sheet, one or more sheets 13 with larger holes 15 through which the adhesive extends without gripping and an upper sheet 12 secured by the adhesive. Removal of the sheet 12 permits one-by-one stripping of the sheets 13. Preferably the top cover 11 has a line of perforations across it, so that it can be severed to reveal the sheet 12.

Description

Business forms assemblies arranged as interconnected unitary sets of multiple sheets or plies are available in various forms of constructions and adapted for inscription either manually or with the use of a type5 writer. The most common of these unit sets is one having a removable stub portion for interconnecting the sheets of the set together. The sheets may therefore be separated as the stub is removed, or individual sheets may be removed from the stub while leaving the remaining sheets of the set intact. Typically, such a set comprises a top record ply which is removed from the set for record keeping while the balance of the plies remain intact after which they are subsequently separated. This stub however represents a completely unusable portion of the form since it is ultimately discarded after removal. Any writing or printing on the form sheets must therefore be confined to areas outside the stub thereby resulting either in the need for larger sheets or a smaller printing and writing area. Hence, this wasteful stub accounts for a poor economical use of the set. Moreover, the sheets of the assembly are normally interconnected at the stub by glue lines axially aligned between the top and the bottom sheets thereby adding to the thickness or bulk of the assembly.

US Patent No. 1949,625 to Ritzhaupt discloses a bus•13 3 5 8 - 3 iness forms construction which minimizes the thickness of the assembly at the forward end by means of attaching the sheets together by a single line or adhesive passing through axially aligned apertures provided in several of the sheets. However, a removable stub is nevertheless required for such assembly since it is so constructed that the sheets cannot be removed unless separated along the stub. All the drawbacks noted for the typical forms construction requiring a removable stub are therefore common to this prior art construction.

Xt is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a multi-ply unit set assembly of business forms as having no stub portion yet thereby avoiding the noted disadvantages of an assembly requiring such stub while at the same time retaining the advantages of a stub.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a unit set of a stubless construction which is not only highly economical in its use since it avoids stub handling and disposal and permits a more effective use of the plies themselves, but is also simple in its construction and easy to manufacture.

According to the present invention a business forms unit set assembly comprises at least superimposed first, second, third and fourth plies, said first ply having a folded flap removably connected along one edge of said top ply by a line of weakening extending along the fold between said flap and said top ply, said third ply having at least one first hole of a predetermined first size lying adjacent one edge thereof, said flap underlying said fourth ply and having a quantity of detachable adhesive thereon securing said first ply to said fourth ply, said fourth ply having at least one second hole of a predetermined second size lying adjacent one edge thereof in axial alignment with said first hole, the size of said second hole being less than the size of said first 3 5 5 8 - 4 hole, a portion of said quantity of adhesive extending through said first and second holes and securing said second and fourth plies together along one edge of said second ply, said quantity of adhesive lying inwardly of said first hole by reason of the difference in size between said holes to thereby immobilize said third ply in place, said edges of each said plies lying at a common end of said unit set, and said plies each being devoid of any tear lines which may form a stub, whereby removal of said first ply along said line of weakening leaves said second, third and fourth plies intact, or separation of said second and fourth plies effects a break of said adhesive and frees said third ply from the set while leaving said first and fourth plies inter15 connected, or removal of said first ply together with separation of said second and fourth plies separates each of said plies from one another.

A business forms unit set assembly in accordance with the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:Figure 1 is a top plan view of a multi-ply business forms unit set assembly, several of the plies being broken away for clarity; Figure 2 is a cross sectional view of the set taken substantially along line 2-2 of Figure 1; and Figure 3 is an expanded view of a portion of the multi-ply set, slightly enlarged, showing details.

The unit set or assembly of multi-plies in accor30 dance with the invention is generally designated 10 in the drawings and comprises essentially four superimposed plies: top or record ply 11, upper ply 12, intermediate ply 13 and lower ply 14. Holes 15 are provided along a marginal edge of the intermediate ply, and adhesive 16 is provided on a flap 17 of the cover ply which underlies •I 2 ΰ 3 8 - 5 bottom ply 14. Holes 18 are provided in the bottom ply in axial alignment with holes 15, respectively. Adhesive 15 may be applied to flap 17 along a line as shown in Figure 1, or dots of adhesive slightly greater than the size of holes 18 may be applied along the flap to coincide with the holes. Portions 16a of the line of adhesive 16 extend between top ply 12 and flap 17, and these portions 16a extend through aligned openings 15 and 18 as clearly illustrated in Figure 2. Such adhesive portions therefore secure top ply 12 to the bottom ply as portions 16a completely fill holes 18 in the bottom ply. However, the difference in sizes between holes 15 and 18 define portions 19 of the bottom ply which serve to mask a part of holes 15. Accordingly, the size of portions 16a of adhesive extending through openings 15 of the intermediate ply are confined to the size of holes 18 in the bottom ply. And, since the holes in the intermediate and the bottom plies are axially aligned, portions 16a of adhesive extending through holes 15 are located inwardly of the marginal edges of these holes as clearly shown in Figure 2. Hence, no direct or positive adhesive securement is effected between the adhesive and the intermediate ply. It is therefore seen that separation of the top and bottom plies will effect a break of adhesive portions 16a thereby freeing intermediate ply 13 from the set.

Record ply 11 overlies upper ply 12 and is removably attached to flap 17 along a line 22 of weakening. Flap 17 extends about the aligned marginal edges of plies 12, 13 and 14 as shown in exaggerated form in Figure 2.

From the foregoing it can be seen that the unit set or assembly of multiple plies constructed in accordance with the invention is stubless so that indicia is capable of being applied to a larger area of each ply within the margins thereof as compared to a unit set having a stub. The top or record ply 11 is removable from the set along £ ύ 3 ίί ο - 6 line 22 of weakening· without affecting the balance of the set. That is, the record ply 11 may be separated from the set without breaking the adhesive so that plies 12, 13 and 14 of the set remain intact. However, by separating the top and bottom plies to cause a break in adhesive portions 16a, intermediate ply 13 is simply freed from the set since it was never adhesively secured in place. Of course, the provision of more than one intermediate ply is possible for this construction so long as each is provided with holes such as 15 of greater size as compared to axially aligned holes 18 in the bottom ply. And, carbon transfer material or some type of known carbonless transfer composition or a mixture of carbon transfer and carbonless transfer materials may be coated on the undersides of plies 11, 12 and 13 so as to transfer indicia applied to the cover ply through the set and on to the bottom ply.

In addition to those advantages mentioned above concerning the greater areas on each ply made available for applying information, the stubless form in accordance with the invention avoids the need for handling any stub or further disposing of same. Stub waste is therefore avoided and greater economical use is made available for the form.

Obviously, many other modifications and variations of the invention are made possible in the light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

Claims (5)

1. CLAIMS: 1. A business forms unit set assembly of multiple plies, comprising at least superimposed first, second, third and fourth plies, said first ply having a folded flap removably connected along one edge of said top ply by a line of weakening extending along said fold between said flap and said top ply, said third ply having at least one first hole of a predetermined first size lying adjacent one edge thereof, said flap underlying said fourth ply and having a quantity of detachable adhesive thereon securing said first ply to said fourth ply, said fourth ply having at least one second hole of a predetermined second size lying adjacent one edge thereof in axial alignment with said first hole, the size of said second hole being less than the size of said first hole, a portion of said quantity of adhesive extending through said first and second holes and securing said said second and fourth plies together along one edge of said second ply, said quantity of adhesive lying inwardly of said first hole by reason of the difference in size between said holes to thereby immobilize said third ply in place, said edges of each said plies lying at a common end of said unit set, and said plies each being devoid of any tear lines which may form a stub, whereby removal of said first ply along said line of weakening leaves said second, third and fourth plies intact, or separation of said second and fourth plies effects a break of said adhesive and frees said third ply from the set while leaving said first and fourth plies interconnected, or removal of said first ply together with separation of said second and fourth plies separates each of said plies from one another.

2. The unit set assembly according to claim 1, wherein said first,second, third and fourth plies respectively comprise top, first intermediate and bottom plies. - 8

3. The unit set assembly according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of said aligned first and second holes are provided in said third and fourth plies, respectively.

4. A business forms unit set assembly constructed

5. And arranged substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.