IES58937B2 - An envelope construction and method - Google Patents

Description

Description An Envelope Construction and Method Λ '¥ Technical Field This invention relates to a multiple ply envelope construction hereinafter referred to as a mailer, and to a method for its construction. Particularly, this invention relates to a mailer which is simple to open.

Background Art —I—»1—11·· —Ji Various types of mailers are known comprising an envelope and a free insert or inserts in a multiple ply format openable by some means at one edge. Typically, the mailer is constructed from continuous stationery or business forms collated to form a multiple ply, which is adapted to incorporate information printed by a computer, and folded and glued at its edges to produce an envelope. These mailers are typically used in the issuing of payslips, bills, invoices and the like and in some cases may incorporate a return envelope in which the inserts can be returned to the original sender if required. The inserts may include confidential information such as in the case of a payslip, or a notification of a PIN number for a cash dispenser card issued by a bank. The insert may be derived from continuous stationery, with sprocket margins removed to reduce its size, in what is known as a free insert mailer.

Typically, the opening means comprises a tab portion or portions, defined by perforations or lines of weakness, which is stripped from one or more plies of the mailer to reveal a portion of the insert which - 2 may be gripped by the thumb and forefinger in order to pull the insert from the envelope. However, conventional constructions have not always been easy to open and frequently lead to damage to the insert or improper functioning of the opening means.

The prior art opening means is constructed using a two-step process comprising a run perforation step, in which a perforating wheel forms a linear perforation along and parallel to one edge of the mailer, in combination with a punch step, using a punch which superimposes a semi-circular thumb notch perforation on the linear perforation. This process has several disadvantages; primarily it requires two pieces of machinery which must be accurately aligned to produce a product of sufficient reliability, and secondly the superimposition of two sets of perforations frequently leads to 15 problems in the functioning of the opening means, for example if both sets of perforations were formed under different pressure.

Hitherto, it has not been possible to include an indent in the run perforation wheel so as to produce a thumb-notch at intervals as 20 the wheel rotates, because at high speed, the wheel tends to wobble or vibrate, adversely affecting the precision of the perforation produced.

Another problem associated with the use of run perforation wheel relates to use of such wheels to create the line of weakness by means 25 of which the insert is detached from the envelope construction on opening the envelope. The multiplicity of ties and cuts formed by the perforation wheel leave a jagged edge on the edge of the insert which is detached. This edge looks and feels rough and the quality of presentation is not acceptable where high quality inserts are required.

Disclosure of Invention It is an object of the present invention to provide a mailer with an opening means which is effective and reliable in use and which seeks 35 to overcome the above problems. It is a further object of the invention to provide a method for the manufacture of such a mailer.

It is yet a further object of the invention to provide a method - 3 and construction of mailer in which the insert when detached has a substantially clean edge.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a method of producing a multiple ply envelope construction or mailer including an insert sheet accessible by removing a tear-off portion from at least one side or face of the construction, wherein the tear-off portion is defined by a contiguous strip and/or tab arrangement delimited by a continuous perforation or line of weakness, comprising the step of applying the said perforation or line of weakness by means of rotary die cutting apparatus in a single step.

In accordance with one aspect, the invention provides a method of producing a multiple ply envelope construction in which a plurality of superimposed plies are adhered together to form a front panel and a back panel joined at their peripheral edges and containing at least one extractable insert sheet, and a removable tear-off portion is formed in at least one side or face of the construction for opening the envelope to extract the insert sheet, characterised in that the removable tear-off portion is a single integral unit made separable from the remainder of the envelope construction by a continuous line of weakness which is cut in at least one side or face of the construction by means of a rotary die-cutting apparatus in a single step. Preferably, the line of weakness defining the tear-off portion is cut by the rotary die-cutting apparatus in each of the plies comprising the front and back panels, respectively of the envelope, and the line of weakness is comprised of a plurality of linear cuts made through each ply, said cuts being separated by alternate ties, and the ties and cuts in one ply are aligned with the corresponding ties and cuts in the other ply.

In accordance with another aspect, the invention provides a method of producing a multiple ply envelope construction in which a plurality of superimposed plies are adhered together to form a front panel and a back panel joined at their peripheral edges and containing at least one extractable insert sheet joined at one edge portion to the other plies, and a removable tear-off portion is formed in at least one side or face of the construction for opening the envelope to extract the insert sheet, characterised in that the extractable insert sheet is - 4 made separable from the remainder of the envelope construction by a continuous line of weakness formed in the insert sheet (i.e. transversely across the shorter dimension of the sheet) by means of a rotary die-cutting apparatus, said die-cutting apparatus cutting a 5 plurality of linear cuts through the sheet which are separated by alternate ties, the lengths of the cuts being substantially greater than the length of the ties.

The invention also provides multiple ply envelope constructions 10 made by the above methods.

The invention also relates to an envelope assembly formed of a continuous web having spaced transverse lines of weakness defining a succession of interconnected sealed envelopes, each envelope having a 15 multiple ply construction as defined above.

The invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of a typical conventional mailer; Figure 2 is a plan view of a mailer according to the present invention; Figure 3 is a cross-section showing the multiple ply format of the mailer of Figure 2; Figures 4 to 6 are plan views of mailers in accordance with alternative embodiments of the invention; Figure 7 is a side view of a magnetic cylinder assembly with an attached die plate; Figure 8 is a side view of a rotary shear cutting assembly; Figure 9 is an enlarged view of a portion of the apparatus of Figure 8; Figure 10 is a partial end view of Figure 8, Figure 11 is a plan view showing the constituent parts of an envelope assembly of the invention; Figure 12 is an exploded view of the assembly of Figure 11; and Figure 13 is a plan view of a second embodiment of envelope assembly of the invention.

Referring to the drawings, a prior-art mailer 10 is illustrated in Figure 1. The mailer comprises a front panel 70 and a corresponding rear panel secured along their edges by glue lines to form an envelope construction. The envelope typically contains one or more inserts 80= The envelope is constructed by collating together a plurality of webs of paper which form superimposed plies in the construction of the mailer 10. The operation is a continuous one with the superimposed plies forming each mailer being connected to the superimposed plies of adjacent mailers by means of transverse lines of perforation. This method of construction is well known in the art and is described for example, in United States Patents Nos. RE 30 114, 3 437529, 4172605, 4108352, 4002290, 3941307, 3941308, and 3104799. Lines of sprocket holes 170 are provided along opposite sides of the web assembly. The sprocket holes engage with sprocket pins on the collaters, printers and the like and are used for feeding and guiding the paper webs through the machinery in the formation of the assembly, and also for feeding the completed assembly through computer printers.

A typical conventional opening means for the envelope is shown in Figure 1, and comprises a tear line 40 produced by a run perforation wheel. The line 40 is spaced from, and runs parallel to the side edge 20 of the envelope assembly. Typically a tab 30a is formed intermediate the tear line 40. Typically the tab 30a is formed by a punch which forms a part-circular perforated tear line 50 which defines a semi-circular thumb notch. As mentioned above, this process has several disadvantages; primarily it requires two pieces of machinery which must be accurately aligned to produce a product of sufficient reliability, and secondly the superimposition of two sets of perforations frequently leads to problems in the functioning of the opening means, for example if both sets of perforations were formed - 6 under different pressure. When the strip portion 30 is torn along the linear perforation 40 it is a common occurrence that the tear continues the full length of the side of the mailer 10 leaving the semi-circular tab portion 30a in place (when it is desired that this be removed with 5 the rest of the strip portion 30). This is a direct result of the superimposition of the two perforations which can cause the tear to continue along the linear perforation at 60 instead of tearing along 50 to remove the semi-circular tab portion.

Thus two tearing steps may be required in opening the envelope.

The first to remove the strip portion 30 defined by the linear perforation, and the second to remove the semi-circular tab 30a defined by perforation 50 with the thumb and forefinger. However, this second tearing step may cause damage to the insert 80, and is particularly difficult to perform. The insert lies below the tab portion 30a and so a tearing action aimed at removing the tab may also damage the insert 80 below. If the tab portion 30a is successfully removed with the strip portion 30 then no such damage occurs.

One embodiment of a mailer 1 according to the invention is shown in Figures 2 and 3, and is generally similar in construction to that of Figure 1, except for the opening means. Thus, the mailer 1 of the invention comprises a front panel 7, a rear panel 9, and one or more insert sheets 8. The side edges of the panels 7 and 8 are glued together along glue lines as described more fully below. The front (left-hand as shown in Figure 2) edge of the insert 8 is also glued between the adjoining edges 2 of the front and rear panels 7, 8.

However, the right-hand edge portion of the insert 8 is free. Lines of sprocket holes 17 are formed in marginal strips 18 to each side of the 30 mailer assembly. The sprocket margins 18 are detachable from the mailer assembly by means of tear lines 19.

The mailer according to the present invention has a single continuous perforation line 4 which extends along one side 2 of the 35 mailer 1. The perforation line 4 may be applied to either or both the front and back plies 7, 9 of the mailer which constitute the envelope. According to the present invention the removal tab portion 3 is a single integral unit, comprising the tab portion 3 and a strip 6 - 7 defined by the continuous perforation 4 on one side, and by tear line 19 on the other side. This substantially reduces or eliminates the risk of incomplete removal of the tab portion 3.

The opening means of the present invention is operated in a similar manner to conventional means i.e. the tab portion 3 is removed from the envelope by tearing along perforation 4 thus revealing a portion of the insert 8 which may be gripped in order to pull the insert 8 from the envelope.

Since the tab portion 3 is a single piece there is substantially less chance of some part of the tab remaining attached to the body of the envelope as is the case with conventional opening means where the two superimposed perforation lines effectively divides the tear-off tab into two-pieces. Thus the reliability of the tear-off tab is increased and accordingly the subsequent risk of damage to the insert is greatly reduced.

The present invention also provides a process for the manufacture of the improved mailer. The mailer with conventional opening means is the product of a two-step process which involves separate application of two superimposed perforations. The process for producing mailers of the present invention comprises applying a single continuous perforation along at least one side of either or both the front and back plies of the mailer by means of a rotating cylinder die cutting machine.

Suitable means based on the rotary die cut principle include for example a rotating magnetic cylinder having a suitably shaped die plate, or plates, attached; or complementary cylinders which act in conjunction with each other to effect the desired perforation, by means of a shear cutting action.

The use of rotary die cutting technology produces a high precision finished product, reduces the construction of the opening means from a two-step to a single-step process disposing of the requirement to accurately align machine components involved in the two steps and generally increases the speed and efficiency of the - 8 manufacturing process.

Magnetic cylinder die cutting systems are well known, such as those of Gerhardt International, and are used for example in carton 5 cutting, window cutting and perforations. Figure 7 illustrates a magnetic cylinder die cutting apparatus comprising a rotating magnetic drum or cylinder 11 onto which flexible sheet steel die plates 12 are attached, and a complementary anvil cylinder 13 typically made of hardened steel. The die plate 12 fits around the cylinder 11 and is magnetically attached to the cylinder. The die plate has a raised cutting die of suitable configuration 21 etched on the surface thereof. The configuration 21 shown is one suitable for cutting opening means of the shape shown in Figure 2. Thus the die edge is comprised of a plurality of raised portions which cut the perforations, 15 separated by valley portions 23 which leave ties in the paper between the perforations. As a web is fed through the die cutting machine the rotating cylinder 11 periodically engages and cuts the web (not shown) according to the configuration of the magnetically attached die.

In an alternative arrangement shown in Figures 8, 9 and 10 a rotary shear cutting assembly, such as those available from Bernal Rotary Systems, Incorporated also described as rotary pressure tools, is used. The rotary shear cutting assembly comprises two cylinders 14 each with identical cutting dies 15 which are displaced laterally from 25 one another, on the respective cylinders, by a small distance. As a web 16 (Figure 9) is fed through the assembly the pressure action caused by the engaging dies 15 cuts the web 16. However, the dies 15 are located in such a way as to prevent metal-to-metal contact between them. Figure 10 is a partial end view of the engaging dies 15 and 30 indicates the direction of rotation of the two cylinders.

Both of the above techniques based on the rotary die cutting principle make economical reuse of the cutting edge by repeating the cutting configuration around the circumference of the cylinders.

Preferably, the perforation lines are applied to both the front 7 and back 9 of the mailer (see Figure 3) so that when the tab portions 3 on the front 7 and back 9 plies are removed a section of the insert 8 - 9 extends beyond the remainder of the envelope.

The conventional run perforation wheel applies perforations to the front and back plies before collation and/or in a manner which is unrelated to the length of the ply, depending on the wheel diameter, which may result in the ties between each perforation slit or cut not aligning up when the plies are overlaid. In contrast, the die on the rotating cylinder is related to the length of the ply, such that sprocket pins which hold the plies together by the margin sprocket holes automatically line up the ties and cuts slits exactly, which makes the tear-off portion considerably easier to separate from the mailer, especially in multiple ply mailers.

The ties and cuts on the insert side perforation may be aligned with those on the front and back plies by engaging a rotating die plate in which the thumb notch perforation is replaced with a continuous straight perforation with a similar number of cuts per inch and similar tie lengths prior to collating the various plies. The alignment of the ties and cuts of the perforations throughout the various plies of the mailer assists opening.

The mailer shown in Figures 2 shows a tab portion 3 which is substantially rectangular in shape with a semi-circular thumb notch. The mailer of the present invention may comprise a tab of such a shape, but the use of rotary die cutting technology facilitates the application of a wide variety of shaped perforation lines, so that tabs of almost any desired shape may be incorporated into the mailer, examples of different shapes of tab configuration are shown in Figures and 5. As shown in Figure 6 the tab 3 has an even more complicated shape, in this instance a shape suggesting the edge of a cloud with a cloud depicted on the tear-off margin portion.

The assembly of one embodiment of the mailer of the invention is further illustrated in Figures 11 and 12. These show a free insert mailer. The mailer comprises a front ply 7 which forms the front panel of the mailer envelope; a rear ply 9 which forms the back panel of the mailer envelope; and one or more inner plies 8. The plies 7 and 9 are each formed with a single integral tab portion 3 using rotary die cutting apparatus as described above in relation to Figures 2 and 3. Using a suitable collating machine, in well known manner, the front ply 7 is laid above the lower ply 9, and the insert ply 8 is located between the two. The upper ply 7 is formed with a glue line 22 around 5 the perimeter of its underside which adheres to a corresponding peripheral portion of the upper face of the lower ply 9. It will be noted that the inner ply 8 is shorter in length, and narrower in width, than the plies 7 and 9. This is achieved by cutting out of the ply two longitudinal strip portions 24. A full length strip stub portion 27 is 10 retained, which in turn is attached to the sprocket margin 18. The stub portion 27 is detachable from the free-insert mailer by means of a tear-line 23. Likewise, the sprocket margin 18 is detachable by means of a tear line 19. In this embodiment, the tear line 23 is made by means of a run perforation wheel.

The front ply 7 has a glue line 22 on the underside which adheres to a corresponding strip portion 27 on the top surface of the insert 8. Likewise, a glue line 22 on the upper surface of the strip portion 6 of ply 9 adheres to the under surface of the strip 27 of the insert 20 to adhere the whole assembly together.

The sprocket margins 18 of the envelope assembly are removed after the assembly has been passed through the computer printer for printing of the necessary unique information on and in the mailer. To 25 open the mailer the recipient tears along the perforation line 4 to remove the tab portion 3.

In this embodiment, because the perforation line 23 separating the free insert 8 from the stub strip 27 is made by a run perforation 30 wheel, the left edge of the insert will look and feel rough. This is because of the multiplicity of ties and cuts formed by the perforation wheel which leave a jagged edge. While this is perfectly satisfactory for many forms of insert, it does limit the use of the mailer because the quality of presentation is not acceptable where a high quality 35 insert is required.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, this problem is overcome by means of the method described in relation to Figure 13.

The assembly shown in Figure 13 is substantially similar to that shown in Figures 11 and 12, and like reference numerals denote like parts. The essential difference between the two constructions is that in the embodiment of Figure 13 the tear line 25 by means of which the free insert 8 is detached from the stub portion 27 by means of a tear line 25 which is applied by means of rotary die cutting apparatus as described above in relation to the creation of the opening means. Preferably, the tear line comprises a plurality of linear cuts separated by ties, the lengths of the cuts being substantially greater than the length of the ties, and the number of ties being reduced to the minimum necessary to hold the plies 8 together with the stub portions for transportation and registration in the printing and collating processes. Suitably, there are about three ties 26 per linear foot (or about 1 tie per 10 cm of cut). In the embodiment shown in Figure 3 there are 3 ties 26 holding the insert 8 to the stub portion 27. Thus, when the mailer envelope is opened, and the stub 27 removed by tearing along line 25, the mailer insert 8 will have only 3 tie portions 26 attached to the left hand edge (as shown in the drawing) of the insert. Accordingly, because of the relatively few ties, the edge of the insert will look clean and will not feel rough to the touch.

The plies used in the construction of envelopes according to the invention are comprised of a suitable sheet material which preferably is paper.

Claims (5)

1. A method of producing a multiple ply envelope construction in 5 which a plurality of superimposed plies are adhered together to form a front panel and a back panel joined at their peripheral edges and containing at least one extractable insert sheet, and a removable tear-off portion is formed in at least one side or face of the construction for opening the envelope to extract the insert sheet, 10 characterised in that the removable tear-off portion is a single integral unit (3, 6) made separable from the remainder of the envelope construction by a continuous line of weakness (4) which is cut in at least one side or face of the construction by means of a rotary die-cutting apparatus in a single step.

2. A method of producing a multiple ply envelope construction in which a plurality of superimposed plies are adhered together to form a front panel and a back panel joined at their peripheral edges and containing at least one extractable insert sheet joined at one edge 20 portion to the other plies, and a removable tear-off portion is formed in at least one side or face of the construction for opening the envelope to extract the insert sheet, characterised in that the extractable insert sheet (8) is made separable from the remainder of the envelope construction by a continuous line of weakness (25) formed 25 in the insert sheet by means of a rotary die-cutting apparatus, said die-cutting apparatus cutting a plurality of linear cuts (25) through the sheet (8) which are separated by alternate ties (26), the lengths of the cuts (25) being substantially greater than the length of the ties (26).

3. A multiple ply envelope construction comprising a front panel and a back panel joined at their peripheral edges and at least one extractable sheet insert contained within the envelope, and a tear-off portion on the sealed envelope for opening the envelope to extract the 35 sheet insert characterised in that the tear-off strip (3,6) is separable from the remainder of the envelope (1) along a line of weakness (4) formed in each ply comprising the front and back panels (7, 9), respectively, by means of a rotary die cutting apparatus, and - 13 the line of weakness (4) is comprised of a plurality of linear cuts through each ply, said cuts being separated by alternate ties and the ties and cuts in one ply (7) are aligned with the corresponding ties and cuts in the other ply (9).

4. A multiple ply envelope construction as claimed in Claim 3, characterised in that the extractable insert sheet (8) is separable from the remainder (27) of the envelope construction (1) by a continuous line of weakness (25) extending across the insert sheet and made by means of a rotary die-cutting apparatus, the line of weakness (4) comprising a plurality of linear cuts (25) through the sheet (8) which are separated by alternate ties (26), the lengths of the cuts (25) being substantially greater than the length of the ties (26).

5. A multiple ply envelope construction comprising a plurality of superimposed plies adhered together to form a front panel and a back panel joined at their peripheral edges and containing at least one extractable insert sheet joined at one edge portion to the other plies, and a removable tear-off portion in at least one side or face of the construction for opening the envelope to extract the insert sheet, characterised in that the extractable insert sheet (8) is separable from the remainder (27) of the envelope construction (1) by a continuous line of weakness (25) in the insert sheet and made by means of a rotary die-cutting apparatus, the line of weakness (4) comprising a plurality of linear cuts (25) through the sheet (8) which are separated by alternate ties (26), the lengths of the cuts (25) being substantially greater than the length of the ties (26).