NZ250457A - Continuous unit for forming multiple individual multipart forms or envelopes: lower strip remains continuous after separation of upper strips and sheets - Google Patents

Description

250 Complete Specification Filed: .

C[ass. . ft WLOisie*-.... ;27 NOV 1995 ;Publication Date: .. ;! P.O. Journsi, No: • .. 3.^3$....... ;Patents Form No. 5 ;NEW ZEALAND PATENTS ACT 1953 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION ;CONTINUOUS WEB FOR FORMIHG MULTIPART FORMS OR ENVELOPES ;WE, MOORE BUSINESS FORMS, INCa corporation organised and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware, U.S.A. of 300 Lang Boulevard, Grand Island New York 14072, ;United States of America hereby declare the invention, for which We pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: ;- 1 - ;(followed by Page la) ;457 ;- lo- ;The invention relates to continuous units intended to form multipart forms or envelopes designed to be stuck onto an object such as a parcel. ;A user frequently prepares multiple multipart 5 forms by means of a method comprising the following stages : ;- passing a continuous unit having multiple sheets through a printing machine, ;- dividing the continuous unit into individual ;10 units, ;- separating a set of upper sheets from the lower sheet of the individual unit, ;- sticking the lower face of the set of upper sheets onto a parcel or the like, this lower face being ;15 self-adhesive, the set of upper sheets constituting the multipart form or envelope. ;There may be several types of continuous units. ;They all comprise a continuous lower strip provided with at least one so-called "sprocket drive" 20 feed zone provided with perforations. This zone is necessary for the passage through the printing machine. ;Each of the first sheets on top of the lower strip may be : ;a) a part of a continuous sheet with cutting 25 lines designed to allow a subsequent division into individual multipart forms or envelopes, ;b) sheets which are distinct but longitudinally adjacent to the other sheets, ;c) sheets leaving a free gap between them and the 30 sheets which follow them over the length of the strip. ;Each of the sheets which are furthest away from the lower strip may be : ;a') a part of a continuous strip with cutting lines designed to allow a subsequent division into 35 individual multipart forms or envelopes, ;b') sheets which are distinct but longitudinally adjacent to the other sheets, ;(followed by page 2) ;250 4 5 ;- 2 - ;c') sheets leaving a free gap between them and the sheets which follow them over the length of the strip. ;The combination cc') is not efficient because it can cause trouble when the continuous unit passes through the printing machine, if the set of upper sheets becomes unstuck from the lower strip. Since it must be possible subsequently to perform the unsticking manually, the adherence must obviously be weak, with the result that there is a risk of such trouble occurring. ;It is therefore preferable that at least one sheet forms part of a continuous strip, that is to say a combination including a) and/or a'). ;On the other hand, because of problems occurring during the folding of the strip, it is better not to have more than three continuous strips, including the lower strip, in a folding zone. ;In any case, for the method of use described hereinabove, it is necessary to provide cutting lines passing through the lower strip, in order to allow the continuous strip to be divided into individual assemblies. ;This method requires two distinct manual operations : dividing the continuous unit into individual units, and separating the set of upper sheets from the lower sheet. This takes time. ;The aim of the invention is to provide a continuous strip which enables the user to save time. ;In order to obtain this result, the invention provides a continuous unit for forming multiple individual multipart forms or envelopes, comprising : ;- a lower continuous strip provided, on at least one of its edges, with a feed zone, ;- at least one upper continuous strip having transverse cutting lines for defining the length of the future multipart forms or envelopes, ;- at least one additional sheet, placed between the said transverse cutting lines of the continuous upper ;25 0 4 5 ;- 3 - ;sheet, ;- the lower face of the set comprising the said upper strip and the additional sheet being self-adhesive and adhering in a temporary manner to the upper face of the lower strip, ;- the transverse cutting lines of the upper strip having a sufficiently low strength in order to break under the effect of the forces required to unstick the said set from the lower strip, ;this unit having as distinctive feature the fact that the lower strip is without weakening lines having a sufficiently low strength in order to break under the effect of the forces required to unstick the said set from the said lower strip. ;Thus, during the unsticking of the set comprising the upper sheet or sheets and the additional sheet or sheets, the desired multipart form or envelope is closed, but the lower strip is left intact, which can then be folded, rolled or cut into pieces of desired length. ;The additional sheet may form part of a strip similar to the upper continuous strip which has just been talked about, which corresponds to the combination aa') mentioned above. It may be placed between the upper and lower strips, which corresponds to the combinations ba') and ca'). It may also be placed on the upper strip, which corresponds to the combinations ab') and ac'). The number and the position of the additional sheets are not limited, particularly in the case of a multipart form or envelope comprising inserts. ;The lower strip may be entirely without weakening lines. It is however preferable that it has transverse weakening lines separated by gaps which each correspond to one future multipart form or envelope, or to a whole number of these multipart forms or envelopes. These weakening lines will serve to facilitate the folding of the unit. They may consist of a series of cuts separated by bridges, the ratio of the lengths of the cuts and of the widths of the bridges being selected accordingly. ;- 4 - ;250 457 ;m m ;Other weakening lines may separate the feed zone from the remainder of the strip, while respecting the condition stated above. ;The upper continuous strip may have transverse 5 cutting lines which are superimposed on the weakening lines of the lower strip which has just been talked about. These cutting lines may have been completely cut in advance when the multipart form or envelope is unstuck, and providing, at this time, no resistance to the 10 forces associated with the unsticking. ;This solution is not preferred, for the reason which has been mentioned above, namely the risk of trouble during the passage in a printing machine, unless the complete cutting takes place after this passage. 15 The cutting lines of the upper strip may also consist of cuts separated by bridges, and be superimposed on the weakening lines of the lower strip. ;According to an advantageous embodiment, the incisions and the bridges of the upper strip coincide, in 20 this case, with those of the lower strip, but, in the feed zone, which is not reached by the upper strip, the ratio of the length of the cuts to the width of the bridges is much smaller than in the common part, which results in the desired difference in strength. 25 This embodiment has the advantage that all the cuts may be made in a single operation simultaneously on the upper sheet and the lower sheet. ;It is also possible to provide for the cutting lines of the upper strip to be longitudinally offset with ;30 respect—to—the—weakening—lines—of—the lower strips by- ;being placed on either side of each of these weakening lines. This solution is not preferred, for it increases the number of lines of cuts. In order to allow folding, it is often necessary to provide, in addition, on the 35 upper strip, a weakening line coinciding with that of the lower strip. The zone located between the two neighbouring cutting lines of the upper strip may be torn off separately, which is an additional operation, or remain ;250457 ;- 5 - ;adherent to the lower strip, which complicates the subsequent storage of the latter. ;The user may unstick the multipart forms or envelopes right at the output of the printing machine. The strip may also be stored in a state in which it is rolled up or cut into lengths, each of which bears three or four multipart forms or envelopes. ;The invention will now be revealed in a more detailed manner with the aid of a practical example, illustrated with the aid of the drawings, among which : ;Figure 1 is a plan view of a part of a continuous unit in accordance with the invention, ;Figure 2 is a greatly enlarged view of the area A of Figure 1, and ;Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2, but with the upper sheets removed. ;Figure 1 shows a part of a continuous unit intended to constitute multipart forms, that is to say envelopes open on one side, and containing intermediate leaves or inserts. The part of the unit which is shown in Figure 1 comprises two multipart forms, depicted only partially, and their connection zones. ;The unit comprises a continuous lower strip 1, of which only the edge parts 2, 3 can be seen, which constitute feed zones having "sprocket drive" type perforations 4. ;On the lower strip 1, there is fixed, in a temporary manner, a base strip 5, a small part of which is visible, on the right-hand side of the figure, and the lower non-visible face of which is self-adhesive, its adhesive being designed to allow easy unsticking of the lower sheet 1, and a stronger adhesion on a parcel or the like. The base strip 5 covers the lower strip 1 with the exception of the feed zones 2 and 3. On the base band 5, there are fixed insert sheets 6, 7 which do not constitute a continuous strip, but are separated by suitable gaps, and a cover strip 8, which covers the insert leaves 6, 7 and is stuck, longitudinally on either ;- 6 - ;25 0 4 5 7 ;side of each insert sheet 6, 7, on the base strip 5. The cover strip 8 is continuous : on the left-hand side of the figure, it extends towards the feed zone of the lower sheet, and ends at the same distance from the latter as 5 the base strip. On the right-hand side of the figure, on the other hand, it does not extend as far towards the feed zone 3 of the lower strip as the base strip 5, and leaves the ends of the insert sheets 6 and 7 free. The upper face of the cover sheet comprises a certain number 10 of locations such as 9, 10 intended for receiving information relating, for example, to the sender, the addressee, the weight and the dimensions of a parcel, etc. ;On the left-hand edge of the figure, it will be 15 seen that the cover strip and the base strip bear tabs 11 which project over the feed zone 2 of the lower sheet, and serve to facilitate the separation by unsticking of the multipart form and of the lower sheet. These tabs are optional. ;20 At gaps corresponding to the dimension of one multipart form, the continuous unit has weakening and cutting lines 12, which will now be examined in more detail with the aid of Figures 2 and 3. ;Each weakening and cutting line 12 is formed of 25 a certain number of cuts 13 directed transversely and aligned with each other. These cuts 13 are separated by bridges 14 where the continuity of the material is ensured on both sides of the line 12. If the internal part of the continuous unit is considered, that is to say 30 the part which is limited by the left-hand edge (in the figures) 15 of the cover strip 8 and of the base strip 5, and the right-hand edge (in Figure 1) 16 of the base strip 5, in this zone, the cuts 13 all have the same length, and the bridges 14 which separate them have the 35 same width. In practice, the ratio of the length of a cut to the width of a bridge is approximately 5.5/1. ;In contrast, in the edge part of the lower sheet 1, that is to say in the feed zones 2 and 3, the ;2504 5 ;length of the cuts is much smaller, whereas the width of the bridges is unchanged. When the left-hand edge 17 and the right-hand edge 18 of the lower strip are reached, the ratio of the length of the cuts to the v?idth of the bridges is down to approximately 3/1. In addition, the weakening line 12 ends with a fairly wide bridge 19 at the place where it meets the edge 17 or 18 of the lower sheet 1. The width of this bridge 19 is greater than that of the other bridges. The result of this is that the lower sheet cannot start to tear at this place. ;It will be understood that, if a traction force is exerted on the edge of the multipart form formed by the continuous strips 5 and 8, with the intermediate sheets 6 and 7, for example by exerting a traction force on the tab 11, or on the edge of the continuous strips 5 and 8 if they are without tabs, these strips will tear along the line 12 of cuts, but that the lower sheet 1, which is stronger in its edge parts, will not tear and will remain intact. ;However, if the continuous unit is folded in zigzag fashion, the fact that the line 12 extends through the lower continuous strip 11 will allow easy folding without any trouble. ;The reference 20, in Figures 1 and 2, designates a longitudinal cutting line which serves for the handling of the inserts, and which is beyond the scope of the present invention. ;Figure 3 shows that the lower sheet 1 does not have any weakening lines other than the transverse line 12. It would however be possible, if desired, to provide a transverse cutting line along the feed zones, as long as this cutting line is strong enough so as not to tear during the separation of the multipart form and of the lower strip. ;Variants are of course possible. For example, the line 12 may be a simple weakening line intended to facilitate folding; a different line of cuts, which does not affect the lower strip 1 but only the base and cover ;25045 ;- 8 - ;strips 5 and 8, could be provided a small distance away on either side of the line 12, with a view to delimiting the multipart form which is to be unstuck. ;In the example described, the cutting and weaken-5 ing line 12 passes between two "sprocket drive" feed perforations 4. There is no reason for the line 12 not to pass through one of these perforations, which would then fulfil the function of a cut 13. *

Claims (7)

WHAT tf WE CLAIM IS:» - 9 - 2504r<7

1. A continuous unit for forming multiple individual multipart forms or envelopes, comprising : - a lower continuous strip provided, on at 5 least one of its edges, with a feed zone , - at least one upper continuous strip having transverse cutting lines for defining the length of the future multipart forms or envelopes, - at least one additional sheet , placed 10 between the said transverse cutting lines of the continuous upper sheet, - the lower face of a set comprising the said upper strip and the additional sheet being self-adhesive and adhering in a temporary manner to the upper 15 face of the lower strip , characterised in that the lower strip is without weakening lines having a sufficiently low strength in order to break under the effect of the forces required to unstick the said set from the said lower strip, with the 20 result that it is possible to separate the set comprising the upper strip and the additional sheets from the lower strip without cutting this lower strip.

2. The continuous unit according to Claim 1, in which the lower strip has a weakening line which is 25 similar to the cutting line of the upper strip and is superimposed on the latter, except in the feed zone and is less weakened than the cutting line in the said feed zone.

3 . The continuous unit according to Claim 2, characterised in that 30 the weakening line and the cutting line are formed of transverse cuts separated by bridges , and the ratio of the length of the cuts to the width of the bridges is greater in the part common to the lower and upper strips than in the part which extends into the ft 35 zone.

4. The continuous unit according to Claim 2 or characterised in that the weakening line does not any cuts - 10 - 25 04 at the place where it meets the edge of the lower strip

5. The continuous unit according to any one of Claims 1 to 4, charac terised in that tabs are provided at least on the upper strip in order to facilitate the unsticking of the multipart form or envelope. g.

The continuous unit according to any one of the preceding claims, substantially as herein described.

7. The continuous unit according to claim 1, substantially as described with reference to any one of the accompanying drawings. iBUSINESS FORMS, INC, attorneys SON & CAREY