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PATENTS FORM NO. 5
Fee No 4* $260 00
PATENTS ACT 1953
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
After Provisional No. 272067 Dated: 4 May 1995
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1996
3
ENVELOPES
J/WE TRIGON PACKAGING SYSTEMS (NZ) LIMITED, Corner of Foreman Road and Avalon Drive, Hamilton, New Zealand, a New Zealand company.
hereby declare the invention for which We pray that a patent may be v * '
granted to me/us, and the method by, which it is to be performed to be particularly described in'and b^ theTollowing statement:'
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Technical Field
This invention relates to envelopes for the secure exchange, and transportation of documents, cash and the like
In banking circles it is often the case that different types of transaction are processed by different departments For exam ie, it is common for one department within a bank to process cash deposits and another department within the same bank (or outside) to process cheques from the same deposit t
It is also common for banks to have deposit boxes for the use of customers during normal business hours.
Up until now there has been no specific deposit envelope used which readily facilitates separate processing of cash end cheques and it has generally been the case that the receiving bank teller needs to sort between cash and cheques deposited in the same envelope or bag This is inconvenient and is a situation which could readily give rise to errors particular!y if cash and cheques were separated without due note of the account to which they are intended to be credited
It is an object of the present invention to provide an envelope which will facilitate the lodgement of deposits with a bank which they may wish to separately process.
Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the ensuring description which is given by way of example.
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According to one aspect of die present invention there is provided an envelope comprising a front face, a rear face and a closure flap, said envelope having mounted on the front or rear lace a pocket for the secure containment cf documents cf other articles therein, and means providing ready access to material Withm the pocket without the need to open a seal
Said means providing ready access for materials within the pocket may comprise a perforaf 01 or slit in the pocket wall, or by the provision of an overlapping opening, scoring or other weakening
Ready access to materials within the pocket may be further enhanced by making the po-% ^ out of a low density polyethylene film material so that when access to the porket is required this can be obtained by tearing the pocket from the envelope without the need for undue force Access by tearing may be further assisted by the provision of tabs or apertures 111 the wall of the pocket, or by making the pocket from very thin film
A3 a matter of convenience a sealable opening to the pocket may be provided which is opposite to the opening in tlie envelope
Brief Description of Drawings
Aspects of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which
Figure 1 is a plan view of an envelope in accordance with one possible embodiment of the present invention , and
Figure 2 is a plan view of an envelope in accordance with the further possible embodiment of the present invention, and
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Figure 3 is a plan view of an envelope in accordance with yet a furthei aspect of the present invention, and
Figure 4 is a plan v.ew of further possible embodiment of the present invention, and
Figure 5 is a cross-sectional drawing of another possible embodiment of the present invention
Best Modes for Carrying out the Invention
With respect to figures 1 to 2 of the drawings envelopes of the present invention are indicated by arrow 1. Each envelope 1 comprises a front face 2, a rear face 3 and an envelope closure flap 4 which includes sealing means and an opening 4a
The techniques for manufacturing envelopes in plastics material vary and in the present instance the envelopes illustrated are manufactured using a "centre-fold" technique whereby an envelope body is formed by folding a sheet of plastics material the fold establishing the base for the envelope and with the use of seal bars and/or adhesives forming envelope side seals and thereafter or simultaneously segregating individual envelopes. If centre-folding techniques are not used side and bottom edges of front and rear flaps for the envelopes can be united by adhesives or with the use of seal bars. The closure of envelope flaps or pockets can be achieved using hot melt or proprietary adhesive strips which can be laid on the plastics film and when removed provide a tacky surface.
Each envelope is provided with a pocket 5 sealed at edges 6 to secure cheques or other articles therein and in each case means are provided for providing ready access to materials within the pocket.
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Ready access to the interiors of the pocket 5 can be provided by a perforated line or lines 7 (figures 1 and 4) or a slit 7a (figure 3) or an overlapping edges 7b (figure 2) and can be further enhanced by selecting a low density polyethylene plastics film material for forming the pocket so that when access to the pocket is required this can be obtained by tearing the pocket without the need for undue force Access by tearing may be further assisted by the provision of tabs (not shown) or aperture; 8 (figure 2) in the wall of the pocket
In a banking situation the envelope body is made from a tough material because it is envisaged that the envelope will be used to contain coins and in use would be dropped some distance into a deposit box, whereas previously mentioned the material used to form the pocket can be a less durable plastics material, the function of the pocket being to contain noncash items such as cheques, deposit slips or the like
In use it is envisaged that the envelope and pocket are loaded and sealed by the customer and delivered to a deposit point with a deposit slip having been filled out for cash and cheques and other non-cash items and placed in the pocket When the bank is ready to process the deposits then the envelope pocket containing cheques and non-cash items can be readily accessed by opemng or tearing the low density polyethylene plastic pocket from the envelope body and the envelope containing cash items can be sent to a different department for processing
Each pocket 5 is provided with lengthwise or crosswise edge seals 6 and an open end 9 with closure means which can be in the form of a closure flap including a strip of hot melt adhesive or a strip of adhesive tape 9a applied to the envelope front face 2 or adjacent to opening 4a
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In the examples illustrated by figures 1 and 2 the opening to the envelope 1 is opposite to the opening to the pocket 5 however as a matter of choice both the pocket and the envelope could have openings at the same end, as illustrated by figures 3 and 4 of the drawings
In the embodiment of figure 3 an opening 10 to the pocket is adjacent envelope closure flap 4 and opening 11 to the envelope A hot molt band 12 is provided on flap 4 which is of sufficient depth to effcct closure of both the envelope and the pocket openings
In the embodiment of figure 4 a hot melt band 13 on the envelope flap is provided for closing the envelope and the envelope flap 4 also has a separate tape band 14 for sealing an adjacent open end 15 of the pocket 5 a combination of two hot melt strips may be an alternative
With respect to the figure 5 embodiment of the present invention envelope 1 has a front face 2, a rear face 3, a closure flap 4 In this case hot melt is used to seal bottom edge 16 of pocket 5 <md hot melt adhesive is applied to flap 4 and is covered by a release tape An opening 17 to the pocket 5 is at an opposite end to the opening to the envelope and includes a closure flap 18 and a pocket closure tape 19
It will be appreciated from the examples described that there are a number of closure and sealing options for both the envelope and the pocket and that the present invention embodies any combinations of same
Aspects of the present invention have been described by way of example only and it should be appreciated that modifications and additions may be made thereto without departing from the scope thereof as defined in the appended claims.
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