US2086297A - Envelope savings bank - Google Patents

Description

Filed Aug. 12, 1935 I II I IIIWL ATT DR NEY Patented July 6, 1937 znsezai rarest orries ENVELOPE SAVINGS BANK Richard A. Harris, Syracuse, N. Y.

Application August 12, 1935, Serial No. 35,759

3 Claims.

My invention relates, in general, to savings banks and more especially to coin receptacles made of paper or similar material.

Savings envelopes made of paper are in wide use by all types of savings institutions, religious organizations, credit merchandisers, and other institutions in an effort to encourage people to accumulate a large sum of money by small deposits of coins in the savings envelope orcoin receptacle. The usual plan is to supply the depositor, communicant or customer with a number of envelopes covering a certain period of time and have him deposit coins in the envelope at frequent intervals and, when a reasonably large sum has been accumulated, take it to the bank, church or credit merchandiser for deposit, ofiering or payment on account.

Ordinarily, sealed paper or light cardboard envelopes having a coin slot are used for the purposes outlined above instead of metal banks because they can be made at a nominal cost. The disadvantage of such savings envelopes lies in the fact that the user will deposit in the envelope a certain sum in, say, nickels and dimes, and then have occasion to use the change and by employing a knife or other instrument may easily slip the coins out of the coin slot. It has been found in practice that if it can be made impossible, or at least very difficult, for the user to retrieve the coins by shaking the envelope or other manipulation he will seldom tear or otherwise mutilate the envelope in order to remove the coins, probably because the user intends usually to borrow the change only temporarily. Whatever the intentions of the user are, when the ordinary type of coin envelope is used, he seldom replaces the coins and the entire plan for accumulating a sum of money is defeated.

An object of my invention is to provide a simple savings bank or savings envelope which may be made at a nominal cost.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a savings envelope made of paper, light cardboard, or similar material, in which provision is made whereby retrievement of coins once deposited in the envelope is made exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, without tearing the envelope apart or otherwise mutilating it.

My invention further contemplates the provision of a savings envelope, preferably made in one piece, having a flap folded over the coin slot in such a manner that coins once deposited in the envelope cannot be slipped out of the envelope without tearing or cutting the envelope.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be more apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing my sav Figure 5 is a perspective view of .a modified form of the construction shown in. Figures 1 to 4.

inclusive. 7

Figure 6 is a View, after the structure of Figure 5 has been folded and pasted together, taken on the line -E of that figure.

Figure '7 is a view illustrating the envelope of Figures 5 and 6 showing the manner of cutting the envelope from a single sheet of material and indicating the lines upon whichit is'folded.

Figure 8 is a partial outside view of the envelope of Figures 5, 6,'and '7', with portions cut away to show the inside thereof.

The savings bank or savings envelope 'of my invention is preferably cut from a single sheet of paper, light cardboard or other suitable material and has a front wall H, a back wall l2 and an integral flap generally indicated by the numeral 13. A coin slot M which may be made large enough to receive a. coin of any size'is provided in the front wall ll of the envelope and scoring lines 96 and H are preferably made in the paper to enable the envelope'to be readily folded into the condition shown in Figure 1.

The flap I3 is ,preferably narrower than the width of the front wall! I and is provided with a coinslit I8. The coin'slit l8, while longer than the coin slot I4, is narrower than the coin slot so that coins after passing through the slit can not again pass through the slit in the opposite direction; The flap I3 is scored along the coin slit l8 as indicated at l9 forming flap sections and 20. The outer end of theflap, constituting end flap section 2!, is preferably decreased slightly in width from that of the main body of the flap and is preferably scored tofacilitate folding as indicated at 22.

After the paper has been cut and scored, as indicated in Figure 4, the flap I3 is folded on the scoring line H, refolded on the scoring line 19 and again folded on the scoring line 22. The inner surface of the outer edge of both the front and back of the envelope is provided with adhesive, as indicated by the numeral 23. The internal side of the front is provided with adhesive, as indicated at 24, for securing the flap to the front wall. The adhesive line as will be noted is slightly below the coin slot l4.

After the flap I 3 has been folded into place it is secured to the front wall, along adhesive line 24. By thus folding and securing the flap to the front wall, the end section 2| of the flap, as more clearly shown in Figure 2, depends freely between the flap section 26 and the flap section 29. After the flap has been folded and secured in position the back wall is folded on the scoring line it and secured to the front wall by adhesive 23 thus forming a structure which appears from the outside as shown in Figure 1.

Although the envelope will, in practice, be substantially fiat, in Figures 2 and 3 Ihave shown the envelope in a slightly exaggerated condition in order more clearly to illustrate the manner in which coins once deposited in the envelope are locked therein so as to prevent, or at least make inconvenient, their removal without tearing the envelope apart or cutting it.

The coin is inserted in the coin slot is after which it drops of its own weight between the end flap section 2! and the flap section 20 and passes down through the coin slit l8 which, as will be noted, is preferably made somewhat longer than the coin slot l4. Upon dropping through the coin slit I 8 the coin drops down into the main body of the envelope.

It will now be noted, when the coin is in the bottom of the envelope, that if the envelope is inverted and shaken the coin will pass either into the pocket 2'! formed between the front wall II and the flap section 20' or into the pocket 28 formed between the back wall I2 and the flap section 29.

Because the coin slit I8 is merely a narrow cut in the paper it is almost impossible to shake the coin into the coin slit l8 between the flap sections 20 and 20'. It is therefore almost impossible for the coin to pass upwardly into the space between the flap sections 20 and 26' especially because the flap sections 2|) and 20' are held somewhat close together by the front and back walls of the envelope.

If by accident a coin should pass through the coin slit 13 the depending flap section 2| prevents the coin from passing upwardly so as to enable the coin to be retrieved through the coin slot 14 because the end flap section 2| has a tendency to spring away from the flap section 20 and closely hug the flap section 210. The coin is thus caught in the pocket formed between the flap section 28' and the flap section 2! and upon again inverting the envelope the coin drops through the coin slit [8 into the main body of the envelope. If a knife or other instrument is inserted in the coin slot l4 and through the coin slit IE! it has still been found almost impossible to remove the coin because the user must spread the coin slit l8 and at the same time guide the coin into the slit entirely by the sense of touch. This operation is almost impossible especially because the user is not familiar with the inside construction of the envelope and the knife obstructs the passage of the coin.

In Figures 5 to 8 inclusive I have illustrated a modified form of the construction illustrated in Figures 1 to 4 inclusive. As shown in Figure 7, the savings envelope comprises a front wall 3?, a back wall 38 and a flap 39. A coin slot M is pro vided in the front wall and between the front and back walls the material is preferably scored as indicated at 42 to enable folding. The front may be secured to the back wall by adhesive, as indicated by the numeral 43.

The flap 39, while preferably integral with the back wall 38 is preferably separated therefrom by a scoring line M. A coin slit at the outer corner of the flap 39 extends inwardly on a line which is substantially a diagonal of the flap. Along the line of the coin slit G6 the material is preferably scored, as indicated at All, dividing the flap 39 into sections 48 and id. The scoring line 47 and the coin slit 65 are not on a true diagonal but instead reach the opposite edge of the flap at a point spaced from the scoring line M, as indicated at 563. The scoring line 4'! is not made on a true diagonal of the flap in order that when the flap is folded into the position shown in Figure 5, by folding the flap 44 on tothe back wall 38 and folding the flap section 49 on to the flap section $8, the edge 5| will terminate at or below the lower edge of the coin slot M, as

indicated by the dotted line 5| of Figure 8. After the flap has been folded into the position shown in Figure 5 the front wall of the envelope is secured to the back wall along the adhesive line 43 and simultaneously the flap section 49, along the edge 5!, is secured to the inner face of the front wall 31 along the adhesive line 52.

When the savings envelope is in assembled condition and a "coin is inserted in the coin slot 4| it drops between the flap sections 48 and 49 and rolls along the diagonal fold formed by these flap sections until it reaches the coin slit 46 whereupon it drops into the main body portion of the envelope. After the coin has dropped into the main body portion of the envelope it is almost impossible to retrieve it by inverting the envelope and shaking it because the coin will almost invariably pass either into the pocket 54 formed between the back wall 38 and the flap section 48 or will pass into the pocket 56 formed between the front wall 31 and the flap section 59. It is, further, almost impossible to retrieve the coin by inserting a knife through the coin slot 4| into the coin slit 46 and spreading it particularly because the user does not know the construction of the inside of the envelope and because it is almost impossible to guide the coin into the coin slit 46 while the knife is in the necessary path 0 movement of the coin.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that I have provided a simple savings envelope which may be manufactured at a nominal cost and which accomplishes the desired object of preventing, or at least making difficult, the removal of coins from the envelope after they have been once inserted. It will be further apparent that various modifications and changes may be made in the construction of the envelope and the relationship of the parts thereof without departing from the spirit of my invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a savings envelope made of paper or similar material in which the envelope is entirely sealed except for a coin slot to enable the coin to be inserted in the envelope, a flap integral with the envelope and extending from one wall thereof, said flap being foldable along a line extending substantially diagonally of the flap and being secured to the other wall of the envelope to divide the envelope into two parts, said flap having a coin slit extending along said diagonal folding line.

2. A coin receptacle comprising an envelope having a facing sheet and a backing sheet and being made of paper or similar material, said envelope being when folded and adhesively secured together at its edges entirely closed except for having a coin slot in the facing sheet thereof, a flap integral with the envelope and extending from one edge thereof, said flap being folded along one edge to face upon the inside of the facing sheet and being re-folded below the coin slot and having its re-folded portion adhesively secured to the inside of the facing sheet below the coin slot and thereby dividing the envelope into a main body portion and an auxiliary body portion, said flap having a coin slit therein enabling a coin to pass from the auxiliary body portion into the main body portion of the envelope.

3. A coin receptacle comprising an envelope having a facing sheet and a backing sheet and being made of paper or similar material, said envelope being when folded and adhesively secured together at its edges entirely closed except for having a coin slot in the facing sheet thereof, a flap integral with the envelope'and extending from one edge thereof, said flap being folded along one edge to faceupon the inside of the facing sheet and being re-folded below the coin slot and having its re-folded portion adhesiveiy secured to the inside of the facing sheet below the coin slot and thereby dividing the envelope into a main body portion'and an auxiliary body portion, said flap having a coin slit therein enabling a coin to pass from the aux iliary body portion intothe main body portion of the envelope and said flap having a third fold hear another edge which when the envelope is in condition for use lies between the re-folded portion of the flap and the flap proper.

RICHARD A. HARRIS.

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