US2581895A - Invoice assembly for service items - Google Patents

Description

/VA//Vg 0148/575 G. C. WILSON Jan. 8, 1952 INVOICE ASSEMBLY FOR SERVICE .ITEMS Filed July 19, 1949 Patented Jan. 8, 1 952 y@UNI TED STATES @OFF *y Invoice AssEMBLvroR isERvIoE ITEMS 'Glenn C. Wilson, OakPark, lll.

Application J-uly .19, 1949Serial No. 105,477

, l `My 'invention relates to an invoice used particularly inandjor the .handling and .identification ,of `garments .in cleaning and dyeing plants, and 'to the incidental services rendered to cus,- tomers. tomaryfor the salesmen of the majority of.clean ing and dyeing establishments to pick .up customers ,garments `for servicing withoutgiving a receipt for them. ,The same .can be said of Will Call storesor branch offices of main plants. It Ais a speculative.. arrangement where .the customer hopes .he .will get his `garments back from the driver, .or that .the Will Call oiceclerk will recognize vhim 'when'he calls for his clothes. V.In

case `of `a 116., theft or accidental loss of gar- 1^ ments., .the customer 'has no valid claim check to present. Furthermore, .there are .innumerable shades of colorsin garments, and often `therejis ygreat confusion at the Will Call stores when customers endeavor to identify .their own clothing ,by color, In many cases, the customer .is asked to check over the vremaining garments .of similar color to see Aif lhe can nd A his own. Then, if itihappens that someone .else has received his garments, confusion follows and the customer may `only get his own garments back after much delay, or receive `a .settlement from the company. :This is a highly 'inellicientinethoi andfa ,great amount of wasteresultsfrom the same. UAt times, if/a customer insists,;he,may be 'handed a receipt to .indicate that he has left certain garments to be serviced, but such a receipt is more in the nature .0f a makeshift, and is not capable of functioning as an office control copy or as a medium of 'instructions for the .cleaning plant.

` ,In many cases, when the plant driver accepts garments, he writes the name of the customer on astring tag, rolls thegarxnents into .a bundle, ties 'the tag to the bundle, and states which garments are to be cleaned or pressed. When the f bundle reaches the plant, the service checker vnijteson Vthe cloth or lpaper lmarking tags lan identifying number, which is also written on the tagthe Adriver brought in. Minor directions are given `to the plant as to services desired `for the `particulargarments. As the services are varied,

it often `takes a Week or more to process the entire lot. Then, after what may become 4a frantic and confusing search, they are assembled, placed on hangers, the tag retrieved and the charges noted thereon. This serves as a C. O. D. bill which the customer pays, but a receipt is not given to him, making the method most unbusinesslike.

' VASomefirms use manifold record books or auto- For -years it has 'been and still is .cus-

2 Claims. (GQ12824423) ter forms, making two or three copies. I1'0 graphic register forms. Their drivers or Will Call office clerks V'do not issue a customer receipt, but 'when `garments are received, the clerks write the'name and address Aof the customer on a white slip of paper, brieliy listing the garments and services desired. These brief memos areattached tothe garments, and theplant checker trans-'- lates the information to fmanifold'books o r regis- Often the checker is lnot able to decipher :thecorrect spelling :of the customers name or address, and much confusion follows.V The original copy serves as an ofce record, while the other two copies are pinned to one of the garments when all services are completed. Drivers will leave one copy with the customer, "and return the other to the o'fce with the cash collected or charges noted. The invoice or statement left with or given tothe customer is not a detailed vpersonalized invoice. Furthermore, vif garments areput'into paper bags, there is vonly one invoice which covers `all garments, and 'such invoice 'is attached to one of the bags. 'It then devolves on the customer to guess what each bag contains, and often the coveringis needlessly removed from the garments along time before they are used. The type of invoice in question vhas a very limited value. At Will Call stores, thesame procedure is followed. In lpreparing the above garments for plant services, some firms use a papertag, and othersan unnunibered cloth tag. "Then they write on the tagthe number which appears on the manifold book forms or register sheets. One tag is stapled to the `written forms, and the remaining tagsare pinned to the garments to be serviced. Many times transposition of numbers occurs while numbers are being copied on 'the marking tags from invoices, causing considerable confusion. Related garments become difcult to find, and prompt assembly is impossible, resulting in delayed deliveries, and often losing valuable customers. Some firms have lpre-numbered strips of paper or 'cloth tags. vIn such cases, the'number is transferred to order books or register forms. Again, transposition of numbers occurs. A few rms use marking machines which type invoice numbers and give abbreviated description of garments to be serviced. Still another system is known as the let method. Under this system, different colored tags are used for each weekV day, -'but these -colors have no relation whatever to the customers receipt, oilice control copies, or customer invoices. Thus, great di'culty vis had matching up related garments. and the only reierence is a like number on invoices and]` tags. All

of the above-described methods are incomplete and make the processing and assembling of garments most confusing, causing delays, disputes, and last but not least, added and unnecessary expense.

In order to depart from the above practices and diiiculties, my invention has for one of its objects to provide a complete invoice adapted for a well-organized procedure for accurately and speedily handling all phases of the cleaning and dyeing business relative to cleaning, pressing, repairing, moth proofing, Water prooi-lng, dyeing and other Wearing apparel refurbishment services.

A further object is to provide a seriesof individual invoice books-Which may be termed service day books-these being made vupin one# time carbon snap-apart style sets of fivemore or less-pages of bond paper, each of which constitutes a, prenumbered and marked invoice containing detailed and essential time-saving information.v .y y e "j .A still further Objectis to provide a day book fof-(the Yabove'lcharacter whoselast page is a "specialY marking tag paper with a maximum of ten separate indestructible garment identification .marking tagsjplus the customers keyed plaim check, all parts of the tag page having matching pre-marked numbers. e Another-*object is to provide an invoice book which enables the personnel of the cleaning establishment to speedily and accurately issue customers a valid claim check. to completely book customer service orders,mark in or attach premarked identification tags, check type of services desired, note present condition of garments, proyidedetailed plant instructions, and automatically prepare separate invoices for each garment Ivvith a complete history of services and charges .to facilitate Vthe correct assembly of theI garments. `A still further object is to provide a plural sheet invoice with facilities to block out. delete, or make reading of all information on each customer invoice diicult except that which Ypertains to the garment in cuestion and thus per- `mit `the partial delivery of an order as soon as the work is completed and yet upon close scrutiny to determine from each invoice. whether there were other garments in the order. e d Another object is to provide a book of the above character which makes it possible to check reference numbers for charge accounts and facilitate home storage and garment protection by means of a personalized invoice which immediatelyv indicates the contents of each garment bag to the customer.

further object is to provide'a stub-type delivery checking voucher for every customer invoice, as a factory identification record of the fsame. y YInthe accompanying drawing- Y Fig. 1 is a perspective View of the invoice book, with its component leaves in spread relation;

. Fig. 2 is a plan View of an invoice sheet designed to be retained by a branch ofi-ice or pickup driver-in a modified form of invoice book; e

v Figs. 3 to 5 are plan views of invoice pages 2, 3, `and 4 respectively of the invoice book of Figure 1; f Fig. 6 is a plan view of a tag sheet which is ,fthe last page of the invoice book of Figure 1; and

Fig. 7 is a plan view similar to Fig. 3, showing amodiiied invoice sheet with in integral delivery checking voucher.

Referring specifically to the drawing, the novel invoice book I@ in Figure 1 is perforated at II to permit its leaves to be removed as needed.

When the sheets of the book are bound, the rst four are interleaved with sheets of carbon paper I2. The first sheet designated by the numeral 13 is the master copy invoice sheet on which information relating to each of the plurality of items being invoiced is placed. The printed material on the main or master sheet I3 and on the plurality of accessory or individual invoice sheets I5, I6 and I'I, is identical. This reading material-is essential to Aservice invoices having multiple functions. Spaces 523,24, and 25, are provided and consecutively numbered #L #2, and #3 for the entry of identifying information for three garments deposited by--or picked up by a driver from-a given customer for cleaning treatment. Numerous indicia relating to kinds of repair service may be checked as specined by the customer and they will later be described in detail. The master copy sheet I3 has the usual column for entries of charges opposite each of ,the plurality of garments or other articles ,tbe serviced. p The main sheet I3 is intended as the ofce or ,control copy. to be kept for the records 'of the service establishment. v

All parts of the invoice books carry the same identification number. For example, the first sheet I3 .isY a detailed ofce control record. In a modified form there is included a sheet I4 'which may be used as a branch office or store .checking copy. Such a sheet, if it isused, is identical to the first or master sheet. The second, third, and fourth sheetswhich may be used as-IS, I6, and I1 respectively-are individual 'invoices for each of a plurality of items, IThe last sheet 2I of the book 'is made of special tag paper capable of being fastened to a garment and going right through the cleaning processes without injury to either garment or tags. Ten `separate perforated garment marking tags and the customers claim check 22 comprise sheet 2| of the book I0. All of the sheets, as well as each Vof the marking tags andthe customers claim check, carry an identical number. Thus, if the Icustomer desires information as to the progress being made in the servicing of his garments, he 'need only give the key number on the claim 'check in order to secure authentic information about the order. Further, the numbers on cus-A tomers invoices are referred to on their monthly statements if they have charge accounts. Accurate oiice records are more easily kept and verified with this typeY of numbering system, one of the mostimportant phases thereof being that all parts are accurately pre-numbered, eliminating chances for transposition of numbers.v It is Itherefore easy to assemble garments in their proper relation and to attach the personalized invoices to them without delay, since they carry the same key number as the garment tag identication number. An examination of the master copy invoice sheet I3 shows that there are numerous spaces and indicia for properly record"v ing all necessary and pertinent information relative to the cleaning of garments or possibly the rendering of other services. The reference numeral 2S is directed to a space in which the .type of service to be performed on the garment is checked. Beneath spaces 23, 24, 25, and'26.- are a plurality of words arranged horizontally in lines 21, 28, and 29. The lines.21,.28, and 29 are consecutively numbered l, 2, and 3 re' spectively and refer to the like numbered line spaces 23, 2d, and 25. Each of the words in ,the lines 21, 28, and 29 which are duplicated r4,in

the-cash register-tape, and both of these items in turnwill be checked with the master sheet .I3 which is the oce control copy. In other words, thetransaction on the delivery checking voucher indicates if it is line 1, line 2, or line 3 of the customer invoice to which it refers. Thus, when these vouchers are checked, each line is handled as aseparate transaction, yet as a whole unit as Vfar as the master sheet or oince control copy isy concerned. Very often in Will Call Astores customers forget to bringtheir claim check. If they do so forget they are permitted to identify themselves andtheir garments and sign the back of` delivery checkingvoucher for garments received. Then ifv they locate the claim checklater, and many do and try to claim garments again, the firm has attached to the master sheet and control copy .the signed delivery checking voucher showing delivery of said 'garments to this particular customer. This avoids false claims. or route salesmen will detach delivery checking vouchers. as deliveries are made and will note upon Vthese cash received or approved charge accounts.V This information will tie up .with his delivery route book, all of which he will turn in atthe end of each days business with collections and credit notations.- Thus again, the main oflice has apositive check upon deliveries and all co1- lections or charges which are verified by checking with the master sheet or office control copy. Plants with branches in other states will find this added .feature of delivery checking voucher to be an added protection-against mshandling ofV vfunds or errors in services, charges, and credits..Vv Y VThe novel and meritorious features of theinvoice -book will now be summarized. First, a single writing suices to invoice each order of a plurality of garments instantly. Further, a

keyed customer receipt speedily simplifies Will I Matching Yday colors and numbers simplies quick garment assembly. Day color identity and matching numbers with customers name eliminate the loss of garments. The block-out or printed cross-hatching feature speeds up the delivery ofl nished garments, prevents plant crowding,` and still permits the cleaner and customer to know whether there was more than one garment in the order and just what is being done to the other garment. The day color feature also gives a complete eye picture of the daily flow of work, eliminating bottle necks. The customer is automatically billed with a separate invoice for each item. The billing of charge accounts is greatly simplied'by just listing the customers personalized invoice number. The detailed personalized, individual garment invoices are at- Driver TCM 8 tached to the individual garment bags, eliminatingl guesswork as to their contents. Accurate and complete oilice control records with extra copies for branches are provided. More customer contacts and sales opportunities follow as a result.

I claim:

1. A plural sheet invoice for a plurality of items including a printed form master copy sheet for recording information regarding each of a plurality of items, individual invoice sheets for each of the plurality of items, said master copy sheet constituting the front page `of the plural sheet invoice and having a printed form lthereon including a plurality of consecutively numbered portions, said individual-invoice sheets constituting succeeding pagesof said plural sheet invoice, a carbon paper sheet disposed between the master copy sheet and the first of said individual invoice sheets, individual carbon paper sheets between each ofthe remaining individual invoice sheets, said individual invoice sheets hav.- ing a printed form thereon identical to said master copy sheet, and including the plurality of consecutively numbered portions, one of said individual invoice sheet pages having all portions other than the first consecutively numbered portion having means printed thereover eliminating ready readability of succeeding consecutively numbered portions, andeach of the remaining individual invoice sheet pages having all portions other than the consecutively numbered portions corresponding to each of the other pages of the invoice sheet having means printed thereover eliminating ready readability, and one identifying number on every sheet of the plural sheet invoice.

' 2. A'plural sheet invoice as set forth in claim 1 in which the means printed over the portions of the individual invoice sheets includes across hatching wherein one examining the sheet may determine whether the invoice is for oneor several items. GLENN c. WILSON.

REFERENCES CITED l .The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date y '617,287 Armstrong Jan. 10, 1899 718,816 Browne Jan. 20, 1903 '1,218,700 Rotenberg Mar. 13, 1917 1,247,628 Britton Nov. 27, 1917 1,440,481 Middaugh Jan. 2, 1923 1,637,156 Mirski July 26, 1927 2,050,184 Kelly Aug. 4, 1936 2,310,394 Case Feb. 9, 1943 V2,368,531 Erickson Jan. 30, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 514,173 Great Britain Nov. 1, 1939

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