US554640A - Safety-envelope - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.-

IVALTER SIDNEY ANDREWS, OF MONTAGUE, MASSACHUSETTS.

SAFETY-ENVELO PE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 554,640, dated February 18, 1896. Application fil d April 10, 1895. Renewed January 16, 1896. Serial No. 575,816. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WVALTER SIDNEY AN- DREWS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Montague city, county of Franklin,and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety-Envelopes, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanyin g drawings, forming a part thereof, in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts.

This invention relates to the manufacture of envelopes, and the object thereof is to produce an envelope which, having been once sealed, cannot beopened without destroying the envelope.

The invention is fully disclosed in the following specification, of which the accompanying drawings form a part, in which Figure 1 represents a blank from which my improved envelope is formed; Fig. 2, said blank partially folded, and Fig. 3 the completed envelope.

In the practice of my invention I cut from a sheet of paper from which the envelopes are manufactured a blank of the form shown in Fig. 1, having a body-piece 2, end pieces, 3, a main side piece, 4:, and the usual flap 5. I next cut longitudinalslots or recesses 6-in each end piece, as clearly shown in Fig. 1, near the upper part thereof, the corners of the end pieces being preferably cut away, as indicated, and in the side piece, 4, near the outer edge thereof, a longitudinal slot 7. The outer side of one of the end pieces is then gummed in the usual manner, as shown at 8, Fig. 2, and also the ends and outer side of the side piece 4, as shown at 9, and the lower inner portion of the sides of the flap 5, as shown at 10, and the outer side and the edges thereof, as shown at 11, Fig. 2, for about half its width.

In folding the ends and sides of the envelope the end piece 3 having the gummed outer surface is first folded down, as shown in Fig. 2, after which the outer end piece, 3, is folded thereon and sealed thereto, the longitudinal slots 6 registering with each other. The side piece, 4, is then folded over the end pieces and sealed along the ends an d the inner side thereof, in which position the longitudinal slots or recesses 6 in the end pieces and the longitudinal slot 7 in the side will register, as will be readily understood, and the envelope will be ready for use.

When it is desired to close or seal the flap 5, the same is folded over, as clearly shown in Fig. 3, and the inner sides thereof sealed in the body of the envelope, and before the outer end portion is inserted through the longitudinal slots 7 and 6 in the side and end pieces the outer gummed side and edges thereof are moistened, and after the insertion the sides of the envelope are pressed down in the usual manner, the form of the back of the envelope when sealed being clearly shownin Fig. 6;

As thus constructed and sealed, it will be absolutely impossible to open this envelope without destroying the same, and I thus accomplish the object of my invention by means of a device which is simple in construction and operation, which does not materially change the construction or form of the envelopes as now made, and which is perfectly adapted to accomplish the result for which it is intended.

If desired, I may gum one side of the slot 7 in the side 4 on the inner side thereof, as shown at 12, though this is not absolutely necessary. I prefer, however, that it should be done, as when thus provided and sealed the lines 13, 14, and 15 of the envelope are each sealed, and the end pieces, the side 4:, and the flap are also sealed on the inner sides, as will be readily understood.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. An envelope, consisting of a blank having the usual end pieces provided with longitudinal slots or recesses in the ends thereof adapted to register when the ends are folded, the main side of the envelope being also provided with a corresponding longitudinal slot adapted to register with the slots in the end pieces when the three are folded, the end of the outer side of one of the end pieces, the side edges of the inner side of the flap for about half their lengths, beginning at the side adjacent to the body of the envelope, and the side edges on the outer side thereof at the free edge, and also the ends and sides of the opposite or main side of the envelope 011 the illner side, being gummed, substantially as shown and described.

2. An envelope, consisting of a blank having the usual end pieces provided with longitudinal slots or recesses in the ends thereof adapted to register when the ends are folded, the main side of the envelope being also provided with a corresponding longitudinal slot adapted to register with the slots in the end pieces when the three are folded, the end of the outer side of one end of the end pieces, the side edges of the inner side of the flap for about half their lengths, beginning at the side adjacent to the body of the envelope, and the

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