Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D27/00—Envelopes or like essentially-rectangular containers for postal or other purposes having no structural provision for thickness of contents
  • B65D27/04—Envelopes or like essentially-rectangular containers for postal or other purposes having no structural provision for thickness of contents with apertures or windows for viewing contents
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D27/00—Envelopes or like essentially-rectangular containers for postal or other purposes having no structural provision for thickness of contents
  • B65D27/32—Opening devices incorporated during envelope manufacture
  • B65D27/38—Tearing-strings or -strips

Definitions

• the comer tab is attached to the rest of the envelope only by means of the perforated line results in the comer of the envelope being weak and vulnerable to damage.
• the comer tab may be bent during the transit of the envelope, and may become separated or partially separated from the rest of the envelope before the envelope reaches its destination.
• the invention seeks to provide an easy-opening envelope which overcomes at least some of the above disadvantages. Disclosure of Invention
• an easy-opening envelope comprising a front face, a rear face, a closure flap, and an opening strip; the front face having a plurality of edges at which the front face is connected to the rear face or the closure flap; the opening strip extending along, and being attached to, a first one of said edges; and a further one of said edges adjacent to said first edge being provided with a line of weakness which extends inwardly from said further edge but does not extend to any of the other of said edges, said line of weakness being arranged so that a user can open the envelope by first grasping a portion of the envelope between said line of weakness and said first edge, and then pulling along the direction of said first edge so that the envelope tears from said line of weakness to said first edge to form a tab which separates from the rest of the envelope but remains attached to the opening strip, so that as the user pulls the tab the opening strip tears open said first edge of the envelope.
• said line of weakness is formed by a continuous slit which extends inwardly from said further edge.
• the front and rear faces are glued, or otherwise adhered, together in the region of the envelope defining said tab, so that said tab is provided with greater structural integrity once it has been torn away from the rest of the envelope.
• the invention is particularly suitable for high security, tamper-proof envelopes.
• the closure flap can be provided with a very strong adhesive which ensures that the closure flap cannot be opened without damaging the envelope.
• an easy- opening envelope comprising front and rear faces, a closure flap for sealing the envelope, and an opening strip attached to the envelope and adapted to tear a line through a portion of the envelope in order to open the envelope, wherein a tab portion of the envelope, to which the opening strip is also attached, is adapted to be torn away by the user when opening the envelope in order to form a tab which remains attached to me opening strip, and which the user can grasp in order to pull the opening strip so as to tear the opening strip through the envelope, and wherein the envelope further comprises viewing means located in the vicinity of the tab portion, said viewing means being adapted to allow the user to view inside the envelope in the vicinity of the tab portion in order to ensure that the contents of the envelope do not become damaged when the tab portion is torn away by the user in order to open the envelope.
• said viewing means is formed only in one face of the envelope.
• the viewing means comprises an aperture, such as a circular hole, formed in at least one face of the envelope at or adjacent the tab portion.
• at least one face of the envelope is provided with a transparent portion located at or adjacent the tab portion.
• the other face of the envelope is coloured on the inside at least at the position corresponding to the viewing means so that the colour becomes visible when none of the contents of the envelope are located beneath the viewing means.
• the colour is desirably any colour except white, but is preferably a distinctive colour, such as red.
• this feature provides an envelope which is particularly convenient to use.
• the addressee simply looks through the viewing means in order to ascertain whether the colour is visible. If the colour is not visible, the addressee simply taps the envelope so that the contents of the envelope move away from the viewing means, and then tears away the tab portion in order to open the envelope.
• the viewing means covers only a very small portion of the envelope, so that the confidentiality of the contents of the envelope is maintained.
• An additional aspect of the invention aims to provide a tear open envelope incorporating a tear strip or line which facilitates rapid access to the contents of the envelope without damaging the contents thereof.
• Said additional aspect of the invention resides broadly in an envelope assembly having a stick-down closure flap which may be folded over and adhered to an adjacent wall panel to seal the envelope, said envelope having a portion thereof adapted to be gripped by a user, said portion having a flexible line member secured thereto and extending from said portion across and being secured to said envelope, said portion being detachable from said envelope to permit said line member to open the envelope.
• the line member may be retained by an adhesive applied over the member and adjacent portion of the envelope or it may be coated with an adhesive adapted to adhere the flexible line member to the envelope at a fold line if desired.
• the line member may extend along the fold line between the stick-down closure flap and remainder of the envelope or may extend along a side fold in the envelope.
• a slit is provided in the envelope to facilitate detachment of the tear-off portion.
• the slit may extend down from the top edge of the envelope through the closure flap and opposite panel of the envelope. Alternatively, the slit may extend inwardly from one side edge of me envelope.
• portion of the envelope may be weakened such as by providing perforations to facilitate definition of the tear-off portion.
• the slit suitably extends to or adjacent said weakened portion.
• the slit may extend from a edge of the envelope flap to intersect the line of perforations which are also formed in that flap.
• the envelope is preferably provided with a glue zone which enables the flap to be adhered to the remainder of the envelope and the slit may extend through the glue zone to a line of perforations defining the tear-off portion.
• Figure 1 is a view of the rear of an envelope constituting a first embodiment of me invention
• Figure 2 is a similar view to Figure 1, showing a second embodiment of the invention;
• Figure 3 shows the rear face of a plastics courier pack, constituting a third embodiment of the invention.
• FIGS. 4 to 7 show additional embodiments of the invention. Best Modes for Carrying Out the Invention
• an easy-opening envelope 2 which comprises a rear face 4, a closure flap 6, and a front face (not visible in the figure).
• the rear face 4 is joined to the front face by means of a fold line 8 which extends along a first side 10 of the envelope.
• the rear face 4 is connected to the front face at the second side 12 of the envelope by means of a side strip 14 which is formed by folding a portion of the front face over the rear face 4.
• the side strip 14 is glued to the rear face 4.
• At the bottom edge 16 of the envelope me rear face 4 is attached to the front face by means of a bottom strip 18.
• the bottom strip 18 is also formed from a folded portion of the front face, and is glued to the rear face 4.
• the envelope shown in Figure 2 is identical to that of Figure 1 (the same reference numerals being used to indicate like parts) except for the provision of a punched hole 40 in the side strip 14 at a location just below the tab portion 32.
• the hole 40 is formed only in the strip 14, and does not extend through the front face of the envelope.
• the inside of the front face of the envelope is provided with a circular red spot 42 which is of the same size as the hole 40, and located immediately below the hole 40. It will be appreciated that the provision of the punched hole 40 and the red spot
• the addressee enables the addressee to check whether any of the contents of the envelope would be damaged by tearing away the tab portion 32. If the addressee, on looking through the punched hole 40, finds that the red spot 40 is obscured by any of the contents of the envelope, the addressee simply taps the envelope so as to move the contents away from the tab 32, before proceeding to open the envelope in the manner described above.
• the envelope 10 is of conventional form and includes a closure flap 65 adapted to fold along a fold line 64 to seal the envelope by adhesion to the back panel 62 of me envelope 10.
• the flap 65 includes an adhesion zone 61 extending substantially the full length of the flap 65 and adjacent me lower edge thereof.
• a grippable tab 67 is defined in me back flap 65 between a line of perforations 63 which extends along me fold line 64 of the back flap 65 and a converging line of perforations 66 which extends to me edge of me flap 65. As shown, the slit 69 extends dirough the glue line 61 to the line of perforations 66.
• a thread or line member 70 is adhered to me underside of me flap 65 and extends along or adjacent me fold line 64. The tiiread or line member 70 is preferably adhered along me line 64 by an adhesive. One end 71 of the thread or line member 70 extends away from the fold line 64 to overlie me tab 67 to which it is adhered by adhesive.
• me thread 70 may extend fully along me fold line 64 and be retained to the tab 67 by the glue carried by the tiiread or line 70.
• the adhesive or glue along the line 70 may be at spaced positions or continuously along the line 70. This arrangement ensures that when a user's fingers are pushed under the tab 67, it tears away cleanly from the back flap 65, either along the lines of perforations 63 and 66 or along the line 63 the slit 69 and line 66.
• the thread 70 may extend along a side edge of the envelope 10 to effect opening of the side thereof.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Packages (AREA)
• Cartons (AREA)

Priority Applications (4)

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=25644963

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (6)

Cited By (1)

Families Citing this family (3)

Citations (8)

Family Cites Families (2)

• 1996
  • 1996-05-29 NZ NZ308027A patent/NZ308027A/en not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1996-05-29 CA CA002220173A patent/CA2220173A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1996-05-29 GB GB9725289A patent/GB2316670B/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1996-05-29 JP JP8536032A patent/JPH11505793A/ja active Pending
  • 1996-05-29 KR KR1019970708625A patent/KR19990022146A/ko not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1996-05-29 WO PCT/AU1996/000323 patent/WO1996038344A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation

Patent Citations (8)

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