BUNDLE OF SECURITY ENVELOPES

Abstract: A bundle of security envelopes, each envelope having a closure and seal device at an open end, is held together in such a way as to prevent damage occurring to the fragile locking pins of the closure and seal device, and to facilitate the dispensing of the envelopes for use. Each closure and seal device (4) has two apertures (8) located above, and spaced from each other along the open end of the envelope, and two packing pins (11) which pass through respective apertures (8). The conjunction of closure and seal devices (4) mounted in this way has a relatively rigid structure which protects the locking pins (9) of each closure and seal device. The packing pins (11) are preferably hollow, such that they can be pushed onto support rods (16) on a mounting/dispensing device (17) or on a display/dispenser (18), facilitating dispensing and display of the individual envelopes and bundles of envelopes respectively.

Description: Title: "Bundle of security envelopes" Technical field The present invention relates to the packaging to¬ gether, into a bundle, of security envelopes having closure and seal devices, without damaging the devices themselves and in such a way that individual envelopes may easily be detached from the bundle for use. Background art The security envelopes to which this invention re- lates are well known to those versed in the art. In particular US 4,983,047 describes an envelope of this type having an open end with first and second lateral borders superimposed, and formed therealong with a series of adjacent orifices. A clo¬ sure and seal device, comprising first and second strips doublable over each other along the length of the closure, having substantially the same length as each of the lateral borders of the open end of the envelope, is also described. The first strip is formed along its length with a series of locking pins and is located on the external surface of the first lateral border of the open end of the envelope, with each of the locking pins penetrating the orifices adjacent to each other in the lateral borders. The second strip, on the other hand, is formed along its length with a series of sock¬ ets for receiving respective locking pins when, in use, it is doubled over the first strip, around the open end of the en¬ velope. Each socket projects from the plane of the second strip a distance slightly greater than the length of the lock¬ ing pins. The second strip is also formed with at least a first and a second aperture spaced from each other along the length of the strip. Object of the invention It is evident that, when packing together a number of envelopes of the type described above, the locking pins, which are relatively fragile, risk being broken during packing and transport, and also have the tendancy to become locked in the sockets of closure and seal devices attached to other en¬ velopes. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a bundle of such envelopes in which the integrity of the locking pins on the closure and seal devices is as¬ sured, and to permit individual envelopes to be pulled easily from the bundle as required. Summary of the invention According to the present invention, a bundle of se¬ curity envelopes, of the type described above, wherein the first and second apertures in the second strip of each closure and seal device, on each envelope, are aligned with respective first and second apertures in the second strips of the closure and seal devices on other envelopes in the bundle, the bundle further comprising a pair of packing pins which pass through repective first and second apertures to hold the bundle loosely in its superimposed configuration. The bundle of envelopes thus formed has a structure defined by the second strips of the closure and seal devices mounted on the packing pins, such a structure being substan¬ tially rigid and protecting the locking pins due to the fact that the physical separation between the closure and seal de¬ vices on the envelopes in the bundle is defined by the dis- tance that the sockets project from the plane of the second strip, this being greater than the length of the locking pins projecting from the plane of the first strip in each adjacent device. For preference, the envelopes are rolled or folded together with the roll or folds, placed against the structure defined by the second strips, having substantially the same dimension as this structure. The packing pins have the benefit of being hollow, and are capable of being pushed onto a pair of support rods to be held firmly thereon by friction, the support rods being adapted for fiting to a mounting plate, which can be fixed to a mounting surface, so that individual envelopes can be dis¬ pensed. A number of bundles of security envelopes of varying size can be presented on a display which has support plates disposed around a central region, the support plates having support rods fitted in vertical relationship thereon, and the envelope ends loosely rolled and retained within the central region. Brief Description of Drawings The present invention will now be described in greater detail, by way of example, with reference to the ac¬ companying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a known security envelope of a type relating to the present invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view of a bundle of envel¬ opes similar to that shown in figure 1, duly mounted for pack¬ ing and transport, according to the present invention; Figure 3 is a perspective view of the bundle of en- velopes, as shown in figure 2, with the envelopes folded in a configuration ready for packing and transport; Figure 4 is a perspective view of a mounting/dispensing device fixed to a support surface in the destination location; Figure 5 is a perspective view of a display/dispenser awaiting mounting of bundles of envelopes; and Figure 6 is a perspective view of a display/dispenser mounted with two bundles of large envelopes and two bundles of smaller envelopes. Detained Description of the Invention Referring first to figure 1 of the drawings, a rec¬ tangular plastic envelope 1 having first and second opposed planar sides and an open end with superimposed first and sec¬ ond lateral borders 2' and 2'* which are provided with a se¬ ries of orifices 3 aligned, adjacent to each other, in each of said lateral borders 2' and 2' 1 , along the length of the open end of the envelope. A closure and seal device 4, molded from a single piece of polyproylene or the like, consists of a first strip 5 and a second strip 6, joined together along corresponding lon- gitudinal edges by a hinge 7 of small thickness, around which, when in use, first and second strips 5 and 6 can be doubled one over the other. First and second strips 5 and 6 are pro¬ vided with square apertures, conventionally for the purpose of economising on the material used in the manufacture of the closure and seal device. However, two of these apertures 8 in second strip 6 serve an additional purpose in the present in¬ vention, as will become apparent from the following de¬ scription. First strip 5 is provided along its length with a series of locking pins 9 and is placed against first lateral border 2' of envelope 1 with locking pins 9 penetrating orifices 3 aligned with each other in first and second lateral borders 2' and 2'', such that they project beyond second lat¬ eral border 2' 1 of envelope 1. Second strip 6 is provided along its length with a series of sockets 10 for receiving locking pins 9 when, in use, second strip 6 is doubled around hinge 7 over second lat¬ eral border 2''. The height of the sockets 10 above the plane of the second strip 6 is obviously greater than the length of locking pins 9, which are received therein to close and seal envelope 1. Figure 2, illustrating a preferred embodiment of the present invention, shows a bundle of twenty identical envel¬ opes, of the type shown in figure 1. Each envelope is mounted, one on top of another, on two packing pins 11 which penetrate respective apertures 8 in each second strip 6 of each closure and seal device 4. Packing pins 11 are cylindrical in shape and have external diameter substantially equal to the length of the sides of apertures 8, such that each envelope 1 is loosely held in place by friction. It will immediately be un¬ derstood that, in this configuration, the envelopes are kept together in such a way as to prevent the locking pins 9, of each closure and seal device 4, from being forced against other closure and seal devices 4 in the bundle, due to each second strip butting against the sockets 10 of the closure and seal device on the next envelope in the bundle. The bundle shown in figure 2 can be prepared for packing and transport by rolling or folding the layers of en¬ velopes 1 as shown in figure 3, so that the roll or folds thus formed have substantially the same size as the relatively rigid structure formed by the conjunction of each closure and seal device 4 on packing pins 11. This configuration can be maintained by the application of elastic bands 12 around the roll. For preference, packing pins 11 are hollow, permit¬ ting the use of a mounting/dispensing device 17 shown in fig- ure 4 and a display/dispenser 18 shown in figures 5 and 6. Referring to figure 4, mounting/dispensing device 17 consists of a substantially flat mounting plate 13 formed with two cylindrical support rods 16, and having holes 14 for at¬ tachment to a support surface 15 such as a wall or the like. Support rods 16 have a crossectional diameter of the same or¬ der as the internal diameter of packing pins 11, so that pack¬ ing pins 11 can be pushed onto support rods 16 and firmly held thereon by friction. In this way envelopes 1 may be pulled one by one from packing pins 11, supported by mounting/dispensing device 17, as they are required. Referring now to figure 5, display/dispenser 18 con¬ sists of a horizontal substantially square baseplate 19 to v.'hich four substantially flat support plates 20 are attached extending vertically upwards. Each support plate 20 is posi- tioned with one narrow edge surface 21 aligned with a corre¬ sponding side of base-plate 19, and an outer face surface 22 parallel with and inset from a side of base-plate 19. Each support plate 20 has an inner face surface 23 and an angled surface 24 extending to the other narrow edge 25 thereof. Edge 25 of each support plate 20 is spaced from inner face surface 23 of an adjacent support plate 20. A pair of support rods 16 is mounted on innner face surface 23, of each of the support plates 20, close to its narrow edge 21, such that the plane between the longitudinal axes of support rods 16 is spaced from outwardly facing surface 22 of the adjacent support plate. Four bundles of envelopes may be placed on display/dispenser 18, as shown in figure 6, with packing pins 11 located on support rods 16, and envelope rolls stored ver¬ tically in the space between support plates 20. Support plates 20 can be of varying sizes facilitating display and dispensing of bundles of differently sized envelopes. Individ¬ ual envelopes may be dispensed by pulling closure and seal de- vice 4 from packing pins 11. It should readily be appreciated that the above de¬ scription and the attached figures are only examples of pre¬ ferred embodiments of the present invention, and that modifications can be made without going beyond the spirit of the invention. As such the scope of the present invention should be limited only by the terms and interpretation of the following claims.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A Bundle of security envelopes comprising a plu¬ rality of substantially rectangular envelopes superimposed one upon another, each envelope (1) having: - an open end with first and second superimposed lateral borders (2',2''), each provided with a series of orifices (3) distributed therealong, said orifices being aligned with each other in pairs along said borders; and - a closure and seal device (4) comprising first and second strips (5,6) doublable over each other along their length, the length of each strip being substantially equal to the length of each of said lateral borders (2',2'*) of said envelope (1), said first strip (5) being provided with a se¬ ries of locking pins (9), and adjoining said first lateral border (2') of said open end of said envelope (1) with each of said locking pins (9) penetrating one pair of said orifices (3), one in each lateral border, and said second strip (6) be¬ ing provided along its length with a series of sockets (10) for receiving said locking pins (9) when, in use of said en- velope, said second strip (6) is doubled over said first strip (5) around said open end of said envelope (1), each of said sockets (10) projecting externally of the plane of said second strip (6) a distance slightly greater than the length of said locking pins (9), said second strip (6) being further provided with at least first and second apertures (8) separated from each other along the length of said second strip (6); said bundle of security envelopes characterised in that: - said first and second apertures (8) in said second strip (6) of each said closure and seal device (4) on each said envelope (1) are aligned with respective first and second apertures (8) in each said second strip (6) of each said clo¬ sure and seal device (4) on each of the other envelopes in said bundle; and - said bundle further comprises a pair of packing pins (11) which penetrate respective first and second aper¬ tures (8) in each said second strip (6) of each said closure and seal device (4) on each of the envelopes in said bundle. such that said bundle of envelopes retains its superimposed configuration. 2. Bundle of security envelopes according to claim 1, characterised in that said envelopes (1) are rolled or folded together with the roll or folds thus formed placed against a structure defined by the conjunction of each said second strip (6) of each said closure and seal device placed on said packing pins (11), said roll or folds having substan¬ tially the same dimension as said structure. 3. Bundle of security envelopes according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that said packing pins (11) are hollow and by further including a pair of support rods (16) dimen¬ sioned such that said packing pins (11) are capable of being retained loosely thereon, said support rods (16) being adapted for mounting on a support surface (15). 4. Bundle of security envelopes according to claim 3, characterised in that a pair of said support rods (16) are fitted in a horizontally spaced relationship to a mounting plate (13) having means (14) for attaching to said support surface (15), for permitting individual dispensing of said en¬ velopes for immediate use. 5. Bundle of security envelopes according to clai 3, characterised by being presented on a display (18) compris¬ ing a base-plate (19) and at least one support plate (20) mounted vertically thereon, said support plate (20) being pro¬ vided with a pair of said support rods (16) in a vertically spaced relationship. 6. Bundle of security envelopes according to clai 5, characterised in that said display (18) comprises a plural- ity of said support plates (20) disposed around a central re¬ gion of said base-plate (19) so as to support a corresponding plurality of said bundles, the ends of the envelopes in eac bundle, remote from their closure and seal devices (4), being loosely rolled and received in said central region.

Inventors: DE LIMA CASTRO NETTO EDUARDO, DE LIMA CASTRO NETTO, EDUARDO
Applicants: ELC PROD SEGURANCA IND, LIMA CASTRO NETTO E DE, DE LIMA CASTRO NETTO, EDUARDO, ELC PRODUTOS DE SEGURANCA INDUSTRIA E COMERCIO LTD
Application year: 1995
Main classification: B65D33
IPC codes: A47F13, B65D33