Patent Publication Number: US-7587881-B2

Title: Continuous strip of detachably interconnected folded products

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/445,798, filed May 28, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,100,348 which is a division of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/426,638, filed Oct. 25, 1999, which was a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/913,051, filed Sep. 5, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,260, which was a 371 of PCT/BE96/00023, filed Mar. 6, 1996. 

   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Technical Field of the Invention 
   This invention relates to a continuous strip of detachable consecutive interconnected products, obtained through folding, notably envelopes, bags, files, cases, foldable packing material, etc. 
   2. Prior Art 
   Continuous strips of detachable envelopes have long been used, as is shown a.o. by the following patent specifications U.S. Pat. No. 4,066,206 (Peterson), FR-A-1,488,888 (Gysin) and GB-A-567,925 (Davies). 
   Such strips of envelopes, however, hold various disadvantages as to the appearance and the finish of the envelopes, after they have been separated. The said envelopes, for instance, clearly show marks of division lines. 
   OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The invention inter alia aims at remedying those flaws in a very simple and effective way and at offering a continuous strip of detachable interconnected products, the visible edges of which, for instance, when they are separated, are completely finished in such a way that, as far as finishing and aspect is concerned, they entirely correspond to the ones which are manufactured separately one by one and that they are hardly distinguishable from them, and this, in spite of the envelopes originally being made from a continuous strip, in a somewhat analogous way to the first application set forth in patent GB-A-567925. 
   To that end, according to the invention, two consecutive products in the continuous strip are interconnected by a joint not being part of the products themselves and being connected, in a detachable way, through successive lines of demarcation, to each of those two consecutive products, in such a way that, on removing the joint, the said two consecutive products are completely severed. 
   Functionally, at least part of the joints linking the consecutive products can be or are attached to a common carrier in such a way that, together with the carrier, they may be severed from the other products through one single operation. 
   In a particular application of the continuous strip of consecutive products, a joint piece, according to this invention, if relevant products are being formed from longitudinally consecutive areas of material which are interconnected at least through a folding division line transverse to that direction, extends from the free edge of a so-called end area of a product of that strip to a so-called initial area of material of the consecutive product of the strip. 
   In a specific application of this invention, if those products consist of envelopes with three successive areas of material constituting, respectively, the closing flap, the front portion and the back portion of an envelope, the closing flap forms the said initial area and the back portion the said end area. 
   According to a preferred application of the invention, the joints stretch out beyond the products, in such a way that it is possible to print those joints in a similar way to and together with the products which are interconnected through the latter. 
   The invention also pertains to a process for manufacturing a continuous strip of products produced through folding, consecutive series of areas of material being constituted, which are separated by folding lines transverse to the longitudinal direction of that strip, and two adjacent series of such areas of material being interconnected by division lines through a joint piece, a product out of every series of areas of material being constituted by joining the said areas through folding them round the said folding lines. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Other particulars and advantages from the invention will be shown in the following description of some specific applications of the strip according to the invention and a process to manufacture them this description is only provided by way of an example and does not restrict the scope of the protection claimed; the numbers referred to hereafter pertain to the corresponding drawings. 
       FIG. 1  is a plan view of consecutive series of areas of material. 
       FIG. 2  provides a schematic drawing of how envelopes are formed, according to the invention, from series of areas of material from  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 3  represents a schematic plan view of a strip with three envelopes according to the invention. 
       FIG. 4  represents the bottom view of the strip of  FIG. 3 . 
       FIG. 5  represents three envelopes, according to the invention and a joint piece carrier. 
       FIG. 5A-5C  show a second embodiment of the invention shown in  FIG. 1 . 
       FIGS. 5D-5F  show a third embodiment of the invention of the invention shown in  FIG. 1 . 
       FIGS. 5G and 5H  show a second embodiment of the joint pieces of  FIG. 1 . 
       FIGS. 5I and 5J  show the products as boxes. 
       FIG. 5K  shows a third embodiment of the joint pieces of  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 5L  shows a cross-section through the embodiment of  FIG. 5L  further showing a joint piece carrier. 
       FIG. 6  provides a schematic perspective drawing of a joint piece carrier, according to the invention, with three envelopes. 
       FIG. 7  represents a cross section according to the line VII-VII of  FIG. 6 . 
       FIG. 8  schematically represents severed joint pieces. 
       FIG. 9  provides a schematic plan view of consecutive series of areas of material provided with bands for pin-type feeding. 
       FIG. 10  represents a plan view of two parallel series of areas of material. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S) OF THE INVENTION 
   In the various drawings, the same numbers refer to the same or to analogous elements. 
   In order to constitute a strip of consecutive products, in a first application of the invention, a basic form  12  from which envelopes are made, is being cut out of a continuous strip of material  1 , preferably a strip of paper, cardboard or plastic, as represented in  FIG. 1 , along the lines  10  in the longitudinal direction of this strip  1 . The hatched zones  11  thus are removed from the sides of the strip  1 . 
   Further, the folding lines  13 ,  14  and  15  as well as the division lines  18 ,  20  are applied to this basic form  12 . The folding lines  13  and  14  extend transverse to the length of the strip and right across the width of basic form  12 , whereas the folding lines  15  extend along the longitudinal direction of this basic form  12 . Folding lines  13 ,  14  and  15  delineate the front side  16  of an envelope. Folding lines  15  separate sideflaps  17  from this front side  16 . Back  19  of an envelope is delineated, on the one hand, by a folding division line  18  and a folding line  14 , and, on the other hand, by lines  10  or, accordingly, the longitudinal edge of the basic form  12 . Next to front side  16  of an envelope, a closing flap  21  has been provided. This closing flap is delineated by a folding line  13  and a division line  20 . Thus, joint piece  22  are constituted, connecting two consecutive envelopes which are delineated by a folding division line  20  and the subsequent folding division line  18 . 
   Consequently, the basic form  12  contains consecutive series of areas of material, each series of those areas being separated by division lines  18 ,  20 . 
   In each series, the areas are constituted by, successively, a back  19 , a front side  16  and a closing flap  21 , separated by folding lines  13 ,  14 ,  15  which permit the folding of an envelope. Two consecutive series are interconnected by the aforementioned joint piece  22 . Thus, a series of three envelopes A, B and C are represented in basic form  12  of  FIG. 1 . 
   The folding lines  13 ,  14 ,  15  are provided to make the folding easier and more accurate in constituting the envelopes. When the envelopes are machine-made, these folding lines may possibly be left out and the folding of the envelopes requires then but one stage. The forming of the envelopes may therefore take place on the basis of a continuous strip of material, both the aforementioned basic form  12  being cut out and the envelopes being folded and glued all at one stage. The basic form represented in  FIG. 1  may therefore show an almost unlimited length. 
     FIG. 2  shows the forming of the envelopes on the basis of a basic form  12  consisting of the series of three envelopes A, B and C. Accordingly, a first envelope is made by folding both side flaps  17  against the corresponding front band  16 , around folding line  15 . Next, an adhesive  17 ′ is applied to the side of those side flaps  17  turned away from the front side  16 . The corresponding back  19  is then folded against the side flaps  17 , around folding line  14 , in order for back  19  to be attached to side flaps  17 . 
   The outside of the in-turned side flaps  17  and the inside of the in-turned back  19  may also be joined in another way, according to the material used. When folding the back  19  along the lines of the method described above, joint piece  22 , following back  19 , is folded simply around folding and division line  18 , in such a way that this joint piece  22  is now at the side of back  19  which is turned away from front side  16  of the envelope. The other series are folded analogously into envelopes. 
   The closing flap  21  of an envelope formed from the first series of areas of material of a basic form  12  may be closed or not. 
     FIG. 3  shows the three front portions  16  and backs  19  of consecutive envelopes A, B and C formed in the above-mentioned manner. In the course of that process, the closing flaps  21  are provided with an adhesive agent  21 ′ allowing to attach the closing flaps  21 , after they have been folded around folding line  13 , to the corresponding backs  19 , in order to close the envelopes. 
   It is self-evident that basic form  12  for the envelopes may be executed in various types, both for continuous series and for a certain amount of envelopes. 
   The use of joint pieces  22  is also multifunctional. They may take any form without this affecting the quality of the envelopes. In a special application, for instance, joint pieces  22  in basic form  12  are made sufficiently broad, so that, in a strip of folded envelopes, in addition to the entire closing flaps  21 , also part of joint pieces  22  exceeds beyond the front portions  16  of the respective envelopes. Thus, these joint pieces  22  may be printed simultaneously with the envelopes. This application is very useful when a counterfoil has to be preserved as a check of the printed envelopes or for filing purposes. In that way, these joint pieces  22  may constitute such a counterfoil which not only extends from under the envelopes, but which may for instance also be filed, after having been printed simultaneously with the envelopes. 
   In a very advantageous application of the strip  1 , according to the invention, uninterrupted series of envelopes are constituted, the joint pieces  22  being attached to a common carrier on the folding of the envelopes. This carrier may, for instance, be a paper strip which, on folding the envelopes is progressively glued to the joints. This application has the advantage that the joint pieces  22  remain fixed to the carrier, when the envelopes are removed. This mainly holds plus-points in filing the joint pieces  22 , when the latter constitute the abovementioned counterfoils. Moreover, the envelopes then may be separated from joint pieces  22  through one single operation, by retaining a number of consecutive envelopes, on the one hand, and the said carrier, on the other hand. 
   This application is illustrated in  FIGS. 5-8  through a strip of three consecutive envelopes A, B and C. Joint piece carrier  22 ′, preceding envelope A, is lengthened to such an extent that, when closing flap  21  of envelope A is folded back, joint piece carrier  22 ′ covers the whole back of the three envelopes A, B and C. This joint piece carrier  22 ′ constitutes the said carrier discussed above and, thus, is attached to the other joint pieces  22  which link up at the back  19  of envelopes A, B and C. In  FIG. 5 , this joint piece carrier  22 ′ is represented in a non-folded back position, together with the folded envelopes A, B and C. In  FIG. 6 , this application is drawn schematically in perspective, joint piece carrier  22 ′, corresponding to envelope A, being folded back to meet the other joint pieces  22  of envelopes A, B and C. Further, joint piece  22 , following envelope C, is about as broad as back  19  of this envelope C, in order for it to overlie this back after folding.  FIG. 7  represents a cross-section of  FIG. 6 . 
   If joint pieces  22  are glued to joint piece carrier  22 ′, as set out above, a unit, called envelope sheet, is formed. Subject to the dimensions and shape of the said basic form  12 , this envelope sheet may assume all possible sizes. Thus, when indeed the appropriate dimensions are being applied, the envelope sheet may be given a DIN A4 format, which may be printed by every standard printer. Those envelope sheets may be put per batch in the printer they will automatically be picked up one by one and printed. This makes it possible to handle whole series of envelopes in an ordinary standard printer without any further investment being required. For a printer with a very sensible lifting mechanism, a strip of paper  101  as shown in the enlarged circle A of  FIG. 7  is applied to the closing flap of the first envelope by non-permanent glue. Preferably, strip  101  should exceed the sheet by about 1 to 1.5 cm. It would be more appropriate to glue strip  101  to the beginning of joint piece carrier  22 ′. 
   When, on basic form  12 , division lines  20  and folding and division lines  18  hold but at a few places, i.e., when, for instance, they have been well perforated two or three times for a distance of 1 cm, or are thus provided with a division strip, while the rest of those lines have been cut loose, this permits a great advantage in that the envelopes may be removed from the whole at one pull. Each one of the loose envelopes is fully finished. 
   The severing of the envelopes should be done as follows: the envelopes, the bases of which are held together, are taken firmly into one hand, while with the other hand the joint piece carrier  22 ′ is gripped; then a short but fierce tug should be given. The envelopes then will be held in one hand, whereas all joint pieces  22  will be left on joint piece carrier  22 ′.  FIG. 8  represents the removed joint pieces  22 , the joint piece carrier  22 ′ being shown cross hatched. Joint piece carrier  22 ′ here constitutes a single page provided with the remaining joint pieces  22 . Those joint pieces  22  may be filed, since, during printing, an identical reference as on the corresponding envelope may be applied to joint piece  22 . Anyway, on single page joint piece carrier  22 ′, the joints are glued in the right order of printing of the envelopes. 
   The envelope sheet, which has been described above, is made of the same kind of paper, since it is formed from a continuous strip of paper, and therefore may be relatively heavy. In order to make it lighter, joint piece carrier  22 ′ can be reduced to a strip of about 1 cm as from the end of the closing flap  21  of the first envelope. A much lighter type of paper, for instance onionskin, may be glued to that bit, in order to return joint piece carrier  22 ′ to its size as described above and to handle it further in the above-mentioned way. 
   As indicated above,  FIG. 5  shows a joint piece carrier  22 ′ preceding a first envelope A of three consecutive envelopes A, B and C. In this example, the joint piece carrier  22 ′ serves as a common carrier to be attached to the joint pieces  22  of the three envelopes as shown in  FIGS. 5-8 . 
   In the embodiment of  FIG. 5 , the three consecutive envelopes A, B and C on the joint piece carrier  22 ′ can be dimensioned to form a combination which has a Din-A4 or other format which permit printing on the envelopes A, B and C in conventional printers. 
   It is further possible to make the combination of joint piece carrier and envelopes in a Din-A4 (or other) format wherein the envelopes to be printed are either smaller or larger than the envelopes A, B and C of  FIG. 5 . 
   With regard to such larger envelopes,  FIG. 5A  shows a strip of two consecutive envelopes A′ and B′ which are larger than envelopes A and B of  FIG. 5 , engaged to joint piece carrier  22 ″.  FIGS. 5B and 5C  show that joint piece carrier  22 ″ can be consecutively folded so as to produce the Din-A4 (or other) format shown in  FIG. 5C . This will allow envelopes A′ and B′ to be printed in a conventional printer which has been programmed for the larger envelopes in the same manner as the envelopes A, B and C of  FIG. 5 . This is accomplished by making joint piece carrier  22 ″ broader than the breadth of envelopes A′ and B′. Thus, when joint piece carrier  22 ″ is glued on the joint pieces  22  of envelopes A′ and B′ in a manner similar to  FIG. 7 , it not only covers the whole back of the two envelopes A′, B′ but extends beyond the envelopes. An extended part  22 ″B of joint piece carrier  22 ″ can then be folded back and glued in a way that covers a portion of the front sides of envelopes A′ and B′ as shown consecutively folded in  FIGS. 5B and 5C  as the Din-A4 or other format is produced. 
   In a similar manner, envelopes smaller than those shown in  FIG. 5  with a joint piece carrier  22 ″ can be produced in a Din-A4 or other format for printing in conventional printers which have programmed for printing the smaller envelopes.  FIG. 5D  shows a series of five envelopes A″, B″, C″, D″ and E″ engaged to joint piece carrier  22 ″′. After the joint pieces  22  of the envelopes A″′-E″′ have been glued to joint piece carrier  22 ″′ as shown in  FIG. 5E  a portion  22 ″′B of joint piece carrier  22 ″′ can be folded over the carrier  22 ″′ to form the Din-A4 or other format shown in  FIG. 5F . 
   As shown in  FIG. 5F , five cards  23  are formed on the infolded and glued portion  22 ″′ which each can be fitted into each envelope A″-E″. Rectangular perforation lines  23 ′ through the glued together sheet, are shown on  FIG. 5F  which enable the cards  23  to be pushed out of such glued together sheets which is formed by the double layer of paper glued to each other so as to be stiff, in the same manner as a postcard. The perforations  23 ′ are preferably formed after portion  22 B″′ is glued to piece  22 ″′. 
   In still another embodiment of the invention, the joint pieces  22  may have different dimensions in the same continuous strip of material. This can be programmed in the machine manufacturing the continuous strip or in the printer itself.  FIGS. 5G and 5H  are directed to this embodiment wherein the joint pieces  22  are shown formed of one or more successive Din A4 pages which are detachably linked together. In the conventional home printer, the user can feed blank paper on a roll without having to provide the perforated and folding lines shown in  FIG. 1 . Forming the perforated and folding lines, gluing, printing and forming of the envelopes and the printed joint pieces are automatically completed by the printer which then ejects the envelopes from the printer, ready to be sent. Thus, the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 5G and 5H  permit uninterrupted printing and forming of personalized mail. Even individual envelope shapes can be crested in the same continuous strip while remaining interconnected. This embodiment accordingly makes real on line uninterrupted hybrid mail possible. 
   In this respect, the computer of a central machine can be controlled at distance by the computer of the user. As suggested above, the full automatic machine comprises a printing device for printing the letter and the address on the envelopes, a folding device, a separating device, a device for putting the printed letters (formed by the joint piece, which can be different for each envelope depending on the nature of the printed letters) into the envelopes, a device for closing the envelopes and a device for bringing a stamp on each envelope. 
   This central machine can be programmed so that it can be used by different users, for instance if such machine is placed in a secured place in Australia, users from the United States can send an order to this machine for printing and sending a letter to an address in Australia or another country. 
   In  FIGS. 5I and 5J  the products are shown to be boxes having four sides D, E, F and G foldable around folding lines H, I and J and engaged to joint piece  22  at division lines  18 ,  20 . Thereafter, joint piece  22  is detachably engaged to joint carrier  22 ′ as further shown in  FIG. 5L . In still another embodiment of the invention, the joint pieces are not fixed between two successive products by parallel perforated lines. Thus, joint pieces can have any form such as the triangular form as shown in  FIGS. 5J and 5K . 
     FIG. 9  is a plan view of an adjusted basic form of envelopes for pin-type feeding. Strips  30  shown in the drawing represents material to facilitate feeding which is severed along division lines  31  before the products are assembled. Apart from that, the process to attain the finished product is identical to the method described above. 
   The folding and division lines on the non-cut side bands  30  are also applied, so that they are folded up in the course of the actual forming of the envelopes. 
   In finishing this variant, an adhesive agent may be applied, on folding, to the places where the side bands  30  overlap or they may be connected in any other way. It would be proper to apply the perforations which must be provided for pin-type feeding devices, after the forming has been completed. 
   It is important that those side bands or transport bands  30  are only attached sideways to joint pieces  22 , so that, when removing those bands  30 , no traces of perforated lines are left on the sides of the envelopes. 
     FIG. 10  shows a basic form  12  in which the envelopes are also 5 put horizontally next to each other, so that, at the constitution according to the process as described above, two envelopes are being shaped simultaneously. Per horizontal series, two in this drawing, it should be made sure that the side flaps  17  of each envelope are simultaneously folded inward and provided with adhesive agent  17 ′ or a substitute adhesive. The procedure of  FIG. 9  (pin-type feeding system) may or may not be applied to it. Possibly, more than two series of areas of material next to each other may be provided in one basic form  12 . 
   When the strip of envelopes, according to the invention, is applied to printers using the standard DIN A4 format, irrespective of whether the paper input takes place through a paper tray, through a cutsheet feeder or page by page, the strip of paper (material) must be cut up (shaped) in pieces having a previously set length. The paper (material) treated according to the invention, thus, as a finished product, provides several envelopes the number of which differs according to the desired envelope format. More in particular, a format of a DIN A4 sheet, after the folding and shaping of basic form  12 , is attained which may be applied to every printer using a DIN A4 format, if the basic form is given the proper dimensions. In view of the stepped production process, the format of the envelope and therefore the number of envelopes per individually finished envelope sheet, with already formed envelopes, may be adjusted by reducing or enlarging the joint piece  22 . 
   An envelope which is severed from the sheet and which is closed (or is removed from the formed material), in spite of the production process according to which the envelopes (products) remain interconnected until the end use, is characterized by outlines which are intact and show no division marks whatsoever. Briefly, the end product is a fully-completed envelope. 
   As has been shown above, the strip, according to the invention, differs in many ways from the technical state of affairs of the patents U.S. Pat. No. 4,066,206 (PETERSON), FR-A-I 488 888 (GYSIN) and GB-A-567 924 (DAVIES). 
   The first two of those patents do indeed pertain to a continuous strip of envelopes, but the envelopes are put together as loose finished units, in view of constituting that strip. The envelopes of that strip, therefore, are not being formed from a continuous strip of paper. 
   In a first application of patent GB-A-567924 a strip of envelopes is being constituted out of a continuous strip of paper. 
   It should be pointed out that the said first application of this patent will still show division lines or cutting marks on the edges of the front side of the formed envelopes. Those lines result from removing the transport bands on severing the envelopes from the series. Even if those bands are at the sides of the back of the envelopes or at the sides of the closing flaps, the same problem will still arise. 
   Another drawback is the fact that those envelopes can only be severed one by one. No trace is left of the severed envelope, which may be used as a voucher to be filed. The continuous strip can only be applied to machines which are equipped with pin-type feeding. 
   The requirement to apply the labels later on, one by one, to the envelopes still is a time-consuming and little effective process. In addition, automatic envelope machines still not only have trouble in coping with labeled envelopes, but also with window envelopes, which did provide a solution through skipping the stage of the separate addressing of the envelopes. Using labels or window envelopes then generally results in putting the items to be sent or to be distributed in the envelope by hand. The invention provides a solution to the above-mentioned problem. The end user can also print series of envelopes through his own printer, without this entailing any extra hardware expenses. He also still has a filing voucher per envelope, which holds an identification system. In some applications, still more extra information may be printed on this filing voucher. The invention also eliminates the sideways division lines at the front or the back of the envelopes, which were still apparent at envelopes that also were formed from a continuous strip of paper, while still being interconnected. 
   The technical problem the invention solves, is that the separate envelope may be formed from a continuous strip of paper and remains interconnected, while, in spite of that characteristic, it is being made fully ready for use and finished without there being any division lines or cutting marks on the edges of any part of the envelope. This is possible through leaving the chosen basic forms of the envelopes interconnected by means of a joint piece which, even after the forming of the finished product, is preserved as a joint piece.