Patent Publication Number: US-2003234282-A1

Title: Enclosure apparatus and method of fabrication therefor

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001] 1. Field of the Invention  
       [0002] This invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for fabricating an enclosure that may have information printed thereon or be used to enclose content material. More particularly, this invention relates to a method and apparatus for fabricating an enclosure from a single sheet of material, which is folded to enclose the content material and then sealed at selected areas to maintain the integrity of the enclosure.  
       [0003] 2. Background Art  
       [0004] Conventional envelopes contain mail content material and typically require specialized mailing products, such as a number  3  envelope, number  10  envelope, a business reply envelope (BRE) and similar especially-manufactured materials. These materials are adapted to receive content material, such as letters, bills, and other information to be sent to a recipient. When using conventional envelopes, it is necessary to insert the content material into the envelope prior to sealing the envelope.  
       [0005] This insertion process is difficult to perform without sophisticated equipment, since the desired content material must be associated with a corresponding envelope.  
       [0006] Conventional “self-mailers” typically require especially-manufactured paper or other material. One example of a self-mailer is the One Step Mailer from GBR Systems Corporation, Chester Research Park, Chester, Conn. The GBR mailers have glue beads dispensed on two sides of the self-mailer and glue dots are applied the across the top portion. One disadvantage to this self-mailer is that it requires specific material that must be fed into an inserter or printer device.  
       [0007] Another conventional mail envelope is available from Nexti AB, which utilizes different sized sheets of paper material as front and back covers, respectively, to form an envelope. One disadvantage to the Nexti envelope is that it requires an over-sized sheet to be used as a base. Thus, the over-sized sheet must be inserted in a desired location so that it will be in the correct sequence to form the enclosure.  
       [0008] Other examples of conventional mailing envelopes and methods therefor include U.S. Pat. No. 5,501,392, entitled, “Folded Single Sheet Mailer”, which relates to a folded single sheet mailer that comprises a rectangular sheet provided with transverse and longitudinal lines of perforation and transverse and longitudinal glue lines. The sheet is folded onto itself along a transverse fold line, which is offset with respect to the center of the sheet. The sheet is then folded along a plurality of secondary fold lines and sealed to produce an outgoing envelope that can be mailed. The mailer includes a return envelope for use when placing an order. One drawback to this mailer is that it requires specifically manufactured paper to produce the mailer.  
       [0009] [U.S. Pat. No. 5,638,666, entitled, “Desk-Top Envelope Maker” relates to an apparatus and method for making an envelope from ordinary size, readily available, writing paper. The apparatus is a desk-top size machine that can be combined with an office printer, such as a laser printer, or incorporated therein to form a single machine. The apparatus enables integration of office computerized printing of letters and addressing of envelopes, by using a single paper tray. Following the printing of a letter, the subsequently fed final sheet of paper from the paper tray is routed to the envelope making apparatus, perhaps after the printing of an address on the final sheet, whereby an envelope is created. Ordinary size paper is fed into the apparatus from a tray. When the paper enters the machine, two impression lines or creases are made along the length of paper, which will subsequently serve as fold lines. These impressions are made by sharp rollers preferably mounted at the infeed to the machine so that the rollers press against the paper while the paper is fed into the apparatus. This apparatus and method has the drawback that it requires cutting and gluing to form an envelope. Secondly, it results in scrap being produced, which must be disposed of.  
       [0010] U.S. Pat. No. 6,019,280, entitled, “C-Fold Return Postcard Mailer” relates to a mailer type business form intermediate, and business form produced from the intermediate, that have an included postcard which is used as a reply piece. The mailer may be a C-fold mailer, with a window (e.g. die cut-out) formed in one of the panels, which overlies the outgoing address indicia formed on a face at the postcard. Check-off indicia is provided on the postcard to optimize response, and tear-off strips along the side edges of the mailer are held together with pressure sensitive cohesive. Tacking pressure sensitive adhesive may also be provided along edges of the die cut-out panel and the postcard-securing panel, exterior of the postcard.  
       [0011] Therefore, what is needed to overcome the present disadvantages and drawbacks of the current state of the art is a mailer that can be fabricated from a standard material and does not require special materials.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0012] In order to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks of the prior art, the instant invention utilizes a standard sheet to form an enclosure.  
       [0013] Accordingly, one embodiment of the present invention relates to a method for fabricating an enclosure. The method includes printing information, such as indicia data on a selected area of the sheet material and printing recipient address data on a second area of the sheet material. The sheet material is then folded along a first opposing portion and a second opposing portion. Content material is positioned on the sheet material. Next, the sheet material is attached (for example by sealing or bonding) along the first portion and the second portion. Then, the sheet material is folded at approximately a half-way portion of the sheet material and two edges of the sheet material are attached to enclose the content material within the sheet material.  
       [0014] Another embodiment is that the enclosure can be fabricated prior to printing indicia data and recipient address data. Also, the sheet material can be folded in half prior to the content material being placed on the sheet material.  
       [0015] Another embodiment of the present invention relates to a method of fabricating an enclosure comprising the steps of: creasing an enclosure material along a first edge; creasing the enclosure material along a second parallel edge; creasing the enclosure material along a perpendicular mid-section and attaching two portions of the enclosure material together. The attaching is suitably performed by knurling, gluing, crimping, tabbing, using a pressure sensitive adhesive, embossing or using a hot-melt compound.  
       [0016] Yet another embodiment of the present invention relates to an envelope apparatus comprising: a sheet material having folded distal and proximal portions; content material positioned within the envelope apparatus; a folded edge; and a sealed edge opposite the folded edge.  
       [0017] Yet another embodiment of the present invention relates to a method for fabricating an enclosure that includes a flap portion that is folded to be in contact with an external portion of the sheet material. This method includes the steps of folding first and second end portions; folding a sheet material parallel to a long edge of the sheet material, so as to form an extension portion and folding the sheet material so that the extension portion contacts the sheet material. The extension portion is attached to the sheet material. This attaching is typically performed by sealing, gluing, crimping, knurling, embossing, using a pressure sensitive adhesive, or using a hot-melt compound.  
       [0018] Yet another embodiment of the present invention relates to an envelope apparatus that includes a sheet material having a folded distal portion and a folded proximal portion. Content material is positioned within the envelope apparatus. The apparatus has a folded edge, a flap portion, and a sealed edge formed by the flap portion contacting the sheet material opposite the folded edge. The content material and the sheet material have approximately the same dimensions. 
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0019]FIG. 1 shows a process to form an enclosure according to the present invention.  
     [0020]FIGS. 2A and 2B show views of the enclosure formation process of the present invention.  
     [0021]FIG. 3 shows a process to form an enclosure with a fold-over flap.  
     [0022]FIGS. 4A and 4B show views of the enclosure formation process to form an enclosure with a fold-over flap.  
     [0023] FIGS.  5 A- 5 C show a perspective view of an enclosure.  
     [0024] FIGS.  6 A- 6 C show a perspective view of an enclosure with a fold-over flap. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
     [0025] The present invention overcomes the problem that arises when inserting content material into enclosures such as envelopes. It is very difficult for an automated apparatus to complete the steps of envelope feeding, flap opening, content inserting, moistening, flap closing, and sealing of the envelope with acceptably low failure rates. It is also difficult to process envelopes that have been imprinted using laser printers since the envelopes may become warped and/or distorted during the printing process. Furthermore, oftentimes, the flap of an envelope will inadvertently seal prior to content insertion. It is apparent that the envelope, which is typically of a different size dimension of the content material must be involved in an inserter system to enable insertion of content mail into the envelope. Tolerances on the dimensions of conventional envelopes often have a wide degree of variability from batch to batch, necessitating frequent adjustments of set-ups of the inserting apparatus. Unfortunately, present inserter systems often cause the envelope to get snagged, stuck or jammed before the insertion process is complete.  
     [0026] The present invention is an enclosure that can be mailed or delivered to a recipient. The enclosure may have content information printed on an inside surface and recipient information, sender information and postal indicia printed on an outside surface. The enclosure may be used to enclose content material as an alternative to inserting the content material into the enclosure. As described herein, typically insertion, inserting and other forms of the term denote positioning materials inside an enclosure after the enclosure has been formed. Enfolding and other forms of the term denote positioning materials on an enclosure sheet before or while the enclosure is formed.  
     [0027] The enclosure apparatus and method will enclose content material with varying thickness inside the enclosure that is fabricated from a standard sized sheet of paper. An advantage of this is that the paper is the same size as the contents prior to folding the contents. This eliminates the need to have separate envelopes fed into an inserter or printer. A preferred size paper for use in this invention is one commonly available in offices, such multi-purpose stock paper including standard sized paper, which is, for example letter size (8.5 times. 11 inches), A4, B4, legal or folio. Although the above-listed paper sizes are standard, it should be apparent that other sizes of paper could also be used with the present invention.  
     [0028] The present method utilizes a same sized sheet that is folded in such a way as to receive content material in an insertion, enfolding and/or enclosing process. The method is typically used in conjunction with a printer attached inline to an inserter, enfolding and/or enclosing system or could include printed material that is loaded manually into feed trays of an off-line inserter system.  
     [0029] As shown in FIG. 1, system  10  includes a printer, photocopier or paper storage device  101  that has a first tray or stack of paper or other material  102  that is folded by folder device  105 , as shown by line  151 , to form content material  106 . The content material  106  is typically letter, bills, or other printed data to be sent to a recipient. Device  101  also contains paper or material  104  that has a different orientation than material  102 . Material  104  is not folded by folder device  105 , but rather passes, as shown by line  153 , to be aligned with folder  103 ( a ) ( b ). Sheet material  104  has leading edge  168  and trailing edge  164  and mid-point axis  112 .  
     [0030] In one embodiment, folded packet of content material  106  is placed on sheet material  104  prior to sheet material  104  being folded by folder  103 . Other enclosure material such as business reply envelopes, cards, postcards and the like may be added to the content material  106  at this time.  
     [0031] Alternatively, content material  106  may be placed on sheet material  104  after the opposing edge portions  160  and  162  have been folded. Still another embodiment is that content material  106  is placed on sheet material  104  after sheet material  104  has been folded along mid-point axis  112 .  
     [0032] Sheet material  104  is typically an 8½×11-inch piece of paper or other suitable standard sized material. Typically sheet material  104  will be oriented such that opposing shorter end portions  160  and  162  are feed into an edge fold device shown as  103 ( a ) and  103 ( b ) and roller devices  125 ( a ),  125 ( b ). Sheet material  104  is feed in the direction shown by arrow  108  and typically has a mid point on the length wise dimension shown as  112 .  
     [0033] Once the sheet material  104  passes through the devices  103 ,  125 , first and second opposing edge portions  160 ,  162  are folded over to form overlap areas  110 ( a ) and  110 ( b ). (Overlap area  110 ( b ) is associated with opposed portion  160  and overlap area  110 ( a ) is associated with opposed portion  162 .) An edge  170  is formed by the fold of opposing portion  160  and edge  172  is formed by the fold of opposing portion  162 . Content material  106  is typically one or more sheets of material that have been either “Z” folded or “C” folded so as to be as approximately ⅓ the length of sheet material  104  (in the unfolded state). Content material  106  may also be double folded so as to be ¼ of the size of the unfolded sheet. Sheet material  104  is then feed into folder  115  to fold sheet material  104  at approximately the mid-point  112 . The half fold causes the sheet material  104  to envelope content material  106 . Edge portion  116  is formed by edges  164  and  168  contacting each other. Surface  114  is shown after the sheet material  104  is folded in half.  
     [0034] Line  159  shows that the folded material is then passed through sealing device  121 . The sealing device  121  is used to seal portions of the folded material. For example, sealing device  121  may attach the material along edge portion  116 , shown as attachment  118 . Sealing device  121  may seal along opposed surface portions  110 ( a ) and  110 ( b ). The attaching can be via knurling, crimping, embossing, gluing, pressure sensitive adhesive, hot-melt material, stapling, tabbing, double-back adhesive tape and other attaching mechanisms to affix portions of the sheet material  104 .  
     [0035] The sealing device  123  may seal along edge portions  116 ,  160 ,  162 , or any combination thereof.  
     [0036] Once the sheet material  104  is folded in half, the portion  114  is available to print destination address information, sender address information and indicia information, these are shown as elements  150 ,  152  and  154 , respectively. Printing device  123 , which is typically a standard printer connected to a computer (computer not shown) or a networked printer that is authorized to print postal indicia may be used. The printer  123  may be for example connected to postage by phone technology available from Pitney Bowes, or other mechanism to permit postal indicia to be printed as well as destination address, sender address and slogan information. It should be apparent that the use of printer  123  is optional and that the device  101  may be used to print on the content material and/or the enclosure material prior to manipulation.  
     [0037] In an embodiment in which content material is not inserted into sheet material  104 , the material  104  is folded and produced without enclosure material  106 . Content material  106  may not be necessary to implement to the present invention. Indeed, content can be printed on sheet material  104  prior to the folding process described above.  
     [0038] [Content material  106  may be manually inserted into the sheet material after the sheet material has been folded to produce the enclosure. Thus, a user at a personal computer user can print a letter, fold the letter and manually insert the letter into the enclosure.  
     [0039] It will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that alternate sealing methods can be used. For example leading edge  168  may contain an adhesive that is moistened and then folded to contact edge  164  and thereby form an adhesive bond between the two surfaces. Alternatively an adhesive that is heated and pressed may be used to seal edge  116 . In a similar fashion, portions  110 ( a ) and  110 ( b ) may have an adhesive that is sealed when the mailer is fed through sealing device  123 . Still another alternative is to crimp the edges discussed above.  
     [0040] It is another embodiment that the sheet material  104  is folded along axis  112  prior to being folded along opposing edges  160 ,  162 .  
     [0041]FIG. 2A shows a process  20  used to form an enclosure that contains content material. As shown in FIG. 2A, line  208  shows a plurality of sheet material  202  is folded to form a packet of content material  206 . This content material  206  is typically letters, bills, or any correspondence. Additional content material such as envelopes, cards and the like may be added at this time. A plurality of sheet material  204  has approximately the same dimensions as material  202 , has opposed edges  260  and  262 . Line  214  shows that sheet material  204  is folded such that opposed edges  260  and  262  form overlap areas  210 ( b ) and  210 ( a ), respectively. Folded edges  270  and  272  result from the folding. Length edges  224  and  226  and mid-portion  212  are also shown.  
     [0042] Line  209  shows that content material  206  is positioned on sheet material  204  such that a portion underlies either one or both of fold portions  210 ( a ) and  210 ( b ). Length edges  224  and  226  and sealing  218  are also shown. Content material  206  is positioned onto sheet material  204  by any suitable conventional paper handling technology. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,364,305, entitled, “System and Method for Providing Sheets to an Inserter System”; U.S. Pat. No. 6,094,894, entitled, “Envelope Inserting Apparatus”; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,030,132, entitled, “Document Control Page Interface” discloses inserter systems. U.S. Pat. Nos.: 6,364,305; 6,094,894; and 6,030,132 are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety herein.  
     [0043] Line  219  shows that the sheet material is folded along axis line  212  so as to encapsulate content material  206 . Edges  226  and  224  come into contact. Portions  222  and  220  are formed by the fold such that portions  210   a  and  210   d  come into contact as do  210   b  and  210   c . Exterior surface  214  is also shown.  
     [0044] Line  221  shows that a surface  216  in proximity to edges  226  and  224  may be sealed, shown by knurling  218 . Also, surfaces in proximity to edges  220  and  222  may also be attached, shown in FIG. 1. Also, information can be printed on surface  214  as shown by destination address  252 , return address  254  and postal indicia  250 . This printing procedure may be performed before or after the folding operations described above.  
     [0045]FIG. 2B shows an alternate embodiment in which the content material is placed on the enclosure material prior to the manipulations described herein. In this embodiment, line  209  shows that the content material is positioned on an unfolded sheet material  204 . The opposing edges of sheet  204  are folded and then the sheet material is folded along axis  212  to enfold the content material  206 .  
     [0046]FIGS. 3, 4A and  4 B show another embodiment of the present invention in which the enclosure material is folded so as to produce a fold-over flap that may then be attached to a portion of the enclosure material.  
     [0047] As shown in FIG. 3, system  30  includes a printer or paper storage device  301  that has a first tray of material  302  that is folded by folder device  305  to form content material  306 . Device  301  also contains paper or material  304  that has a different orientation than material  302 . Material  304  is not folded by folder device  305 , but rather passes to folder  303 ( a ) ( b ).  
     [0048] In one embodiment, folded packet of content material  306  is placed on sheet material  304  prior to sheet material  304  being folded by folder device  303 . Alternatively, folded content material  306  may be placed on sheet material  304  after sheet material  304  has been folded by folding device  303 . Still another embodiment is to position content material  306  on enclosure material  304  after the enclosure material has been folded by folding device  315 . The content material  306  may be positioned and/or inserted according to inserting techniques, as discussed above in relation to FIG. 1.  
     [0049] Sheet material  304  is typically 8½ inch×11-inch paper or other suitable standard sized material. Typically sheet material  304  will be oriented such that opposing shorter ends  360  and  362  are feed into an edge fold device shown as  303 ( a ) and  303 ( b ) and a creasing devices  325 ( a ),  325 ( b ). Sheet material  304  typically has an axis on the lengthwise dimension shown as  311 . This axis  311  is slightly less than half the dimension of short edge  362  to permit an offset that will form the over-fold flap.  
     [0050] Once the sheet material  304  passes through the devices  303 , and  325 , first and second opposing edge portions  360 ,  362  are folded over to form overlap areas  310 ( a ) and  310 ( b ). (Overlap area  310 ( b ) is associated with opposed portion  360  and overlap area  310 ( a ) is associated with opposed portion  362 .) An edge  370  is formed by fold of opposing portion  360  and edge  372  is formed by fold of opposing portion  362 . Area  313  is the portion of the sheet material  304  that will form the over-fold flap.  
     [0051] Content material  306  is typically one or more sheets of material that have been either “Z” folded or “C” folded so as to be as approximately ⅓ the length of sheet material  304  or double folded to be approximately ¼ of the length of the unfolded material.  
     [0052] Sheet material  304  is then fed into folder  315  to fold sheet material  304  approximately along axis  311 . These folds cause the sheet material  304  to envelope content material  306 . Edge portion  364  is positioned beneath the flap formed by edge  368  folded at axis  316 . Offset  313  serves as a flap.  
     [0053] The folded material is then passed through sealing device  321 . The sealing device  321  is used to seal portions of the folded material. For example, sealing device  321  can attach the material along edge portion  316 , can seal along opposed surface portions  310 ( a ) and  310 ( b ) to form attachment areas  319  and  327 . The attaching can be via knurling, crimping, embossing, gluing, pressure sensitive adhesive, hot melt, stapling, double back adhesive tape or other attachment mechanisms.  
     [0054] Either before or after the sheet material  304  is folded, a portion  314  is available to print destination address information, sender address information and indicia information; these are shown as elements  350 ,  352  and  354 , respectively. For after fold imprinting, printing device  323 , which is typically a standard printer or a networked printer that is authorized to print postal indicia may be used. For pre-fold imprinting, both section  314  and the opposite surface of the enclosure can be printed on such that the printed information is positioned on both sides of the enclosure when the enclosure material is folded.  
     [0055] Alternatively, the reverse side of the enclosure may be printed on, after folding, so the flap portion does not interfere with the printed data.  
     [0056]FIG. 4A shows a view of the enclosure formation process  40  to form an enclosure with a fold-over flap. FIG. 4A is similar to FIG. 2A discussed above except that FIG. 4A shows the fold-over flap.  
     [0057] As shown in FIG. 4A, line  408  shows the sheet material  402  is folded to form a packet of content material  406 . This content material  406  is typically letters, bills, or any correspondence.  
     [0058] Sheet material  404  has opposed edges  460  and  462 , and proximal edge  424  and distal edge  426 . Line  412  shows that sheet material  404  is folded such that opposed edges  460  and  462  form overlap areas  410 ( b ) and  410 ( a ), respectively. Folded edges  470  and  472  result from the folding.  
     [0059] Sheet material  404  is folded such that distal edge  426  forms overlap portion  413 .  
     [0060] Line  417  shows that content material  406  is positioned on sheet material  404  such that a portion underlies either one or both of fold portions  410 ( a ) and  410 ( b ). Proximal edge  424 , folded distal edge  426 , axis  411  and overlap portion  413  are also shown.  
     [0061] Line  419  shows that the sheet material is folded along line  411  so as to encapsulate content material  406 . Portions  410   a  and  410   d  are folded to form areas  422  and  420 . Exterior portion  414  and fold-over flap  413  are also shown. Fold-over flap  413  wraps around proximal edge  424 .  
     [0062] In an alternate embodiment, sheet material  404  is folded along axis  411  prior to folding flap portion  413 . Also, the content material  406  may be omitted and information can be printed on sheet  404 , either on a surface that will be an interior surface, or a surface that will be an exterior surface.  
     [0063] Line  421  shows that a surface  416  in proximity to flap  413  may be sealed, shown by knurling  418 . Surfaces in proximity to edges  420  and  422  may be attached, by knurling, crimping, embossing, double-sided tape, tabbing (i.e., using a circular tab with an adhesive on one side) or other attachment mechanism. Alternatively, portions  416 ,  429  and/or  422  may be attached.  
     [0064] Information can be printed on surface  414  as shown by destination address  452 , return address  454  and postal indicia  450 . This printing may occur before or after folding and attachment described herein.  
     [0065]FIG. 4B shows an alternate embodiment in which the content material is placed on the enclosure material prior to the manipulations described herein. In this embodiment, line  407  shows that the content material is positioned on an unfolded sheet material  404 . The opposing edges of sheet  404  are folded and then the sheet material is folded along axis  411  to enfold the content material  406 .  
     [0066] FIGS.  5 A- 5 C show views of an enclosure as described herein.  
     [0067]FIG. 5A shows a perspective view of the self-mailer with content material  506  positioned within. This positioning may be performed manually or by an inserter and/or enfolding process. Surface  514 , which may contain printed or handwritten information is shown as well as edges  564 ,  568  and  511 .  
     [0068]FIG. 5B shows that edges  568  and  564 , as shown in FIG. 5A, are sealed shown by seam  518 . The seam  518  can be formed by knurling, crimping, gluing, pressure sensitive adhesive, hot melt, embossing, double back tape or the like. Content material  506  is also shown.  
     [0069]FIG. 5C shows seams  519 ,  527  along the opposed side portions. Seam  518  and content  506  are also shown.  
     [0070] FIGS.  6 A- 6 C show views of an enclosure with a flap as described herein.  
     [0071]FIG. 6A shows a perspective view of the self-mailer with content material  606  positioned within. This positioning may be performed manually or by an inserter and/or enfolding process. Area  613  is the fold-over flap as described herein. Edges  664  and  668  and edge  611  are also shown.  
     [0072]FIG. 6B shows seams  619  and  627  serve to seal the sides of the enclosure. The sealing can be formed by knurling, crimping, gluing, pressure sensitive adhesive, hot melt, embossing or the like. Fold-over flap  613  and content  606  are also shown.  
     [0073]FIG. 6C shows side seams  619 ,  627 , and seam  618  on flap portion  613 .  
     [0074] It should be apparent that the invention as described herein can utilize content material that comprises different sized material. For example, a letter sized piece of paper and a postcard may be folded and inserted or enfolded into the enclosure material.  
     [0075] It should be apparent that the invention as described herein may use various apparatus to produce the enclosure and the content material. For example, a means for folding an enclosure material along a first edge and a second edge may be rollers, creasing devices, folding devices or the like, positioned so that the enclosure material is creased or folded at desired points. Similarly, the means for folding the enclosure material along a mid-section may be, for example, a roller, a device that presses impressions, and other devices capable of producing folds or creases at the desired points.  
     [0076] The means for attaching two portions of the enclosure material together that are formed by creasing the enclosure material along the mid-section may be for example, an adhesive tab that is peeled from a backing, an adhesive material, such as tape or glue, an adhesive tape with release paper, double-sided adhesive tape, staples, knurling, embossing, crimping, hot melt and pressure sensitive adhesive.  
     [0077] It is to be understood that the present invention is not to be considered as limited to the specific embodiments described above and shown in the accompanying drawings, which merely illustrate the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the invention, and which is susceptible to such changes as may be obvious to one skilled in the art, but rather that the invention is intended to cover all such variations, modifications and equivalents thereof as may be deemed to be within the scope of the claims appended hereto.