Abstract:
Disclosed is to an easy-open envelope having a tear-line located within a length of the envelope&#39;s seam fastened to frangible portions of the envelope created by strategically placed perforations creating an envelope mailer with an integral opener that eliminates the need for using a knife or letter opener potentially damaging the envelope contents or using a finger which leaves the envelope ragged.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates generally to mailers and, more specifically, to an easily opened envelope having a tear-line located within a length of the envelope&#39;s seam fastened to frangible portions of the envelope created by strategically placed perforations. 
         [0003]    The easy-open envelope has an array of perforations encompassing at least one corner of the envelope with the tear-line fastened to the frangible envelope portion created by said perforations. Creating an envelope mailer with an integral opener eliminates the need for one to use a knife or letter opener potentially damaging the envelope contents or using a finger which leaves the envelope ragged. While it is expedient to rip it open with one&#39;s finger, many times the mailer is retained for want of the return address, the contents require some future processing, the mailer and postal mark serve as historical record and stamp collecting. All of these require the careful opening of the mailer, which involves some type of opener. Considering the special needs of children, the elderly and the physically challenged also points to a need for a mailer having an integral opener. 
         [0004]    The present invention further provides that the mailer of the present invention while having been described as having at least one frangible corner also provides for any two corners, as well as three or four, being separable from the mailer having the tear-line fixed to the frangible mailer portions whether to adjacent corners or diagonal corners. 
         [0005]    The easy-open mailer of the present invention also provides that the tear-line may extend beyond the mailer whereby a decorative article can be attached thereto. In which case, no frangible portions of the envelope may be required. The tear-line would be fastened in the envelope seam and extend to the attached article enabling the attached article to be used in similar fashion as the envelope frangible portions as a handhold for manipulating the tear-line. The attached article includes static articles, articulated articles, illuminatable articles, audio articles, deformable articles, inflatable articles and combinations thereof. 
         [0006]    Furthermore, the easy-open mailer of the present invention provides that the tear-line may be embedded within the mailer stock or bonded only to the mailer frangible portion(s) or bonded to the mailer seam with the bonding selected from either adhesively, ultrasonically or thermally bonded. 
         [0007]    2. Description of the Prior Art 
         [0008]    There are other mailers designed with tear stripes. While these mailers may be suitable for the purposes for which they were designed, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention, as hereinafter described. 
       SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
       [0009]    A primary object of the present invention is to provide an envelope mailer that overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art. 
         [0010]    An additional object of the present invention is to provide an envelope mailer incorporating a tear-line serving as an envelope opener. 
         [0011]    Another object of the present invention is to provide an envelope mailer with a frangible portion having the tear-line fixed thereto. 
         [0012]    An additional object of the present invention is to provide an envelope mailer wherein said frangible portion provides means for manipulating the tear-line. 
         [0013]    Another object of the present invention is to provide an envelope mailer wherein said frangible portions aids children, the elderly and the physically challenged in opening envelopes. 
         [0014]    Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an envelope mailer wherein said mailer body has perforation arrayed about a corner forming said frangible portion. 
         [0015]    Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide an envelope mailer wherein said separable frangible portion can be any corner or all corners or any combination thereof. 
         [0016]    Another object of the present invention is to provide an envelope mailer wherein said tear-line extends between adjacent corners. 
         [0017]    Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an envelope mailer wherein said tear-line may extend diagonally. 
         [0018]    Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide an envelope mailer wherein said tear-line extends outwardly from said mailer whereby an article can be attached thereto. 
         [0019]    Another object of the present invention is to provide an envelope mailer wherein said attached article includes static articles, articulated articles, illuminatable articles, audio articles, deformable articles, inflatable articles and combinations thereof. 
         [0020]    Additional objects of the present invention will appear as the description proceeds. 
         [0021]    The present invention overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art by providing an easy-open envelope having a tear-line located within a length of the envelope&#39;s seam fastened to separable frangible portions of the envelope created by strategically placed perforations encompassing at least one corner of the envelope so that when sufficient pressure is applied to separate the frangible portion from the envelope, the frangible portion can be used to manipulate the tear-line severing the seam. Also provided for is a tear-line extending beyond the envelope body whereby decorative articles can be attached. 
         [0022]    The foregoing and other objects and advantages will appear from the description to follow. In the description reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which forms a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments will be described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. In the accompanying drawings, like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the several views. 
         [0023]    The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is best defined by the appended claims. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES 
         [0024]    In order that the invention may be more fully understood, it will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing in which: 
           [0025]      FIG. 1  is an illustrative view of the present invention in use. 
           [0026]      FIG. 2  is a front view of the present invention. 
           [0027]      FIG. 3  is a front view of the present invention. 
           [0028]      FIG. 4  is a front view of the easy-open mailer of the present invention. 
           [0029]      FIG. 5  is a front view of the present invention in a partially open position. 
           [0030]      FIG. 6  is an enlarged view of a tab of the present invention. 
           [0031]      FIG. 7  is an illustration of a method of manufacture. 
           [0032]      FIG. 8  is a front view of the present invention. 
           [0033]      FIG. 9  is a front view of the frangible portion in another location. 
           [0034]      FIG. 10  is a front view of the frangible portion in another location. 
           [0035]      FIG. 11  is a detailed view of the present invention. 
           [0036]      FIG. 12  depicts various views of the decorative article and tear-line extension of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE REFERENCED NUMERALS 
       [0037]    Turning now descriptively to the drawings, in which similar reference characters denote similar elements throughout the several views, the Figures illustrate the hybrid induction motor of the present invention. With regard to the reference numerals used, the following numbering is used throughout the various drawing Figures.
     10  easy-open envelope     12  user     14  mailer body     15  vertical seam     16  mailer seam     17  horizontal seam     18  mailer corner     19  tear aid perforation     20  mailer perforations     22  mailer frangible portion     24  frangible seam     26  tear-line     28  tear-line anchor     30  indicia     32  perforation radial offset     34  mailer adjacent tear-line     36  mailer diagonal tear-line     38  tear-line extension     40  decorative article     42  directional aid   
 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0058]    The following discussion describes in detail one embodiment of the invention (and several variations of that embodiment). This discussion should not be construed, however, as limiting the invention to those particular embodiments, practitioners skilled in the art will recognize numerous other embodiments as well. For definition of the complete scope of the invention, the reader is directed to appended claims. 
         [0059]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , shown is an illustrative view of the present invention in use. The present invention provides a mailer  10  comprising mailer housing  14  having frangible portions  22  connected by anchor  28  to tear-line  26  whereby user  12  can grasp the envelope body  14  with one hand and with the other supply sufficient pull to remove frangible portion  22  from body  14  at frangible portion seam  24 . Mailer body  14  has corners  18  with seam  16  extending therebetween. The easy-open envelope of the present invention provides layment of a tear-line adjacent at least one seam  16  and anchored to frangible portion  22 . Frangible portion  22  is formed by providing an array of perforations  20  from one seam to another encompassing a corner  18  so that when sufficient pressure is applied the frangible portion  22  separates from the body along frangible seam  24  and is used to manipulate tear-line  26  to sever seam  16 . Also shown is indicia  30  and hand  42 , which can be used for instructional purposes, as illustrated. 
         [0060]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , shown is a front view of the present invention. Illustrated is the mailer  10  of the present invention prior to assembly. The mailer  10  is comprised of mailer housing  14  having frangible portions  22  formed by applying perforations  20  to a portion of envelope  14  encompassing a corner  18  so that when assembled, frangible portion  22  is separable from the envelope body  14 . The easy-open envelope of the present invention provides layment of tear-line  26  adjacent at least one seam  16  and anchored  28  to frangible portion  22  and seam  16  so that when sufficient pressure is applied the frangible portion  22  separates from the body along frangible seam  24  and is used to manipulate tear-line  26  to sever seam  16 . Also shown is indicia  30 , which can be used for instructional purposes, as illustrated. Optionally having the tear line  26  fastened to the envelope at one or more points serves to guide the tear line along seam  16 . 
         [0061]    Referring to  FIG. 3 , shown is a front view of the present invention. Illustrated is a mailer  10  of the present invention prior to assembly. The mailer  10  is comprised of mailer housing  14  having frangible portions  22  formed by taking an unassembled mailer  10  and using radial offset  32  applying perforations from a corner  18  having vertical seam  15  and horizontal seam  17  so that when the mailer is assembled perforation  20  to the left of vertical seam  15  are in alignment with those to the right of  15  and when the bottom is folded up they too will align with the others and further placing a perforation  19  on vertical seam  15  to aid the user by compromising the mailer housing  14  at desired point  19  and it is further provided that spacing perforation  20  closer together at seam  15  will further aid the user in separation by decreasing the initial pressure required to initiate separation of frangible portion  22  from envelope body  14 . The easy-open envelope of the present invention provides layment of a tear-line adjacent at least one seam  16  and anchored to frangible portion  22 . so that when sufficient pressure is applied the frangible portion  22  separates from the body along frangible seam  24  and is used to manipulate tear-line  26  to sever seam  16 . Also shown is indicia  30 , which can be used for instructional purposes, as illustrated. 
         [0062]    Referring to  FIG. 4 , shown is a front view of the easy-open mailer of the present invention. The present invention provides a mailer  10  comprising mailer housing  14  having frangible portions  22  connected by anchor  28  to tear-line  26  whereby a user can grasp the envelope body  14  with one hand and with the other supply sufficient pull to remove frangible portion  22  from body  14  at frangible portion seam  24 . Mailer body  14  has corners  18  with seam  16  extending therebetween. The present invention further provides that the mailer of the present invention  10  provides for any two corners  18  being separable from the mailer  14  having the tear-line  26  fixed to the frangible mailer portions  22  whether to adjacent corners  34  or diagonal corners  36 . 
         [0063]    Referring to  FIG. 5 , shown is a front view of the present invention in a partially open position. As aforementioned, when sufficient pressure is applied to frangible portion  22  it separates from the body  14  along frangible seam  24  and is used to manipulate tear-line  26  to sever seam  16 . The frangible portion  22  can have indicia  30  imprinted thereon for instructional purposes. 
         [0064]    Referring to  FIG. 6 , shown is an enlarged view of a tab of the present invention. Illustrated is an enlarged view of a corner  18  of the mailer  10  of the present invention showing mailer housing  14  having frangible portion  22  connected by anchor  28  to tear-line  26  whereby a user can grasp the envelope body  14  with one hand and with the other supply sufficient pull to remove frangible portion  22  from body  14  at frangible portion seam  24 . 
         [0065]    Referring to  FIG. 7 , shown is an illustration of a method of manufacture. The general assembly of a typical envelope and the envelope opening device could be as follows: 
         [0000]    (Step  1 ) the tear-line  26  and the perforated envelope blanks  14  are combined along the same linear path locating the tear-line  26  on a desired location and position of the envelope blank.
 
(Step  2 ) the envelope  10  is folded around the envelope opening device  26 .
 
(Step  3 ) the tear-line  26  of the envelope opening device is cut separating the individual envelops  10 .
 
         [0066]    Referring to  FIG. 8 , shown is a front view of the present invention. The present invention also provides that a single corner  18  of mailer  14  can have a frangible portion  22 . When sufficient pressure is applied to frangible portion  22  it separates from the body  14  along frangible seam  24  and is used to manipulate tear-line  26  to sever seam  16  to anchor  28  of corner  18 . 
         [0067]    Referring to  FIG. 9 , shown is a front view of the frangible portion in another location. The present invention provides a mailer  10  comprising mailer housing  14  having frangible portions  22  connected by anchor  28  to tear-line  26  whereby user  12  can grasp the envelope body  14  with one hand and with the other supply sufficient pull to remove frangible portion  22  from body  14  at frangible portion seam  24 . Mailer body  14  has corners  18  with seam  16  extending therebetween. The easy-open envelope of the present invention provides layment of a tear-line adjacent at least one seam  16  and anchored to frangible portion  22 . Frangible portion  22  is formed by providing an array of perforations  20  from one seam to another encompassing a corner  18  so that when sufficient pressure is applied the frangible portion  22  separates from the body along frangible seam  24  and is used to manipulate tear-line  26  to sever seam  16 . Also shown is indicia  30 , which can be used for instructional purposes, as illustrated. 
         [0068]    Referring to  FIG. 10 , shown is a front view of the frangible portion in another location. The present invention provides a mailer  10  comprising mailer housing  14  having frangible portions  22  connected by anchor  28  to tear-line  26  whereby a user can grasp the envelope body  14  with one hand and with the other supply sufficient pull to remove frangible portion  22  from body  14  at frangible portion seam  24 . Mailer body  14  has corners  18  with seam  16  extending therebetween. The present invention further provides that the mailer of the present invention  10  provides for any two corners  18  being separable from the mailer  14  having the tear-line  26  fixed to the frangible mailer portions  22  whether to adjacent  32  corners  18  or diagonal  30  corners. 
         [0069]    Referring to  FIG. 11 , shown is a detailed view of the present invention. Shown is an enlarged view of a corner  18  of the mailer  10  of the present invention showing mailer housing  14  having frangible portion  22  connected by anchor  28  to tear-line  26  whereby a user can grasp the envelope body  14  with one hand and with the other supply sufficient pull to remove frangible portion  22  from body  14  at frangible portion seam  24 . 
         [0070]    Referring to  FIG. 12 , depicted are various views of the decorative article  36  and tear-line extension  34  of the present invention  10 . The envelope opening device can have various configurations for the decorative article  36  and/or the tear-line extension  34 . Shown here are some different shapes for pull tab. The string can also extend beyond the envelope body to create a tassel style pull string. 
         [0071]    While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claims, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention. 
         [0072]    Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention.