Safety Attachment or Means for Securing Letters or Enclosures within Envelopes or Covers.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 25th Mar., 1897
Complete Specification Left, 4th Dec., 1897-Accepted, 22nd Jan., 1898
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
A Safety Attachment or Means for Securing Letters or Enclosures
within Envelopes or Covers.
I, HUGO WESTMAN, of 56, Sturegatan, Stockholm, Sweden, but now residing at
Parkfields, Pershore Road, in the City of Birmingham, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to an attachment for locking or securing letters or other
enclosures within envelopes or like covers in order to prevent the said enclosures
being clandestinely abstracted or tampered with, and this is effected by removing
a corner or other part of an envelope, so as to expose or lay bare a part of the letter
enclosed; and then fitting thereover an inside-gummed shoe or cap, which is
attached in common to both the exposed part of the letter and the envelope, so that
the union or connection of the one to the other is thereby made.
Thus in carrying out my invention in connection with an attachment for the
corner of an envelope, I take an elongated rectangular piece of paper, and fold the
two opposite corners triangularly upon the body part, with the edges overlapping
each other so as to form a right-angled-triangular shaped pocket, whose inside is
served with gum or other adhesive matter. An envelope to be employed in con-
nection with this attachment has one or more of its corners removed by tearing,
cutting or otherwise to an extent less than the depth of the attachment. The letter
is now inserted within the envelope or cover, when one or more corners of it pro-
trudes through the removed or torn off corner of the said envelope, and after the
flap of the envelope has been adhesively closed in the usual manner, the inside
gummed surface of the attachment is moistened and then passed over the corner,
and made fast in common to both the enclosure and the adjacent surrounding
parts of the envelope, hence the locking of the enclosure to the envelope, whereby
the clandestine removal of the contents of an envelope is made impossible without
detection, as the cap or shoe would have to be destroyed or much mutilated before
the contents could be withdrawn even supposing that the envelope had been opened
up to the edge of the shoe, as it will be understood that the shoe is not only
attached to the enclosure but also covers up a part of the flap, so that the act of
fully opening the flap will mutilate the attachment.
Although I prefer that the attachment cap or clip should come at the corner of
an envelope, yet it is obvious that it may, if desired, be applied to an edge of a
cover the part of whose contents is laid bare by tearing a sufficient part of the edge
away. In such a case I make the clip from a piece of paper or material folded
upon itself, and of sufficient body or size to cover the gap in the edge of the
envelope.
This clip, cap or shoe as described may be made of any material, such as paper,
vellum, fabric or an intermixture or combination of such materials.
The contents of envelopes and other enclosures are thus rendered perfectly safe
during transmission through post or otherwise, and I wish it to be understood that

page_text: I do not limit myself to the precise details herein described which may be varied
in many respects without departing from the nature of my invention.
HUGO WESTMAN.
By Henry Skerrett,
Agent for Applicant.
A Safety Attachment or Means for Securing Letters or Enclosures
within Envelopes or Covers.
I, HUGO WESTMAN, of 56, Sturegatan, Stockholm, Sweden, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement: - ›
This invention relates to an attachment for locking or securing letters or other
enclosures within envelopes or like covers in order to prevent the said enclosures
being clandestinely abstracted or tampered with, and this is effected by removing
a corner or other part of an envelope, so as to expose or lay bare a part of the letter
enclosed, and then fitting thereover an inside-gummed shoe or cap, which is
attached in common to both the exposed part of the letter and the envelope, so
that the union or connection of the one to the other is thereby made.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawing represents in front elevation a letter
envelope, provided with my improved safety or lock attachment for preventing
the abstraction of the contents or the unfastening of the flap for tampering with
the enclosures.
Figure 2 is a back elevation of Figure 1.
Figure
represents the "lock" attachment and envelope separated, showing a
part of the letter enclosed within the latter, exposed by tearing off a corner of the
envelope.
Figure 4 represents an elevation and a plan of the open end of the locking cap,
separately and
Figure 5 represents the rectangular piece of gummed paper from which the lock
is made by folding it upon the diagonal dotted lines.
The same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures
of the drawing.
In carrying out my invention in connection with this attachment for the corner
of an envelope, I take an elongated rectangular piece of paper a Figure 5 and fold
the two opposite corners a¹, a¹, triangularly upon the body part, with the edges a³,
overlapping each other so as to form a right-angled triangular shaped pocket b,
(Figures 1 to 4) whose inside surface is served with gum or other adhesive matter.
An envelope c to be employed in connection with this attachment has one (or
more) of its corners c¹, removed by tearing, cutting or otherwise to an extent less
than the depth of the attachment. The letter is now inserted within the envelope
or cover, when one (or more) corners d of it protrudes through the removed or torn
off corner of the said envelope, and after the flap of the envelope has been adhesively
closed in the usual manner, the inside gummed surface of the attachment is
moistened and then passed over the corner, and made fast in common to both the
enclosure and the adjacent surrounding parts of the envelope, hence the locking of
the enclosure to the envelope, whereby the clandestine removal of the contents of
an envelope is made impossible without detection, as the cap or shoe would have

page_text: to be destroyed or much mutilated before the contents could be withdrawn even
supposing that the envelope had to be opened up to the edge of the shoe, as it will
be understood that the shoe is not only attached to the enclosure but also covers up
a part of the flap, so that the act of fully opening the flap will mutilate the
attachment.
Although I prefer that the attachment cap or clip should come at the corner of
an envelope, yet it is obvious that it may, if desired, be applied to an edge of a
cover the part of whose contents is laid bare by tearing a sufficient part of the edge
away. In such a case I make the clip from a piece of paper or material folded upon
itself, and of sufficient body or size to cover the gap in the edge of the envelope.
The clip, cap or shoe as described may be made of any material, such as paper,
vellum, fabric or an intermixture or combination of such materials.
The contents of envelopes and other enclosures are thus rendered perfectly safe
during transmission through post or otherwise, and I wish it to be understood that
I do not limit myself to the precise details herein described which may be varied
in many respects without departing from the nature of my invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is: —
:
First Preventing the clandestine opening of an envelope or the like, and the
removal of, or tampering with, the contents, by removing a corner or part of the
said envelope so as to expose a part of the enclosure and then fitting thereover, an
inside gummed shoe, cap or pocket, which is attached in common to both the
exposed part of the enclosure and to the envelope, substantially as described and set
forth.
Secondly: The "letter-lock" substantially as described and set forth.
ated this 3rd day of December 1897.
HUGO WESTMAN.
By Henry Skerrett,
24, Temple Row, Birmingham, Agent for Applicant.