IMPROVEMENTS IN ENVELOPES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills, of 35, South-.
ampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ENVELOPES."-A communication
from abroad by Louis Laurent Felix Courtois, of Paris, in the.
Empire of France.
Sealed the 18th September 1869, and dated the 31st March 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin Joseph
Barnard Mills at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 31st March 1869.
I, BENJAMIN JOSEPH BARNARD MILLS, of 35, Southampton Buildings,.
in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ENVELOPES," a com-
munication to me from abroad by Louis Laurent Felix Courtois, of Paris,
in the Empire of France, to be as follows:-
The Invention has for its object improvements in envelopes, and
relates to the application of means to facilitate the opening of the
envelope and the withdrawal of the contents therefrom. For this

page_text: purpose a band or border is formed on or fixed to one edge of the envelope,
and at the opposite edge the envelope is perforated or pierced through
the front and back in a line at a suitable distance from the edge thereof,
so that when a letter is inserted into the envelope one edge of the letter
may rest on one edge of the band or border, whilst the other edge shall
pass beyond and between the line of perforations through the front and
the back of the envelope. Thus in opening the envelope the band or
border beyond the contents of the envelope is seized between the thumb.
and finger of the one hand, and that part of the envelope beyond the
line of perforations with one edge of the letter between the front and
back thereof is seized by the other hand, when by tearing the envelope
at the line of perforations the letter or other contents will be at the
same time withdrawn from the envelope and held between the thumb,
and finger.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 29th September 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BENJAMIN
JOSEPH BARNARD MILLS, of 35, Southampton Buildings, in the County
of Middlesex, Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-second
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills, Her special
licence that I, the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Benjamin
Joseph Barnard Mills, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ENVELOPES," a communication to me
from abroad by Louis Laurent Felix Courtois, of Paris, in the Empire of
France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Benjamin

page_text: Joseph Barnard Mills, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the follownig statement thereof, that is to say:-
The Invention has for its object improvements in envelopes, and
relates to the application of means to facilitate the opening of the
envelope and the withdrawal of the contents therefrom. For this
purpose a band or border is formed on or fixed to one edge of the
envelope, and at the opposite edge the envelope is perforated or pierced
through both the front and back in a line at a suitable distance from
the edge thereof.
At Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying Drawings are shewn views
of the backs of two envelopes having the Invention applied thereto.
a, a, is the band or border, which may be formed in any suitable
manner, but the mode preferred is to apply gum to the inside of the
envelope, either along its entire length, or at intervals, or at the two
ends only, so that when the envelope is folded and completed the back
and front thereof are connected together along the part a; or if desired
the envelope may be made in the ordinary manner, and a separate band
or border a may be gummed thereto. Along the line 6 in Figure 1 the
envelope in shewn to be pierced, and in Figure 2 the envelope is at the
line b shewn to be perforated through both the back and front thereof,
but if desired it may be weakened at such part in any other suitable
manner. This line of piercings or perforations may be formed as shewn
in the Drawings, or it may take any other desired and suitable form or
direction, but must be made at such a distance from the edge of the
envelope as to permit of the envelope at the part c being firmly grasped
between the thumb and fingers when it is desired to open it and with-
draw the contents therefrom. The letter or other contents of the
envelope will not pass beyond the line or edge a¹ of the band or border a,
but will pass beyond and between the line b of piercings or perforations

page_text: in the front and back thereof. When it is desired to remove the
contents from envelopes of the character above described the band or
border a is firmly grasped in one hand, whilst with the other hand the
part c is firmly grasped and with it the letter or other contents of the
envelope, then by pulling the part c with sufficient force in the direction
of the arrow away from the part a the envelope will be torn apart at the
line b and the letter or other contents will at the same time be found
in the hand. By these means facility is afforded for simultaneously
opening the envelope and removing the contents therefrom. The band
or border a and the line of perforations or piercings b, although pre-
ferred in the positions shewn in the Drawings, may be applied to
other parts and to different forms of envelopes, as will be readily
understood.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and the
mode in which it is preferred to carry the same into effect, I would have
it understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein
shewn and described; but what I do claim is, the novel combination and
employment in envelopes of a band or border a and a line of per-
forations or piercings 6 to facilitate the simultaneous opening of the
envelope, and the removal of the contents therefrom, substantially as
herein shewn and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of
September, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-nine.