Safety Envelopes.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 26th June, 1894-Accepted, 28th July, 1894
Safety Envelopes.
I, ISAAC SEAMAN MCGIEHAN of No. 26 Cortlandt Street, New York City,
in the County of New York, and State of New York, United States of America,
Lawyer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
This invention relates to safety envelopes, its object being to create an envelope
which cannot be opened by raising the flap after it has been sealed, without
mutilating or destroying that portion of the envelope to which it has been sealed,
as will be hereinafter explained.
The manner in which I accomplish this result is fully illustrated in the accom-
panying drawing which forms a part of this Specification, and in which similar
letters of reference indicate corresponding parts, as follows:
Figure 1 represents a back view of an open envelope showing the reversed
V shaped slots or perforations cut in the flap of the envelope at the location where
the mucilage is applied.
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Figure 2 represents various kinds and shapes of perforations which may be used.
Figure 3 illustrates a double perforation, one as a " in the flap of the envelope,
and another as "c" in that portion of the envelope to which the flap is sealed,
which is intended to give greater security against opening and which I sometimes
employ especially in registered mail envelopes.
The principal feature of my invention is to perforate or cut those parts of the
envelope which are to be secured together in such a manner that the perforations
shall cause the envelope to tear at the sealed portion, if an attempt is made to unseal
it, thus making it impossible for the flap to be raised after it has once been sealed
without destroying the envelope. It will thus be seen that any form of perforation
may be used, but the one which gives the best results in my opinion is the form
which presents a point "nn" Figures 1 and 2, directly opposed in either direction
to the instrument which may be used to separate the parts.
It may also be preferable that the perforations or slots in the pocket portion of
the envelope should extend below the edge of the closing flap, so that the least
tampering with the envelope after it has been sealed will be exposed by the torn
perforations below the flap.
In ordinary cases, however, I find it sufficient to perforate the flap alone, as shown
in Figure 1, and especially is this the case when the perforations are made before
the mucilage is applied, the latter passes in and locates more thickly between the
edges of the perforations, thus producing greater adhesiveness at the edges of the
perforations, making the destruction of the parts more certain when being separated.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1st. An envelope having its mucilaged flap perforated substantially as and for
the purpose specified.
2nd. An envelope having its under flap or pocket portion provided with
perforations extending below the closing flap as described, in combination with a
mucilaged flap piece, substantially as described.
3rd. A safety envelope provided with a perforated or slotted under flap or pocket
portion in combination with a suitable mucilaged closing flap piece, provided with
suitable perforations, substantially as described and specified.

page_text: 4th. An envelope having its flap perforated in the form of a diamond so as to
present a sealed point directly opposed to the instrument used to separate the flap
from the body portion.
FELL & WILDING,
Agents for the Applicant.