IMPROVEMENTS IN FOLDING AND SECURING LETTERS, ENVELOPES, AND COVERS
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
CHINNOCK, of Seymour Place, Little Chelsea, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twenty-fourth day of September, One thousand eight hundred and
forty-six, in the tenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto the said Charles Chinnock, Her especial licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Charles Chinnock, my
administrators and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Chinnock,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and
no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and all Her
said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations, and in the Islands of Jersey;
Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, my Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN FOLDING AND SECURING LETTERS, ENVELOPES, AND COVERS;" in which said
Letters Patent there is contained a proviso that I, the said Charles Chinnock,
shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in

page_text: and by what being away and a go
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Charles Chinnock, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is fully described and
ascertained in the following statement, and the and the descriptions of the
Drawings hereunto annexed, and the letters and figures marked-thereon (that
is to say):
The ordinary way of securing envelopes is by guming or otherwise
securing the edges of the paper so as to form a pocket, into which the letter
is slipped, and wax or wafers are applied to fasten them, and they vary in
sise and form as taste or necessity may dictate; but these securities have been
found to be slender protection against dishonesty or impertinent curiosity.
My Invention does not relate to any particular sise or form, but to accomplish-
ing further security by the methods herein described for the contents of such
like envelopes however formed, and also of letters dispatches and covers
generally, by applying the ordinary postage stamp or some other adhesive
label for that purpose, so that the gum or adhesive material on the back of the
stamp or label, when applied, fastens to and lays hold of the letter as well as
the external wrapper or envelope, keeping the contents secure, notwithstanding
any negligence in the guming of the edges or failure of or tampering with that
part of the fastening, or with the wax or wafer, which I accomplish as
follows: First, as shewn in Figures 1, 2, and 3, by cutting or punching a
hole somewhat less than the sise of the postage stamp or other adhesive label
to be used through that corner of the front or superscription side of the
envelope where the postage stamp is properly placed, the stamp when applied
laying hold at the same time of the edges of the hole so cut or punched in
the envelope and the turned-in piece, by which the end of the envelope is
fastened, and also the note or paper within, which will be found to give greater
security, as it is very difficult to extract the letter without distroying the
envelope, or leaving such marks thereon or on the enclosure às must
insure detection. I also use a second method, which can be adopted along
with the one above described, or used alone where envelopes are used
without applying the postage stamp thereon, which I perform by punching
holes of different sises through those parts of the envelope where the scal is
usually placed, with or without a small square piece of blotting paper placed
thereunder, as herein-after described. And also to a third method, in which
the postage stamp or other adhesive label is made to seal the envelope, and at
the same time give the additional security to the contents, by means of the

page_text: stamp laying hold of the enclosure, as in my first method. Another advantate
of this and my first method is, that the tearing away of a part of either the
envelope and stamp or the enclosure, which is inevitable in withdrawing the
enclosure from the envelope, will, by the torn part of the one adhering to the
other, form a useful proof that the communication has been transmitted
through the post; all which will be well understood from the following descrip-
tions, reference being had to the Drawings referred to and hereunto annexed.
Figures 1, 2, and 8 shew my first method. Figure 1 is an open envelope,
shewing the sealing and superscription sides. The dotted lines A, A, show the
manner of folding the paper to the form of the envelope. The sides A, A, are
turned in, and are gummed to the sides C, C, by which the side of the pocket
is left undiminished by the necessary fastening. D is a hole at the right-hand
corner of the front or superscription side of the envelope, over which hole the
postage stamp or other adhesive label is to be affixed and pressed on so as to
lay hold of as well that part of the letter enclosed which is exposed by the
hole as also the edges of the hole in the front or superscription side of the
envelope and the turned-in-edge shewn at E in Figure 2; and, if the label or
stamp is properly put on, it will be next to impossible to withdraw the note or
letter enclosed from the envelope without tearing the letter or envelope or
both, which, as before stated, when it has been torn in the opening, connects
the envelope and enclosure, so as to prove that the letter has been transmitted
through the post office.
I will now state my second method, shown at Figures 4, 5, and 6, which
combines the advantages of my first method, if a postage or other adhesive
stamp or lable is used, and also the further security shewn in the scaling part
of the envelope. Figure 4 is an open envelope. The dotted lines F, F, show
the manner of folding the paper. D shows the hole in the corner of the front
or direction side of the envelope. G, H, I, are the three laps of the envelope,
which, turned over and fastened, form the pocket or envelope. In each of
those laps is cut or punched a hole, that in G being the smallest, than in H a
little larger, and that in I still larger than the first two, so that when they are
gumed and fastened down, G is the undermost, H the next, and I the last,
by which the wafer or wax used will lay hold of and secure each lap, and also
the enclosure placed in the envelope, and any attempt to disturb it cannot fail
to be discovered. Or I sometimes use a small square piece of blotting paper,
which is placed loosely on the note or paper enclosed under the holes, as shewn
in Figures 1 & 3 at J. This piece of paper the wax or wafer takes hold of,
and it will be found that the blotting paper must be drawn through the holes,
tearing the holes, or being itself torn, before the letter can be opened. When

page_text: an adhesive label is used a hole must also be punched in the lap K larger
than either of the others, as in Figures 4 & 5. The ends of the laps G, H, I,
are shewn as put together on a larger scale at Figure 6.
My third method is shown at Figures 7, 8, and 9. In the form of envelope
there shown the postage stamp or other adhesive label, as well as answering
the purpose of further security, as described in my first method, is also used to
fasten the envelope. Figure 7 shows an open envelope of this description.
The dotted lines show the manner of folding the paper; the caps L and M
being turned in, the part C is brought over on the part D, and, being gumed
or fastened, form the pocket or envelope, the mouth of which is at E, the
lap to which, being prepared with gum, is moistened and brought down over
the mouth, as shown at Figure 9, and secures the letter; and the postage stamp
or lable is then applied over the corner of the lap and corner E, and on the
hole G in that Figure, and secures the whole effectually, as shown at Figure 8.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, I would have it understood that what I claim under
the said in part recited Letters Patent is, the methods herein-before described
of applying a postage stamp or other like adhesive label to give additional
security to envelopes, dispatches, letters, and covers, and also the method of
securing such envelopes and covers by applying holes of different sises, with or
without the use of a small piece of paper under the same, to the sealing place,
as also herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Chinnock, have hereunto put my
hand and seal, the Twenteth day of March, One thousand eight
hundred and forty-seven.
CHARLES (L.B.) CHINNOCK.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twentieth day of March, in
the tenth year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said Charles
To the Queen in Han Chencom and