Improvements in Envelopes for Letters and other Articles.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Aug., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 7th May, 1895-Accepted, 22nd June, 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Envelopes for Letters and other Articles.
I ETIENNE LACÔTE of 53 Rue Boulard, Paris in the Republic of France,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention consists in providing an envelope for letters and other articles
which cannot be opened surreptitiously, without indicating that it has been
tampered with.
In carrying out the invention, a tube is first formed of any desired materials,
which is then flattened. The ends which are opened are then to be prepared as
follows: The end that is to be permanently closed has its adjacent faces first
gummed or otherwise secured, and is then submitted to the action of a perforating
machine, whereby one or more lines of small perforations or semi-perforations, or
embossings, are produced across the end.
Should the end be opened surreptitiously, it will be impossible to get these
perforations to coincide again, and detection will therefore be certain.
In a similar manner, the ordinary open end is treated, the perforating or
embossing preferably taking place before the gumming, so that when the gummed
part is moistened, and the two parts pressed together with the thumb nail, the
projections on one part will enter recesses in the other part, and the opening
surreptitiously will be rendered impossible.
It will thus be seen that, by the tubular form, it will be necessary only to clos
the two ends, thus reducing the parts that could be tampered with to a minimum.
Dated this 7th day of August 1894.
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.
improvements in Envelopes for Letters and other Articles.
I ETIENNE LACOTE of 53 Rue Boulard, Paris in the Republic of France,
Engineer, 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 :-
Up to the present time the various systems of envelopes used for correspondence,
or for documents which, in certain cases, are required to be kept secret, have been
easy to open surreptitiously, and none of these systems have yet afforded a perfect
inviolability.
Everybody knows the various surreptitious methods of opening that certain
unscrupulous persons employ, or can employ, for example, by means of steam, or
with a cylindrical object, such as a pencil or penholder, or even metal plates
slightly heated.
In a word, at the present time secrecy of correspondence does not exist.
In order to remedy this inconvenience, I have designed a novel species of
envelope, which forms the object of the present invention, and which is of a nature
to ensure absolutely the inviolability of envelopes of every kind destined for
carrying correspondence, special papers, valuables, &c.

page_text: In accompanying drawings show, by way of example, a letter envelope.
Fig. 1 is a section of the envelope A, which takes the elongated form B in dotted
lines.
Fig. 2 is a view of the face of my envelope for letters.
Fig. 3 represents a modified form of envelope, the corners of which are rounded,
for a purpose to be presently described.
Fig. 4 represents another modification of envelope, pierced with holes O in the
direction of its length, and the extremities M and N of which, are closed by means
of eyelets P.
As will be seen, my envelope is composed of a tube A, of paper or parchment,
which may be of any kind, quality, and shade, which tube is made in one piece
without any gum in the direction of its length.
After manufacture, the tube A of paper is cut (either during its manufacture, or
at any time desired) into suitable lengths by any appropriate means.
One end of the envelope or tube A is first closed, either by paste or by a special
clasp. In reality, it is now a bag, open at one end only. In order to render
inviolable this end of the envelope, after sealing, it is perforated with small holes C,
as is seen in the drawings, by means of a machine generally used for the purpose,
and well known.
The perforations finished, any object is passed over the perforated part, to ensure
the adherence of the parts.
It will be understood, therefore, that this end of the envelope, thus treated, is
inviolable and that the person who has opened the same and wishing to reclose it,
will not be able to fit the perforations together made in the end of the envelope,
and thus the fraud will be easily detected.
The other end of the envelope intended to receive the letter or other object to be
introduced into the envelope, is gummed on either one or both sides, as desired,
and let to dry with the edges not touching, in order to prevent their adhering.
The perforating may be done before the gum is applied. These perforations leave
behind certain burrs, which enter into each other, thus rendering all unsealing
impossible when the sender has previously moistened the gum applied to the edges
of the opening, and given a certain pressure with the nail, or in any other manner.
It will be understood that the two extremities may be perforated by numerous
means, or with any machine or apparatus adapted to the purpose.
Fig. 3 of the accompanying drawings shows a modified envelope, the corners of
which are rounded, for the purpose of facilitating the introduction into the envelope
of objects which it shall hold, and also to avoid friction on the corners during
transmission of the correspondence, and consequently the important papers which
it contains.
As seen in Fig. 3, the ends M and N of the envelope have the corners m m, n n,
rounded off. It should be understood that I reserve the right to round the corners
of one end only, for example, the corners m m of the end M, or the corners n n of
the end N.
As I have explained above, one of the ends of the tube A is first closed up, that
is to say, before the introduction of the papers the envelopes to contain, by means
of gum, and rendered inviolable by perforations. I only indicate this method of
closing by way of example, but it will be understood that I may employ any other
means of closing which I may deem convenient. I may, for example, effect this
closing by gum or paste, proceeding so that I obtain my tube without gum in the
length of the envelope.
Another mode of closing consists in introducing between the two sides of the
end N of the envelope A, a small band or ribbon of very thin stuff previously
steeped in an adhesive liquid.
Once the ribbon has been introduced between the sides of the envelope, a slight
pressure put upon the paper along the breadth of the envelope will be sufficient to
make the edges adhere strongly together. The inviolable closing will be complete
by the perforations which I have described above, which will render the

page_text: surreptitious opening and reclosing of the envelope impossible. This mode of
closing described for the end M of my envelope, will serve equally well for closing
the end N.
The inviolable envelope which forms the subject of the present application is
constituted, as I have explained above, of a tube made in one piece, and not
gummed in the direction its length; or this tube may be formed by joining the
edges of a sheet of paper over a mandrel, before the paste is quite dry, and then
operating by pressure on the paste joint.
In this case, to avoid all possibility of fraud, I have arranged one or two rows of
holes O in the direction of the length of the envelope, and on the part where the
joint is. It will be understood that in this way, if attempts are made to open the
envelope by fraudulent means, that is to say, by tampering with the gum or
the paste, it will be impossible, on resealing, to make the small perforations
coincide, which are sure to be torn when opening the envelope, which will thus
disclose the fraud.
I may also close the ends M & N, one or both, by means of any number of
eyelets P. For greater security, a cord or a ribbon may be passed through the
eyelets, and the ends secured by a wax seal.
I may also use an ordinary sewing machine, and make one, two, or more lines of
stitching, to close the ends of my tube envelope. It will be understood that this
mode of closing may also be employed to close or reinforce the fastening to the
tube lengthways.
It will be understood that an envelope closed by this system of needle punctures
cannot be opened and closed again fradulently, without the recipient of the letter
detecting it.
Again, it will be impossible, admitting that the envelope can be opened by
cutting the thread, to close the same again, so that the holes will come exactly
over one another; hence the absolute inviolability of my envelope.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is :-
An envelope made from a paper tube substantially as described, and pierced or
perforated at the ends or joints in the manner illustrated, for the purpose set
forth.
Dated this 4th day of Mar 1805
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.