Patent ID: 7344021

Claim:
A packaged block of envelopes comprising: a series of folded envelopes, each said folded envelope having a front face onto which a closure flap is folded over, a back face, and a periphery, the envelopes being disposed face against face, each face of each envelope having first, second, third, and fourth corners, and each said closure flap having a thickness and being suitable for being folded over along an edge that interconnects the first and second corners; rigid retaining plates disposed on either side of said series of envelopes, said rigid retaining plates including a first plate facing a first one of the front and back faces of a first envelope in the series, and a second plate facing a second one of the front and the back faces of a last envelope in the series; and holding means for holding the series of envelopes together, said holding means surrounding the series of envelopes and the retaining plates tightly; in which packaged block of envelopes, in the vicinity of each of the third and fourth corners, each of the folded envelopes has at least one thickness compensation shim having a thickness substantially equal to the thickness of the closure flap so that the folded envelope has a total thickness that is substantially identical in all of said first, second, third, and fourth corners.