Patent ID: 7837088

Claim:
A mailer, comprising: a container including first and second flexible sheets arranged in opposing relation and coupled to one another to form an enclosure for holding one or more items of mail, wherein an innermost surface of at least one of the first or second sheets is in contact with the one or more items of mail and wherein outermost surfaces of the first and second sheets form exterior surfaces of the container; and a spacer including a foam block located in the container between the first and second sheets, wherein: the one or more items of mail have an aggregate thickness less than a first thickness required to qualify as a predetermined class of mail, the foam block has a second thickness which causes the first and second sheets of the container to separate by a distance which equals or exceeds the first thickness required to qualify as said predetermined class of mail, and the foam block is located between innermost surfaces of the first and second sheets; wherein the foam block compresses when pressure is applied and returns to an original form when the pressure is removed, the second thickness of the foam block is equal to or greater than the first thickness, each of the first and second sheets is made from only one layer of material different from and with no intervening corrugated or bubble wrap layers, the foam block includes first and second opposing surfaces, the first surface of the spacer being attached to the innermost surface of the first sheet by an adhesive and the second surface of the spacer being attached to the innermost surface of the second sheet by an adhesive, and the second thickness of the foam block is equal to or greater than the first thickness required to qualify as said predetermined class of mail.