Patent Document

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application relates to, and claims the benefit of the filing date of, co-pending U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/674,174 entitled COUPON ENVELOPE WITH COUPON, filed Jul. 20, 2012. The entire contents of application Ser. No. 61/674,174 are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    This application relates to envelopes and, more particularly, to envelopes for promotional materials. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    In brand recognition campaigns, businesses seek to create brand awareness of certain products or services. Frequently, businesses distribute promotional coupons, such as prize tickets, which the recipients may redeem for benefits, such as discounts or free products or services. For example, a business may distribute coupons which the recipients may redeem for a discount on a coffee purchase or free coffee. It would be desirable if promotional coupons could be enclosed in an envelope shaped like the product, service, or brand being promoted. 
         [0004]    Sometimes, a business may wish to distribute a variety of coupons with different benefits, potentially including coupons with no benefits at all. An aspect of this type of promotion is surprising the recipient as to which coupon has been received. It would be desirable if the coupons could be distributed while enclosed in a sleeve or other envelope. It would also be desirable if the envelope were completely sealed, so that the recipient must break the seal to reveal the coupon. 
         [0005]    Often, a brand awareness campaign requires a high volume of coupons to be produced and distributed. It would be desirable if the envelope and coupon could be constructed together, so that the coupon need not separately be placed within the envelope. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0006]    In one aspect, a coupon envelope with an enclosed coupon is provided. The coupon envelope has a first section, a second section, and a third section. Each section has a first side and a second side. The first and second sections each have an upper portion, a lower portion, a cut separating the two portions, and a nick connecting the two portions. The third section has a coupon portion, an upper portion, a lower portion, a cut separating the three portions, an upper nick connecting the coupon portion and the upper portion, and a lower nick connecting the coupon portion and the lower portion. The coupon envelope also has a second side attachment and a first side attachment. The second side attachment attaches the second side of the third section to the second side of the second section. The first side attachment attaches the first side of the third section to the second side of the first section. 
         [0007]    In another aspect, a method of constructing a coupon envelope with an enclosed coupon is provided. A card is divided into a first section, a second section, and a third section. Each section has a first side and a second side. The first section is cut into a first upper portion and a first lower portion, the two portions remaining connected by at least one nick in the first section. The second section is cut into a second upper portion and a second lower portion, the two portions remaining connected by at least one nick in the second section. The third section is cut into a coupon portion, a third upper portion, and a third lower portion. The coupon portion and the third upper portion remain connected by at least one upper nick in the third section. The coupon portion and the third lower portion remain connected by at least one lower nick in the third section. The second side of the third section is attached to the second side of the second section. The first side of the third section is attached to the second side of the first section. 
     
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         [0008]    For a more complete understanding of the present invention and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following Detailed Description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
           [0009]      FIGS. 1-8  depict views of various steps in the construction of a coupon envelope in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0010]      FIG. 9  depicts a completed coupon envelope in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0011]      FIGS. 10-13  depict various steps in the opening of a coupon envelope in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0012]    In the following discussion, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough explanation. However, such specific details are not essential. Additionally, for the most part, specific details within the understanding of persons of ordinary skill in the relevant art have been omitted. 
         [0013]    Referring to  FIGS. 1-9 , a coupon envelope, including the enclosed coupon, may be made from a single rectangular card. The card may be cut out from a larger card using a steel rule cutting die. Views  100 A- 900 A show one side of the card, which may be referred to as side A. Views  100 B- 900 B show the other side of the card, which may be referred to as side B. Views  100 B- 900 B show the card flipped horizontally with respect to its position in views  100 A- 900 A. 
         [0014]    Referring to views  100 A and  100 B in  FIG. 1 , the card may be divided into three sections numbered 1, 2, and 3. Each section has one side on side A and one side on side B. In the drawings, reference numbers  1 A and  1 B respectively refer to sides A and B of section 1, reference numbers  2 A and  2 B respectively refer to sides A and B of section 2, and reference numbers  3 A and  3 B respectively refer to sides A and B of section 3. 
         [0015]    In this discussion, the dimension of the card extending across sections 1, 2, and 3 is assumed to be the length of the card, as is shown in the drawings. However, this dimension could also be the width of the card if desired for the shape of the coupon envelope. 
         [0016]    When the coupon envelope is completed, section 3 may be folded between section 1 and section 2. It is therefore preferable that sections 1 and 2 consume substantially equal portions of the length of the card. It is also preferable that section 3 consume a slightly smaller portion of the length so that section 3 will fit between sections 1 and 2. In some embodiments, section 3 may consume 98% of the length of the card consumed by each of sections 1 and 2. Fold lines dividing the sections may be produced with a steel rule cutting die. 
         [0017]    As one example of possible dimensions, a card may be 4⅜th inches wide and 8 15/16th inches long. Sections 1 and 2 may be 3 inches wide and section 3 may be 2 15/16th inches wide. As another example of possible dimensions, a card may be 9 inches wide and 9 5/16th inches long. Sections 1 and 2 may be 3⅛th inches wide and section 3 may be 3 1/16th inches wide. 
         [0018]    An image may be printed on the coupon envelope, to be later cut out from the excess card surrounding it. The example card envelope in  FIGS. 1-8  has a coffee cup image  101  printed on it, as represented by the gray outline. Other card envelopes may have other images printed on them, such as a beer bottle. The coupon  102  may also be printed on the card as a portion of section  3 . 
         [0019]    When the coupon envelope is completed, only side A of section 1 and side A of section 2 face outward. Thus, printing the image  101  on other sides and sections may be unnecessary. Nonetheless, in the drawings the image  101  is shown on both sides of all sections for reference. Different images may be used on different sides and sections. For example, image  101  may appear on side A of section 1 and a different image may appear on side A of section 2. 
         [0020]    Referring to views  200 A and  200 B in  FIG. 2 , section 1 may receive cut  201 , denoted by a dotted line, to divide the section into an upper portion  202  and a lower portion  203 . Cut  201  is interrupted by “nicks”  204  and  205 . A nick is a break in a cut which leaves a thin connection between the two sides of the cut. Section 2 may receive a substantially identical cut  206 , also denoted by a dotted line, to divide section 2 into an upper portion  207  and a lower portion  208 . Similar to cut  201 , cut  204  is interrupted by nicks  209  and  210 . 
         [0021]    Section 3 may receive cut  211 . Unlike cuts  201  and  204 , cut  211  divides section 3 into three portions: a coupon portion  212 , an upper portion  213 , and a lower portion  214 . Nick  215  connects upper portion  213  to coupon portion  212 , and nick  216  connects coupon portion  212  to lower portion  216 . 
         [0022]    One method for creating a nick is to use a grinding disk to grind a gap into a steel rule cutting die. When the cutting die makes a cut in the card, the portion of the card at the gap is spared. Typically, a nick is between one-half and one millimeter. Nicks of different widths can be created by using grinding disks of different widths. 
         [0023]    Cuts  201 ,  206 , and  211  may not extend across the entire widths of their respective sections. Instead, bridges  217 ,  218 ,  219 , and  220  may remain to hold the various portions  202 ,  203 ,  207 ,  208 ,  213 , and  214  together in addition to the nicks. In the drawings, a solid vertical line denotes the border between a cut and a bridge. Bridges  218  and  219  may extend laterally across, spanning the longitudinal fold lines shown running vertically from top to bottom of the card. The bridges  217 ,  218 ,  219 , and  220  may hold the upper portions  202 ,  207  and  213  of the card against separation from lower portions  203   208 , and  214 , during at least a portion of the manufacturing process and possibly until the desired shape of the image, for example, is cut. Bridge  217  may hold the upper and lower portions  202 ,  203  of section 1 together, bridge  218  may hold the upper and lower portions  202 ,  203 ,  207  and  208  of sections 1 and 2 together, bridge  219  may hold the upper and lower portions  207 ,  208 ,  213  and  214  of sections 2 and 3 together, and bridge  220  may hold the upper and lower portions  213  and  214  of section 3 together. The bridges may subsequently be cut away as described below with reference to  FIG. 9 . 
         [0024]    Cuts  201  and  204  are curved to match the lid of the coffee cup in the image, so that upper portions  202  and  207  include the lid of the cup and lower portions  203  and  208  include the remainder of the cup. This curvature is arbitrary; another coupon envelope could have cuts  201  and  204  dividing the upper and lower portions in a different manner. However, cuts  201  and  204  are preferably identical. Cut  211  is also preferably identical to cuts  201  and  204 , except that cut  211  should cut around the coupon portion  212 , and nicks  215  and  216  should respectively attach upper portion  213  to coupon portion  212  and coupon portion  212  to lower portion  214 . Additionally, only two nicks are used in each section in the embodiment shown, but more or fewer nicks could be used depending on the size of the envelope. 
         [0025]    Referring to views  300 A and  300 B in  FIG. 3 , side A of section 3 may have a layer of glue  301  applied to it. Side B of section 2 may have layer of glue  302  applied to it. Layer of glue  301  may be limited to the interior of image, excluding the coupon itself. Layer of glue  302  may likewise be limited to the interior of the image, excluding the portion of section 2 which will come into contact with the coupon when the card is folded as shown in views  400 A and  400 B. 
         [0026]    Referring to views  400 A and  400 B in  FIG. 4 , side B of section 3 may be folded against side B of section 2. Referring to views  500 A and  500 B in  FIG. 5 , layer of glue  302  may hold sections 2 and 3 together. Referring to views  600 A and  600 B in  FIG. 6 , side A of section 3 may be folded against side B of section 1. Referring to views  700 A and  700 B in  FIG. 7 , layer of glue  301  may hold sections 1 and 3 together. 
         [0027]    Referring to view  800 A in  FIG. 8 , when the folded coupon envelope is placed face up side A of section 1 is on top, followed by side A of section 3, and then side B of section 2. Referring to view  800 B, when the folded coupon envelope is placed face down, side A of section 2 is on top, followed by side B of section 3, and then side B of section 1. 
         [0028]    Referring to views  900 A and  900 B in  FIG. 9 , the excess card around the image may be cut away, leaving a completed coupon envelope in the shape of the image. This cutting may be performed with a hollow ground die. This form of cutting is sometimes called PMC die-cutting after a commonly used “PMC” brand of die cutter. 
         [0029]    In section 1, upper portion  202  and lower portion  203  are held together only by nicks  204  and  205 . Likewise, in section 2, upper portion  207  and lower portion  208  are held together only by nicks  209  and  210 . In section 3, upper portion  213  and coupon portion  212  may be held together by nick  215 , and coupon portion  212  and lower portion  214  may be held together by nick  216 . The layer of glue on side A of section 3 holds sections 1 and 3 together. The layer of glue on side B of section 2 holds sections 2 and 3 together. 
         [0030]    Referring to view  1000  in  FIG. 10 , coupon portion  212 , the coupon, may be retrieved from the completed coupon envelope by pulling upper portions  202 ,  207 , and  213  and lower portions  203 ,  208 , and  214  apart. Referring to view  1100  in  FIG. 11 , all nicks  204 ,  205 ,  209 , and  210  in sections 1 and 2 may separate, along with one of the nicks  215  or  216  in section 3. Coupon portion  212  may thus be attached to the coupon envelope only by the remaining nick  215  or  216  in section 3. In the drawings, it is assumed nick  215  separated, leaving coupon portion  212  attached only by nick  216 . 
         [0031]    Referring to view  1200  in  FIG. 12 , coupon portion  212  may be pulled away from the remaining portion of the coupon envelope it is attached to, until the remaining nick separates. Referring to view  1300  in  FIG. 13 , coupon portion  212  will then be separate from both the upper portions  202 ,  207 , and  213  and the lower portions  203 ,  208 , and  214  of the coupon envelope. 
         [0032]    In one alternative embodiment of the production of the coupon envelope, the excess card around the image may be cut away as described with reference to  FIG. 9  prior to the cuts dividing the sections into portions as described with reference to  FIG. 2 . However, this approach removes the bridges  217 ,  218 ,  219 , and  220  holding the upper and lower portions together during other steps in the manufacturing. 
         [0033]    It is noted that the embodiments disclosed are illustrative rather than limiting in nature and that a wide range of variations, modifications, changes, and substitutions are contemplated in the foregoing disclosure and, in some instances, some features of the present invention may be employed without a corresponding use of the other features. Many such variations and modifications may be considered desirable by those skilled in the art based upon a review of the foregoing description of various embodiments.

Technology Category: b