Patent Application
20100059583
Postcards and similar mailers are commonly used to communicate with consumers. They have cost advantage to the sender in that they may be mailed at a reduced postcard rate rather than a standard first-class mail letter rate.
One such mailer is a “double postcard,” which is essentially two cards or sections, one being the original card to an addressee or consumer, and other being a detachable reply card to be mailed back by the consumer. The two cards are created, for example, by folding the mailer so that the cards are attached at one end along a perforated fold line, and “sealed” or affixed at the other end by adhesive, a sticker, a staple, or the like. The double card is opened by the consumer by breaking the sealed end. There is usually a message to the consumer on the back side of the original card, inviting the consumer to return the reply card (sometimes with information entered by the consumer). If the consumer is interested in replying, the cards are separated at the perforated line, and the reply card is mailed by the consumer.
Double postcards are used for a wide variety of purposes. As examples, they are used for advertising or promotional purposes (with the reply card used by the consumer to request additional information on the goods or services being promoted). They are also used by banks, creditors, merchants or other institutions with whom the consumer has an account, when there is some action needed by the consumer (e.g., the account has been overdrawn or is overdue, and the consumer is asked to authorize a transfer—using the reply card—to bring the account current).
Thus, in many of the circumstances where a double postcard is used, the original card may have personal or confidential information on its back side (the interior of the double card). Although the card is sealed (in the sense of being attached at the end opposite the fold line), current postal requirements require that the card not be sealed on the two sides. This is to ensure compliance with postal regulations designed to permit inspection of the interior of double card (the double card may thus be flexed by an inspector to reveal the interior). However, such inspection by an inspector (or any other person having access to the mailer) would provide access to the personal or confidential information printed on the interior of the cards.
There is provided, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention, a double postcard mailer in which a panel concealing personal information can be readily removed using a flap on the panel.
In some embodiments, a double postcard mailer includes a sheet having first and second postcard size sections connected by a fold line which separates the first and second sections. Each of the sections has an exterior face and an interior face, the interior faces opposite each other when the sheet is folded along the folding line, with information on the interior face of at least one of the first and second sections. A panel is at least partially affixed (e.g., by adhesive) to the interior face having the information thereon, in order to conceal at least some of the information. A flap on the panel is not affixed to the interior face and may be used to remove the panel from the one of the sections.
In one embodiment, the flap includes a tab that can be pulled to facilitate removal of the panel. In other embodiments, the panel includes perforations which permit a removable portion of the panel to be torn away. The removable portion of the panel can be affixed to an opposing face of the mailer, in order to pull the panel away as the double postcard is opened by a recipient.
A more complete understanding of the present invention may be derived by referring to the detailed description of the invention and to the claims, when considered in connection with the Figures.
There are various embodiments and configurations for implementing the present invention. One such implementation is illustrated in
The mailer 100 is sized so that when folded along a weakened or perforated line 110, the mailer forms a double postcard having a postcard size (e.g., about 4.25 inches by 6 inches). The views in
The reply postcard 114 has an exterior face 132 (
It should be appreciated that the use of the terms “exterior” and “interior” reflect the location of various faces of the mailer 100 when folded at line 110 to form the double postcard (the folded card can be best seen in
It should be further appreciated that, although the orientation of the information on the various faces of the mailer are illustrated in the drawings in order to more easily understand the construction of the mailer, they could be arranged other than as illustrated. As an example, if the mailer 100 of
Turning now to
In order to understand the use of the panel 160 in concealing information on the interior face 130, reference can be had to
The panel 160 has a tab 170 to permit the panel to be removed from the interior face 130 by the intended recipient (the panel is seen partially removed in
Alternatively, the glue locations 172 on the panel could be separated from the center of the panel 160 by perforated lines (not shown in the drawings), so that the panel center can be removed for access to the confidential information 164 by tearing along the perforated lines as the tab 170 is pulled.
Another embodiment is illustrated in
As should be appreciated, the use of glues or adhesives having varying degrees of adhesion will facilitate the proper use of the mailer 100A. For example, the adhesive at glue location 156A will have the least adhesion, so that the seal holding together end 152A of card 112A and end 154A of card 114A can be easily broken by the recipient in order to open the mailer 100A. The adhesive holding glued portions 180A on the panel 160A to card 112A will need a relatively high degree of adhesion, since the glued portions will need to remain with card 112A as the panel center 184A is separated.
The adhesive at location 186A holding the panel center 184A to the card 114A as the mailer is opened needs to have a sufficiently high degree of adhesion to ensure that center panel 184A stays with card 114A. However, it must be sufficiently separable to permit the center panel to removed from card 114A in order for the recipient to use card 114A as a reply postcard.
As should be further appreciated, the degree of adhesion at glue location 186A may depend on the strength of the perforated lines 182A. The weaker the lines 182A, the less adhesion is needed at glue location 186A.
The following table indicates an example of the adhesives for the glue locations 156A, 180A and 186A:
In some embodiments, the perforated lines 182A could be eliminated, and in that case a lower degree of adhesion would be needed at glued portions 180A. In such embodiments, the mailer 100A would have the entire panel 160A separate from the card 112A at the glue portions 180A as the mailer is opened, in lieu of having panel 160A tear along the perforated lines 182A.
While a detailed description of presently preferred embodiments of the invention have been given above, various alternatives, modifications, and equivalents will be apparent to those skilled in the art without varying from the spirit of the invention. Therefore, the above description should not be taken as limiting the scope of the invention, which is defined by the appended claims.
