Claims
- 1. A one-piece mailer blank having at least two contiguous sections disposed for folding over on each other into overlying relation, each said section having remoistenable glue along the respective longitudinal edges for bonding said sections together, said glue characterized in being resistant to heat in excess of 400.degree. F. and in providing lay flat characteristics.
- 2. A one-piece mailer blank as set forth in claim 1 wherein said glue is made of a vinyl copolymer dispersion adhesive.
- 3. A one-piece mailer blank as set forth in claim 1 having a longitudinal line of weakening adjacent each longitudinal edge with a respective strip of said glue therebetween.
- 4. A one-piece mailer blank as set forth in claim 1 wherein one of said sections has remoistenable glue disposed near a transverse edge thereof for bonding to the other section.
- 5. A one-piece mailer blank as set forth in claim 4 wherein said glue is in the form of a cross-web array of remoistenable glue dots.
- 6. A one-piece mailer as set forth in claim 1 wherein said glue is made of a vinyl acetate homopolymer emulsion base.
- 7. A mailer assembly having a plurality of interconnected one-piece blanks and a plurality of transverse burstable lines of weakening separating said blanks from each other, each said blank including at least two longitudinally contiguous sections, a pair of longitudinal lines of weakening extending with said sections at respective longitudinal edges thereof, remoistenable glue disposed on each section between a respective longitudinal edge and a respective line of weakening of a respective section, said glue characterized in being resistant to heat in excess of 400.degree. F. and in providing lay flat characteristics.
- 8. A mailer assembly as set forth in claim 7 wherein each glue strip is made of a vinyl copolymer dispersion adhesive.
- 9. A mailer assembly as set forth in claim 7 wherein each blank has three longitudinally contiguous sections and a transverse fold line between each pair of said sections.
- 10. A mailer assembly as set forth in claim 9 wherein at least two sections have a pair of longitudinal glue strips thereon.
- 11. A mailer assembly as set forth in claim 7 which further comprises remoistenable glue disposed near a transverse edge of each blank.
- 12. A mailer assembly as set forth in claim 11 wherein said glue is a cross-web array of remoistenable glue dots.
- 13. A one-piece mailer blank having at least two contiguous sections disposed for folding over on each other into overlying relation, each said section having remoistenable glue along the respective longitudinal edges for bonding said sections together and a third section defining a flap for folding over one of said contiguous sections, said flap having remoistenable glue along a transverse edge for bonding said flap to said one section, said glue being characterized in being resistant to heat and in providing lay flat characteristics to permit processing through the feed paths of printers with heat and/or pressure generating fuser stations in a lay flat condition.
- 14. A one-piece mailer blank as set forth in claim 13 wherein said flap has a contoured shape.
- 15. A one-piece mailer blanks as set forth in claim 13 wherein said one section has a recess in a transverse edge.
- 16. A one-piece mailer having three contiguous paper sections disposed in folded overlying relation, two of said sections having remoistenable glue along a respective longitudinal edge bonding said two sections together and a third of said sections forming a flap and having remoistenable glue along a transverse edge bonding said flap to a rear of one of said two sections, said glue characterized in being resistant to heat in excess of 400.degree. F. and in providing lay flat characteristics.
- 17. A one-piece mailer as set forth in claim 16 wherein said glue is made of a vinyl copolymer dispersion adhesive.
- 18. In combination
- a supply of blanks, each blank having at least a pair of foldable sections and a remoistenable glue on at least one section for securing said sections together upon folding;
- a printer for sequentially receiving said blanks and having means for imaging a blank of said supply passing therethrough; and
- an apparatus for folding and sealing a blank received from said printer, said apparatus including a feed means conveying a blank therethrough, means for applying water to at least one side of a conveyed blank to activate the glue thereon, and means for folding said sections of a conveyed blank into overlying relation while pressing the opposed sections together to permit the activated glue to bond said sections together.
- 19. A combination as set forth in claim 18 wherein each blank has three of said sections and wherein said means for folding folds each blank with said three sections in overlying relation.
- 20. The combination as set forth in claim 18 wherein said means for applying water includes a water reservoir disposed adjacent a conveyed blank in said feed means and an applicator for transferring water from said reservoir to a conveyed blank.
- 21. The combination as set forth in claim 18 wherein said blanks are interconnected in said supply to define a continuous self mailer assembly.
- 22. The combination as set forth in claim 18 wherein said printer is a non-impact printer having a ink fusing station thereing.
- 23. The combination as set forth in claim 22 wherein said printer has a heat generating ink fusing station and said glue is heat resistant to the heat generated in said station.
- 24. The combination as set forth in claim 23 wherein each blank has preprinted information thereon of heat resistant printing ink.
- 25. A method of processing self mailers comprising the steps of
- providing a supply of one-piece blanks, each blank having at least two sections with at least one section having a remoistenable glue thereon, said glue being heat resistant to permit said blank to be fed through a heat generating fuser station of a printer;
- passing each blank through a non-impact printer having a heat generating fuser station to impart imaged variable information on each blank;
- wetting each blank in a region of the glue to activate the glue; and
- folding the sections of each blank into facing relation to secure the sections together in glued relation.
- 26. A method of processing self mailers comprising the steps of
- providing a self mailer assembly having a plurality of interconnected blanks, each blank having at least two sections with at least one section having a remoistenable glue thereon;
- passing the assembly through a printer having means to impart imaged variable information on each blank;
- thereafter separating each imaged blank from the mailer assembly;
- wetting each blank in a region of the glue to activate the glue; and
- folding the sections of each blank into facing relation to secure the sections together in glued relations.
- 27. A one-piece mailer blank for processing through a sheet feed non-impact printer having a heat generating fuser station having at least two contiguous sections disposed for folding over on each other into overlying relation, each said section having remoistenable glue along the respective longitudinal edges for bonding said sections together, said glue characterized in being resistant to heat in excess of 400.degree. F. generated in the fuser station and in providing lay flat characteristics to said section.
- 28. A one-piece mailer blank as set forth in claim 27 wherein one of said sections has a plurality of remoistenable glue dots disposed near a transverse edge thereof for bonding to the other section.
- 29. A one-piece mailer blank as set forth in claim 27 which further comprises a third section disposed for folding over one of said two sections, said third section having remoistenable glue along respective longitudinal edges thereof, at least one of said sections having preprinted information made of heat resistant print press ink.
- 30. A one-piece mailer blank as set forth in claim 29 having a cut-out in a central section and a transparent panel secured over said cut-out.
- 31. A one piece mailer blank for processing through a sheet feed non-impact printer having a cold flow fuser station, said blank having at least two contiguous sections disposed for folding over on each other into overlying relation, each said section having remoistenable glue along the respective longitudinal edges for bonding said sections together, said glue characterized in being heat resistant and in providing lay flat characteristics to said section to permit said blank to be fed through a feed path and a fuser station of the printer.
- 32. A one-piece mailer blank as set forth in claim 31 wherein said glue is made of a vinyl copolymer dispersion adhesive.
Parent Case Info
This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 942,349, filed Dec. 16, 1986 (now abandoned) which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 856,576, filed Apr. 25, 1986 now abandoned.
This invention relates to a one piece mailer and to an apparatus for folding a one-piece mailer. More particularly, this invention relates to a one-piece mailer, an assembly of interconnected one-piece mailers and an apparatus for folding and sealing a one-piece mailer.
Heretofore, various types of one-piece constructions have been known for the fabrication of a mailer. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,055,294 describes a continuous web from which a series of connected one-piece assemblies are constructed. In this case, various lines of perforations are provided in the web so that the web may be folded about a longitudinal score line so that one portion overlies another portion of the web in order to define return envelope pockets therebetween. Other lines of perforations are also provided to permit the remaining web portion to be folded over the previously folded portions to form a series of three-ply mailers. In this construction, use is made of a previously applied adhesive which is activated by heat in order to secure the folded over portions together.
Other types of assemblies have also been known wherein various plies of a mailer are folded over on each other and secured in place by a regular adhesive. However, these adhesives tend to be hot melt adhesives or other adhesives which are activated by heat in order to secure the folded portions together.
In the case where users process streams of mailers, for example of the interconnected or single sheet type with hot melt, heat seal adhesives through laser printers, a difficulty arises in their inherent incompatibility with heat generating non-impact printer fuser stations which transfer and fuse variable computer information to the form since the heat generating fuser stations create intense heat, often exceeding 400 Degrees F. and are part of the printer paper path. If forms with heat seal adhesive come in contact with such heat generating fuser stations, the heat will activate the heat seal adhesive and damage both the printer and the heat seal form.
Regular adhesives when used on mailers and exposed so as to come into contact with heat generating fuser stations will also break down and can damage both printer and form.
Various types of one-piece mailers have also been known wherein a blank is formed with two main portions to the form the front and back of an envelope and a plurality of foldable tab portions which are provided with glue so as to be secured to one or both of the main portions when attached to or folded over onto these portions such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,360,184. Such blanks however require multiple folding steps and if use is made of heat activated adhesives, similar problems arise as in the case of mailers. Specifically, the folding equipment requires some form of heater in order to activate the hot melt glues so as to form a sealed envelope. Such constructions tend to not only be costly but are inherently incompatible with heat fuse continuous or single sheet fed non-impact printers (heat seal adhesive would be activated during printing and damage printer and form). Thus, many complications arise in attempting to provide a simple, inexpensive self mailer for non-impact printer users.
Accordingly, it is the object of the invention to provide a one part continuous self mailer construction of interconnected one part blanks or single sheet mailer constructions using a heat resistant remoistenable glue and heat resistant printing press inks that will permit the mailer to process through continuous or sheet fed non-impact printers with heat and/or pressure generating fuser stations.
It is another object of the invention to provide a glue containing self mailer able to withstand intense heat often exceeding 400 Degrees F.
It is another object of the invention to allow nonimpact printers to image variable information including variable address information on one side and then by folding and sealing the form and exposing the address through a die cut window with or without a transparent material patch to create a folded, sealed and addressed mailer.
It is another object of the invention to provide a one-piece mailer of simple construction which can be readily folded and sealed in a simple, economical manner.
It is another object of the invention to provide a simple and economic apparatus for the folding and sealing of one-piece mailers.
Briefly, the invention provides a one piece mailer blank, for example of paper, having contiguous sections disposed for folding over on each other and wherein each section has a pair of heat resistant remoistenable glue strips along the respective longitudinal edges for bonding the facing sections together when folded. The mailer may be constructed with two or three foldable sections. In addition, the mailer blank may be provided with one or two transverse fold lines to permit subsequent folding of a blank into a two-ply mailer or three-ply mailer.
The one-piece mailer may also have heat resistant remoistenable glue disposed near a transverse edge for bonding to the other sections. Whether the mailer is a two-ply or three-ply mailer, this glue serves to seal the mailer transversely across the mailer without leaving a gap which might be inadvertently opened.
The mailer may also be provided with pre-printed information to which variable information may be added during porocessing through printers of non-impact or impact type.
The invention also provides a mailer assembly having a plurality of interconnected one-piece mailer blanks which are separated from each other by transverse burstable lines of weakening. In this respect, the mailer assembly is of one-ply construction and is provided with removable strips of control holes along the longitudinal edges to facilitate feeding through various types of automatic machinery, for example, a non-impact laser printer.
After the mailer assembly has been processed, for example, through a laser printer which provides the mailer with information, such as an address of a recipient, address of a sender and other information, each mailer blank is separated from the assembly, if continuous, by bursting along a transverse line of weakening. Thereafter, water is applied to the edges of each mailer to activate the glue strips and the blank is folded with the folded over sections being pressed together in order to effect a bonding of the sections together via the water-activated glue strips.
When the blanks also have glue along a transverse edge, this glue is also activated by the application of water along the transverse edge or on the opposite transverse edge to the glue on the blank prior to folding of the blank. When the blank is folded, the glue comes into contact with the moistened paper or the paper comes into contact with the moistened glue thus effecting a bonding of the transverse edge to a facing mailer section.
Where the assembly to be processed is to be processed for use in making envelopes, each blank may be provided with a built-in return envelope and the address of a recipient. In addition, the fold lines can be located differently so that after each blank, whether a single sheet or burst from a continuous assembly, the result is an outgoing envelope with a built in top open return envelope with a remoistenable glue flap. Each blank may also be provided with a return address of a bulk user and the address of a recipient. In addition, the fold lines can be located differently so that after each blank is burst from the assembly and subsequently folded, the result is an envelope with an unsealed flap.
The invention also provides an apparatus for folding and sealing the mailer blanks into mailers. This apparatus includes a feed means for receiving and conveying a one-piece mailer blank with remoistenable glue strips thereon, means for applying water to at least one side of the conveyed mailer blank along each longitudinal edge in order to activate the glue, and means for folding the sections of the mailer blank into overlying relation while pressing the opposed longitudinal edges together in order to permit the activated glue strips to bond the edges together and form a sealed unit.
The folding apparatus may be of generally conventional structure modified to have a means for applying water to the edge areas of the conveyed mailer blanks. In this regard, the means for applying the water may include a water reservoir disposed below the conveyed mailer blanks and an applicator, such as a rotatably mounted wheel or capillary brush, for transferring water from the reservoir to the underside of a conveyed blank. Alternatively, the means for applying the water may include a water reservoir and a nozzle which communicates with the reservoir and is directed towards a conveyed blank for transferring water to the conveyed blank by pressure or by gravity.
Where the blanks are provided with glue along a transverse edge, the folding apparatus also includes a similar means for applying water to the conveyed blanks along the transverse edge or opposite the transverse edge so when the form is folded either the moistened transverse glue comes into contact with the paper or the moistened paper comes into contact with the transverse glue.
The invention further provides a self mailer construction of interconnected one piece blanks as well as a single sheet mailer having heat resistant remoistenable glue as well as heat resistant printing press inks that permit the constructions to be processed through continuous or sheet feed non-impact printers with heat and/or pressure generating fuser stations in a lay flat condition without curling up of the edges of the constructions.
The invention also provides a system which is comprised of a supply or blanks, a printer for imaging the blanks and an apparatus for folding and sealing a blank received from the printer. In this respect, each blank has at least a pair of foldable sections and a remoistenable glue on at least one section for securing the sections together upon folding.
US Referenced Citations (7)
Foreign Referenced Citations (10)
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Date |
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| 0100674 |
Feb 1984 |
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Continuation in Parts (2)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
| Parent |
942349 |
Dec 1986 |
|
| Parent |
856574 |
Apr 1986 |
|
Patent Grant
4951864
