Outgoing and reply envelopes with improvements to reduce possibility of damage

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6505770
  • Patent Number
    6,505,770
  • Date Filed
    Tuesday, May 30, 2000
    24 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, January 14, 2003
    21 years ago
Abstract
A postal envelope system has an outgoing envelope containing a billing statement and a reply envelope. The reply envelope has a flap for closing the envelope. The outgoing envelope has a tab for opening it. The tab has a portion which is held and pulled in order to open the envelope. The flap of the return envelope and a small portion of the billing statement is directly under the tab of the outgoing envelope. The flap and the billing statement are positioned and have a shape, which keeps them outside of the paths of a finger and thumb that are moving into a position for grasping said tab portion so that the billing statement and flap are not grabbed and pulled along with the tab portion and tab.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




This invention relates to envelope systems such are widely used for the purpose of billing customers. Such systems have an outgoing envelope with a reply envelope and a bill located in the outgoing envelope. When the customer receives the outgoing envelope, he or she opens it, removes the reply envelope and bill, tears the bill along a tear line into two pieces, inserts one of those pieces along with his or her check in the reply envelope and mails the reply envelope.




By using impact printing and certain carbonized areas, addresses may be printed on the envelopes, and billing information on the billing statement.




For years prior to my invention, Transkrit Corp., of Roanoke, Va. sold an envelope system along the lines taught in its U.S. Pat. No. 4,157,759. That patent teaches an outgoing envelope


20


, having a removable tab portion


15


, along the top edge of the back side of the envelope. The reply envelope (

FIG. 7

) is inside of the outgoing envelope


20


with a flap


28


directly underneath the tab


28


of the outgoing envelope


20


, when the envelope system is viewed from the rear.




My copending application Ser. No. 09/328,417, filed Jun. 9, 1999 and entitled POSTAL OUTGOING AND REPLY ENVELOPE SYSTEM shows an envelope system. That application teaches an envelope system in which the tab, for opening the outgoing envelope, and the flap, for sealing the reply envelope, and the bill are all adjacent the bottom edge of the envelope system as viewed from the rear side thereof.




The above-mentioned envelope systems have a disadvantage in that a customer who has not previously used the system, or who is in a hurry to open the outgoing envelope may, when he or she hurriedly grabs the tab on the outgoing envelope may also grab the flap, or other portion of the underlying reply envelope. In such case when the customer rips open the tab of the outgoing envelope he or she at the same time damages the reply envelope and bill.




Only a short portion of the tab


28


, usually at one end of the tab is pinched by a human hand and pulled to open the envelope. It is the portion of the billing sheet, or the portion of the flap


28


that is vertically below said portion which can be accidentally grabbed during the opening of the outgoing envelope.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The above problem is solved by the present invention. The flap on the reply envelope is formed from a sheet of paper which sheet becomes the rear wall of the reply envelope. By reshaping said sheet, and by reshaping the bill, the probability that an inexperienced person will damage the reply envelope and bill when he, or she, opens the outgoing one is greatly reduced.




The reshaping of said sheet and the bill involves reducing the size of those parts that lie directly under the portion of the tab that is held by the human hand while the tab is being pulled to open the outgoing envelope. Alternatively, the flap and billing statement may be reshaped to eliminate entirely any part of the flap and billing statement that is underneath said portion.




Normally, when a person desires to open the outgoing envelope he or she moves a finger and thumb (which are parts of a hand) in a path so that the finger is on one side and the thumb on the other side of the portion of the tab that is adapted to be pinched or held by a human hand. Following the pinching, the person pulls on the tab portion and rips the tab off of the outgoing envelope.




According to this invention, any billing statement and any flap on the return envelope are of such shape and position that they are outside of any path that a finger and thumb might take when the finger and thumb are moved to the pinching position.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




Reference is made to the attached drawings, wherein elements having the same reference numeral designations represent like elements throughout.





FIG. 1

is a perspective view of a postal envelope form system, and depicts several parts that are attached together to form an embodiment of the present invention.





FIG. 2

is a block diagram of Part I which forms an originating sheet of the postal envelope form system of the present invention, and depicts a front face having colored areas and white areas, and shows carbon spots of a back face in cross-hatching.





FIG. 3

is an actual copy of the front face of Part I, and depicts placement of text within the various blocks shown in FIG.


2


.





FIG. 4

is a block diagram of a front face of Part II, which forms a portion of an outgoing envelope of the postal envelope form system of the present invention, and depicts colored and white areas on the front face, and shows carbon spots of a back face in cross-hatching.





FIG. 5

is a block diagram of a front face of Part III, which forms a billing statement of the postal envelope form system of the present invention, and depicts colored areas and white areas.





FIG. 6

is a block diagram of a back face sheet of Part III of the billing statement shown in

FIG. 5

, and depicts colored areas, and shows a front view of carbon spots in patterned cross-hatching.





FIG. 7

is a block diagram of a front face of Part IV, which forms a portion of a reply envelope of the postal envelope form system of the present invention, and depicts colored areas and white areas which are a mirror image of carbon spots shown in FIG.


6


.





FIG. 8

is a block diagram of a back face of Part IV, which forms the same portion of the reply envelope shown in mirror image of

FIG. 7

, and depicts security screened areas, and shows block-out areas in solid dark blocks.





FIG. 9

is a block diagram of a front face Part V of the back of the reply envelope, and depicts a security screened area.





FIG. 10

is a block diagram of a back face of Part V, which is the outside of another portion forming the reply envelope, and depicts colored areas and printed directions.





FIG. 11

is a block diagram of a back face of Part VI, which is the outside of another portion of outgoing envelope shown in

FIG. 4

, and depicts colored areas, directions and a fast pull tab for opening.





FIG. 12

is a detailed view of the back side of a prior art outgoing envelope.





FIG. 13

is a detailed view of the back side of an envelope of my present invention showing the relationship of the tab for opening the outgoing envelope, the flap of the reply envelope and the billing statement.





FIG. 14

is a view similar to that of

FIG. 14

except it shows a modified form of the invention.





FIG. 15

is a view similar to

FIGS. 14 and 15

except it shows another modified view of my invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION





FIG. 1

is a perspective view of a postal envelope form system


10


. System


10


comprises several sheets or parts that are attached together to form an embodiment of the present invention. System


10


is to be used as a self-mailer system where an outgoing envelope is mailed to a customer along with bill information and a reply envelope is to be used to return payment or payment information in exchange for goods or services rendered.




The several sheets shown in

FIG. 1

include a Part I


100


which is attached to a Part II


200


, which is attached to a Part III


300


, which is attached to a Part IV


400


, which is attached to a Part V


500


, which is in turn attached to a Part VI


600


. Part I


100


, Part II


200


, Part III


300


, Part IV


400


, Part V


500


, and Part VI


600


are attached on right side edge


40


in order to strengthen portions of system


10


that undergo postal processing by processing equipment used in delivery of mail.




Part I


100


is formed from a sheet of twelve-and-a-half pound selectively carbonized bond paper. The twelve-and-a-half pound designation is commonly understood in the paper and forms-processing industry as corresponding to the weight of 1000 sheets of a specific size of paper. The selective carbonization is dependent on the location of information printed on Part I


100


which is intended to be imparted onto other parts attached underneath. This will be described more fully below.




Part II


200


is formed from a sheet of sixteen pound selectively carbonized bond paper. Part III


300


is formed from a sheet of sixteen pound selectively carbonized bond paper. Part IV


400


is formed from a sheet of twenty-four pound register bond paper, which is similar to carbonized bond with one exception that carbon is not attachable to the register bond paper as readily as with the carbonized bond paper. Part V


500


is formed from a sheet of twenty pound register bond paper, and Part VI


600


is formed from a sheet of twenty pound register bond paper.




Part II


200


and Part VI


600


are attached together to form an outgoing envelope


20


which is readily separable from the other attached parts of system


10


as will be described in detail below. Outgoing envelope


20


encloses Part III


300


, Part IV


400


, and Part V


500


.




Part IV


400


and Part V


500


are attached together to form a reply envelope


30


which is readily separable from the other attached parts of system


10


as will be described in detail below. Part IV


400


, being made of thicker and heavier paper, provides significant strength to both the reply envelope


30


and outgoing envelope


20


which assists in preserving postal envelope form system


10


upon encountering processing machinery. Additionally, attaching Parts I-VI by gluing right side edge bolsters the durability of postal envelope form system


10


which typically progress through postal processing machinery with the right edge leading the remainder of the Parts.





FIG. 2

is a block diagram of Part I


100


which forms an originating sheet of the postal envelope form system of the present invention. Part I


100


is the originating sheet upon which a printer prints information. The postal envelope form system


10


was designed for use with a relatively inexpensive impact printer (not shown) having a narrow carriage (e.g., Okidata Microline 320 Turbo). These types of printers are common in the industry due to their low cost and reliability.




The information printed by such printers includes billing information identifying the goods or services rendered, the time period covered, mailing information, and postage information, which are discussed further below. Part I and originating sheet will be used interchangeably hereinafter with reference to numeral


100


.





FIG. 2

depicts originating sheet


100


as having a colored area


101


among various and white areas that will be discussed individually. Reference is made to originating sheet


100


in conjunction with other parts throughout the remaining discussion.




Specifically, originating sheet


100


includes a sender return address area


102


within which a sender return address is printed before mailing (i.e., preprinted).

FIG. 2

also shows in cross-hatching a carbon spot


102




a


located on a back face (not shown) of originating sheet


100


. Carbon spot


102




a


enables the force of the impact printer used to impart information onto the sheet immediately below originating sheet


100


, which is Part II


200


.




Therefore, originating sheet (Part I)


100


is printed with the information that is intended to be printed on sheets beneath it. Thus, originating sheet (Part I) is preprinted with all the information printed on system


10


. Originating sheet


100


also includes customer mailing address area


104


within which a customer mail-to address is printed before mailing along with a delivery point barcode discussed further in conjunction with

FIG. 3

below.

FIG. 2

also depicts in cross-hatching a carbon spot


104




a


that is located on a back face (not shown) of originating sheet


100


. Carbon spot


104




a


enables the force of the impact printer used to impart information onto Part II


200


, which is the face of outgoing envelope


20


.




Originating sheet


100


also includes a postage permit area


106


within which postage permit information is printed before mailing. The postage permit information is that which the post office uses in assigning a postage charge and postage discounts to the sender.





FIG. 2

also depicts in cross-hatching a carbon spot


106




a


that is located on a back face (not shown) of originating sheet


100


. Carbon spot


106




a


enables the force of the impact printer used to impart information onto Part II


200


, which is the face of outgoing envelope


20


.




Originating sheet


100


is approximately five-and-a-half inches tall and nine-and-seven-eighths/inches wide, which fits within narrow carriage impact printers Generally, forms similar to postal envelope form system


10


are approximately nine-and-a-half inches wide. However, system


10


was made one quarter of an inch wider to accommodate areas large enough to include reasonable amounts of information, yet still fit within size dimension standards of the post office.




Since originating sheet


100


includes all the information printed on the various other parts of system


10


, originating sheet


100


is useful for keeping records of the sender. Furthermore, originating sheet


100


incorporates a line of weakness or perforation


107


transverse to the width that allows a portion


107




a


to be separated from a portion


107




b.


Portion


107




a


can be used in a business method as a reminder billing statement, while portion


107




b


can still be retained for record keeping purposes. Thus, originating sheet


100


can be used as a reminder bill or a collection bill, with both a customer receipt and a remittance copy.





FIG. 3

is an actual copy of the front face of originating sheet (Part I)


100


, and depicts placement of text within the various blocks shown in FIG.


2


. Specifically, sender return address area


102


, customer mailing address area


104


, and postage permit area


106


are shown with text contained therein. Sender return address area


102


has a return address shown, but with the name of the sender removed for confidentiality purposes. The name of the sender is actually printed uppermost in sender return address area


102


. Similarly, customer mailing address area


104


and postage permit area


106


, have information printed uppermost in the areas


104


and


106


. In the case of customer mailing address area


104


, the uppermost information is delivery point barcoding


108


that allows certain postage discounts to be credited to the mailer of outgoing envelope


20


upon which the barcoding


108


is transferred. A series of circular cuts


109


are located on each side of system


10


, in parallel, to form pin-feed margins that assist printers in feeding forms through a printing path during printing.





FIG. 4

is a block diagram of a front face of Part II, which forms a portion of an outgoing envelope


20


upon which the information in the sender return address area


102


, the customer mail-to/address area


104


, and postage permit address area


106


are imparted by the impact printer.

FIG. 4

depicts a colored area


202


within which white areas


102


′,


104


′, and


106


′ are located. White areas


102


′,


104


′, and


106


′correspond to the sender return address area


102


, the customer Mail-to/address area


104


, and postage permit address area


106


of originating sheet (Part I)


100


. Note boxes


102


′,


106


′ and


104


′ on

FIG. 4

are much larger than their corresponding twin images on FIG.


3


. This is necessary to insure scanability.)




The colored areas


202


provide a visual indication that allows outgoing envelopes sent by the same sender to be easily identified with the sender. The colored areas of all parts of system


10


can be kept the same, or varied if desired, to create meaning associated with the colors. For example, all the colored areas of system


10


can be kept the same color to associate various parts being mailed at different times in reply with a particular mass outgoing mailing. Alternatively, various parts can be differently colored to provide an visual indication of which part among system


10


is being seen without having to refer to the contents of the part.




The white areas are purposefully not colored to enable the information printed within to be easily read by users and scanning equipment associated with postal envelope form system


10


. The information within the white areas is transferred from Part I


100


to Part II


200


is achieved through the selectively positioned carbon spots


102




a,




104




a,


and


106




a


located on the back face of Part I


100


.





FIG. 4

also depicts carbon areas


204


,


206


and


208


which transfer information imparted by the impact printer onto originating sheet (Part I)


100


and through to a billing statement sheet (Part III)


300


(FIG.


5


). The information imparted by the impact printer onto originating sheet (Part I)


100


and that is transferred to billing statement sheet (Part III)


300


, includes information contained within the sender return address area


102


and within the customer mailing address area


104


. The information additionally includes that within a customer return address area


110


, a distributor or sender mailing address area


112


, a response detail area


114


, and a message area


116


.




The information contained within customer return address area


110


is transferred by carbon spot


204


to billing statement (Part III)


300


within a customer return address area


310


shown in FIG.


5


.

FIG. 5

is a block diagram of a front face of Part III, which forms a billing statement of the postal envelope form system of the present invention, and depicts colored areas


350


among which white areas such as customer return address area


310


are located. Other white areas located among colored areas


350


include a sender return address area


302


, a customer mailing address area


304


, a sender mailing address area


312


, a response detail area


314


, and a message area


316


. The same information imparted to originating sheet (Part I) is imparted to billing statement (Part III)


300


, with the exception of the postage permit


106


and a face identification mark (FIM) discussed below. Thus, billing statement (Part III)


300


contains complete information.




FIG.


5


. additionally includes directions


320


that in the embodiment shown instruct the recipient of billing statement (Part III)


300


to “Please return this portion with your response. Thank You!”. The portion requested for return is a remittance copy


360


, which is separated by a line of weakness (perforation line)


362


from a customer copy


364


. Thus, a business method is established by which a customer can retain customer copy


364


as a courtesy when the customer returns the remittance copy


360


with payment or payment information in reply to receiving billing statement (Part III)


300


.





FIG. 6

is a block diagram of the back face of billing statement (Part III)


300


shown in FIG.


5


.

FIG. 6

depicts a front view of this back face billing statement (Part III)


300


, and shows carbon spots in patterned cross-hatching among a colored area


401


. The carbon spots in

FIG. 6

are selectively positioned to correspond to the location of information imparted by the impact printer on originating sheet (Part I)


100


and to be transferred to similarly positioned areas on reply envelope


30


shown in FIG.


7


.




Originating sheet (Part I)


100


further includes a face identification mark (FIM) area


140


that corresponds to a carbon spot


640


in FIG.


6


. It should be noted that

FIG. 6

is a back view of billing statement (Part III)


300


, and is therefore a mirror image of the positioning of FIM area


140


. Similarly,

FIG. 6

includes a distributor mailing address area


612


which is a mirror image of the positioning of distributor mailing address area


112


shown in originating sheet (Part I)


10


(FIGS.


2


and


3


). The distributor mailing address area


612


is a carbon spot that imparts the address information of the sender of the outgoing envelope shown in FIG.


7


.

FIG. 6

also includes a carbon spot


610


that corresponds in mirror image to customer return address area


110


shown in

FIGS. 2 and 3

.





FIG. 7

is a block diagram of a front face of Part IV, which forms a portion (the front sheet) of reply envelope


30


of the postal envelope form system of the present invention.

FIG. 7

depicts colored area


701


, and white areas which are a mirror image of carbon spots shown in FIG.


6


. Specifically,

FIG. 7

shows a customer return address area


710


, a distributor mailing address area


712


, and a FIM mark


740


as white areas. Note boxes


710


,


712


and


740


on

FIG. 7

are much larger than their twin image on FIG.


3


. This is necessary to ensure scanability. The white area provides high contrast with the information contained therein which was imparted by the carbon spots


610


,


612


, and


640


shown in FIG.


6


.

FIG. 7

is a front view of reply envelope


30


and therefore the positions of areas


710


,


712


, and


740


match with the positions of areas


110


,


112


, and


140


shown in

FIG. 1

; whereas the areas


610


,


612


, and


640


of

FIG. 6

are mirror imaged in comparison because

FIG. 6

is a back view.





FIG. 7

also includes direction area


750


which in this embodiment instruct the user of reply envelope


30


to “PLACE STAMP HERE The Post Office will not deliver mail without Postage.” The postage placed at or near direction area


750


is cancelled by post office processing equipment. The inclusion of FIM


740


and a delivery point barcode in address area


712


on reply envelope


30


allows the user of postal envelope form system


10


to qualify for additional postage. discounts credited upon payment for mailing outgoing envelope


20


, as long as other criteria are met. The other criteria include a threshold readability or accuracy level above which a percentage of the mailings sent by users must surpass. In the year 2000, 90% postal barcoding contained in mail-to address areas such as address area


712


must be scannable by postal processing equipment. If the 90% threshold is not meet, the discounts on postage are not given. These discounts can be approximately six cents per envelope which is quite significant when using business mailers to solicit payment for goods or services rendered from a very large number of customers.





FIG. 8

is a block diagram of a back face of Part IV, which forms the same portion of the reply envelope shown in mirror image of FIG.


7


.

FIG. 8

depicts security screened areas


802


, and shows block-out areas in solid dark blocks


810


,


812


and


840


which correspond to areas


710


,


712


and


740


in FIG.


7


. The security screened area


802


prevents information contained within reply envelope


30


from being either read or scanned through the paper of envelope


30


. Dark blocks


810


,


812


and


840


enhanced the scanability of the reply envelope address data in white block's


710


,


740


and


712


. Blocks


810


,


812


and


840


prevents any image of envelope contents or security pattern from showing through the front of the reply envelope. This prevents information contained in the reply envelope under the areas of


710


,


712


and


740


from being mistakenly scanned by postal processing equipment attempting to scan reply envelope


30


. It has been found that printing only the security screen without dark blocks


810


,


812


, and


840


, caused errors in scanning. Scanning errors were reducing the accuracy rate required to qualify for the best postage discounts. However by printing the dark blocks


810


,


812


and


840


the greatly improved to scan accuracy to well above the 90% requirement.





FIG. 8

also depicts a flap


880


, formed by line of weakness


885


and edge


886


, upon which moistenable glue is placed. Flap


880


can contain parallel lines of glue to better ensure that envelope


30


seals properly. Flap


880


also serves as a direction area The directions in this embodiment instruct the user to “MOISTEN THIS FLAP, THEN FOLD FLAP OVER TO SEAL.” Flap


880


folds about line


885


and attaches to the other portion of envelope


30


formed by Part V


500


. The directions in this embodiment also instruct the user to “Pull To Remove Contents.” The removal instruction is for separating the reply envelope


30


(Parts IV and V) and billing statement


300


(Part III) from outgoing envelope


20


. The separation is achieved in part due to lines of weakness formed before the various Parts I-VI are attached together. Specifically, line of weakness


883


is a perforation that allows easy separation by simply pulling reply envelope


30


(Parts IV and V) and billing statement


300


(Part III) from outgoing envelope


20


. Line of weakness


883


once completely weakened form the boundary of reply envelope


30


along with an edge


886


.





FIG. 9

is a block diagram of a front face Part V of the back of reply envelope


30


.

FIG. 9

depicts a security screened area


900


that prevents sensitive information contained within reply envelope


30


from being easily read through the sometimes transparent sheets of paper forming the various Parts of postal envelope form system


10


. An edge


902


is attached, such as by glue, to a correspond edge on the back of Part IV


400


shown in FIG.


8


. An edge


904


is left unattached so that an opening is formed in reply envelope


30


.





FIG. 10

is a block diagram of a back face of Part V, which is the outside of the other portion forming reply envelope


30


.

FIG. 10

depicts colored area


1002


and printed direction area


1004


. A flap


1006


formed by a line of weakness


1008


and an edge


1010


is glued to a front face of Part VI


600


so that when a tab of Part VI


600


is removed, flap


1006


is removed along with it. In the event that flap


1006


is not removed as intended, instructions reading “REMOVE” clearly tell the user what to do. The gummed flap referred to is that flap


880


mentioned above in conjunction with FIG.


8


.





FIG. 11

is a block diagram of a back face of Part VI, which is the outside of the other portion of outgoing envelope


20


shown in FIG.


4


.

FIG. 11

depicts a colored area


1102


, a direction area


1104


and a fast pull tab


1111


for opening the outgoing envelope


20


. Direction area


1104


instruct the recipient of outgoing envelope


20


how to operate fast pull tab


1111


: “TO OPEN—LIFT TAB AND SLOWLY PULL TO YOUR RIGHT.” Tab


1111


includes an unattached portion


1112


which can be lifted easily to grasp and pull tab


1111


at a line of weakness


1114


. Although the instructions indicate that the user is to pull to their right, the tab is located on the bottom (and printed upside down) relative to the orientation of the writing on the front faces of outgoing envelope


20


and reply envelope


30


.




This location and orientation of tab


1111


is significant in many respects. The location of tab


1111


on the bottom and back of outgoing envelope


30


(as oriented by the writing on envelopes


20


and


30


) allows the return address areas of envelopes


20


and


30


to be positioned at the uppermost edge since there is no interference with a conventionally placed folding closure flap. In other words, in conventional envelopes, the closure flap is placed at the top which would force the return address to be positioned only as high as the folding line. In the present invention, the position, location and orientation of tab


1111


does not force the return address of the outgoing envelope to be lowered. This allows a greater amount of information to be imaged on the various parts of postal envelope form system


10


.




Furthermore, tab


1111


is constructed with unattached portion


1112


and perforation


1114


to reduce damage by the U.S. Postal Service equipment to the contents of outgoing envelope


20


such as ripping or tearing the billing statement (Part III)


300


or reply envelope


30


.




Similarly, reply envelope


30


has flap


880


located at the bottom which allows the return address area


710


(

FIG. 7

) to be positioned uppermost (within certain tolerances) on reply envelope


30


. This allows a greater area for message areas


116


(FIGS.


2


and


3


), message area


316


(FIG.


5


), and response detail areas


114


and


314


.




Having fully described postal envelope form system


10


above, a few additional points should be made to elaborate on how system


10


came to be developed to provide certain advantages and meet various needs identified in the industry. First, narrow carriage impact printers have limitations that the design had to overcome, one being the maximum width of the form being ten inches. Second, the striking force of impact printer's print head limits the number and weight paper being used. Third, the print speed of narrow carriage printers is slow compared to other options.




The design of the present invention overcomes these limitations. The form is kept as small as possible to limit wasted motion of the print head, to fit within narrow carriage impact printers, to fit size dimension standards of the post office, and to weigh approximately less than one ounce. Managing the strike force of the impact printer head was achieved by the combination of paper weights and characteristics. This management proved to be vital when addressing both narrow carriage printer capabilities and postal requirements.




Designing system


10


on a small format that provides complete information to both the businesses and their customer was very challenging. Yet, system


10


provides complete return address and mail-to address information on both the outgoing and the business reply envelopes


20


and


30


. The billing statement (Part III)


300


has a vertical perforation that separates the sheet into remittance copy


360


and customer copy


364


, both of which have complete information due to the careful positioning of areas throughout the various parts. The information on both portions includes: (1) name and address of sender; (2) name and address of customer; (3) detailed information on the customer copy; (4) response information on the billing statement; (5) account numbers on both portions; (6) postal barcoding on each envelope; and (7) the FIM mark on the reply envelope.




System


10


is very flexible in that it allows postage indicia to be printed thereon, or a stamp or metered postage to be used. FIM marks are not required on all mail, and system


10


allows FIM mark to be imaged or not imaged. When used, FIM marks have been tested in postal processing equipment and achieved a 99.9% readability rate. System


10


also allows postal barcoding to be printed when desired.




Furthermore, postal endorsements are required periodically and several options are available to post office customers. These endorsements come with various costs charges by the post office and each one has differing verbiage. The post office requires use of such endorsements once every six months, however, postal customers using system


10


can use the endorsements monthly if they choose. Complete freedom of which endorsement is used, how frequently it is used, or use of a different endorsement on each mailing is possible using system


10


. Additional flexibility is provided by choosing which color system


10


will be.




Contrast is an important element of being able to read the address and postal barcoding on the envelopes by the post office scanning equipment. System


10


takes advantage of this by focussing the scanner's attention to the vital data area These areas are the mail-to address, return address, the FIM mark, and postage permit area. These areas are white only, or other highly contrasting combinations of colored area and colored information therein. The boxes that form these focal areas allow {fraction (1/10)}


th


of an inch free space around the data image area. The post office standards require {fraction (1/25)}


th


of an inch free space around all scannable data. Thus, system


10


exceeds these requirements. This is seen in originating sheet


100


where the colored portions are located between addresses


102


and


110


, between areas


114


and


116


,


112


and


104


and between postage permit


106


and area


114


. The balance of the surface is printed in an ink color which causes reduced contrast. The post office scanners find the data in the high contrast areas.




Locating the postal barcoding in the mail-to address areas in envelopes


20


and


30


is also very important. In a main embodiment, the barcode must be the first line printed, and is located at the very top of the address box as seen in

FIG. 3

in areas


104


and


112


. This moves the barcode up and out of the way of the post office handling equipment that is most viscous to the area which otherwise smudges the barcode. The positioning shown in

FIG. 3

improved readability of the barcode from 60% to 98% after six passes through the postal equipment. The business reply envelope address is located above the outgoing address area which protects the barcode and address information therein from similar damage. The reading results of the business reply envelope is 95% after going through the postal equipment 12 times.




Another important feature of system


10


is the block-out patterns which are printed on the inside of the envelopes. This prevents data or information contained within the envelope from being scanned and interfering with barcodes or address lines. The fine screened box of system


10


appears to be solid to scanners, so there is no mistaking a pattern as information.




The positioning of tab


1111


on the bottom backside of the envelope is also very important to the success of system


10


. First, locating tab


1111


on the bottom of the envelope


30


permits variable information to be imaged to the very top of the form. This allow the complete form design to be moved up to the very top of the envelope. The top is the ideal position for the return address information for the outgoing and reply envelopes


20


and


30


, FIM


740


, and postal indicia


106


. This change allows the postal barcode to be moved up out of the way of the post office equipment in order to limit damage and smearing to improve readability.




Orientation of tab


1111


was also very important to damage control resulting from post office processing equipment. Tab


1111


is best located behind the left side of the face of the envelope


20


; in other words, on the right side facing the back of envelope


20


. This orientation prevents the tab


1111


from accidentally being snagged and opened while traveling through the postal equipment.




Crumple damage control of the right vertical edge of system


10


is also important. Post office equipment has a catch or bar stop that blocks the envelope path when the envelope hits the stop. The impact of envelopes


20


and/or


30


against the catch can cause crumple damage to the mail piece. This damage can lead to the ordinary mailers being further damaged or destroyed by postal handling equipment. System


10


reinforces the right edge


40


to minimize crumple damage.




Lastly, the paper weights and characteristics have been selected very carefully after much research and experimentation. The combination described herein yields durability and strength, while allowing imaging through all parts. Other paper weight combinations can be used, as various other combinations have been tested. However, the combination of types and characteristics provided herein represent the best mode known to date.




In summary, system


10


provides readable by postal scanners of barcode and address information on both outgoing and reply envelopes higher than the requirement established by the year 2000 goal of 90% accuracy. Solid blocks such as found blocks


840


,


810


and


812


can also be applied to standard envelopes (e.g., only a single envelope not necessarily contained in a system) to improve postal scanning of alpha numeric address information. System


10


provides an ergonomic design of forms, which reduces injury to users hands and arms from repetitive manual bursting. This is accomplished this by weakening the pinfeed and between form perforations by using perforation that have wider cuts and narrower ties between perforations. This weak perforation requirement for the purpose of protecting the health of the user and the employees has never been accomplished before.




System


10


is extremely flexible and user friendly. For instance customers can change addresses without concern of form cost.




System


10


establishes focal points on both outgoing and reply envelopes in the form of white boxes which contain the variable data in the form of to and from addresses, delivery point barcodes and FIM mark. These focal points helps the postal equipment to find, read and sort with a very high degree of accuracy approaching 100%. Managing printer impact on system


10


to achieve a scan accuracy of almost 100% required careful selection of paper weights. The fundamentals of this invention can be applied to an unlimited array of form requirements and sizes. This system is very flexible. While this invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and :equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. For example, fewer than six parts could be used while still imparting substantially the same information on the number of parts actually used. Additionally, another embodiment of the present invention would replace the originating sheet with an electronically stored version of the information contained on the originating sheet, thereby allowing fewer than six parts to be used. Furthermore, it is envisioned that equivalents of the specific paper types and weights combinations could be readily used to achieve transfer of information through the number of parts used in an embodiment. Alternatively, when greater than six parts are used, adjustment of part weights and types are necessary to image through the parts, depending on printer strike force. Similarly, improvements in either impact printers and/or postal processing equipment in use may bring about equivalent embodiments, as long as the printer used is able to legibly impart the information that is readable/scannable by the postal processing equipment.




The tab


1111


of

FIG. 11

has at its right end a tab portion


1111




a


which the person who has received the outgoing envelope in the mail holds between his or her thumb and forefinger. The tab portion


1111




a


is, however, in the prior art, in close contact with area


370


and flap


880


of the Billing Statement and reply envelope (see FIGS.


5


and


8


). An inexperienced person, in the absence of the present invention, might grab both the tab portion


1111




a,




370


and


880


and then pull on them thus causing serious damage to the reply envelope and billing statement.




With the present invention, the problem described above is overcome. Instead of the back-side


701


(

FIG. 7

) of the reply envelope and the front side of

FIG. 5

area


370


lower left corner being a complete rectangle (as it is shown in my aforesaid prior application Ser. No. 09/328,417), it has two triangular portions


370


,


770


and


775


of it removed as shown in

FIGS. 5 and 7

. This removes the parts of the reply envelope, and of the billing statement, that may be grabbed accidentally by the inexperienced person, and solves the problem.





FIG. 12

shows a prior art outgoing return envelope. The outgoing envelope


1205


has a tab


1208


having a portion


1209


which is adapted to be pinched, held or grasped by a human hand (finger and thumb). After the tab portion


1209


is tightly held by a hand it is pulled to open the envelope


1205


. However, the upper left hand corner


1210


of a billing statement and/or of a flap on the return envelope is available. Since the corner


1210


may curl or be only loosely against whatever is under it, it may easily be mistakenly grasped by a person attempting to get his or her finger and thumb in pinching position on the tab portion


1209


. As a result the billing statement and/or flap, as the case may be, may be damaged or ruined when a person pulls the tab portion


1209


to remove the tab


1208


.





FIG. 13

shows one way that this invention overcomes the problem described in connection with FIG.


12


. Although my invention has the tab


1311


adjacent to and extending along the lower longitudinal edge of the back side of the outgoing envelope


1305


, it is also applicable to tabs along the top of the envelope as shown in FIG.


12


.




In

FIG. 13

, the billing statement


1307


does not have the usual lower right hand corner, but there is a die cut along line


1307




a.


Similarly, the flap (that is used to close an envelope) of the reply envelope has a die cut along line


1307




b.


As a result, the pointed corners of the billing statement and the reply envelope have been cut off.




The billing statement and reply envelope of

FIG. 13

are far less likely to be damaged than the ones shown in

FIG. 12

, since the corner is replaced by a slanted line. The lower right parts of the billing statement and of the flap of the reply envelope of

FIG. 13

are much more likely to lie flat than the corners of those components as shown in FIG.


12


.





FIG. 14

shows a modified form of my invention wherein billing statement


1407




a


and flap


1407




b


(of the return envelope) have been cut back even more than was done in

FIG. 13

, so that those parts do not even extend under the tab portion (which is held or pinched) at all.





FIG. 15

is a further modified form in which the billing statement


1507




a


and reply envelope


1504




b


remain as full rectangles, but the tab portion


1509


of tab


1511


has been moved so far to the left that the corners


1510


of the flap of the return envelope and of the billing statement are out of the paths of a finger and thumb moving into a position where they will pinch the tab portion


1509


.



Claims
  • 1. A postal envelope system, comprising:an outgoing envelope having a front side and a pocket, said outgoing envelope having a tear strip which may be pinched and pulled to open said outgoing envelope, said tear strip having a face, longitudinal edges and terminating in an end, a sheet of material in said pocket, said sheet having a portion thereof that has a face that is contiguous with said face of said tear strip, said portion comprising means, having an edge that is at an acute angle to a longitudinal edge of said tear strip, for reducing the possibility that said sheet will be pinched and pulled when said tear strip is pinched and pulled to open the outgoing envelope.
  • 2. A postal envelope system as defined in claim 1, in which said outgoing envelope has a lower back side and in which said sheet has a lower end, and in which said portion of said sheet is adjacent said lower back side of said outgoing envelope.
  • 3. A postal envelope system as defined in claim 2, in which said sheet is a billing statement.
  • 4. A postal envelope system as defined in claim 2, in which said sheet is part of a return envelope.
  • 5. A postal envelope system as defined in claim 4, in which said part includes a flap on said return envelope.
  • 6. A postal envelope system as defined in claim 1, in which said sheet is a billing statement.
  • 7. A postal envelope system as defined in claim 1, in which said sheet is a part of a return envelope.
  • 8. A postal envelope system as defined in claim 7, in which said part includes a flap on said return envelope.
  • 9. A postal envelope system as defined in claim 1, in which said angle is 45 degrees.
  • 10. A postal envelope system, comprising:an outgoing envelope having a pocket, a front side, top and bottom edges and left and right end edges, said outgoing envelope having a tear strip extending adjacent to, as well as parallel to, one of said edges, said tear strip terminating in an end which when pinched and pulled opens the pocket of said outgoing envelope, said tear strip having a first portion thereof which includes most of the length of said strip and a second portion thereof adjacent said end of said tear strip, a return envelope located in said pocket of said outgoing envelope, said return envelope having a flap which, when the outgoing envelope is held in a position in which said front side is horizontal and facing downwardly, extends parallel to and under said first portion of said tear strip; said flap having a portion thereof cut-away and which would have been contiguous with said second portion of said tear strip if it had not been cut-away, said second portion of said flap comprising means, for reducing the possibility that said flap will be pinched and pulled when the outgoing envelope is opened by pinching and pulling said tear strip.
  • 11. A postal envelope system as defined in claim 10, in which said cut-away portion is triangular in shape.
  • 12. A postal envelope system, comprising:an outgoing envelope having a pocket, said outgoing envelope having front and rear faces, a sheet of paper, positioned in said pocket, and having right and left ends each of which terminates in an edge, said sheet having a face, said outgoing envelope including a tear strip having one end which if pinched and pulled will open said outgoing envelope, said tear strip having longitudinal edges, said tear strip, having a face that is contiguous with said face of said sheet, said sheet having a portion thereof cut-away so that said sheet constitutes means for reducing the possibility that said sheet will be torn when said tear strip is pinched and pulled, said cut-away portion would have been at least partly contiguous with and adjacent to said one end if said cut-away portion had remained a part of said sheet.
  • 13. A postal envelope system as defined in claim 12, in which said cut-away portion is triangular in shape.
  • 14. A postal envelope system as defined in claim 12, in which said sheet is a billing statement.
  • 15. A postal envelope system as defined in claim 12, in which said sheet is part of a return envelope.
  • 16. A postal envelope system as defined in claim 15, in which said part includes a flap of said return envelope.
US Referenced Citations (18)
Number Name Date Kind
3650463 Christiansen et al. Mar 1972 A
3988971 Steidinger Nov 1976 A
4081127 Steidinger Mar 1978 A
4095695 Steidinger Jun 1978 A
4157759 Dicker Jun 1979 A
4166539 Allen et al. Sep 1979 A
RE30114 Juszak et al. Oct 1979 E
4212396 Allen et al. Jul 1980 A
4425386 Chang Jan 1984 A
4586611 Scalzo May 1986 A
4775094 Eisele Oct 1988 A
4819807 Giger Apr 1989 A
4934536 Mills Jun 1990 A
4955526 Haase et al. Sep 1990 A
5039000 Ashby Aug 1991 A
5282568 File Feb 1994 A
5324927 Williams Jun 1994 A
5341985 Peterson Aug 1994 A
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number Date Country
664941 Apr 1988 CH