This patent relates to point of sale envelopes and, more specifically, to point of sale envelopes and methods of producing the same.
Envelopes may be designed to contain a flat object, such as a letter or card.
Certain examples are shown in the above-identified figures and described in detail below. In describing these examples, like or identical reference numbers are used to identify the same or similar elements. The figures are not necessarily to scale and certain features and certain views of the figures may be shown exaggerated in scale or in schematic for clarity and/or conciseness. Additionally, several examples have been described throughout this specification. Any features from any example may be included with, a replacement for, or otherwise combined with other features from other examples. As used herein, the terms left and right are used for brevity and clarity and are by no means limiting.
The examples disclosed herein relate to envelopes, such as point of sale envelopes, and/or an apparatus that may be used to return money and/or receipts to a customer after, for example, a retail purchase. In some examples, the envelopes are formed using a substrate that is cut, creased, perforated, scored, folded and/or glued in an in-line process. In some examples, the envelopes include a money holder and/or pocket without side seams into which a purchaser's change (e.g., paper and/or coin currency) and/or receipt(s) may be placed and/or positioned. In some such examples, the pocket may be relatively easily opened with one hand. In some examples, after the change and/or receipt is positioned in the pocket, the person (e.g., cashier) can fold the envelope about a fold line and/or score. In some examples, the envelopes may be printed to include a coupon, a peel out coupon, a contest feature and/or lottery advertisements and/or other indicia.
In some examples, the envelopes are formed by printing and/or imaging a substrate and die cutting the printed substrate to form a blank having a cut(s), a crease(s), a perforation(s), a score(s), a fold line(s), a cut/crease line(s) and, more generally, one or more lines of weakness. To form such an example envelope, adhesive and/or glue may be applied to an upper left panel and a portion of a lower left panel. The left panel may be folded about a fold line and/or line of weakness to couple the left panel to the right panel. In some examples, to form a cut-out of the envelope to enable contents of the envelope to be viewable, a portion of an upper right panel is die cut and/or removed. In some examples, to form an opening to the pocket, the left panel, which is coupled to the right panel, may be die cut (e.g., kiss die cut). To use such an example envelope, currency and/or a receipt (e.g., contents) may be positioned within the pocket and upper and lower portions of the envelope are folded about a fold line and/or line of weakness to enable the contents to be viewable through the cut-out.
In other examples, an example envelope is formed by applying adhesive and/or glue to an upper right panel and a portion of a lower right panel. In some such examples, a portion of the upper right panel may be knocked-out and/or not receive the adhesive and/or glue. The right panel may be folded about a fold line and/or line of weakness to couple the right panel to a central panel. Adhesive and/or glue may be applied to an upper left panel and a lower left panel. The left panel may be folded about a fold line and/or line of weakness to couple the left panel to the right panel. In some examples, to form an opening to the pocket and/or a removable portion (e.g., a coupon), the central panel, which is coupled to the right and left panels, may be scored, perforated and/or die cut (e.g., kiss die cut). While the above example describes the envelope including one removable portion, the example envelopes may not include the removable portion and/or include more than one removable portion. To use such an example envelope, currency and/or a receipt (e.g., contents) may be positioned within the pocket and/or the removable portion may be removed by tearing along a card-shaped line of weakness (e.g., perforation).
In other examples, an example envelope may be formed by applying adhesive and/or glue to an upper left panel and a portion of a lower left panel. The left panel may be folded about a fold line and/or line of weakness to couple the left panel to a central panel. In some examples, to form a cut-out of the envelope to enable contents of the envelope to be viewable, an upper portion of the left and central panels are die cut and/or removed. In some examples, to form an opening to the pocket, the left panel, which is coupled to the central panel, may be die cut (e.g., kiss die cut) such that the opening to the pocket is spaced apart from the removed portion. To use such an example envelope, currency and/or a receipt (e.g., contents) may be positioned within the pocket and a right panel may be folded about a fold line and/or line of weakness relative to the central and left panels.
In some examples, during operation, the substrate mover 102 feeds one or more pieces of substrate and/or a web of substrate into the apparatus 100. In some examples, the imager 104 images a first and/or a second side of the substrate. The images may include brand-related images and/or text, advertisement related images and/or text, instructional images and/or text, etc. However, in other examples, the apparatus 100 does not include in the imager 104 and, thus, the substrate is imaged at a different location and/or the substrate is not imaged.
The die cutter 106 may die cut the substrate to form a blank (e.g., a rectangular blank) and/or a waste matrix and the lines of weakness creator 108 may form one or more lines of weakness on the first and/or second sides of the blank using a die(s), a cutting tool(s), a scoring tool(s), a slotting tool(s), etc. The gluers 110, 112 may apply glue to one or more portions of the blank and the folding stations 114, 116 may fold the blank along one or more lines of weakness to form the point of sale envelope. In some examples, the die cutter(s) 107 may die cut the point of sale envelope to remove a cut-out portion and/or to provide an opening to a pocket into which contents (e.g., currency, receipts, etc.) may be positioned. The stacker 118 may stack point of sale envelopes for packaging, etc.
As shown in
In some examples, to form a first opening 302 to a pocket 304, the left panel 203, which is coupled to the right panel 204, may be die cut (e.g., kiss die cut) to form the fourth line of weakness 216. The pocket 304 includes the first opening 302 and a second opening 452. In the illustrated example, the first opening 302 is substantially perpendicularly positioned relative to the second opening 452. As shown in
Alternatively, some or all of the example processes of
The process may then be determined whether or not to apply glue to another portion(s) of the blank and/or to fold along another line(s) of weakness (blocks 812, 814). For example, to form the example envelope 500, glue may be applied to the left panel and the left panel may be folded relative to the central and/or right panels. One or more lines of weakness may then be formed in the blank and/or the envelope (block 816). For example, in the example of
A folder may fold the first panel about a first fold line to couple the first panel to a second panel of the substrate (block 906) and an opening to a pocket in the first panel may be formed (blocks 906, 908). In some examples, the opening is defined by kiss-die cutting the first panel and the pocket is formed by the second panel and a third and/or non-glued portion of the first panel between the first and second portions. The opening may be formed such that the opening and/or its associated line of weakness lies substantially parallel to a direction of movement of the substrate.
A die and/or cutter, etc. may remove a cut-out from the substrate (block 910). In some examples, the cut-out is be formed by die-cutting the first and second panels and/or die-cutting the second panel. In examples in which the cut-out is formed by die cutting the first and second panels, an edge of the cut-out may be spaced apart from the opening to the pocket. A lines of weakness creator may form a line of weakness in the substrate (blocks 912). The line of weakness may be substantially parallel to the direction of movement of the substrate, substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of the substrate and/or between the second and the third panel. In examples in which the substrate includes the first panel, the second panel and the third panel, a size of the panels may be substantially similar and/or the same. In examples in which the substrate includes the first panel and the second panel, a size of the panels may be different.
A gluer may apply adhesive and/or glue to a third panel of the substrate and a folder may fold the third panel about a second fold line to couple the third panel to the first panel (blocks 1008, 1010). A die and/or cutter, etc. may form an opening to a pocket in the second panel (block 1012). In some examples, the opening is formed by kiss-die cutting the second panel and the pocket is formed by the second panel and a third and/or non-glued portion of the first panel between the first and second portions. The opening may be formed such that the opening and/or its associated line of weakness lies substantially parallel to a direction of movement of the substrate. A lines of weakness creator may form one or more lines of weakness in the second panel and/or the substrate (block 1014). The lines of weakness may be a card-shaped line of weakness in the second panel. In examples in which the substrate includes the card-shaped line of weakness, a portion of the first portion that corresponds to the card-shaped line of weakness may be knocked out, receive a varnish and/or not receive glue and/or adhesive to substantially prevent a card defined by the card-shaped line of weakness from permanently adhering thereto.
The processor platform 1100 of the illustrated example includes a processor 1112. The processor 1112 of the illustrated example is hardware. For example, the processor 1112 can be implemented by one or more integrated circuits, logic circuits, microprocessors or controllers from any desired family or manufacturer.
The processor 1112 of the illustrated example includes a local memory 1113 (e.g., a cache). The processor 1112 of the illustrated example is in communication with a main memory including a volatile memory 1114 and a non-volatile memory 1116 via a bus 1118. The volatile memory 1114 may be implemented by Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), RAMBUS Dynamic Random Access Memory (RDRAM) and/or any other type of random access memory device. The non-volatile memory 1116 may be implemented by flash memory and/or any other desired type of memory device. Access to the main memory 1114, 1116 is controlled by a memory controller.
The processor platform 1100 of the illustrated example also includes an interface circuit 1120. The interface circuit 1120 may be implemented by any type of interface standard, such as an Ethernet interface, a universal serial bus (USB), and/or a PCI express interface.
In the illustrated example, one or more input devices 1122 are connected to the interface circuit 1120. The input device(s) 1122 permit a user to enter data and commands into the processor 1012. One or more output devices 1024 are also connected to the interface circuit 1120 of the illustrated example. interface circuit 1020 of the illustrated example, thus, typically includes a graphics driver card.
The interface circuit 1120 of the illustrated example also includes a communication device such as a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver, a modem and/or network interface card to facilitate exchange of data with external machines (e.g., computing devices of any kind) via a network 1126 (e.g., an Ethernet connection, a digital subscriber line (DSL), a telephone line, coaxial cable, a cellular telephone system, etc.).
The processor platform 1100 of the illustrated example also includes one or more mass storage devices 1128 for storing software and/or data. Examples of such mass storage devices 1028 include floppy disk drives, hard drive disks, compact disk drives, Blu-ray disk drives, RAID systems, and digital versatile disk (DVD) drives.
The coded instructions 1132 of
As set forth herein, an example method includes moving a substrate in a direction. The substrate has a first side opposite a second side. The method includes applying adhesive to the second side of a first portion and a second portion of a first panel of the substrate. The first portion is spaced apart from the second portion. The method includes folding the first panel about a first fold line to couple the first panel to a second panel of the substrate and forming an opening to a pocket in the first panel. The pocket is defined by the second panel and a third portion of the first panel. The third portion is positioned between the first and second portions.
In some examples, the method includes forming a line of weakness in the substrate between the second panel and a third panel. The line of weakness is substantially perpendicular to the direction. The second panel is positioned between the first panel and the third panel. In some examples, the line of weakness includes a score. In some examples, first panel, the second panel, and the third panel are substantially the same size. In some examples, the method includes removing a portion of the first and second panels to define a cut-out. An edge defining the cut-out spaced apart from the opening to the pocket. In some examples, the method includes inserting contents into the pocket to enable a portion of the contents to be viewable through the cut-out. In some examples, the third portion does not include glue. In some examples, the opening is substantially parallel to the direction.
In some examples, the method includes forming a line of weakness in substrate. The line of weakness is substantially parallel to the direction. In some examples, the line of weakness comprises a score. In some examples, the first panel and the second panel are different sizes. In some examples, the method includes removing a portion of the second panel to define a cut-out. In some examples, the method includes inserting contents into the pocket to enable a portion of the contents to be viewable through the cut-out.
An example method includes moving a substrate in a direction. The substrate includes a first side opposite a second side. The method includes applying adhesive to the second side of a first portion and a second portion of a first panel of the substrate. The first portion is spaced apart from the second portion. The method includes folding the first panel about a first fold line to couple the first panel to a second panel of the substrate and forming an opening to a pocket in the second panel. The pocket is defined by the second panel and a third portion of the first panel. The third portion is positioned between the first and second portions.
In some examples, the method includes applying adhesive to the second side of a third panel of the substrate. The second panel positioned between the first panel and the third panel. In some examples, the method includes folding the third panel about a second fold line to couple the second panel to the first panel. In some examples, the method includes forming a line of weakness in substrate, the line of weakness being substantially parallel to the direction. In some examples, the line of weakness comprises a score. In some examples, the method includes forming a card-shaped line of weakness in the second panel. In some examples, the method includes knocking out a portion of the first portion to correspond to the card-shaped line of weakness.
Although certain example methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture have been described herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is not limited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers all methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture fairly falling within the scope of the claims of this patent.