Combination Record And Envelope Assembly With Severable Receipt

Abstract

A combination record, envelope and severable receipt structure defined by four sheets of paper or the like and for use in operations such as banking operations wherein a deposit or the like may be inserted in and sealed within the envelope with the record sheet remaining with the envelope to record the deposit and the receipt sheet being severed from the structure to be retained by the depositor. Two separate sheets, one longer than the other, define an envelope, the longer sheet including an envelope flap with adhesive means thereon for sealing against the shorter sheet. Secured to one side of such envelope structure is an indicia bearing record sheet having a line of perforation adjacent one marginal edge. A receipt sheet, having indicia on one side thereof is secured to the rear side of the record sheet and has marginal edges recessed from corresponding marginal edges of the record sheet. The latter is also secured to the envelope structure in such a way that the marginal edges of the receipt sheet are free from the resulting configuration so that, by breaking the structure along the line of perforation, the receipt sheet may be severed therefrom for retention by the person using the structure.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to envelope structures, and more particularly, to an envelope structure including a non-severable record sheet and a severable receipt sheet.

Many types of transactions involving exchange of tangible items can be most efficiently handled by depositing the item in an envelope and sealing the same and providing a record accompanying the envelope for use by the receiver of the items and a receipt for the person giving up possession of the items. Typical businesses making use of such a procedure include banks in the case of deposits, pawn brokers in accepting goods to be pawned, etc.

Frequently, three separate items have been required, namely, an envelope, a record slip and a receipt slip. Use of three separate items has proven unwieldy in that a number of manual acts are required. Specifically, it may be necessary to manually interpose a carbon sheet between the record sheet and the receipt sheet so that both may be filled in simultaneously, or, in the alternative, both must be filled in separately. Additionally, it has been necessary to perform the positive act of securing the record sheet to the envelope either externally as by a staple or by inserting the same within the envelope. Of course, subsequent monitoring requires in the latter instance that the envelope be opened and the record sheet retrieved therefrom, which adds still another step to the processing effort.

To simplify this process, prior art structures have been united to provide a single combination record, envelope and severable receipt assembly. In particular, stuffed, sealed envelopes of the type disclosed in commonly owned United States Letters Patent No. 3,104,799 to Steidinger have been glued to continuous form envelope structures of the type marketed under the trademark "CONVELOPE." In such a case, the record ply referred to in the Steidinger patent is omitted and the face of the stuffed, sealed envelope serves as the record sheet, while the insert therein serves as a receipt sheet which may be severed from the assembly by opening the Steidinger sealed envelope. The CONVELOPE structure secured thereto serves as an envelope for receipt of the items to be transferred.

Such structures, while providing an advantage over prior procedures, have the difficulty that they are relatively thick due to the presence of the back ply of the Steidinger envelope and, thus, when packed, which normally will be the case, are rather bulky. In addition, the presence of the CONVELOPE structure may, in some instances, interfere with easy opening of the Steidinger envelope to sever the receipt from the assemblage.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is the principal object of the invention to provide a new and improved record, envelope and severable receipt assembly. More particularly, it is an object of the invention to provide such an assembly having a minimum of bulk, and which in use requires a minimum of manipulation in terms of both completing the record and receipt sheets as well as severing the receipt sheet from the assemblage.

The exemplary embodiment of the invention achieves the foregoing object in a structure including a record sheet, a receipt sheet and first and second envelope defining sheets.

The record sheet includes a line of weakening in the form of a line of perforation adjacent one edge thereof and has indicia on one face thereof which may be completed by the user of the assemblage. Immediately to the rear of the record sheet is a receipt sheet bearing similar indicia and means are provided for transferring information placed on the record sheet to the receipt sheet. The receipt sheet has one edge secured to the record sheet at a point in between the line of perforation and the edge adjacent thereto, while the remainder of the edges of the receipt sheet are recessed from the corresponding edges of the record sheet.

A first one of the envelope defining sheets is secured about approximately three marginal edges to the rear side of the record sheet adjacent the recessed edges of the receipt sheet so that the latter is free from such securing means. One edge of the first envelope defining sheet has a line of weakening closely adjacent thereto to define an envelope flap and the rear side of the flap is provided with a suitable adhesive. The second envelope defining sheet is approximately the same in size as the first envelope defining sheet less the area of the flap and is secured to the former about three marginal edges. As a result, an envelope having an opening adjacent the flap is provided and the flap may be folded along the line of weakening to seal the envelope.

In use, information may be inscribed on the record sheet with the result that the same will be transferred to the receipt. The items to be transferred may be placed in the envelope provided by the two envelope defining sheets and the flap closed and sealed. Thereafter, a stub of the record sheet may be separated from the remainder thereof along the perforation line with the result that the receipt sheet and the stub will remain united and may be severed from the assembly while the record sheet will remain secured to the envelope having the items to be transferred sealed therein.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following specification and drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective exploded view of a combination record envelope and severable receipt assembly made according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the assemblage showing the envelope sealed and the receipt partially separated from the remainder of the assembly;

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross sectional view across the width of the assembly; and

FIG. 4 is a schematic view in cross section taken approximately along the line 4--4 of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

An exemplary embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawings and is seen to be fabricated of a front, record sheet, generally designated 10, a severable receipt sheet, generally designated 12, a first envelope defining sheet, generally designated 14, and a second envelope defining sheet, generally designated 16.

According to the preferred embodiment, each of the sheets, 10-16 inclusive, may be defined by portions of separate plies assembled together by techniques known in the continuous form stationery art. For example, while only a single assembly is shown in the drawings, it is contemplated that each of the sheets may be provided with control punch margins at one or both edges (save for the receipt sheet 12 which would only have such a margin at its left edge) and which may be removed therefrom in a conventional manner. It is also contemplated that after fabrication according to continuous form stationery techniques, the separate assemblies may be separated from each other by lines of weakening transverse to the length of the plies forming the various sheets prior to shipment to a user, or in the alternative, may be shipped as continuous form stationery which may be burst by the user as desired to separate one assembly from the next. Inasmuch as such techniques are well-known in the art, they will not be discussed further herein.

Referring first to the record sheet 10, the same on one side thereof includes indicia 20 of the type that may be completed by the user of the assemblage. As illustrated in the drawings, the indicia is in form of deposit information as would be typically present if the assemblage were to be used in banking operations. Parallel to one marginal edge of the record sheet 10 is a line of weakening 22 normally in the form of perforations which define a removable stub 24. Typically, the stub 24 will have width on the order of about 1/2 inch.

The receipt sheet 12 includes indicia 26 on one face thereof which, for most uses, will be virtually identical to the indicia 20 on the record sheet and a glue line 28 adjacent one marginal edge of the receipt sheet 12 secures the latter to the stub 24 of the record sheet 10 so that the indicia 20 and the indicia 26 are in alignment with each other.

The assemblage is also provided with any suitable form of transfer means whereby when information is entered on the record sheet, the same information will be transferred simultaneously to the receipt sheet 12. The transfer means could comprise an intermediate ply of carbon paper of formation of the receipt sheet 12 out of impression paper such as the so-called "NCR" paper. Alternately, the transfer means could include spot carbon 29 on the rear side of the record sheet 10.

As can be seen in the drawings, the receipt sheet 12, at its left-hand edge, has a length approximately equal to that of the record sheet 10, but at a point to the right thereof a distance about equal to the width of the stub 24 is provided with an elongated dye-cut recess 30. A similar recess 30 is provided at the lower marginal edge of the receipt sheet 12 while a recess 32 is provided on the right hand margin. In other words, the overall width of the receipt sheet 12 is less than that of the record sheet 10 and the vast majority of the top to bottom length is less than that of the record sheet 10. The purpose of this construction is to allow easy severability of the receipt sheet 12 from the remainder of the structure as will be seen.

The first envelope defining sheet 14 is divided into a body 34 and a flap 36. According to the preferred embodiment, the two are separated by a line of weakening 38 adjacent the left-hand margin of the sheet 14. The line of weakening 38 may be defined by perforations or by a pressure-formed indentation and according to one embodiment of the invention is located inwardly from the left-hand margin a distance of about one inch.

The rear side of the flap 36 is provided with an adhesive 40. The adhesive 40 may be a moistenable type of adhesive or, in the alternative, a pressure sensitive adhesive normally covered by a tape which is removed by the user prior to sealing the envelope.

The first envelope defining sheet 14 will generally be identical in size and shape to the record sheet 10 and will include glue lines 42 about substantially the entirety of three marginal edges of the body 34, and specifically, the top, bottom and right-hand marginal edges. The glue lines 42 are located sufficiently close to the marginal edges so that the first envelope defining sheet 14 is secured directly to the record sheet 10, the glue lines 42 lying in the recesses 30 and 32 of the receipt sheet. Thus, the only securement of the receipt sheet to the assemblage is by the glue line 28 and at all other points, the same is free from the remainder of the assemblage.

The second envelope defining sheet 16 is of a size identical to the body 34 of the first envelope defining sheet 14 and is provided with glue lines 44 about three of its marginal edges, namely, the top, bottom and right-hand marginal edges for securing the same to the body 34 of the record sheet. As a result of the foregoing, and as best seen in FIG. 2, the flap 36 may be folded along the line of weakening 38 and adhesively secured to the rear side of the second envelope defining sheet 16 to seal the envelope defined by the sheets 14 and 16.

The assemblage may be conveniently used as follows. The information required may be entered manually or by means of a machine on the record sheet 10 which will result in a simultaneous entry of such information on the receipt sheet 12. The item to be transferred may be slipped between the envelope defining sheets 14 and 16 and the flap 36 folded about the line of weakening and adhesively secured to the rear side of the sheet 16 to seal the items to be transferred within the envelope. Thereafter, by exerting a force in the direction of an arrow 46 on the stub 24, the latter is severed along the line of weakening 22 from the remainder of the record sheet 10 and by reason of the presence of the glue line 28 securing the receipt sheet 12 to the stub 24, and the fact that all remaining marginal edges of the receipt sheet 12 are free from the assemblage, the receipt sheet 12 bearing recorded information relevant to the transaction is severed from the assemblage and may remain in the custody of the transferor. The sealed envelope with the record sheet may then be left in the custody of the transferee for further processing, etc.

It will be recognized that the severing of the receipt sheet from the assemblage may be accomplished by manual extraction or by machine if desired. It will also be recognized that there need not be absolute freedom of the marginal edges of the receipt sheet in the vicinity of the recesses 30 and 32 from the remainder of the assemblage. For example, extremely small ties could be provided to connect the same to part of or the entire remainder of the ply from which the receipt sheet 12 is formed and the invention is intended to encompass such variations thereof.

It will also be recognized that the term "glue lines" used herein is not to be restricted to continuous lines as such. For example, as is known in the art, glue lines may be defined by closely spaced glue dots extending along a line and frequently may be used in lieu of continuous lines; and the term as used herein is intended to encompass such variations.

Claims

1. A combination record, envelope and severable receipt structure comprising: a record sheet having indicia on one side thereof for receipt of information and including a line of weakening extending parallel to an edge thereof and in relatively close adjacency to said edge; a receipt sheet having indicia on one side thereof corresponding to at least some of the indicia on said record sheet, said receipt sheet having one marginal edge secured to the other side of said record sheet between said line of perforation and said edge thereof, said receipt sheet further being sized to have its remaining marginal edges recessed from the other marginal edges of said record sheet; means for transferring information entered onto said record sheet to said receipt sheet; and first and second envelope defining sheets, said first sheet being of substantially the same size as said record sheet and having the major portion of three marginal edges thereof secured to said other marginal edges of said record sheet in alignment with the recesses along said remaining marginal edges of said receipt sheet so that said remaining marginal edges of said receipt sheet are free from said record sheet and said first envelope defining sheet, said first envelope defining sheet, adjacent its remaining marginal edge, including a line of weakening defining therebetween an envelope flap, adhesive means on said envelope flap, said second envelope defining sheet corresponding approximately in size to that portion of said first envelope defining sheet defined by said marginal edges and said line of weakening, and being secured to said first envelope defining sheet about all of its marginal edges save for that adjacent said line of weakening to define a

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein said first and second envelope defining

3. Structure according to claim 2 wherein each of said securing means

4. The structure of claim 3 wherein said line of weakening on said first envelope defining sheet is spaced a greater distance from the adjacent marginal edge of said first envelope defining sheet than said record sheet line of weakening from said adjacent marginal edge on said record sheet.

5. A combination record, envelope and severable receipt structure comprising: means defining an envelope including a flap provided with means for sealing the envelope; a record sheet secured about substantially the entirety of three marginal edges to the face of said envelope to define a pocket therebetween, said record sheet further including a line of weakening closely adjacent and extending substantially parallel to the remaining marginal edge thereof to define a removable stub between said line of weakening and said remaining marginal edge, said record sheet further including indicia on the side thereof opposite said envelope; an insert within said pocket, said insert including indicia on a side thereof opposite said envelope and corresponding to at least some of the indicia on said record sheet and being aligned therewith, said insert serving as a severable receipt and being secured to said structure substantially only at said stub with the remainder thereof being substantially free within said pocket; and means for transferring information inscribed on said record sheet to said receipt sheet; whereby tangible items to be transferred may be sealed in said envelope and a record of the transfer made on said record sheet to accompany said envelope while allowing severing of said receipt with information thereon by removing said stub from said record sheet.