Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D27/00—Envelopes or like essentially-rectangular flexible containers for postal or other purposes having no structural provision for thickness of contents
  • B65D27/04—Envelopes or like essentially-rectangular flexible containers for postal or other purposes having no structural provision for thickness of contents with apertures or windows for viewing contents
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B31—MAKING ARTICLES OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER; WORKING PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER
  • B31B—MAKING CONTAINERS OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER
  • B31B70/00—Making flexible containers, e.g. envelopes or bags
  • B31B70/74—Auxiliary operations
  • B31B70/81—Forming or attaching accessories, e.g. opening devices, closures or tear strings
  • B31B70/82—Forming or attaching windows
  • B31B70/83—Cutting window openings
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B31—MAKING ARTICLES OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER; WORKING PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER
  • B31B—MAKING CONTAINERS OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER
  • B31B70/00—Making flexible containers, e.g. envelopes or bags
  • B31B70/74—Auxiliary operations
  • B31B70/81—Forming or attaching accessories, e.g. opening devices, closures or tear strings
  • B31B70/82—Forming or attaching windows
  • B31B70/826—Forming or attaching windows involving applying window patches
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B31—MAKING ARTICLES OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER; WORKING PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER
  • B31B—MAKING CONTAINERS OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER
  • B31B2150/00—Flexible containers made from sheets or blanks, e.g. from flattened tubes
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B31—MAKING ARTICLES OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER; WORKING PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER
  • B31B—MAKING CONTAINERS OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER
  • B31B2160/00—Shape of flexible containers
  • B31B2160/10—Shape of flexible containers rectangular and flat, i.e. without structural provision for thickness of contents
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B31—MAKING ARTICLES OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER; WORKING PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER
  • B31B—MAKING CONTAINERS OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER
  • B31B70/00—Making flexible containers, e.g. envelopes or bags
  • B31B70/74—Auxiliary operations
  • B31B70/81—Forming or attaching accessories, e.g. opening devices, closures or tear strings
  • B31B70/82—Forming or attaching windows

Definitions

• the present invention relates to enclosures containing printed information with a
• intermediates are then converted to ready-to-mail configuration by folding and/or sealing.
• this invention relates to envelopes and mailers having a cutout opening covered
• this invention relates to envelopes and mailers wherein a transparent window
• a transparent or translucent patch adhered to the envelope ply by an adhesive.
• This invention provides one means for avoiding problems associated with
• That invention provides a
• a window created by this means is not really transparent but is only
• present invention provides a fully transparent window, which is a marked
• the coplanar window of the present invention has no value or benefit over a
• the patch is larger than the cutout
• the see-through material covering the window does not overlap the ply from which
• the cutout is made, but is coplanar with it.
• the edges of the cutout are coplanar with it.
• see-through material abut the edges of the cutout and are adhered to these abutting edges.
• Mailer intermediates are manufactured either as single sheets or as a continuous
• the continuous web is zig zag
• the accumulated added thickness causes a distortion of the pack
• the present invention avoids this problem by providing a printer, such as a laser or ink jet printer, or into folding and sealing equipment.
• the adhesive does not extend completely to the edge of the envelope ply. Generally the adhesive does not extend completely to the edge of the envelope ply.
• the present invention avoids jam-ups in
• Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a typical V-fold mailer intermediate having a
• Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view of a conventional mailer intermediate taken along line
• Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view of one embodiment of the present invention, showing
• Fig. 4 is a plan view of a conventional envelope having a window cutout and a
• Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic side sectional view of one modular apparatus for
• Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic side sectional view of a variation of the apparatus depicted in
• FIG. 5 showing an apparatus for manufacturing articles of the present invention at high
• Figs. 7a through 7d are fragmentary cross sectional views of the continuous web
• Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic side sectional view of another suitable apparatus for
• Fig. 9 is a fragmentary cross sectional view of one embodiment of the present
• Fig. 10 is a diagrammatic side sectional view of yet another modular apparatus for
• Fig. 11 is a diagrammatic side sectional view showing a variation of the apparatus
• Fig. 12 is a fragmentary cross sectional view of the embodiment of the invention as
• FIG. 13 is a fragmentary cross sectional view of the embodiment of the invention as
• Fig. 14 is a fragmentary plan view of an envelope or mailer of this invention showing
• Fig. 15 is a fragmentary plan view of an envelope or mailer of this invention showing
• Fig. 16 is a fragmentary cross sectional view of an envelope or mailer of this
• Fig. 17 is a fragmentary cross sectional view of the envelope or mailer of Fig. 16
• Fig. 1 shows a conventional mailer intermediate 4 having a window 2 cut into the
• FIG. 2 shows a fragmentary cross sectional view taken along line a-a in Fig. 1 , or
• Adhesive 6 adheres the patch over the cutout.
• cutout is a common source of jam-ups in mail sorting operations.
• Fig. 4 shows a conventional envelope 7 having a window cutout 2 and a patch 3
• Figs. 3, 7d, 9, 12, and 13 show the essential elements of the mailer or envelope
• the window 22 is coplanar with the front ply 12 of the mailer or
• the edges of the window 22 are coextensive with the edges of the cutout in the
• the window are bonded to the edges of the cutout in the front ply of a mailing unit.
• the bond extends without interruption along the entire extent of the abutting edges.
• Fig. 3 shows bonding agent applied to only one surface of the abutting edges.
• the bonding agent itself may function as the bonding agent. In some cases the bonding agent may be applied
• the bonding agent may extend over
• bonding agent penetrate to some
• FIG. 5 shows a diagrammatic side sectional view of a suitable modular apparatus for
• Paper web 12 and film web 13 advance together from supply rolls (not shown) from
• the film ply and the paper ply are die
• Vacuum segment 17 holds
• removal chute 21 may be operatively connected to a vacuum source to facilitate chip removal.
• the window are picked up by the large vacuum cylinder 24 and the unused film web is carried
• the vacuum segment 17 of cylinder 24 encompasses the
• the web is carried by vacuum cylinder 24, it passes through curing module 26 where it is
• crosslinking polymerizable materials heat for fusing a powder, or whatever form of energy is
• Vacuum cylinders are shown in Figs. 5 and 6 because they are well known in certain
• vacuum belts instead of or in conjunction with vacuum cylinders. These perform a similar
• vacuum belt is conventionally a continuous loop stretched over at least two cylinders.
• belt is perforated by holes distributed over at least a portion of its area and at least a portion of
• Fig. 6 depicts a modular apparatus similar to that shown in Fig. 5. This variation is
• chip removal chute 21 removes the paper chip 20. As the web progresses, it is
• the extrusion head has the proper width and on-off cycle so that the
• extruded material just contacts the edges of each cutout.
• the extruded material serves as the
• bonding agent for the film window nested in each cutout and also forms a two-layer window.
• the extruded material is preferably a radiation curable acrylic prepolymer as described below
• thermoplastic but may be any suitable film-forming material.
• it may be a thermoplastic
• polymer such as polyethylene if the envelope or mailer is not intended for exposure to high
• thermoplastic film such as polyethylene is used, large energy input is not needed and module
• Fig. 8 shows a diagrammatic side sectional view of another suitable apparatus for
• cylinder 16 is also a vacuum cylinder by which chips 20 are carried around to chip removal
• polymerizable material 11 (a prepolymer formulation) is applied as a liquid film into each cutout 49.
• the continuous belt 44 has a surface comprised of non-stick material such as
• Teflon polytetrafluoroethylene
• silicone polymer a silicone polymer
• the cast films are about 1.0 to 1.4 mils thick, but may range from 0.6
• Fig 8 shows the prepolymer material being applied by the rotary screen method.
• Cylinders 50 and 51 comprise a patterned calendering station where high pressure can
• any overlap may cause an increase in total
• the calendering operation compresses any high points so that all
• Fig. 9 is a cross sectional view of the cast film window as produced by the process of
• FIG. 10 is diagrammatic side sectional view of yet another apparatus suitable for
• Paper chip 20 is then removed by a chip removal chute (not shown).
• the surface of the belt is comprised of a low
• a vacuum belt and support runner 35 comprises a vacuum chamber.
• Fig. 11 shows print cylinder 38 having raised print areas
• bonding agent is cast over the entire window
• each window has two layers, as shown in
• ply is preferably paper, but may be any convenient sheet material generally used for
• the window is preferably a transparent film material such as polyester or
• cellophane but may be any convenient sheet material, such as glassine, having sufficient transparency to allow reading address information written on a ply inside the envelope or
• the bonding agent may be an adhesive, such as a polymer latex, a resin-based hot
• melt a heat-cure prepolymer or a radiation-cure composition comprising a mixture of acrylic
• Such a liquid mixture of acrylic monomers and oligomers is
• heat resistant bonding agents be used in mailers which are to be imaged in laser printers
• Non-heat resistant bonding agents are adequate for envelopes which are not
• the window may
• thermography (as in the printing technique called thermography), and then fuse the powder with
• the polymerizable liquid may be any conventional formulation suitable for casting
• One suitable formulation comprises a mixture of acrylic monomers and
• oligomers and may include viscosity modifiers and free radical initiators.
• Such formulations may include viscosity modifiers and free radical initiators.
• beam radiation are typical of those which are suitable bonding agents for edge bonding of
• the window and the cutout be cut simultaneously with the same cutting
• the bonding agent is applied and cured, dried or set.
• Figs. 7a through 7d show a sequence of fragmentary cross sectional views of the paper
• bonding agent When bonding agent is applied and cured, dried, or set, its thickness may be such that
• Fig. 16 shows such an area where bonding agent 23 protrudes above the
• Fig. 17 shows the result of calendering (compression) so that the final
• the paper substrate 12, or the window material 22, or all three, to be compressed to be compressed.
• This invention includes cutouts with such smooth, straight sides,
• FIG. 14 is a fragmentary plan view of an envelope or mailer
• Fig. 15 is a fragmentary plan view of an envelope or mailer
• Serrated cuts provide for stronger bonds at the abutting edges between the window
• the invention comprises a mailing unit (envelope, mailer,
• a suitable process for manufacturing the mailing units of this invention may comprise
• cutouts are made through both plies at regularly spaced intervals along the length of the contiguous webs so that a chip of paper and a window of transparent material are simultaneously severed from the webs at each regular interval.
• edges of the windows of transparent material abut the edges of the cutouts in the plane of the
• the bonding agent to cause the bonding agent to be converted to a non-tacky solid, adhering
• polymer-forming liquid are applied into each cutout opening such that the liquid films make
• paper the intention is to include both paper and paper-like sheet materials.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Making Paper Articles (AREA)
• Wrappers (AREA)
• Bag Frames (AREA)
• Cartons (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=23077939

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Families Citing this family (2)

Family Cites Families (5)

• 2000
  • 2000-03-27 EP EP00918429A patent/EP1091882A2/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2000-03-27 AU AU39240/00A patent/AU3924000A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2000-03-27 WO PCT/US2000/008062 patent/WO2000058165A2/en not_active Ceased

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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