US3578791A - Envelope opener and advertising piece - Google Patents

Abstract

The combination of an envelope having a triangular cutout at one corner defining a slit into the interior at the corner, and an insert within the envelope with a tab extending out of the corner. The insert has a slice edge extending at an angle from the tab so that when the insert is pulled from the envelope by the tab extending through the slit in the corner as it is pulled relative to the envelope, the slide edge which extends downwardly from the tab will slice the edge of the envelope. The insert also has a hooked portion to loosely captivate a piece of planar material in the hooked portion to be dragged from the envelope when the insert is removed from the envelope to drop free and to catch the attention of the recipient of the envelope as it falls.

Description

United States Patent [72] Inventor George W. Davis 1379 Venetian Way, Miami, Fla. 33139 [2]] Appl. No. 15,604 [22] Filed Mar. 2, 1970 [45] Patented May 18, 1971 [54] ENVELOPE OPENER AND ADVERTISING PIECE 3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs. 52 us. c|.....' 229/85, 229/ 70, 229/68 si Int. Cl B65d 27/32, B43m 7/00 [50] Field of Search 229/70, 74, 68, 66, 85, 92.5

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,442,438 5/1969 Marban 229/85 Primary Examiner-David M. Bockenek Attorney-John Cyril Malloy ABSTRACT: The combination of an envelope having a triangular cutout at one corner defining a slit into the interior at the corner, and an insert within the envelope with a tab extending out of the comer. The insert has a slice edge extending at an angle from the tab so that when the insert is pulled from the envelope by the tab extending through the slit in the comer as it is pulled relative to the envelope, the slide edge which extends downwardly from the tab will slice the edge of the envelope. The insert also has a hooked portion to loosely captivate a piece of planar material in the hooked portion to be dragged from the envelope when the insert is removed from the envelope to drop free and to catch the attention of the recipient of the envelope as it falls.

ENVELOPE OPENER AND ADVERTISING PIECE In the past, it has been known to provide envelopes having a cutout portion and an insert within the envelope which has a tab that extends from the cutout portion, so that an edge of the envelope is adapted to be sliced open as the insert is pulled out of the envelope by pulling upon the tab portion. The present invention is of an improvement on such mailing pieces. Specifically, this invention provides for an envelope having a corner cutout to provide an opening through which there projects a corner or tab of the insert. The insert is sized for snug receipt within the envelope and includes a hook means on the card or insert to drag a captivated separate piece through the envelope to be released to fall free when the insert is pulled free and clear of the envelope. The falling piece is intended to attract the eye of the recipient, which is especially useful and desirable to arouse the curiosity of the recipient so that he will pay attention to the advertising materials comprising the piece which falls and the card.

It is, accordingly, an object of this invention to provide an improved self-opening mailer piece including an insert having a hook means and a tabbed portion extending through a opening at the corner of the envelope so that a piece captivated within the envelope is adapted to be dragged free of the envelope as it is opened and to fall free therefrom and to attract the attention of the user.

It is the general object of this invention to provide an improved inexpensive mailer piece which is adapted to be used for sending advertising materials to a customer or the like and which includes and insert adapted to travel an advertising piece through the envelope to fall free and clear of the envelope and to attract the attention of the user.

It is the general object of this invention to provide an improved device of the type described herein which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and duplicate.

In accordance with these and other objects which will become apparent hereinafter, the instant invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the envelope and insert with the hidden portions of the insert and the captivated piece being illustrated in dotted lines;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to that of FIG. 1 with the removal movement of the insert first being initiated;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 and showing the removal of the insert at an advanced stage; and

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating the forewithdrawal of the insert from the envelope and the release of the piece which falls freely from the open bottom of the insert as it clears the envelope.

Referring to the drawings wherein like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, there is shown in FIG. 1, for instance, an envelope 12 having an open comer 14, preferably at the upper left, as shown, the opening being defined by a cut diagonally across the corner so as to sever a slant edge of a diagonal slit in the front and rear panels 16 and 18. The envelope may be of any conventional size, and in a preferred embodiment is a windowtype envelope.

An insert card 20 is provided, said card having a main area or portion 21 sized for snug receipt within the interior 22 of the envelope. The main portion of the insert card is characterized by a height dimension h and a lateral dimension d. The height dimension h preferably is of a substantially slightly foreshortened area relative to the area of the envelope if it did not have the cutout portion at the corner, and in any event, the height and length are such that when the card is within the envelope, the comer 24 of the card which coincides with the cutout corner of the envelope extends through the slit and is accessible from the exterior of the card providing a tabbed portion of the card. The card is of a stiff material relative to that of the envelope and is characterized by an inherent resiliency when folded for a purpose to be described and it is capable of accepting printing or other duplicating processes for reproducing an image thereon.

The main portion of the card is provided with a hook means generally indicated by the numeral 26 and in the preferred embodiment the hook means comprises a portion of the card folded back along the edge 30 opposite to that edge which is provided with the tab 24, the said fold defining the hook means and including a panel 32 connected to the main portion at a crotch or bight 34. The edge 36 of the insert main area at the tab is provided with a slice edge 38 which in the preferred embodiment shown comprises a diagonal slice at an angle of about 45 and at least sufiicient to provide a favorable slicing angle for the operation indicated in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 and to be described presently.

Prior to insertion of the insert within the envelope, a dropout piece is provided intermediate the main portion and the panel 32. This piece is designated by the numeral 40 and is of a height and lateral dimension less than that of the insert.

In operation, the tab 24, which preferably includes the word pull thereon in an exposed and visible condition is employed to pull the insert in one direction, indicated by the arrow 42 in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 while the envelope 12 is held in a stationary position. As a result, the insert is dragged through the interior of the envelope and the piece 40 captivated between the main portion and the panel 32 is dragged free of the envelope to fall from the open bottom of the insert, which lies between the main area and the panel being released before or at the time that the confining force of the opposing panels of the envelope is released from the main area and the back panel of the insert and the insert springs into the open condition indicated in FIG. 4.

In use, the main area of the panel of the insert may be provided with the name and address of a person to whom the material is mailed and carry an advertising message on it. The piece 40 falling from the envelope after it has been opened in the manner described is an attractive eye catching device to focus the attention of the receiver and to give the message and the falling piece at least a first curious look so that the advertising has an improved chance of being observed by the recipient.

It is recognized that the insert may be of a lightweight metallic material such as aluminum or any other material having the characteristics called for in the foregoing including the ability to slice the edge 44 of the envelope. In a preferred embodiment the lateral dimension of the insert may be slightly larger than the lateral dimension of the envelope and the height of the tab portion h that is the height between the upper edge of the insert 46 and the point of juncture 48 of the leading edge of the tab and the slice edge 38 may be slightly less than the countervailing height h of the cutout at the comer so that the slice edge 38 bears against the upper edge 50 of the envelope indicated in FIG. 1 and tends to initiate a weakening of that area so that the slicing action described in FIGS. 2, 3' and 4 is readily initiated. It is thus seen that the shearing of the relatively stiff slice edge of the insert progressively cuts in a drawcut as the insert is moved to the exterior of the envelope, a suitable material for the insert being conventional bristol board.

I claim:

1. In combination:

an envelope having opposed sides and closed margins and including at least one pair of edges,

the projection of said pair of edges defining one comer of the envelope, said pair of edges having a diagonal cut including terminal ends inwardly of the intersection of the projected edges and defining an opening thereat consisting of a diagonal slot in both of said sides;

an insert reciprocally received in said envelope and substantially conforming to the shape and size of said envelope,

said insert being withdrawable through'one of said pair of edges'when the same is opened,

said insert including a corner portion projecting through said slot and being disposed entirely within the projected margins defined by said pair of edges,

fold at the end opposite said slice margin; and an attention-attracting piece loosely disposed in said folded insert for freely dropping therefrom when the insert is withdrawn from the envelope. 2. The combination as set forth in claim 1. wherein the slice margin of said card is at an angle in the order of about 45.

3. The combination as set forth in claim 1. wherein the envelope is of paper stock and the insert is of card stock.

Claims (3)

1. In combination: an envelope having opposed sides and closed margins and including at least one pair of edges, the projection of said pair of edges defining one corner of the envelope, said pair of edges having a diagonal cut including terminal ends inwardly of the intersection of the projected edges and defining an opening thereat consisting of a diagonal slot in both of said sides; an insert reciprocally received in said envelope and substantially conforming to the shape and size of said envelope, said insert being withdrawable through one of said pair of edges when the same is opened, said insert including a corner portion projecting through said slot and being disposed entirely within the projected margins defined by said pair of edges, said insert including a diagonal slice margin having a terminal portion at the envelope edge through which said insert can be withdrawn, said diagonal slice margin extending from one end of said slot inwardly into said envelope and progressively, severably engageable with a lower portion of the edge through which the insert is being withdrawn until the entire edge is opened, said insert including a folded panel portion defining a fold at the end opposite said slice margin; and an attention-attracting piece loosely disposed in said folded insert for freely dropping therefrom when the insert is withdrawn from the envelope.

2. The combination as set forth in claim 1, wherein the slice margin of said card is at an angle in the order of about 45*.

3. The combination as set forth in claim 1, wherein the envelope is of paper stock and the insert is of card stock.

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