Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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3423-212
This application relates to sealable envelopes and
particularly envelopes suitable for use in automatic teller
machines.
It is conventional to provide an envelope bin in con-
junction with automatic teller machines for the use of customers
who are making deposits, paying bills or the like by means of the
machine. For such transactions the machine issues a transaction
card which is inserted in an envelope along with the deposit or
the bill being paid, and the envelope is then sealed and inserted
into the machine. To date, these envelopes have been of conven-
tional construction. However, the extensive use of automatic
teller machines has given rise to an entirely new set of problems
which were not previously encountered with the use of human
tellers. For example, some jurisdictions require that any auto-
matic teller envelopes containing cash must be opened in the
presence of two bank employees. Accordingly, if it is not poss-
ible to readily determine which envelopes contain cash, all envel-
opes must be opened in the presence of two employees.
A more serious problem arises when the envelopes contain
~0 nothing at all, or only a transaction card with no accompanying
material. If this occurs merely because of a recognized error on
the part of the customer, it may merely constitute a nuisance
insofar as the bank is concerned. However, if some or all of the
contents have inadvertently been omitted by a customer who
believes that they have in fact been inserted, or the contents are
intentionally omitted by the customer, the conse~uences are
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considerably more serious.
By way of example, assume a customer intends to make a
cash deposit and manipulates the automatic teller machine accord-
ingly. The machine will issue the customer with a document which
the customer is to insert in an envelope alony with the cash
amount of his deposit and which indicates the nature of the trans-
action and amount. The customer then seals the envelope and
inserts it into the automatic teller machine, and shortly there-
after receives a confirmation document describing the nature and
amount of the transaction for the customer's own record. However,
if the customer inadvertently or intentionally seals the trans-
action card in the envelope without inserting the cash deposit the
bank employees will, when they eventually open the envelope, find
only the transaction document and no deposit money. It will
therefore be necessary for the bank to contact the customer and
advise of the deficiency. If the customer is convinced that he
has inserted the deposit money~in the envelope along with the
transaction document, he may take the position that the money has
been misplaced or even stolen by the bank employees. Similarly,
if the customer intentionally omitted the deposit money from the
envelope, he may take a similar position in the hope that the bank
will credit him with the deposit in order to avoid the investi-
gation which would no doubt ensue if the customer maintained his
position that the money had been either misplaced or stolen by the
bank employees. Once the envelope is open, it may be rather
difficult for the bank to satisfy the customer, or other author-
ities, that the envelope failed to contain the deposit monies.
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The foregoing, and related problems can be substantially
eliminated ~hrough the use of an envelope wherein at least one
complete side is transparent or translucent. Accordingly the
invention resides in a sealable envelope for usa in banking
transactions, comprising a rectangular front panel having top,
bottom and side edges formed of a first sheet of material, a
rectangular back panel having top, bottom and slde edges co-
extensive with said front panel and being formed o~ a second sheet
of material, said front panel and ~aid back panel being adhesively
secured together along three of said edges, and a closure flap
extending from the unsecured edge of one of said panels and having
an adhesive bearing surface facing the other of said panels
whereby said closure flap may he folded over said other panel
along said unsecured edge and adhesively secured to said other
panel to close said envelope, the material oi at least one of said
front and back panels being translucent to permit visual
inspection of the contents of the envelope when closed, and being
receptive to conventional printing processes so that printed
matter readily may be placed thereon, opposite edges of said front
and back panels being secured together by ~eans of an interrupted
line of adhesive, whereas the third edges of said front and back
panels are secured together by means o~ a solid line of adhesive,
and said front and back panels each having a line o$ perforations
formed therein parallel with said third edges and extending
between said opposite edges of said panels and spaced slightly
inboard of said solid line o~ adhesive whereby to ~acilitate
opening of said envelope.
With such an envelope, the contents can be inspected
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3a 63423-212
without opening the envelope. In this way, envelopes contalning
cash can be se~ aslde to be opened before two bank employees,
whereas all of the remaining envelopes can be opened by a single
employee. Eurther, when an envelope contains nothing, or nothing
but a transaction document, this can be readlly ascertained by
means of the translucent panel and the customer responsible for
inserting the envelope into the automatic teller machine may be
confronted before the envelope is opened, so thak it will be
apparent that the contents could not have been mi placed or stolen
by the bank employees. All envelopes inserted into the automatic
teller machines ara imprinted with means for identifying the
customer utili~ing the machine for that particular transaction,
with the result that it is a relatively simple matter to identify
the
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customer without opening the envelope.
While it is known to provide envelopes with relatiqely
small translucent or transparent windows or panels in one surface
thereof, such envelopes would not be particularly suitable for the
purpose, as the automatic teller machine envelopes are relatively
large, and contents may be inserted in such a way that they would
not be visible through such window. By producing envelopes from
separate sheets of material, it is possible to make the entire
front panel, back panel, or indeed both, of transparent or trans-
lucent material, thus eliminating problems of the foregoing type
in a very simple and inexpensive manner~
In drawings which illustrate embodiments of the inven-
tion,
Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of components
of an envelope in accordance with the invention showing front and
back panels prior to assembly;
Figure 2 i9 a back view of the assembled envelope of
Figure 1 with the closure flap unsealed;
Figure 3 is a front view of the envelope of Figure 2;
Figure 4 is a side view of the envelope of Figure 3;
and
Figure 5 is a back view of a different form of envelope
embodying the invention.
Referring now to Figure 1, the envelope is composed of a
front panel 10 having top edge 11 defined by a line of perfora-
tions, bottom edge 12, side edges 13 and 14, and a closure flap 15
extending from the top edge 11. The front panel 10 is provided
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with a solid adhesive or glue line 16 along bottom edge 12, and
interrupted lines of adhesive or glue 17 and 18 along side edges
13 and 14 respectively. The surface of closure flap 15 carries
adhesive or glue 19 whereby the finished envelope may be sealed.
The adhesive or glue 16, 17, 18 and 19 may be of any suitable type
as is well known in the art.
Back panel 20 has a top edge 11a, a bottom edge 12a, and
two side edges 13a and 14a co-extensive with top edge 11, bottom
edge 12, and side edges 13 and 14 respectively of front panel 10.
The back panel and front panel are assembled by superimposing the
back panel on the adhesive bearing side of the front panel and
solidly gluing the panels along the bottom and spot gluing them
along the sides. Figures 2, 3 and 4 show the assembled envelope
with adhesive lines 16, 17 and 18 being emphasized for illustra-
tive purposes. It will be apparent that the envelope may be
sealed by means o~ the adhesive 19 on the closure flap 15 which is
folded about top edge 11 to overlie the back panel 20 against
which it is pressed to close and seal the envelope.
Both the front panel and the back panel carry perforated
lines of separation 30 and 31 respectively which are in alignment
and located inboard of the line of adhesive 16 so that the en-
velope may be opened simply by tearing off the strip containing
the adhesive line 16 along lines of perforation 30 and 31.
In an alternative bodiment (not illustrated) lines of
perforation 30 and 31 may be displaced slightly to create an
extended portion of one of the panels after the adhesive bearing
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strip is removed so that one of the panels may be more readily
grasped to open the envelope and remove the contents. Where the
envelopes are to be opened with an automatic letter opener, these
perforations may be dispensed with. Spot gluing is employed along
side edges 13 and 14 to facilitate complete separation of one
panel from the other after the bottom glue strip is removed, and
top edge 11 is defined by a line of perforations to further
facilitate opening of the envelope, or complete separation of the
front panel from the rear panel.
In the illustrated embodiment, back panel 20 is formed
of a sheet of transparent or translucent paper material, by which
is meant the material is adapted to permit the contents of the
envelope to be viewed without opening the envelope. It is not
necessary that the paper be absolutely transparent. It is only
necessary that the paper be sufficiently transparent or transluc-
ent to permit visual inspection of the contents. Preferably, the
material is receptive to conventional printing processes, so that
instructions and information may be readily imprinted thereon.
Material particularly suitable for the purposes of this invention
is known as 30 Bleached Foil, available from E.B. Eddy. This
material is particularly advantageous because it is capable of
retaining fingerprints and therefore provides an additional
measure of security when used in the production of envelopes of
the kind employed in banking or similar operations. It will be
appreciated that the front panel, as opposed to the rear panel,
could be formed of such material, or that bokh panels could be
formed of such material so that the contents of the envelope could
be readily viewed from either side.
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The envelope designated generally as 50 in Figure 5 is
essentially the same as the envelope depicted in Figures 1 through
4, except that the closure flap 40 extends from a short edge of
the front panel solid glue line 51 (which is emphasized for illus-
trative purposes) extends along the other short side, spot glue
lines 52 and 53 (emphasized for illustrative purposes) extend
along the long sides, and the panels do no-t employ perforated
lines of separation comparable to those at 30 and 31 in Figures 1
through 4. As in the case of the other embodiment, either the
front panel, the back panel, or both may be of transparent or
translucent material.
It will be appreciated that the foregoing illustrations
are given by way of example only, and that many variations and
modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art without
departing from the scope of the invention. For example, glue
lines 16, 17 and 18 could be applied to the back panel, or both
panels, and may be either solid or interrupted, and may be com-
posed of either pressure activated, heat activated, or moisture
activated glue or adhesive. Similarly, the glue or adhesive 19
could be moisture activated or pressure activated, and could be
covered by a release paper removable immediately prior to use.
Envelopes employing the invention can obviously be of differing
shapes and sizes, and, while conventional opaque paper normally
used for envelopes of this type will generally be employed for one
of the panels, other appropriate materials could be used if
desired.
