Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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REUSABLE ENVELOPE WITH_REMOVABLE LABEL
INTRODUCTION
This invention relates to an extended life
reusable and recyclable enclosure such as an envelope and,
more particularly, to an extended life reusable and
recyclable envelope of the type generally used in a
commercial and business environment.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Large business envelopes of the type in which
documentary material to be circulated to various
15 addressees is inserted and which then are routed to ~ -
consignees at various destinations are, o~ course3 well
known in the business environment. A user will insert the
documentation to be circulated into the envelope and
manually write the name of the addressee to whom the
documentary material is to be forwarded on the printed
label portion of the envelope. Subsequently, the user
will close the envelope by way of appending a flap to a
releasable and reusable adhesive or, alternatively, by
connecting a string closure. Such envelopes have been
known for many years and have performed satisfactorily.
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Such envelopes suffer considerabledisadvantages from an environmental point of view. For
example, when an envelope is torn or otherwise damaged,
it is simply discarded thus adding a certain amount of
waste material prematursly to the environment.
The prior art envelope may also be discarded
when the circulation list on the envelope has been
completed even though the envelope itself may well be in
condition for further circulation. When such an envelope
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is discarded, the ink printed thereon itself may not be
recyclable.
Thus, unnecessary wastage is created with
present circulation type envelopes which is desirably
avoided.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention, there is provided an
enclosure made from a durable and reusable flexible
material, a label removably attached to said enclosure
with an adhesive between said enclosure and said label and
a printed material portion on said label. ~
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BR:[EF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
A specific embodiment of the invention will now
be described, by way of example only, with the use of
drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a diagrammatic isometric view of an
envelope with a removable label thereon according to the
invention, one corner o~ the label being removed from the
envelope for illustrative purposes; and
Figure 2 is a rear view of the envelope of
Figure 1.
DESCRIPTION OF S.PECIFIC EMBOD MEMT
Re~erring now to the drawings, an interoffice
circulating business type enclosure, conveniently an
envelope, is generally illustrated at 10. Such an
envelope is intended to be made from a flexible durable,
tear resistant, strong and long lasting synthetic and
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racyclable material, conveniently a polymeric material
such as a high density polyethylene t"HPDE"~. It is also
conveniently watarproof and/or water resistant. One known
material is a flexible fiber laminate sold under the
trademark TYVEK. Likewise, the material can be a
combination of TYVEK material and/or recycled TYVEK
material or other recycled material. The material should
have an intended life span of anywhere from seven (7) to
ten (10) years under normal usage. The size of the
envelope or container is immaterial according to the
benefits of the invention but a size which is
conveniently 10 x 13 inches is a well known size and is
used throughout the office environment.
The envelope 10 has a ~lap 11 connected thereto
which folds over the end of the envelope 10 and is
connected to the envelope by way of an attachment 15,
conveniently string, adhesive or other material.
A label 13 is removably connected to the
envelope 10. The label is made from a recyclable and
reusable material such as wood fibre material without any
chemicals or binders detrimental to the environment. The
label 13 is removably attached to envelope 10 by way of a
25 gelatinous based substance or a synthetic adhesive 16 also -
of a recyclable nature. Such an adhesive can be a
repositional adhesive.
Any printed matter necessary ~or the envelope
10, such as a vacant circulation list, is printed on the
label 13. Conveniently, the printed material will be a
routing list 14 such as is illustrated in Figure 1 and as
is well known. The printed material is made from a
recyclable ink, conveniently vegetable oil based.
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OPERATION
The envelope 10 is circulated to a user whose
name has been manually printed on ths routing list 14 of
label 13. The flap 11 is connected to the envelope 10.
As the circulation of the envelope 10 takes place over
time, the spaces within the routing list 14 increase until
all vacant spaces are full.
At this point, the label 13 is removed from the
envelope 10 by simply lifting one corner and separating
the label 13 from the envelope 10, the adhesive 16
therebetween allowing such removal. The label 13 is then
removed and can be recycled as all componPnts, including
the adhesive, ink and paper are made from recyclable
materials.
A new label 13 together with its attached
adhesive is then removably mounted once again to the
envelope 10 in a similar position to that of the ori~inal
label 13. The envelope 10 is circulated as before with
the new label 13 attached which again generally fills with
the names of subsequent addressees until the label 13 is
full whereupon the process of replacing the label 13 on
the envelope 10 is again repeated.
In this way, the envelope 10 may be continuously
reused for a substantial period of time and the only
discarded portion is that of the label 13 itself which
can conveniently be recycled because of the materials used
for the label 13, the adhesive 16 and the ink used for the
printed material on the label.
Many embodiments will readily occur to those
3~ skilled in the art to which $he invention relates. For
example, the envelope 10 can be of many different shapes
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and sizes wi~h and without closure flaps. The envelope 10
may also be made from a waterproof or water resistant
material. Likewise, while the adhesive on the back of the
label 13 is illustrated as completely covering the
surface, the adhesive 16 may only be placed in a few
locations such as intermittently about the periphery of
the label 13.
While a specific embodiment of the invention has
therefore been described, such description should be taXen
as illustrative of the invention only and not as limiting
its scope as defined in accordance with the accompanying
claims.
