[1]Patented July 199 1949 2 @ 4 7 6 , 7 4 0 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,476,740 ENVELOPE Walter KraH, Holyoke, Mass.@: assignor to @Uhited States Envelope Company, Springfield, Mass.,a corporation of Maine Application April 26, 1947, Serial No. 744,119 1 Claim. (Cl. 229-80) 2 This invention relates to envelopes of a type especialiy adapted to the packaging of various axticles, such as surgical or medical bandage@ and the like, that need to be protected from contamination, and to be handled in a sterile man- 5 ner. Ai@ object of the invention is to provide such an envelope, in cheap and easily manufactured form, that not only protects it-s contents from contamination, but is easily and quickly pulled 10 open for the removal of such contents, with assurance that the act of so opening the envelope wiR completely eliminate, in every case, all manner of obstruction, by portions bf the envelope material or otherwise, to the ready seizure and 15 withdrawal of said contents, by means of forceps, tweezers, or other sterilized instruments. Other and further objects and advantages of my invention will be made apparent by the following detailed description thereof, taken in con- 20 nection with the accompanying drawings, in which Mg. 1 is Ei plan view 6f the blank from which the envelope of my invention is made. Fig. 2 is a view showing,the initial folding.OP- 25 eration performed on said blank in the manufacture of my improved envelope. Fig. 3 is a rear face @iew of the completed envelope, made from the blank of Fig. 1, and showing the envelope open in readiness to receive the 30 bandage or other article. . Fig. 4 i8 a sectional view of said envelope, as closed and sealed after reeeiving its contents. Fig. 5 is a perspective view, illustrating the act of withdrawing said contents, after said envelope 35 has be6n pulled open. Like reference characters refer to like Parts, in the different figures. The envelope blank shown by Fig. 1 comprises a rectangular body portion 1, which provides the 40 envelope's front wall. Said body portion I has a wide side flap 2 and an opposite narrow side flap 3, the said two side flaps being folded over consecutively, in the manufacture of my envelope, on the lines 2' and 3' respectively, so as to over- 45 lap each other, as shown in Fig. 2, for the formation of the envelope's back wall 4. Prior to such folding the blank is supphed with the several wet adhesive areas indicated by Fig. 1, including an adhesive coating 5 on the narrow side 5( flap 3, so that the folding over of flap 3 upon folded flap 2 produces (see Flg. 2) an adhesive seam 6 along one side edge of the rear wall 4. The body portion I of the blank provides a bottom flap 7 of more than usual depth; tWs 5r) flap. 7, preferably by the same operation which applie@ the adhesive 5, receives at a point well inward from its free or outer edge 8, a limited area or spot of moist adhe'sive 9, for a purpose to be hereinafter described. The line of fold of bottom flap 7 's indicated at 10 as being slightly Eib,ove the lower 6dges of the side flaps 2 and 3, so that, following formation of the side seam 6 by the initial folding operation (Fig. 2), the turning up and over of bottom flap 7 on the line IO produces a double thickness of safety fold of the blank material across the envelope's bottom, this fold being provided in part by the body portion 1,, and in part by the lower portions of si.de fiaps 2 aiid 3. Such a double or safety fold at the bottom is conventioiaal practice in envelopes of this type, to make their corners substantially leakproof, for the exclusion of dust and other iinpurities in the atmos@here. The same type: of dbuble or safety fold is - preferably employed for my envelope's top closure, the latter being provided I>y a I seal flap II, having an adhesive coating 12 adapted to be moistened in the usual way for use in sticking down said fla@. The latter is foldable on a score line 13 . that is spaced shghtly below th6 upper edges of th@) side flaps 2 and 3. The sticking down of' the relatively deei@ bottom flap @7 against the:bnvelope's rear wall 4 is heie shown as obtained in the manner and by the means described in Irrgang Patent No. 1,972,995, dat6d September 11, i934. That is to say, I prefbrably employ an interposed narrow transvers@@ strip 14 of blotting paper or like loosefibered'material, having one face glued to the flap 7, outwardly of the latter's adhesive area 9 but appreciabl@ inward of its free or outer edge 8, which said edge is left ungunimed, so as to serve as a pull tab fok quick and easy opening 6f the env'elope. The other face of strip 14 cariies Wet gluia 15 by -which to adhere the flap 7, when folded on line I 0, Fig. 2, to the rear wafl 4, as shown in Fig. 3. Because the internal strength of strip 14 is relatively low, said strip will invariably split apart, in a plane substantially to its faces, under a pull applied to the flap's free edge 8, leaving part of its structure on the flap 7 and the other part on the rear wall 4. Such action insures a quick and easy opening up of the envelope's bottom seam, which always takes place cleanly and withoiit the inevitable shredding and uneven tearing of the envelope material that is bound to Gccur when an ordinary glued seam is forcibly pulled open. The wet adhesive si@ot 9 is preferably offset from the ceiater line of ;aol) 7, -by an amount sufjft-
[2]2,476,740 clent to aline It with the center of the singlethickness portion of rear wall 4, that is, the portion lying inwardly of side seam S. Near the bottom of side flap 2 (whose material provides such single-thickness portion) I form a series of 5 slit@s 16, 16 having a substantially arched or arcuate arrangement, as shown by ng. 1. That is, said slits extend upwardly and latemily from@ a point f 7 on fold iine I (t near its- intersection with fold line 2', and then curve downwardly and lat- 10 eraily to meet the fold line 10 again at a poirlt 18 which is far enough in from the free edze of side flap 2 to escape. being overlapped by the@ narow side flap 3 (see Fig. 2@-. The height ofthe upwardly-tapering area 1.9; bouiided by. these la slits 16, 16 and by that portion of score line 10 which they subtend is slightly. iuL. excess of the. outside distance of spot 9 from- line 16; thus, when flap 7 is folded up and over on liae t4 to form, by means of glued- strip 14, the envelope's 20 bo,ttom closure searn- a.@,: alaove described,, the glue 9 when dried causes tlae@ f[ap T- to- bave spot. adhesion with the- peak or apex portt= oftble, partially-severed area. (%, just inside the uppermost siits. i B. IS. as shown,in Fig. 3. 24 A.ssumWg a, bandage. l(i or. like swgical or medical article to. have been-placed in my euvelope, and the latter closed-and sealed: by fqlding, Qver and sticking dowri- of . its,- seal flap, I I @ it Is evident that adequate prQLtectioia against contam,- ina,tion Gf said article is assured,.because of ttae aforesaid safety. folcla at top and@ bottom. and because of the, complete. eaverag-e. of the, slits. tE. [Bbythefirn@lystuck-downlaott(@mfla,P-7.. Raweasy and complete remaval,,, aad. its- handling,. im a, safe and sterile@ manner is desired. It, is, oniy necessary to seize the ftee edge. 8. aad. to@ give, it m lig@ht, piiw,, undl-r such pull,,the loosely bound fWres of strip t4, give io, way throughckut the entire length of . the striii and thus the, freeirig and- lifti of the envelope's ng. bo.ttom flap, I takes place without,auy of@ the usual irregular teaxing and shredding of Up andvialmaterial,- that wqul& obstruct and, Wndo-r there.- 4,:a moval of an enveIG13e@s@ contents-- But. more f& @ required than thi@k clean break- affbx-ded b@,7. the loose-fibred, strip. t4,, espezially when atk article of aU bWk is to be remaved and especialr@r when the envelope, as here shown, bas- at it& bqttom 5a safety fold, that provide.%., material., (tll@-- lower edg,e portion&, aZ ffaps 2- ana 31 which substam,- tially stiffens tl-4 b@ottom@ edge. or@ fold of I tbe erlvelgpe,, and therefore iixlpoae.% a,, resfstanr&. at. th", point against, sepaxation. or spreading,. spart- of .5,,i theopposite- front. and rear-,, wgllsol,thp-structure., becaus,eoftbis,,.tberewQWd,noxmaMybpdeZWte: a obstacl.p- to insertion, bp-tween, the @lewer edges- Qt said waus of forceps,,tweezers,-or simuar instrument,s, by whi@eh to seize, aiad renmove. iu a, ster!IP4 manner a bandage or other article contalned In the envelope above its bottom saf@ty fold. However, in my envelope, the opening or flaplifting operation, obtained by a pull on the free tab 8, has the effect of by-passing this bottom safety fold, because of the adhesiori provided between flap 7 and rear wall 4 by the spot gumming 9- ELt the pealr of partiady-se-vered area IS. That L% to say the continuance. Gf such li-fting, of flap 7 by pull on the tab 8 (after the primary attachment by strip 14 has given way) causes the entire area 19 above fold iO to be stripped loose and dmwn away from the rear wall 4, as shown by Fig. 5i the reason for@ this being that the envelope material, as:@ weakened by the slits 16, 16, offers a-ppreciably less resistance to the lifting or pulling of flap I than does the glue 9. Starting at thff slits fff, tg imrnediately above the glue 9, the tearing progressively spreads on both sides along the divergent lines that said slits take, so that, with the complete lifting, of flap 7, an opening up of the envelope'@@ p6cket for@- iie@scrly fts entire width is, obtoined. whfch exposes for sterlte nmoving, and handling-. (,st)e pi-k. 5) a Targe area; of. tho corLtain6d bandage 20'.- 16
