EP0119412B1 - Postal dispatch envelope unit, and method of manufacturing it - Google Patents

Abstract

1. A mailing unit comprising a flat object (12) mounted on a carrier sheet (10), said object covering only part of the surface of said carrier sheet (10) and being mounted on the carrier sheet (10) with an adhesive film (14) in such a way that the film (14) is adhesively connected to the object (12) and part of the carrier sheet (10), the adhesive film (14) protruding beyond at least the two edges of the object (12) located behind each other in the longitudinal direction of the carrier sheet (10) and adhering these protruding overlapping areas to the carrier sheet (10), characterized in that - the mailing unit is a letter unit comprising an enveloppe and the carrier sheet whose dimensions are coordinated with the envelope, - the object is a rigid credit card, check card or identification card (12) on which the user's postal address is provided so as to be visually readable, - the adhesive film (14) is designed so as to be transparent in such a way that the user's postal address is recognizable visually through the adhesive film, - the envelope is provided with a viewing window, and - the card (12) made of plastic and provided with the user's postal address is disposed on the carrier sheet in such a way that the address is treadable through the window in the envelope.

Description

The invention relates to a mailing unit, consisting of a flat object fastened to a carrier sheet, which covers only a part of the surface of the carrier sheet and is attached to the carrier sheet with an adhesive film such that the film is in adhesive connection with the article and part of the carrier sheet stands, wherein the adhesive film protrudes beyond at least the two edges of the object lying one behind the other in the longitudinal direction of the carrier sheet and these protruding overlap regions adhere to the carrier sheet.

Such shipping units are used to transport samples such as tea, sunscreen, baking powder or snuff. The small sachets containing the material are glued to postcards with a film. The adhesive film can be equipped with the recipient's postal address and the pouch is then attached where the recipient's address is normally found on a postcard (DE-A-2746345).

Furthermore, it is known for the shipping of credit cards to insert them into two cardboard sleeves which can be plugged into one another and then to push these cardboard sleeves into an envelope, it being important that the contents of the envelopes, i. H. the credit card, which should not be recognizable from the outside. When using window envelopes, it has been proposed to place the address of the recipient on one of the cardboard sleeves in such a way that it should be visible through the window of the envelope when the cardboard sleeve is inserted (US-A-3508702).

When using credit cards of the known type, special wrappers and, under certain circumstances, special envelopes are required. In particular, the respective card must be assigned to a stored address set, which must ultimately be printed on the envelope or the envelope of the credit cards.

Another type of packaging of plastic cards is known from LU-A-66857. The cards are placed on a paper web that has a continuous longitudinal hole profile and a cross profile at intervals, e.g. a computer printing paper attached. Semicircular interfaces are provided in the paper at predetermined locations, which are bent over and provided with adhesives which hold the card on the paper. The paper web provided with cards passes through a printing station which prints information or data both on the card and on the paper.

A second identical paper web is taped synchronously onto the paper web provided with cards by means of adhesives which are applied within the edge region of the transverse profiling. Data corresponding to the respective cards is printed on the second paper web. By tearing off the cross profiling, a double sheet glued to the edges is obtained, which contains the card with data and which has data of the user of the cards on the outside.

However, it has been shown that damage has occurred during machine sorting and franking of envelopes with an inserted plastic card in that the relatively sharp edges of the plastic cards damage or tear open the envelopes. It goes without saying that such errors are undesirable and lead to a blockage of the entire processing line. The possibility of arranging the plastic cards on the inside of folded sheets would solve the above-mentioned problem to a certain extent, but such folding is expensive in terms of material, technologically difficult and disadvantageous from the point of view of a desired design.

The problem cannot be solved with a known skin packaging unit either. This packaging method requires relatively stiff, coated and air-permeable cardboard underlays. The objects to be packaged are placed on the cardboard underlays and covered with a thermoplastic film, for example hard PVC or cellulose acetate. The film section is then heated by hot air or radiant heaters and the cardboard pads are pressed lightly against the heated film from below by stamps. At the same time, an effective vacuum through the porous base sucks in the film, which wraps itself tightly around the object to be packaged and, at the same time, is heat-sealed to the base. The known method is not applicable in the present case if only because the required relatively stiff cardboard underlay would increase the postage costs considerably, moreover, the plastic cards used would be damaged by the heat treatment. In connection with the invention, plastic cards are primarily to be understood to mean those identification cards which correspond to DIN 9781 - part 1 or ISO standard 2894. Such cards have a length of approximately 85 mm, a height of 54 mm and a thickness of 0.76 mm. The cards generally consist of a plurality of plastic layers laminated together, it being possible for one or more of the intermediate layers to be formed from paper, preferably a printed security. Of course, other cards should also fall under the term "plastic cards" that have a stiffness, thickness and size like the cards above.

The invention is therefore based on the object of providing a packaging or a method for packaging plastic cards which, in appropriate packaging, can pass through the known automatic sorting and franking machines without problems. The packaging should be easy to manufacture even in large quantities. The weight of the packaging should be low with regard to the postage costs and the plastic card should be on the for reasons of cost and advertising effectiveness Front of an unfolded carrier sheet may be arranged.

According to the invention, this object is achieved by the features specified in the characterizing part of claims 1 and 3. It is based on the knowledge that it is of crucial importance to conceal the sharp edges of the plastic card by means of a self-adhesive plastic film placed over the card accordingly. A type of ramp or inclined plane is thereby formed, which prevents the free edges of the plastic card from bumping into corresponding machine parts when the letter unit passes through the sorting or franking machines, so that there is practically no risk of damage to the envelope. The mailing unit or letter unit according to the invention is particularly advantageous in the case of so-called embossed cards, i.e. Cards where the embossed areas are used as a printing block. The plastic foil covering the embossing smoothes the raised areas and compensates for the relief-like contour, so that it is possible, for example, to transport the enveloped letter unit through nips without the embossing pressing through the envelope.

In the event that the plastic cards carry a magnetic track and / or a signature strip, they are arranged on the carrier sheet so that the magnetic track and signature strip come to rest on the unprepared carrier sheet so that the self-adhesive film cannot damage or contaminate these areas.

The letter unit can be used particularly advantageously when the card bears the user's postal address. The card is then arranged on the carrier sheet in such a way that it can be read through the window after being inserted into a corresponding window envelope. A separate, i.e. H. individual printing of the carrier sheet can thus be omitted. In this case, of course, the plastic film with which the card is attached to the carrier sheet must be transparent.

The method according to the invention is the subject of further subclaims. It has the particular advantage that it is much faster than known methods, in which either a complicated and expensive insertion of the card into corresponding pocket slots or in which the carrier sheet has to be glued before the cards are stuck on.

The method according to the invention is structurally easy to implement, since the cards are simply stuck onto the endless self-adhesive film fed from a roll, where they are fixed in position, so that separate means of transport and positioning aids can be dispensed with.

• Fig. 1 einen Querschnitt durch die Briefeinheit;
• Fig. 2 eine Draufsicht auf die Briefeinheit, und
• Fig. 3A und 3B eine schematische Darstellung des Verfahrensablaufes zur Herstellung der Briefeinheit.

An embodiment of the invention and the method are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, for example. Show it:

• 1 shows a cross section through the letter unit.
• Fig. 2 is a plan view of the letter unit, and
• 3A and 3B show a schematic representation of the process sequence for producing the letter unit.

1 and 2, the letter unit consists of a carrier sheet 10, a plastic card 12 placed on the carrier sheet and a portion of a self-adhesive plastic film 14 covering the plastic card 12. As can be seen from FIG. 2, the plastic film 14 overlaps the card 12 on all sides , the film being glued directly to the carrier sheet 10 in the overlap area and to the card 12 in the area thereof. It is obvious that the size of the section of the plastic film must be chosen so that the area of the overlap area is sufficient to securely attach the card to the carrier sheet.

In Fig. 1, the ramps 16 are clearly visible, which prevent the side edges of the actual card 12 from hitting corresponding machine parts and counter edges. The double arrow in FIG. 1 indicates the direction of transport of the inserted letter unit in automatic sorting and franking machines. It is crucial that the ramps 16 cover or conceal those edges that lie transversely to the direction of transport of the inserted letter unit. The longitudinal edges, i.e. H. those edges of the card that are parallel to the transport direction of the inserted letter unit do not have to be covered by ramps 16 in every case. In the case shown in FIG. 2, however, all four edges are covered, which, as will be discussed later, is particularly simple in terms of manufacture.

The carrier sheet 10 is preferably a paper sheet which is as thin or light as possible for cost reasons. The possibility of making the carrier sheet relatively thin is understandably a particular advantage of the method according to the invention, known methods such as skin packaging or insert pockets in the carrier require cardboard-like documents from the outset.

The self-adhesive film 14 is commercially available, it is sold under the trade names Tesa adhesive tape, Scotchtape etc. Their thickness and tear or tensile strength must of course be matched to the thickness of the plastic card to be stuck on. If the film becomes too thin, the ramps 16 that are essential to the invention are not formed.

In the event that the plastic card 12 is embossed, the embossing would be arranged on the upper side in FIG. 1, so that the film 14 covers this embossing and thus smoothes or compensates. In the event that the plastic card 12 is equipped with a magnetic track and / or a signature strip, this would be on the side of the carrier sheet 10 so that they do not come into contact with the adhesive film.

A particularly economical letter unit is achieved when the plastic cards show the user's postal address. In this case, the card is positioned on the carrier sheet so that it passes through the window of a normal window can be read through the envelope, making additional addressing of the letter unnecessary. In this respect too, the letter unit according to the invention differs from known solutions in which the card cannot be placed at this point in a window envelope.

The method for manufacturing the letter unit will now be explained with reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B. The self-adhesive film 14 is pulled off the supply roll 18, and at the same time a cover film protecting the adhesive side of the adhesive film is wound on the roll 20. The adhesive film runs over the deflection roller 24, where the plastic cards 12 are pressed onto the adhesive side of the film at a suitable pitch.

The cards 12 are stored in the card magazine and are identified by a corresponding reading unit 26 before being pressed onto the film.

Adhesive film and cards then run into the area of the press roller 28 without the additional support of moving transport means. Before this roller is reached, the carrier tape is fed from the magazine 30. The carrier tape is preferably stored in a fan fold and provided with an endless print. Before the carrier tape is brought together with the self-adhesive film, the information on the carrier tape or carrier sheet is read by a reading unit 32 and a comparator (not shown) is used to determine whether the carrier sheet and the card belong together. In the event that the test is negative, the device must be stopped and the assignment changed. If the assignment is correct, however, the carrier tape is deflected around a correspondingly arranged edge and guided onto a table, above which the pressure roller 28 is arranged. This roller, which is preferably elastically coated, now brings the carrier sheet, card and self-adhesive film into an intimate connection.

In the further course (FIG. 3B), the carrier tape is cut into single pieces by longitudinal cutters 34 and cross cutters 36. Additional sheets can be added to the letter unit before the actual inserting. For example, an accompanying letter can be enclosed in the station 38 and a payment card can be enclosed in the station 40, in the station 42 the envelope is then inserted or the envelope is also included.

In a modification of the method shown, the self-adhesive film 14 can also be punched out around the card with corresponding overlap areas before it reaches the pressure roller 28, this punched-out area is then glued onto the carrier tape, a division of the carrier tape by longitudinal and cross cutters can then be omitted because only the appropriately pre-perforated carrier tape has to be separated.

A particular advantage of the method is the fact that there is no need for a separate transport and positioning system for the cards 12, since these are glued directly onto the self-adhesive film 14 away from the magazine 22 and transported by the latter. The self-adhesive film could also be guided directly over the card magazine 22 and individually lift the cards off the stack. By eliminating this normally required separate transport system, the system can be made significantly cheaper and simplified in operation.

Claims (6)

1. A mailing unit comprising a flat object (12) mounted on a carrier sheet (10), said object covering only part of the surface of said carrier sheet (10) and being mounted on the carrier sheet (10) with an adhesive film (14) in such a way that the film (14) is adhesively connected to the object (12) and part of the carrier sheet (10), the adhesive film (14) protruding beyond at least the two edges of the object (12) located behind each other in the longitudinal direction of the carrier sheet (10) and adhering these protruding overlapping areas to the carrier sheet (10), characterized in that

- the mailing unit is a letter unit comprising an envelope and the carrier sheet whose dimensions are coordinated with the envelope,

- the object is a rigid credit card, check card or identification card (12) on which the user's postal address is provided so as to be visually readable,

- the adhesive film (14) is designed so as to be transparent in such a way that the user's postal address is recognizable visually through the adhesive film,

- the envelope is provided with a viewing window, and

- the card (12) made of plastic and provided with the user's postal address is disposed on the carrier sheet in such a way that the address is treadable through the window in the envelope.

2. The mailing unit according to claim 1, characterized in that the thickness of said adhesive film (14), relative to the thickness of the plastic card (12) is such that the surface of the letter unit forms a ramp (16) in the edge area of the plastic card (12).

3. A method for packaging, so as to be ready for mailing, plastic cards such as credit cards, check cards or identification cards, as a mailing unit according to claim 1 or 2, by which the plastic cards (12) are covered on a carrier band (10) by a film band (14), whereafter the band is divided into units, characterized in that the plastic cards (12) are pressed with the side bearing information against the adhesive side of the self-adhesive transparent film band (14) pulled off a roller (24), in that the carrier band (10) is then supplied and also pressed against the film band and the cards by means of a pressing means (28).

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that the carrier band provided with an endless print is present in Leporello folding in a magazine.

5. The method according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the information located on the cards is read before the cards are pressed onto the film, in that the information located on the individual carrier sheets of the carrier band is also read and in that the carrier band and the self-adhesive film bearing the cards are only pressed together when the card and the carrier band bear pieces of information assigned to each other.

6. The method according to any of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that the self-adhesive film, before being brought together with the carrier band, is cut to size in such a way that the self-adhesive film overlaps the card on all sides.

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