WITH TWO-DIMENSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, IN PARTICULAR CARDS,

CDS, DVDS, OR CREDIT CARDS

*****

The present invention relates to the design and manufacture of paper and cardboard products and in particular regards a postal envelope designed to contain one or more objects with two-dimensional development, in particular at least one ticket such as a railway ticket, an air ticket, or a ticket for entrance or invitation to shows, musical or sporting events, but also a CD (Compact Disk) or DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) , a credit card, an entry key, a computer pen, or a necklace or bracelet.

By way of example, in what follows reference will be made only to a generic ticket.

The main task of the present invention is to provide a envelope designed to contain and hide one or more objects with two-dimensional development, in particular at least one ticket, preventing it from possibly coming out of said envelope, unless the envelope itself has evidently been tampered with.

Advantageously, the postal envelope is a purposely designed envelope simple to produce.

This has been obtained by envisaging creation of the postal envelope starting from a sheet provided with two flaps that fold on the sheet like a book, of which the first flap forms a pocket designed to receive the ticket, while the second flap comes to cover the remaining uncovered part of the sheet.

The space for the name and address of the addressee, as well as for the stamps, can be provided on the face in view of one of the two parts.

According to a peculiar characteristic of the invention, after the ticket has been inserted, the first flap is glued to the sheet at its three free sides so as to prevent the ticket itself from coming out either from the long side or from the short sides. In order to be able to take the ticket out of the envelope on the first flap, at a short distance from the glued margin of the long side, a tear-away strip is provided, the length of which is commensurate with that of the ticket contained in the pocket. Advantageously, the strip is defined by a tear-open contour line that facilitates the tearing operation.

With this solution, the ticket can be removed only following upon tearing of the strip, which renders evident any possible tampering of the envelope by ill- intentioned persons.

As regards the second flap, once it has been folded like a book, it can be used as a coupon or an illustrative print that can be glued to the sheet only at the edge of its longer side. Its detachment from the envelope is obtained thanks to the presence of a first predefined easy-tear line positioned underneath the gluing area on the sheet and a second easy-tear line positioned along its bottom folding line.

According to an alternative embodiment, the second flap may be configured in the same way as the first, which enables not one, but two, tickets to be sent with the envelope.

A better understanding of the utility model will be obtained from the ensuing detailed description with reference to the attached drawings, which illustrate, merely by way of example, two preferred embodiments.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front view of the postal envelope that forms the subject of the invention, according to a first embodiment, in a closed configuration, ready for delivery;

Figure 2 is a front view of the envelope of Figure 1, in which the strip on the first flap has been torn away to enable the ticket to be taken out by the addressee;

Figure 3 once again shows the first embodiment of the postal envelope of Figure 1, after the second flap has been torn away from the area where it is glued on the sheet, and detachment thereof along the folding line has been started; and

Figure 4 shows a variant of the postal envelope of Figure 1, provided in which are two pockets for containing tickets and two tear-away strips.

The ensuing description refers to a ticket, but it is evident that it can be applied without any modifications also to other objects with two- dimensional development, such as, for example, CDs, DVDs, credit cards, necklaces or bracelets, medals, etc., and other gadgets.

With particular reference to Figures 1 to 3, the postal envelope forming the subject of the invention is made up of a sheet having a substantially rectangular shape that is preferably divided into three parts set alongside one another: - a central part 1 that functions as bottom;

- a foldable top part or flap 2 designed to be folded like a book on the aforesaid central part 1 to set itself thereon so as to cover completely a portion thereof and so that it can be glued thereto; and

- a remaining foldable bottom part or flap 3, designed to be folded like a book on another portion 4 of the central part.

Once the ticket B has been rested on the central part 1, in order to form the postal envelope it is sufficient first to fold the top part 2 like a book on the adjacent central part 1 until it lies on top of the latter and then glue the end edge of the top part 2 to the corresponding area of the central part 1.

It is evident from the figures that the top part 2 has dimensions such as to cover the ticket B once it is folded on the central part 1, simultaneously leaving the bottom portion 4 of the sheet uncovered.

In order to fix the end edge of the top part 2 to the corresponding area of the central part 1, it is preferable to provide an adhesive area A on the corresponding area of the central part 1 and/or on the end edge itself of the foldable top part 2. At a short distance from this area the foldable top part 2 has a tear-away strip 6, which is provided along its contour with a perforated line P2 and is designed to define a slit 5 of appropriate shape and of a length compatible with that of the ticket, which enables the ticket to be easily taken out, after the strip has been removed.

To enable the top part 2 to be folded like a book on the central part 1, between said two parts 1 and 2 a transverse folding line Pi is provided.

In a similar way, to enable the bottom part 3 to be folded on the central part 1 a longitudinal folding line P3 is provided. Made on the same line is a predefined perforation for possible detachment of the part 3. For the same reason, another predefined perforated line P4 is provided underneath the area Al where it is glued to the sheet 1.

As may be seen in Figure 3, the ticket that the sender wishes to send is completely enclosed within the envelope, and remaining in view is just the opposite face of the top part 2 folded like a book with the space for the data of the addressee and for the stamps and the side part 3.

A first advantage is represented by the fact that folding of the side part 2 on the central part 1 creates a wrapper for the ticket contained therein without any possibility of the aforesaid ticket accidentally sliding out of the envelope or without the possibility for anybody to pull it out of the envelope without tampering with the envelope in an altogether evident way.

It is evident that the only way of taking the ticket contained in the envelope out is to detach the tear-away strip 2 to free the slit 5 so that it becomes evident that somebody has tampered with the envelope.

A second advantage is represented by the fact that both the face in view of the bottom part 3 and the inner face of the same part are provided with a space for enabling insertion of an advertising and/or promotional message and/or a drawing and/or a picture, thus making it possible to use this part 3, which can be detached from the envelope, as an autonomous promotional and/or advertising means, in addition to performing its specific function as component of the postal envelope.

It is evident that the same advertisement, or else some other message, can also be printed on the face 4 of the sheet 1 that remains in view after removal of the part 3. Alternatively, the message may also involve the entire surface in view of the sheet.

In a second embodiment of the invention, illustrated in Figure 4, it is envisaged that also the foldable bottom part 3 will be glued along its three free sides on the sheet 1 and will also be provided with a tear-away strip 6, which also presents along its contour a perforated line P2 and defines a second slit 5 having the same shape and size as the first slit present on the top part.