Untitled record

Application filed May 6,1890. Serial No. 350,745. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, James P. Harrison and John L.' Waring, citizens of the United States, residing at Danville, in the 5 county of Pittsylvania and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Envelopes; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the- invention, such as io will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to an envelope for the transmission of valuable matter through the mails or by express, or, in fact, by any means 15 in which a careful record is to be preserved and a return-receipt necessary; and the principal object of our invention is to provide more simple, cheap, convenient, and accurate means for accomplishing this purpose.

With this end in view our invention consists in the peculiarities of construction and combinations of parts more fully described hereinafter, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 25 represents a plan of our improvements; Fig.

2, the reverse side of the device shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a view of one side of the envelope when detached from the stub and sealed ready for transmission, and Fig. 4 a perspective 30 view showing the envelope as it appears when attached to a package.

The reference-letter a represents an envelope provided with flaps b, c, cl, and e. The flap e is gummed and connected to a series of 35 stubs f, g, and 7i,.the latter being bound in book form to a cover i. These covers form an elongation of the flap e, being made easily detachable by the indentations or perforations j k I m. The stub f, which lies contiguous to 40 the envelope, is provided with a. gummed sealing-flap 0, and this flap is adapted to be torn off at the perforations k when the envelope is detached for transmission.

f . The stub f consists of a postal-card having '45 upon one side the usual blank lines for the i reception of the addressof the sender and upon the other the number of the letter or package. The opposite side of the postal-card is inscribed with remarks such as the date of 50 sending, the address of the receiver, and a place for the latter’s signature, together with any other remarks that may be necessary to properly identify the envelope.

The second stub g is to be used as a receipt for the sender, and it is also provided with a 55 number corresponding to the envelope.

The third stub h is bound to the cover iby means of the stitching q Or in any other suitable manner, and is to be kept by the postmaster as a permanent record for his office. 60 This stub is provided with suitable notes and blank spaces to receive a corresponding number, date, name, &e.

In order to enable the postmaster or sender of the registered matter to attach the envel- 65 ope to large packages, I provide the envelope with an elastic band r, which is permanently secured to the envelope by having the flap b pasted down over it, and when it is desired to attach the envelope to a package, such as 7c w, the envelope is laid down upon the package and the band r stretched around it, thereby holding one end of the envelope down in place, while a similar band τ', which has been previously secured beneath the opposite flap 7 5 e, may also be drawn around the package in the same manner, so that both bands hold the envelope securely in place.

The envelopes are by preference provided with a registered-letter stamp s, which may 80 be imprinted upon the envelope itself or upon the postal-card f, so that the labor of attaching a ten-cent stamp may be saved. Blank lines are also printed upon the stamp side of the envelope to receive the number and ad- 85 dress. The back of the return postal-card is printed with suitable data, such as a blank space for the date of sending, number, name of party addressed, post-office, and signature of the receiver. 90

In using our invention the postmaster or sender first fills up the stub h with the proper number, date, name of sender, or other data necessary to perfect the record. The sender’s receipt g is next filled out and given a 95 number corresponding to that upon the stub h. Then the postal-card is numbered and addressed to the sender. The envelope and stubs which comprise a leaf of the book are now turned over, as in Fig. 2, and the envel- 10c ope numbered and addressed to the receiver or to the proper destination.. The back of s

444,979 the return postal-card f is next properly filled, out with a number, date, address, &c., whereupon the record will be complete. The order of filling out the stubs and addressing the 5 envelopes is Immaterial, but the way directed maybe conveniently followed. After having thus made a careful record the envelope d may be detached at lc and the sender’s receipt at J. The latter is given to the sender, io and then the mucilageor gum upon the flaps e o is moistened and the return-postal folded at n over onto the body of the envelope and sealed thereto, as shown in Fig. 3. The envelope is now ready for transmission, and 15 when it reaches the party addressed he or the carrier can easily and quickly sign his name in the space left for it, tear the card loose by means of the perforations I and m and return it to the sender. In this way the 20 labor and loss of time by the carrier, who has heretofore been obliged to carry around with him a receipt-book and a lot of detached cards, are avoided and a.rauch more correct, simple, and effective, means substituted.

The postmaster or clerk or other person who sends the package has before him a more convenient form to follow in preparing the matter for transmission, and the receiver can more quickly sign the receiptor return-card.

We do not limit ourselves to interposing the return-postal in a longitudinal position relative to the envelope, because it might be placed transversely thereto, in order to shorten the book and to accommodate a wider envelope. 35

It is evident that our invention might be changed in many slight ways which would naturally suggest themselves. Therefore we do not limit ourselves to the exact construction herein shown; but, 40