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EP0828616B1 - Dual section form with self-enveloping separable counterfoil section, adapted to bear confidential information - Google Patents

Dual section form with self-enveloping separable counterfoil section, adapted to bear confidential information Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0828616B1
EP0828616B1 EP95920211A EP95920211A EP0828616B1 EP 0828616 B1 EP0828616 B1 EP 0828616B1 EP 95920211 A EP95920211 A EP 95920211A EP 95920211 A EP95920211 A EP 95920211A EP 0828616 B1 EP0828616 B1 EP 0828616B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
section
counterfoil
mother
self
enveloping
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP95920211A
Other languages
German (de)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0828616A1 (en
Inventor
Luca Biffani
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Crepuscolo-Gestao e Participacoes Lda
Original Assignee
Crepuscolo-Gestao e Participacoes Lda
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Crepuscolo-Gestao e Participacoes Lda filed Critical Crepuscolo-Gestao e Participacoes Lda
Publication of EP0828616A1 publication Critical patent/EP0828616A1/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0828616B1 publication Critical patent/EP0828616B1/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B42BOOKBINDING; ALBUMS; FILES; SPECIAL PRINTED MATTER
    • B42DBOOKS; BOOK COVERS; LOOSE LEAVES; PRINTED MATTER CHARACTERISED BY IDENTIFICATION OR SECURITY FEATURES; PRINTED MATTER OF SPECIAL FORMAT OR STYLE NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; DEVICES FOR USE THEREWITH AND NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; MOVABLE-STRIP WRITING OR READING APPARATUS
    • B42D15/00Printed matter of special format or style not otherwise provided for
    • B42D15/02Postcards; Greeting, menu, business or like cards; Letter cards or letter-sheets
    • B42D15/04Foldable or multi-part cards or sheets
    • B42D15/08Letter-cards or letter-sheets, i.e. cards or sheets each of which is to be folded with the message inside and to serve as its own envelope for mailing
    • B42D15/085Letter-cards or letter-sheets, i.e. cards or sheets each of which is to be folded with the message inside and to serve as its own envelope for mailing with special means hiding information

Definitions

  • This invention broadly relates to commercial transaction forms and more particularly concerns a form implemented as a two separable, mother and countertoil, sections, wherein said counterfoil section is separable from said mother section and is foldable and closeable, so as to be adapted to bear confidential information, intended to be only accessible to the addressee and final user of said section.
  • Such forms are known e.g. from EP-A-0 404 714.
  • mother and countertoil sections consisting of two sections, generally designated as mother and countertoil sections, providing that the mother section is held by the party offering a service or a product, while the counterfoil section is held by the party receiving and utilizing said service or product.
  • This object is achieved by means of a two separable, mother and counterfoil, section form, with self-enveloping counterfoil section, adapted to bear confidential information, wherein said mother section is realized as a single piece and is connected to the counterfoil section by means of a transversal tear line, while the countertoil section consists of multiple portions successively foldable along folding lines, respectively, said counterfoil section having marginal glue stripes along its longitudinal edges, so as to leave a central glue-free area, and suitably positioned for maintaining said component portions in closed and glued condition along a first and a second longitudinal sides, as well as two longitudinal tear lines intended to separate the central area from the marginal glue stripes in order to permit said counterfoil section to be opened and said component portions thereof to be unfolded.
  • the form according to this invention comprises a mother section A and a counterfoil section B, connected along a transversal tear line 10.
  • the mother section A is made as a single portion and includes, in addition to a serial number, by which the concerned commercial transaction is biuniquely identified, all information needed in said transaction. This section is held by the party offering the service or the product of the transaction.
  • the counterfoil section B instead, is the section that is held by the party purchasing the product or utilizing the service and it is the section that possibly includes personalized or confidential information which should be accessible only to said user party.
  • a further example that can be mentioned is the case of the sale of instantaneous lottery tickets of the so-called "scrape-and-win" type, wherein the winning information should be inaccessible and unknown till after the sale and only after the sale is perfected the purchaser can gain access to the information.
  • the countertoil section B is divided in three portions 11, 12 and 13 that can be folded upon themselves by means of successive folding operations, such that, upon completing the folding operations, the external portion 13 is closed inwardly and, therefore, it is hidden and the whole assembly appears as it is shown in Figure 3. Aiming at achieving this effect, two folding lines 14 and 15 are provided.
  • two longitudinal marginal tear lines 16 and 17 are provided, extending along the whole length of said counterfoil section B.
  • Suitable glue stripes are provided in convenient positions at the free margins between the longitudinal tear lines 16 and 17 and the adjacent edges, in order to close the edges of the counterfoil section B upon folding it.
  • the glue stripes are applied to the upper margins (with respect to the drawing sheet) as far as portions 12 and 13 are concerned, for the first folding operation, and to the upper margins of portion 11 and to the lower margins of portion 13, for the second folding operation.
  • portions 11, 12 and 13 effectively form a closed self-enveloping section and, as such, they are adapted to include confidential information access to which can be gained only by opening said section.
  • the concerned commercial transaction will be perfected by separating folded, closed and glued countertoil section B from its mother section A and by delivering it to the purchaser or user of the service or product.
  • the purchaser or user will divide the glued margins by means of a tear operation along said tear lines 16 and 17 and he/she can thereby unfold said three portions 11, 12 and 13 and gain access to the contents thereof.
  • one of said three portions for instance portion 13, which will be placed inwardly, upon being unfolded, can be used as a card, such as a credit card or like, and it can be made separable by the remaining portions by implementing said folding line 15 as a tear line, as well.
  • said folding line 15 as a tear line, as well.
  • a further glue stripe could be provided also adjacent to the transversal tear line 10, in order to close also the related side of said "self-enveloped" countertoil section B.
  • the possible displacement of tear line 10 or the additional insertion of a further tear line parallel to line 10 are further expedients that are obvious to all those skilled in the art to complete the embodiments of this invention.

Landscapes

  • Credit Cards Or The Like (AREA)
  • Facsimile Transmission Control (AREA)
  • Facsimiles In General (AREA)
  • Packaging For Recording Disks (AREA)
  • Making Paper Articles (AREA)

Abstract

Subject-matter of this invention is a two separable, mother (A) and counterfoil (B), section form, with self-enveloping counterfoil section (B), adapted to bear confidential information, wherein said mother section (A) is realized as a single piece and is connected to the counterfoil section (B) by means of a transversal tear line, while the counterfoil section consists of multiple portions successively foldable along folding lines, respectively, said counterfoil section having marginal glue stripes along its longitudinal edges, so as to leave a central glue-free area, and suitably positioned for maintaining said component portions in closed and glued condition along a first and a second longitudinal sides, as well as two longitudinal tear lines intended to separate the central area from the marginal glue stripes in order to permit said counterfoil section to be opened and said component portions thereof to be unfolded.

Description

This invention broadly relates to commercial transaction forms and more particularly concerns a form implemented as a two separable, mother and countertoil, sections, wherein said counterfoil section is separable from said mother section and is foldable and closeable, so as to be adapted to bear confidential information, intended to be only accessible to the addressee and final user of said section. Such forms are known e.g. from EP-A-0 404 714.
There are a large number of commercial transactions wherein a form is used consisting of two sections, generally designated as mother and countertoil sections, providing that the mother section is held by the party offering a service or a product, while the counterfoil section is held by the party receiving and utilizing said service or product.
There are, however, some circumstances of use of said mother and counterfoil section forms wherein the relationship between the party offering a service or a product and the party purchasing said service or product includes one or more "personalized" items which should be written in such forms but, in the same time, should be kept secret or at least should be only accessible to a very restricted number of people. If, on one hand, this requirement can raise no problem for the party purchasing the service or the product, because he/she is free to handle the countertoil section according to his/her needs and is also free to take care of it in optimum manner, noticeable problems are raised for the party offering the service the product, because such party should be provided with suitable personnel entrusted to handle such commercial transactions and, therefore, subject to particular bonds of confidentiality.
In view of the above and aiming, therefore, at releasing such party from said personnel restrictions and at putting it in condition to entrust handling said commercial transactions involving confidential data or information items also to generic personnel or to agencies external to its organized staff, it would be useful and convenient to provide a two section form, namely a mother and counterfoil section form, having at least a section, usually the section designated as counterfoil section, adapted to bear confidential codes or data, only accessible to the final user of the concerned service or product.
It is an object of this invention to fulfill this requirement.
This object is achieved by means of a two separable, mother and counterfoil, section form, with self-enveloping counterfoil section, adapted to bear confidential information, wherein said mother section is realized as a single piece and is connected to the counterfoil section by means of a transversal tear line, while the countertoil section consists of multiple portions successively foldable along folding lines, respectively, said counterfoil section having marginal glue stripes along its longitudinal edges, so as to leave a central glue-free area, and suitably positioned for maintaining said component portions in closed and glued condition along a first and a second longitudinal sides, as well as two longitudinal tear lines intended to separate the central area from the marginal glue stripes in order to permit said counterfoil section to be opened and said component portions thereof to be unfolded.
Further particulars and advantages as well as characteristics and construction details will be evident from the following description with reference to enclosed drawings wherein the preferred embodiments are shown by way of illustration and not by way of limitation.
In the drawings:
  • Figure 1 is a view of the form according to this invention in unfolded condition;
  • Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing a second embodiment;
  • Figure 3 is a view of a form according to this invention, either in its first or in its second embodiment, in folded and closed condition.
  • By referring now to the drawings and particularly to Figure 1, it can be seen that the form according to this invention comprises a mother section A and a counterfoil section B, connected along a transversal tear line 10. The mother section A is made as a single portion and includes, in addition to a serial number, by which the concerned commercial transaction is biuniquely identified, all information needed in said transaction. This section is held by the party offering the service or the product of the transaction.
    The counterfoil section B, instead, is the section that is held by the party purchasing the product or utilizing the service and it is the section that possibly includes personalized or confidential information which should be accessible only to said user party.
    Just by way of example, which is only reported to aid understanding a practical application case and without any intention to restrict thereto the utilization possibilities of the forms according to this invention, the sale of subscription to information access services can be mentioned, wherein it is required that special telephone numbers be called and/or special access and/or identification codes be assigned. In view of the confidentiality of the involved information and in view of the severity of the consequences that could be caused by a fraudulent use thereof, such transactions are handled at the present state of the art by responsible personnel and it is unimaginable that they are handled by generic personnel or through external channels not included in the organization of the offering agency and not entitled at the same confidentiality level.
    A further example that can be mentioned is the case of the sale of instantaneous lottery tickets of the so-called "scrape-and-win" type, wherein the winning information should be inaccessible and unknown till after the sale and only after the sale is perfected the purchaser can gain access to the information.
    In its preferred embodiment, the countertoil section B is divided in three portions 11, 12 and 13 that can be folded upon themselves by means of successive folding operations, such that, upon completing the folding operations, the external portion 13 is closed inwardly and, therefore, it is hidden and the whole assembly appears as it is shown in Figure 3. Aiming at achieving this effect, two folding lines 14 and 15 are provided.
    In addition to the transversal tear line 10 designed to separate mother section A from counterfoil section B, two longitudinal marginal tear lines 16 and 17 are provided, extending along the whole length of said counterfoil section B.
    Suitable glue stripes are provided in convenient positions at the free margins between the longitudinal tear lines 16 and 17 and the adjacent edges, in order to close the edges of the counterfoil section B upon folding it.. As a matter of fact the glue stripes are applied to the upper margins (with respect to the drawing sheet) as far as portions 12 and 13 are concerned, for the first folding operation, and to the upper margins of portion 11 and to the lower margins of portion 13, for the second folding operation.
    From a functional view point, it can now be understood that portions 11, 12 and 13 effectively form a closed self-enveloping section and, as such, they are adapted to include confidential information access to which can be gained only by opening said section. As a matter of fact, the concerned commercial transaction will be perfected by separating folded, closed and glued countertoil section B from its mother section A and by delivering it to the purchaser or user of the service or product. The purchaser or user, in turn, will divide the glued margins by means of a tear operation along said tear lines 16 and 17 and he/she can thereby unfold said three portions 11, 12 and 13 and gain access to the contents thereof.
    If desired, one of said three portions, for instance portion 13, which will be placed inwardly, upon being unfolded, can be used as a card, such as a credit card or like, and it can be made separable by the remaining portions by implementing said folding line 15 as a tear line, as well. The same thing can be effected by obvious adaptations, should it be desired to use for the same or similar object the other two portions 11 or 12.
    Of course, among the transaction information items that should be entered into counterfoil section B, into one or more of its component portions, a serial number should be included for biuniquely relate the counterfoil section to its respective mother section.
    Should it be desired or needed, a further glue stripe could be provided also adjacent to the transversal tear line 10, in order to close also the related side of said "self-enveloped" countertoil section B. The possible displacement of tear line 10 or the additional insertion of a further tear line parallel to line 10 are further expedients that are obvious to all those skilled in the art to complete the embodiments of this invention.
    A further embodiment of this invention is shown in Figure 2, wherein counterfoil section B is more simply made of two portions 11' and 12' rather than three. This embodiment as well any adaptations thereof do not need further particular explanations in view of all explanations already given in respect of the embodiment of Figure 1.
    It is not believed necessary to provide further particular indications of the information and data to be entered into said two sections A and B, because they are not per se part of this invention and can effectively be of any kind, depending on the commercial transaction effected by means of the forms according to this invention.
    Only by way of indicative example, the possibility can be mentioned to use the described forms for subscription services to data banks and the like, wherein confidential telephone numbers or access codes should be allotted to the purchaser. The form according to this invention enables the sales to be handled with full safety also by personnel not bound to confidentiality restrictions and even by external channels not included in the organization of the offering agency. Those skilled in the art will appreciate the large range of possible applications, and any list thereof could in no way be exhaustive.

    Claims (7)

    1. A two separable, mother and counterfoil, section form, with self-enveloping counterfoil section, adapted to bear confidential information, wherein said mother section is realized as a single piece and is connected to the counterfoil section by means of a transversal tear line, while the counterfoil section consists of multiple portions successively foldable along folding lines, respectively, said countertoil section having marginal glue stripes along its longitudinal edges, so as to leave a central glue-free area, and suitably positioned for maintaining said component portions in closed and glued condition along a first and a second longitudinal sides, as well as two longitudinal tear lines intended to separate the central area from the marginal glue stripes in order to permit said counterfoil section to be opened and said component portions thereof to be unfolded.
    2. A mother and countertoil section form, with self-enveloping counterfoil section, according to claim 1, characterized in that said counterfoil section comprises two portions foldable upon one another.
    3. A mother and countertoil section form, with self-enveloping counterfoil section, according to claim 1, characterized in that said counterfoil section comprises three portions successively foldable upon one another.
    4. A mother and counterfoil section form, with self-enveloping countertoil section, according to claim 1, characterized in that said mother and counterfoil sections include a common serial number by which a commercial transaction is identified, as well as all information needed therefor.
    5. A mother and counterfoil section form, with self-enveloping countertoil section, according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that one of the portions of said counterfoil section is made as a separable card, such as a credit card, and, to this effect, one or more of said folding lines is/are implemented as tear line(s).
    6. A mother and countertoil section form, with self-enveloping counterfoil section, according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that an additional glue stripe is provided adjacent to said tear line designed for separating said counterfoil section from said mother section, in order to close also a third transversal side of the self-enveloped counterfoil section.
    7. A mother and counterfoil section form with self-enveloping counterfoil section, according to claim 6, characterized in that an additional tear line is provided adjacent to said additional glue stripe.
    EP95920211A 1995-05-31 1995-05-31 Dual section form with self-enveloping separable counterfoil section, adapted to bear confidential information Expired - Lifetime EP0828616B1 (en)

    Applications Claiming Priority (1)

    Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
    PCT/IT1995/000092 WO1996038309A1 (en) 1995-05-31 1995-05-31 Dual section form with self-enveloping separable counterfoil section, adapted to bear confidential information

    Publications (2)

    Publication Number Publication Date
    EP0828616A1 EP0828616A1 (en) 1998-03-18
    EP0828616B1 true EP0828616B1 (en) 1999-03-10

    Family

    ID=11332470

    Family Applications (1)

    Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
    EP95920211A Expired - Lifetime EP0828616B1 (en) 1995-05-31 1995-05-31 Dual section form with self-enveloping separable counterfoil section, adapted to bear confidential information

    Country Status (7)

    Country Link
    EP (1) EP0828616B1 (en)
    AT (1) ATE177371T1 (en)
    AU (1) AU2574595A (en)
    BR (1) BR9510596A (en)
    DE (1) DE69508287T2 (en)
    ES (1) ES2131828T3 (en)
    WO (1) WO1996038309A1 (en)

    Families Citing this family (3)

    * Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
    Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
    US6095919A (en) * 1998-10-27 2000-08-01 Fabel; Warren M. Extendible form for non-impact printer
    DE19941362C2 (en) * 1999-08-31 2003-12-18 Winter Ag Data carriers and methods for the production thereof
    ES2257888B1 (en) * 2002-03-01 2008-02-01 Jose Rodrigues Isidoro NOTEBOOK AND PROCEDURE FOR USING THE SAME.

    Family Cites Families (3)

    * Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
    Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
    EP0402307A3 (en) * 1989-06-05 1991-05-29 Kenji Shibahara Postcard and process for producing same
    JP2593880Y2 (en) * 1989-06-14 1999-04-19 エバーコート 株式会社 Reciprocal letter sheet
    EP0458024A1 (en) * 1990-04-18 1991-11-27 Kabushiki Kaisha Challenge Five Communication medium such as postcard and method of manufacturing the same

    Also Published As

    Publication number Publication date
    ATE177371T1 (en) 1999-03-15
    BR9510596A (en) 1999-04-27
    DE69508287D1 (en) 1999-04-15
    WO1996038309A1 (en) 1996-12-05
    DE69508287T2 (en) 1999-10-14
    EP0828616A1 (en) 1998-03-18
    AU2574595A (en) 1996-12-18
    ES2131828T3 (en) 1999-08-01

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