Multi-page paper assemblies, such as mailer-type assemblies, used for business forms, direct mail pieces, information and promotional booklets, and other multi-page volumes are formed to distribute and supply information and/or instruments, e.g., having a certain dollar value, to end users. Such multi-page paper assemblies are typically constructed of a multiple of plies or sheets of suitable paper. The multiple plies or sheets of paper are typically printed, imaged or otherwise processed to dispose data and information on one or more surfaces of each ply or sheet. Thereafter, the multiple of plies or sheets are typically collated, stacked and joined, e.g., adhered or bound by adhesive or cohesive, along at least one longitudinal or one transverse edge to form a binder. The binder permits the multiple plies or sheets to be held together as an assembly and to configure the assembly in a book like manner. The plies or sheets of paper serve as pages of the assembly and can be readily accessible to an end user. Such an assembly can be further configured to provide a sealed assembly whereby adhesive or cohesive can be deposited on each ply or sheet at certain locations to join or seal adjacent pages, and in some cases to seal the assembly around its perimeter. Such sealed, multi-page sealed assemblies can be distributed to end users by hand and/or by mailing through the U.S. Postal Service.
Printing and binding multiple plies or sheets of paper suitable for forming a multi-page assembly includes a number of steps such as printing each surface of each ply or sheet, depositing sufficient adhesive or cohesive along certain portions of the plies or sheets and collating and binding the multiple of plies and sheets such that the completed assembly is bound and opens in a book like manner. Multiple process steps and plies or sheets of paper required to form a sealed, multi-page assembly, as described, contribute to the overall manufacturing costs and time to produce such an assembly and, hence, can increase the expense of producing this type of multi-page document. Thus, it is desirable to provide a sealed, multi-page paper assembly configured as a mailer type of assembly that is produced with less materials and by a reduced number of process steps, e.g., by permitting the use of laser printing or imaging techniques, such that manufacturing time and costs are reduced and a cost effective sealed, multi-page document is provided.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds