U.S. patent number 3,722,460 [Application Number 05/143,934] was granted by the patent office on 1973-03-27 for mail box signal.
Invention is credited to Robert E. James, Sr..
United States Patent |
3,722,460 |
James, Sr. |
March 27, 1973 |
MAIL BOX SIGNAL
Abstract
The present invention relates to a rural mail box having a flap
held over the back by means of a magnet until released by pressure
from a rod actuated by the opening of the mail box door. Depending
upon whether the back or the front of the positioned box is facing
the residence of the owner, the outer surface of the back and/or
the inner surface of the flap, when in upright position, or only
the back side of the box, are covered with a highly visable color
so as to become readily visable from a distance when the door of
the box is opened and the flap moved from its standby position.
After removing the mail from the box the flap is manually moved to
the standby position where it is held by a magnet until the box is
again opened. The contact between the flap and the rear surface of
the box is protected from rain, snow, or the like by an overhanging
shield.
Inventors: |
James, Sr.; Robert E. (Lima,
OH) |
Family
ID: |
22506330 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/143,934 |
Filed: |
May 17, 1971 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
232/35 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47G
29/121 (20130101); A47G 2029/12105 (20170801) |
Current International
Class: |
A47G
29/00 (20060101); A47G 29/122 (20060101); G08c
005/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;116/114,132
;232/34,35 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Capozi; Louis J.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A mail box comprising a receptacle provided at one end with a
vertically swinging hinged door, said door having attached to the
outer face thereof a plate extending below the bottom of said box
where it is pivotally connected with an actuating rod extending
beneath the bottom of said box through a loosely fitted sleeve
fastened in a plate extending below the bottom of said box at the
rear end of said box, whereby lateral movement of said rod is
effected when said front door of said box is opened or closed, an
iron metal flap substantially covering the back of said box and
hinged to the plate extending below the bottom of the rear of said
box at a point below the point at which said actuating rod passes
through the flap expending below said box, the top of said flap
extending to near the top of the rear end of said box and in
contact therewith when in an upright position, a permanent magnet
located in the rear wall of said box and of sufficient strength to
hold said flap in contact with said rear wall until pushed from it
by said actuating rod, an overhanging shield above the contact
point between said flap and said rear wall which does not come in
contact with said flap when the latter is pushed away from said
rear wall by said actuating rod,
2. The device of claim 1 wherein a rubber bumper is positioned
below said hinge connecting the flap to the extension of the rear
wall below the bottom of said box.
3. The device of claim 1, wherein the rear of the box and the inner
surface of said flap when in upright position are both coated with
a highly visible color.
4. The device of claim 1, wherein the outer surface of said flap
when in upright position is coated with a highly visible color.
Description
The present invention relates to boxes, and particularly to rural
mail boxes. More particularly, it relates to rural mail boxes
provided with signals, visable from a distance, which indicate
whether the box has been opened for the deposit of mail.
In rural areas where mail boxes are usually located some distance
from the homes of the users and where the schedule of mail delivery
is somewhat irregular the box owners frequently have to make
unnecessary trips to the mail box to determine whether or not mail
has been left in the box. Such visits are usually necessary even
when it is known that the postman has passed. In order to obviate
such numerous visits to the mail box signal devices of various
kinds have been attached to the mail boxes to indicate that the box
has been opened. In this manner visits to the mail box can be
eliminated except when the signal indicates that the box has been
opened, presumably for the deposit of mail for the box owner. These
signal devices of the prior art, however, have been subject to
various disadvantages which have made them unreliable, particularly
during inclement weather conditions.
The mail box of the present invention is designed to overcome the
various disadvantages of the prior art devices, and in particular
to provide a signal less subject to failure to operate during
inclement weather conditions, and which never fails to operate when
the box is opened.
The attached figures, together with the accompanying description
illustrate the improved mail box and signal device of the present
invention.
FIG. 1 shows a side elevation view of the box and signal device,
with the box in normal closed position.
FIG. 2 shows the under side of the box and the signal actuating
device.
FIG. 3 is a side view showing the box in opened position.
In each of the figures and in the accompanying description the
numerals used represent identical parts.
In the above figures 10 represents a conventional type mail box
with conventional flag 11 which can be raised by the box owner to
show that the box contains mail to be picked up by the postman. At
other times the flag remains in the lowered position indicated by
the dotted lines. The numeral 12 represents the conventional type
door for the box, supported by conventional type hinge 13, the door
being held in the closed position by the spring catch members 14
and 15.
To the front of the door is attached a plate 16 which extends below
the bottom of the box where it is connected to the actuating rod
18. If desired, for appearance sake, the plate 16 may be recessed
into the door. It may be fastened to the door by screws or bolts,
or welded thereto, whether recessed or not.
The lower end of the plate 16 is attached to the actuating rod 18
at 17 in a manner so as to permit lateral movement of the actuating
rod 18 when the door 12 is opened or closed. The connection 17 may
be either a hinge suitably connected both to the plate 16 and to
the rod 18, or by a bolt passing through the end of the plate and
the end of the rod in a manner so as to permit lateral movement of
the rod when the door is opened or closed.
The actuating rod 18 preferably passes underneath the box,
preferably along one side, as shown in FIG. 2. The rod extends to
the back of the box where it passes through a pipe sleeve 20
fastened in the extension 21 of the back of the box and to a point
where it comes almost in contact with the flap 23 to be described
below. The rod 18 may be of any convenient dimensions so long as it
does not appreciably bend under the pressure exerted thereon by the
opening of the box door. A one-fourth inch diameter iron or steel
rod generally gives satisfactory results. 21 may either be a
projection of the back of the box but preferably is a sheet
attached to the back of the box, in which case the upper end of it
can be conveniently bent to provide the slanted projecting shield
22, which is of the order of the width of the box and extends out
from the box a sufficient distance to cover the upper end of the
flap 23 when in contact with the back of the box. The shield 22 is
conveniently of the order of 1 inch by 6 inches but may be of
different dimensions so long as it amply protects from rain, sleet,
snow, and the like, the space between the sheet 21 and the flap 23
and is positioned so as to permit the complete opening of the flap
23.
The flap 23 is fastened at its lower end by means of the hinge 24
to the sheet 21 at a point below the pipe sleeve 20.
A permanent magnet 24' is fastened into either the back wall of the
box or into the projecting sheet 21, fastened to the back wall by
any convenient means such as bolts, at a point opposite the upper
end of the flap 23 when the latter is in the upright standby
position against the back of the wall or the projecting sheet
21.
A rubber bumper 25 is conveniently attached to the lower end of the
projecting sheet 21, although this is not essential to the
operation of the device.
The projecting sheet 21 may be bent to provide the overhanging
shield 22 and fastened to the back of the box by welding or by
means of bolts or screws.
The sides of the box are conveniently attached to the bottom
thereof by means of the screws or bolts 26.
The box may be set on a post with the back thereof facing the
residence of the owner, in which position the exposed surface of
the sheet 21 and the surface of the flap 23 facing the sheet 21,
when in upright position facing the sheet 21, are painted a
brilliant easily discernable color such as red, yellow, or the
like. When the box is located across the highway from the user with
the from facing the user it is necessary to color only the exposed
surface of the flap 23 when in upright standby position as only
this side will be visable to the user of the box when the flap is
in the released or down position.
The improved mail box with signal device of the present invention
are used as follows: When the door of the box is closed the flap 23
is in the upright position in contact with the sheet 21 where it is
held in contact therewith by the magnet 24'. When the door 12 is
pulled open the projection 16 pushes the rod 18 toward the rear of
the box which causes the end of the rod to come in contact with the
inner surface of the flap 23 with sufficient force to break the
contact between the flap 23 and the sheet 21, maintained by the
magnet 24'. When the flap 23 is pushed past a 90.degree. angle it
falls until it comes in contact with the lower end of the sheet 21
which is preferably provided with a rubber bumper 25 to reduce the
force of the contact between the flap 23 and the sheet 21. The
dropping of the flap 23 exposes the brightly colored inner surface
of the flap and colored back end of the box, when the latter faces
the user's residence and thus signals the fact that the box has
been opened. When the box is positioned so that the front faces the
user's residence, the brightly colored outer surface of the flap 23
is readily visable extending below the box. In either case, the
signal then remains in effect until the flap is manually turned
back into contact with sheet 21 at the location of the magnet 24'
where the force of the magnet comes into play and holds the flap 23
until the box is again opened and the flap pushed away from the
effective field of the magnet.
The protective shield 22 is particularly important in areas where
freezing rain or snow would otherwise freeze the flap 23 to the
sheet 21 and thus prevent operation of the signal.
* * * * *