US2430916A - Mailbox - Google Patents

Description

.1. R. CROSSETT 2,430,916

MAILBOX Original Filed July 22, 1959 J.R CROSSETT,

A itomeys 14 I Inventor Patented Nov. 18, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MAILBOX Joseph R. Crossett, Wellman, Iowa Substituted for abandoned application Serial No. 285,985, July 22, 1939. This application April 18, 1947, Serial No. 742,379

21 Claims. 1

This is a substitute of my abandoned application Serial No. 285,985, filed July 22, 1939, allowed Dec. 6, 1939.

This invention relates to a mail box, the general object of the invention bein to provide a holder in the box for holding coins, etc., with means whereby the mailman can readily move the holder to dumping position so that the money or other contents Will drop into his hand, the parts being so arranged that he could do this even when he has gloves or mittens on his hands.

Another object of the invention is to provide means whereby the lid of the box can be easily opened without removing gloves or mittens, with means whereby upon the opening of the lid the flag indicator will be moved to lowered position.

This invention also consists in certain other features of construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts to be hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

In describing the invention in detail, reference will be had to the accompanyin drawings wherein like characters denote like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which:

Figure 1 is an edge view of the improved box showing the lid in closed position and the flag indicator in raised position in full lines, with the lid in partly lifted position and the flag in partly lowered position in dotted lines.

Figure 2 is a front view of the box.

Figure 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the box with the lid removed.

Figure 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Figure 4.

In these views the numeral 1 indicates the box which has its top open and said top slopes downwardly and forwardly from its rear and said top is adapted to be closed by a flanged lid 2 which is hingedly connected to the rear of the box as shown at 3. At the front of the lid a downwardly and outwardly extending lip-forming flange 4 is attached to the lower edge of the front flange of the lid so that by pressing upwardly on this lip 4 the lid can be moved to open position and as will be seen this can be done even if one has a glove or mitten on his hand.

The indicator flag is shown at 5 and has its standard 5 pivoted to an end of the box as shown at 6. A clip made in the form of a spring tongue, as shown at l, is attached to an end flange of the lid and will receive a part of the standard of the flag between itself and said flange of the lid when the flag is in raised position and when the lid is raised this clip will push the signal fl rearwardly to a point where it will drop to a depending position under the action of gravity. Thus the flag does not have to be lowered by hand though, of course, it will have to be raised by hand.

An elongated spring tongue 8 is located in the box for holding letters or the like to the rear wall thereof.

A substantially U-shaped holder member 9 has its bight fastened to the inner face of the rear wall of the box adjacent one end thereof and also adjacent the top thereof. This member is provided with a short bottom part l0 at its rear end and intermediate the ends of the limbs thereof ears I I depend from the lower edges of said limbs. A coil holder I2 is composed of an elongated bottom part 13, an upstanding rear wall [4, and the short side walls I5 which extend forwardly from the rear wall but terminate an appreciable distance from the front end of the bottom wall. Upstanding ears [6 are connected with the bottom wall l3 at the front thereof and one of these cars is formed with the finger engaging piece I! which extends from the top of the ear and ears [8 depend from the side edges of the bottom wall [3 intermediate the ends thereof and these ears l8 are located inwardly of the ears II of the holder 9 and a pivot pin l9 passes through the two sets of ears for pivotally connecting the holder 12 to the outer holder 9. A filling 20 of solder or the like is placed in the corner formed by the junction of the bottom wall l3 with the rear wall M, the filling having a rounded outer face so as to eliminate a sharp corner at this point to prevent coins or the like sticking in the device.

As shown in Figure 5 the limbs of the member 9 slope upwardly and forwardly and, of course, hold the coin receiver 12 in the same position. Thus any coins or other objects placed in the member 12 will be held therein but when these articles are to be removed it is simply necessary for the mailman or other person to place his hand under the front end of the wall l3 and use a finger for pressing upon the part IT, to depress the holder l2 so that the articles therein will slide down the bottom wall l3 of the holder l2 as the same is moved to an inclined position and thus the articles will be deposited into the hands.

As will be seen from Figure 4 the front end of the bottom wall l3 with the cars It is slightly wider than the front end of the member 9 so that the ears l6 will engage the outer surfaces of the front ends of the limbs of the member 9 and thus act to frictionally hold the member l2 in the position shown in Figure 5.

It is thought from the foregoing description that the advantages and novel features of the invention will be readily apparent.

It is to be understood that changes may be made in the construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts provided that such changes fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In a mail box, a substantially U-shaped supporting member having its bight-connected with the rear wall of the box and its limbs sloping upwardly and forwardly to form a space between said limbs which is open at the top and bottom, ears depending from the lower side edges of the limbs adjacent their forward ends, a coin holder including a bottom, a rear wall and "forwardly extending side walls, said holder being located between the limbs of the 'U-shaped member, ears depending from the side edges of the bottom of the holder, means for pivotally connecting said ears to the ears of the supporting member and a bottom portion extending between the rear portions of the limbs of the U-shaped member and against which the rear end of the holder rests when the holder isin coinholding position.

2. In a mail box, a substantially U-shaped supporting member having its big'ht connected with the rear wall of the box and its limbs sloping upwardly and forwardly, depending ears at the lower edges of the limbs intermediate the ends thereof, a bottom piece connecting the limbs together at the rear thereof, a coin holder including a bottom part, a rear wall and short side walls extending forwardly from the rear wall, ears depending from the side edges of the bottom part intermediate the ends thereof and located between the ears of the U-shaped member, pivot means connecting the ears together, upstanding lugs at the side edges of the bottom part at the front end thereof for overlapping and frictionally engaging the front ends of the limbs of the substantially U- shaped member andan outwardly extending part on-one of'said lugs for forming a finger piece.v

JOSEPH R. CROSSETT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 640,763 Hale Jan. 9, 1900 719,474 King Feb. 3, 1903 882,709 Palmer Mar. 24, 1908 1,207,499 Carpenter Dec. 5, 1916 1,713,702 Konefes May 21, 1929 1,929,734 Evans Oct. 10, 1933 2,018,544 Carlson Oct, 22, 1935

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