GB1599642A - Provision of letter boxes in wooden doors - Google Patents

Description

(54) AN IMPROVEMENT IN OR RELATING TO THE PROVISION OF LETTER BOXES IN WOODEN DOORS (71) We, LESLIE PLATT, a British Subject, of 3 Garden Grove, Hemingfield, Wombwell, Barnsley, and DEREK SARJEANT, a British Subject, of 55 Millgate Street, Royston, Wakefield, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: The invention relates to the provision of letter boxes in wooden doors and has for its object to provide an improvement therein.

Usually, when a letter box has to be provided in a wooden door, a rectangular aperture is cut in the door and a hinged flap is fitted on the outside of the door to cover the aperture. A similar flap may be fitted on the inside of the door.

The cutting of such an aperture in a wooden door, of in the wooden frame of a glass door, is a difficult and time consuming task. The door or door frame will generally be in the region of two inches thick and may be made of hard wood or may include knots in the region in which the letter box is to be formed. The workman will usually drill a series of holes through the door along lines defining a rectangle just within the letter box shape required. He will then chisel away the connecting pieces between the holes to produce an aperture with rough edges and will then spend some time with an assortment of tools to improve the surface finish of the edges of the aperture produced.However, without the expenditure of considerable time and expense the surface finish within the aperture is unlikely to be very satisfactory, and even if a hinged flap is fitted on the inside of the door, the rough surface finish within the aperture will be seen whenever the letter box is used. The present invention aims to at least alleviate this problem.

AcCording to the invention, there is provided a letter plate assembly including a liner for the aperture in the door, a hinged flap and door plate for the outside surface of the door and a hinged flap and door plate for the inside surface of the door, the arrangement being such that the liner is fitted in an aperture formed in a door and the hinged flaps and door plates are fitted to abut against the opposite sides of the door so that the rough surface of the aperture is hidden from view, the liner being formed integrally with one of the door plates and the other door plate being formed with a shallow groove in which an end portion of the liner is accommodated. Means may be provided to allow for the escape of rainwater leaking into or condensation forming in the liner.

In order that the invention may be fully understood and readily carried into effect, the same will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the drawings accompanying the Provisional Specification, of which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a letter plate assembly embodying the invention, and Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 in Fig. 1 showing the assembly fitted in a wooden door.

Referring now to the drawings, the letter plate assembly there illustrated includes a liner 10 of rectangular box-like shape except that at one end it is provided with a flange 12 which is to constitute an internal door plate.

The uppermost corners of the flange 12 (see Fig. 1) are provided with pivots 14 for the hinged connection of an internal flap 16. A narrow slot 11 is provided in the lower part of the liner, as shown in Fig. 1, and the purpose of this is to allow for the escape of rainwater leaking into or condensation forming in the liner.

A hinged flap 18 and door plate 20 for the outside of the door are provided separately from the liner but the door plate 20 is provided with a shallow groove 22 in which an end portion of the liner is accommodated as shown in Fig. 2. The door plate is provided with a pair of screwthreaded blind holes 24 in which screws 26 can be engaged to hold it in position. The holes in the door through which the screws 26 are to extend can be drilled when the liner has been fitted in position. The flange 12 is provided with holes through which the screws 26 are to extend and which can be used as a guide for drilling the holes in the door. When the screws have been tightened in position to hold the door plate 20 in position, the heads 28 of the screws 26 abut against the flange 12 to retain the liner in position.

When the letter plate assembly has been fitted in position, the surface finish of the aperture 30 in the door through which the liner extends cannot be seen. Consequently, it is not necessary for a person fitting the assembly in position to spend any time in improving the surface finish of the aperture and it can be left quite rough, the only requirement being that the flange 12 and the door plate 20 must be capable of masking the roughness and irregularities of the aperture. Thus there is provided an assembly by means of which a workman can fit a letter box of neat and tidy appearance in a wooden door or in a wooden framed door in a minimum of time. If the length of the liner is made to suit the thickest door or door frame usually met with, that is to say in the region of 2", any excess length can be cut or filed away if the assembly is to be fitted in a narrow door.This will be particularly easy if the liner part of the assembly is made of a synthetic plastics material but it will be understood that the assembly may be made of other materials such as brass, steel or aluminium. On the other hand it will be understood that the assembly may be provided in a number of different sizes to suit different thicknesses of doors or door frames.

It has been found that the invention is very useful for fitting to so-called "flush doors", that is to say doors having plywood facings and "eggshell" filling. Normally, a letter box opening in such a door would need to be lined by a joiner and this operation is time consuming and therefore quite costly. When using a letter plate assembly embodying the invention, the liner of the assembly lines the aperture in the door. It has also been found that when the assembly is made of brass, steel or aluminium, for example, it is fire resistant and is consequently a safety feature (that is to say, to a limited degree, a safeguard against inflamable materials being inserted through the letter box).

Various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A letter plate assembly including a liner for the aperture in the door, a hinged flap and door plate for the outside surface of the door and a hinged flap and door plate for the inside surface of the door, the arrangement being such that the liner is fitted in an aperture formed in a door and the hinged flaps and door plates are fitted to abut against the opposite sides of the door so that the rough surface of the aperture is hidden from view, the liner being formed integrally with one of the door plates and the other door plate being formed with a shallow groove in which an end portion of the liner is accommodated.

2. A letter plate assembly according to claim 1, in which means are provided to allow for the escape of rainwater leaking into or condensation forming in the liner1 3. A letter plate assembly constructed, arranged and adapted to be used substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated by the drawings accompanying the Provisional Specification.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (3)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. screws have been tightened in position to hold the door plate 20 in position, the heads 28 of the screws 26 abut against the flange 12 to retain the liner in position. When the letter plate assembly has been fitted in position, the surface finish of the aperture 30 in the door through which the liner extends cannot be seen. Consequently, it is not necessary for a person fitting the assembly in position to spend any time in improving the surface finish of the aperture and it can be left quite rough, the only requirement being that the flange 12 and the door plate 20 must be capable of masking the roughness and irregularities of the aperture. Thus there is provided an assembly by means of which a workman can fit a letter box of neat and tidy appearance in a wooden door or in a wooden framed door in a minimum of time. If the length of the liner is made to suit the thickest door or door frame usually met with, that is to say in the region of 2", any excess length can be cut or filed away if the assembly is to be fitted in a narrow door.This will be particularly easy if the liner part of the assembly is made of a synthetic plastics material but it will be understood that the assembly may be made of other materials such as brass, steel or aluminium. On the other hand it will be understood that the assembly may be provided in a number of different sizes to suit different thicknesses of doors or door frames. It has been found that the invention is very useful for fitting to so-called "flush doors", that is to say doors having plywood facings and "eggshell" filling. Normally, a letter box opening in such a door would need to be lined by a joiner and this operation is time consuming and therefore quite costly. When using a letter plate assembly embodying the invention, the liner of the assembly lines the aperture in the door. It has also been found that when the assembly is made of brass, steel or aluminium, for example, it is fire resistant and is consequently a safety feature (that is to say, to a limited degree, a safeguard against inflamable materials being inserted through the letter box). Various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A letter plate assembly including a liner for the aperture in the door, a hinged flap and door plate for the outside surface of the door and a hinged flap and door plate for the inside surface of the door, the arrangement being such that the liner is fitted in an aperture formed in a door and the hinged flaps and door plates are fitted to abut against the opposite sides of the door so that the rough surface of the aperture is hidden from view, the liner being formed integrally with one of the door plates and the other door plate being formed with a shallow groove in which an end portion of the liner is accommodated.

2. A letter plate assembly according to claim 1, in which means are provided to allow for the escape of rainwater leaking into or condensation forming in the liner1

3. A letter plate assembly constructed, arranged and adapted to be used substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated by the drawings accompanying the Provisional Specification.