GB2510575A

GB2510575A - Parcel depositary

Info

Publication number: GB2510575A
Application number: GB1302157.1A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Brian Willcox
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2013-02-07
Filing date: 2013-02-07
Publication date: 2014-08-13
Anticipated expiration: 2033-02-07
Also published as: GB2510575B8; GB2510575B; GB201302157D0

Abstract

A parcel depositary (1, fig 1) comprises a housing (2) and a drawer 8, wherein the drawer 8 is arranged to slide to an open position where it extends through an opening 7 in the housing and permits a person outside the housing to place a parcel in the drawer 8. The drawer 8 is further arranged to slide to a closed position where a person outside the housing 2 is prevented from accessing the drawer 8. The drawer 8 has one or more flaps 10, 11 in the bottom which, when the drawer 8 is closed, permits the parcel 9 to drop through the bottom of the drawer 8 into a holding space 12 below the drawer. The drawer 8 is prevented from being subsequently opened unless the one or more flaps 10, 11are closed so that the one or more flaps 10, 11 prevent access by a person outside the housing to the holding space when the drawer is open or partly open.

Description

Parcel Depositary The present invention relates to a parcel depositary suitable for receiving and storing parcels in a secure manner and particularly, but not exclusively, to such a depositary as may be used at a residential premises for the receipt of parcel by postal or courier services.

When letters are delivered through a letterbox, the size of the letterbox opening normally restricts access to the inside of the letterbox, which may be the inside of a residential prcmises, where the letterbox is mounted in the front door, or in a wall of the premises. Thus when the letter is delivered it cannot subsequently be easily removed, except by the person who has access to the premises, or in the ease of a standalone mailbox by the person who has a key to unlock that mailbox. For the purposes of the present specification, the terms "lock" and "key" includes traditional locks and keys, locks that accept a key code in the form of a combination code entered on a keypad on the lock, locks that respond to a key in the form of a magnetic swipe card or transponder, or any such equivalent devices.

When large parcels are delivered to residential premises, there is often no secure way of depositing the parcel if no one is at home. In such circumstances, the parcel will typically be left with a neighbour, ifa neighbour is in, in a relatively insecure location, or will be returned the post office / courier depot to await either redelivery or collection.

Recently, the number of parcels being delivered to private houses has increased dramatically due to purchases being made over the Internet. For people who are working during normal delivery hours, it can be very frustrating having to collect parcels from the local delivery depot or arranging for redelivery. Also from the perspective of the personlcompany making the delivery, there is often a lot of additional cost involved in making a return journey. There is therefore a need for a secure parcel depositary which will enable parcels to be left relatively securely, but which parcel depositary is relatively inexpensive.

Various products are known which attempt to address the above problem. One example is the iBm TM sold by iBm Innovations Limited. This comprises a cabinet with a lid, the lid being secured by a lock which requires a code to first be supplied to the delivery driver prior to delivery. This is not always convenient or possible.

Another product available comprises a box, either to be freestanding or mounted on a wall, which may be opened by a person delivering a parcel and then closed. The cabinet is automatically locked on being closed and requires the owner to unlock it to retrieve the parcel. A problem with this type of delivery box is that it is may only receive one delivery.

A third product currently available is thc Parcel Pod TM manufactured by Applicd Storage Products and disclosed in UK Patent No GB 2426999. This comprises a cabinet having a hinged scoop like enclosure at the top forming a lid of the cabinet. The enclosure being hinged at the back of the cabinet has its opening at the front, such that in a lowered position the top of the enclosure forms a lid of the cabinet, but when raised a restricted amount, the opening permits a parcel is to be received into the enclosure without permitting access to the rest of the cabinet and any parcels previously delivered.

Subsequent lowering of the enclosure, to close the lid, causes the parcel in the enclosure to slide out of the enclosure into the main part of the housing. This permits subsequent deliveries of parcels to be made, whilst preventing access to any previously delivered parcels. A locked door is provided on the housing through which the owner may then rctricvc thc parcels. The principle of operation of this arrangcmcnt rcstricts thc size of thc enclosure into which a parcel is initially received so that the cabinet has to be several times greater in size than the maximum size of parcel that can be delivered.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved parcel depository.

According to the present invention there is provided a parcel depositary comprising a housing and a drawer, wherein the drawer is arranged to slide to an open position where it extends through an opening in the housing and permits a person outside the housing to place a parcel in the drawer and wherein the drawer is arranged to slide to a closed position where a person outside the housing is prevented from accessing the drawer, the drawer having one or more flaps in the bottom which, when the drawer is closed, permits thc parcel to drop through the bottom of the drawer into a holding space below the drawer, the drawer being prevented from being subsequently opened unless the one or more flaps are closed, so that the one or more flaps prevent access by a person outside the housing to the holding space when the drawer is open or partly open.

The present invention permits a parcel to be deposited in the drawer, but once the drawer has been closed, the opening of the one or more flaps prevents the drawer being reopened. The onc or morc flaps have to again be closed before the drawer can be reopened. In the case where the size of the parcel in the space below the one or more flaps or the number of parcels previously delivered, prevents the last parcel or parcels delivered clearing the flaps, then the flaps will be prevented from closing, in turn preventing the drawer from opening and thus preventing access to any parcel still present in the drawer, or partway through the bottom of the drawer.

A major advantage of the present invention is that it may accept a number of subsequent deliveries of smaller parcels, the type most commonly received, but will permit a parcel to be securely received up to the size of the drawer, even if there is not space in the holding space for the parcel. In this manner, the drawer and one or more flaps not only provide a mechanism to prevent unauthorised access to previously delivered parcels, but also additionally pemiits the space in the drawer itself to receive and secure a parcel.

Preferably, the one or more flaps, when opened, extend below the level of the opening and directly prevent the drawer from being opened by coming into contact with the housing. This provides a very simple mechanism for locking the drawer closed when the flaps are open and when the capacity of the holding space has been exceeded.

The depositary may preferably comprise two flaps hinged on opposite sides of the drawer base, similar to bomb bay doors on an aircraft The provision of two flaps limits the volume of the holding space swept by the flaps when they open. This arrangement may also permit the whole floor of the drawer to open, ensuring a parcel does not become lodged in the drawer. Also the opening in the top of the drawer may be slightly restricted, by an inwardly protruding rim or similar, to ensure parcels don't jam in the drawer. If a parcel jams in the opening of the drawer then it will not be possible to close the drawer, which will be evident to the person delivering the parcel.

Preferably, the flaps are biased to an open position and preferably this is achieved by spring means. Preferably the depositary frirther comprises mechanical means for closing the flaps prior to the drawer being opened, wherein the mechanical means may be operated from the outside of the housing. This permits a person delivering a parcel to close the flaps and open the drawer, unless the depositary is already frill.

Preferably, the housing is in the form of a box wherein the drawer is accommodated in a top portion of the box and the holding space is provided within the box below the drawer, to permit the one or more flaps to swing open below the drawer. In this manner, the depositary may be manufactured as a self-contained unit which may possibly be employed outside a house, for example by a side of a driveway or gateway. If desired, the depositary could be provided with fixing points for securing it to a suitable base.

Advantageously, the vertical depth of the holding space is less than the vertical depth of the drawer. In this manner, the drawer may take up a substantial part of the volume of the depositary, maximising the size of parcel which may be received. 1-lowever, in the absence of a large parcel being delivered, this may still permit a number of smaller parcels to be successively delivered, with each being securely received.

Preferably, the holding space has a resilient floor to cushion parcels as they drop into the holding space.

In a preferred embodiment, the box has a lockable lid which, when open, penrnts an authorised recipient of the parcel to retrieve a parcel by reaching through the lid and the bottom of the drawer, when the drawer in the closed position. Altematively, the box may have a lockable door which opens into the holding space.

Advantageously, the box may be made of metal, which may both have sufficient strength for supporting the drawer whilst enabling the box to have thin walls, maximising the storage space for any given size of depositary.

In an alternative to the box-type standalone depositary described immediately above, the depositary may be a lockable building, wherein the drawer is located in an opening in a door or wall of the lockable building, with the building forming the housing of the depositary. In either embodiment, the depositary may further comprise a letterbox in the front of the drawer or above the drawer for also receiving letters in the normal manner.

One cmbodimcnt of thc prcscnt invention will now be described, by way of cxamplc only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals are used throughout to indicate like parts and of which: Figure 1 is a front view of a parcel depositary in accordance with the present invention with the drawer open; Figure 2 is a side elevation of the parcel depositary of Figure 1; Figures 3 and 4 correspond to Figure 1 and 2 but show the drawer closed; Figure 5 and 6 corresponds to Figures 3 and 4, again showing the drawer closed but now with the flaps partially raised; Figure 7 is a view from the line Yll-Vil of Figure 2; and Figure 8 is a view from line VIlI-Vill of Figure 4.

Rcfcrring now to Figurcs 1 and 2, a parcel dcpositary, indicated gcncrally as 1, comprises a metal housing 2 having a lid 3 attached to the main body 4 by hinge 5. The lid 3 is retained in a closed position by lock 6. In an opening 7, in the front of the housing 2, is located a drawer 8. The drawer 8 is mounted on runners (not shown) so that it may extend in an open position out of the housing 2, as illustrated in Figure 2. In this position, a parcel 9 to be deposited in the depositary for subsequent collection is placed in the drawer 8, the parcel 9 being shown in broken line.

The bottom of the drawer 8 is formed by two flaps 10 and 11 (shown in broken line) hinged to respective sides of the drawer 8. The flaps 10 and 11 are held closed by resting on the bottom of the opening 7, which even in the fully opened position shown in Figures 1 still supports the back edge of flaps 10 and 11. However, any number of suitable devices or mechanisms may be employed to ensure the flaps cannot open when the drawer is open.

Referring now to Figure 3 and 4, these show the drawer in a closed position where the flaps 10 and 11 are no longer held closed by the bottom of the opening 7 in the housing 2. Here the flaps 10, 11 may swing open, either under gravity or by biasing means, to permit the parcel 9 to fall into a holding space 12 below the drawer. The flaps 10 and 11 are connected via a linkage mechanism I 3a to I 3d (described below with reference to Figures 7 to 8) to handle 14 on the front of the drawer 8. As will be subsequently described with rcfcrcncc to Figures 7 to 8, the opcning of thc flaps 10 and 11 causcs the handlc 14 to rotate in the direction of arrow 15 to adopt the vertical position shown in Figures 3 and 4.

In order to retrieve a parcel 9, a person with a key simply unlocks lock 6, opens the lid 3 and reaches down through the open flaps 10 and 11 to lift the parcel from the holding space 12. The bottom of the holding space may have a layer of soft material, a string net or the like to cushion the parcel as it drops into the holding space 12 when the drawer 8 is closed and the flaps 10 and 11 open.

In the position shown in Figures 3 and 4, the flaps 10 and 11 prevent the drawer 8 being opened and thereby prevent access through the drawer 8 to the parcel 9. On arriving at the parcel depositary 1 and finding it with the drawer 8 closed, as illustrated in Figures 3 and 4, cithcr with or without a pared 9 already present, a dclivcry pcrson rotatcs thc handle 14 in the direction of arrow 16, as shown in Figure 5. If the parcel 9, or a plurality of parcels previously delivered (not shown) are small enough to permit the flaps 10 and 11 to close on rotation of the handle 14, the flaps 10 and 11 may be raised, through the intermediate position shown in Figures 5 and 6, to the position shown in Figures 1 and 2.

Thus the drawer 8 may again be opened to receive another parcel, as shown in Figure 2.

Here the flaps 10 and II will again prevent access to any parcel already in the holding space 12, as previously described.

Again with reference to Figures 5 and 6, if a number of small parcels have been received, or a large parcel has been received and they or it prevent the flaps 10 and 11 from closing and the handle 14 being rotated, then the parcel delivery person will be unable to gain access to the drawer and will have to take the parcel away for delivery on another day, or find some alternative means of leaving the parcel.

An important advantage of the present invention is that it permits a parcel 9 to be received in the depositary 1 which parcel 9 may have maximum dimensions almost equal to the internal space of the drawer 8. Although no subsequent parcels may be delivered, this large parcel may bc safely stored, because on closing of thc drawer 8 it will at least partially drop through flaps 10 and 11 preventing the drawer 8 from subscqucntly bcing opcncd and instead requiring the parcel 9 to be removed by unlocking the lid 3 and taking the parcel out the top. In this manner, the dimensions of the housing 2 do not have to be significantly greater than the maximum parcel size to be received and the housing 2 may typically only be one and a half to two times the depth of the depth of the largest parcel that may be received. This is particularly advantageous, for many households receive a number of small parcels and thus the depositary I will enable subsequent deliveries of small parcels to be made without the parcel depositary being emptied. However, in the event that a single large parcel should be delivered on any particular day, this may still be safely received, though any parcels received subsequently may have to be redelivered.

Thc parcel depositary 1 may also additionally rcccivc letters and may be provided with a standard lcttcrbox opcning 17. This will normally pcrmit lcttcrs to bc dclivcrcd cvcn in the event that no further parcels may be delivered.

Referring now to Figure 7, this a view along the line Vu-Vu of Figure 2 with the drawer 8 in an open position and the flaps 10 and 11 closed and resting on the bottom of the opening 7, not shown, in the housing 2. Flaps 10 and 11 are connected by a linkage mechanism comprising rods I 3a and I 3b, pivotally attached at both ends between respective flaps 10 and 11 and a disk 13c forming part of the linkage mechanism. Disk 13c is on the inside of the front of the drawer 8 and is connected by a shaft 13d to handle 14 on

S

the outside of the front the drawer 8. Disk 13c and handle 14 may rotate in the drawer front.

A spring 18 acts between the disk 13c and the drawer front 14 to cause the disk 13c to rotate in the direction of arrow 19, which acts to urge the flaps 10 and 11 to the open position. Thus, when the drawer 8 is closed the spring 18 ensures the flaps 10 and 11 adopt the position illustrated in Figure 8. From this position, with the drawer 8 closed, rotation of the handle 14 in the direction of arrow 20, by a person delivering a parcel, will cause the flaps 10 and 11 to close, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, thus permitting the drawer 8 to open, provided thc flaps 10 and 11 arc not obstructcd by a parcel 9.

The invention has been described above with reference to specific embodiments, given by way of example only. It will be appreciated that many different arrangements of parcel depositary are possible, which fall within the scope of the appended claims. For example, it will be appreciated that instead of a lockable lid on the depositary a lockable access panel or door could be provided elsewhere in the housing to provide access to the holding spacing 12. Also, the invention has been described above in the context ofa stand alone parcel depositary, which for example may be freestanding or arranged to be secured to a driveway or the like. However, the parcel depositary could comprise a building with the walls, doors and windows forming the housing, preventing access into that housing, with the drawer extending through a door or wall into the housing. The parcel depositary will function in the same manncr as previously described, but access to dclivcrcd parccls would then bc gained by unlocking a door of thc building to gain access to thc building and thus a holding space within the building below the drawer.

Claims

Claims 1. A parcel depositary comprising a housing and a drawer, wherein the drawer is ananged to slide to an open position where it extends through an opening in the housing and permits a person outside the housing to place a parcel in the drawer and wherein the drawer is arranged to slide to a closed position where a person outside the housing is prevented from accessing the drawer, the drawer having one or more flaps in the bottom which, when the drawer is closed, permits the parcel to drop through the bottom of the drawer into a holding space below the drawer, the drawer being prevented from being subsequently opened unless the one or more flaps are closed so that the one or more flaps prevent access by a person outside the housing to the holding space when the drawer is open or partly open.
2. A depositary as claimed in Claim 1. wherein one or more flaps. when open. extend below the level of the opening and directly prevent the drawer from being opened by coming into contact with the housing.
3. A depositary as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, comprising two flaps hinged to opposite sides of the drawer base.
4. A depositary as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the one or more flaps are biased to an open position.
5. A depositary as claimed in Dairn 4. wherein the one or more flaps are biased by spring means.
6. A depositary as claimed in any preceding claim, further comprising mechanical means for closing the one or more flaps prior to the drawer being opened, wherein the mechanica' means may be operated from the outside of the housing.
7. A depositary as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the housing is in the form of a box wherein the drawer is accommodated in a top portion of the box and the h&ding space is provided within the box below the drawer, to permit the one or more flaps to swing open below the drawer.
8. A depositary as claimed in Claim 7. wherein the vertical depth of the holding space is less than the vertical depth of the drawer,
9. A depositary as claimed in Claim 7 or 8, wherein the holding space has a resilient floor.
10. A depositary as claimed in Claim 7, 8 or 9, wherein the box has a lockable lid which when opened permits an authorised recipient to retrieve a parcel by reaching through the bottom of the drawer when the drawer is in the closed position.
11. A depositary as claimed in Claim 7. 8 or 9, wherein the box has a lockable door which opens into the holding space.
12. A depositary as claimed in any one of Claims 7 to II, wherein the box is metal.
13. A depositary as claimed in any one of Claims Ito 6, wherein the drawer is located in an opening in a door or wall of a lockable building and the building forms the housing of the depositary.
14. A depositary as claimed in any preceding claim. further comprising a letterbox in the front of the drawer or above the drawer.
15. A depositary as shown in one or more of the accompanying drawings.