US1006772A - Mail-box. - Google Patents

Description

F. C. MEYER.

MAIL BOX.

APPLICATION FILED DEG.19, 1010.

1,006,772. Patentd Oct. 24, 1911.

- Inventor COLUMBIA PLANOGRAIH 90., WASHINGTON, 0.1:.

Attorneys FREDERICK C. MEYER, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

MAIL-BOX.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 24, 1911.

Application filed December 19, 1910. Serial No. 598,120.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, F REDERICK C. MEYER,-

a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have in vented a new and useful Mail-Box, of which the following is a specification.

It is one object of the present invention to provide a mail box which will house its contents efliciently from the elements, and maintain said contents secure from felonious removal.

Another object of the invention is to provide novel means for connecting the back of the box, the front, and the lid.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for maintaining the contents of the box in the back, when the front is swung into open position, and to provide a locking device upon the front adapted to engage with a portion of said means.

In the drawings, Figure 1 shows the invention in perspective; Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section; and Fig. 3 is a sectional detail enlarged from Fig. 2.

The box includes a back 1 and a front 2, pivotally connected along their upper edges, as will be described hereinafter. The back 1 is ordinarily a one-piece structure, but for convenience in description, it may be divided into constituent elements, one of which elements is a back plate 3, from which outstands a bottom 4, the back plate being equipped with forwardly projecting side walls 5, the edges of which are diagonally disposed, as shown at 6, so as to position the smaller end of the back 1 uppermost.

The front 2 of the box includes a front plate 7 from which a top 8 projects rearwardly, the top 8 and the front plate 7 being connected by side walls 9, the edges of the side walls being cut away diagonally, as shown at 11, to position the smaller end of the front downwardly, the side walls 5 and 9 overlapping. The front 2 carries an auxiliary bottom 10, adapted, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, to extend beneath the portion 4 .of the back of the box.

The back plate 3 is bent forwardly to form a shoulder 12, and carried upwardly above the shoulder, to form an upright flange 14. F alciform brackets are provided, each including a straight part 15, secured as at 16 to the back plate 3, the end portion of each bracket being lodged beneath the shoulder 12. The curved portions 17 of the brackets pass through openings 18 in the top 8, and

thus, the front 2 of the box is hinged to the back 1 thereof.

The invention further includes a lid 19 adapted to close down upon the portion 8 of the front of the box, the lid being provided with a peripheral flange 20, depending below the plane of the portion 8 of the box. At its rear edge, the lid 19 is carried upwardly as at 21, to extend above the flange 14. Tongues 22, ordinarily fashioned integrally with the curved portion 21 of the lid, are bent to extend through openings 23 formed in the flange 14. By this construction, the lid 19 is hinged to the back 1 of the box. There is an opening 24 in the portion 8, through which mail matter may be inserted within the box, one edge of the opening 24 being serrated, as denoted by the numeral 25, to render difficult the removal of the mail matter through the opening 24.

The front plate 7 may be recessed, as shown at 26 to receive decorations or the like, and a transparent plate 27 is held in place by means of a frame 28, to cover an opening in the front plate 7. To the rear of the plate 27, and located'in the interior of the box, is a card rack 29, adapted to receive a plate upon which the name of the person receiving the mail from the box, may be inscribed.

The invention further includes a transverse bracket 30, arcuate in outline, the ends 31 of the bracket being secured to the side walls 5, the intermediate portion 32 of the bracket outstanding beyond the diagonal edges 6 of the side walls. The outer extremity of the bottom 4 is carried upwardly, to form a lip 33, disposed in a common plane with the intermediate portion 32 of the bracket 30. The mail matter which is inserted within the box, will be retained therein by the bracket 30 and by the lip 33.

Mounted in the front plate 7 is a lock 34, extended through the front plate, as shown at 35. This lock includes a vertically moving bolt 36, adapted to engage behind the lip 33, to hold the front 2 in fixed relation with respect to the back 1.

An upright clip 37 is positioned adjacent the front plate 7, the clip being supplied with spring coils 38 whereby the upper extremity of the clip may be maintained in close relation to the front plate 7. The extremities 39 of the clip 37 are carried rearwardly, and secured preferably to the lower face of the bottom 4 of the box.

The box may be fastened to a supporting structure in any chosen manner. If desired, openings 40 may be fashioned in the back plate 3, to receive screws or other attaching elements.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

A mail box comprising a back; a front pivoted thereto; a transverse bracket terminally secured to the back and outstanding in its intermediate portion beyond the back; the back including a bottom provided with an upstanding lip located in the plane of lip.

the intermediate portion of the bracket and cooperating therewith in maintaining an 15 article within the box; and a locking device in the front, adapted to engage behind the In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto afiixed my signa- 20 ture in the presence of two witnesses.

ALBERT T. JOHNSON, Jn, N. O. KLEIN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). O.

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