US1504514A

US1504514A - Mail box

Info

Publication number: US1504514A
Application number: US666486A
Authority: US
Inventors: Ryther Frank George
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1923-10-04
Filing date: 1923-10-04
Publication date: 1924-08-12
Anticipated expiration: 1941-08-12

Description

F'.' G. RYTHER MAIL BOX Filed Oct. 4. 1923 2 SheetsSheet 1 ,4 WMMEW F. GTRTHER MAIL BOX Filed 001;. 4, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet T k W 4 a w F a a Patented Aug. 12, 1924.

FRANK GEORGE RYTHER, 0F COPENHAGEN, NEWYOBK.

MAIL BOX.

App1ication fiIed October 4, 1923. Serial No. 666,486.

sirable to provide a box which is so con-' structed as to protect the contents of the box from the weather and to enable the box to be readily opened and closed, even when coated with ice or sleet.

The objects of this invention are to provide a box of this kind of improved construction which is so made as to protect various parts of the box as well as the contents of the box from the action of the weather by providing a' cover portion which is adapted to enclose the body portion of the box and the operating mechanism; also to provide mechanism of improved construction for raising and lowering the cover portion and for holding the same in open position to expose the body portion of the box; also to provide means for guiding the cover portion in its movement into and out of its closed position; also toimprove the construction of mail boxes of this kind in the other respects hereinafter specified.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a mail box embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof.

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation thereof on line 3-3, Fig. 5, on'an enlarged scale.

Fig. 4 is a similar sectional elevation thereof showing the parts of the box in different positions.

Fig. 5, is a central sectional elevation thereof on line 55, Fig. 3.

Briefly stated, the mail box embodying the invention which isshown in the accompanying drawings includes a body or receptacle portion which is open at its upper end and which is adapted tocontain the mail matter, a cover portion which telescopes or fits loosely over the body. portion and covers either all or the greater part of the body portion, and actuating mechanism for lifting the cover portion so as to move the same upwardly clear of the body portion and then swing the cover portion backwardly' to expose the upper open end of the body portion, the lifting mechanism being arranged under the cover portion in such a manner as to protect the mechanism against the weather.

A represents the body portion of the box which, in the construction shown, has its upper end open to receive the mail matter. This body portion may be of any desired shape and the bottom thereof is rigidly secured to any suitable support, for example, in the construction illustrated, a pair of feet or legs a of any suitable form are secured to the bottom of the box and are mounted upon a base or platform a mounted on a post a Other means for mounting the body portion of the box on a support may be employed if desired.

B represents the cover portion of the mail box, the lower part or skirt portion 7) of which corresponds substantially in shape with the outer walls of the body portion A and is adapted to surround the side walls of the body portion. The upper part of the cover portion of the box includes a roof 77 secured to the sides of the cover portion of the box. Preferably the sides I) of the cover portion are provided with an inwardly extending flange which is adapted to rest on the upper edges of the body portion ofthe box when the cover portion. is in its closed or operative position on the body portion. The front and rear walls of the lower or skirt part of the cover fit closely to the corresponding walls of the box body portion A and the opposite side walls of the cover portion are preferably spaced a little farther from the end Walls ofthe body portion so as to provide room for the raising and lowering mechanism of the mail box. The lower part or skirt of the cover portion of the box preferably extends, as in-the construction shown, to the lower edges of the box body portion so as to entirely cover the body portion. Consequently, when the box is subjected to sleet or other weather conditions which would form a coating of ice on the this coating of ice 9r sleet will be formed entirely on the cover portion of the box and will not touch the body portion, thus leaving the cover portion at all times free to move upwardly into its open position.

box,

In uncovering the body portion of the box, it isdesirable to first raise the cover portion in a vertical direction and then tilt the same rearwardly. The mechanism for accomplishing this movement is preferably constructed as follows: C represents a hand lever which is arranged at one side of the mail box and by means of which the cover portion may be raised and lowered. The lower end ofthis lever is rigidly connected to one end of a shaft or rod 0 which is suitably'journ'alled'on a fixed part of the box.

form bearings for the rod 0. shaft 0 extends slightly beyond pivotally connected to links E and 7 portion of the ,b

will cause the cover I position. In

In the construction shown, a pair of straps c is suitably secured to the bottom of the ody portion of the box and are bent to The rod or the opposite endsof the body portion of the box, and a pair of arms I) is rigidly secured to the shaft'adjacent to the opposite ends thereof. These arms extend into the space between the ends of the body portion of the box and the end walls of the cover portion, and when the cover portion of the box is in its closed position the arms D are arranged adjacent to the lower portion of the box as shown in Fig. 3. The outer ends of these arms are the other ends of the links E are pivotally connected to the end walls'of the cover portion of the box at a point in advance or in front of the longitudinal center of the cover portion.

I cans are preferably provided for swinging the cover portion of the box rearwardly into the inclined or tilted position shown in Fig. 4c, and for holding the cover portion 1n this positionsothat the cover will be in be'moved back into its closed the construction shown for this purpose, a pair of rigid arms F is provided which extend upwardly along therear wall of the cover portion and which are spaced readiness to at a distance therefrom and which have their upper f ward the box to form stops with which corends 7 extending inwardly toresponding stop projections g on the cover when the cover reached the upper ment. .When the further upward portionof the box has limit of its upright movestops 9 engage the stops 7, movement of the links E portion to swing or tilt rearwardly, and'this rearward tilting of the cover portion lsalso assisted by the arrangement ofthe pivotal. connection of the link E' and the cover portionin advance of the central-transverse plane thereof. When the cover has been swung to the limit of its opening movement, the 'upper faces of the stop projections f will support the cover portion in a position from which it can be readily swung into its closed position. The

' ri'gid arms F, in the construction shown,

are provided with lower :portions secured 'to "the body portion ofthe box. The proox are adaptedto engagejections g of the cover portion of the. box may be of any suitable construction, those shown including straps G secured to the rear wall of the cover portion of the box and having their lower ends bent outwardly to form the stop projections g. The straps Gr also serve the purpose of cooperating with the ends of the stops f to guide the cover portion during its vertical movement, to prevent wear on the cover portions of the The operation of the box opening and closing mechanism is as follows: When the lever C is swung backwardly through about a quarter turn from the position shown in Fig. 2, the shaft 0 will be rotated through a corresponding angle, causing the arms I) to be raised and to exert upward pressure on the links E which consequently slide the cover portion of the box upwardly in a substantially vertical direction, the movement of the cover portion of the box being guided by the front and rear sides of the body portion thereof and by the engagement of the stops with the straps G. When the cover portion of the box has been raised so as to almost clear the body portion, or in other words to a point at which the side walls of the body portion of the box no longer acts as guides for the cover portion, the cover portion is held against swinging beyond the position shown in Fig. 4 by engagement of the arms D with the lower rear edge of the cover portion of the box.

The front wall of the cover portion of the box may be provided with an indicating device or signal which may be exposed when the box contains mail matter. In the constructionshown for this purpose, a visible signal orpanel H is provided which may be of any suitable design and which may be concealed by means of a door it hinged to the front wall of the cover portion and having a catch it cooperating with a fixed catch 72 on the cover portion of the box for holdingthe door in its closed position. When this door is open it indicates that the box contains mail matter which should be removed, and when the door is closed, it indicates that the box is empty.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a box, the combination of a box body portion, a cover portion therefor having a depending skirt surrounding said box body portion, mechanism for moving 'said cover portion upwardly in a substantially vertical direction, and means engaging said cover portionafter a predetermined upward movement thereof to convert the upward movement imparted thereto by said mechanism into a tilting movement.

2. A mail box including a box body portion, a cover portion adapted to be moved downwardly to enclose the greater part of said body portion, mechanism for raising loo said cover portion, said mechanism being ar ranged in the space between said body portion and said cover portion and being protected from the weather by said cover por tion, and a handle connected with said mechanism for actuating the same, said handle being arranged outside of said cover portion and movable relatively thereto.

3. In a mail box the combination of a box body portion, a cover portion therefor having a depending skirt surrounding said box body portion, mechanism for moving said cover portion in a substantially vertical direction, and a stop for engaging said cover portion for tilting the same after a limited movement in a vertical direction.

4. In a mail box the combination of a box body portion, a cover portion therefor having a depending skirt surrounding said box body portion, mechanism for moving said cover portion in a substantially vertical direction, a stop member on said cover portion, and a fixed stop member with which said first-mentioned stop member is adapted to engage after a limited vertical movement of said cover portion, to cause said cover portion to be tilted. I,

5. In a mail box, the combination of a box body portion, a cover portion having a depending skirt which is adapted to surround said body portion, a rod journalled to said body portion, arms connected to said rod and extending into the spaces between the skirt of said cover portion and said box body portion and pivotally connected with said cover portion for raising and lowering the same, and means for turning said rod to efiect the raising and lowering of said cover portion.

6. In a mail box, the combination of a box body portion, a cover portion having a depending skirt which is adapted to surround said body portion, a rod journalled on said body portion, arms connected to said rod, links pivotally connecting said cover portion and said arms whereby the swinging of said arms will cause said cover portion to be raised, and means connected with said rod for turning the same.

7. In a mail box, the combination of a box body portion a cover portion having a depending skirt which is adapted to surround said body portion, a rod journalled to said body portion, arms connected to said rod and pivotally connected with said cover portion for raising and lowering the same, means for turning said rod to effect the raising and lowering of said coverportion, cooperating stops on said cover portion and said body portion which are adapted to engage after said cover portion has been raised to a predetermined distance, for causing said cover portion to be tilted.

8. In a mail box, the combination of a box body portion, a cover portion for said body portion and having a depending skirt surrounding said body portion, means for elevating said cover portion, a fixed stop member arranged on the rear of said cover portion, and a stop portion on said cover portion adapted to engage said fixed stop member to cause said cover portion to be tilted rearwardly, said fixed stop portion also serving to support said cover portion when in its open position.

9. In a mail box, the combination of a box body portion, a cover portion having side Walls surrounding the side walls of said box body portion, a rod journalled on said body portion, arms extending outwardly therefrom and pivotally connected with said cover portion, and cooperating stops which limit the upward movement of the rear end of said cover portion and cause said cover portion to tilt after a predetermined vertical movement thereof, said arms engaging with said rear end of said cover portion to limit the swinging movement of said arms for limiting the opening movement of said cover portion.

10. In a mail box, the combination of a box body portion, a cover portion having a depending skirt surrounding said body portion when said cover is in its closed position, mechanism for moving said cover portion upwardly to clear said box body portion, said mechanism being covered by said cover portion when in its closed position, and a stop for tilting said cover portion after a limited upward movement thereof.

FRANK GEORGE RYTHER.