US20050247772A1

US20050247772A1 - Safe "T" box

Info

Publication number: US20050247772A1
Application number: US10/842,202
Authority: US
Inventors: Sheila Miller
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2004-05-10
Filing date: 2004-05-10
Publication date: 2005-11-10

Abstract

A security mailbox system known as “Safe “T” Box” that comprises of: A fully enclosed square housing unit that is designed from CPVC. The Safe “T” box is easy to install and environmentally friendly. The Safe “T” Box will provide long service life. Its design handles mail that is Incoming, Outgoing, and small packages delivered though the mail system. It handles Newspapers/Advertisements from outside vendors not using the U.S. Mail System. The top unit consists of slots for Outgoing, Incoming, Newspaper/Advertisements. The incoming mail slot is designed for mail to go down a chute to an awaiting basket for pick-up through the back of the locked unit. The outgoing mail can be placed in the unit from the back for pick-up from the front. This free standing unit is attached to the ground though the internal poles that extend from the base of the unit into the ground and cemented. Modification have been made to allow use by Urban and Rural dwellers alike, so that ALL mail can be secured.

Description



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STATEMENT REGUARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of mailboxes, in the category of receptacles in general Mailboxes, however more particular, in the security mail box arena.
Mailboxes generally are of two types, the Urban Mailbox and the Rural Mailbox. Both types' designs are contained within this patent.
2. Description of Related Art
The proximity of the rural mailboxes to the edge of the road allows the mail carrier to deposit mail in the rural mailbox without getting out of their vehicle since the door to such typical rural mailboxes face the roadside.
Unfortunately, the fact that the single door to the typical rural mailbox faces the road, meaning that the homeowner has to step out into the street to send or retrieve mail. Which creates a hazard for the homeowner being involved in roadside/curbside accidents.
The invention contained herein is a stand alone security mailbox, along with the modifications being described within this application has safety in mind first, however, with identity theft on the rise a need for a secure mail system is also needed.
The design of the Safe “T” box, Multi Safe “T” box, and Residential Safe “T” Box is designed to be attractive to the eye. The designs with modifications of the Safe “T” Box allows for expanding the unit which will make the Safe “T” Box look uniform in single family neighborhood and multiple single family residents alike.
The design of the Residential Safe “T” Box allows the homeowner to feel safe about their incoming mail and small packages, from being tampered with or removed from the hanging mailboxes, currently being used today.
Lastly and most importantly, these units allow the homeowner's of either the urban cities as well as the rural areas to feel secure about their mail and small packages, in this fast paced world there are two key elements of this invention that satisfies what needed today. Security of the homeowners U.S. Mail and small packages, and the safety of the homeowner to be able to send and retrieve mail and packages.
The aspects of each design are shown within the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, By virtue of this Design, the homeowner doesn't ever have to go around to the front of the mailbox, or step into the street anymore to retrieve or send out mail again. The unit has a security lock in the rear panel so that the mail will be secured for pick-up at the end of the day.
This unit is fully functional, easy to install, clean, attractive to the eye, which makes the Safe “T” Box, Residential Box, Multi-Safe “T” Box more effective than the current mailboxes being used today. The homeowner can personalize the unit themselves in various colors and designs. The stand along unit is designed to not allow entry, except by the homeowner for the unit is completely close, held together with clear CPVC glue.
This unit can be enclosed if the consumer wishes with bricks or remain as designed, as a stand-alone unit, able to withstand the weather, keeps the mail dry and secure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Top of CPVC component: interlocks with the side wall of CPVC Pole components
(2) Side panels with U shape coupling: connections between CPVC sides that connects the top and ground components of the unit together
(3) Base CPVC component: that connects side walls to the ground CPVC Joints
(4) Slot for Newspaper and Advertisements, coming from an outside source other than U.S. Mail, door with magnet.
(4 a) Back slot with door for retrieving the Advertising and Newspapers from an outside vendor
(5) Slot for Incoming mail with magnet clip for door closure and handle
(5 a) Back Slot that's solid with no outlet from the back to retrieve the incoming mail
(5 b) Back view of Incoming mail chute for receiving mail and small packages
(6) Slot for the Outgoing Mail with a magnet clip for door closure and handle
(6 a) Back Slot of Outgoing Mail with magnet and handle
(7) Address Holder, which consists of 5 placeholders for address
(8) Flag Holding attaches to the inside of the address placeholder
(9) Name Plate for family name with U shaped hooks to attachment name plate
(10) Middle interlocking chamber for Safe “T” Box
(11) Reflectors for the side of the Safe “T” Box
(12) Place holder for design element for the front of the Safe “T” Box
(13) Awning cover shield for sliding door for retrieving mail by homeowner
(14) Seam glide cover for compartment of sliding door housel
(15) CPVC compartment for sliding door holder which is in a fixed position item
(16) Base CPVC bottom slider rail: sliding door to slide along when retrieving incoming mail or small packages
(17) CPVC flaps that help protect the non-moveable slider at the middle junction for more security of the back door component
(18) Middle CPVC divider of secure mail compartment unit, stops the door from sliding past the middle of unit
(19) Lock compartment for unit, this unit is a key entry lock
(20) Handle to slide open/close mail compartment once mail and packages are retrieved
(21) Back view of incoming mail drop slot: which the mail travels into the secure unit for retrieval at the end of the day
(21 a) Side view of chamber: incoming mail goes through and down the chute into a waiting basket below
(22) Side view of chamber that the incoming mail goes down into the basket
(23) CPVC poles that extend down into the ground 12 inches, which allows the unit to be cemented into the ground around the CPVC base unit
(23 a) Half “U” ring clamps: for holding the basket compartment in place within the Safe “T” Box
(24) Metal Spring coil to latch onto the half “U” ring clamps: to attach to the CPVC side Poles and onto the basket
(25) “O” Rings that are attached to basket
(26) Top rim of basket for metal spring coils to attach to basket
(27) Metal/CPVC Basket to hold incoming mail
(28) Empty area where incoming mail hits the back wall to insure that mail falls into the secure area that will hold the mail in the basket
(29) Door compartment designed for Incoming, Outgoing mail
(29 a) Magnetic clip to close the incoming, outgoing part of the unit
(29 b) Glider that retracts as the Incoming, outgoing door is opened and closed
(29 c) Housing unit for the glider to slide along when door is opened and closed
(29 d) Metal clip attached to the lip of the door for the door to stay closed when not in use
(30) 1/4 inch tube that the newspaper door attaches to, so that the door swings 45 degrees open for insertion of the newspaper and or advertisements
(31) Slide bar that attaches the swinging newspaper/advertisement door
(32) Basket enclosure for basket to fit into and sit upon for stability for the residential mail box.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

1) Top of the Safe “T” Box comprised of a CPVC component that is 24 inches wide, and has a 15 degree raise on top of the unit for rain or snow to run off, or be wiped off the top of the unit. The top component is 1/4 inch in thickness. The top component interlocks with the side walls of the CPVC unit. Then attaches the top compartment to the side walls of the unit. The unit's top has a hook like shape along the inside edge so, the side walls interlock with the top.
This design is carried thought out the unit, in order for the top, side walls and the ground compartment to connect together. Thus, this design element contained within this application, no entry can be achieved by people or small animals.
(2) Side walls of the unit are 60 inches in height and 24 inches wide, with hook like shape attachments that connect between the top and the bottom of the unit. With these connections, the hook like shapes attaches to the side walls of the unit, making the connections of the top, sides and bottom easy to assemble for the homeowner.
(3) Bottom of the CPVC component that has a square solid base that connects to the ground and the outer walls of the unit together. These form a solid seal around the unit. The interior unit interlocks to the base with the hook like shape forms that are made into the side walls, base and top of the unit. Also within the design are cutouts for the poles to fit into the unit, through the base, in the ground. The Poles fit into the cutouts in the base and are 58 inches long and 1/2 inch wide. This allows the poles to extend 12 inches into the ground and get cemented for stability, 46 inches are left for the poles to extend inside the unit which connects the clamps for the basket.
(4) Slot for Newspaper and Advertisement, has a 6 inches wide opening and is 14 inches in height. On the edge of the door is a hinge like groove that attaches to the 1/4 inch solid tube for the door to swing open and close. This compartment allows the homeowner to retrieve the newspaper and advertisements coming from an outside source other than U.S. Mail. This area allows for newspapers to be deposited into the unit without the homeowner having to search the yard for the newspaper, or find an advertisement on the ground in front of the homeowner residence. This allows for the newspaper and advertisements to be left without being wet on rainy days. This also cuts down on items being blown away from the flag holder used by outside vendors currently in use today.
(4 a) the back upper swinging door slot is 6 inches wide and 14 inches in height. This area is for retrieving, advertisements and newspapers. The back of the door has a handle to open the door for retrieving the newspaper and advertisement from the unit.
(5) Incoming Mail Drop component is comprised of a 10 inch wide opening and is 14 inches in height which allows for the insertion of mail and small packages. The thickness of the door is 1/4 inch, and the Incoming mail door is attached to the Outgoing Mail door as one unit. However, the Incoming mail has a chamber that attaches to the groove of the chute. The incoming mail and out going mail door are attached with a medium size magnets between the two compartments to keep the door secure when not in use.
(5 a) Incoming mail compartment at the top portion of the back of the unit. The area is 10 inches wide and 10 inches high. There's no entry from the back top portion, this area is solid, and mail is retrieved from the middle section of the unit.
(5 b) An opening for mail to slide into the secure area. This area is 10 inches wide, 14 inches high, and 1/4 inch thick, to receive small packages that are being delivered by Postal workers.
(6) Slot for the Outgoing Mail that is comprised of a 6 inch wide opening, 14 inches high, with a cosmetic handle, and a seam divider which has a 1/8 inch groove insert for design appearance. The thickness of the door is 1/4 inch, and the Outgoing mail door is attached to the Incoming Mail door as one unit. However, the Outgoing mail has its own compartment. The out going mail and incoming mail door is attached with a medium size magnet between the two compartments to keep the door secure when not in use.
(6 a) Back Slot of Outgoing Mail which comprises of a 6 inch wide opening and is 14 inches in height. With a handle to open the door for putting the outgoing mail into the unit. This compartment allows the homeowner to slide the outgoing mail forward for pickup, without having to go to the front of the unit to insert the mail.
(7) The address holder is 6 inches long, 1½ inches high, consisting of 5 placeholders. 1 by 1 inches high for numbers of the homeowners address. With this design a person has two placeholder for the address. One side of the address will be displayed in the front of the unit. The other is positioned on the right side.
(8) The Flag Holder is attached to the side of the right address placeholder to allow positioning of the flag holder.
(9) The name plate allows the homeowner to put their families name on the front of their Safe “T” box to ensure proper delivery of mail. The specs for the name plate are 20 inches long by 2 inches high. The plate has a 1/4 inch border and holds up to 20 (1) inch letters for the homeowners name. The plate can be expanded to allow up to three families' last names can be added to the front of the Safe “T” Box. The name plate has two holes that are at the top and bottom of the name plate.
(10) This section of this unit is one complete part that comprises of items #4, #5, # 6, #7, and #8 which attaches to the hook like shapes, those are on the walls connecting this unit together.
The drawing of item # 2 shows the design of the side wall and the hook like shapes of this unit. As the top is seated into the side walls it has a supported hook like shapes that interlocks the unit together.
(11) Reflectors for the side of the Safe “T” box, these are common on most mailboxes so that the homeowner can see the Safe “T” box unit at night as they approach their driveway.
(12) The front panel is designed at the discretion of the homeowner. The fungus plant designed on the panel, is one that could be used as a design element.
(13) Awning type shield to protect the lock and the sliding unit from elements of weather. This cover allows for the rain and snow to run off the unit depending on the location of the unit across the country.
This unit is attached to items #14-20, its 22 inches long, one complete item, and attaches across the top seam of the secure area of the security compartment
(14) Rib edge seam for the slide compartment of the sliding door, for retrieval of the mail and small packages. This compartment is 1 inches wide, 20 inches long, and is 18 inches high.
(15) CPVC door that is 1/4 inches thick, it extends 16 inches across by 18 inches in height. This is a non-movable part between the outer non-moving door and the interior sliding door with the lock.
(16) CPVC track component for door to slide back and forth on the track, this area is designed with a 1 inch track for the stationary door and sliding door to sits upon and glide on. Each Door is 1/4 inches thick, sitting upon a 1 inch seam glider with a divider down the center of the track. A rubber seam on the bottom of the CPVC track to help movement of the door.
(17) CPVC stabilizer bars help keep the outer non-movable door from being kicked in by thieves. The stabilizer bars are two non-movables bars that are attached to items # 13-16 internally, its 1/4 inches in thick, 1/4 inches wide, 18 inches high. This helps to keep the inside door with the lock on it's track.
(18) The non-moveable door has a seam attached to the front edge of the non-movable panel. The seam is glued to the edge of the non-movable panel and is made from the rubber seam of item 16. The rubber seam is 1 inches wide, 18 inches high, forming a weather tight seal between the two doors.
(19) Lock with a key entry system for the lock to be inserted into the interior door panel. The locking mechanism has a cut out groove, along the edge line of the back unit, for the lock bar to fit into the lock when turned to the locking position. The groove is made into the right side of the back panel along the edge of the unit.
(20) Within this application is various handles for either pulling or swinging the door panels open or close. The specifications for the back sliding panel is 16 inches long. While the front handles for the outgoing, incoming mail is 12 inches long. The handles for the outgoing mail and the newspaper/advertisement are 6 inches wide.
(21) Looking from the back view the drawing, internal view of the incoming mail drop slot, this opening is a cut out that allows the mail to travel through the opening and down the chute into the awaiting basket. The opening is 13 inches wide and 14 inches high to accommodate small packages.
(21 a) Side view of compartment that incoming mail travels once it has been deposited by the mail carrier. This is a cut out opening that has a slide attached for mail to travel down the carriage into the awaiting basket. This area is developed as one unit. The slide is on a 60 degree angle and is 12 inches long.
(22) Side view of slide that incoming mail travels once it has been deposited by the mail carrier. Once the mail is inserted into the compartment it travels down the chute into the awaiting basket. The slide is on a 60 degree angle and 12 inches long. There is a 1 inch high seam on each side of the slide to help control the mail's flow directly into the basket.
(23) There are 4 poles that attach through the base component of item #3 a. There is an end cap that attaches to the top of each pole. To which the CPVC poles extend down into the ground 12 inches, through the inside base unit and are cemented into the ground for stability. The total lengths of the 1/2 inch hollow tubes of the poles are 58 inches long. There is a ringlet that is attached to the base of the poles at the 12 inch mark. That is 3/4 inches wide, to insure correct depth of poles to be cemented into the ground.
(23 a) Hooks are attached to item # 23 for holding the coils that attaches to the basket compartment. This component of the design is attached to item # 23 at the 40 inch height line mark of each pole.
(24) Metal Spring coils latch on the hooks attached to item #23 a of the CPVC poles, and onto the basket for support of the incoming mail and small packages. These coils are made of metal for durability and longevity of the basket position. These coils are 12 inches long.
(25) “O” Ring that are attached to each corner of the basket rim line, to hook onto metal coils # 24. This component is made of a circular metal ring that is attached to the basket's corners, each ring is 1 inch in diameter.
(26) Top rim line of basket that is CPVC and has on each edge an “O” ring attached to each corner. The coil springs attach onto all four sides of the basket through the “0” rings. The basket has a smooth rounded top edge.
(27) CPVC basket to hold incoming mail, is 22 inches wide, 12 inches deep. The basket has a diagonal or cross stitched weave pattern.
(28) L shaped area that is hollow and used as a stopper for mail. This area is 12 inches long. Once mail is inserted and hits the stopper it will fall into the basket.
(29) The door is one unit that covers the incoming, outgoing mail slots, to which the Incoming, Outgoing mail compartments are contained. The door is 19 inches long and 14 inches high. However, the door for this compartment has a seam line at the 6 inch mark where the outgoing mail slot is for cosmetic appearance, it has no function, for the door is one unit covering both slots.
(29 a) There is one metal clip that is 8 inches wide and 1 inch long, between the outgoing and incoming mail door.
(29 b) This area is designed of CPVC pipes on a 90 degree angle that retracts into item # 29 c, so the doors moves evenly on a track within the design for durability and stability over time. The 90 degree poles are 7/16 inches wide, and are 14 inches in length. There is a small square component at the end of item # 29 b that acts as a stopper for the 90 degree pole that is inside item # 29 c.
(29 c) This component is attached to the side walls of the design. It has a 1/4 inch wide groove that is cut into the side walls of the unit. Allowing for item # 29 b to guild on track for the door to open and close.
(30) A 1/4 inch tube for the Newspaper/advertisement door hinge to swing open and close. The door swings 45 degrees open for insertion of the newspaper and or advertisements that isn't delivered through the U.S. mail system.
(31) Interlocking hooks to allow for multiple units of the Safe “T” Box to be connected together.
(32) Enclosure for basket to fit into and sit upon for stability of the residential mail box unit. With this design the urban dwellers can attach the unit to the back of their front door or attach to residence. With this design the unit is contained as one compartment, so that the mail will not be on the floor when the consumer gets home or stolen from the side mail slot currently being used today. The specs for the urban mail holder are 10 inches in width, 5½ inches high. The basket enclosure is 12 inches long and 12 inches in depth. The mail chute is on a 30 degree angle and 6 inches long.

Claims

1. A security mailbox comprising, in combination;

A square housing unit having four vertical sides that interlocks the upper base, side walls, and base together throw groves designed within each panel.

Four side panels with hook like shape design for connecting top unit, side walls and base unit together

Square base component with four holes to receive internal poles that connect to the ground, the base panel also connects the side walls of the unit together. CPVC poles that extend down into the ground 12 inches, which allows the unit to be cemented into the ground around the CPVC base unit

Front top housing unit with compartments for Outgoing Mail, Incoming Mail, Newspaper and advertisement

Back top housing unit has slots for inserting Outgoing Mail, retrieval of Newspaper and advertisement, each door has handles.

Middle of back housing unit has a sliding door with lock to retrieve the incoming mail and small packages that are delivered by postal workers

Glider that retracts as the incoming, outgoing, mail is inserted or retrieved, it's enclosed in a housing unit for the glider to slide along when the door is pulled down to open and push up for closure.

Newspaper and advertisement door that swings open and close

A basket to hold mail that is deposited into the unit to keep it secure for pick-up by consumer. The basket is attached to four CPVC poles that are internal parts of the design. The basket is attached to metal spring coils to latch onto the hooks to the ring clamps that are attached to the CPVC tubes and onto the basket

Area where incoming mail hits the back wall of the unit to insure that the mail falls into the secure area and into the basket Address Holder, which consists of 5 placeholders for the address, that attach to the top of the unit, so that addresses are more easily displayed from the right side and front of unit

An indicator flag holding that attaches to the address placeholder at the top upper right corner of the unit

Name Plate for family name with hooks, that attachment the name plate to the front of the unit

Placeholder for reflectors, for the drive way side of the Safe “T” Box, Multi-Box

Place holder for Design Elements that is on the front of the Safe “T” Box, Multi-Box

Awning cover shield for sliding door, for retrieving mail by homeowner

Handle to slide open/close mail compartment once mail and packages are retrieved

Side locking mechanisms for adding multiple units of the Safe “T” Box together

Basket enclosure for basket to sit upon for stability for the Residential Mail Safe “T” Box