US20080116253A1

US20080116253A1 - Security mailbox

Info

Publication number: US20080116253A1
Application number: US11/986,181
Authority: US
Inventors: Kenneth Gantt
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2006-11-21
Filing date: 2007-11-20
Publication date: 2008-05-22

Abstract

A security mailbox includes a generally upright and enclosed housing having a rearwardly positioned mail retrieving opening selectively covered and uncovered by a lockable first door and a mail receiving opening formed in a front end of the housing selectively covered and uncovered by a second door. A mail guide is positioned within the front end of the housing. A hinge secures a first end of the mail guide to an interior surface of the second door adjacent to and spaced from a top edge thereof, whereby the guide moves between a first position for receiving delivered mail when the second door is opened uncovering the mail receiving opening and a second position for transferring such delivered mail into rear portion of the housing when the second door is closed. A clip is attached to the mail guide for detachably securing outgoing mail.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to and claims priority from Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/866,662 filed on Nov. 21, 2006.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates, in general, to security mailboxes and, more particularly, this invention relates to a security mailbox that includes a hinged mail guide for receiving the mail and transferring it into a rearwardly disposed portion of the housing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

As is generally well known, mailboxes in rural area are typically installed in close proximity to the road and often far from the residential dwelling and thus are hidden from direct view of the owner. Such mailboxes presently in use are prone to theft as the mail can be easily retrieved from the holding compartment. In fact, a thief can slowly drive along the road simulating the postal carrier and accumulate contents of many mailboxes in a very short period of time. The mail theft can leave homeowners without their social security checks, paychecks or other personal documents which can also provide the thief with the information sufficient to promulgate identity theft. Furthermore, the mailboxes, and particularly rural mailboxes, are prone to vandalism wherein the mailbox is entirely removed from the mounting structure due to high impact force from a striking object or due to easy access to the mounting hardware.
Prior to the design and conception of the present invention, efforts have been made to alleviate problems of mail theft. U.S. Pat. No. 6,474,543 issued to Grell discloses a mailbox assembly which includes a mailbox housing having a base plate with exterior side walls connected to an exterior roof panel and interior side walls connected to an interior roof panel. The interior roof panel and side walls are inwardly spaced from corresponding exterior structures for defining a chamber therebetween. The front end of the chamber is closed whereas a rear end thereof is open. However, Grell positions the mail receiving chamber opening in close proximity to the door thus enabling some mail theft and fails to prevent complete removal of the mailbox from the mounting structure.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,617,993, Morris provides a locking mailbox for receiving mail in a weather and theft resistant enclosure having a generally upright housing, a bottom compartment, and a separate top compartment, defined within the housing. An elongated mail slot is closed on the bottom compartment by an elongated flap through which mail and deliveries are passed into the bottom compartment. Bottom compartment has a generally rectangular side opening defined therein, opening having a pair of parallel and spaced part recessed side edges and a recessed top edge for receiving lockable door flush on the housing, the door being movable from an open position into a closed position locked on housing for enclosing bottom compartment. The top compartment has an open end through which access to mail or other articles to be picked up for delivery by the letter carrier is provided. While improving security of the deposited mail, Morris fails to prevent complete removal of the mailbox from the mounting structure. Furthermore, the separate top compartment of Morris increases manufacturing costs of the mailbox.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,736,310 issued to Mesol provides a secured mailbox assembly that includes an elongate base member being adapted to be partially disposed in a ground and also includes a mailbox including a bracket being fastened with fasteners to the elongate base member, and also including a container being attached to the bracket, and further including a mail delivery door being hingedly attached to the container, and also including a mail retrieval door also being hingedly attached to the container, and further including a mail chute being attached to the mail delivery door; and further includes a lock mechanism for locking the mail receiving door to said container. While preventing theft of the delivered mail, Mesol fails to prevent complete removal of the mailbox from the mounting structure and fails to provide for temporary storage of the outgoing mail.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved security mailbox.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a security mailbox. The security mailbox includes a generally upright and enclosed housing. The housing has a mail receiving portion and a mail retrieving portion. A first opening is formed in the mail retrieving portion. A first door is pivotally supported on the mail retrieving portion for selectively covering and uncovering the first opening. A lock mechanism is provided for selectively locking the first door to and unlocking it from the mail retrieving portion. A second opening is formed in a front end of the mail receiving portion. A second door is pivotally supported on the front end of the mail receiving portion for selectively covering and uncovering the second opening. A mail guide is positioned within the mail receiving portion. A hinge secures a first end of the mail guide to an interior surface of the second door adjacent to and spaced from a top edge thereof. Thus, the guide moves between a first position for receiving incoming mail when the second door is opened uncovering the second opening and a second position for transferring such incoming mail into the mail retrieving portion when the second door is closed covering the second opening. A clip which is attached to the mail guide for detachably securing outgoing mail and a means for securing the mailbox to the upright post through the first opening in the mail retrieving portion are also provided.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is, therefore, one of the primary objects of the present invention to provide an improved security mailbox.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a security mailbox that includes a hingedly attached mail guide for receiving the incoming mail and for transferring it into a rearwardly disposed portion of the housing.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a security mailbox that has an L-shape construction.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a security mailbox that includes means for temporarily securing outgoing mail.
Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a security mailbox that can be simply installed onto existing mailbox ground engaging support structure.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide security mailbox that can be installed onto existing mailbox ground engaging support structure in a vandal-resisting manner.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a security mailbox that can be economically manufactured.
In addition to the several objects and advantages of the present invention which have been described with some degree of specificity above, various other objects and advantages of the invention will become more readily apparent to those persons who are skilled in the relevant art, particularly, when such description is taken in conjunction with the attached drawing Figures and with the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a security mailbox constructed in accordance with a presently preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the security mailbox of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the security mailbox along lines III-III of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 4 a-4 b are a partial end view of the security mailbox along lines IV-IV of FIG. 3, particularly illustrating outgoing mail securing means of various embodiments of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a side elevation view of a security mailbox constructed in accordance with another embodiment of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE VARIOUS EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Prior to proceeding to the more detailed description of the present invention, it should be noted that, for the sake of clarity and understanding, identical components which have identical functions have been identified with identical reference numerals throughout the several views illustrated in the drawing figures.
Reference is now made, to FIGS. 1-4, wherein there is shown a security mailbox, generally designated as 10. The security mailbox 10 includes a generally upright and enclosed housing, generally designated as 20. The housing 20 has a mail receiving portion 22 and a mail retrieving portion 40 which are constructed to resist weather elements. In accordance with a presently preferred embodiment of the invention, the mail receiving portion 22 extends outwardly in a generally horizontal direction when the security mailbox 10 is attached to a support structure 2. The housing 20 includes a bottom member 24, a top member 26, a pair of generally identical side members 28 and a rear member 30 which form, in combination, a front end 32 characterized by a first opening 34 and a closed rear end 36. The first opening 34 is employed by the postal professional to deposit incoming mail and pick-up outgoing mail. Thus, the housing 20 will be mounted so that the front end 32 is facing the road (not shown) in a conventional manner. The bottom member 24 is shorter than the top member 26 and forms a second opening 38 of the mail receiving portion 22 whose significance will be explained below.
The mail retrieving portion 40 is positioned toward the rear end 36 and extends downwardly from the mail receiving portion 22 in a generally vertical direction when the security mailbox 10 is attached to the support structure 2.
The mail retrieving portion 40 includes a bottom member 42, a rear member 44, a front member 46 and a pair of side members 48 which form, in combination, an open top end 50 and a closed bottom end 52 which is disposed generally horizontally when the security mailbox 10 is attached to the support structure 2. The open top end 50 is sized to and aligned with the second opening 38 of the mail receiving portion 22. An opening 54 is formed through the rear member 44 and preferably has a lower edge thereof disposed adjacent the bottom member 42 for ease of accessing delivered mail disposed thereon. Such opening 54 has a predetermined height and preferably spans the entire width of the rear member 44.
The present invention contemplates that the mail receiving portion 22 and the mail retrieving portion 40 may be formed either integral with each other or independently from each other to facilitate storage and shipping. The housing 20 may be manufactured from one of metal, thermoplastic, wood and various combinations thereof.
When the mail receiving portion 22 is formed integral with the mail retrieving portion 40 as a single piece housing member, each side member 48 of the mail retrieving portion 40 will be simple extension of a respective side member 28 of the mail receiving portion 22 and the rear member 44 of the mail retrieving portion 40 will be a simple extension of the rear member 30 of the mail receiving portion 22.
When the mail retrieving portion 40 is provided independently from the mail receiving portion 22, a simply sleeve (not shown) may be disposed on and secured to the bottom member 24 of the mail receiving portion 22 in alignment with the second opening 38 for operably receiving the open end 50 of the mail retrieving portion 40 and for securing such open end 50 with fasteners (not shown).
It is important to note that the mail receiving portion 22 and the mail retrieving portion 40 are sized so that when the security mailbox 10 is attached to the support structure 2, the bottom member 42 of the mail retrieving portion 40 is disposed at a predetermined distance “D” in a vertical direction from the bottom member 24 of the mail receiving portion 22 so as to prevent a person from reaching into the mail retrieving portion 40 through the opening 34 of the mail receiving portion 22 for the purposes of gaining possession of such delivered mail accumulated on the bottom member 42 of the mail retrieving portion 40. It is presently preferred for the housing 20 to have a width of about 10 inches, a height at its rear end of about 24 inches and a depth of the mail receiving portion 22 of about 23 inches. The presently preferred height of the front member 44 is about 15 inches which has been found adequate to accumulate at least several days of mail in a residential rural environment.
A first door 60 is pivotally supported, preferably on the rear member 44 of the mail retrieving portion 40 with a hinge means 62 for selectively covering and uncovering the opening 54. A lock mechanism 64 is provided for selectively locking the first door 60 to and unlocking it from the rear member 44 of the mail retrieving portion 40. The first door 60, the hinge means 62 and the lock mechanism 64 may be constructed according to any available conventional methods of providing locked door on a mailbox and which are well known to the artisan skilled in the art. To enhance security, the security mailbox 10 may be adapted with a lock operable by an electronic keypad 65 or with the lock operable by a scanner or reader 66, each connected to the source of electrical power, which are also well known in the art, for example for securing and accessing a door of the building. Therefore, the detail description of the above-stated components will be omitted for the sake of brevity.
A second door 70 is pivotally supported on the front end 32 of the mail receiving portion 22 with a hinge means for selectively covering and uncovering such first opening 34 thereof. The hinge means may be a continuous hinge 72 or any other well known hinge construction suitable for an outdoor use. The hinge 72 is secured to the front edge of the bottom member 24 of the mail receiving portion 22, so that the second door rotates in a clockwise direction into a position referenced by numeral 70′ in FIG. 3 in order to uncover such first opening 34.
A novel mail guide 80 is positioned within the mail receiving portion 22. A hinge means is provided for hingedly securing a first end 82 of the mail guide 80 to an interior surface of the second door 70 adjacent to and/or spaced from a top edge thereof. Such hinge means is preferably a continuous hinge 86. A second end 84 of the mail guide 80 is free to move about the interior surface of the bottom member 24. In operation, the mail guide 80 moves between a first position for receiving incoming mail when the second door 70 is opened uncovering the first opening 34 and a second position for transferring such incoming mail into the mail retrieving portion 40 when the second door 70 is closed covering the first opening 34.
It is presently preferred to provide means for aligning the second door 70 in a generally planar relationship with the bottom member 24 of the mail receiving portion 22 when the second door 70 is fully open as referenced by numeral 70′ in FIG. 3. According to one embodiment depicted in FIG. 3, such alignment means may include a flexible strap 87 having one end thereof secured to the interior surface of the second door 70 and having an opposed second end thereof secured internal within the mail receiving portion 22, for example, to the interior surface of the bottom member 24. The strap 87 moves into a position referenced by numeral 87′ when the second door 70 is open and the length of the strap 87 is fixed so as to maintain above described planar relationship. In accordance with another embodiment of the invention depicted in FIG. 1, a groove 88 can be formed in an interior surface of each side member 28 of the mail receiving portion 22 and receive a pin 89 secured to the end 84 and outwardly extending from a respective edge of the mail guide 80. Thus, the rotation of the second door 70 in open direction will cease when the pins 89 contact a respective front end 88′ of the groove 88. Advantageously, the grooves 88 and the pins 89 may be employed for guiding movement of the second end 84 of the mail guide 80.
Alternatively, stop means (not shown) may be provided adjacent the front edge of the bottom member 24 or the hinge 72 may be of a type enabling only a 90 degree rotation of the second door 70.
When the second door 70 is fully closed covering the first opening 34 of the front end 32, the mail guide 80 is inclined at a predetermined angle toward the mail retrieving portion 40. It is also imported to note, the length of the mail guide 80 is predetermined so as to position the second end 84 in close proximity with the edge of the opening 38 when the mail guide 80 is inclined in order to facilitate transfer of the incoming mail into the mail retrieving portion 40 of the housing 20.
The present invention contemplates that a material of the mail guide 80 may be one of metal, plastic and combination thereof.
The security mailbox 10 of the present invention includes means for temporarily securing outgoing mail within the mail receiving portion 22. Such mail securing means may include a construction of the mail guide 80 wherein its width is made smaller than the interior width of the mail receiving portion 22 for caging the outgoing mail intermediate one edge of the mail guide 80 and an interior surface of a respective side member 28. Preferably, such mail securing means includes a clip means 90 which is secured to an upper surface of the mail guide 80. The clip means 90 may be of any conventional construction employed in securely holding flat sheets. By way of one example only of FIG. 4 a, such clip means 90 may be of a spring type including a first member 92 secured to the mail guide 80 intermediate ends thereof, a second member 94 attached to the first member 92 with a spring 96 disposed generally centrally so that the second member 94 may be pivoted relative to the first member 92 and biased for engagement therewith at one end for securely holding the mail between the aligned ends of each member 92, 94 while opposed end of the second member 94 is employed by the user for pivoting such second member 94. By way of another example only of FIG. 4 b, such clip means 90 may be a J-shaped member 96 manufactured from a resiliently springy material, for example such as spring steel, secured to the mail guide 80 at one end and having an opposed end thereof biased for engagement with the surface of the mail guide 80.
Such clip means 90 is preferably positioned adjacent one edge of the mail guide 80 so as to minimize obstruction to the incoming mail, being transferred thereby into the mail retrieving portion 40. Advantageously, each edge of the mail guide 80 is then positioned in close proximity to a respective interior surface of a side member 28 of the mail receiving portion 22 for facilitating transfer of such incoming mail into the mail retrieving portion 40.
Alternatively, the clip means 90 may be secured to the interior surface of either side member 28 or to an interior surface of the top member 26.
The security mailbox 10 further includes means, generally designated as 100, for attachment to such support structure 2. It will be appreciated that the attachment means 100 will at least partially depend on the nature of the support structure 2 that the security mailbox 10 of the present invention being attached to.
When the support structure 2 is a vertically disposed elongated post in FIGS. 1-3, the attachment means 100 may include at least one sleeve 102 secured to at least one of a bottom member 24 of the mail receiving portion 22 and the front member 46 of the mail retrieving portion 40. The at least one sleeve 102 slides over the post 2 and is secured thereto with fasteners 104. Preferably, the at least one sleeve 102 is formed integral with at least the mail retrieving portion 40. Advantageously, the fasteners 104 are installed through the front member 46 internal to the mail retrieving portion 40 in order to hide these fasteners from direct view and access and to prevent unauthorized personnel from accessing the fasteners 104 without damaging and/or vandalizing the structure of the housing 20.
It is further within the scope of the present invention to provide an elongated post 106 with the security mailbox 10 of the present invention and rigidly secure a first end thereof it to at least one of the mail receiving portion 22 and the mail retrieving portion 40 while adapting the opposed second end thereof for engagement with a ground 4. It will be appreciated that the length of the elongated post 106 be selected to facilitate sufficient penetration into the ground 4 in accordance with conventional methods of mounting mailboxes as well as in accordance with any applicable rules, laws, standards or mandates and to position the bottom member 24 of the mail receiving portion 22 at a predetermined distance above ground surface.
Alternatively, when the support structure 2 is horizontally disposed, the attachment means 100 may include two flanges 108 each extending downwardly from the respective vertical side 28 of the mail receiving portion 22 and a plurality of apertures 110 formed therethrough for attaching the mailbox 10 to such horizontally disposed support structure.
Although the present invention has been shown in terms of the L-shape housing 10 formed by the mail receiving portion 22 and the mail retrieving portion 40, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art, that the present invention may be applied to other housing types. Now in a particular reference to FIG. 5, the mail guide 180 constructed generally identical to the guide 80 and the clip means 190 constructed generally identical to the clip 90 of the present invention may be incorporated into a housing 120 which is essentially formed as a single compartment box-like enclosure. Such housing can be found in locations for collecting mail from various users.
Thus, the present invention has been described in such full, clear, concise and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same. It will be understood that variations, modifications, equivalents and substitutions for components of the specifically described embodiments of the invention may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A security mailbox, said security mailbox comprising:

(a) a generally upright and enclosed housing, said housing having a mail receiving portion and a mail retrieving portion;

(b) a first opening formed in said mail retrieving portion;

(c) a first door being pivotally supported on said mail retrieving portion for selectively covering and uncovering said first opening;

(d) a lock mechanism for selectively locking said first door to and unlocking it from said mail retrieving portion;

(e) a second opening formed in a front end of said mail receiving portion;

(f) a second door being pivotally supported on said front end of said mail receiving portion for selectively covering and uncovering said second opening;

(g) a mail guide positioned within said mail receiving portion; and

(h) a guide hinge means for hingeably securing a first end of said mail guide to an interior surface of said second door adjacent to and spaced from a top edge thereof, whereby said guide moves between a first position for receiving delivered mail when said second door is opened uncovering said second opening and a second position for transferring such delivered mail into said mail retrieving portion when said second door is closed covering said second opening.

2. The security mailbox, according to claim 1, wherein a lower edge of said first opening is disposed adjacent a bottom member of said mail retrieving portion for accessing such delivered mail disposed on said bottom member.

3. The security mailbox, according to claim 1, wherein said mailbox further includes means for aligning said second door with said bottom member of said mail receiving portion in a horizontal plane when said second door is opened, and whereby said mail guide is disposed generally horizontally and coplanar with said bottom member of said mail receiving portion and said second door being opened.

4. The security mailbox, according to claim 3, wherein said aligning means includes a flexible strap having one end thereof secured to an interior surface of said bottom member and having a second end thereof secured to said interior surface of said second door, said strap having a length fixed to enable such planar alignment.

5. The security mailbox, according to claim 3, wherein said aligning means includes a pair of aligned grooves each formed in an interior surface of a respective side member of said mail receiving portion generally parallel to a bottom member thereof and receiving a pin secured to a respective edge of a second end of said mail guide, whereby contact between said pins with front end of said each groove ceases rotation of said second door and enable such planar alignment.

6. The security mailbox, according to claim 1, wherein said mail guide is inclined at a predetermined angle toward said mail retrieving portion when said second door is closed covering said second opening.

7. The security mailbox, according to claim 1, wherein each edge of said mail guide is positioned in close proximity to a respective interior surface of a side member of said mail receiving portion for facilitating transfer of such delivered mail into said mail retrieving portion.

8. The security mailbox, according to claim 1, wherein said guide hinge means is a continuous hinge.

9. The security mailbox, according to claim 1, wherein said mailbox further includes means for temporarily securing outgoing mail.

10. The security mailbox, according to claim 19, wherein said securing means includes a spring clip which is secured to an upper surface of said mail guide.

11. The security mailbox, according to claim 1, wherein said housing has an L-shape formed by said mail receiving portion and said mail retrieving portion and wherein said mail receiving portion extends outwardly in a generally horizontal direction and said mail retrieving portion extends downwardly in a generally vertical direction when said mailbox is attached to a support structure.

12. The security mailbox, according to claim 11, wherein a generally horizontal bottom member of said mail retrieving portion is disposed at a predetermined distance in a vertical direction from said bottom member of said mail receiving portion so as to prevent a person from reaching into said mail retrieving portion through said second opening formed in said mail receiving portion for the purposes of gaining possession of such delivered mail accumulated on said bottom member of said mail retrieving portion.

13. The security mailbox, according to claim 11, wherein said mailbox includes means for attachment to such support structure.

14. The security mailbox, according to claim 13, wherein such support structure is a vertical post and said attachment means includes an elongated sleeve disposed on and rigidly secured to a front surface of said mail retrieving portion for attaching said mailbox with fasteners to such vertical post.

15. The security mailbox, according to claim 11, wherein such support structure is a horizontally disposed member and wherein said attachment means includes two flanges each extending downwardly from a vertical side of said mail receiving portion and a plurality of openings formed therethrough for attaching said mailbox to such horizontally disposed support member with a plurality of fasteners.

16. The security mailbox, according to claim 1, wherein said mailbox includes an elongated post having a first end thereof secured to at least mail retrieving portion and having a second end thereof mountable into a ground for positioning said bottom member of said mail receiving portion at a predetermined distance above a ground surface.

17. The security mailbox, according to claim 1, wherein said lock mechanism is secured to said first door and having a portion thereof engaging a portion of said mail retrieving portion disposed adjacent said first opening.

18. In combination with a mailbox including a hollow generally enclosed housing, a first door hingedly secured to a first portion of said housing for selectively covering and uncovering a mail receiving opening, a lockable second door hingedly secured to a second portion of said housing for selectively covering and uncovering a mail retrieving opening, an improvement comprising a mail guide which has a first end thereof secured with a hinge to an interior surface of said first door and having an opposed second end thereof extending into said hollow housing, said mail guide movable into a generally horizontal position when said first door is opened for receiving mail and moves into an inclined position when said first door is closed for transferring said delivered mail toward a bottom member of said hollow housing.

19. In combination with a secured or locking mailbox including a hollow generally enclosed housing, a first door hingedly secured to a first portion of said housing for selectively covering and uncovering a mail receiving opening, a lockable second door hingedly secured to a second portion of said housing for selectively covering and uncovering a mail retrieving opening, an improvement comprising means for securing said housing with fasteners to a vertical post, wherein said fasteners are disposed internal to said housing and are accessible through said lockable second door for preventing direct access thereto by unauthorized personnel.