US2437053A - Mailbox - Google Patents

Description

March 2, 1948. c. F. swANsoN V2,437,053

MAILBOX Filed Maron 27, 1946 2 'sheets-sheet 1 lll CLARK SWANSON m bmmgy@ March 2, 1948. ;l F, SWANSON 2,437,053

MAILBOX Filed March 27, 1946 2 sheets-sheet 2 gmc/rm CLARK F. SWANSO/V g@ QQJW* 4% Patented Mar. 2, 1948 mess UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MAILBox Clark F. Swanson, Cologne, Minn.

Application March'l, 1946, Serial No. 657,382 claims. (c1. 23e-25) This invention relates to improvements in mail boxes for rural delivery mail routes.

The primary 'object of the invention is to provide a, mail box of this character large enough in size to accommodate parcel post packages, as was once the requirement by the postal department and is now desired by the carrier, but having a novel doorV arrangement'overcoming the most undesirable feature of previous boxes. As will be understood, a mail -box if large enough to receive parcel post packages will have a front end of considera-ble height, and heretofore it has been the practice to hinge this large end at its bottom to operate as the door for access to the interior of the box, This is in accordance With the usual construction of rural mail boxes, but in the case of these large boxes the door, when opened, projects so far forward-from the box that the mail carrier cannot reach over the door to the interior ofthe box from his car window. In accordance rwith this object of my invention I provide a small door at the lower front and center of the box which may be readily opened to place letters or small packages in the box, or remove outgoing mail therefrom, and then form the remainder of the front end of the box in two horizontally swingable doors or sections which may be opened to place larger parcels in the box, and by thu-s breaking up the front of the box into several separately hinged doors all may be opened Without projecting further from the box than does the small door of the size heretofore employed in smaller boxes.

Another object of my invention is to improve the letter support for outgoing mail and the ag arrangement for indicating to the carrier that such outgoing mail is in the box.

Still another object is to provide an improved mounting and supporting structure for rural mail boxes, overcoming many objectionable features of previous supports.

These and other more detailed and specific objects will be disclosed Vin the course of the following specication, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, inV which- Fig. l is a frontal elevation of my improved mail box, closed.

Fig. 2 isa plan view of the front end of the box, showing it opened,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary detail sectional view along the line 3-3 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the box and its supporting structure, with a part of the box broken away to show interior construction.

Fig. 5 is a View similar to Fig. 3 but showing.'

the box opened.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentarysectional view along the line 6-6 in Fig; 3.

Referring to the drawing now more particularly andby reference characters, I show therein4 a mail box having the usual shape and comprising a rectangular bottom Io corrugated length- Wise a-s shown, sides II and I2 lconnected by arrl arched top I3, a closed rear end I4 and an open Framing details of the box, being.'

front end I5. unimportant to my invention, will not be described except that it will be noted that a cross member in the form of an angle iron I6 extends crosswise beneath the front end of the bottom I Ii.` The open forward end of the box is normally closed by a centrally located primary door I'I and two similar side or auxiliary doors IS and I 9 and narrower and shorter than the open end of the box. The side doors I8 and I9 are accordingly complementarily shaped to close the balance of the opening about the sides and top of door I1.' being thus notched at lower center portions 2B and meeting, when closed, along an upright center line 2| upward from the center door. Actually the margins of the door I'I will overlap the contiguous margins of the doors I8-I9 sothat4 the front of the box will be weather-tight when the doors arer closed.

The lower edge of door I'I is hinged to the box by hinges 22 fastened to the door and to the cross member I 6 by rivets, or any other suitable fasten-'- ing means, and the door may thus swing forwardl and downward as it is opened in the usual fashion.; This opening movement is limited, to stop the door when fully opened in a substantially horizontal position (Fig. 5) by a strap 23 securedl vertically to the center of the door and depending in the form of an upwardly and rearwardly turned stop linger 24 behind the cross member I5. this cross member when the door is opened, preventing further downward movement of the door. The opposite upper end of the strap 23 is formed into a nger hook 25 as a convenience in pulling the door open. V

In addition to its function as a stop,l thefinger As clearly shown the finger 24 will contact.

24 also cooperates with the downwardly turned looped center 26 of a torsional coil spring 2l the ends of which are secured at 28 to the cross member I6. When the door is closed the finger located that normally the hook end 4I will engage its upper edge (Fig. l) and hold it flat against the door Il in inoperative position.

In operation, then, an outgoing letter A may be placed in the box by slipping it between the spring 34 and clip loop 36 as shown in Figs. 3 and 5 where it will be held by the spring tension of these parts. Also the letter tends to flatten the bowed spring 34, by the pressure against the letter of the clip 36, and as a result the spring 34 is in eiect elongated and the hook end 4| is moved clear of the ag 42 as seen in Fig. 5. The

* door il is, of course, opened to the position The doors I8 and I9 are hinge-d at their outer V vertical edges, at 29 and 30 respectively, to the forward edges of the box sides I l and E2 toswingY in horizontal planes. A spring latch 3i is secured at 32 to the top center of the box and depends over the adjacent upper and inner corners of the doors I8 and `I9 -to normally hold them closed but by VVspringing' the latch upwardly it will clear the-doors so that they may be opened.

It will now be apparent that the center door I1 alone may be opened when letters or small packages are to be placed in or removed from thebox, but that when 'a larger opening is needed to clear large parcels, such as egg cases, pack ages. and the'like, the doors I8 and i9 may be also. opened toexpose the entire front of the box. However. as seen in Fig. 2, there at no. time is formed any forward projection greater than that of the small -center door Il. so that the mail carrier will have no difliculty in reaching into the box from his car window. Obviously this would not be the case were only a single door used since, when opened, it would proiect so far forward that the carrier could not approach the box close enough to reach into it. Little effort or time is required to open and close the three doors and certainly not enough to counteract the convenience with which access is had to the bo-x with my invention.

I also provide a novel carrier or clip for outgoing A letters and a cooperating signal ag arrangement which will now be described. Adjustably secured byvrivets or similar fasteners 33 to the inside of the door I1, near its bottom, is one end of a slightly bowed spring 34 and secured at 35 to opposite sides of this fastened end of the spring 34 are the ends of a looped wire clip 36 having torsion coils 3l. The sides of the looped clip 36 clear spring 34 and thebight 38, where it crosses the spring, is bent angularly inward so'that it will not bear on the spring. Affixed to or extended from the free end of the spring 34 is a hook 39 which turns outwardly and plays in a slot 40 in the door and terminates in a downwardly turned end 4l. A signal iiag l2 inV the form of a rectangular piece of metal, painted `red in accordance with usual practice, is attached to oneV end of a wire stem` 43 which has a pintle portion 44 turned horizontally and freely pivoted in a hinge 45 afxed at the center forward and lower portion of the door; From this pintle portion 44 there depends an actuator finger 46 turned rearwardly and upwardly beneath the cross member I6 alongside the aforo said stop finger 24.

The ag 42 pivots upon the stem 43, being formed with punched out hinge ears 4'! for this purpose and there are Ylocated off center in the flag so that it will tend .by gravity to pivot upon the stem to the position of Fig. 3 whereat it will be stopped by an angularly turned end 48 on the stem as will be evident. The flag is further so shown in Fig. 5 when the letter is put in place and when the door is then closed the off center weight of the flag will cause it to fall forward and project from the front of the box at right angles Vto the road so that it will be readily seen by the approaching mailcarrier. When the carrier then opens the door I1 to remove the letter A, the finger 46 strikes the cross member I6 as shown in Fig. 5 folding the ap back at against the door and when the letter is withdrawn the spring 34'will return to its bowed shape reengaging the hook end 4l with the ag. As the door is then closed again the flag'will be held in its normal position. Thus the setting of the flag is entirely automatic and requires no attention at all upon the part of the farmer or carrier.

For supporting my mail box I also provide a novel supportingassembly shown in Fig. 4 comprising a pipe 49 secured horizontally at its front and back in the top of the box. The forward end of this pipe is secured by a bracket 50 to the upper center and forward edge of the box while the rear end extends loosely through a, clip 5l depending at the rear top of the box, so that another pipe 52 may be forwardly telescoped over pipe 49 thus forming a boom of adjustable length. The pipe 52 is provided with a set screw 53 and at its rear end is secured by an elbow 54 to an upright pipe55 which in turn depends telescopically into the open upper end of a pipe 56 secured in an upright position in the ground, preferably in a concrete footing 51. VThe pipes 49 and 52 may obviously be relatively adjusted and locked by the set screw 53 to support the mail box at any desired distance toward the road from the point at which the main support pipe 56 is anchored, thus making it possible to place pipe 56 well back from the road where it will be clear of and safe from road graders and other maintenance equipment.

The height at which the box is supported is also adjustable by the telescopic relation of the pipes 55 and 56 and may be locked at any such adjustment by a collar 58 secured to the pipe 55 by a set screw 59. The lower end 60 of the collar 58 is out off at an angle downwardly toward the road and the upper end of the pipe 56 is oppositely angled as designated at 6I. Thus the pipe 55 may rotate within the rigid pipe 56 and the box may swing with the boom to either side to clear a road grader, or to prevent damage by snow thrown aside by a snow plow, but when released the weight of the box, and angle of the meeting surfaces 56 and 6I will return the box to its normal position.

It is understood that suitable modications may be made in the structure as disclosed, provided such modifications come within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Having now therefore fully illustrated and described my invention, what I claim to be new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is: Y

1. A door structure for a. rural mail box having an open front end, comprising a. center door hinged to swing forward and downward and adapted to close only a lower center part of said open end, and side doors hinged to swing outwardly and forwardly and adapted to cooperate to close the remaining side and upper portions of said open end.

2. A door structure for a rural mail box having an open front end, comprising a center door hinged to swing forward and downward and adapted to close only a lower center part of said open end, side doors hinged to swing outwardly and forwardly and when closed meeting along a vertical line extending upwardly at the 'center lof said lopen end.

3. A door structure for a rural mail box having an open front end, comprising a center door hinged to swing forward and downward about a horizontal hinge axis, and side doors hinged to swing outwardly and forwardly about upright hinge axes, all of said doors cooperating when closed to entirely close the said open end of the box.

4. A door structure for a rural mail box having an open front end, comprising a center door hinged to swing forward and downward and adapted to close only a lower center part of said open end, and side doors hinged to swing outwardly and forwardly and adapted to cooperate to close the remaining side and upper portions of said open end, the said center door overlapping the contiguous margins of said side doors whereby the center door must be opened in order to open said side doors,

5. A door structure for a rural mail box having an fopen front end, comprising a center door hinged to swing forward and downward and adapted to close only a lower center part of said open end, side doors hinged to swing outwardly and forwardly and adapted to cooperate to close the remaining side and upper portions of said open end, and separate means for normally releasably holding the center and side doo-rs in closed positions.

CLARK F. SWANSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

Images