US2742994A - Deposit box - Google Patents

Description

J. A. TOWNER DEPOSIT BOX April 24, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 27, 1952 IIIHIIIHIIIIHIIIIIAH April 24, 1956 J. A. TOWNER 2,742,994

DEPOSIT BOX Filed Dec. 27, 1952 3 Sheets-$heet 2 I lm enfow J 1411991 1 'IZW/i/ DEROSIITBOX iloseph AilbettTdwner, Quebec, Quebec, Canada Application December 1952,-Serial No..328,-178

*1 Claim. "(Cl .1 93-3 l The -present .invention .relates .to a deposit box for bank deposits, letter mail or the like and more particularly to a vault or safe .having :a passageway :communicating with the exterionof-a bank atrust company or other like building, whereby the public at large may make deposits before, during or after business hours, that is, twentyfour hours a day including Sundays and holidays.

\ Depositiboxes-of the character described expedite deposits, avoid loss of time for depositors and enable a more even distribution-of the Work among employees.

Fhe "contents of already -k-nown deposit boxes of the character described are liable -to 'be damaged by 'liquid, fire =or other elements -due -to the fact "that any malicious person may insert -or drop into the passageway foreign materials such as 'gasoline, matches, 'water, acids, explosives and the like. As the contents of said deposit boxes are alwaysvaluable, damaging or deterioration results in a considerable loss to the bank and to the customers.

Accordingly, the main object of the present invention is the provision of a deposit box of the character described which is provided with means to prevent liquids and other undesirable articles such as acids, water, matches, gasoline, explosives etc. from entering the vault adapted to receive the deposits.

Yet another important object of the present invention is the provision of a deposit box of the character described which is provided with means to prevent unau' thorized withdrawal of the contents in the deposit safe or vault.

Still another important object of the present invention is the provision of a deposit box of the character described which will be burglar-proof and fire-proof.

Still another important object of the present invention is the provision of a deposit box which is provided with two chutes, one being adapted to receive small size packages such as deposit slips, mail envelopes and the like, while the other chute is adapted to receive larger size packages such as money bags and the like.

Yet another important object of the present invention is the provision of a deposit box of the kind described which may also be installed in multi-story buildings, on sidewalks or other public places.

The foregoing and other important objects of the present invention will become more apparent during the following disclosure and by referring to the drawings in which:

Figure 1 is an elevation, partly cut away, of a building wall and of the trap door of the deposit box according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective sectional view of the trap door and upper portion of the chute;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal section of the deposit box arrangement according to the invention;

Figure 4 is a plan section of the same;

Figure 5 is a fractional perspective view, partly in section, of the deposit slip chute;

Figure 6 is a section along line 6-6 of Figure 3; and I Figure 7 is a rear face elevation of the trap door.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings in v United States Patent 0 ice 2 which .like reference characters :indicate :like elements throughout,.Alindicates an exterionwall-of a :bank building vor thelike to which issecured a base plate Z2, preferably made of heavycastinggand provided with a slot 3 forideposit slips and a'trap door :1 for deposits of :larger size such-as money bags andthe like.

The base plate 2 is preferably provided with an toutward rib not shown) along the :upper edge of :the :slot .3 to protect the latter against rain and to guide thedeposit slipsiinto said slot.

Therslot-S incommunication with a shallow'chute 4 .of rectangular cross-section-antl extending downwardly at an angle within the building toopentat its downward end into a small vault-or-safe 5 provided witha'combination lock door6.

The trap door 11's adapted to establish communication between the exterior and a elarge size chute .7 extending downwardly at anangle within the building and discharg- .in'g ldire'ctlyiinto .a vaultor space :8 provided at its top with a combination.lock-door-9. The doors=6 a-nd9 may ibep'ened'only-by authorizedgpersons.

In order to ,prevent liquids and'other-undesirable articles such .as matches, rocks, bricks, explosives, acids and the like from reaching the vaults 5 .and 8, a vertical -well 10 is provided within the concrete structure of the de- ,posit assembly, said well :10 being disposed adjacent the inside face of thetbuilding wallA-andcommunicating with .thechutes 4 and7through -transverse slots .11and 1 2.made in -the=bottom of saidtrespective chutes. A .receptacle:13 containing sand or :the like is positioned at the bottom 1 of the -well r10 :to ;receive the undesirable articles. The ireceptacle 13 may be removed through a door opening closed ibyla door The door 24 maybeopenedonly thy-authorized persons. Instead of the receptacle 13, a sewer pipe may be provided at the bottom of the well 10, preferably connected with the sewer system of the building and having its opening within well 10 preferably covered with a perforated cone. The well 10 is separated from the vaults 5 and 8 by a thick concrete wall 14 so that the undesirable articles may not damage the contents of said vaults by fire or explosion.

The bottom of the portion of the chute 7 upstream of the slot 12 is formed by a metal plate 26 and by a plurality of longitudinally extending spaced parallel rods 15 pro jecting within the well 10 and terminated by bevelled elongated ends 16 forming one side of the slot 12. The money bags and the like desirable articles will have a minimum width and length to pass smoothly over the slot 12.

The metal bottom 18 of the downstream portion of the large chute 7 is lined with longitudinally extending spaced parallel rods 15' adapted to facilitate the sliding down of the packages received by said chute 7 and the lower pointed end 17 of said rods 15' project slightly from the bottom 18 to provide fingers for preventing retraction of the contents of the vault 8.

Similarly the bottom of chute 4 is constituted by spaced parallel rods 4' forming pointed fingers 4" at the discharge end of said chute.

To make unauthorized withdrawal of the contents of vault 8 practically impossible, an additional safety device is provided in the form of a gate 19 pivoted at 20 to the side Walls of chute 7. A rod 21 passing through a tube 22, connects the gate 19 to the trap-door 1 by means of crank pins 19' and 1' respectively, the latter passing through an arcuate slot 7' made in a side wall of chute 7. The connection is such that opening of the trap-door 1 will close the gate 19 and vice versa.

In order that the lower chute 4 may not prevent the undesirable articles inserted into the upper chute 7 from reaching the well 10, said lower chute 4 is disposed adjacent one side wall of the upper chute 7 and well 10 as shown more particularly in Figure 5. Said side wall forms an inclined wall portion 23 overlying the lower chute 4 in order that the undesirable articles may drop down the well 10 without being obstructed by the chute 4.

The trap door 1 consists in a front plate 25 horizontally pivoted at its lower edge to the bottom lining plate 26 and is provided with sector-like side walls 27 to which is rigidly secured a transverse plate 28 extending at an angle with the front plate 25. A flap 29 is pivoted to the lower edge of the plate 28 for closing the passage formed between the plates 25 and 28. Only deposits of a certain predetermined maximum size will be able to pass through said passage.

Liquids and other undesirable small sized articles which may pass through the opening in the trap door but which have dimensions smaller than those of slot 12 will automatically enter the well 10 through the slot 12. Similarly liquids, matches and the like inserted into the small chute 4 but having dimensions smaller than those of slot 11 will drop into the Well 10 through the slot 11 and will not be able to reach the vault 5.

Although a deposit box arrangement particularly adapted to be mounted in a bank building has been described, it will be understood that certain modifications may be resorted to: for instance the installation of such a deposit box may be made in a multi-story building in which a trap door 1 and slot 3 may be provided on each floor and which communicates by auxiliary chutes with common chutes 7 and 4. Likewise the small chute 4 could be dispensed with provided that the well 10, which forms an essential part of the invention, be retained.

While a preferred embodiment according to the invention has been illustrated and described it is understood that various modifications may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claim.

What I claim is:

An article conducting chute comprising an entrance end and a discharge end, a bottom for said chute consisting of two groups of longitudinally extending parallel spaced rods, means disposed underneath said rods for supporting the same, the rods of one of said groups extending from said entrance end, said last named rods being downwardly inclined and having their lower ends projecting from said supporting means, the rods of the other of said groups being downwardly inclined, having their upper ends spaced from the lower ends of the rods of said one of said groups so as to define a transverse slot in the bottom of said chute, the lower ends of the rods of the other of said groups terminating at said discharge end of said chute and forming fingers projecting beyond said supporting means, further including a trap door pivoted in the entrance end of said chute, said trap door comprising sector-like side walls, diverging transverse walls connecting said side walls, one of said transverse walls extending short of the other of said transverse walls so as to leave an opening, and a flap pivoted on said one transverse wall to close said opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 354,909 Kingwill Dec. 28, 1886 521,599 Bofird et a1. June 19, 1894 1,153,991 Wood Sept.21, 1915 1,533,523 Thoma Apr. 14, 1925 l,538,239 Claudepierrc May 19, 1925 1,632,536 Breen June 14, 1927 l,824,502 Robinson Sept. 22, 1931 2,364,243 Riddle Dec. 5, 1944 2,561,880 Nicolaus et al July 24, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 52,275 Sweden Apr. 19, 1917

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