US2873062A - Mail or like box - Google Patents

Description

. F 1959 s. w. CORNELL 2,873,062

MAIL OR LIKE BOX Filed Nov. 15, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Feb. 10, 1959 G. w. CORNELL MAIL 0R LIKE BOX 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 13, 1957 ATTORNEYS Feb. 10, 1959 G. w. CORNELL MAIL OR LIKE BOX Filed Nov. 1s,' 1957 .FJ. .3 U 5 I 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVEN TOR 660/266 )1 (om/e44 ATTORNEYS Feb.l0,1959 G. w. CORNELL 2,873,052

MAIL 0R LIKE BOX Flled Nov 15 1957 S Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR ATrogyEYs appeal.

United States Patent MAIL 6R LIKE BOX George W. Cornell, Miami, Fla, assignor of one-half to W. Eider Cornell, Jun, Miami, Fla.

,Appiication November 13, 1957, Serial No. 696,186

' 14 Claims. (Cl. 232-47) The present invention relates to an improved box structure of highly pleasing apperance adapted for quantity low cost production and more particularly to a mail box of unique appearance for use in private houses, exclusive apartment buildings and the like.

Boxes for use by the home owner and apartment dweller as a depository for residential delivery of mail or the like have been in the past, for the most part, produced with littleattentiou to structural simplicity and pleasing appearance. As a result, regulations banning individual mailboxes have been adopted in many of the modern and expensive private home developments, and

exclusive apartment buildings. Those heretofore provided have more or less consistently embodied complicated structures, often of a flimsy and readily breakable character, leading to high production costs necessitating high customer pricing for units having slight customer A a consequence, the mailbox has been and still is generally viewed by the public as a necessary evil. This View has dictated the purchase of the least expensive and often wholly ineffectual mailbox, so far as proper protection of the oftentimes valuable mail deposited in them is concerned or the utilization of mail slots to W. N. Murphy, 2,032,618 to E. W. Kenyon, 2,407,128 ,to E. I. Axnix, 2,578,691 to R. W. Gieseler and 2,578,693

to R. W. Gieseler.

The primary objects of the present invention resides in the provision of a mail or like box of highly pleasing appearance designed and contoured to enhance the appearance of the entry door of the well-designed home or apartment and composed of an assembly of a relatively few, strong, rugged elements each of which is a segment of a continuous extruded form suitably shaped by extrusion dies and a removable and reversible front panel the opposite faces of which may be ornamented in a contrasting manner so simple reversal of the front panel will be effective to produce a box of appreciably differing over-all appearance enabling the stocking, of a relatively few boxes to meet the varying esthetic preferences of customer users.

I Still another object of the present invention resides in the provision of a mail or like box having a relatively simple basic structure adapted to receive any one of many differently ornamented and colored front panels whereby the stocking of relatively few basic assemblies and a wide variety of front panels enables customer users to secure a box which will harmonize or blend in with the general decorative scheme of his home or apartment 1 building and minimize the stocking problem of retailers and wholesale distributors catering to the esthetic de mands of the builders and occupants of the present day individually designed and ornamented private homes and apartment buildings.

A further important object of the present invention resides in the provision of a mail or like box made up of five relatively simple and rugged elements entailing a minimum of assembly and final finishing operations.

Still another object of the present invention resides in the provision of a mail or like box composed of a main extruded body member open at its ends and along one face, a lift type top closure in the form of an extruded generally planar body having angularly related front and rear marginal flanges the latter of which is provided with a longitudinally continuous pintle receiving opening, a drop type bottom closure consisting of an extrusion providing a generally planar body having along its front and back edges angularly related flanges respectively providing on the one hand a forwardly and outwardly directed hand grip and an opposed rearwardly and inwardly directed supporting ledge operative in open position of the bottom closure to support the lower ends of the box contents in partially exposed position for ready removal and on the other hand a flange having a continuous, longitudinally extending pintle receiving opening, a panel-like front closure and a rugged support strip in the form of a simple elongated extrusion formed to span the front-open face of the extruded body at its lower end and cooperate with opposed panel receiving grooves formed in the body side walls adjacent their front vertical edges to receive and support the front panel.

A further object of thepresent invention resides in providing a mail or like box having a body the upper and lower ends of which slope upwardly and outwardly from the back wall which hingedly mounts top and bottom closure members and when mounted on a vertical support wall disposes the upper body end and its top closure member so as to define a relatively wide and deep, generally V-shaped, laterally directed recess between the top closure member and the support wall for receiving magazines, newspapers and the like of a size prevents their insertion into the box proper.

Still another object of the present invention resides in providing a mail or like box having a drop closure hinged at the back corners and formed along the front edge With oppositely directed integral. flange structures one of which normally extends into the interior of the box and in open position of the bottom closure forms a support ledge with a resilient and deformable polyvinyl chloride strip secured interiorly of the box body and having a longitudinal downwardly opening recess disposed to receive and grippingly engage the lip of the support ledge in a manner to releasably retain the bottom closure member in its closed position.

Another object of the present invention resides in the provision of a novel design and continuous extrusion of indeterminate length having back and side walls and an open front adapted, by means of suitable generally transverse cuts, to be formed into a plurality of box body members.

Still another object of the present invention resides in the provision of a novel continuous extrusion of indeterminate length adapted, through a series of transverse and longitudinal cuts, to provide a plurality of box body end closure members having integral pintle receiving formations along one edge to provide a hinge connection.

A further object of the present invention resides in the provision of a novel continuous extrusion of indeterminate length adapted through a series of transverse and longitudinal cuts to provide a plurality of box body bottom end closure members having integral pintle receiving aeraoez '3 formations along one edge and oppositely directed support ledge and hand grip flanges along its opposite edge.

A further object of the present invention resides in the provision of a novel continuous extrusion of indeterminate length adapted through a series of transverse cuts to be formed into a plurality of abutment support strips suitable for use as front panel support elements.

A still further object of the present invention resides in the provision of a novel continuous extrusion adapted through a series of transverse cuts to provide a plurality of combined panel abutment and catch support members.

Another object resides in the provision of a novel con- .tinuous extrusion of resilient and deformable polyvinyl chloride adapted through a series of transverse cuts to provide a cushioning abutment for a box end closure 1 member.

A still further object of the present invention resides in the provision of a novel continuous extrusion of resilient and deformable polyvinyl chloride adapted through a series of transverse cuts and a longitudinally continuous side opening recess to provide a plurality of resilient catch receiving and securing elements for use in retaining a mail or like box closure in releasable closed position.

Further objects will appear from the following description and appended claims when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a box embodying a preferred form of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken substan- I tially on line 22 of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on line 33 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of an elongated, open sided extruded shape of preferred form providing a blank adapted to be cut transversely at predetermined longitudinally spaced points into a succession of open ended main body members constituting one of the five main structural elements of the box of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of an elongated extruded shape'of preferred form providing a blank adapted to be cut transversely at predetermined longitudinally spaced points into a succession of box top closure members constituting another of the five main structural elements of the box of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a top plan view of one of the top closure members out from the blank of Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a perspective view of an elongated extruded shape of preferred form providing a blank adapted to be cut transversely at predetermined longitudinally spaced points into a succession of box bottom closure members constituting another of the five structural elements of the box of Figure 1;

Figure 8 is a bottom plan view of one of the bottom closure members cut from the blank of Figure 7;

Figure 9 is a perspective veiw of a preferred elongated extruded shape providing a blank adapted to be cut transversely at predetermined longitudinally spaced points into a succession of transverse abutment and support strips adapted to extend between the side walls of the body members cut from the blank of Figure 4 adjacent the lower front body wall corners and forming another of the five structural elements of the box of Figure 1;

Figure 10 is a perspective View of a preferred elongated extruded shape of resilient and deformable polyvinyl chloride adapted to interlockingly fit into the longitudinally continuous downwardly and forwardly opening groove of the abutment and support strips cut from the blank of Figure 9 and form a resilient abutment for cushioning the box bottom closure member at the end of its closing movement;

Figure 11 is a perspective view of a modified elongated extruded shape providing a blank adapted to be cut transversely at predetermined longitudinally spaced points into a succession of alternately usable transverse body abutment and support strips adapted to extend betweenthe side walls of the, body members cut from the blank of Figure 4 in place of the abutment and support strips formed from the blank of Figure 9;

Figure 12 is a perspective view of a modified elongated shape of resilient and deformable polyvinyl chloride adapted to interlockingly fit into the longitudinally continuous downwardly and forwardly opening groove of the modified strips of Figure 11 and form a combined resilient abutment and bottom closure catch strip for cushioning the box bottom closure member at the end of its closing movement and rcleasably retaining it in closed position;

Figure 13 is a fragmental vertical sectional view of the lower front portion of a box employing the combined body abutment and support strip of Figure 11 and the combined resilient abutment and bottom closure catch strip of Figure 12;

Figure 14 is a fragmental plan view of the back wall of a front closure panel illustrating one form of drastically different surface ornamentation that may be provided by the opposite faces of the reversable front closure panel disclosed in Figure 1; v

Figure 15 is a vertical edge view of the panel fragment of Figure 14 on an enlarged scale; and

Figures 16 and 17 are respective front and back elevational views on a drastically reduced scale of a continuous,,

elongated blank having differently ornamented faces from which successive front closure panels can be formed by transverse cutting of the blank at longitudinally spaced points. a

With continued reference to the drawings wherein like reference numerals are used through the several'views to indicate the same parts and with particular reference for the moment to Figures 1 through 3 illustrating a preferred form of the present invention, numeral 20 designates a box-like container of unique appearance made in accord with the present invention. While the present invention is intended primarily to provide a home or like mailbox of unique and unusually pleasing appearance, it is to be understood that the box may be used for any other desired purpose and may be suitably varied in dimensions to best adapt it for the use to which it is to be put. For convenience, the embodiments herein illustrated will be referred to as mailboxes, the structure of the presentinvention being deemed particularly useful in this field due to its ready. adaptability for varying ornamental surface treatment and vari-shapcd elements to provide mail rcceptacles tailored to varying architectural designs for private home and apartment or ofiice building use.

Basically the present invention provides a box structure 20 composed of five basic structural elements of exceedingly simple form, namely, an open ended body member 21 having an open longitudinal face defined by inwardly directed backing flanges 22; a bottom closure 'member 23; a top closure member 24; a combined front panel support and bottom closure abutment member 25; and a front closure panel 26. Each of these structural elements, except for panel 26, is produced as a segment of an extruded shape or blank suitably formed for respective correlated cooperation in the final fabricated assembly to keep production and assembly expenses to'a minimum. While the material employed in these basic elements may be metal, rigid plastic, or any other suitable material and means other than extrusion methods, for example, stamping techniques, may be resorted to for the purpose of producing these elements, substantial production and assembly savings have been found possible through use of extrusion techniques. Among these savings are the elimination of many finishing steps that would be required (1) to debur all free cut edges, (2) to provide surface decoration such as the longitudinally alternating rib and groove ornamentation 28 of the side walls 29 of body member 21 and (3) end drilling or undercut machining of the hinge edges of the top and bottom closure members to provide pintlerecciving openings. With this in mind, the following step by step description of the preferred manner of producing a mailbox in accord with this invention will be given.

Initially elongated blanks of indeterminate length and predetermined desired cross sectional configuration are extruded, preferably from aluminum metal stock, to-provide extruded body blanks 31 (Figure 4), extruded top closure blanks 32 (Figure 5), bottom closure blanks 33 (Figure 7) and combined panel support and bottom closure abutment strip blanks 34 (Figure 9) or 34:: (Figure 11). Since it is contemplated that bottom closure member 23 will be biased positively to closed position, it is preferred that a cushioning bumper be provided. To this end, the present invention proposes a bumper strip 35 or 35a (Figures 3 and 13) of extruded, resilient and deformable polyvinyl chloride comprising segments of a suitably shaped elongated blank 36 or 36a (Figures and 12) of indeterminate length.

While these blanks may be of any desired length, it is preferred that they each be of such length that they will provide a predetermined number of box elements, allowing, of course, the additional length necessary for the material removed during the necessary cutting into box element lengths. The only length limitation on the respective blanks is that dictated by convenience in handling the blanks during the cutting or, if shipment of the blanks from the extrusion plant to the fabricating plant is involved, the length may be determined by the shipping size limitations imposed by the carriers shipping regulations. Since all initial blank cutting operations, as the following description will more fully disclose, involve simple transverse saw cuts, intricate manipulation of long length blanks is not required.

Referring for the moment to Figure 4, body blank 31 comprises a generally rectangular, channel shaped form providing a longitudinally continuous base wall forming body back wall. segments 37, a pair of right angularly related, longitudinally continuous, laterally spaced side walls each joined to the base wall through a rounded transition corner 38 and forming body side Wall segments 29, a pair of longitudinally continuous, laterally opposed, inwardly directed flange elements offset slightly from the free edges of the side walls toward the base wall and forming the open face backing flanges 22 and a pair of longitudinally continuous, laterally spaced flanges disposed inwardly from the respective rounded transition corners 38 on the face of the base wall opposite that from which the side walls protrude and forming body spacer and hinge pin mounting flange segments 39. As most clearly shown in Figures 2 and 4-, the free edges of the spaced side walls terminate in rounded corners 41 merging in a lateral inward direction into opposed retainer lips 42. The anterior faces of lips 42 constitute lateral continuations of the forward walls of opposed shallow front closure panel receiving grooves 43 the rear walls of which extend laterally inwardly in the plane of the forwardly disposed faces of backing flanges 22. The forward faces of flange segments 22 are preferably respectively relieved at 44 through provision of longitudinally continuous recesses to provide longitudinally continuous laterally spaced pairs of backing areas 45 adapted to abuttingly engage the back face of front closure panel 26 along its opposite lateral marginal edges as clearly appears from an inspection of Figure 2.

While body blanks 31 may omit any surface ornamentation, if desired, the present invention contemplates that the outer normally exposed faces of the side walls be formed with longitudinally continuous, transversely alternating, rib and groove formations to assure each exposed face of body member side walls 29 with the rib and groove ornamentation 28 previously mentioned. Such simple ornamentation not only enhances the general appearance of the finished box but breaks the otherwise flat surface that might in use produce undesirable sun and light reflections that the resulting high surface finish of such aluminum extrusions could be expected to produce. Such ornamentation is produced by. utilization of a complementary rib and groove formation in the extrusion die wall without any added expense.

Blank 31 is formed into individual box body assemblies by the simple expedient of transverse saw cuts. While these saw cuts could be made at right angles or any other desired angle, it is the purpose of this invention to provide a box the opposite ends of which are inclined from front to rear in a manner (1) to dispose the top closure member at an angle such that it will form an acute included angle with the surface upon which the box is mounted (see Figure 3) and (2) to dispose the bottom closure member at an angle such that it will form an upwardly and forwardly inclined bottom wall when closed (see Figure 3). In the preferred form of the invention here disclosed, this is accomplished, ifit is desired to minimize waste, by setting the saw at such an angle that the included angle between the inclined side wall ends formed by the saw blade and the longitudinal axis A (Figure 3) of the body blank 31 will be the same, approximately 40 in the illustrated embodiment. The first cut, that at the left end of Figure 4, is preferably made starting at a point 46 two (2) inches from the blank end along the front edges of the side walls and moving toward the rear wall of the blank along a line defining with the longitudinal blank axis A an included angle of 40 until the saw passes out of the sidewall ends at points along cut line 47 (Figure 4) spaced about hi of an inch forwardly of the back face of back wall segment 37. Successive cuts are then made with the same saw setting at longitudinally spaced 9 inch intervals one of which is indicated by out line 48 in Figure 4. Each of these successive cuts extends the full depth from the front edges of the blank sidewalls through the rcarmost edges of spacer and hinge pintle mounting flanges 39. Each of the resulting body elements 21 is then out along a line 49 disposed at right angles to the longitudinal blank axis A, the starting point being located about one (1) inch inwardly from the point of intersection of out line 48 with the rear face of flanges 39. Cutting along line 49 continues at right angles to blank axis A to a point along side wall edges located about $5 of an inch forwardly of the rear face of back wall 37. At this point, out line 49 should follow a curved path which should merge tangentially into the inclined side wall ends to provide the well rounded transition area 51 shown in Figure 3. r

The resulting body element is then completed by drilling respective opposed pairs of pintle openings 52 (Figure 2) through flanges 39 adjacent the top and bottom ends and notching the opposite ends of the back wall between flanges 39 and the lower ends of the backing flanges 22. The back wall notching is effected at the bottom and top ends respectively along cut lines 53 and 54 shown in Figure 4 with suitably formed cutting dies to form relief clearances 55 and 56 (Figure 3) to assure free movement of the hinge flanges of the assembled top closure member 24 and bottom closure member 23 to be presently described. The notching of backing flanges 22 is effected along cut lines 57 (Figure 4) to provide lateral opposed relief areas 58 (Figure 13) for receiving the opposite ends of combined panel support and bottom closure abutment strip 25.

Referring next to Figure 5, top closure member blank 32 comprises a generally channel shaped extruded form providing a longitudinally continuous base wall forming top closure member main body segments 61; a pair of respectively angularly related, longitudinally continuous, laterally spaced side walls forming front and rear flange segments 62 and 63 respectively serving as a combined rain deflector and hand grip and a hinge flange; and a longitudinally continuous flange of dog leg configuration in cross section disposed to the side of the longitudinal blank. axis in adjacent laterally spaced relation to the side wall forming hinge flange'.63 and adapted in use to serve as a'deflector wall segment 64. As most clearly appears from Figures 3 and 5, base wall of blank 32 is thickest adjacent its juncture with deflector wall segment 64, tapers in both directions to its juncture with the laterally spaced side walls which respectively define with the base wall obtuse included angles which, in the illustrated embodiment, are approximately I35". This angular relationship assures that hinge flange 63 and hand grip and deflector flange 62, when top closure member 24 assumes its closed position on body member 21 just described, will respectively depend downwardly behind and substantially perpendicular to body back wall 37 and define between them an included angle of 90 as will appear from an inspection of Figure 3.

' The channel side wall forming flange segment 63 is provided along its free longitudinal edge with an inwardly inclined lip 65 the wall 66 of which extends rearwardly as viewed in Figures 3 and 5 to a point slightly beyond the plane of the back wall of flange 63 to a point of tangency at 67 wtih a curved wall portion generated around a center 68 (Figure 3) lying at the intersection of a plane determined by the foresaid back wall of flange 63 and a plane paralleling the inner planar face 69 of the blank base wall and spaced therefrom a distance of .175 of an inch. This same center 68 forms the longitudinally extending axis of a pintle receiving bore 71 of segmental cylindrical form coextensive with the blank side wall forming flange segment 63. As best seen in Figure 3, the wall of this segmental cylindrical bore 71 extends throughout an angle in excess of 270". As a consequence, a pintle pin dimensioned to snugly fit in bore 71 will be confined against relative sidewise disassociation through the slight angular opening provided by the angular discontinuity of the wall of bore 71. of lip 65 is spaced radially from center 68 sufliciently and disposed at an angle such that it will abuttingly engage body back wall 37 and form a top closure member limiting stop determining a fully open position position of top closure member 24 assuring a weight biasing to closed position. As best shown in dotted lines in Figure 3, the dog leg angle, lateral positioning and overall length of deflector flange 64 are so related that the offset leg 73 of this flange will lie closely adjacent and parallel to body back wall 37, when top closure member 24 is in its fully open position, and will extend below the upper back wall notches 56. This assures that mail or other articles introduced angularly into the upper open end of box body 21 will not pass over the upper end of back wall 37 into the space behind the body 21. To

assure a firm solid support of the top closure member 22 in its closed position, the base wall 69 of blank 32 is formed with a longitudinally continuous generally triangularly shaped rib structure 74 the walls of which are right angularly related as will be clear from an inspection of Figure 3. an abutment wall which engages the upper ends of lips 42 formed on side wall segments 29 of body member 21.

As best seen in Figure 5, top closure blank 32 is formed into individual top closure members by the simple expedient of transverse saw cuts. While these saw cuts may be made at any suitable longitudinally spaced intervals to assure the lateral spanning of the upper ends of body side wall segments 29, it is the purpose of this invention to provide a slight overhang of each end of stop closure member 24 beyond the body member side walls. Since the lateral width of body member 21 of theillustrated embodiment is 6%. inches from the outer face of one body side wall to the outer face of the other side wall, blank 32 is cut transversely at 6% inch longitudinally spaced intervals, three of which are indicated by cut lines 76 in Figure 5. Each of these successive cuts extends the full width of blank 32 providing a series of top closure members 24. Each top member is completed by notching flanges 72 along cut lines 77 extending inwardly to the line of juncture 78 with body segment The edge face 72 The wall of rib structure 74 constitutes 61 then lengthwise along line of juncture 78 in opposite directions to the ends of the respective closure members and notching deflector flanges 64 along cut lines 80 and lengthwise along the line of juncture of flanges 64 with body 61 in opposite directions to the ends of the respective closure members. This notching, like that of body elements 21, is effected by suitably formed cutting dies to remove respective equal sized end sections of flanges 63 and '64 of each top closure member and leave a longitudinally symmetrical hinge flange of a length A of an inch less than the 4% inch spacing of the inner opposed faces of body flanges 39 and a longitudinally symmetrical deflector flange of a length A of an inch less than the 6% inch spacing of the inner faces of side walls 29 on each top closure member 24 (see Figures 5 and 6). 1

While assembly of each top closure member 24 with a respective body member 21 may be effected through any suitable form of hinge pintle, it is preferred that headed stub pintle pins 79 (Figure 2) having a close journalled fit with upper flange openings 52 and the relatively aligned pintle receiving bore 71 be employed. Each pintle pin 79 is effectively locked for rotation with its top closure member by upsetting a portion of the adjacent closure member metal around the pin shank as indicated by numeral 81 (Figure 2). As a result, the respective hinge pintle pins 79 are journalled in flanges 39, rotate with the top closure members 21 and their respective heads engaging the outer faces of flanges 39 retain the hinge flanges 63 and depending deflector flanges 64 in relative end spaced relation to the respective opposed inner faces of flanges 39 and body side walls 29.

Referring next to Figure 7, bottom closure member 23 comprises an extruded form 33 of indeterminate length comprising a longitudinally continuous main body wall 84 of slightly arched shape from side to side having lateral edges which respectively carry a hinge flange 85 extending away from one face of body wall 84 and a combined abutment and hand grip flange, the abutment section 86 of which extcnds away from the aforesaid face of body wall 84 and the hand grip section 87 of which extends away from the opposite face of body wall 84. Hinge flange 85 includes a wall section 88 angularly related to and connected to body wall 84 through a transition curve 89 and a hinge and stop section 91 disposed at right angles to wall section 88. Like the corresponding flange 63 of top closure member 24, hinge and stop section 91 includes an inclined stop lip 65, a ccnter 68 (Figure 3) forming the longitudinally extending axis -of a pintle receiving bore 71 of segmental cylindrical form like that employed in top closure member 24. Wall section 88 is disposed with respect to body wall 84 to form therewith an included angle of 125 and the included angle between wall section 88 and hinge and stop section 91 is The abutment section 86 and hand grip section 87 of the combined abutment and hand grip flange formed along the other lateral edge of body wall 84 are both disposed at approximate right angles to the latter body wall edge. Abutment section 86 tapers inwardly from its juncture with body wall 84 toward its free edge which is in the form of an enlarged, generally cylindrical, longitudinally continuous abutment beading 92. Hand grip flange 87 is thickest at its free edge and the wall 93 defining the included angle with body wall 84 is of concave dished configuration in cross section merging at its inner end smoothly into the normally outer exposed wall 94 of bottom closure member 63 and at its outer end into a rounded corner 95.

Blank 33 is formed into individual box bottom closure members 23 by the single expedient of transverse saw cuts and notching out the resulting ends of hinge flanges 85 by means of suitably formed cutting dies. The saw cuts are made at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the blank as indicated by cut lines 96 at:6%; inch longitudinally spaced intervals. The notching of flange sections 88 and 91 is made along transverse cut lines 97 and longitudinal cut lines 93 (a portion of one being shown at the left end of Figure 7) extending from the respective cut lines 07 to the adjacent ends of the severed bottom closure members 23. These notching cuts leave a segmental hinge flange of approximately 4 ,4 inches length for insertion into relief clearance 55 of body member 21 in assembling bottom closure member 23 on its headed pintle pins "/9 (Figure 2) in the manner heretofore described in connection with top closure member 24.

In order to maintain the bottom closure member 23 in normal closed position, the present invention provides either a biasing spring or a suitable catch adapted to grippingly receive the bead 92 of abutment flange 86.

While spring biasing is preferred because of alignment problems in catch structures, it is to be understood that suitable catch structures can be satisfactorily employed.

To assure an effective long life biasing spring in View of the limited available space for inclusion of coil or properly designed torsion springs, the present invention contemplates a novelly attached leaf spring 101 (Figures 2 and 3). As there illustrated, leaf spring 101 comprises a length of thin spring metal about /2 of an inch wide one end of which is coiled upon itself as indicated at 102 (Figure 3) and forced endwise into one end of pintle groove 71 of bottom closure member 23 to form a force fit therein, the left end as seen in Figure 2. Leaf spring 101 inwardly from coiled end 102 is reversely bent to provide an abutment section 103 disposed to extend downwardly along the outer face of flange section 97 and then again reversely bent to provide a relatively long, upstanding bowed main body section 104 adapted to lie in the space to the rear of body back wall 37 between body spacer flanges 39. Body section 104 curves upwardly and inwardly toward back wall 37 and its upper end is reversely curved to provide a convex bearing area 105 abuttingly engaging the back face of body wall 37. As clearly seen from Figure 2, leaf spring 101 is located a suflicient distance inwardly of pintle bore 71 to clear the inner end of the adjacent pintle pin 79 and is so tensioned that a positive counterclockwise closing force is maintained on bottom closure member 23 even. in

the closed position thereof illustrated in Figure 3. Due to the forced fit of coiled end 102 in pintle bore 71, clockwise opening movement of bottom closure 23 causes end 102 and abutment section 103 to rotate in a clockwise direction around hinge axis 68 with the bore defining portion of flange section 97 pressing bearing area 105 ever more firmly against back wall 37 and tending to flex body section 104 outwardly away from section 103 and increase the tension in spring 101. As a consequence, a sufiicient tension is built up in spring 101 during opening movement to assure positive closing movement of closure member 23 to its closed position. Because of its inherently rugged construction and its location when assembled in a non-accessible position insofar as tampering is concerned, leaf spring 101 hereprovided assures a long effective closing spring life without need of attention. In event the forced fit of coiled end 102 is found inefiective, the surface of lip 65 may be upset in the region of coiled end 102 to further fixedly secure end 102 in pintle bore 71.

In event the preferred form of the invention, including leaf spring 101 is employed, the combined front panel support and bottom closure abutment strip 25 of Figures 3, 9 and is preferably employed. In event spring 101 is omitted and a catch type retainer is employed, the alternate combined front panel support and polyvinyl chloride catch strip a of Figures 11, 12 and 13 is preferably employed.

Referring for the moment to Figures 3, 9 and 10, the combined front panel support and bottom closure abutment strip 25 is composed of a rigid; aluminum or like support element 108 and a resilient, deformable bumper element 109 interlockingly secured to support element 108 in a manner to be presently described. Both of these elements are extruded structures comprising cut off segments of respective longitudinally continuous, extruded blanks of indeterminate length heretofore generally designated by numerals 34 and 35. Blank 34 (Figure 9) comprises a main body portion 111 of generally L-shaped configuration in cross section composed of right angularly related longitudinally continuous legs 112 and 113. Leg 113 comprises the short generally horizontally extending leg of the L and at its free, edge is provided with a thickened, longitudinally continuous quarter round beading 114, the thickened area depending from the underside of leg 113 and leaving the upper, face 115 plane and uninterrupted from end to end and side to side. The intersecting vertical face 116 of 1eg112- is also a plane and uninterrupted face from end to end and side to side. I

The face of leg 112 opposite face 116 and throughout an area approximating its lower half is provided with a longitudinally continuous, rearwardly and downwardly inclined, integral body section 117. Body section v117 extends away from leg 112 at an angle such. that its lower forwardly disposed face 118 lying beyond the point of intersection of the lower face of leg 113 therewith depends below the lower face of leg 113 at an angle of 45 and is of sufficient length to dispose face 118, upon assembly of strip 25 with body 21, in the plane of the upper 45 radius passing through hinge axis 68 of the bottom closure member 23 in the arcuate path of movement of abutment beading 92 of bottom closure member 23. Face 118 in substantially symmetrical relation to the estimated line of contact that would be made therewith upon contact of face 118 and bead 92 is provided with a continuous longitudinally extending recess 119 of generally rectangular configuration in cross section and approximately inch depth and width. The side walls of recess 119 extend in a direction normal to face 113 and the entrance mouth at face 1118 measures about of an inch across and is defined by shallow inwardly opposed shoulders 121. These shoulders in use constitute retaining shoulders for releasably retaining bumper element 109 hereinafter to be described in place.

Blank 34 is formed into individual front panel and bumper element support strips by transverse saw cuts made at right angles to the longitudinal axis of blank 34 at 6% inch longitudinally spaced intervals indicated by cut lines 122 (Figure 9), offsetting the upper intermediate portions 123 (Figures 2 and 3) of leg 112 of each severed support element 108 of blank 34 forwardly into overlying relation with respect to leg 113 and punching the opposite ends of leg 112 of each severed support element 108 at (Figure 9) in position to receive securing rivets 124 (Figures 2 and 3). Assembly of support element108 with box body 21 is effected by inserting the preformed and punched leg 112 upwardly into box body 21 to dispose the punched ends behind the opposed body side wall flanges 22 and leg 113 in the notched out relief areas 58 of flanges 22 to aline rivet apertures 125 with previously punched rivet apertures 126 located in the lower ends of flanges 22, 7m of an inch above the notched ends of flanges 22 as roughly approximated in dotted lines in the illustration of Figure 2. Due to the relative length dimension of element 108, the spacing of the inner faces of body side walls 29 and the inch depth of leg 112, the opposite ends of element 103 will have a closeabutting fit with the side walls 29 and the face 115 of leg 1.13 will abuttingly engage the notched ends of body flanges 22 and form a bottom end closure for body sidewall grooves 43.

Blank 36 (Figure 10) from which abutment elements 109 are formed comprises a longitudinally continuous soft, resilient and deformable extrusion of polyvinyl chloride or other similar material having longitudinally con- 11 tinuous upper and lower crescent shaped bumper and securing walls 128 the concave faces of which are opposed and interconnected by laterally spaced body walls 129. As clearly appears from Figure 10, body walls 129 are inset slightly from the lateral edges of the bumper and securing walls 128 so these lateral edges overhang the outer side faces of body walls 129 and provide laterally spaced pairs of opposed shoulders 131 intersecting body walls 129 at their opposite ends. While the dimensions of this bumper strip blank may be widely varied to assure 'complemental interfitting with the recess 119 of support element 108, the following dimensions have been found wholly satisfactory in the commercial embodiment of the -'preferred application embodiment now being marketed. In this commercial structure, the overall height along a plane bisecting the crescent shaped bumper walls is A of an inch, the overall length of body walls 129 is approximately of an inch along the inside wall faces, the overall width from tip-to-tip of the lateral edges of the crescent shaped walls is approximately of an inch, the lateral spacing between the inner faces of body walls 129 is ,4 of an inch, the lateral distance from the outside faces of body walls 129 to the adjacent tip of the respective lateral crescent wall edges is approximately of an inch, the wall thickness of body walls 129 is of an inch, the thickness of the crescent shaped bumper walls 128 at their midpoints is approximately of an inch and the crescent shaped bumper walls progressively decrease in both directions laterally from their midpoints to a thickness slightly less than ,4 of an inch at their tips.

Blank 36 is formed into individual bumper elements or strips 109 by the simple expedient of transverse cutting along cut lines 132 (Figure 10) located at 6%. inch longitudinally spaced intervals. Assembly of bumper elements 109 into recess 119 may be effected before or after element 108 is fastened to body 21 merely by laying one of the crescent shaped edge faces along the recess mouth and lightly pressing on the opposite crescent shaped edge face in a direction toward recess 119.

In event a box having a catch retainer is desired, the extruded shapes of Figures 11 and 12 are preferably employed to form the combined front panel support and bottom closure abutment member a of Figure 13. As clearly appears from a comparison of Figures 9 and 11, the blanks 34a and 34 embody main body portions 111 of identical L-shaped form. The sole difference lies in the inclined integral body section 117, that of blank 34a being somewhat longer in length to accommodate the different recess structure 119a which will now be described. Recess 119a like recess 119 opens through the lower forwardly disposed face 118 of body section 117 and is made up of a longitudinally continuous main rectangularly shaped recess 133 flanked on its opposite sides by a respective angular-1y related longitudinally continuous recess 134 of generally arrowhead shaped configuration in cross section disposed at opposite respective 45 rearward inclinations to face 118. These recesses 133 and 134 open into a common undercut chamber 135 extending continuously from end to end of body section 117 and defined by the outer ends of the outermost side walls of stems 136 extending at right angles to each other from the arrowhead recesses 134 to a line of intersection with face 118 and a. plane containing the edge faces of Walls 137 separating recesses 134 from recess 133. These blanks are formed into individual support elements 108a by transverse cutting, rivet hole drilling and flange offsetting as heretofore described in connection with blank 34. Assembly of support elements 108a with box body 21 is effected also in the same manner described above in connection with the assembly of elements 108.

The bumper strip used with support element 108a performs, in addition to the cushioning function of strip 108, the function of a retainer catch and the blank 36a therefor is shown in Figure 12. As there illustrated, blank 36a comprises a longitudinally continuous main body portion 141-of generally rectangular configuration in cross section having a longitudinally continuous keyhole slot 142 laterally centered between its opposed side walls 143 and opening through its front face 144 and pendant attachment flanges 145 of arrowhead shaped configuration carried by stems 146 inclined rearwardly at 45 from front face 144. Arrowhead formations 145, stems 146 and body 141 are respectively .130 inch, .055 inch and .190 inch overall cross sectional thickness. The dimensions are respectively .014 inch, .009 inch and .012 inch less than the corresponding dimensions of the recesses of support strip 108a. The back face of main body 141 and the rear side faces of the arrowhead formations lie in a common plane spaced .190 inch from face 144 the corresponding common plane of the recesses being .250 inch from face 118 of support strip 108. The cylindrical portion of keyhole slot 142 has a diameter of .100 inch and the tail portion a width of .050 inch and in the final assembly the axis of the keyhole slot is intended to reasonably approximate an extremely short chord of the circular path followed by the abutment beading 92 in closing movement of bottom closure member 23. To assure proper catch operation in this embodiment of the invention beading 92 is formed with a .09 inch diameter and H the length of the abutment flange section 86 between its intersection with beading 92 and body 84 of bottom closure member 23 exceeds the length of the tail portion of keyhole slot 142 sufficiently to assure passage of heading 92 into the cylindrical portion of the keyhole slot. Since the .090 inch diameter of beading 92 exceeds the lateral dimensions of the keyhole slot tail portion by approximately .040 of an inch, a positive clockwise closing force is required to force beading 92 into keyhole slot 142, the resiliently deformability of the polyvinyl chloride or like material of bumper strip 35a being sufficient to permit the necessary distention of the slot tail portion and passage of beading 92 therethrough. Once beading 92 reaches its home position in keyhole slot 142 an opening counterclockwise force of equal magnitude is required to disengage beading 92 and effect opening of the bottom closure member.

Referring for the moment to Figure 3, it will be appreciated that letters or the like inserted through the top opening of body 21 will assume a canted position in which their lower ends are directed by the angularity of bottom closure member 23 toward the box rear wall 37. Upon full opening of bottom closure member 23, as will be apparent from the intermediate dotted line position shown in Figure 3, the inclination of the bottom closure member will be completely reversed. As a consequence, the lower ends of the letters will slide forwardly along the inner face of bottom closure member 23 until they assume a position well below the bottom ends of box side walls 29 resting on abutment fiange 86 and held against passage therefrom by beading 92. It will be apparent, therefore, that abutment flange 86 and beading 92 serve an additional and important support function in both embodiments of the invention herein disclosed.

Referring again to Figure 3 and also to Figure 4, it is to be noted that back wall 37, preferably along its longitudinal center line, is provided with longitudinally spaced countersunk openings 151 well within the upper and lower limits of body side wall flange 22. These openings are intended to receive mounting screws 152 for mounting box 20 on a suitable support structure 153 which may take the form of a building wall or door, a post or any other structure provided for installation of such boxes. These openings and mounting screws are readily accessible for formation and installation through the open face defined by side wall flanges 22. While the openings could, if desired, be omitted and left for the installer or user to form, they preferably are formed by the manufacturer at the time the notching of the body back wall 37, the side wall flanges 22 and the punching of the rivet holes is accomplished. This not only assures ideal positioning of the mounting holes but enables the box to be marketed as a ready to mount unit with the proper size screws taped either inside the box or, as is preferably done, to the back of wall 37 between flanges 39.

The description so fargiven covers the major box elements except for the front closurepanel 26 to be presently described. However, before describing the preferred front panel which gives to the box its unique feature of being readily and drastically altered in overall appearance by merely reversing the front closure panel or substitution of differently decorated and colored front closure panels stocked by the retailer, it should be pointed out that production of all extrusions, except the polyvinyl chloride bumper strips, is preferably carried out using aluminum stock. In addition to the anticorrosion characteristics of such aluminum extrusions, they have the further desirable advantage of being readily susceptible to anodizing to impart desired coloring to the metal parts, if the normal bright aluminum coloring well known for its proclivity to become dull through oxidation upon exposure to the elements is not desired. For example, the box elements themselves after cutting and punching or preferably the box after assembly of the elements is completed may be subjected to an anodizing treatment to give it a desired antique brass, a white or colorless 'hue, a bluish metallic tint or any of the other colors well known to those engaged in the art of anodizing aluminum. In this way, the basic metal elements of the box may be desirably tinted in volume at slight cost to provide boxes to blend in with or contrast with the decorative color scheme of the home or building according to the dictates of the designing architect.

Referring next to Figures 1, l4, 15, 16 and 17, there is disclosed a preferred front panel structure 26 as contemplated by this invention to permit ready alteration of the overall general appearance of boxes embodying the general structural novelty of this invention. It, of course, is to be understood that panels 26 of any desired construction could be used to complete boxes made in accord with this invention provided this final desirable feature, which enables a retail merchant to make an unlimited number of differently appearing boxes available to his customers through stocking of three or four differently anodized basic metal structures and a multiplicity of differently ornamented and colored front closure panels, is not desired.

The preferred front panels 26 are made from composite sheets made up of sheet metal base elements 155 (Figure 15 covered on both faces and preferably all edges by bonded laminations of rigid or semi-rigid resin coatings 156. Such resins can be obtained in many and variegated colors and the coated sheets can be readily fabricated and imprinted without in any way damaging the coating to provide diflerent surface ornamentation on opposite sides of the sheet, if desired. For example, the panel illustrated in Figure 1 could readily be produced with a jet black resin coating and suitably imprinted on opposite faces to provide the crinkled relief design 157 shown in Figure 1 and on the right hand face of Figure 15 and the depressed or intaglio design 158 of Figure 14 and the left hand face of Figure 15. By variations in the color of the coating and reversal of the panels strikingly different and pleasing appearances can be imparted to the same box since the dominant surface of the completed box installed for use is the exposed front panel. If desired, the surface ornamentation could be in the form of monogram initials in relief and intaglio as indicated in Figures 16 and 17.

- If the metal base sheet is formed of non-corrosive metal, the front panels 26 could be formed from longitudinally continuous coated sheet blanks 161 indicated in Figures 16 and 17 with the individual front closure panels 26 formed by transverse cuts along longitudinally spaced out lines 152 as indicated in these latter figures. Such panels 26 would have one or both ends in. the form, ofiexposed -14 uncoated metal areas. However, this would be of little consequence if non-corrosive metal was employed in the basic metal core sheet.

Since the process of producing laminated resin coated metal articles is well known in the art and such products can be obtained commercially from the Naugatuck Chemical Division of United States Rubber Company of Naugatuck, Connecticut, which produces such products by the so-called Marvibond Process, a detailed description of the manner of producing such resin coated products is not believed necessary here.

It will be understood that the boxes of this invention are completed by sliding front closure panels 25 longitudinally into side wall grooves 43 until the bottom ends abut support surface of combined front panel support and bottom closure abutment member 25. Ready removal of this panel for access to openings 151 for insertion of mounting screws 152- is effected by upward withdrawal of panel 26 from grooves 43.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms Without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by United States Letters Patent is:

1. An improved mail or like box container comprising a one piece open ended body of a length and width to freely receive articles of a predetermined maximum size and comprising a back wall, side walls and an open front face defined by the front marginal edges of said side walls which edges are offset axially with respect to said back face to dispose the upper and lower ends of said front marginal edges and the upper and lower limits of the front face determined thereby above the respective planes determined by the upper and lower ends of said back face, said side wall ends being inclined downwardly from the respective upper and lower front corners of said side wall marginal edges, said side wall marginal edges along their oppositely related inner faces having respective longitudinally extending, opposed, inwardly opening continuous grooves therein and said side wall lower ends merging at respective opposite points forwardly of said back wall into respective side wall end portions extending normal to and terminating at the back wall; a one piece top closure member comprising a main body of elongated generally planar form dimensioned to assure a length at least sufficient to overlap said opposite side wall upper ends and a width sutlicient to extend beyond and overhang the back wall and side wall front marginal edges and having integrally formed longitudinally directed flanges along its respective longitudinal back and front edges inclined with respect to said main body away from the under face thereof said flange along the back longitudinal body edge being formed with a longitudinally continuous pintle receiving opening; a one piece bottom closure member comprising a main body of elongated generally planar configuration dimensioned to assure a length which will permit it to freely pass between said body side walls and a width substantially equal to the sloping portion of said side wall lower ends and having integrally formed flanges along its respective longitudinal back and front edges, said back edge flange being inclined with respect'to said bottom closure main body at an angle to dispose said back edge flange in closed position of said botom closure member in parallel reiation to said normally extending side wall end portions and carrying along its free longitudinal edge an upstanding rib having a, longitudinally continuous pintle receiving opening therethrough and said front edge flange being disposed at substantially a right. angle to saidbottom closure body and .i 15 providing portions extending away from both faces of said bottom closure body and respectively forming a support ledge adapted in the closed position of said bottom closure to enter into said open ended body and a hand grip extending downwardly and outwardly below the aforesaid lower limit of said front face; an abutment strip member transversely spanning the open front face of said open ended body along the aforesaid lower limit of said front face directly beneath the lower ends of said opposed inwardly opening side wall grooves to provide a support member extending transversely between said side wall marginal edges; 21 front closure panel having side edge portions slidingly engaged in said opposed inwardly opening, longitudinally continuous, side wall grooves to position said front closure panel with its lower end supportingly engaged by said abutment strip member and its upper end terminating in the plane of the upper front corners of said body side walls and also having drastically contrasting opposite panel faces effective upon reversal of said panel in said side wall grooves to impart a strikingly different overall appearance to said box; respective hinge pintles disposed in said top and bottom closure member pintle receiving openings for attaching said respective closure members to said open ended body back wall; pintle connectors on the back face of said body back wall for receiving portions of said respective hinge pintles and hingedly mounting said top and bottom closure members on said open ended body for movement between rcnpective closed and open positions; and means for releasably retaining said bottom closure member in its' closed position.

2. The mail or like box of claim 1 wherein said means for releasably retaining said bottom closure member in its closed position comprises a downwardly facing catch strip carried by said abutment strip and an upstanding its closed position comprises tensioned spring means the 'opposite ends of which respectively cooperate with portions of said open ended body and said bottom closure member to resiliently bias said bottom closure member to its closed position.

4. An extruded blank for forming a plurality of mail or like box bodies comprising a continuous extrusion of any suitable rigid extrudable material having a longitudinally continuous back wall, integral generally right angularly related longitudinally continuous side walls projecting away from one face of said back wall along its opposite lateral edges and integral, generally right angularly related longitudinally continuous, laterally opposed opening defining, backing flanges extending inwardly in opposite directions from the opposed faces of said Side Walls adjacent their free edges with their forwardly exposed face portions respectively forming a continuation of the rearmost wall of a related longitudinally continuous panel receiving groove formed in each of said opposed side Wall faces.

5. The extruded blank of claim 4 wherein the face of said continuous back wall opposite-that from which said longitudinally continuous side walls project has a pair of laterally spaced, longitudinally continuous flanges projecting therefrom and adapted to form hinge pintle support ears.

6. The extruded blank of claim 4- wherein the opposite outer faces of said longitudinally continuous side walls between planar longitudinal marginal areas are provided with longitudinally continuous, laterally alternating shallow, decorative groove and rib formations.

7. An extruded blank for forming a plurality of mail or like box top closures comprising a continuous extrusion of any suitable rigid extrudable material having a longitudinally continuous main body portion of generally planar shape in cross section, a longitudinally continuous integral marginal flange along one longitudinal edge of said main body portion inclined at an obtuse angle with respect to and extending away from one face of said main body portion and formed adjacent its free edge with a longitudinally continuous open sided pintle receiving opening, a longitudinally continuous integral marginal flange along the other longitudinal edge of said main body portion inclined with respect to and extending away from said one face of said main body portion to form a lifting lip disposed at right angles to said first mentioned marginal flange and a longitudinally continuous shallow rib of triangular configuration in cross section located on said one face of said main body portion a predetermined distance inwardly from the juncture of said last mentioned marginal flange and said main body portion to serve as an abutment formation engageable with the end of a box body front panel in use.

8. An extruded blank for forming a plurality of mail or like box bottom closures comprising a continuous extrusion of any suitable rigid extrudablc material having a longitudinally continuous main body portion of generally planar shape in cross section, a longitudinally continuous marginal flange along one longitudinal edge of said main body portion inclined at an obtuse angle with respect to and extending away from one face of said main body portion and formed adjacent its free edge with a longitudinally continuous open sided pintle receiving opening, a longitudinally continuous integral flange formed along the other longitudinal edge of said main body portion disposed substantially at right angles to said other end and providing a projecting portion extending away from the opposite face of said main body portion to form a lifting lip and a second projecting portion extending away from said one face of said main body portion and having along its free end a longitudinally continuous generally cylindrical beading, said second projecting portion serving as a ledge for supporting the contents of said box when the bottom closure member is moved to its open position.

9. An extruded blank for forming a plurality of mail or like box front panel abutment support strips comprising a continuous extrusion of any suitable rigid extrudablc material having a longitudinally continuous main body portion of generally L-shaped configuration in cross section having a short leg which serves as a bottom opening defining front panel support member and which terminates at its free edge in a dependent rib the outer normally exposed face of which curves inwardly and downwardly to form a half rounded bead face to impart a pleasing appearance to said exposed face and eliminates sharp edges that might in use injure users seeking access to the contents of said box through said bottom opening body end.

10. The extruded blank of claim 9 wherein the rear face of the long leg of said body portion, that face opposite that from which said short leg projects, has an integral downwardly and rearwardly projecting mounting flange of a length about twice that of said short leg and a thickness substantially equal to the length of the short leg and provided along its downwardly and forwardly disposed face with a longitudinally continuous recess the bottom wall of which has a longitudinally continuous laterally centered well of generally rectangular crosssectional configuration disposed centrally between a pair of laterally outwardly spaced, rearwardly elongated undercut groove means the respective axes of which are disposed at right angles to one another and bisect narrowed rearwardly diverging entry mouths the outermost lateral walls of which also form the side walls of said longitudinally continuous recess.

ll. The extruded blank of claim 9 wherein the rear face of the long leg of said body portion, that face opposite that from which said short leg projects, has an integral downwardly and rearwardly projecting mounting flange the sloping forward face of which is provided with r asrsloea ,toserve to .interlockingly secure a resilient and deform- ,able closure bumper strip in place.

112. An extruded blank for forming a pluralityof mail orilikebox bottom closure catch strips comprising-a continuous extrusion of deformable and resilient polyvinyl chloride having a longitudinally vcontinuous mairrbody portion of generally rectangular configurationin crosssection provided along one lateral face, constituting in use the front face, in laterally centered relation with a longitudinally continuous recess of generally keyhole shape in cross-section arranged with its enlarged portion generally centered in said generally rectangular body portion and also having integrally formed along the main body portion outer side wall faces adjacent said front face oppositely laterally and rearwardly diverging longitudinally continuous attachment flanges the respective laterally and rearwardly diverging axes of which are disposed at right angles to one another and the free ends of which are laterally enlarged to form deformable securing heads, said bottom closure catch strips serving to grippingly receive a portion of said bottom closure in said keyhole recess upon closing of said bottom closure thereby releasably retaining said bottom closure member in its closed position.

13. An improved home or like mail box comprising a one piece open ended extruded body of a length and width to receive ordinary mailing envelopes and having back and side walls and an open front face delimited at its opposite lateral edges by the front marginal edges of the side walls, said front marginal edges of said side walls along their opposed inner faces having oppositely disposed, inwardly opening longitudinally continuous grooves, the opposite ends of said side walls being sloped in the same general axial direction from front to back to provide, when mounted with its back wall mounted against a vertical support surface, a generally V-shaped, upwardly opening, laterally extending recess at its upper end between said sloped side wall ends and said vertical support surface and a bottom end having its side wall ends merging at opposed points spaced forwardly of said back wall into side wall end portions extending normal to and terminating at the back face of said back Wall, said back face of said back wall having integrally formed longitudinally coextensive, laterally spaced, rearwardly directed ribs thereon; a one piece extruded top closure member having a main body of laterally elongated generally planar form dimensioned to extend at least to the outer face of said body side walls and beyond and in overhanging relation to the back wall and opposed open front wall of said body and provided along said respective overhanging edges with inclined marginal flange portions extending away from that face which engages said V-shaped recess forming side wall ends, said flange along the body edge overhanging said back wall being formed with a longitudinally continuous pintle receiving opening; a one piece extruded bottom closure member having a main body of laterally elongated generally planar form generally paralleling said side wall ends at said other end of said body and dimensioned to freely pass between said body side walls and to extend rearwardly beyond said normally extending side wall end portions and said back wall to terminate in an upstanding rib along its free edge having a longitudinally continuous pintle receiving opening and to extend forwardly to provide an edge spaced slightly rearwardly of and below the plane defined by said opposed, inwardly opening longitudinally continuous side wall grooves, said last mentioned bottom closure member edge terminating in a generally right angularly related, integral flange providing a forwardly and downwardly directed lifting lip and a rearwardly and t rs upwardly curected support'ledge extending into 'said body ancl terminatingadjacent and behind said side wall front marginal edges in 'a continuous enlarged beaded formation extending the full length of the free edge of said support le'dge; an extruded abutmentstrip member having a main L-s'haped body and'of a lengthsufficient'to span the space betweenisaid side wall marginal edges fastened zatits -endstotsaid side wallmarginal edges with itsshort leg underlying and extending between said inwardly opening side wall grooves; an elongated front face panel dimensioned to extend the full height of said side wall grooves and substantially the full width between the bottom walls of said side Wall grooves slidingly cooperating with said side wall grooves with its lower end abuttingly engaging and supported by said short leg of said L-shaped abutment strip body, said front face panel having the area of at least one face provided with a bonded polyvinyl chloride resin coating of a desired color to form opposed exposable face areas of strikingly different appearance adapted upon reversal of said front face panel faces to provide a box of differing overall appearance; respective hinge pintles disposed in said top and bottom closure member pintle receiving openings and extending beyond the opposite ends of said respective pintle receiving openings to provide respective pintle connections for said top and bottom closure members; pintle apertures formed adjacent the opposite ends of said laterally spaced ribs formed on the back face of said body back wall to receive said respective pintle connections and hingedly mount said top and bottom closure members on said open ended body in position to be moved between closed and open position with respect to the opposite ends of said open ended body; and means for releasably retaining said bottom closure member in its closed position.

14. An improved mail or like box container comprising an assembly composed solely of an extruded onepiece, open ended aluminum body of generally rectangular channel shaped configuration in cross section having longitudinal panel receiving grooves formed in the inner opposed faces of the channel side walls adjacent their free edges and longitudinally continuous, laterally spaced hinge pintle flanges formed on the back face of the channel base wall and provided adjacent their upper and lower ends with oppositely aligned pairs of pintel openings; an extruded aluminum bottom closure member of generally planar form in cross section having a upstanding hinge flange extending part way along one longitudinal edge and formed with a longitudinally continuous hinge pintel receiving opening extending therethrough and also having along its opposite longitudinal edge a longitudinally continuous combined bumper and hand grip flange extending in cross T relation to said outer edge; an extruded aluminum top closure member of generally planar form in cross section having a depending hinge flange extending part way along one longitudinal edge and formed with a longitudinally continuous hinge pintel receiving opening extending therethrough and also having along its opposite longitudinal edge a longitudinally continuous hand grip flange; an extruded aluminum front panel support and bottom closure member abutment member fixedly mounted in spanwise relation between the bottom free edges of said channel side walls in vertical alignment beneath said grooves; a closure panel slidingly disposed in said panel receiving grooves and comprising a resin coated metal sheet dimensioned to extend from side-to-side into said grooves and from said front panel support and bottom closure member abutment member upwardly to the upper ends of said channel side walls to provide a front closure for the open channel side at said free edges of said channel side walls; said top and bottom closure member hinge flanges being disposed to extend between said hinge pintel flanges with their respective hinge pintel receiving openings aligned respectively with said upper and lower aligned pairs of References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Hughes June 10, 1930 Saunders Sept. 24, 1940 Slaughter Nov. 6, 1945 Root Jan. 22, 1946 Kritchman Feb. 24, 1948 Goldsmith Sept. 18, 1951 Whelan Sept. 13, 1955 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 2,873,062 February 10, 1959 George W Cornell It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 1, line 16, for "apperance" read appearance line 41, for "tem tinug read tempting column 2, line 4.2, after "size insert which line 45, after "drop" insert bottom column 3, line 55, for "veiw" read view column a, line 62, for "13" read 3 column '7, line 22, for "foresaid" read aforesaid.

Signed and sealed this 23rd day of June 1959.

ttest:

ROBERT C. WATSON KARL H, AXLINE Commissioner of Patents Attesting Officer

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