US2960265A

US2960265A - Combined multi-unit mail box and magazine receptacle

Info

Publication number: US2960265A
Application number: US779395A
Authority: US
Inventors: Simon Sidney
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1958-12-10
Filing date: 1958-12-10
Publication date: 1960-11-15
Anticipated expiration: 1977-11-15

Description

Nov. 15, 1960 slMoN 2,960,265

COMBINED MULTI-UNIT MAIL. BOX AND MAGAZINE RECEPTACLE Filed Dec. 10, 1958 IN V EN TOR.

.SMJA/Ey 5/440 2,960,265 Patented Nov. l5, i960 ice CONIBINED MULTLUNIT MAIL BOX AND MAGAZINE RECEPTACLE Sidney Simon, 8324 Graham 'Ave., Los Angeles 1, Calif. Filed Dec. 10, 1958, Ser. No. 779,395

1 Claim. (Cl. 232-25) This invention relates to an improved multi-unit mail box having in combination therewith a separate open receptacle particularly adapted to have deposited therein by a mailman articles too large or bulky to be placed in individual mail boxes or compartments.

Inconvenience and annoyance has frequently resulted in the past by reason of wrapped periodicals or the rel atively large and bulky items being inserted in individual mail boxes making it extremely inconvenient and difiicult to extricate them due to the small size and capacity of the individual boxes. This has occurred in instances where the mailman has had no other convenient place to deposit such articles. Such articles might be placed to a limited extent on top of the mail box where that is possible but with modern flush mounted types of mail boxes Where theyare recessed into a wall, even that place of deposit is not available to the mailman. Without a suitable place of deposit of such articles they may be simply dropped on the floor and may be thrown out by maintenance personnel or otherwise lost and not delivered to the addressee.

It is an object of this invention to overcome the foregoing described deficiencies and inconveniences and to provide a combined multi-unit mail box and receptacle for relatively large and bulky articles offering the maximum convenience of deposit of incoming mail to the mailman and to box owners as well.

Another object of the invention is to provide a combined multi-unit mail box and magazine receptacle wherein individual locked boxes are provided having means for access to all of the boxes to the mailman and combined therewith a receptacle immediately below the individual boxes positioned to accommodate the deposit of larger and more bulky items which cannot be conveniently deposited in individual boxes.

Another object of the invention is to provide a multiunit mail box as in the foregoing object having a peripheral flange adapting it for flush mounting, having an intermediate transverse member forming a floor for individual locked boxes which are accessible to a mailman and having a front panel at the bottom spaced below the floor of the individual boxes to provide an open receptacle directly below the boxes adapted to receive the deposit of larger articles such as magazines.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description and annexed drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a front view of a preferred form of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of the upper part of the box of Fig. 2 with the doors in open position.

Referring now more particularly to the various figures of the drawings, numeral designates generally the multi-unit mail box of the invention. The box is of the type adapted to be flush mounted in a recess in a wall 11 as may be seen in Fig. 2. The box has a top wall 12,

a back wall 13 and a bottom wall 14. Around the front of the box is a peripheral flange as indicated at 16. The box may be of sheet metal construction using sheet metal of suitable gauge and its parts may be fabricated by any suitable means, such as by welding or riveting. The top, bottom and sides of the box have outwardly extending short flanges as shown at 18 in Fig. 2 and the peripheral flange 16 which flush mounts the box in the recess in the wall is suitably attached to the flanges 18 as for example by welding. The figures shown in the drawings are made slightly diagrammatic as will be understood by those skilled in the art. The outer edges of the peripheral flange 16 may have a slight inward turn or curl if desired forming a rib at the edge of the flange.

At an intermediate point between the top and bottom of the box is a transverse member 20 which forms a floor for a group of individual compartments or mail boxes. The member 20 at the front and back has down wardly turned flanges as shown and it is secured to the back wall 13 by suitable means and at the front it is secured to a transverse rib or member 22 which extends between the sidewalls of the box and is flush with the peripheral flange 16. The member 22 is relatively narrow and has an inturned flange portion 23 at the top of an opening 24 in the front of the box.

Numeral 26 designates a plurality of vertical partitions within the box which upstand from the floor member 20 and provide individual compartments or mail boxes. Each of the individual boxes has its own door provided with a lock as designated by way of example at 27. All of these doors are hinged on a hinge pin 28 which extends transversely across the front of the multiunit box at a point spaced intermediate the top and transverse member 22. The hinge pin 28 is mounted in suitable openings formed at the sides of the box in the sidewalls thereof. Each of the doors 27 has tabs as indicated at 30 at the upper part which are wrapped around the hinge pin 28 to form the hinge for the door which swings outwardlyto open.

Numeral 33 designates a larger door above the individual mail boxes which is also hinged to the hinge pin 28, the hinge being a piano type hinge. The door 33 closes the front of the box above the individual compartments or boxes 27 and provides access to all of them by way of the spaces between the upper part of the partitions 26. The multi-unit mail box is of the type adapted for use for example in an apartment building, each tenant having one of the individual boxes and having the key therefor and the mailman having the key for and having access to the door 33. The door 33 is provided with a lock 34, the lock member of which 35 co operates with an opening in the top .12 of the multi-unit box as may be seen in Fig. 2.

The door 33 opens outwardly about the hinge pin 28 as may be seen in Fig. 3 and the amount of its opening is limited by a pair of brackets one at each side of the door. One of these brackets may be seen at 36 in Fig. 2 having a portion 37 attached to the door 33 by suitable means and having a shoulder or car portion 33 below the hinge pin 28 which cooperates with a stop member 45 attached to a sidewall of the box. As can be seen in Fig. 3 when the door 33 is opened to a predetermined angle further opening is stopped by engagement of the shoulder 38 with the stops or pins 40. The brackets 36 with shoulders 38 and the stop members 40 provide a strong and durable means for holding the common door 33 in the position shown in Fig. 3 wherein the mailman can conveniently see into the mail box and at the same time can see the names on the individual doors 27. At the same time, access can be readily had to the receptacle at the bottom of the box.

Numeral -42 designates a front panel which extends across the bottom of the front of the box as may be seen in Figs. 1 and 2. The panel 42 may be held in position byway of having its end and bottom edges inserted between the peripheral flange 16 and the flanges 18 and may be welded or otherwise secured thereto. The panel has suitable openings as shown at 43 forming a pleasing artistic design and appearance. The panel 42 has an inwardly extending flange 45 atthe top having a downwardly turned portion as shown this flange being adjacent the opening 24 formed between the panel 42 and the transverse member 22.

In the use of the multi-unit mail box and combined receptacle as explained above individual tenants have access to their individual boxes or compartments 2,7 and the mailman having access to door 33 can deposit mail in each of the individual boxes. The panel 42 at the bottom of the box provides a convenient receptacle facilitating the leaving and depositing bythe mailman of relatively large or bulky articles or objects which could not be conveniently deposited in individual boxes. The arrangement provides maximum convenience since the magazine receptacle is immediately below the individual boxes minimizing the eifort required in delivering.

The foregoing disclosure is representative of a preferred form of the invention and is to be interpreted in an illustrative rather than a limiting sense. It is to be understood that various modifications and alternatives may occur to and be adopted by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention which is to be accorded the full breadth of the claim appended hereto.

What is claimed is:

A unitary multi-unit mail box having a peripheral front boundary flange adapting it for flush mounting in a wall or the like, a plurality of vertical spaced partitions in said box extending downwardly from the top thereof, means defining a bottom for each individual compartment for-med by said partitions, a door for each of the individual compartments, a transverse hinge pin extending across the front of said box below the top thereof having all of said doors for the individual compartments hinged thereto, a common door hinged to said transverse pin adapted to close the front of said box above said individual compartments whereby access may be had to all of said individual compartments byopening said common door, a pair of stop brackets on the inside of said common door, and stop pins on inner side walls of the said box, said stop brackets having shoulders engageable with the stop pins to hold the said common door in an open position slanted upwardly from the horizontal in a position allowing easy visibility of the doors of the individual compartments, said box further defining a receptacle within said box adjacent said compartments having a forwardly open access opening spaced from said individual compartments, a panel extending across a front portion of the box within said peripheral flange and across the lower portion of said receptacle, the upper edge of said panel defining the lower'edge of said access opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Keil May 1, 1934