US452223A - House-door letter-box - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

B. G. HUDSON.

HOUSE DOOR LETTER BOX.

No. 452,223. Patented May 12,1891. Fig.1. l i

ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE EMMA O. HUDSON, OF SEATTLE, VASHINGTON.

HOUSE-DOOR LETTER-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 452,223, dated May 12, 1891.

Application filed October 22, 1890- Serial No. 368,945. (No model.)

To all w/wm it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EMMA O. HUDSON, of Seattle, in the county of King and State of lVashington, have invented a new and Improved Letter-Box, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in that class of letter-boxes which are attached to the interior of the doors of buildings to receive the mail for the inmates, and also to an improved door-plate and bell to be used in connection with the letter-box. Then letter-boxes are attached to the outside of doors they are unsightly objects, and are likely to be robbed of their contents; and the object of my invention is to attach a letter-box to the interior of the door so that it cannot be easily reached; to provide a swinging doorplate for closing the entrance to the letterbox, so that the entrance will not be noticeable, and also to provide an electric bell which will connect with the door-plate, so that when it is opened to introducematter into the box the bell will be sounded.

A further object of my invention is to provide means for preventing the abstraction of the mail-matter from the box through the e11- trance to the same.

With these ends in view my invention consists in certain features of construction and combinations of parts, which will be hereinafter fully described, and then pointed out in theclaims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a broken front elevation of a door, showing the door-plate which is used in connection with the letter-box. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1, through the door-plate and letter-box; and Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2, showing the electric bell and the connection between the bell and the doorplate.

The letter-box A is of the usual construction, and may be made of any size and shape, the box having on its front side a suitable door A which is provided with a lock and key, and having an inclined opening a through its back side and near the upper end, through which the mail-matter is introduced. The box is firmly attached to the inside of the door B, and the door has an upwardly-inclined opening Z), which is made to align with the opening a of the box, so that mail-matter may be introduced through the openings 1) and a into the box A.

The letter-box has a rcvoluble shaft 0, mounted transversely therein immediately below the opening a, said shaft having blades 0, arranged radially thereon, there being three blades shown in the drawings, although any convenient number may be used, and it will thus be seen that when a letter or other article is inserted in the box it will drop upon one of the blades, thus turning the shaft C, so that it may pass the blades to the bottom of the box; but after it has been inserted the shaft and blades will prevent it from being abstracted through the openings at and b.

On the top of the box is an electric bell D of the usual construction, the bell having the ordinary gong, the magnets E, and the armature F, which is counteracted by a spring and provided with a hammer G in the usual manner. The construction of the bell is not material, as it forms no part of my invention, and any electric bell maybe used, if desired.

On the front of the door 13 is a door-plate J, which consists of two similar parts J and J the lower part J being fixed to the door immediatelybelow the openingh, and the upper part J being hinged to the lower part, so as to swing downwardly and close the opening to the door, the hingesj, by which it is hinged, being arranged on the inside of the plate, so as not to be noticeable from the outside. The lower part J is adapted to have the number of the building produced thereon, and the upper part may be used to display a name. A button K or other suitable fasteningis placed upon the door immediately above the upper part J of the plate, so as to hold the plate against the door.

I have shown a rectangular aperture I) through the door, and the upper part of the door-plate is adapted to cover the aperture; but it is obvious that the aperture may be made in any desired shape and that the doorplate maybe made to correspond with it. A sleeve L extends transversely through the door l3 immediately above the opening or aperture b, the sleeve having a shoulder L near its inner end, and a plunger M is slidably mounted in the sleeve, the plunger having a reduced end M which projects inwardly through the inner end of the sleeve, and which terminates in a metallic strip m, the ends of which are bent outward at right angles and notched, as best shown in Fig. 2. A spiral spring Z is introduced between the shoulder L of the sleeve L and the plunger M, so that the plunger is normally pressed outward.

On the inner end of the sleeve L is a ring N, which encircles the elongated end M of the plunger M, and which is insulated from the plunger and from the sleeve. The ring N is connected with one pole of a battery by the wire 0, the wire being attached to the ring in such a manner that when the plunger is pushed outward a notched end of the metallic strip no will come in contact with the wire, and the metallic strip is connected with one of the binding-posts H of the bell by a wire 0, so that when the strip m contacts with the wire 0 the circuit will pass through the strip and through the two wires to the bell. The wire 0 which connects with the opposite pole of the battery, is attached to the opposite binding-post H, and it will thus be seen that when the strip on contacts with the wire 0 the circuit will be closed through the bell, thus causing it to ring.

lVhen a letter or other mail-matter is inserted in the box, the button K is turned up and the upper part J of the plate turned down, so as to permit the mail-matter to be inserted through the opening Z), and when this is done the spring 1 forces the plunger M outward and brings the metallic strip m in contactwith the wire 0, thus closing the circuit through the bell and causing it to ring. This notifies the inmates of the house that mail-matter has been inserted in the box, and it is also an additional precaution against the box being tampered with, as in case the upper portion of the door-plate is turned down the bell is sure to ring, and it will continue to ring until the door-plate is turned back to its normal position, so as to open the circuit. The mail-matteris removed through the front side in the usual manner.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination, with a letter-box hav ing an opening and provided with a movable plate for closing said opening, of a plunger provided with a spring, pressing it outward into the path of the said plate, said plate normally closing the said opening and pressing the plunger inward against the action of its spring, and an electric bell having circuitwires, one of which is in electric connection with the plunger and the other insulated therefrom, but in the outward path of a part thereof, whereby when the plate is moved to uncover the opening the plunger will be thrown out to close the circuit and sound the bell until again pressed inward by the plate to break the circuit, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with a letter-box having an opening, a door-plate also having an opening and hinged plate for said opening, and a catch for holding the plate closed, of a plunger provided with a spring, pressing it outward and having a metal strip on its inner end, and an electric bell provided with circuitwires, one of which is electrically connected with said strip and the other one of which is in the outward path of the strip, whereby the circuit will be closed when the plate is swung outward to sound the bell continuously until the plate is again swung inward to break the circuit, substantially as set forth.

EMMA O. HUDSON.

Witnesses:

W. R. HUDSON, E. J. CATCHINGS.

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