US461117A - House-door letter-box - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

J. P. LINDSAY. EoUsE nooE LETTER B0X.

110.461,11?. Patented Oct. 18,1891.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

J Ol-IN P. LNDSAY, OF TEST DERBY, VERWONT.

HOUSE-DOOR LETTER-BOX.

SECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 461,117', dated October 13, 1891.

. Application filed March 4, 189]..

T0 all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN P. LINDSAY, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at West Derby, in the county of Orleans and State of Vermont, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Self-Closing Letter-Receivers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in self-closing letter-receivers; and it has for its object to provide a neatand efficient device for receiving letters, parcels, or other mailmatter which automatically closes to prevent tampering with such matter or peculations by eviledisposed persons; and a further object is to provide means for conveying water and dust which may accumulate on the receiving bed or plate to the outside ot the door.

With these ends in view my invention consists of an incised face-plate provided with a perforated receiving plate or bed and having a large receiving-opening above the bed and a small conduit-opening below said receiving-bed. Projecting outwardly from the upper portion of the receiving-opening and extending downward in front of said opening, substantially to the plane of the upper end ot' the receiving bed or plate, is a curved hood, which has its lower end chambered, in which is pivoted an automatic angular closing-plate arranged to lit over the receiving bed or plate and conduit and provided with a Weighted short end opening in the chamber formed by the hood, whereby the closing-plate may be readily raised to introduce mail-matter in the opening and closed again by gravity.

To enable others to more readily understand my invention, I have illustrated the same in the accompanying' drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved device arranged for operation on a door. Fig. 2 isavertical sectional view taken on the line x of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail view of the angular closing-plate, and Fig. 4 is a detail view of the perforated receiving bed or plate.

Serial No. 383,745. (No model.)

Referring to the drawings, in which like letters of reference denote corresponding parts in all the gures of the drawings, A designates the face-plate, which is attached to a door by means of screws a or othersuitable means, which faceplate can be ornamented so as to present an attractive and neat appearance. The face-plate is provided with two apertures or openings B C, thelarge opening B providing for the passage of letters and parcels to the inside of the door, and the small opening C serves as a conduit to conduct water, dust, thc., to the outside. The opening and conduit are of suitable proportions to the size of the face-plate and the door to which the appliance is secured, and the upper end D of the face-plate is bent inwardly at an obtuse angle to form the lower side of the conduit C, whereby water and dirt which drop into the conduit into the receiving-bed or accumulate in any other inanner therein are conducted to the outside and prevented from issuing from the opening B. The large opening B extends from the re'- ceiving-bed E almost to the upper end of the face-plate, but a small iiange is provided by which said face-plate is secured to a door.

The receiving plate or bed E may be cast of one piece and bent at an obtuse angle to conform to the angle D ofthe face-plate, or it may beconstructed of two pieces, as preferred; but in either case the receiving bed or plate is provid ed with suitable perforations e, which open into the conduit C, and the face-plate may be corrugated and the perforations extend in the grooves, as shown in Fig. 4. The receiving bed or plate extends inwardly asufticient distance to catch any water or dirt which maybe driven upon it, and such accumulated water or dirt is discharged directly upon the base D of the conduit through the perforations e, from where the saine is then conveyed to the outside of the door. The lower end e of the receiving plate or bed is bent or arranged in a vertical position, parallel to the faceplate and in close juxtaposition thereto, and it is provided with a lug or projection on its lower end, which may be used or adapted to sustain a door-plate or a notice of the collection and delivery of the mail. Arranged in the upper end of the larger aperture B is a hood F, which curves out- IOO wardlyand downwardly in front of the opening B, and it has the straight vertical sides. The lower free end of this hood is provided with a vertical straight portion G, which may be formed with the same piece of metal as the hood itself, or it may be constructed separately and secured to the hood by any suitable means. The lower vertical end G of the hood is provided with a horizontal strip or iange g, which projects inside of the hood, and thus forms a cavity H on the inside of the hood, which has its lower edge substantially in the same horizontal plane as the upper end ot the receiving-plate. Pivoted within the cavity H of the hood is the angular closing wardly-extending iianges t', on either side thereof, to more ettectually protect the receiving and face plates, and it thus closes the upper end of the conduit and provides an additional precaution against the water or dirt entering the house. The upper end of the closing-plate I is enlarged and weighted and is arranged to operate within the cavity H, so that it will assist in raising the plate to permit access to the aperture B for the reception ot' letters and other mail-matter. By this peculiar and novel arrangement of the hood, the chamber, and the closing-plate the letters and parcels which have been placed in the house cannot be removed from the outside, as

the strip g is close to and substantially in the same plane as the top of the receiving-plate, and the closing-plate is normally closed over said receiving-plate by gravity, and thus prevents water and'dust from entering the house and at the same time prevents the letters or parcels in the house from being extracted by a person on the outside.

When it is desired to pass a letter or parcel through the door, it is simply necessary to elevate the` closing-plate and drop the letter or parcel therein, and when the pressure against the plate is removed it resumes its position by gravity.

Although I prefer to use myimproved device.

by securing it to the door of an office or dwelling, I also desire to use the same in connection with the ordinary letter-boxes which are commonly used for the reception of mail.

I am aware that changes in the form and proportion of parts and in details of construction may be used without departing from the spirit or sacrificing the advantages of my invention, and I therefore reserve the right to make such changes as fall within the scope of my invention.

I-Iavin g thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

1. A self-closing letter-receiver comprising the face-plate, the receiving-opening, the conduit, the perforated receiving-bed arranged above the conduit, a hood, and the closingplate, substantially as described.

2. In a self-closing letter-receiver, the faceplate, a conduit, a receiving-opening, the hood projecting outward and downward over said opening and having a cavity in its lower inner side, and a closing-plate pivoted in said cavity and depending over the conduit and the receiving-opening to close the same, substantially as described.

3. In a self-closing letter-receiver, a conduit, a receiving-plate above said conduit, a hood provided with a cavity and projecting downwardly over the receiving-plate, and an angular closing-plate having its larger weighted end pivoted in said cavity and its lower end depending over the rear end of the receiving-plate and conduit and provided with anges t" to inclose the letter, substantially as described.

4. In a self-closing letter-receiver, a receivingaperture,'a hood above said aperture, a receiving-bed, a conduit, and an angular closing-plate having one end pivoted in said hood and its other end shaped to cover the rear end of said conduit, substantially as described.

5. In a self-closing letter-receiver, a conduit, and a receiving bed or plate arranged above the conduit and perforated to deposit water and dirt into said conduit, substantially as described.

6. In a self-closing letter-receiver, the combination of a face-plate provided with the receiving-aperture,-the hood having the cavity in its lower end, the weighted closing plate pivoted in said cavity and adapted to close the receiving-aperture, the perforated receiving bed or plate arranged relatively to the face-plate to form a conduit below said receiving-plate for conveyingv water and 'dirt to the outside, substantially as described.

7. In aself-closing letter-receiver, the faceplate having an inclined portion, the hood, a closing-plate, and the receiving-bed arranged above the inclined portion of the face-plate t0 form a conduit, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN P. LINDSAY.

Witnesses.

GEORGE E. HINMAN, ADELAIDE H. LINDSAY.

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