US667092A - Self-locking box. - Google Patents

Description

(Application led Sept. 22, 1900.)

no mmm.)l

NITE STATES ATENT Trios,

SELF-LOCKING BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.. 667,092, dated January 29, 1901.

Application led September 22. 1900. Serial No. 30,763. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN A. JEWELL, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Washington, District of Columbia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Self-Locking Boxes, of which the following isl a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in self-locking boxes especially designed for use by householders and others for the reception of articles of household use-such as jars of milk, packages, and other thin gs--and for the safe keeping of articles deposited in the box until such time as it may be convenient to remove them, thereby avoiding the annoyance and inconvenience of going to the door to receive a package or other article from a tradesman, milkman, postman, or other person and rendering it unnecessary for the person leaving the package towait until the same is received;

My invention consists in the peculiar construction and combination of devices hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a vertical sectional view of a self-locking box embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view of thesame.

The box A is preferably of rectangular form and may be of any suitable size and constructed of any suitable material. It comprises the vertical sides B, the top C, and the bottom D. The front side E is hinged at its upper portion, as at F, is adapted to open outwardly and swing upwardly, and has onits inner side, near its lower edge, an inwardlyprojecting locking-bolt G, which is provided with the shoulder g. The rear side of the box is preferably open, as at I-I.

A false bottom I is located in the box, is hinged or pivoted, as at K, and is acted upon by a spring L, which normally raises the outer or front end of the false bottom, as shown in full lines in Fig. 1 of the drawings, and keeps the same in contact with the stops M, formed at the front corners of the box. The said false bottom is provided with a locking-catch N, which when the false bottom is depressed to the horizontal position (indicated by dotted lines in Fig. l of the drawings) by the weight of a parcel, a jar of milk, or other object, the door being closed, engages the shoulder of the locking-bolt and securely locks the door or front side of the box. When the parcel or other object is removed from the box through the open side thereof, the spring restores the false bottom to its normal position to disengage the catch N from the shoulder of the locking-bolt on the door or hinged front side of the box.

Any suitable form of spring may be employed, or the false bottom may be pivoted near its central portion and provided at its inner end with a weight in lieu of a spring.

Other modifications may be made Without departing from the spirit of my invention, andv I donot desire to limit myself to the precise construction and combination of devices herein shown and described.

In the operation of my invention the box is secured to a door-jamb in such manner that the door when closed will close the rear or inner open end I-I of the box. When a parcel or other article is placed in the box, the door E of the box will close by its own weight, and the weight of the parcel or other article on the false bottom will depress the latter, thereby engaging its catch with the locking-bolt of the door, as previously described, thereby securely locking the door of the box and preventing the article therein from being stolen. When the house-door is opened, the article may be removed from the box through the open inner or rear side thereof as will be readily understood. Thereupon the false bottom will be immediately raised by the spring, the door E unlocked, and the box will be then ready for the reception of another parcel or article.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A box of the character described, having its front side hinged at its upper side, forming a door, adapted to open upwardly and swing outwardly, said door having a projecting locking-bolt on its inner side provided with a shoulder; and a pivoted false bottom, normally raised at its front end and provided with a locking-catch, which when the false bottom is'depressed and the door closed, en-

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gages the shoulder of the locking-bolt and thereby locks the door on its inner side, substantially as described.

2. A box of the character described, having its front side hinged at its upper side, forming a door, adapted to open upwardly and swing outwardly, said door having a projecting locking-bolt on its inner side, provided with a shoulder, a pivored false bottom, a spring normally raising the outer end thereot', and a locking-catch ou said false bottom, which when said false bottom is depressed, as by the weight of an object placed upon it, engages the shoulder of the locking-bolt and thereby locks the door, the end of said box, opposite said door, being open, and said box being adapted to be secured to one side of a door-frame, so that the open end thereof will be closed by the door in the said frame, substantially as described.

3. A box of the character described, having a hinged door at one end, closed by gravity and provided on its inner side with a lockingeatch, and a spring-pressed pivoted false bottom, provided with a locking-catch, adapted, when said false bottom is depressed, as by the weight of an object thereon, to engage the catch on the door and thereby automatically lock the latter, substantially as described.

4. A box ot' the character described, comprising a door, holding means carried by said door, a depressible plate normally raised adjacentlto said holding meansand means carried by said plate, cooperating with said holding means whereby when said plate is depressed and said door closed the latter will be locked.

5. A box of the character described, comprising a hinged door adapted to swing ontwardly, holding means carried by said door, a pivoted plate normally raised adjacent to said holding meansand means carried by said plate cooperating With said holding means whereby when said plate is depressed and said door closed the latter will be locked.

In testimony whereof I have set my hand, this 22d day of September,A. D. 1900, in the presence of two attesting witnesses.

JOHN A. JILWVELL.

Witnesses:

E. J. To'r'rEN, CHARLES V. GRUNWELL.

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