US776630A - Mail-box. - Google Patents

Description

No. 776,630. PATENTBD DEC. 6, 1904.

L. D. WEST.

MAIL BOX.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 5, 1904.

N0 MODEL.

Witnesses Inventor l I w I I I J M Hctornegs Patented December 6, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

LYNCH D. WEST, OF MOLINE, KANSAS.

MAIL-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 776,630, dated December 6, 1904. Application filed May 5, 1904. $erial No. 206,556. (No model.)

To all whom, it natty concern.-

Be it known that I, LYNCH D. VVEsT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Molinc, in the county of Elk and State of Kansas, have invented a new and useful Mail-Box, of which the following is a specification.

Myinvention relates to mail-boxes designed especially for use in rural districts, and has for its objects to produce a comparatively simple inexpensive device of this character which may be readily opened and will automatically close and lock and one in which its contents will be fully exposed to view and thoroughly protected from the weather.

To these ends the invention comprises the novel features of construction and combination of parts more fully hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a mail-box embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal section through the same. Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a transverse section taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates an outer shell or casing comprising a pair of end members or heads 2, having inwardly-extending marginal flanges 3 and a body-wall4, composed, preferably, of sheet metal and cut away, as shown, to provide an enlarged front opening 5, there being attached in any suitable man ner to the rear portion of the body-wall a pair of perforated ears or lugs 6, oppositely disposed and adapted to receive suitable fastening devices by means of which the box is attached to a post or other support.

Disposed for rotation within the casing 1 is a hollow drum or receptacle 7, constituting the box proper and comprising a pair of circular disk-like end members or heads 8, centrally pivoted by bolts or otherwise to the end members 2 of the casing, and a bod y-wall 9, attached to and carried by the heads 8, said wall being composed partly of glass or other transparent ma terial, as at 10, and partly of sheet metal 11. The glass portion 10 of the drum has its ends seated in suitable semicircular grooves or seats 12, provided in the end members, which latter are also provided with inwardly-extending flanges 13, to which the adjacent ends of the sheetmetal portion 11 of the drum are riveted, and with segmental slots or guides 14, designed to receive guide members or pins 15, fixed to and projecting inward from the casing-heads 2, whereby the drum will be guided and limited in its rotation, while the longitudinal edges of the glass 10 are seated in grooves formed for the purpose, respectively, upon the adjacent edge of the sheet-metal portion 11 and on a member or binding 16, attached at its ends in some suitable manner to the heads 8.

The receptacle 7 is provided with an enlarged opening or mouth 17, extending throughout its entire length and of a width substantially coincident with the width of the opening 5, the end edges of which latter curve upward to and terminate in a letter-receiving opening 18, attention being directed to the fact that the drum 7 is normally turned on its pivot to closed position with the openings 5 and 17 out of register and the inlet-opening 18 normally closed by means of weights 19, provided on the end members 8 by thickening or enlarging the latter at suitable points during the course of construction. When the drum is in normal position, the glass portion 10 will lie in front of the opening 5 of the casing, whereby the contents of the box will be effectually exposed to view, and in order that the letters or other objects may occupy the best position for observation I provide along the normally lower portion of the wall of the drum a groove or depression 20, which receives the edges of the letters when deposited in the box and prevents them from lying flat within the latter. Thus it is apparent that the contents of the box will be fully exposed to view and may be observed at any considerable distance from the box, thereby materially facilitating the operation of collecting the mail.

Provided upon the inner face of the head 2, preferably at the right-hand end of the casing, is a suitable lock including a sliding springactuated bolt 21, adapted for operation by a suitable key to be inserted through a keyhole 22 and designed for engagement with a keeper 23, provided upon the outer face of the adjacent head 8 of the drum, said keeper preferably consisting of a pair of spaced lugs which IOO receive the bolt between them. When the drum swings to closed position through the medium of the weights 19, the bolt 21 will automatically engage with the keeper for locking the drum in closed position, attention being directed to the fact, however, that the bolt will have suflicient play laterally between the lugs to permit of the drum being suitably oscillated for introducing mail-matter through the opening 18, but insufficient to permit tampering of the contents of the box.

In order that the drum may be conveniently manipulated for depositing mail and for opening the box to remove its contents, I provide a suitable handpiece 24, preferably cast or molded directly onto the glass 10 or other material composing the drum and in the form of a series of concentric grooves, as shown, to receive the ends of the operators fingers.

From the foregoing it is apparent that I produce a simple device admirably adapted for the attainment of the ends in view, it being understood that minor changes in the details herein set forth may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is 1. In a device of the class described, the combination with a casing including end members, of a drum pivoted for rotation within the casing and also including end members, a guideway provided in an end member of one of the parts, and a guide member carried by the adjacent end member of the other part and in engagement with the guideway.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination with a casing including end members, of a drum pivoted for rotation within the casing and having end members, one of the end members of the drum being provided with a guide-slot, and a fixed guide member carried by the adjacent end member of the casing and engaging said slot.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination with a casing, of a drum pivoted for rotation therein, said drum being adapted to move to open or closed position, a pair of spaced lugs provided on one end of the drum, and a spring-actuated locking member carried by the adjacent end of the casing and adapted to engage between the lugs for locking the drum against rotation.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

LYNCH D. WEST.

Witnesses:

H. E. TURNER, R. WV. ELSTUN.

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