US1156914A - Letter-box. - Google Patents

Description

W. C. MARTINEAU.

LETTER BOX.-

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 29,191]- 1,156,914. I Patented Oct. 19, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

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w. c. MARTINEAU.

LETTER BOX.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 29, I 9 I l Patented Oct. 19, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- 'lection of mail matter.

TlTTE WILL AM 0.. ivmnrnvnnu, or ALBANY, NEW YORK.

LETTER-BOX.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Got. 1c, 1915;

Application filed March 29, 1911. Serial No. 617,691.

To all whom it may concern. 7 Be it known that 1, WILLIAM 'riNnAU, a citizen of the'United States, and

a resident of the city and county of Albany,

New York, have invented certain new and useful. Improvements in Letter Boxes, of

which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to boxes such as are secured to posts or buildings in streets or other public places for the depositand col- It is intended to produce a box for this or like purposes,

which shall be of simple constructionydura ble, easily operated both in its receiving'and discharging" functions, protected from weather, proof against pilfering' or other tampering, and which shall automatically indicate the time of next collection. F111. ther objects of the invention will appear from this specification and be pointed out in the claim. i

The drawings show a preferred form off;

my device, Figure 1 being 'a front elevation thereof, partly broken away; Figs. :2 and 3 vertical sections through a' planedrawn just within the case at the left end of Fig. 1 showing differentpositions ofthe moving parts,'the-end wall of the box being removed for this purpose.

11 designates the casing of my box, of V which 12 is a front wall having at its upper end an incurved portion 13; 14, 15, end walls; 16, a bottom wall; 17, a rear wall; 18, an inturned flange or shoulder; and 19, a head, consisting of an arc-shaped portion 20 and a hood 21; an opening or mouth 22 being provided between the edge 23 of the hood 21 and the curved portion 13 of the.

front wall. Hinged at 24 to the lower edge of the short front wall 12 is a drop door 25 having at each of its ends inwardly project ing arc-shaped wings 26, and at its lower edge an inwardly projecting bead 27, the free faces28 and 29 of whichare curved for a purpose to be hereafter described. Near the lower edge of the door 25 is a staple 30 carrying a bent hasp 31 engageable with a staple 32 on the bottom wall 16 of the casing,

and securable by a padlock 33. On this bottom wall of the casing are also two for wardly projecting hooks 34, adjacentthe ends of the casing. l/Vithin the casing 11 is a curved plate 35 secured atits upper edge to the rear wall 17 approximately mid-;

way of its height and at its lower edge to the front edge of the bottom wall 16, and

C. MAR- substantially filling the space between the wings 26 of the door 25. Within the head portion 19 ofthe casing 11 is a substantially cyllndric, sheet'metal roll 36 rotatable ontrunnio-ns 37 which pass through the sides of'the casing and are provided exterior of the casing-with lever handles 38, having at the lower portion 43 being of somewhat"reduced diameter, forming two shoulders 44,

45. Mounted on trunnions. 46 in the "side walls-14 and 15 of thecasing is a roller 47, the periphery ofwhich is approximately in contact with the curved portion 13 of the front wall 12, the roller being providedat their ends weighted knobs 39. Two longitu dinal partitions 40 in the roll 36 inclose'av spaceor'slot open at both sides so as, to provide a free passage through the roll.

one of'its' ends with a pinion-48. 'On "the 1 face of the roller isa plurality of legends indicating the hours at which'mail is col- I lected, which are successively visible through a preferably glazed opening 49 in the wall 12 of the casing. On the door25 is-abracket 50, on which is pivoted a weighted pawl 51 engaging with the teeth of the pinion 48.

A bracket 52 on the front wall12 also car ries a pawl 53 engageable with these teeth.

The operation of this preferred form of my device shown and described is as follows: The parts normally are in the position shown in Fig. 1, the door 25 being closed and locked, and the heavy .knobs 39 acting to hold the roll 36 with the-slot or passage between the partitions 40 substantially hori zontal and its contracted mouth 41 forward and projected from the weather by the hood 21. The roll is held in this position by the i impingement of the shoulder 44 onthe inner 1 edge of the portion 13 of the front'wall 12. A letter or the like is deposited in the box by slipping itinto the passage in the roll 36 and turning the roll by a handle 38 to the position shown in Fig. 3, when the letter drops on the plate 35. j The stop 45, striking against the edge of the part 13, prevents the rotationof the roll 36 beyond its dunap- V v ing position, and the weight of the knobs 39 acts to return it to normal position as soon as they are released by the depositor. By reason of the uniformly contracted mouth 41 of the slot, any paper or packet that can be forced thereinto will drop freely therefrom into the body of the box. l/Vhen the mail collector desires to empty the box, he removes the padlock 33, and may hang his bag, not shown, by means of rings usually provided thereon, on the hooks 34, so that one side of the mouth of the bag is just under the front lower edge of the box. He then opens the door 25, when all the articles in the box, resting on the inclined plate 35, drop of their own weight into the. bag, so that the collector is not obliged to insert his hand intothe box. The curved lower edge 28 of the bead 27 fits snugly against the plate to prevent a letter slipping therebetween, while its angular upper edge 29 prevents the holding of a letter thereon and insures its dropping into the bag. The head itself has a double function; to stiffen'the lower edge of the door, and to prevent the introduction of a jimmy or other tool for prying open a corner of the door. The Wings 26 on the door assist in both these functions, and also serve to prevent any letters from dropping outside the bag. When the door 25 is opened,the pawl 51 engages with the tooth of the ratchet pinion 48 next below the tooth last engaged, so that the closing of the door acts to turn the roller 47 one step,

thereby showing through the opening 49 the hour of the next collection. The other pawl 51 serves to prevent an accidental retrograde movement of the roller.

It will be understood that many mechanical changes may be made in my device without departing from my invention. Also that certain of its features may be employed Without certain others. Thus, the depositing roll; the time indicating roller; the means, as plate 35, for preventing the mail matter from lodging on the bottom of the box; the bag holding hooks; and the antitampering devices on the door; act each independently of the others, and each may therefore be used in a box lacking some or all of the others.

I do not therefore desire to be limited as to the scope of my invention except as set forth in the subjoined claim.

What I claim is:

A mail box including a body portion; a head comprising an arc-shaped portion and a 'hood; an approximately cylindric roll rotatably mounted in said head, a substantial segment of said roll being of a diameter to fit within said arc-shaped portion and asecond segment thereof being of somewhat reduced diameter, whereby two longitudinal shoulders are formed in said roll; and a stop for alternately engaging each of said shoulders.

WILLIAM G. MARTINEAU. Witnesses: 4

GEO. L. COOPER, ELIZABETH C. BAKEMAN.

7 Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

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