Signal flag for use on rural mail boxes

A Signal Flag for use on Rural Mail Boxes having means for securing said flag to a panel, and securing said panel to the mail box adjacent the bottom of the door of the box, the means for mounting the flag to the panel being a pivot pin, and the signal flag being of a novel coutour, and conformed to present an imbalance at said pivot point, and to present a tab adapted to contact the door of the box, when in one position, and to move by gravity to an extended position, there being another tab on the other end of the flag to contact the bottom of the box when in extended position.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
A signal flag to be mounted on the common rural mail boxes, said boxes 
having a hinged door at one end. The flag is pivoted on a bearing plate 
which is secured to the mail box by means of a pressure sensitive 
adhesive. The conformation of the flag is such that it will be contacted 
by mail box door when the box is opened, and will rotate forwardly with 
the door until the enlarged portion of the flag completes the rotation of 
the flag to the position indicated in FIG. 2 denoting the mail has been 
delivered. The signal will remain in this position after the door of the 
mail box is closed and until manually reset indicating that mail has been 
picked up. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Outdoor mail boxes in rural areas are often subjected to much abuse, 
exposed to weather, mauled and distorted. Such abuse often destroys the 
signal flag now in use on the box. This invention intends to provide a 
signal flag that may be readily attached to any existing rural mail box, 
and requires no drilling of holes or mounting of brackets, the mounting 
plate employed, being simple to handle and requiring no express expertise 
in joining same to the outside wall of the mail box. 
A preliminary search was made of the patent records and the only reference 
believed pertinent was Jones, 932,287 issued Aug. 24, 1909, which 
discloses a pivotal flag, actuated by the door of the box and a depressed 
portion of the flag will contact the box, and having wings which also 
contact the box. This is, of course, easily broken or mutilated by abuse 
and readily rendered inoperative. It is an object of this invention to 
provide a signal for rural mail boxes that is easily mounted on a box and 
that will remain operable even after rough usage.

A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
In the drawings, the numeral 1 designates a mail box, of the type now in 
common use, having the usual hinged door 2 and latch 3. A signal flag, 
which may be painted a bright red on the outer surface, has a novel 
conformation wherein the longitudinal body is enlarged at one end, and the 
other end is reduced and curved at a right angle, and then sharply bent 
again at a right angle to form a tab 5. A mounting 6 consisting of a flat 
strip of rigid material, such as a hardened plastic, has a pin 7 mounted 
through the center thereof and through the body member of the flag 4 at a 
point approximately midway between the longitudinal ends of said flag and 
a pressure sensitive adhesive 8 is mounted on the inside surface of said 
mounted plate. 
In use the mounting plate is secured to the box adjacent the bottom of the 
door 2 with the tab 4 extending across the outside surface of the door 
when the door is in closed position. When the door is opened, as to 
receive mail, the door will drop to the position shown in FIG. 2, and the 
enlarged end of the flag will carry it around until the tab 5 abuts the 
bottom of the mail box, where the flag will extend beyond the door of the 
mail box and indicate to those at a distance from the box that mail has 
been delivered. When the mail is picked up, and the mail box door again 
closed, the user may manually rotate the flag backwardly until the tab 5 
again contacts the door 2 where it will remain until the box is again 
opened.