Mailbox decorative attachment

A mailbox decorative attachment being a flat sheet which is cut out to form a pictorial or silouetted representation and which is adhered to the curved outer surface of the mailbox and in which a portion of the pictorial representation projects outside, and may be under, above or around the mailbox configuration to form a substantial three-dimensional part of the picture.

The present invention relates to a method of making and applying a 
decorative attachment to a mailbox, as well as the resulting product. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Previously, stand-alone mailboxes placed adjacent to a road for mail 
delivery were painted or covered on both sides of the mailbox with a 
picture. The picture appeared on the flat side surfaces facing the road. 
Consequently, the painted pictures, which may be in the form of birds, 
dogs, or the like, were flat and did not project depth. 
In order to produce a mailbox pictorial cover having depth it is known from 
the present applicant to have a mailbox with an outer cover of a 
weatherproof material provided with a pictorial background and, for 
example, an animal or a fish having a portion such as a head or tail 
projecting from the outer surface of the mailbox. This decorative mailbox 
is expensive to fabricate since the mailbox and decorative attachment is 
purchased as a single unit. On the other hand, in order to overcome the 
cost of such a mailbox and to provide means whereby the ordinary homeowner 
could convert his or her plain mailbox to a decorative mailbox, the 
present method has been devised to die cut a single sheet of slightly 
flexible material having two substantially identical parts and provided 
with a common connecting point so that the flexible material having 
pictorial material thereon can be applied to a standard mailbox much less 
expensively than the prior art construction, and achieve substantially the 
same look as the previously known construction. Furthermore all 
constructions and designs comply with current postal regulations. 
It appears that residents who live on a rural mail route may have a 
vocation, or an avocation, and would like a dynamic representation of 
their interests depicted on their mailbox inexpensively. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of fabricating 
a decorative attachment for a mailbox from a single sheet of slightly 
flexible material, which is die cut, and having two similiar but slightly 
different parts which are connected by a common connecting point. The die 
cut sheet is so formed that parts of the sheet are applied to the opposite 
sides of a mailbox while the other parts which are mirror images of each 
other and adjacent to the connecting point project away from the mailbox. 
Consequently, the projecting parts from the mailbox give the appearance of 
depth, and are more or less three-dimensional. 
A further object of the present invention is to provide a die cut flexible 
sheet for applying to a standard mailbox having an adhesive on opposite 
inside surfaces of the sheet for securing the sheet to the mailbox with 
drawings on the outer surfaces representing either an animate or inanimate 
object, and where parts of the flexible sheet with the pictorial 
representations thereon project outside of the mailbox to form a 
character. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide a mailbox cover which 
remains intact even in the event the mailbox itself is dented or otherwise 
damaged. 
A further feature of the present invention is to provide a mailbox cover 
which can be readily removable in order to affix another mailbox cover 
with another picture, legend, or motif. 
An object of the present invention is to provide projecting parts of the 
flexible sheet which may either protrude from the top, sides, front, 
bottom or rear of the mailbox.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
The present invention relates to a method for making a decorative 
attachment cover for mailbox M and applying the same thereto. The mailbox 
cover referred generally by the reference numeral 12 is fabricated of a 
sheet of flexible but fairly rigid material, such as thermoplastic resin 
or silicone rubber material. The pictorial representation may be a 
Christmas tree, as seen in FIGS. 1-5, or animate objects, such as a dog as 
seen in FIG. 6, or a duck in FIG. 7. It should be evident that a large 
number of pictorial representation, and blank silhouettes for individual 
coloring may be selected and not just those shown by way of illustration 
herein. As seen in FIG. 2, the sheet of material is die cut for a 
particular pictorial representation, and is painted or otherwise applied 
to the exterior surface thereto. The sheet 12 is provided with parts 14 
and 16 having mirror image sections 18 and 20 connected at a common point 
22. In order to effectively connect the parts 14 and 16 of the cover 12 so 
that the edges 28 and 30 of the respective parts are aligned and abutting 
when the cover is applied to the curved outer surface of the mailbox, and 
as seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, tabs 32 on part 14 are inserted in the 
corresponding slots 34 on part 16. The flat sheet is provided with 
adhesive surfaces 24 on the inside surfaces of parts 14 and 16 as shown in 
FIGS. 2 and 3. Initially, the adhesive surfaces 24 are provided with 
peel-off covers (not shown) which can be removed in the usual manner prior 
to applying the adhesive surface on the inside of the flat sheet to the 
opposite sides of the curvilinear outside surfaces of a mailbox, and 
consequently securing the sheet thereto. 
When the mailbox cover sheet 12 is applied to the mailbox the common 
connecting point 22 of the sections is positioned outside the mailbox, 
either above, in the rear, bottom on the front or on sides thereof. The 
mirror image sections 18 and 20 are pressed together, or are otherwise 
attached to form a substantially three-dimensional part of the pictorial 
representation which is displaced from the body of the mailbox. 
It is also contemplated within the present inventive concept to cut out 
parts of a flat sheet to form a mailbox cover with a portion projecting 
beyond at least one surface of the mailbox, and in which the cut-out sheet 
is unadorned until the user draws, designs, colors or styles the sheets 
for a particular purpose, for example to commemorate an important event. 
While the present invention has been disclosed and described with reference 
to certain embodiments thereof it is apparent that other variations and 
modifications may be made which fall within the true scope of the 
invention, as defined in the following claims: