A NEW OR IMPROVED PROTECTIVE OPENING OR MOUTH TO PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PARCEL AND LETTER BOXES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Anthony Wheeler, of Swindon, in the
County of Wilts, Gentleman, for the Invention of "A NEW OR
IMPROVED PROTECTIVE OPENING OR MOUTH TO PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PARCEL
AND LETTER BOXES."
Sealed the 11th January 1871, and dated the 8th October 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Anthony
Wheeler at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 8th October 1870.
I, CHARLES ANTHONY WHEELER, of Swindon, in the County of Wilts,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A
NEW OR IMPROVED PROTECTIVE OPENING OR MOUTH TO PUBLIC AND PRIVATE
PARCEL AND LETTER BOXES," to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to give increased capacity to the
openings or mouths of letter boxes, so that they may be available for
the reception of larger parcels than those now in use, and for giving
greater security against the abstraction of parcels or letters from
without.

page_text: The means by which I
propose to carry
out
my
said Invention are,
Firstly. By forming the opening or mouth of the receptacle of metal,
having at the bottom a fixed upward incline which gives a direction to
the hand or to any instrument when inserted in the opening contrary to
that requisite for abstracting any parcel or letter from the receptacle
within; the inner or upper edge of this incline is met by a rising and
falling hinged lid, placed when closed at a somewhat similar angle, the
two parts forming a horizontal V shaped opening.
Secondly. In order the more effectually to prevent the abstraction of
parcels or letters from without I form the inner or topmost edge of the
upward incline with a lip or flange dipping downwards, so that any of
the contents of the box or other receptacle being drawn upwards would
be arrested by the said lip or flange and thrown back.
A. further advantage of my said Invention is that the use of but one
hand is required for depositing any parcel or letter, thus facilitating the
delivery.
Another advantage is that the arrangement of the opening prevents
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Anthony Wheeler in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 6th April 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
ANTHONY WHEELER, of Swindon, in the County of Wilts, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-fourth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Charles Anthony Wheeler, Her special licence that
I, the said Charles Anthony Wheeler, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Anthony Wheeler, my exe-
cutors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and

page_text: vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED
PROTECTIVE OPENING OR MOUTH TO PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LETTER BOXES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles Anthony
Wheeler, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed
in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Anthony Wheeler, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :—
The object of my Invention is to give increased capacity to the
openings or mouths of letter boxes, so that they may be available for
the reception of larger parcels than the openings now in use, and at
the same time to provide greater security against the abstraction of
parcels or letters from without,
The means by which I propose to carry out my said Invention are,-
Firstly. By forming the said opening or mouth of metal, having for
the bottom thereof a fixed rising or upward incline, which incline gives
a direction to the hand or to any instrument when inserted in the
opening contrary to that requisite for abstracting any parcel or letter
from the receptacle within. The inner or upper edge of this upward
incline is met by a rising and falling hinged lid or flap placed, when
closed, at a somewhat similar angle, the two parts thus forming a.
horizontal shaped opening, the open part being flush or nearly so with
the outer surface of the door, and the point of junction of the said two
parts being inside the letter box or other receptacle. The upper part or
moveable lid may be hinged by simply attaching a piece of wire to the
upper edge thereof, which wire projecting beyond the flap at each side
about half an inch (more or less) has these projecting portions passed
into or through and working freely in an opening, eye, or staple on each
side of the opening. The inside of the stile or thickened panel of the
door is cut away above the opening, so that when a book or parcel is
being passed through the mouth or opening the back of the hinged lid
is forced against this part of the door, and the said lid makes a some-

page_text: what similar angle with or is nearly parallel to the upward incline of
the opening, and the letter or parcel has a clear and even Passage
upwards into the letter box or other receptacle, and when clear of the
upper edge of the rising incline of the mouth such letter or parcel falls
in the box or other receptacle by its own gravity.
Secondly. The more effectually to prevent the abstraction of parcels or
letters from without, I form the inner or topmost edge of the said upward
incline with a lip or flange, the lower edge of which may be either plain,
or toothed, or serrated, dipping downwards at any suitable angle, the
wood of the door being cut away immediately below it, so that any of the
contents of the receptacle within being drawn upwards may be arrested
by the said lip or flange and thrown back; more especially so if inside
the letter box, and nearly opposite the opening another and similar
dipping flange be suitably fixed.
Some of the advantages which my said Invention possesses over the
openings to letter boxes now in use are, especially for doors or for private
use, that the hinged flap falling on the inner or upper edge of the rising
incline, forming the bottom of my improved opening when compared
with a flap hung vertically to fall against the said upper edge of the
rising incline, that, hung as I propose, it will, when being opened,
describe a much smaller portion of a circle, and being fixed near to the
outer face of the door stile instead of the inner face thereof, a much
shallower letter box from back to front may be used to receive an equal
bulk, and thereby afford much greater security against abstraction of the
contents of the box. In cases where the moveable flap is fixed to the
exterior face of the door and opens outwards so as to fall against the
lower edge of the said rising incline, the use of more than one hand
would generally be needed and more time occupied in the delivery of
letters or parcels; while with my improved opening but one hand and
less time are required for the same delivery. Also a vertically hung flap
opening and swinging in the mouth would have the disadvantages of
waste of time occupied in the deposit, and in order to work freely would
have to be hung "coarse or well clear of the mouth, and be thereby
less capable of preventing the ingress of wind, dust, and rain. Further,
a vertically hung flap must in any case be made heavy to prevent its
action by wind, or by the jarring or slamming of the door. The use of
a weight or spring in such cases would prove an obstruction in several
"
ways that would not be experienced in my improved hinged flap.

page_text: In order that my Invention may be more fully understood, I now
proceed to describe the accompanying Drawing.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Fig. 1 is a front view of my improved mouth or opening to a letter
box. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the same as fixed in a door and
shewing the way in which the wood of the door is cut away.
a shews the wire of the hinge of the flap or lid, which works in a slot
or eye fixed to the door; 6 is the moveable flap or lid; c is the dipping
flange at the upper or inner edge of the rising incline; d is the rising
or upward incline; e is an optional similar dipping flange nearly opposite
the mouth or entrance of the letter box; fshews the way in which a
part of the door is cut away above the opening, and 9 shews the same
below the opening.
Having thus fully described the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, I claim as new,
and desire to secure by the before-mentioned in part recited Letters
Patent,-
Firstly. The combination of the upward or rising incline with the
hinged flap or lid, substantially as described herein and shewn in the
Drawing.
Secondly. The dipping flange (with plain, serrated, or toothed
lower edge) attached to the upper or inner edge of the said rising
incline.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Anthony Wheeler, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
מזה זגוזו