An Improved Safety or Thief-proof Letter Box.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Feb., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 5th July, 1894-Accepted, 22nd Sept., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Safety or Thief-proof Letter Box.
HENRY ALBERT. DAVIS "Tregenvor" Cambridge Road Bromley, Kent
Inventor Patentee and Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows: :-
In order to prevent all possibility of withdrawing letters back through the
mouth of letter boxes after being deposited therein, I form a shaft about eighteer
inches long and in cross section about the same shape and size as an ordinary letter
box mouth. The said shaft conveys the letters into the box, it is made to swing or
oscilate on a metal rod by which it is supported at the back a few inches from the
top end or mouth. The rod is connected to and passes from side to side of the
letter box.
I connect a weight to the back of the shaft to keep it home close to the inside of
the front of the box in an upright position. When not in motion the top end and
month of the shaft is kept well back out of sight covered and protected by the top
of letter box. Close to the bottom end of shaft, through which the letters pass,
is a broad flat shaped bracket, fixed to the letter box, in which is an opening
close to the front of box agreeing with the shape & size of the shaft end. To pass
a letter into the box the top opening of the shaft is drawn forward, slightly in a
downward direction (by a curved or shaped metal lip projection or otherwise)
the letter is dropped into the mouth of the shaft and then the weight takes it
back automatically to its original position, by the slight operation of drawing
forward the top part of the shaft, the bottom end leaves the open space in bracket
and passes to the flat solid part before the top end or mouth of shaft comes into
sight, so that the lower end of shaft is blocked until it is brought back by the
weight, at which position the letter finds a free passage and drops out into the box!
Long metal fork like points could be fixed at a suitable angle inside the box
near the lower end of shaft for additional security.
Dated this Eighth day of February 1894.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Safety or Thief-proof Letter Box.
I, HENRY ALBERT DAVIS, of "Tregenvor," Cambridge Road, Bromley, Kent,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My invention relates to apparatus for preventing the fraudulent or unauthorised
abstraction of letters or other articles from letter-boxes and similar receptacles.
For this purpose I combine, with the slot or opening through which the letters
or other articles are inserted into the box or receptacle, an intermediate chamber,
shaft or chute, which is so arranged relatively to the said slot or opening and to
an internal plate or partition below the said chamber or chute that, when the
upper end of the said intermediate chamber or chute is open or coincides in
position with the external slot or opening of the box, the lower end of the said
intermediate chamber or chute will be closed by the said internal plate or
partition; and when the lower end of the said intermediate chamber or chute is
| Price 8d. I

page_text: open to
closed.
THUCTION UL
It is, therefore, impossible to pass any stick, string, wire or the like down into
the interior of the box whilst retaining hold of the same from the exterior, and
to thereby withdraw any article from the box through the said chamber or chute
or through the external slot or opening.
My said invention, moreover, comprises other improvements hereinafter
described.
In the accompanying drawings I have shown how my said invention may be
conveniently and advantageously carried into practice.
Figure 1 is a vertical transverse section of a portion of a box or receptacle with
my improvements applied thereto.
Figure 2 is a similar view, some of the parts being shown in a different position.
Figure 3 is an elevation of my improved device viewed from the interior of
the box.
Figure 4 is a vertical transverse section showing another form or modification of
my invention.
Figure 5 is an elevation, and
Figure 6 a horizontal section on the line x, x, Figure 5, illustrating a further
modification of my said invention.
°
Like letters indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawings.
a is a slot or opening formed in the outer wall A of the letter-box or other
receptacle, or in a house-door, office-door or the like to which the said box or
receptacle is secured, which slot or opening adapted for the insertion of the
letters or other articles. B is the intermediate chamber or chute to receive the
letter or the like inserted through the opening a, and to convey the same into
the box as hereinafter described. The chute B is, arranged behind or below the
slot or opening a and is of sufficient length to contain the longest articles which it
is intended may be inserted into the box, its internal cross-sectional dimensions at
the upper end being equal to or greater than those of the slot or opening a.
The chute B, in the arrangement shown in Figures 1 to 3, is supported by
pivots or trunnions in brackets c secured to the door or wall A, so that the said
chute may swing freely. At the back of the chute B is secured a weight d
whereby the said chute is maintained in its normal or approximately upright
position, as shown in Figure 1.
The upper end of the chute B has the form of an arc of a circle the centre of
which is in the axis of the pivots or trunnions b, and the said chute is so arranged
that, when the same is in its normal position as above described, the opening in
its upper end will be out of coincidence with the slot a as shown in Figure 1. The
lower end of the chute B also has the form of an arc of a circle the centre of
which is in the axis of the pivots or trunnions b, and moves in close proximity to
a suitably shaped plate or partition C mounted on brackets e, e, which partition
may, if desired, extend completely across the box so as to divide the same into
upper and lower compartments. This partition is formed with a slot fof
approximately the same dimensions as the aperture in the lower end of the chute B,
and which registers with the said aperture when the chute B is in its normal
position as shown in Figure 1. The chute B is, moreover, provided with a handle D
or other suitable device whereby it may be swung about its axis from the exterior
of the box, and with an arc-shaped prolongation g at its upper end adapted to close
the slot a when the chute is in its normal position as shown in Figure 1.
The side walls B¹ of the chute B are formed separately from the main portion
thereof and are pivoted at h, h to the upper end of the said chute, or they are
secured in any other suitable manner so that they can be easily moved in and out
as hereinafter explained. The said walls B₁ are provided with pins or projections i
which move in diverging slots C₁ in the plate or partition C, so that the lower
ends of the walls B₁ approach each other as the chute B moves into the position
*shown in Figure 2, and recede from each other as the said chute moves back to its

page_text: normal position after the insertion of a letter or other article. In this manner
avoid the retention of letters or other articles in the chute B when the said articles
are of the full width of the slot a. The above described pins or projections i also
serve to limit the motion of the chute B by their contact with the ends of the
slots C, so that, when the chute is in its normal position, the lower aperture
thereof registers with the aperture f in the partition C, and, when the handle D is
depressed, the upper aperture of the said chute registers with the external slot or
opening a and the lower aperture thereof is closed by the partition C as shown in
Figure 2. The positions of the apertures a and fare, moreover, so arranged that
either one is closed before the other commences to open.
To introduce a letter or other article into the box, the chute B is turned by
means of the handle D into the position shown in Figure 2, the letter or other
article is then dropped into the mouth of the chute and the handle D released, the
weight d then returns the chute B to its normal position, and allows the letter or
other article to fall from the bottom of the chute through the aperture finto the
box A. As the chute B is never open to both the external aperture or slot a and
to the interior of the box at the same time, it is evident that the letters or other
articles, after once being deposited in the box, cannot be withdrawn through the
mouth or slot of the same.
If desired a guard having prongs like a rake, may be arranged so that it
extends beneath the opening fin such a manner as to permit the falling of letters
or other articles from the said opening whilst more effectually preventing the
withdrawal of any letters or other articles through the said opening.
I sometimes make only one end of the chute movable as and for the purpose
above specified.
In Figure 4 I have shown another form or modification of my invention in
which the intermediate chamber or chute B is rigidly secured to the door or wall A
with its upper end extending into, or coincident with the slot a.
In this arrange-
ment, the upper and lower openings of the said chute are alternately opened and
closed by plates E and C2 mounted on a frame E' which is pivoted at 1 to the chute B,
the lower plate or cover C² being attached to the said fraine by light rods E2. The
said frame is provided with an external handle or finger-piece D₁, and is so
arranged that its weight tends to keep the upper aperture of the chute B closed
and the lower aperture thereof open; and the plate C2 is made of such length that
the lower aperture of the chute B will be entirely closed before the upper
aperture begins to open and vice versa. When it is desired to introduce a letter or
other article into the box, the plate E is pressed backwards by the handle D' and
the letter or other article is inserted into the upper aperture of the chute B; the
handle D' being then released, the plate C2 is moved from below the lower aperture
by the weight of the frame E', thus permitting the letter to fall out of the
chute B into the box.
One or both ends of the chute may, if desired, be made to move in and out by
means of projections working in converging slots in the plate C2, for the purpose
above specified.
I sometimes arrange beneath the lower end of the chute B a guard k having
prongs like a rake to engage with any letter or other article if an attempt were
made to fraudulently withdraw the same from the box, and thus more effectually
prevent such withdrawal.
In some instances I provide means whereby the back or the front, or both, as
well as the end or ends of the chute B will be moved in and out for the purpose
above specified.
In the arrangement shown in Figures 5 and 6, the front B2 of the chute B is
inclined inward at the ends and is provided with slots m through which extend pins
or bolts n secured in the movable ends B' of the chute, so that, as the said ends
are moved in and out as above described, the front B2 will also be moved in and
out. It is evident that the back of the chute may be arranged to be moved in and out
by similar means. To permit such movement of the front and back, these parts must

page_text: be pivoted at their upper end, or they must be provided with a spring or springs,
or be otherwise suitably secured in place.
My invention can be advantageously applied in combination with a wire or other
letter-box or other suitable receptacle, such as a bag or the like, or it can be
arranged in combination with an opening or slot in a wall or door without a box or
similar receptacle. It can also be applied to money-boxes and similar receptacles
to prevent the withdrawal of coins.
When my said invention is used in combination with a money-box or coin-
receptacle, I sometimes make the chute in such a manner that it extends below the
lower plate or shutter, the latter extending through a slot in the said chute. I thus
more effectually prevent the fraudulent extraction of coins from the box when
turned upside down.
It is obvious that the construction of my improved apparatus may be somewhat
further modified without departing from the nature of my said invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is
-
First. The combination of a chamber or chute arranged behind or below an
opening or slot in a door, wall or the like, and suitable means for opening and
closing such chute from the exterior of the said slot, all so arranged that the lower
end of the said chute must be closed before the upper end thereof can be opened
and vice versa, substantially as hereinbefore described and for the purposes
specified.
Second. The combination, with a door, wall or the like having an opening or
slot, with or without a box or other receptacle, of a movable chamber or chute, and
plates or shutters at the ends of the same whereby, when the upper end of the said
chamber or chute registers with the said slot or opening, the lower end of the same
is closed, and, when the lower end thereof is open, the said slot or opening is
closed.
Third. The combination, with a door, wall or the like provided with an opening
or slot, with or without a box or other receptacle, of a movable chamber or chute,
a plate or partition having a suitable opening and arranged below the said chamber
or chute, and means for causing the said chamber or chute to move relatively to
the said slot and to the opening in the said plate or partition, substantially as, and
for the purposes, hereinbefore described.
Fourth. The chute having one or more movable sides and combined with means
for effecting the movement of the same, substantially as, and for the purposes,
hereinbefore described.
Fifth. The modification of my invention wherein the intermediate chamber or
chute is fixed and the upper and lower apertures thereof are alternately opened
and closed by movable plates or shutters, substantially as hereinbefore
described.
Sixth. The improved apparatus constructed substantially as described with
reference to Figures 1 to 3 or to Figure 4 of the drawing, and operating as and
for the purposes above specified.
Baked b
T
1004
HENRY A. DAVIS.
D. Young & Co.,
11 & 12, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.