In- PROVEMENTS IN LETTER BOXES, LETTER PILLARS, AND SUCH LIKE DEPOSITORIES
Year: 1869

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Dennis at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 22nd
January 1869.
I, WILLIAM DENNIS, of 57, Aldermanbury, in the City of London,
Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "In-
PROVEMENTS IN LETTER BOXES, LETTER PILLARS, AND SUCH LIKE DEPOSITORIES,"
to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to secure letter boxes and such like
depositories from having letters extracted therefrom. I propose to effect
this by constructing the box with or without a fan wheel at the aperture,
and dividing the box at about the centre thereof with two pieces of
metal of a triangular form, somewhat similar to the letter V. and either
with or without a flap joint near the point thereof. The flap joint may
bo shut by a hinge, and made to balance and close of itself after a
letter in its descent has pushed it open and passed through into the
bottom of the box.
The letter box may be made either semicircular, square, or any other
suitable form. In constructing letter pillars according to this Invention I
proceed as follows:-I place a bag having iron rims similar to a travelling

page_text: bag and fitted with one or more spring locks. The pillar is fitted with
two doors. Upon opening the first or outer door a handle or knob must
be pulled before the inner door can be opened. The handle or knob is
fixed upon a metal rod formed with a projection at the end which pulls
the two rims of the bag together so as to lock the bag; this movement
serves also to release the lock of the inner door, so that it can be
opened and the bag with the letters taken out locked. A key is to be
kept at the cheif office for opening the bag. The releasing of the lock
of the inner door is effected by means of a lever which prevents the
bolt of the lock from being turned back, upon which lever there is a
pin or other projection which passes through the rim of the bag next
the inner door, and upon the other rim coming against it when locking
the bag by the rod it presses against the lever and frees the bolt
of the lock so that the inner door can be opened and the bag taken
out.
Another mode of constructing letter pillars and such like depositories
is as follows:-I form the top of the case of the pillar with two or
more openings therein fitted each with a flap moving inwards.
Opposite to these openings and inside the aforesaid case corresponding
openings or shoots are arranged, each mounted by its inner end upon
a rod or axis, and there is a lever connected to each shoot for the
purpose of turning the shoots partly round upon its 'axis as presently
described. Immediately beneath the aforesaid moveable shoots a plate
is fixed having slits or openings formed therein corresponding to the
moveablo shoots, and beneath the aforesaid plate a bag of the con-
struction first above described is placed to receive the letters, and the
pillar is fitted with two doors as before described.
The operations of the above arrangements are as follows:-When the
top openings are closed by their respective flaps the moveable shoots
are opposite to the slits or openings in the fixed plate beneath, but
the said moveable shoots are not opposite to the top openings, and
the effect of pushing back one or other of the flaps is to bring its
respective moveable shoot opposite to the opening of the flap so as
to receive the letter. Upon releasing the flap the shoot will move
upon its axis and come opposite to its respective opening in the
fixed plate, and allow the letter to fall into the bag beneath; or
instead of the arrangement lastly above described, I
propose to
employ a long shoot mounted midway by its sides upon axes or

page_text: pivots, to one of which a short lever is fixed and connected by a rod
to another short lever fixed to the axis of the flap which covers the
outer opening. Upon pushing the flap inwards the top of the shoot
will be brought opposite to the opening of the flap to receive the
letter, and the closing of the flap will deposit the letter in the bag
beneath. By these two last arrangements there is never at any time
a direct communication between the opening at the flap and the bag
that receives the letters, so that it is impossible for any instrument to
be introduced to extract the letters.
Another modification consists in forming the shoot in two parts, tho
upper half being fixed and the lower half movcable on a pivot, the
lower half only being opposito to the upper half when the flap is
pushed in, the closing of the flap discharging the contents of the
lower half of the shoot into the bag beneath by means of a lover,
as before stated in the last-mentioned arrangement. In connection
with the above arrangements, or to the flaps of letter pillars of the
ordinary kind, if desirable, I propose to employ a rod or wire which
may either be pulled or pushed by the action of the aforesaid flap
thereon, and thereby expose to view a signal or disc of colored
glass or metal, the intention of this arrangement being to prevent
the wedging or otherwise keeping the flap open for any length of
time for the purpose of extracting letters from the pillar.