Improvements relating to Letter-boxes.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd Mar., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 29th May, 1893-Accepted, 8th July, 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to Letter-boxes.
I, SAMUEL GEORGE DUTTON, of 41 Upper Manor Street, Chelsea, in the
County of Middlesex, Wood Carver, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion to be as follows:--
My invention relates to letter-boxes and has for its object to provide the same
with improved safety-appliances to prevent unlawful abstraction of letters
therefrom.
According to one mode of carrying my invention into effect I provide the letter-
box with a hinged flap or door for closing the mouth thereof. The said door is
preferably hinged at its lower side, and it is loaded or weighted in such a manner
that it always tends to close the mouth of the box, so that it requires to be pushed
open to admit of the insertion of a letter or packet.
I attach to the said door on the inner side thereof, and so as to project inward a
suitable distance, a guard or shield the object of which is to prevent the unlawful
abstraction of the contents of the box. The said shield or guard is made of thin
sheet steel or other suitable metal or material, and it is formed with a zig-zag edge
and preferably with a number of inclined tongues or points projecting from the
upper face thereof. The shield or guard is curved, and the said tongues or pro-
jections are so disposed that they do not interfere with the free descent of a letter,
or packet or the like into the box, when the same is inserted in the usual manner.
But the projections or tongues and the points formed by the zig-zag edge of the
guard will prevent the unlawful withdrawal of a letter or packet.
Moreover the said tongues or projections are made sharp and may have their
edges turned in a manner to adapt them more readily for cutting string for example
that might be used for the surreptitious abstraction of the contents of the box.
The guard may be simply and cheaply made by stamping in suitable dies. It is
very simple in operation and is not liable to become deranged in use.
In a modified form of my invention I dispense with the hinged flap or door and I
firmly attach the guard or shield to the front wall of the box just beneath the
mouth thereof. In some cases for additional security I also attach another guard
to the rear wall of the box in such relation to the front guard that the letters can
pass down readily into the box while however they cannot be abstracted therefrom.
My improved construction is applicable not only to public pillar and wall boxes
but also to private letter-boxes.
Doted this 2nd do of M1002
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to Letter-boxes.
J, SAMUEL GEORGE DUTTON, of 41 Upper Manor Street, Chelsea, in the
County of Middlesex, Wood Carver, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion 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 improved safety appliances for letter and other boxes,
said appliances having for their object to prevent unlawful abstraction of the
contents of the boxes to which they are applied.
According to one mode of carrying my invention into effect as applied to a

page_text: letter-box I provide the letter-box with a hinged flap or door for closing the mouth
thereof. The said door is preferably hinged at its lower side, and it is loaded or
weighted in such a manner that it always tends to close the mouth of the box, so
that it requires to be pushed open to admit of the insertion of a letter or packet.
I attach to the said door on the inner side thereof and so as to project inward a
suitable distance, a guard or shield the object of which is to prevent the unlawful
abstraction of the contents of the box. The said shield or guard is made of thin
sheet steel or other suitable metal or material, and it is formed with a zig-zag edge
and preferably with a number of inclined tongues or points projecting from the
upper face thereof. The shield or guard is curved, and the said tongues or pro-
jections are so disposed that they do not interfere with the free descent of a letter,
or packet or the like into the box, when the same is inserted in the usual manner.
But the projections or tongues and the points formed by the zig-zag edge of the
guard will prevent the unlawful withdrawal of a letter or packet.
Moreover the said tongues or projections are made sharp and may have their
edges turned in a manner to adapt them more readily for cutting string for example
that might be used for the surreptitious abstraction of the contents of the box. The
guard may be simply and cheaply made by stamping in suitable dies.
It is very
simple in operation and is not liable to become deranged in use.
In a modified form of my invention I dispense with the hinged flap or door and I
firmly attach the guard or shield to the front wall of the box just beneath the
mouth thereof. In some cases for additional security I also attach another guard
to the rear wall of the box in such relation to the front guard that the letters
can pass down readily into the box while however they cannot be abstracted
therefrom.
.}
I will now proceed to describe my invention with reference to the accompanying
drawings wherein
Figure 1 is an elevation partly in section of a letter pillar-box provided with my
improvement.
Figure 2 is a plan view drawn to a larger scale of the guard attached to the
flap hereinafter described.
Figure 3 is an elevation partly in section of a letter-box illustrating a modified
form of my improved device.
Figure 4 is a front view drawn to a larger scale of the hanging guard hereinafter
described.
Figure 5 is a section of a box provided with stationary guards.
Like letters denote corresponding parts in all the figures.
Referring to Figure 1 A is the pillar-box which may be of any ordinary or suitable
construction, B is a flap hinged at 4 along its lower edge to the inside of the box
just behind the slit or opening C through which the letters are inserted. Said flap
closes the opening C when it is in its raised position and it is loaded as will now be
described so that it always returns to the raised position when released.
D is a curved bar secured to the back of the Hap. From the free end of said
bar is suspended a weight E by means of a cat-gut or other cord or chain F which
passes over a pulley G so arranged that the weight tends to keep the flap B shut.
H is a guard also secured to the back of the flap B. Said guard has a sharp
corrugated edge and has projecting from its upper surface a number of tongues H.
The guard may be conveniently formed from sheet steel for example, the
tongues H¹ being stamped out of the sheet and bent upwardly and rearwardly as
indicated. These tongues do not interfere with the insertion of a letter but prevent
the unlawful withdrawal of such by a string or wire or the like. The shape of the
guard H is clearly seen by the Figures 1 and 2 but it may obviously be varied.
I is another guard similar in construction to the guard H and fixed to the wall of
the letter-box opposite the opening C but at a lower level. This guard affords
additional security against abstraction of the contents of the box.
In Figure 3 I have shown a construction wherein the flap is dispensed with and
the front guard is constituted by bent pointed wires K shown also in Figure 4

page_text: suspended from or hinged at K¹ to a support L which is secured to the letter-box
just beneath the opening C. The tail ends of the wires K are loaded by weights K²
and are further bent round to engage with a part L' of the support L. This
construction limits the amount of permissible swing of the wires K.
Figure 5 illustrates a still further slightly modified construction.
In this case the
guard H instead of being secured to a flap as in Figure 1 is fixed to the interior
wall of the box just beneath the opening through which the letters are introduced,
and the flap is dispensed with. The guard I is fixed to the rear wall of the box as
in the construction shown in Figure 1.
My improved constructions are applicable not only to public pillar and wall-boxes
but also to private letter-boxes. They may moreover be used as receptacles for
the once-used tickets of admission for places of amusement and the like, so as to
prevent the second use of such tickets. This fraudulent use is often effected with
the collection-boxes heretofore used which have no special provision to prevent the
abstraction of the contents. My improved boxes can also be used as collection-boxes
for workmen's time cheques or cards.
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 :-
:—
1. A box having a guard or guards fitted to the interior thereof, substantially as,
and for the purpose, specified.
2. In a box, the combination of a self-closing flap B and a guard H secured thereto,
substantially as described, for the purpose specified.
3. The hinged or pivoted guard constructed substantially as described with
reference to Figures 3 and 4, for the purpose specified.
4. A letter-box constructed substantially as described with reference to Figure 1
or to Figure 3 or to Figure 5, for the purpose specified.
Dated this 29th day of May 1893.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.