Improvements in Combined Collecting and Delivering Letter Boxes.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Feb., 1893-Accepted, 29th May, 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by POSTAL IMPROVEMENT COMPANY, corner of
Airy and Markly Streets, Norristown, Pennsylvania, a corporation chartered
under the laws of the State of West Virginia, United States of America.]
Improvements in Combined Collecting and Delivering Letter Boxes.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine Lake Co., Patent Agents,
45 Southampton Buildings in the County of Middlesex, 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 improvements in combined collection and delivery mail
boxes for use in offices and private houses.
The invention consists essentially in the combination of a support, as a house
door, having a letter slot or port, a box into which said slot leads, a partition in
the box opposite the slot, and a door for closing such slot, whereby delivery mail
may be inserted and collection mail may be taken, through the same slot.
The invention also consists in other combinations hereinafter described and
claimed.
In the drawings,
Figure 1, is a front, outside view of my inventio, as applied to the door of a
building; Figure 2 is a section of the same;
Figure 3 is a section showing a modification of the compartment for mail to be
collected;
Figure 4, is also a section of the same in position when the box
collection of the mail by the postman;
open for the
Figure 5, is a front, outside view of the invention as applied to a wall, as in an
office building;
Figure 6 is a section of the same showing compartment for mail collections in
the form of a chute which may extend to the top Hoor of the building ;
Figure 7, is a sectional detail showing how characters are applied for house
numbering and door plates;
Figure 8 is a front outside view of another form of our invention, and Figure 9,
is a vertical, sectional view of the same.
A is a face-plate having an opening through it, adapted for attachment to a door
or wall, and B is a door also having an opening through it hinged to the face-plate
and held closed by a suitable lock, the key of which is to be carried by the postman.
C is a flap loosely hung in the door to normally close the opening in said door.
The face-plate is provided with flanges a a for projecting through the slot or port
in a house door or a wall, and these flanges also afford a convenient means of
securing the mail collection box to the back of the house door or wall and said box
and face plate together.
D is the box or receptacle for mail to be collected. This box is secured in place
behind the wall and coupled with the face-plate by means of bolts or rivets d d
extending through the sides of the box and flanges a a. The box or receptacle
may be provided with a swinging lid d', to be opened for the introduction of mail
matter to be collected, or the box may extend upward and receive the mail through
a slot or otherwise.
E is a diaphragm or partition loosely pivoted within the box and separates the
box into delivery and collection compartments. F is a tongue or bar loosely

page_text: pivoted to the door B and arranged so that its lower end rests on the boundary of
the slot through the house door or wall, as shown. The front end of the apron
rests at all times on this tongue, and when the door B is opened, the diaphragm
falls, as shown in Figure 4, and forms a chute down which the mail matter slides
through the opening in the face-plate ready for collection by the postman. G is
an indicator for disclosing the presence of mail in the collection box, and is provided
to do away with the necessity of opening the door B when the box is empty. This
indicator or signal is conveniently operated through the medium of lever g and
rod when the lid d' is raised to deposit mail for collection. One end of the lever
is coupled with an arm of the indicator and one end of the rod is operatively
coupled with the lid, in such way that after the lid and signal have been raised,
the lid will drop back into normal position without interfering with the signal.
The lid may or may not be locked, as may be desired.
In Figures 2 and 6, I have shown a pocket or compartment H for the mail
delivered to house or office which may be kept locked to prevent unauthorized
persons from handling the mail after delivery. In Figure 2, we have shown the
application of an electric bell to give a sound signal whenever the flap C is operated,
as in the delivery of mail through the slot in door B. I is a dry battery, K an
electro-magnetic vibrating bell, n n circuit wires, and o o relatively movable contact
terminals. The connections and arrangements of parts may be varied indefinitely,
the condition being that the movement of the flap C inward shall close the electric
circuit and thus cause the bell to ring. In Figures 5 and 6, 1 have shown the
invention as applied in an office building, wherein the receptacle for mail collection
is also a chute or channel for conducting the mail from upper floors to the main
floor. This collection box and chute may be arranged adjacent to, and used in
connection with, a cabinet or system of private drawers, as shown in Figure 5, said
drawers being for individual mail of occupants of the building. One drawer, as M,
immediately back of and below the mail slot may be of considerable capacity for
the reception of the mail of such tenants as desire distribution by the janitor who
may have the key of this box only.
The signal bar G is provided at its lower end with a detent or shoulder and
the door carries a spring latch z, so that when the signal has been raised it cannot
be returned to normal position out of sight, accidentally or otherwise, until the
door B has been opened for the collection of the mail.
The face-plate, the door or the flap, or any two of them are provided with a
narrow slot r. In these slots letters or figures having split shanks are inserted and
the parts of the shanks are bent outward to secure the letters in place, see Figure 7.
These letters or figures are applied in such order as to give the number of the house
or the name of the occupant, or both. By this means, I economically provide
universal door and number plates in connection with my letter boxes.
In Figures 8 and 9, I show a modified form of any invention. In these views,
the hinged door B is provided with a glazed peep-hole which takes the place of
the indicating device G shown in the other figures. Through this sight-hole, the
mail for collection may be seen from the outside by the collector, and it therefore
serves as an indicating device. The face-plate A is secured to the door by any
suitable means. In this form of the invention I employ a partition consisting of
thin sheet metal flexibly connected with the hinged door B. This partition
extends upward and rests against the rear inside face of the receptacle D, as shown.
The mode of operation is the same as that for the diaphragm or partition E.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondents, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. The combination of a door having a mail slot or port, a box or receptacle for
mail to be collected, a movable diaphragm within the box, a flap, and means,
controlled by the door, for bolding the diaphragm above the flap when the door is

page_text: closed and for permitting it to drop and form a chute over or on to the door when
the same is opened, substantially as described.
2. The combination of a door having a mail slot, a flap pivoted to the door, a
box or receptacle for collection mail, a diaphragm within the box and a tongue
connected with the door for holding and dropping the diaphragm, substantially as .
described.
3. The combination of a mail box, a lid or cover for said box, a signal outside
the box, intermediate connections between the lid and signal for operating said
signal upon raising the lid and a catch or dog arranged to engage the signal bar and
hold it in adjusted position when the door is closed, substantially as described.
4. A combined mailing and delivery letter box comprising a box attachable to a
door around the letter slot thereof, a lid for said slot and a plate or partition
projecting across said box opposite the slot, substantially as described.
5. In a combined collection and delivery letter box, the combination of a support
having a letter slot, a box into which said slot leads, a partition in the box opposite
the slot, a door for closing the slot, a letter port in the door and a flap for closing
the letter port.
6. In a combined collection and delivery letter box, the combination of a support
having a letter slot, a box into which said slot leads, a partition in the box opposite
the slot, a lid for closing the slot, means for locking the door, a letter port in the
door and a flap for closing the letter port, substantially as described.
7. In a combined collection and delivery letter box, the combination of a support
having a letter port, a box or casing into which said port leads, a partition movable
within the casing and a door for closing the port, substantially as described.
8. In a combined collection and delivery letter box, the combination of a support
having a letter slot, a box into which the slot leads, a door for closing the port, a
movable partition connected to the door and a support for the free end of the
partition, substantially as described.
9. In a combined collection and delivery letter box, a lid for the letter slot
pivoted to swing in one direction provided with a flap pivoted to swing in an
opposite direction, substantially as described.
10. In a combined collection and delivery letter box, the combination of a
receptacle having separate compartments communicating with a single opening, a
door for said opening and locking mechanism to secure said lid against access to one
of the compartments, as described.
11. A combined mailing and delivery letter box comprising a box into which the
door letter-slot opens and a vertically curved plate having one end hinged to the
letter slot, flap or door and projecting across said box, whereby it is divided into
two compartments, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
12. In a device of the character described, the combination of a door, wall or
partition provided with a letter-slot, a box or receptacle into which said slot
leads, a hinged door for closing said slot, a flap-closed slot in said door and a
movable plate operated by said door and dividing said receptacle, substantially as
described.
13. In a device of the character described, the combination of a door provided
with a letter-slot, with a receptacle into which said slot leads provided with a letter
opening in its upper portion, a hinged slot-door, locking mechanism therefor and a
curved, movable bottom in said receptacle hinged to said lid, substantially as
described.
14. A door or wall provided with a letter slot in combination with a receptacle
into which said slot opens a door closing said slot, a lock therefor, a flap-closed
letter-slot in said door, and a movable partition in the receptacle operated by said
door, substantially as described.
15. In a combined collection and delivery letter box, the combination of a
support having a letter-slot, a box into which the slot leads, a door for closing the
slot having a letter port, an oppositely pivoted flap for closing said port and a

page_text: -described.
movable partition connected with and operated by the door, substantially
Dated this 14th day of February 1893.
as
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.