Improvements in and in connection with Letter Boxes.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Feb., 1899-Accepted, 22nd Apr., 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and in connection with Letter Boxes.
I, THOMAS JEFFERSON CROWDER, Gentleman, of Staunton, Augusta County,
Virginia, United States of America, do hereby declare that the nature of this
nvention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
lescribed and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention is designed to provide a repository for use especially to facili-
tate the delivery and collection of mail in those districts where the business
done is not sufficient to warrant the employment of a postmaster or to establish
free-delivery system, the apparatus not only providing a letter-box for the
reception of general mail-matter but also a series of private lock boxes for the
reception of the mail of individuals, the whole being enclosed in a single case
in such a manner as to be protected alike against the weather and against theft,
as more fully hereinafter appears.
It is further designed to provide the repository with simple electrical devices
which will notify the owner or renter of the lock-box, at his residence or place
of business, as the case may be, of the deposit by the mail-carrier of mail-
matter in his box, thus saving the owner or renter of the box useless trips to
the repository. The invention has also other minor objects in view which will
appear in the course of this specification.
In the annexed drawings,
Figure 1 is a perspective view of the repository with the outer door open;
Figure 2 is a similar view with the two doors open;
Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2; showing a slightly modified form;
Figure 4 is a vertical section through Figure 1;
Figure 4 a vertical section showing both doors closed;
Figure 5 a detail section hereinafter described;
Figure 6 a diagram of the electrical appliances I prefer using;
Figure 7 a detail side view of one form of the annunciator; and
Figures 8 and 9 are views of another form of annunciator.
Referring to the drawings by letters, A designates the main casing, which is
preferably constructed of strong metal plates bolted or cast together, which is
adapted to be secured to a post or other suitable support. The front side of
this casing is, open, and built or formed in it are a suitable number of pigeon-
holes or boxes a whose open ends face the open side of the casing. These boxes
fill the entire upper portion of the casing, the lower portion thereof being left
vacant to form a letter-box for the reception of general mail-matter, a deposit-
slot a¹ being made in one side of the casing. Closing the front side of the casing
is a door b, hinged to one vertical edge of the casing, and adapted to swing out
to one side.
This door fits in between the side and bottom and top edges of the casing,
close up to the boxes a, said edges projecting out beyond the face of the door.
This door is locked in any suitable manner; it is shown in the drawing locked
at the edge opposite its hinge edge by means of a pad-lock and correspondingly-

page_text: shaped ears on the door and casing. The door is provided with a series of small
doors c opening outward and provided with suitable locks, each one of these doors
coming opposite one of the small boxes a, so that access may be had to said
boxes without opening door b. The door is also provided with small rollers d
on its lower edge which rests on the bottom of the casing and assists in sup-
porting the door.
Hinged to the lower edge of the casing is another door e, which also fits within
the edges of the casing flush with the same and close against the door b, this
door being adapted to swing downward and be suitably supported in a hori-
zontal position. Any suitable means may be used to support the door horizon-
tally; I have shown flange f on the lower edge of the door, which engage under
the lower edge of the casing when the door is let down, and a bracket g
carried by the post and projecting out under the door. This door is also pro-
vided with suitable means for locking it.
It is intended that these repositories shall be located at convenient points
along the routes of rural mail-carriers, in stores or residences or under a suit-
able shed constructed for the purpose. The carrier possesses keys for both doors,
so that he has access to all the small boxes. In distributing mail, the carrier
first opens down the outer door to a horizontal position and then swings open
the inner door, which latter runs out on the former and is supported thereby
and is prevented from moving off therefrom by the door coming against the ver-
tical edge of the main casing near the hinges. The outer door thus affords a
convenient table for the use of the carrier in sorting his mail, and the inner door
serves as a guard to keep the mail-matter from falling off the table and to pro-
tect it against the wind and weather.
As for the individual renting boxes, each person is to have two keys, one for
the outer door and one for his particular box, whereby he is prevented from
having access to boxes other than his own or to the general receptacle below.
It will be seen that as the inner door fits close up to the inner boxes it will be
impossible for the user of one box to tamper with the contents of an adjacent
box, and it will also be seen that as the doors fit closely within the edges of the
main box there will be little opportunity for thieves to pry open the door or for
rain-water to get into the boxes.
It will be understood of course that the number and arrangement of the boxes
may be greatly varied, as the exigencies of the case may require, and if desired
the vertical partitions forming the boxes may be made removable and to rest in
flanges formed on the horizontal partitions, as shown at h in Figure 2, so that
the number and arrangement of boxes in each repository may be varied. These
flanges will also permit a portion of the general letter-box to be utilized for
boxes for other purposes if desired, but of course if this space be utilized for
private boxes additional small doors will have to be provided in the larger door,
the small doors being mounted in suitable removable frames so that they can
be readily secured to and detached from the door. It will also be observed that
the removable partitions are advantageous in that they permit two or more
boxes to be thrown into one, should a person desire to rent a larger box than 4
the regular size.
Any suitable system of electrical appliances may be employed to notify the
owners of the private boxes when mail is placed in the respectives boxes thereby
saving them the trouble of making useless trips to the repository. As shown in
Figure 6, the battery may be located in a receptacle beneath the repository
and one terminal grounded and the other carried up into the repository and con-
nected to the push-buttons m in the boxes, one push button (or other circuit-
closer automatic or otherwise), being provided for each box. From each of the
circuit-closers a separate wire runs to the residence of the box owner and con-
nects to a suitable electric bell or other annunciator n.
of annunciator shown in Figure 7, in which an electric magnet i actuates a
I prefer the simple form 5
suitable armature k, which latter holds up a suitable spring-actuated arm k¹

page_text: pivoted below the armature and adapted when released to spring or fall down-
ward by its own weight against a bell . The main conductor is connected to
the magnet and from there extends to the hook-like armature and then from
the pivoted end of arm k to the ground or to the common return wire which ever
may be used; in this way it will be observed that the circuit will be broken the
instant the annunciator is actuated, leaving the battery power to be used on the
other circuits. If desired the circuits may be arranged so that the owner of
the annunciator may signal back to the repository that the signal has been
received, any of the ordinary devices being used for this purpose. Another
form of annunciator which may be used is shown in Figures 8 and 9. In this
form the pivoted lever instead of striking a gong closes the local circuit in
which a suitable electric bell is arranged, whereby a continuous alarm will be
sounded until some one appears and resets the annunciator.
As shown in Figure 3, the letter-box for general mail-matter as shown at the
center of the repository, and the letter-slot as at all is formed through the two
main doors.
The arrangement of doors shown and described has several important advan-
tages. The two large doors, opening at right angles to each other, the hori-
zontally swinging one being supported upon and prevented from moving off
the edge of the other, form a sort of protected compartment in close juxtaposition
to the private boxes as well as to the general letter-box below, thereby giving
the carrier immediate access to all the boxes in the casing. The carrier is thus
enabled, in the compartment, to not only conveniently distribute the mail he
has brought along with him, but to also sort and stamp the matter he collects
from the drop box below and immediately distribute such of it as belongs in the
private boxes in that particular repository or in any others on his route, each
carrier or repository being provided with a stamping outfit. In this way a more
prompt delivery of the local mail-matter may be accomplished and considerable
labor and expense saved, these being important considerations in the matter of
rural delivery.
The object in placing the doors of the private boxes in the inner door is to
avoid using an additional door or doors at the rear side of the repository, thereby
not only making the same stronger and more inexpensive, but also enabling the
same to be fastened with its back to a post or wall, in which position it will be
better protected against robbery and will take up the least amount of space. It
will be observed that the outer door serves not only as a sorting table, but also
as an armour to protect the doors of the private boxes.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is;-
-
1. In a repository for mail-matter, the combination of a main casing open on
its front side and having a series of small boxes formed inside it, the open ends
of these boxes being outward, a large door closing said casing, a series of small
doors carried by said large door and corresponding with the boxes in the casing,
and a platform or table projecting from the casing and serving in conjunction
with said large door and the casing to form a compartment protected from
wind etc., in juxtaposition to said small boxes.
2. In a repository for mail-matter, the main casing, having its front side open
and having in it a series of small boxes opening outward, a large inner door
hinged at one edge of the casing and adapted to swing outward and provided
with a series of small doors register with the boxes in the casing, and a large
outer door adapted to close over the inner door and to fold down and serve as
a sorting table and in conjunction with the casing and inner door, form a com-
partment protected from wind etc.
i
3. In a mail repository, the combination of a main casing having one side open

page_text: and enclosing the series of private post office boxes, an inner door hinged to one
side of the casing and adapted to close the open side of the same and fit close
to the outer ends of the private boxes, said inner door being provided with small
doors corresponding with said boxes, and an outer door hinged to the lower end
of the repository and means for supporting this door in a horizontal position, said
inner and outer doors forming in conjunction with the casing a compartment
protected from wind etc.
4. In a post office repository, a main casing, open at its front side and having
enclosed in it a series of private boxes and a general letter-box, these boxes
opening outward and the casing being provided with a drop-slot leading to the
general box, an outer door hinged at its lower edge to the casing and means fór
supporting it in an open horizontal position, an inner door hinged at one ver-
tical edge to the casing and adapted to swing out over the outer door, a stop
preventing this door moving beyond the edge of the outer door, and means
for locking both doors closed one over the other, substantially as described.
5. In a post office repository, a main casing enclosing a series of private boxes
and a general letter-box, these boxes opening toward the front side of the casing
and the casing being provided with a drop-slot leading to the general letter-box,
'an inner door hinged to the casing at one vertical edge and adapted to close
all said boxes and swing out against a stop to one side, said inner door being
provided with a series of small doors opening outward and coinciding with the
private boxes, an outer door adapted to open downward and close up over the
series of small doors, and means for locking each of the doors, substantially as
described.
6. In a repository for mail-matter, the combination of a main casing open on
its front side and having a series of small boxes formed inside it, the open ends of
these boxes being outward, an independent circuit-closer in each of said small
boxes, an annunciator electrically connected to each of said circuit-closers, a
large door closing said casing, a series of small doors carried by said large door
and corresponding with the boxes in the casing, and a platform or table pro-
jecting from the casing and serving in conjunction with said large door and
casing to form a compartment protected from the wind etc., in juxtaposition to
said small boxes.
W. LLOYD WISE,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Chartered Patent Agent.