IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF LETTER BOXES AND LETTER PLATES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Goldthorp Brook, of Saint Helen's in
the County of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION OF LETTER BOXES AND LETTER PLATES."
Sealed the 22nd September 1871, and dated the 12th April 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Goldthorp
Brook at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 12th April 1871.
I, ROBERT GOLDTHORP BROOK, of Saint Helen's, in the County of
Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for " IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF LETTER BOXES AND LETTER PLATES," to
be as follows:-
The improvement in letter boxes is designed principally for the
purpose of preventing the abstraction of letters or papers from the out-
side, and consists in so connecting the lid of the letter box with the flap
or shutter of the letter plate that the former is closed when the latter
is open, and vice versâ; and the improvement in letter plates is intended
principally to close the same more effectually against the admission of
rain or dust, and at the same time to present a greatly improved appear-
ance; and the Invention consists in combining the door knob or handle

page_text: with the shutter of the letter plate in such a way as to partially conceal
the same, and so that the door knob or handle may be used for opening
and closing the shutter of the letter plate. The shutter is made to open
and close on a hinge at one end, and in the centre of the former the
door knob is attached to a stud which passes through a slot and is
connected to a spring bolt, so that upon sliding the door knob slightly
sideways it unfastens the bolt, and the shutter may then be opened on
the hinge and the letters or papers thrust through the aperture. In
this position of the shutter the lid of the letter box inside the door is
(as before stated) closed, so that the letters and papers fall on to the
top. The hinge of the shutter is however connected to the lid of the
letter box by levers and links or otherwise in such a way that upon
closing the shutter by means of the door knob the lid of the letter box
will be opened and allow the letters and papers to fall into the box,
but upon reopening the plate the lid will again be closed so that the
abstraction of letters or papers from the outside will be impossible.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Goldthorp Brook in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 12th October 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
GOLDTHORP BROOK, of Saint Helen's, in the County of Lancaster, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-fourth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Robert Goldthorp Brook, Her special license
that I, the said Robert Goldthorp Brook, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert Goldthorp Brook,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
usc, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF LETTER BOXES AND LETTER PLATES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Robert Goldthorp

page_text: Brook, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed
in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
do hereby
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robert Goldthorp Brook,
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement and accompanying Drawings (that is to
say):
―:
The improvement in letter boxes is designed principally for the
purpose of preventing the abstraction of letters or papers from the out-
side, and consists in so connecting the lid of the letter box with the flap
or shutter of the letter plate that the former is closed when the latter
is open and vice versa, and the improvement in letter plates is intended
principally to close the same more effectually against the admission of
rain or dust, and at the same time to present a greatly improved appear-
ance, and the Invention consists in combining the door knob or handle
with the shutter of the letter in such a way as to partially conceal
the same, and so that the door knob or handle may be used for opening
and closing the shutter of the letter plate. The shutter is made to open
and close on a hinge at one end, and in the centre of the former the
door knob is attached to a stud which passes through a slot and is
connected to a spring bolt, so that upon sliding the door knob slightly
sideways it unfastens the bolt and the shutter may then be opened on
the hinge and the letters or papers thrust through the aperture. In
this position of the shutter the lid of the letter box inside the door is
(as before stated) closed, so that the letters and papers fall on to the top.
The hinge of the shutter is however connected to the lid of the letter
box by levers and links or otherwise in such a way that upon closing
the shutter by means of the door knob the lid of the letter box will be
opened and allow the letters and papers to fall into the box, but upon
reopening the plate the lid will again be closed so that the abstraction
of letters or papers from the outside will be impossible, at the same time
that the admission of rain, dust, and wind will be effectually prevented.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention for "Im-
provements in the Construction of Letter Boxes and Letter Plates," I

page_text: will now proceed to describe more in detail the manner in which the
same is to be or may be performed or carried into practical effect, and
in order that the same may be clearly understood I have annexed
hereunto a Sheet of Drawings illustrative thereof, and have marked the
same with figures and letters of reference corresponding with those in
the following explanation thereof:-
Fig. 1 in the annexed Drawing is a vertical section showing the
application of my Invention to an ordinary street door, the door knob
and letter plate being shown as in their ordinary position with the
shutter closed; Fig. 2 is a similar view with the shutter opened for the
insertion of the letters; Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of Fig. 1; and
Fig. 4 is a front view of the combined door knob and letter plate.
a, a, represents part of the door; b, b, the letter plate or shutter
opening on a hinge c, c, at one end; and d, d, is the door knob attached
to a stud e, e, passing through a slot in the letter plate or shutter b, b, 1
and connected to a spring bolts. The letter box g, g, is divided into
an upper and lower compartment by means of a lid or door h, h, which
is connected to the plate or shutter b, b, by means of a chain i, i, or
otherwise, so that when the shutter is opened the lid is drawn up to
receive the letters, as seen at Fig. 2, and when the shutter is closed the 2
lid is lowered to allow the letters to fall into the lower compartment, as
seen at Fig. 1; k, k, is a door for the removal of the letters from the
lower compartment.
"
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention
for Improvements in the Construction of Letter Boxes and Letter 2
Plates," together with the manner in which the same is to be or may
be performed or carried into practical effect, I wish it to be understood
that I claim as my Invention the combination of the letter box, letter
plate, and door knob, substantially in the manner and for the purposes
herein-before set forth and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Goldthorp Brook, have
hereunto set my hand and scal, this Tenth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
30