Improvements in Letter Carriers' Registers.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 5th May, 1896-Accepted, 1st Aug.,
1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Letter Carriers' Registers.
We, JOHN DEVENPORT MILLER, SAMUEL MELETUS JONES, and CHARLES
MCKENDREE Towson, all of 510 10th Street Washington, in the District of
Columbia, United States of America, Gentlemen, 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 :-
This invention relates broadly, to letter boxes, but more particularly to means
attached to such boxes which can only be operated by a letter carrier when he
opens said box to collect the mail whereby a ticket with which each carrier is
provided is marked, and as the carrier must "turn in" this ticket after each
collection to the inspector who can, at a glance at the ticket tell instantly
This
whether or
not the collector has visited all of the boxes in his route.
card or ticket is put on file in the Post Office for reference. Should any
complaints about non-collection come in on a particular route it is only necessary
to look over the tickets on file to convict or vindicate the collector. Thus each
collector is his own **
spy." Thus this invention will enable the Government to do
away with the expense of route-inspectors, a system which is not at all pleasant
either to the officials in charge or to the collector.
The invention consists of a lever secured in the box, a marker, an opening
through the box, a ticket adapted to pass through said opening, the marking
mechanism being operated by the opening of the door at the bottom of the box by
the collector.
In the drawings
Figure 1 is a front elevation of a box showing the invention in full and dotted
lines, attached to the box.
Figure 2 is a vertical section of the box and mechanism.
Figure 3 is an enlarged detail section.
Figure 4 is an enlarged detail section on line x-x Figure 3.
Figure 5 is a top plan of the marker.
Figure 6 is a perspective view of the ticket.
A represents the box of any approved pattern, B the door thereof at the bottom
of said box.
1 is the hinge of the door B which has a rearwardly-extending portion 2 which
is intended to act as a lever. 3 is a lever which is pivoted at 4 to the lever 2.
5 is a rod on the top of which is secured a marking device 6 which may be a
stamp, a punch or any other desired marker. The rod 5 is pivoted to the lever 3
at 17. 7 is a plate secured to the inside of the box above the door B through
which is formed an opening in which the rod 5 may work. 8 is a groove formed
in the top of the plate 7. 9 is a plate secured on the top of the plate 7 in which
is an opening 10 directly over the opening in the plate 7. 11 is a piece set in the
side of the box in which is formed a slot 12 said slot having a flaring mouth 13.
14 is a flap of approved pattern to cover the slot 12 in order to prevent snow and
rain from eating in the box and damaging the mail. The slot 12 registers with
the groove 8 in the plate 7. 15 is the ticket which as illustrated, is composed of
a series of strips which may be cardboard, thin sheet metal or any other desired.
material. Said strips being secured together by means of an eyelet 16.
The operation is as follows:-
Each collector is given one of the tickets as he goes out on his collection trip.

page_text: When the collector arrives at a box from which a collection is to be made he first
pushes one end of one of the strips of his ticket in the slot 12 into the groove 8; he
then opens the door B after unlocking it and as he pushes the door B down the
lever 2 is swung upward which in turn pushes the lever 3 and the rod 5 upward
whereby the marking device 6 is pressed against the ticket, thus causing a
character to be made on, in, or through said ticket. After the collector has
collected the mail from this particular box he closes the door B and secures it,
whereby the lever 3, rod 5 and marking device is pulled downward under the
action of the lever 2.
Each box on the collector's route has a different number or other character;
thus when the collector turns his collection in at the office he must also turn in
his ticket which at a glance will tell the official in charge whether or not the
collector has visited all of the boxes on his route. Thus each collector is com-
pelled to open each box on his route in order to turn a "clean" ticket and as he is
compelled to visit and open each box he will always collect the mail.
It has been found that a collector frequently fails to visit each box on his route
for several days especially boxes in outlying districts. Now it will readily be seen
that the collector with this invention in use, must visit each box on each collection
trip or he will turn in a report against himself by means of the ticket which will
show the absence of the number of the particular box or boxes he failed to visit.
The collector is compelled not only to visit each box but he must open it in order
to operate the marking device and as the box is open there will be no reason for
him not to take the mail out. As the collector is only given one ticket for each
trip which must be turned in as soon as he returns to the office, it will be seen that
he cannot "fix" up a ticket on one trip that saves him from visiting all the boxes
on the next trip.
If a punch is used as a marking device it may be well to use tickets of oiled
paper which would act as lubricant to the punch each time the device is
operated.
It is obvious that slight changes may be made in the construction shown without
departing from the spirit of the invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. The combination with a letter box, an opening in said box, a ticket adapted
to enter said opening and a marking mechanism secured in said box back of said
opening and means connected to the door of the box to operate said marking
mechanism.
2. The combination with a letter box, a marking mechanism secured in said box,
means connected to the door of the box to operate said mechanism at each
collection of mail from said box, and a ticket to receive a mark from the marking
mechanism when operated.
3. The combination with a letter box, an opening in said box, a ticket adapted
to enter said opening, a marking mechanism secured back of said opening in the
box, means connecting said marking mechanism to the collector's door of the box
whereby said mechanism is operated by the opening of said door.
4. The combination with a letter box, an opening in said box, a ticket adapted
to enter said opening, a plate secured back of said opening in the box, a groove in
said plate registering with said opening, an opening in said plate, a rod adapted to
work in said opening, a marking device on said rod, a lever pivoted to said rod and
means connecting the said lever with a collector's door on the box whereby the
marking mechanism is operated by the opening of the door.
5. The combination with a letter box, the collector's door hinged thereto, a
lever extending from said hinge, a marking mechanism secured in said box, means
connecting said mechanism and said lever, an opening through the box in front of
said marking mechanism and a ticket adapted to pass through said mechanism.

page_text: 6. The combination with a letter box, a marking mechanism secured therein an
opening through said box in front of said marking mechanism, means to operate
said mechanism each time the box is opened for the purpose of collecting mail, of
a ticket composed of a series of strips of suitable material pivotally secured
together, each of which is adapted to pass through said opening to the marking
mechanism.
Dated this 5th day of Mo 1806
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicants.