Improvements in Letter Boxes.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd Nov., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 2nd Aug, 1892-Accepted, 3rd Sept., 1892
PROVISIONAL
SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Letter Boxes.
I, MIDDLETON SEED of 24 St. John's Park, Upper Holloway London Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:
My invention relates to improvements in letter boxes and has for its object to
provide a safety appliance which cannot be tampered with without attracting the
attention of the inmates of the house to the door of which the box is fixed or that
of any passer by.
In carrying my invention into practice I arrange the letter box flap so as to open
inside the box instead of outside as heretofore and I furnish the same with a
spring which when depressed for the purpose of inserting a letter into the letter
box or fraudulently tampering with the said box causes an electric gong to be
sounded.
The slide extending within the box in order to guide the letters is furnished
according to my invention with barbs or serrations designed to arrest a string
primed with bird-lime or other adhesive matter inserted within the letter box with
a view to abstract a letter therefrom.
As my improvements are capable of some modifications without departing from
the principle thereof I do not restrict myself to material, dimensions, or to the
precise form or placement of the several parts thereof.
Dated this 3rd day of November 1891.
F. G. CASSELL,
For Cassell & Co.,
22, Glasshouse Street, Regent Street, London, W.,
Agent for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Letter Boxes.
1, MIDDLETON SEED, of 24 St. John's Park, Upper Holloway, London,
Gentleman, 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 letter boxes and has for its object
to provide a safety appliance which cannot be tampered with without attracting
the attention of the inmates of the house to the door of which the box is fixed or
that of any passer by.
In carrying my invention into practice I arrange the letter box flap so as to
open inside the box instead of outside as heretofore and I furnish the same with
a spring which when depressed for the purpose of inserting a letter into the
letter box or fraudulently tampering with the said box causes an electric gong to
be sounded.
The slide extending within the box in order to guide the letters is furnished
according to my invention with barbs or serrations designed to arrest a string
primed with bird lime or other adhesive matter inserted within the letter box with
a view to abtract a letter therefrom.
In the accompanying drawings
Fig. 1 is a vertical section of a letter box constructed according to my invention.
Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the said letter box.
Like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawings.

page_text: The
According to my invention I arrange the flap a to open inside the outer slot or
opening through which the letters are inserted into the box B. from the outside,―
the rear side of this flap is furnished with a contact spring b fixed thereto at one
end while its other end is free and makes a contact when the flap is pushed back
into the position shewn in dotted lines in Fig. 1 with a metallic plate .
electric battery k is placed on the shelf at the top of the box, and the gong g is
placed outside the letter box as shewn in the drawings or in any other convenient
part of the street door, passage, or house-one pole of the battery is connected by
the wire e with the contact plate c while its other pole is connected by the wire f to
the gong g
which is connected by a wired with the spring b,-h is a plate furnished
with barbs or serrations to prevent the fraudulent removing of a letter from the
box B. by means of string primed with birdlime or other adhesive substance as
generally practised by letter thieves. D is the street door and j is the door or
inner closing flap of the box. o is a push knob.
When a letter is being inserted through the outside opening of the box B. or
whenever the flap is pushed back as shewn in dotted lines of Fig. 1 for a fraudulent
or other purpose the spring comes into contact with the plate c thus closing the
electric circuit and causing the gong to be sounded.
As my improvements are capable of some modifications without departing from
the principle thereof, I do not restrict myself to materials, dimensions, or to the
precise form or placement of the several parts thereof.
Having now fully described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what 1
claim is :-
The improved construction of letter box for warning the inmates of a house or
other person of the outer flap of such box being opened and for preventing the
fraudulent removal of the contents thereof substantially as herein described and
shewn.
F. G. CASSELL,
Of Cassell & Co., Patent Agents,
22, Glasshouse Street, Regent Street, London,
Agent for the Applicant.
ULSSO
F. G. CASSELL,
Of Cassell & Co., Patent Agents,
22, Glasshouse Street, Regent Street, London,
Agent for the Applicant.