A SELF-REGISTERING LETTER Box
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Cockcroft, of Haslingden, in the County of
Lancaster, Stationer, for the Invention of "A SELF-REGISTERING LETTER
Box."
Sealed the 23rd October 1855, and dated the 25th April 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Cockcroft at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 25th
April 1855.
I, HENRY COCKCROFT, of Haslingden, in the County of Lancaster, Stationer,.
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A SELF-REGISTERING
LETTER Box" to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of a box, in the bottom of which a small platform is
placed, on to which the letters or papers drop when put in from behind. This
platform is so arranged as to be depressed by the weight of the said letters or
papers. To the platform is attached a lever or levers, which act upon a lettered
plate or other surface in the front of the box, causing such surface or plate
to rise or fall, thus indicating whether the box contains letters or is empty.
The utility of this box is a saving of time and labour to the public, to
postmasters, to sub-postmasters, newspaper proprietors, and others using letter
boxes.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Cockeroft in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
25th October 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
COCKCROFT, of Haslingden, in the County of Lancaster, Stationer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Henry Cockcroft, Her special license that I, the said Henry Cockcroft,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry
Cockcroft, 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, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "A SELF-REGISTERING LETTER
Box," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Cockcroft,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Cockcroft, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
Specification thereof,. reference being had to the accompanying Drawing
(that is to say)-
The nature of my Invention consists in making letter boxes self-registering,
that is to say, in the application thereto of certain apparatus which indicates
whether the letter box contains any letters or other article or is empty. I
have in the said Drawing given Figures for shewing how my self-registering
letter box may be constructed, similar parts in each of the views being marked
with similar letters of reference.
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation; Figure 2, a plan view; & Figures 3, and 4,
two end views. a is the case of the letter box; b, the false bottom, through
which is a slot or opening for the feeler c; this feeler projects from a lever d,
whose fulcrum is at e; the other end of this lever works in the lever f, whose
fulcrum is at g; and to the other end of the lever f is attached the indicator h,

page_text: on which I prefer to print the words "no letters." The mode of operation
is as follows:-When no letters are in the box the indicator h remains up,
as shewn in the full lines in Figure 1, and in the end view Figure 3. The
post office attendant or other person using the letter box can therefore ascer-
tain at a glance that the box is empty. As soon as a letter or other article
is put into the box the feeler c is depressed, thereby causing the levers d and f
to assume the positions shewn in Figure 1, and bringing down the indicator h,
the word "letters," which had previously been concealed by the indicator, is
then visible, as shewn in Figure 4, and the post office assistant or other
person using the letter box is made aware that there is a letter or letters in
the box. The lever d is provided with an adjustable weight d', which can be
set to counterbalance the levers d and f, and to make the indicator drop
when a letter of the lightest description is put in the box.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described a mode of
performing the same, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to
the details herein set forth, as many variations may be adopted in the arrange-
ment of the parts without departing from the peculiar character of my
Invention; and that what I do claim is, the application to letter boxes of
a self-registering apparatus for indicating the presence or absence of letters.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Cockcroft, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
H. B. BARLOW,
Manchester.
HENRY COCKCROFT. (L.S.)