Improvements in Letter Boxes.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Mar., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 4th Sept., 1895-Accepted, 5th Oct., 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Letter Boxes.
I, GEORGE HENRY GILLOTT, of 80 The Grove, Hammersmith, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to he
as follows:-
My invention has for object to prevent by simple means the abstraction of letters
and the like from letter boxes and may be applied with advantage to pillar letter
boxes. For the purpose mentioned arrange within the letter box at a suitable
distance below the slit or aperture through which letters are inserted a transverse
guard of angular form in cross section the angle being uppermost so that it forms
a ridge from which the upper surface of the guard inclines downward at each side.
In general form the guard may resemble an angle bar having at its edges a number
of long projections or teeth with curved ends, the arrangement being such as to
permit letters to descend, but to arrest them if raised by means of a string and
weight provided with adhesive substance, or other such means as are commonly
employed to abstract letters from letter boxes. One end of the guard is below the
slit, but at a short distance from the wall of the box, and the guard is arranged in
the direction from the side at which the slit is located towards the opposite side of
the box. The guard may be fixed, or pivoted, or balanced on knife edges; if it
Above
be not fixed suitable stops are provided to limit its oscillatory movement.
the guard there are arranged in the same direction across the box a couple of plates
or vertical partitions, one at either side of the doubly inclined upper surface of the
guard, the distance apart of these plates being slightly less that the greatest width
of the guard.
The arrangement described, whilst not liable to get out of order or to arrest the
fall of letters or papers inserted through the slit, will effectually prevent the
subsequent withdrawal of letters or papers through the slit.
Dated this 18th day of March 1895
Improvements in Letter Boxes.
I, GEORGE HENRY GILLOTT, of 80, The Grove, Hammersmith, in the County
of Middlesex, 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 has for object to prevent by simple means the abstraction of letters
and the like from letter-boxes and may be applied with advantage to pillar letter-
boxes. For the purpose mentioned, I arrange within the letter-box at a suitable
distance below the slit or aperture through which letters are inserted, a transverse

page_text: guard of angular form in cross section, the angle being uppermost so that it forms
a ridge from which the upper surface of the guard inclines downward at each side.
In general form the guard may resemble an angle-bar having at its edges a number
of long projections or teeth with curved ends, the arrangement being such as to
permit letters to descend but to arrest them if raised by means of a string and
weight provided with adhesive substance, or other such means as are commonly
employed to abstract letters from letter-boxes. One end of the guard is below the
slit but at a short distance from the wall of the box, and the guard is arranged in the
direction from the side at which the slit is located towards the opposite side of
the box. The guard may be fixed, or pivoted or balanced on knife-edges; if it be
not fixed, suitable stops are provided to limit its oscillatory movement. Above the
guard there are arranged in the same direction across the box, a couple of plates or
more or less vertical partitions one at each side of the doubly inclined upper surface
of the guard, the distance apart of these plates being slightly less than the greatest
width of the guard.
The arrangement described, whilst not liable to get out of order, or to arrest
the fall of letters or papers inserted through the slit, will effectually prevent the
subsequent withdrawal of letters or papers through the slit.
In the accompanying drawings,
Fig. 1 is a vertical section, and Fig. 2 a horizontal section on the line A B of
Fig. 1, showing a guard according to this invention, applied to a pillar letter-box
part only of which is shown.
I is the ordinary slit in the letter box 1* for the insertion of letters. 2 is a guard
in the form of an angle-bar, arranged transversely with respect to the slit 1 and
placed sufficiently below the latter to prevent its being tampered with by hand.
The guard is of greater width in plan than the width of the slit 1, and is balanced
on knife-edge bearings 3 carried by brackets 4 secured by rivets 5 or otherwise, to
the inside of the box 1, the said knife-edges taking into holes 6 formed in vee-
shaped filling pieces 7 fixed within the ends of the angular top of the guard as
shown. The upper surfaces of the two inclined sides of the angular guard 2 meet
together to form a sharp ridge 2", the arrangement being such that a letter, falling
on the said ridge, will pass down one of the inclined sides of the guard and if of
considerable bulk will cause the guard to partly rotate in one direction or the
other about its knife-edges and be thereby allowed to fall down past the guard.
8 and 8ª are stops for limiting the oscillatory movements of the guard about the
knife-edge bearings 3. The edges of the guard may be plain but are preferably
formed with a number of long projections or teeth 9 having rounded free ends so
that should a string and weight provided with adhesive substance be lowered into
the box for the purpose of fraudulently abstracting a letter, the string will enter
one of the spaces between the teeth or between the ends of the guard and the box,
and should a letter be drawn up thereby, it will be prevented by the projections or
teeth from being carried past the guard. To prevent letters etc. becoming fixed in
the spaces between the projections or teeth, the said spaces should be made slightly
greater in width than the depth of the slit 1. 10 are plates or vertical partitions
arranged at a distance apart less than the width of the guard 2 in plan, their
bottom ends being only sufficiently above the corresponding edges of the guard,
when the latter are in their normal positions, to allow any letter or packet capable
of passing through the slit to pass forward between the plates 10 and the guard 2.
The object of the plates 10 is to prevent a letter or the like attached to a string,
as hereinbefore referred to, from being guided by a wire or the like clear of the 5
guard 2.
When the guard is fixed, that is to say, is not capable of oscillation as in the
arrangement just described, it is, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, placed
rather lower in the letter box relatively to the plates 10, being situated sufficiently
below those plates to avoid any danger of the jamming of letters &c. between 5
them and the guard.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In a letter box, a transverse guard of angular form in cross section arranged
at a suitable point below the slit or aperture through which letters are placed in
combination with plates or vertical partitions 10 arranged above and one at each
side of the said guard and the distance apart of which is slightly less than the
greatest width thereof, the arrangement being such as to permit letters to descend,
but to arrest them if raised by a string and weight with adhesive substance or
equivalent abstracting means, substantially as herein described.
2. The combination with a letter-box, of apparatus constructed, arranged, and
operating substantially as herein before described with reference to and shown in
the accompanying drawings for the purpose specified.
Dated thie 4th dox of Sentembar 1805
W. Lloyd Wise,
G. H. GILLOTT.
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicant.