Improvements in Combined Letter Box and Name Plates.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Oct., 1888
Complete Specification Left 12th July 1889-Accented 21st Sent. 1000
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Combined Letter Box and Name Plates.
I EXOCH LIGHTOWLER of no fixed occupation residing at 32, Liverpool Road,
Birkdale, Southport in the County of Lancaster do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
The invention has for its object a letter box plate and name plate hinged together
in such a way as to form a combination letter box and name plate. The combined
plates are constructed so as to give facilities for bolting or screwing them to doors
and gates, and will be so arranged as to cause the name plate to fall over the letter
box plate.
I propose to make the above plates or cause them to be made of cast or pressed
brass or any suitable metal or material.
Dated this Elavanth dose of October 1880
ENOCH LIGHTOWLER.
Wm. P. Thompson & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Combined Letter Box and Name Plates.
1, ENOCH LIGHTOWLER of 32 Liverpool Road, Birkdale, Southport, in the County
of Lancaster, 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:
The invention has for its object a combined letter box and name plate for doors or
gates of houses, offices, etcetera. It is formed to cover the shute leading to the postal
letter box, in order to give an ornamental or finished appearance, and has a flap or
cover to exclude the weather, (but adapted to admit the passage of letters or cards
into the box) on which is displayed the name of the occupant, or to which is attached
an escutcheon bearing his name.
It is best described by aid of the accompanying drawings in which,
Figure 1 is an elevation and Figure 2 a vertical section of the combined letter box
and name plate.
Figure an elevation, and Figure 4 a section on line A B of a flap or cover
adapted to be hinged to the letter box plate and having an escutcheon bearing the
name of the occupant of the house or office, which is attached to the aforesaid cover
but is capable of being removed or replaced by another, bearing a different name.
Figure an elevation and Figure 6 a section on the lines CD of a combined plate
having a sliding cover instead of a hinged one.
Referring to Figures 1 and 2, A is door or gate, B the passage or shute leading
to the letter box, which may be inclined if preferred, instead of being made hori-
zontal as shown on the drawing, and C the letter box plate, having an opening B' to
admit the passage of letters, cards, etcetera. D is a plate which bears the name of
the occupant of the house or office to the door of which the letter box is attached, and
also preferably the word "Letters" in smaller characters or other suitable descriptive
word or words to indicate one of the uses of the appliance. The said plate D may be
made of brass and finished so as to resemble an ordinary name plate as often employed
on the entrance doors of private houses. It is hinged to the letter box plate C and
can be raised as shown by the dotted lines (Figures 2) so as to permit of letters or
cards being dropped through the shute B into the box by carriers or callera.

page_text: In Figures 3 and 4 a slight modification in the construction of the hinged flap of
cover D is shown. An escutcheon E bearing the desired name is fastened by
screws to the cover D and can at any time be removed from the cover, or another
plate hearing a different name substituted therefor. The cover D has preferably the
word "Letters" impressed, cast or engraved thereon. At the back of the escutcheon E
are two bosses el raised from the surface thereof, which are received by holes d in
the cover D and serve to hold the escutcheon in the proper position while the screws e
are being adjusted.
An alternative construction of the letter box and name plate is shown in Figures 5
and 6. In these, D is a cover capable of sliding in guides in the letter box plates C,
and having the desired name thereon and the word "Letters" preferably in smaller
characters. is a thumb piece by which the said cover can be easily moved, so as
to open or close the orifice leading to the letter box. If desired, an escutcheon
bearing the desired' name may be secured to said cover, instead of displaying the name
on the cover itself.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
1. A combined postal letter box and name plate for the doors or gates of houses,
offices or the like, consisting of a suitable letter box plate C adapted to be secured to
the door or gate in proximity to the shute leading to the letter box, and a plate D,
(which bears the name of the occupier or the like and preferably the word "Letters
or their equivalent) adapted to cover said slute but to be readily removed from the
front of the same for the insertion of letters, etcetera, substantially as described.
2. In a combined letter box and name plate for the doors or gates of houses, offices
or the like, the combination with the lid or cover D hinged to or sliding in the letter
box plate C, and covering the letter orifice B' therein, of an escutcheon E bearing
the name of the occupant of the house or office and fastened by screws to the lid D
aforesaid, but adapted to be easily removed or another one substituted therefor,
substantially as described.
3. The various forms of combined letter box and name plate, each constructed as a
whole, substantially as described.
Dated this 11th day of July 1889
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Patent Agents for the Applicant.