Patent ID: 7357297

Claim:
A device for visually indicating the opening of a door of a rural mailbox having an upper wall with a front edge, a bottom wall, a rear wall, an open front at the front edge of the upper wall, a longitudinal axis extending through the open front and the rear wall, the openable door having a lip that extends partially over the upper wall with the door in a closed position, comprising, a thin elongate single indicator strip having a first end and a second end distal from said first end, an upper face and a lower face, and opposed side edges, the length of said indicator strip between said first and second ends being substantially greater than the width of said indicator strip between said opposed side edges, said indicator strip being formed in a curved generally C-shaped rest configuration through the substantial majority of the length of said indicator strip of a flexible shape-retentive material with an inherent bias toward said rest configuration such that said indicator strip is deformable from said rest configuration to a flat configuration and will return to said rest configuration when released, said indicator strip to be connected at said first end to the upper wall of the mailbox proximate to the rear wall of the mailbox such that the substantial majority of the length of said indicator strip between said first and second ends extends outwardly in a non-linear curve from the upper wall when in said rest configuration, said indicator strip to be disposed on the upper wall in generally parallel relation to the longitudinal axis of the mailbox such that said second end of said indicator strip is aligned with the front edge of the upper wall with said indicator strip flattened directly against the upper wall against said bias from said rest configuration, such that said second end of said indicator strip is received and retained directly between the upper wall and the lip of the door when the door is closed and released when the door is subsequently opened, allowing said indicator strip to return to said rest configuration of the non-linear curve extending outwardly from the upper wall when the door is opened, thereby providing a visual indication of the opening of the door; and fastening means for connecting said first end of said indicator strip to the upper wall of the mailbox.