Patent ID: 7182246

Claim:
A drop box for storing mail pieces, comprising: an enclosure; a first door-guiding track at a first interior side of the enclosure; a second door-guiding track at a second interior side of the enclosure, said second interior side opposite said first interior side; and an articulated door positioned to run in said tracks along a path defined by said tracks, the door composed of a first elongate segment and a sequence of additional parallel elongate segments each hingedly joined to a respective preceding one of the segments, said path including a substantially horizontal course and a substantially vertical course, the door movable along said tracks between said horizontal course and said vertical course, said door defining at least a portion of a floor of an upper portion of said enclosure when in said horizontal course, said door closing an opening in said enclosure when in said vertical course, said door positioned, when in said horizontal course, to receive a mail piece inserted through said opening, said door operative to drop said mail piece from said upper portion of said enclosure to a lower portion of said enclosure upon the door being moved from said horizontal course to said vertical course.