US 3,942,715 AGranted

Mailbox

OwnerFred E. Andersoninventor

Life of this patent

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Abstract

A rural delivery type mailbox having an elongated hollow container with a single mail receiving compartment therein, the container normally mounted adjacent a roadway and having a front end with a door therein for the insertion of mail into the compartment, and provided with a door in the rear wall of the container to permit removal of the mail from the compartment without having to force an individual to step into the adjacent roadway and expose himself to oncoming traffic. The rear entrance includes a door hinged at the bottom whereas the front entrance has the hinge at the top such that access to the mail compartment may be gained from both ends of the mailbox.

Claims1

Dependent claims

A rural type mailbox comprising, in combination:

an elongated hollow housing having a flat elongated rectangular horizontally extending bottom surface, a flat elongated rectangular horizontally extending top surface disposed above and spaced from the bottom surface, and a pair of spaced apart opposed side wall members vertically interconnecting the side edges of the top and bottom members;
a compartment defined interiorly of said surfaces and extending completely therethrough;
a vertical front end wall closing the front of the compartment;
a vertical back end wall closing the back of the compartment;
an opening in the front end wall providing access to the compartment;
a front door member pivotally attached along its top edge to the front end wall of the housing and adapted for swinging pivotal movement thereabout between a normally closed position covering the front wall opening and an open position permitting access to the compartment in the housing;
spring means associated with the front door member urging the same into the normally closed position;
a handle projecting outwardly from the bottom exterior portion of the door adapted to be grasped by an individual's hand to effect the opening of the door;
a magnet secured to the front edge of the bottom housing surface adjacent the bottom edge of the opening in the front end wall and adapted to magnetically engage the back surface of the front door when in the closed position to releasably secure the front door in the closed position;
an opening provided in the back end wall to provide access to the compartment;
a back door member pivotally attached along its bottom edge surface to the bottom portion of the back end wall and swingably operable between a normally closed position covering the back end wall opening and an open position providing access to the compartment;
spring means resiliently retaining the back door member in the normally closed position;
an elongated rectangular corrugated lining member disposed longitudinally along the interior bottom surface of the compartment and including a plurality of side-by-side transversely spaced apart and longitudinally extending ridges and valleys therealong in a manner to support the mail in the compartment resting on the ridges to maintain such mail off the valleys of the corrugated liner which might have moisture, dirt, and other contaminants thereon which would tend to spoil the mail;
signal means pivotally connected to the exterior surface of the back door and movable in a plane parallel to and spaced outwardly from the plane of the door, the signalling means being movable between an upright position projecting above the top surface of the housing and a downward position projecting outwardly of one of the side wall surfaces of the housing;
the signal means comprising:
a flat rectangularly shaped bar member having a flag like signal member connected at one end thereof with the opposite end projecting outwardly from the flag member to be pivotally connected to the exterior surface of the back door;
an elongated slot extending through the terminating end;
a pivot pin projecting outwardly of the back door and slidably engaged in the slot of the bar member to permit reciprocal movement of the bar member therealong;
a ridge like projection disposed transversely across the terminating end and projecting outwardly of the surface of the bar member disposed immediately adjacent the exterior surface of the back door, the ridge like projection adapted to frictionally engage the back door for retaining the signal means in a selected position;
the bar being pivotable and slidable about the pivot pin between an upright position and a down position;
a holding pin projecting outwardly of the back door adjacent one edge of the back door and adapted to support the bar when in the down position to retain such selected position;
the side wall members diverge outwardly at their midpoints such that the horizontal area in the compartment defined at the midpoints of the side members is greater than the horizontal area in the compartment defined at either the top surface or the bottom surface of the compartment;
such that mail and the like may be inserted by a mail carrier through the front door which is normally disposed adjacent a roadway, such mail being readily removed by an individual from the back door which is normally disposed away from the roadway.

20 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

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Abstract

A rural type mailbox comprising, in combination:

an elongated hollow housing having a flat elongated rectangular horizontally extending bottom surface, a flat elongated rectangular horizontally extending top surface disposed above and spaced from the bottom surface, and a pair of spaced apart opposed side wall members vertically interconnecting the side edges of the top and bottom members;
a compartment defined interiorly of said surfaces and extending completely therethrough;
a vertical front end wall closing the front of the compartment;
a vertical back end wall closing the back of the compartment;
an opening in the front end wall providing access to the compartment;
a front door member pivotally attached along its top edge to the front end wall of the housing and adapted for swinging pivotal movement thereabout between a normally closed position covering the front wall opening and an open position permitting access to the compartment in the housing;
spring means associated with the front door member urging the same into the normally closed position;
a handle projecting outwardly from the bottom exterior portion of the door adapted to be grasped by an individual's hand to effect the opening of the door;
a magnet secured to the front edge of the bottom housing surface adjacent the bottom edge of the opening in the front end wall and adapted to magnetically engage the back surface of the front door when in the closed position to releasably secure the front door in the closed position;
an opening provided in the back end wall to provide access to the compartment;
a back door member pivotally attached along its bottom edge surface to the bottom portion of the back end wall and swingably operable between a normally closed position covering the back end wall opening and an open position providing access to the compartment;
spring means resiliently retaining the back door member in the normally closed position;
an elongated rectangular corrugated lining member disposed longitudinally along the interior bottom surface of the compartment and including a plurality of side-by-side transversely spaced apart and longitudinally extending ridges and valleys therealong in a manner to support the mail in the compartment resting on the ridges to maintain such mail off the valleys of the corrugated liner which might have moisture, dirt, and other contaminants thereon which would tend to spoil the mail;
signal means pivotally connected to the exterior surface of the back door and movable in a plane parallel to and spaced outwardly from the plane of the door, the signalling means being movable between an upright position projecting above the top surface of the housing and a downward position projecting outwardly of one of the side wall surfaces of the housing;
the signal means comprising:
a flat rectangularly shaped bar member having a flag like signal member connected at one end thereof with the opposite end projecting outwardly from the flag member to be pivotally connected to the exterior surface of the back door;
an elongated slot extending through the terminating end;
a pivot pin projecting outwardly of the back door and slidably engaged in the slot of the bar member to permit reciprocal movement of the bar member therealong;
a ridge like projection disposed transversely across the terminating end and projecting outwardly of the surface of the bar member disposed immediately adjacent the exterior surface of the back door, the ridge like projection adapted to frictionally engage the back door for retaining the signal means in a selected position;
the bar being pivotable and slidable about the pivot pin between an upright position and a down position;
a holding pin projecting outwardly of the back door adjacent one edge of the back door and adapted to support the bar when in the down position to retain such selected position;
the side wall members diverge outwardly at their midpoints such that the horizontal area in the compartment defined at the midpoints of the side members is greater than the horizontal area in the compartment defined at either the top surface or the bottom surface of the compartment;
such that mail and the like may be inserted by a mail carrier through the front door which is normally disposed adjacent a roadway, such mail being readily removed by an individual from the back door which is normally disposed away from the roadway.

20 more elements