US 4,703,850 AGranted

Shoe box

OwnerJimmie Walkerinventor

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Abstract

A shoe box is disclosed for safely and temporarily holding shoes of a hotel guest on the outside of a hotel room door so that the shoes can be picked up, shined and returned and which does not require that the hotel guest have a key to open the shoe box. The box is substantially rectangularly shaped and includes a top wall, a bottom wall and a pair of side walls. The back of the box includes a border around the perimeter defining an opening for insertion and removal of the shoes by the guest when the box is removed from the door. A hinged cover including a lock can only be opened by an attendant for removing the shoes for polishing or for replacing them. The top rear of the box carries a bracket which fits over the top of a door to suspend the box thereon with the back of the box flush against the door. Cushing material on the back of the box and on the inside of the cover reduce the noise which would otherwise be created when the box was being hung on the door or when the cover was being closed.

Claims3

Dependent claims

A shoe box for temporarily holding a guest's shoes outside of a hotel room door so that they can be picked up, shined and returned comprising:

a substantially rectangularly shaped box including a top wall, bottom wall, left and right side walls and a partial rear wall, the back of said box being substantially open except for said partial rear wall with said opening being large enough to pass a pair of shoes therethrough;
said partial rear wall being in the form of a border and including a bottom portion, a top portion and left and right side portions;
an elastic strap extending between said left and right side portions of said partial rear wall substantially centrally of said opening;
an elongated bracket secured to the top portion of said partial rear wall, said bracket being adapted to fit over the top edge of a door to support said shoe box thereon with said rear opening substantially flush against the outer surface of said door;
gasket means mounted on said partial rear wall to cushion said rear wall against said door;
a front cover for said box;
hinge means pivotally securing said cover to said box, said hinge means being connected to said bottom wall and to the bottom of said cover so that said cover pivots about a horizontal axis between a lowered open position and a raised closed position;
gasket means located on the inner surface of said cover for cushioning the same against said top and side walls when said cover is closed to reduce the noise generated from said closing, and
a key lock means in said cover for locking and unlocking the same to and from its closed position.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.