US815585A - Rural mail-box. - Google Patents

Description

.No. 815,585. PATENTED MAR.20,1906.-

} c. r. FARRA-R} RURAL MAIL BOX.

APPLICATION rinzn NOV. 4,1905.

Wlf/VE QES: INVENTOR.

' A TOR/V5145.

' siding at Howell, in the county of Livingston UNITED- STATES PATENT onnron CHARLES F. FARRAR, OF HOWELL, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR T EBEN L.

HARRINGTON, OF GLENS FALLS, NEW YORK, AND JULIA A. FARRAR,

OF HOWELL, MICHIGAN.

RURAL MAIL-BOX.-

iatented March 20, 1906,

- Application filed November 4, 1905. Serial No. 285,807.

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that 1, CHARLES F. FARRAR, a citizen of the United States of America, re-

and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rural Mail- Boxes, of which the following is a specification, reference being: had therein to the ac.

. companying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in v mail-boxes for rural mail-routes; and its ob.

ject isto provide a suitable box .for the purpose having an indicator which will be automatically operated by the placing of mail in the box or ts removal therefrom to indicate such fact and to provide a very simple construction which is cheap to manufacture and not liable to get out of order, .all as hereinaf ter more fully described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a device embodying the invention, and Fig. 2 an enlarged longitudinal vertical section of the same with the cover raised. 7 in a I As shown in the drawings, 1 represents a rectangular receptacle or box which may be made of any suitable material and in any desired size or form, and 2 is a cover or top hinged at one side to said box and preferably inclined and provided with a flange or skirt extending downwardly over the edge of the box to effectually shed and exclude the rain. In one end of the box is an opening 8 through which the mail is placed in the box, and. this opening is closed by a door 4, hinged within the opening at its Lipper edge to swing inward its lower edge, so that it will close by gravity, a flange 5 being provided on its lower edge to engage the inner surface of the box and prevent the door from swinging outward through the opening. v

"Pivoted at 6 mtermediate its ends upon any suitable support within the box near the rear wall thereof and adjacent to the end provided with the door isa rod 7, and on the long end 8 of this rod is an indicator 9, formed of sheet metal 'and projecting through a slot in the bottom of the box. Above the short end 10 ofjthe rod and adjacent to the door a weighted pendant or latch 11 is pivoted at 12 to the rear wall of the box to normally hang arged to form a weight at by gravity vertically downward in engagement with said short end of the rod and is of such a length that when so engaged said short end will be held downward and the long drop by the weight of its long end and attached indicator, which will be projected some distance through the slot in the bottom of the box to indicate that there is mail in the box. A stop-pin 13 is provided onthe rear wall of the box to engage the upwardly-extending end of the latch above its pivot and prevent the latch from swinging downward toward the door beyond-its vertical position.

Attached to the long end8 of the rod 7 near its pivot 6is a cord or flexible wire 14, and the opposite end of said end is attached to the cover 2 a short distance outward from its hinge-line, so that when the cover is lifted and swung backwardon its hinges it will pull on the, cord, thus rocking the rodon its pivot .and raising the indicator.

thus rocked by the cover, its short end is low ered, thus permitting the latch to swing downward by gravity from the position'shown,

in dotted lines in Fig.2 ,into which it was swung by the insertionof mail, to engage said short end of the rod and hold the indicator raised or retracted. I j

With this construction the indicator is automatically displayed when the mail is placed in the box and is automatically retracted to indicate that the box is empty when the mail is removed, and, if desired, a lock may be used on the box to prevent the removal of mail, and it will be necessary to unlock it only when there is mail to remove.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim is. j

1.- The combination with a mail-box, of a movable cover for said' box, a door in said box for the insertion of mail, an indicator adapted to he released by the movementjof the door to permit the indicator to move to its display position, and means connecting When the rod is i roo the cover and indicator to move the indicator from its display position when the cover is moved.

2. The combination with a mail-box, of a a slot, an indicator within said box adapted to be projected through the slot, a door in said box adapted when opened to release the indicator to permit the same to be projected, a cover hinged to the box, and means within the box connecting the cover and indicator to retract the indicator when the cover is-raised.

5. The combination with a mail-box, of a gravity indicator pivoted intermediate its ends, a door in said box, and a gravity-latch adapted to engage the indicator at one side of its pivot to hold the same in its raised position, and adapted to be engaged and moved by said door to release the-indicator.

6. The combination with a mail-box, of a cover hinged to said box, a rod pivoted intermediate'its ends, an indicator carried by said rod at its-opposite" end, a gravity-latch to engage the indicator at one side of its pivot and hold the same raised, a door to close an opening in the box adapted to engage and operate the latch, and means attached at one end to the indicator at the opposite side of its pivot and at its opposite end to the cover to raise the indicator when the cover is lifted.

7. The combination of a mail-box having a slot, a cover hinged to the box, a rod pivoted intermediate its ends within the box, an indicator on one end of said rod adapted to project through the slot in the box, means attached at one end to the rod between the indicator and the pivot of the rod and at its opposite end to the cover, a door to close an opening in the box, a gravity-latch pivoted to the wall of the box adjacent to said door to engage the end of the rod at the opposite side of its pivot and adapted to be engaged by said door when the same is opened.

8. The combination of a 1n ail-box having a slot in its bottom and an opening in one end, a cover hinged to said box, a rod pivoted intermediate its ends within the box and forming a long end at one side of its pivot and a short end at the opposite side, an indicator on the long'end of said rod to project through said slot, a cord secured at one end to the rod between its pivot and the indicator, a door operating by gravity to close said opening in the end of the box, and a gravity-latch pivoted to the wall of the box ad acent to said door to be engaged and turned thereby and to engage the short end of the rod and hold the indicator raised.

In testimony whereof I a'liix my signature in presence of two witnesses;

CHARLES F. FARRAR.

Witnesses:

EBEN L. HARRINGTON, OTTO F. BARTHEL.

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