Untitled record

Application filed June 25,1889. Serial No, 315,491. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Hugo Hill, of Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented a new and useful Improvement 5 in Mail-Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists in an improvement in mail-boxes, hereinafter fully shown and described.

io Figure 1 is an isometrieal view of a box embodying my invention, Fig. 3 is a vertical section on line x x, Fig. 1, and Fig. 2 is a perspective of the inner pouch removed.

The first part of my invention is as follows: 15 O represents a mail-box, which may be of any size or shape, the rectangular shape illustrated in the drawings being taken merely for convenience, and is provided on one side with a drop E, inclined from its outer to its 20 inner end, the outer end of which may be covered by a lid I, secured by the hinge J to the box.

L represents a door in one side of the box secured by a suitable lock.

D represents a detachable pouch provided on one side with an opening M, adapted to receive the inner end of the letter-drop E. For the purpose of closing the aperture M when the pouch is not connected with the 30 box, a flap F may be hinged to the interior wall • of the pouch D at the point II, and normally held over aperture M by one or more springs G, as shown in Fig. 2.

The pouch D is provided with a rigid front 35 Ν' and a rigid back N³, and its top and bottom and ends N are collapsible, whereby it may be extended when placed in the box O to substantially fill said box, and may be closed up when removed from said box to a 40 size merely large enough to accommodate the mail-matter therein for convenience in transportation. By constructing the pouch in this manner it is held upright when placed in the box O by the rigid front and back, thus dis45 pensing with the necessity of providing the box O with hooks for engaging the upper end of a pouch which is entirely collapsible, as in prior devices, which will be readily seen to be advantageous, in that it is simpler and 50 avoids the loss of time incident to hanging the pouch upon a hook or hooks.

The pouch D is preferably furnished with some kind of locking device, the one in use on small hand-bags being indicated by the letter &, and it may or may not have a handle, 55 as indicated in the drawings. The object of this arrangement is, first, to prevent letters which are mailed in the post-office box from being handled until they reach the post-office; second, to prevent accidental dropping of 60 said letters while being taken from the box and in transit to the post-office, and, third, to facilitate the labor of the collector by enabling him to remove all the letters in the box in one package, instead of separately or in 65 installments, as in the present system.

The operation of the device is as follows: The pouch D being in position in the box O, as shown in Fig. 3, letters deposited in the drop E are received by the pouch. When 70 the collector opens the door L, he slides the pouch D off from the drop E, the flap F closing as the pouch is removed from the drop, and replaces a similar but empty pouch on the drop by pressing the end of the drop into 75 the aperture M. This opens the flap F, which presses against the upward side of drop E and holds the pouch D in position on the drop. The door is then locked and the box is ready for the reception of further letters, while the re- 80 moved pouch, with its inclosed letters, is taken to the post-office. It is obvious that the pouch may be of any desired construction, and I do not wish to be limited in this respect, although I prefer the collapsible pouch for the reason 85 above stated.

The second part of my invention relates to a receptacle for newspapers or parcels which are too large to enter the drop E, and which are now frequently mailed by being simply 90 placed on top of the letter-box, where they are exposed to rain and liable to be displaced by wind. When this part of my invention is to be used with the first part above described, I divide the mail-box into two com- 95 partments B and C by the partition K, the compartment C being the letter-box proper, in which the pouch D is contained. The upper compartment B is provided with a cover A, hinged thereto by the hinges a, and 100 preferably made so that when open it will close by gravity. The compartment B pro

435,308 vides a receptacle for parcels or papers and protects them from the weather until taken up.