Secure mailbox system

Abstract

A mailbox system includes a mailbox assembly having a front opening door, the door being shiftable between a closed disposition and an open disposition, a mail depository being revealed by opening the door and an indistinguishable as a security feature secure mail storage assembly remotely located with respect to the mail depository and being in communication therewith, the mail storage assembly being lockable by an unobservable lock. A method of securing postal items in a mailbox system is further included.

Description

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation-In-Part of Ser. No. 11/073,031, filed Mar. 4, 2005, published as Pub. No. US-2005-0258226-A1 on Nov. 24, 2005, which in turn is a Continuation-In-Part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/404,613, filed on Apr. 1, 2003, published as Pub. No. US 2004/0195304 on Oct. 7, 2004. This application also claims priority to Provisional Application No. 60/758,589 filed Jan. 12, 2006. The above applications, in their entirety, are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to mailboxes. More particularly the invention relates to road-side mailboxes with security features.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Mailboxes for individual postal customers are an integral and necessary component in the operation of the US Postal Service. It is desirable that incoming mail be secured in the mailbox to prevent theft or observation of the incoming mail which may contain valuable documents, checks, credit cards, personal letters or other items of value to the mailbox owner that would cause loss or inconvenience if observed or stolen by an unauthorized person. If the person removing or inspecting the mail is not authorized, the authorized user of the mailbox may suffer either lost property or lost privacy. Lost privacy can be a very serious loss. A lock on the access door can restrict access to the mailbox to the person with the key to the lock, thus providing an improved level of security by limiting authorized access to the mailbox only those people who properly have a key to open the mailbox door. In certain settings, such as apartment buildings or offices where there is a single delivery point for numerous postal customers, locked mailboxes with the mail carrier having a key for delivery of mail is a practical solution.

A typical rural or suburban roadside mailbox, on the other hand, has a front access door hinged at the bottom and a side indicating flag, which is used to signal to a motorized mail carrier that outgoing mail is available for pickup. In the conventional mailbox, delivered incoming mail can be easily removed or inspected by anyone driving or walking by and opening the front access door. Simply installing locks and providing the mail carriers with keys or other means to access many different locked mailboxes to deliver incoming mail in a rural or suburban setting would be inefficient for the mail carrier and otherwise problematic.

Therefore, the access door needs to remain unlocked before the mail carrier arrives so the mail carrier can open the access door to either remove outgoing mail from inside the mailbox, deposit incoming mail into it, or both. After the mail carrier has deposited incoming mail and closed the access door, the access door would desirably lock shut to prevent unauthorized access to the delivered mail. The drawback to such an arrangement is that a self-actuating lock would lock whenever the mailbox door was shut by anyone. This would include a child toying with the mailbox door or a prankster or even the postal customer inadvertently shutting the door after they have deposited mail for pickup.

One of the solutions to avoiding unauthorized access to incoming mail is to have the access door remain unlocked at all times but having the incoming mail fall far enough away from the access door so that it cannot be retrieved by reaching into the mailbox through the access door. In this case, an authorized user typically retrieves the mail by unlocking a second access door close to where the mail has fallen. This solution requires a limited access door, restricting the size and quantity of mail that can be easily delivered. Also, the size of the mailbox may be cumbersome. Moreover, in such known mailboxes, for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,386, also see prior art FIG. 11, the additional storage area in these prior art mailboxes is readily apparent to a passerby. Such structure suggesting storage of mail invites intrusion.

Another solution to avoiding unauthorized access to incoming mail is to have the door be initially unlocked and then have it automatically lock shut once the door is closed. The door would typically be shut by the mail carrier who, after opening the mailbox and removing outgoing mail from it and/or depositing incoming mail into it, would close the door thereby locking the door shut. This provides the desired security if the mailbox door is not opened and then shut before the mail carrier arrives to deliver mail. However, if the door must be opened to add additional outgoing mail or otherwise check the status of the outgoing mail, the door will lock shut if it were closed. The outgoing mail will then be locked in the mailbox and unavailable for pickup by the mail carrier, and incoming mail will remain undelivered because the door is locked shut.

There are other examples of locking rural mailboxes in the prior art. For example, a mailbox with a slot opening design which does not provide full access to the mailbox, the access being restricted by the dimensions of the slot. Another example is a full access mailbox that allows the door to be opened once and locks upon the door being subsequently closed. Yet another example of a full access mailbox in the prior art requires the mail carrier to rotate an arm outside the box after installing the mail and closing the door. The rotation of the arm causes the door to lock shut so that it can be reopened only upon using a key.

It would be desirable to have a mailbox that mail could be delivered to in the conventional manner by the mail carrier from a vehicle (without the use of a special key) so as to not inconvenience the mail carrier, but that once delivered, the mail is automatically deposited in a secure location, the secure location being substantially unobservable to a potential tamperer or thief. The mail recipient should be able to readily remove the mail, especially from a vehicle stopped alongside the mailbox.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The mailbox system of the present invention substantially meets the aforementioned needs of the industry. Mail can be delivered to the mailbox system in the conventional manner by the mail carrier from a vehicle (without the use of a special key). Once delivered, the mail is automatically deposited in a secure vault by action of closing the mailbox door. The secure location and other security features of the mailbox system are substantially unobservable or indistinguishable or camouflaged as a security feature to a potential tamperer or thief. The secure location is locked at all times until unlocked by the mail recipient. The mail recipient is able to readily remove the mail from the vault, from a vehicle stopped alongside the mailbox or by standing in front of the mailbox system.

The present invention is a mailbox system includes a mailbox assembly having a front opening door, the door being shiftable between a closed disposition and an open disposition, a mail depository being revealed by opening the door and being indistinguishable as a security feature secure mail storage assembly remotely located with respect to the mail depository and being in communication therewith, the mail storage assembly being lockable by an unobservable lock. The present invention is further a method of securing postal items in a mailbox.

A feature and advantage is that the storage area is configured to appear as part of a solid conventional support structure for a conventional mailbox.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the mailbox system in the closed and locked disposition;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the mailbox system with the mail storage assembly in the open disposition;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of the mailbox system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cut-away side elevational view of the mailbox system;

FIG. 5 is sectional side elevational view of the mailbox system depicting the path of postal items upon closing of the mailbox assembly door;

FIG. 6 is a sectional side elevational view of the mailbox system with the mail storage assembly in the open disposition;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view of the latch depicted in the oval of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional view of the latch in the open disposition as depicted in the oval of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 9 is a side sectional view of the mailbox system with the mail storage assembly 14 in the open disposition and the shoe elevated for retrieval of postal items 32.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a different embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a different embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The mailbox system of the present invention is shown generally at 10 in the Figures. Mailbox system 10 has three major subcomponents: mailbox assembly 12, support assembly 13, and mail storage assembly 14.

The mailbox system 10 appears to be a standard rural mailbox mounted on a supporting post. The security features, as will be described below, are not apparent to the casual viewer of the mailbox system 10. By secluding the security features of the mailbox system 10 from view, the security of the mailbox system 10 is enhanced.

The first subcomponent of the mailbox system 10 is the mailbox assembly 12. The mailbox assembly 12 appears to be a standard rural mailbox and is compliant with US Postal Service standards. Accordingly, the mailbox assembly 12 has an arched cover 20 that may be formed of a variety of material, including metallic and plastic materials. The arched cover extends forward from a rear 21. Unlike a standard rural mailbox which has a floor that extends the full depth dimension of the mailbox from the door 24 (a component of the door assembly 18, discussed below) to the rear 21, the mailbox assembly 12 has a truncated floor 22 that extends inward from the door 24 a relatively short distance and terminates at a floor rear margin 23. As will be discussed in greater detail below, the floor rear margin 23 functions as a fulcrum.

The door assembly 18 of the mailbox assembly 12 has an arched door 24 with a rearward directed lip 26. The lip 26 overlies the outer margin of the arched cover 20 when the door 24 is closed for weather protection. A simple handle 28 is positioned proximate the upper margin of the door 24. A hinge 30 extends between the outer margin of the floor 22 and the lower margin of the door assembly 18 such that the arched door 24 may be pivoted downward to open the arched door 24. With the door 24 in the open disposition, postal items 32 may be inserted into the mailbox assembly 12 as depicted in FIG. 4.

Specifically, with reference to FIG. 4, a false floor 34 is disposed on the bottom of the mailbox assembly 12 overlying the floor 22 in a generally horizontal disposition when the door 24 is opened. The false floor 34 is hinged at its proximal end 35 to the door 24 by hinge 36. Hinge 36 is disposed approximately ¼ to ⅓ the distance from the hinge 30 to the top margin of the arched door 24. The false floor 34 extends rearward from the hinge 36 and terminates at its distal end 37. It should be noted that the distal end 37 is spaced apart, preferably by several inches, from the rear margin 21 of the mailbox assembly 12. An elongate slot 38 is defined in the false floor 34. The elongate slot 38 is preferably rectangular in shape.

A lock 44 is affixed to the floor 22 of the mailbox assembly 12. The lock 44 has a key post 40 that projects upward through the elongate slot 38. A removable key 42 (see FIGS. 6-8) may be disposed in a key slot (not shown) defined in the key post 40. The lock 44 has a forward directed, shiftable lock bar 46.

The second subcomponent of the mailbox system 10 is the support assembly 13. The support assembly 13 includes a foot 50, forming a base of the mailbox system 10. The foot 50 is preferably rectangular in shape, defining a relatively smaller box at the lower margin of the support assembly 13. The foot 50 may be slipped over a buried 4″×4″ wood post 51 or the like that is partially buried in the ground to support the mailbox system 10 in the depicted disposition.

Extending upward from the foot 50 is the upright support 52. The upright support 52 has a lower portion 54 and an upper portion 56. The lower portion 54 of the upright support 52 includes a generally planar back 58 and two opposed, generally planar, sides 60. The lower portion 54 is three sided, defining a front opening 62 that extends substantially the full height of the lower portion 54. A cantilever support 64 extends forward from the lower portion 54 and comprises a component of the upper portion 56. The cantilever support 64 underlies and supports the mailbox assembly 12. The cantilever support 64 has two opposed sides 66. Each of the sides 66 has a horizontal margin 65 underlying the mailbox assembly 12 and an inclined margin 66. The upper portion 56 of the upright support 52 is capped with a top 68 and an optional decorative device 70. As short front 72 depends from the top 70 to the arched cover 20.

The third major subcomponent of the mailbox system 10 is the mail storage assembly 14. As depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2, the mail storage assembly 14 is designed to be innocuously received within the support assembly 13 when in the closed disposition as depicted in FIG. 1. The mail storage assembly 14 is designed to be pivoted forward from the support assembly 13 when the in open disposition, as depicted in FIG. 2. It should be noted that the mail storage assembly 14 appears to be just a portion of the support assembly 13 when the in the closed disposition, thereby further obscuring the security provisions of the mailbox system 10 from an observer.

The mail storage assembly 14 includes two subcomponents: receiver assembly 74 and shoe 75. The receiver assembly 74 is generally three-sided, having two opposed generally rectangular, spaced apart sides 76 joined by a front 78. The rear margins of the sides 76 define a rear opening 80. It should be noted that the sides 76 are spaced apart slightly less than the sides 66 of the cantilever support 64 so that in the closed disposition of the mail storage assembly 14, the sides 76 may be received within the sides 66. The front 78 then appears to the casual observer to be the front of the upright support 52 of the support assembly 13. The receiver assembly 74 is pivotally coupled to the upright support 52 by a hinge 82. Preferably, the hinge 82 is hidden and is not discernable when viewing the sides 60 of the lower portion 54 of the upright support 52 in order to further obscure the security features of the mailbox system 10.

The upper portion of the receiver assembly 74 includes an inclined floor 84 and a transverse floor 86. The inclined floor 84 is preferably formed at an angle matching the angle of the inclined margin 76 of the cantilever support 64. In this manner, when in the closed disposition, the inclined floor 84 appears to form a portion of the cantilever support 64, thereby disguising its ability to be pivoted to the open disposition as depicted in FIG. 2.

The transverse floor 86 generally underlies the lock 44 when in the closed disposition of FIG. 1. The transverse floor 86 thereby comprises a lock cover such that the presence of the lock 44 may not be observed when the mail storage assembly is in the closed disposition, again, in order to further obscure the security features of the mailbox system 10.

An upward directed lip defines the side margins of both the inclined floor 84 and the transverse floor 86. The transverse floor 86 includes an interior, upward directed latch 90, as depicted in FIG. 2. The latch 90 has a transverse slot 92 defined therein. A grip 94 is affixed to the outside margin of the receiver assembly 74 proximate the transition between the incline floor 84 and the transverse floor 86.

The second component of the mail storage assembly 14 is the shoe 75. The shoe 75 is designed to be disposable within the spaced defined within the receiver assembly 74. The shoe 75 is not coupled to the receiver assembly 74 and is therefore readily removable therefrom. The lower portion of the shoe 75 comprises the vault into which the postal items 32 are transferred automatically upon closing the door 24.

The shoe 75 is generally rectangular in cross-section having a front 102 and an opposed, shorter rear 104. The front 102 and rear 104 are joined by opposed, spaced apart sides 106. An angled top margin of the side 106 extends from the rear 104 upward to the front 102. The shoe 75 includes a bottom 110. The shoe 75 defines a vault 112 at the bottom 110. Preferably, a grip 114 is formed proximate the upper margin of the front 102.

In operation of the mailbox system 10, the door 24 is opened as depicted in FIG. 4 to insert postal items 32 into the mailbox assembly 12. In this disposition, both the door 24 and the false floor 34 have a generally a horizontal disposition. The postal items 32 are supported on the false floor 34.

After the postal items 32 have been inserted, the door 24 may be closed. This action causes the hinge 34 to rotate through an arc of approximately 90 degrees from the horizontal disposition of FIG. 4 to the vertical disposition of FIG. 5. Such action causes the false floor 34 to both shift rearward and be tilted about the fulcrum defined by the floor rear margin 23 of the floor 22. Such action causes the distal end 37 of the false floor 34 to rotate downward as the proximal end 35 rotates upward, thereby resulting in a significant incline to the false floor 34. Such motion causes the postal items 32 to slide rearward on the false floor 34 and drop into the vault 112 defined in part by the bottom of the shoe 75, as depicted in FIG. 5. In this disposition, the postal items 32 are safely deposited proximate the base of the mailbox system 10. The mail storage assembly 14 is locked closed by the lock 44.

Retrieval of the postal items 32 by the postal patron is depicted in FIGS. 6-9. Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, the postal patron opens the door 24 and inserts the key 42 into the lock 44. Rotation of the key 42 causes the shiftable lock bar 46 to translate rearward clear of the slot 92 defined in the latch 90, as depicted in FIG. 8. The mail storage assembly 14 may now be opened, as depicted in FIGS. 6 and 8. The postal patron grasps the grip 94, pulling the mail storage assembly 14 forward and downward to generate the arc of motion depicted in FIGS. 6 and 8.

With the mail storage assembly 14 in the open disposition, as depicted in FIGS. 6 and 9, the grip 114 of the shoe 75 may be grasped by the postal patron and the shoe 75 may be pulled upward and forward to rest on the transverse floor 86. In this disposition, the postal items 32 may be readily removed from the shoe 75 by the postal patron from the window of a vehicle parked along side the mailbox system 10 or simply by approaching the mailbox system 10 on foot.

After retrieval of the postal items 32, the shoe 75 is returned to its disposition within the receiver assembly 74. The receiver assembly 74 is then rotated back to its closed disposition. The key 42 is again rotated, thereby shifting the lock bar 46 forward to engage the slot 92 defined in the latch 90, thereby locking the mail storage assembly 14. The mail patron then removes the key 42 and closes the door 24.

It should be apparent that in the locked disposition, the postal items 32 are secured within the vault 112 defined by the shoe 75 of the mailbox system 10. Further, the security features of the mailbox system 10, including the lock 44 and the rotatable mail storage assembly 14 with its receiver assembly 74 and shoe 75 is hidden from view to the casual observer. As distinct from prior art systems, there is no readily viewable locked door, which may tempt persons to break into the mailbox.

Referring to FIG. 11, a further embodiment is disclosed. A vertical rectangular port post 210 adjoins a horizontal rectangular post portion 212. The inclined portion 220 to guide the mail to the internal receptacle is not visible from the exterior. The fold out portion 226 is flush or recessed inwardly from the forward margin 230 of the side panels 236 to further hide the security functions. A recess 240 to grip the fold out portion is also hidden under the horizontal post portion 212.

Referring to FIG. 12, the support post assembly 260 may be entirely under the base 264 of the box portion 266. The width w1 of the post portion 270 may be the same as or greater than the width w2 of the cantilever portion 272 and the width of both the post portion and cantilever portion are preferably less than the width w3 of the box portion. Preferraby, the support post assembly is of one color, for example white, and the box portion is of another color, for example black or gray, thereby providing further “camouflaging” of the existence of the hidden vault.

Application Ser. Nos. 11/073,031; 10/404,613; and 60/758,589, are incorporated herein by reference.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit of the essential attributes thereof; therefore, the illustrated embodiments should be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being made to the appended claims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A mailbox system, comprising:

a mailbox assembly having a front opening door, the door being shiftable between a closed disposition and an open disposition, a mail depository being revealed by opening the door; and

a secure mail storage assembly remotely located with respect to the mail depository and being in communication therewith, postal items deposited in the mail depository being automatically transferred to the mail storage assembly upon closing the door.

2. The mailbox system of claim 1, the secure mail storage assembly being shiftable from a closed, locked, substantially indistinguishable as a security feature disposition to an open disposition for the retrieval of postal items.

3. The mailbox system of claim 1, a secure mail storage assembly lock being unobservable when the door is in the closed disposition.

4. The mailbox system of claim 2, the secure mail storage assembly being substantially received within a support assembly when in the closed, locked disposition.

5. The mailbox system of claim 2, postal items being deposited in a receiving vault located proximate a support assembly base when the secure mail storage assembly is in the closed, locked disposition.

6. The mailbox system of claim 1, the mailbox assembly having a shiftable false floor, inclining of the false floor effecting transfer of the postal items to the mail storage assembly.

7. The mailbox system of claim 6, the shiftable false floor being hingedly coupled to the door and being supported in part by a fulcrum.

8. The mailbox system of claim 6, the shiftable false floor being disposed in a substantially horizontal disposition when the door is in the open disposition and rotatably shifting about the fulcrum to an inclined disposition responsive to closing of the door.

9. The mailbox system of claim 3, the secure mail storage assembly lock having a key slot being disposed in a floor of the mailbox assembly, the key slot being accessible by opening the door.

10. The mailbox system of claim 3, the secure mail storage assembly lock having a shiftable lock bar, the lock bar being shiftable between a locked disposition locking the secure mail storage assembly in a closed disposition and an unlocked disposition freeing the secure mail storage assembly for opening.

11. The mailbox system of claim 1, the secure mail storage assembly including a removable shoe, the shoe defining a vault for receiving deposited mail items therein.

12. A mailbox system, comprising:

a mailbox assembly having a front opening door, the door being shiftable between a closed disposition and an open disposition, a mail depository being revealed by opening the door; and

an indistinguishable as a security feature secure mail storage assembly remotely located with respect to the mail depository and being in communication therewith, the mail storage assembly being lockable by an unobservable lock.

13. The mailbox system of claim 12, the secure mail storage assembly being shiftable from a closed, locked, substantially indistinguishable as a security feature disposition to an open disposition for the retrieval of postal items.

14. The mailbox system of claim 12, the secure mail storage assembly being substantially received within a support assembly when in the closed, locked disposition, in such disposition, the secure mail storage assembly being indistinguishable as a security feature.

15. The mailbox system of claim 12, postal items being deposited in a receiving vault located proximate a support assembly base when the secure mail storage assembly is in the closed, locked disposition.

16. The mailbox system of claim 12, the mailbox assembly having a shiftable false floor, inclining of the false floor effecting transfer of the postal items to the mail storage assembly.

17. The mailbox system of claim 16, the shiftable false floor being hingedly coupled to the door and being supported in part by a fulcrum.

18. The mailbox system of claim 16, the shiftable false floor being disposed in a substantially horizontal disposition when the door is in the open disposition and rotatably shifting about the fulcrum to an inclined disposition responsive to closing of the door.

19. The mailbox system of claim 12, a secure mail storage assembly lock having a key slot being disposed in a floor of the mailbox assembly, the key slot being accessible by opening the door.

20. The mailbox system of claim 19, the secure mail storage assembly lock having a shiftable lock bar, the lock bar being shiftable between a locked disposition locking the secure mail storage assembly in a closed disposition and an unlocked disposition freeing the secure mail storage assembly for opening.

21. The mailbox system of claim 12, the secure mail storage assembly including a removable shoe, the shoe defining a vault for receiving deposited mail items therein.

22. A method of securing postal items in a mailbox system, comprising:

providing a front opening door on a mailbox assembly, the door being shiftable between a closed disposition and an open disposition, revealing a mail depository by opening the door; and

disposing a mail storage assembly remotely with respect to the mail depository in a disposition that is indistinguishable as a security feature secure and communicating the mail storage assembly therewith, locking the mail storage assembly by an unobservable lock.

23. A mailbox comprising,

a front opening box portion with a box interior, the box portion having a door that has a lower hinge and swings open forwardly and downwardly, and a base,

a support post assembly connecting to and supporting the box portion, the support post having an open interior, a bin contained therein, the open interior of the support post operably connected to the open interior of the box portion whereby mail placed in the container portion can fall into the bin, the support post openable forwardly about a lower hinge for removing the bin and mail contained therein.

24. A mailbox comprising,

a front opening box portion with a box interior, the box portion having a door that has a lower hinge and swings open forwardly and downwardly, and a base,

a support post assembly connecting to and supporting the box portion, the support post having a post portion and a cantilever portion and an open interior, the open interior of the support post operably connected to the open interior of the box portion whereby mail placed in the container portion can fall into the open interior of the support post assembly.