US2605073A - Mailbox support - Google Patents

Description

G. BUCK MAILBOX SUPPORT July' 29, 1952 Filed Aug. 5, 194a Patented July 29, 1952 (UNITED STATES A ll 7 2,605,073. MAILBOX sUProa'r Glenn Buck, Wittenberg. Wis. Application August 5, 1948, Serial No. 42,629

My inventionzrelates to improvements in mail box support and more particularly tosupports arranged for suspending rural mailboxes- The object of myinvention is to-provide a support for mail boxes that will permit the box to .be extended outward from a mounting to facilitate the approach thereof. v V 7 Another object of my invention is to construct a device of the character described in a manner that will retain the mail box in a horizontal position by means of gravity due to the angular method of mounting. 1 Still another object of my invention is to. provide a support that will yield in either direction when contacted by an impact.

A'still further object of :my invention is'to provide a support that will'retain the mail box in properalignment by means of a resilient spring member. I g

It is manifest to anyone familiar with the mounting of rural mail boxes, that it is imperative to support the mail box outward from its point of attachment so that the postal employee making the deliveries which is usually done from a vehicle, has ready access to the box without having to get too far off the road in bad wether or the like. It is also obvious that a mail box suspended. in this manner is in danger of receiving an impact from a snow plow or the like and must be mounted in a manner to permit it to yield in either direction with the impact, and retain its original position after the impact. All of these features are incorporated in the device described and claimed herein.

Other and further objects of my invention will become more apparent as the description proceeds when taken in conjunction with the drawings in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of the assembled device supported from a mounting shown as a vertical .post.

Figure 2 is a bottom view of the mail box and guard arrangement when mounted to a horizontal rod.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary cross sectional view of the mountnig post and bracket arrangement Figure 4 is a detailed fragmentary view of the end of the spring leaf in its contact with the rod and 4 Figure 5 is a cross sectional view of the contact arrangement taken at the line 55 in Figure 4.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views, and referring now to the same, the character l0 shows a conventional type of mail box such as is usually 2 Claims. (Cl. 248204) found in ruraldistricts. The box 0 isshown suspended outward on the topof a, horizontal'rod shown .as- H which forms a part of .the entire mounting when used in conjunction with; an

{angularly disposed rod l2, which is shown fastened to the horizontal rod by means of a coupling, l3 or in any other convenient manner. Obviously, the rods .H and 12 may beintfigrally formed if desiredso that they will be constructed of a'sing'le piece.

'I'hereis a bracket M which isconstructed of fiat steel or the like, having an outwardly projecting upper end 15 and a lower outwardly projecting end. It. To accommodate the angularly disposed rod l2 it is obvious that the bracket l 5 must be longer than the bracket lfijand the dis- ,tance or variation and the proportionate length of these ends l5. and it would bev governed by the angle of the rod 12 so as to keep the mail bo x l i suspended in a horizontal position onthejro'd'll.

The bracket hi is shown'fastened by means of bolts I! to a conventional type of post shown as H! and the lower end of the angularly disposed rod I2 is shown supplied with washers [9 to keep the rod l2 in a fixed relative position as to height.

The mail box In is shown mounted onto cross members 20 illustrated in Figure 2 and these cross members also act as supports for outwardly extending guard members shown as 2| for the protection of the mail box In when an impact is placed thereon. The cross members 20 are shown attached to the rod I I by means of clamp members 22 in the form of metal straps or the like and I show pins 23 disposed through the clamp members 22 into the rod 1 l to keep the entire mail box assembly and guard members in a fixed position and from turning. The guards 2| ar attached to the cross members 20 as shown at 24. The upper end It of the bracket I4 is provided with aperture 25 and a lower end It of the bracket I4 is provided with an aperture 26 through which the angularly disposed rod I2 is placed and which apertures act as a journal or a bearing for the rod l2.

There is a spring leaf 21 attached to the bracket Mat 28; this spring leaf 2! has a radial contour and projects outward from the point 28 and is equipped with a block 29 which may be welded onto the dependent end of the spring 21. The block 29 has a radial extending portion 30 which is arranged to engage a recessed portion within a recessed block 3| attached to the angularly disposed rod I2 and a pressure adjusting block 32 is shown wedged between the spring leaf 2! and the face of the bracket 14. This pressure ad- 3 justing block 32 may be fastened to the face of the bracket I4 or may be held in position between the bracket I4 and the spring 21 by frictional contact. Obviously, when the block 32 is forced downward, it will cause a greater amount of pressure of the block 29 into the recessed block 3| and the function of the blocks 29 and 3| is to retain the arm I I and I2 in a fixed position and due to ,the resiliency of the spring 21 it will be caused to disengage when the arms I I and I2 are radially moved due to an impact onto the guard member 2| adjacent to the mail box I0.

In the chosen embodiments of my invention there are features not heretofore disclosed in the prior art and although I have shown a particular arrangement of the component parts constituting the device I am fully cognizant of the fact, that many changes may be made in their form and,

configuration without effecting their operativeness or without effecting the spirit of my invention or'the scope oftheappended claims. ,Having thus described my invention what I 7 comprising a horizontal rod having a downwardly extending angularly disposed portion, a support bracket adapted to receive the angularly disposed portion of said rod,.a resilient member attached at one of its ends to said support bracket, said resilient member provided with a convexedcon- .tact, said downwardly disposed portion of said horizontal rod equipped with aconcave member,

said concave and convexed members placed in direct alignment with one another for maintaining said rod in a normal outwardly projecting position and arrangedto automatically return said rod to said normal position when said rod is, temporarily swung in either direction, and

means for attaching said support bracket to a stationary object.

2. A device of the character described to be used in combination with a mail box, said device comprising a horizontal rod having one of its ends extending downward in angular relation to said horizontal portion, a support bracket, said bracket equipped with an upper and lower portion extending outward therefrom, th e upper portion beinglonger than the lower portion, said upper and lower portions of said support bracket provided with apertures acting as bearings for the downwardly extending portion of said rod, a resilient member attached at one of its ends to said support bracket, said resilient member provided with a convex contact member, said downwardly disposed portion of said horizontal rod equipped with a concav contact member, said concave and convex members placed in direct alignment with one another for maintaining said REFERENCES CI TED The following references are of record in. the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 1 Name Date 533,619 Stuebing Feb. 5, 1895 1,487,625 Tollefson Mar. 18, 1924 1,505,439 Skreberg 1. Aug. 1-9, 1924 2,145,782

Townsend Jan. 31, 1939

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