US3389854A - Letterbox plate - Google Patents

Description

June 25. 1968 L. COOPERSMITH 3,

LETTERBOX PLATE Filed Dec. 22, 1966 IN VENTOR.

United States Patent 3,389,854 LETIERBOX PLATE a Leo Coopersmith, Ivoryton, Conn., assignor to The H. B. Ives Company, New Haven, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Filed Dec. 22, 1966, Ser. No. 603,872

4 Claims. (Cl. 232-46) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE There is provided a letterbox plate for receipt therethrough of mail delivered by a postman, of the type having a hinged flap to cover a letter opening in a front plate of the assembly in such a way that when the flap is manipulated it uncovers the aforementioned opening in the plate. The flap has as an integral part thereof a hinge pin received in a complementally formed flange in the front plate to form a hinge connection between the two elements and the flange and flap are provided with coacting means to resist mutilation of the assembly when the flap is forceably opened.

This invention relates to letterbox plates and rel-ates more particularly to such plates of the type having a hinged flap to cover a letter opening in a base or front plate of the assembly when the latter is mounted on a closure such as a door in such a way that, when the flap is manipulated to uncover the aforementioned opening in the plate, which is aligned with a complementally formed opening in the door, mail may be inserted through the assembly and door by a postman.

' Heretofore such letterbox plates having hinged covers have, in at least many forms, been subject to the objection that force exerted on the flap, when the latter is opened, tends to mutilate the hinge connection between the flap and the plate, and it is not uncommon in such circumstances to have the flap pop out of the plate. Moreover, in such instances the plate and the flap may be permanently damaged when force is exerted on the flap in the aforesaid manner.

One object of the invention is to provide an improved letterbox plate having a hinged flap.

Another object is to provide in such an assembly an improved hinge connection between the base or front plate and the flap.

Still another object is to provide in such an assembly a plate and flap which coact in such a manner as to strongly resist mutilation of either by forces on the flap in a direction to open the flap, which forces might otherwise result in mutilation of the assembly as aforesaid.

A further object is to provide a letterbox plate for the aforementioned purpose having a hinged flap to cover a letter opening in a front plate of the assembly, which, when manipulated, uncovers the aforementioned opening in the plate, wherein the flap has as an integral part thereof a hinge pin received in a complementally formed flange in the front plate to form a hinge connection be tween the two elements and the flange and flap are provided with coacting means to resist mutilation of the assembly when the flap is forceably opened.

Still another object is to provide a plate and flap assembly of the aforementioned type which is simple to manufaoture and economical to produce.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary elevational, sectional view of a closure, such as a vertically hinged door, provided with a letterbox plate, embodying the invention, and showing the latter in elevational section;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view of a portion of 3,389,854 Patented June 25, 1968 the letterbox plate, similar to FIG. 1 and on a larger scale, showing the flap closed in full lines and showing it open in phantom; 1

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of theletterbox-plate assembly prior to completion of installation on a closure such as a door and illustrating in anexploded fashion certain fasteners which may be employed in the installation; and I FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view similar to FIG. 3 but illustrating the flap in open position, prior to completion of the installation.

In the drawing the base or front plate of the letterbox assembly is indicated at 10, the plate being elongated horizontally, as best shown in FIG. 3, and preferably formed of a suitable metal such as brass or bronze, for example. The plate 10 has a longitudinal opening 11 therein and the plate may be aflixed to a closure 13, having an opening 14 therein aligned with the opening 11, by any suitable fasteners, screws 12 (FIG. 4) being shown for this purpose. The fasteners 12 are covered and, therefore hidden from view when the flap 15 is in the closed position thereof.

In the illustrated form, the means shown merely by way of example for installing the letterbox plate assembly with the closure 13 includes a liner 10a within the opening 14 of the closure and a back plate 10b :having an opening therein aligned with the opening 11, secured to the closure on the face thereof remote from the face to which the front plate 10 is aflixed. The back plate 10b may be aflixed to the closure by screws as indicated in FIG. 3 or, if desired, the front and back plates may be interconnected, not shown, by male and female coupling members.

Hinged to the plate 10 is a flap or cover 15 constructed of a similar material and which may be conveniently formed as an extrusion having a hinge pin portion 16 as an integral part thereof interconnected with. the body of the flap 15 by a neck 17. As will be apparent from the foregoing and from the drawing, the cover and the hinge pin may be formed in one piece. The flap or cover 15 is provided with a forwardly extending (FIG. 1) longitudinal lip 18 along its lower margin by which the flap may be manipulated for access tothe opening 11 in the front plate for the delivery of mail. In the type of installation illustrated, the letterbox plate is installed on the closure 13 in a horizontal plane and as the flap 15 is hinged at its upper margin it tends to close by gravity.

In the area of the hinge pin 16 and to receive the latter, the base or front plate 10 is provided with an arcuate recess 19 extending lengthwise thereof in a shouldered flange of the plate 10. The flange and the plate 10 are formed as one piece. The surface area of the recess 19 in a direction transversely of the pin 16 is suflicient to retain the pin in the plate 10 when once assembled, the pin portion 16 of the cover being assembled with the base plate by relative longitudinal sliding movement of the parts. In other words, the cover or flap 15 having the pin 16 thereon is assembled by a sliding movement in a manner such that one end of the pin enters one end of the recess 19 and the sliding movement is continued until the aforementioned end of the pin reaches the fully assembled position thereof in which it is located in the other and of the elongated recess 19 in the plate 10.

Once assembled with the plate 10, the flap 15 is held against axial dislocation by a pair (FIGS. 3 and 4) of suitable headed fasteners, such as indicated at 24, each being received in one of a pair of recesses formed in the respective ends of the pin 16, so that the head thereof overlaps the aforementioned flange portion of the plate 10. Each fastener 24 may have a press fit, if desired, in its companion recess formed in the pin 16.

It will be-noted that the aforementioned flange having the recess 19 which receives the hinge pin 16 forms, thereby, the other element of the hinge connection. This flange has a longitudinal, distal and forwardly directed lip 20 which is fingerlike in cross section as best shown in FIG. 2. The distal end of the finger is rounded as at 23. The flap 15, in a location near but spaced from the pin 16, has a longitudinal lip 21 which also extends forwardly when the flapis closed, and which forms with the neck 17 of the flap a concave surface 22 complemcntally shaped with reference to the surface 23 of the finger to receive the distal end of the finger in the manner shown in phantom in FIG. 2 when the flap 15 is in fully open position.

In this position of the flap, the latter and the base plate lie inplanes substantially at right angles to one another as shown in the last-mentioned view. When the flap is in this position, the convex or rounded surface 23 of the finger 20 meets the concave surface 22 of the cover to form an abutment for the cover so that after these surfaces meet, on further opening pressure exerted on the flap 15, the stress (in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 2) on the finger portion 20 of the hinge connection is substantially lengthwise of the finger due to the aforemen tioned construction and arrangement, thereby tending to avoid any stress on the finger transversely thereof to inhibit bending or mutilation of the finger which provides at least in part, support for the pin 16 of the hinge connection.

It will be noted that the coacting surfaces 22 and 23 of the flap 15 and the base 10, respectively, provide abutments strongly resisting further opening movement of the flap 15 from the open posit-ion shown in phantom in FIG. 2. As previously indicated, this construction also inhibits dislocation of the hinge pin 16 in such a manner as to pop out of the plate 10, when there is force applied to the flap 15 in the last-mentioned position thereof in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 2.

In the illustrated form, there is shown in FIG. 1 a permanent magnet element 25 arranged lengthwise of the flap 15 adjacent the lip 18 in fiush relation to the inner face of the flap. The element 25 may have a press fit in the flap and coact with a similarly constructed and arranged magnet element 26 received in the plate in a location for alignment with the magnet element 25 when the flap is closed.

The magnet elements are arranged so as to have opposite polarities, thereby attracting one another and holding the flap firmly in the closed position thereof, as shown in FIG. 1. It will be understood, of course, that this magnetic force may be overcome by insertion of the fingers of a hand rearwardly of the lip 18 and force applied through these fingers in a direction to swing the flap 15 in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 1.

While only one form of the letterbox plate has been illustrated in the drawing and described above, it will be readily apparent to those versed in the art that the assembly may take other forms and is susceptible of various changes in details without departing from the principles of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

1. In a letterbox plate assembly for support from a closure such as a door having a mail delivery opening therethrough, a front plate adapted to be secured in fixed relation with respect to the outer face of the door and having means defining an opening therein in alignment with said door opening, said plate having at one side andextending lengthwise thereof an integral lip providing in cross sectiona forwardly extending finger, a flap cover for closing said opening in the front plate having as an integral part and extending along one side thereof a hinge pin lying substantially in the median plane of the cover and connectedto the body portion of the cover by a substantially straight neck portion also lying substantially in the median plane of the cover, said front plate in the region of the lip portion thereof having an arcuate recess for slidably receiving said hinge pin on assembly of the parts and thereafter hingedly retaining said pin for swinging movement with the cover to an open position wherein the cover is substantially at right angles to the plane of the front plate, said cover having means for manipulation thereof and having, when in closed position, an integral flange on the cover extending forwardly from the median plane thereof spaced from but adjacent to said pivot pin and coact-ing with the distal end of said finger to provide an abutment when the cover is in the last-mentioned position thereof to limit swinging movement of the cover in an opening direction, which when engaged imposes a substantially axial force on said finger when continued opening pressure is imparted to the cover, to inhibit mutilation of the front plate as by bending of the finger or dislocation of the hinge pin.

2. A letterbox plate assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein one of the coacting stop surfaces to limit opening movement of the cover is concave and the other is convex.

3. A letterbox plate assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein the distal end of the plate finger is convex and the abutment surface of the cover flange coacting with the finger is concave.

4. A letterbox plate assembly as defined in claim 3 wherein said finger on the plate has a portion thereof at substantially right angles to the median plane of the plate and a. distal end portion inclined at an acute angle to the last-mentioned plane.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 731,138 6/1903 Stearns 16--19l 2,852,802 9/ 1958 Seby 16-135 3,007,100 10/ 1961 Bettcher 1613 5 FOREIGN PATENTS 869,736 6/1961 Great Britain. 875,795 8/1961 Great Britain.

880,842 10/ 1961 Great Britain.

404,45 1 6/ 1966 Switzerland.

FRANCIS K. ZUGEL, Primary Examiner.

Images