Wall mailbox

Abstract

 SUMMARY
A wall-type mailbox is described, of the type affixed to a vertical wall or face, intended to receive postal objects introduced by users through an access mouth and collected by means of a sack located in the interior of the mailbox body. Said mailbox consists of a general rectangular parallelepiped shape, having a tilted cover, equipped with a front access door to the interior, with rounded or bevelled edges, without corners; the cover is projected by means of a rounded front edge with a downward tilt, and the access door is practicable at an angle greater than 90º by hinging through a rod in relation to the vertical edge opposite that of the opening. The admission mouth has a fixed protection visor and closing mobile visor equipped with a downward-tilted flap. Internally, the mouth has a tilted plate that acts as a drop ramp for the postal objects introduced there through.

Description

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a wall mailbox that offers essential characteristics of novelty and significant advantages with respect to the means known and used for the same purposes in the current state of the art.

[0002] More specifically, the invention proposes the development and embodiment of a wall mailbox, of the type that is coupled and affixed to the surface of a face such as a wall or similar, prepared to receive in its interior an appropriate bag or sack joined to an access or admission mouth through which users introduce envelopes, letters and other documents, said access mouth being disposed in the upper part of a practicable door disposed on the front wall of the mailbox, sealed by means of a suitable lock, the door whereof closes an opening large enough to allow the person in charge to easily perform the extraction operations of the sack that contains postal documents in its interior and substitute it with an empty one. The access mouth for the letters and documents has been made directly in the practicable door, and is protected from rain and other external agents by means of both fixed and mobile visors.

[0003] The field of application of the invention is comprised, obviously, within the industrial sector dedicated to the manufacture of mailboxes with different applications and functionalities.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] The existence of multiple mailbox types and models installed in public thoroughfares and other places of access to users, intended for the reception of postal objects (letters, documents and such like) which are introduced into the mailbox through openings or mouths disposed at a certain height in the body thereof and which fall directly into the interior of reception sacks contained inside the mailbox and affixed by their access mouth to fixing points disposed in predetermined internal positions which guarantee that their entrance mouth is maintained in the open position so that the documents introduced through the admission mouth of the mailbox fall directly into the sack, is known to everyone in general. This mailbox concept generally constitutes the most common model, a large number of which can be observed in the most diverse places and positions in cities, shopping centres, hotels, etc. In accordance with this general concept, a form of mailbox classification could be carried out based on both the different places in which they are located and the general forms adopted by these in their respective known embodiments. In this manner, a common type that can be found in multiple cases, is that known as a wall mailbox, due to the fact that its usual position consists of affixing the mailbox body to the vertical surface of a face or wall, for which purpose the characteristics of the mailbox design are such that they allow its fixation in the aforementioned manner.

[0005] As mentioned earlier, wall-type mailboxes designed for being affixed to the vertical surface of a face, intended for the reception of letters and other documents already exist on the market, for which purpose they have, in the front part of the mailbox, an admission opening so that the documents can be introduced therethrough, and fall directly into a collection sack located in its interior.

[0006] Even though a mailbox with these characteristics perfectly fulfils the most usual needs that arise in relation to the provision of this kind of services, such devices are not nevertheless exempt from structural improvements that can perfect both their structural characteristics and their capacity for offering a greater service security guarantee to users and to the professionals in charge of carrying out the collection service. In this regard, the invention has deemed it convenient and advantageous to improve some aspects of currently known mailboxes, and to this end proposes the embodiment of a wall-type mailbox, essentially comprised of a body of a general rectangular parallelepiped shape, made of cold-rolledrolled steel plate, and the body whereof has rounded and bevelled edges to prevent the formation of any kind of protrusion that could represent an obstacle for the user, or even cause the users bodily harm, tear their clothes or any other drawback.

[0007] Due to being a mailbox intended for outdoor installation, the upper part of the body has been closed by means of a slightly tilted cover to facilitate the evacuation of rainwater or similar, which protrudes by its front part, also having a practicable door disposed on the front wall, which occupies an extensive surface area, said door being practicable with respect to one of the side edges along an arch having an angle greater than 90°, the door of which incorporates a transverse admission opening in a position next to the upper edge thereof, the dimensions of which are adapted to the requirements of the service to which it is destined, for the introduction of the postal objects, which is protected from rain and other external agents by means of a fixed visor and, underneath it, a mobile visor that falls under the influence of gravity, which the user lifts in order to introduce an object through said admission opening. Along the interior of the door, in correspondence with the lower edge of the admission opening, the installation of a tilted plate has been envisaged, which constitutes a drop ramp for the objects towards the interior of the collection sacks. Additionally, the back wall has elongated orifices for affixing the mailbox to the surface of the wall or other face to which it is applied.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] These and other characteristics and advantages of the invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of a preferred example of embodiment thereof, provided only by way of illustrative example and in an unlimitative manner, based on the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figs. 1 and 2

show elevational front and elevational side views, respectively, of a wall mailbox built in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 3

shows an elevational view of the mailbox taken from the rear thereof;

Fig. 4

is a schematic view of a section of the mailbox door; and

Fig. 5

illustrates a detail, on a larger scale, corresponding to the area of Figure 4 enclosed within circle D.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0009] As mentioned in the foregoing, the detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the invention will be carried out hereinafter with the help of the attached drawings, through which the same numerical references are used to designate identical or equivalent parts. In this manner, referring firstly to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, we can observe the elevational front and elevational side views, respectively, of a wall mailbox built according to the invention, obtained from a body having a general parallepiped shape with a rectangular base, indicated throughout by the numerical reference 1, made of cold-rolledrolled steel plate, as mentioned earlier, and in which the edges and/or angles have been rounded or bevelled for the purpose of preventing projecting or protruding formations that could represent a risk to users or to their clothes, the external surface of the walls being sufficiently smooth to ensure a finish free of defects or roughness, due to which the paint applied to said surfaces as a finishing element has a uniform appearance and is free of roughness.

[0010] Returning to the structural characteristics of the wall mailbox, we can observe that the body (1) is closed at the top by means of an upper cover (2), which is formed in such a manner that it has a slight downward tilt towards the front part, with a bevelled front edge (2a), the dimensions of which are such that it projects with respect to the width dimension of the body, forming a transverse band that protects the front wall of the body (1) from rain or falling objects. The front wall also includes a wide opening to access the interior space of the mailbox during the introduction of empty sacks and the extraction thereof with the postal objects in its interior, said wide opening being closed by a practicable door (3), equipped with a lock (4) and an admission opening located next to its upper edge, conveniently protected by a pair of visors, a first fixed visor referenced by the number 5 and a second mobile visor (6) that is hinged with respect to its upper edge, which covers and closes the aforementioned admission opening (3a), having a flap (6a) projected from its lower edge with a certain outward tilt which on being gripped allows the visor (6) to be easily opened by a user who wishes to introduce a postal object through the opening (6a). The door (3) can be lifted thanks to a hinging provided by a rod (not visible in the Figure) inserted in relation to the edge opposite to that of the positioning of the lock (4), said door (3) being susceptible to opening by means of an arch having an angle greater than 90°, as mentioned earlier, in such a manner that it does not represent an obstacle when accessing the interior of the mailbox.

[0011] Additionally, in relation to the front wall of the mailbox, the latter being a plate showing hours of mail collection, identified through the numerical reference 7, affixed to said front wall preferably by means of rivets (7a), or appropriate screws, disposed in the vicinity of each of its respective edges, said plate (7) being intended to provide users with information on usual collection times, in the same manner as in current mailboxes.

[0012] With regard to Figure 3, we can observe a simple illustration, in elevational rear view, of the mailbox body (1), which has only been represented for the purpose of showing the means for affixing the mailbox to the wall or support face. As can be observed, these consist of the provision of several elongated orifices (8), disposed in pre-selected positions to ensure the most suitable fixation for the body, and dimensioned to allow the passage of screws or other rods that allow it to be anchored to the wall to which the mailbox is affixed. It shall be understood that, although three orifices (8) appear in the representation, said orifices may vary in number, in addition to the positions chosen for making these, based on the fixation characteristics that one wishes to establish between the mailbox and the wall or support face.

[0013] With regard to Figures 4 and 5 of the drawings, we can observe other aspects related to the improvements introduced by the invention in the wall mailbox being described. Specifically, the aforementioned Figures 4 and 5 show two elevational side views, respectively, of a vertical section of a door, and of a detail (D) on a larger scale that affects the admission mouth area and of the elements associated thereto. According to the representation of Figure 4 and detail (D) of Figure 5, the door (3) has an opening (3a) that constitutes the admission mouth through which the postal objects are deposited in the body (1) for their reception by the sack (not represented) housed in its interior, with the usual dimensions of this type of access or admission mouths, the front part of which is closed by the hinged visor (6) having the portion (6a) of lower flap for the gripping and lifting thereof by the user. In both figures we can observe the horizontal hinging (6b), with respect to which the visor (6) can be lifted and then returns by its own means to its closed position under the influence of gravity. The position of the upper visor (5) is clearly visible in the figures, protecting both the top and sides of all the area corresponding to the mouth and associated mobile visor. Additionally, in both figures we can also observe how the door (3) of the wall mailbox of the invention has been internally equipped with a plate (9), welded to the door and disposed with a certain tilt towards the interior, preferably with an inclination of around 45°, which also acts as a drop ramp for the postal objects that are introduced through the opening (3a). In this manner, the falling objects are perfectly guided towards the interior of the collection sack (not represented).

[0014] Preferably, the joint between the different fixed elements that comprise the body or door shall be carried out by means of electric spot-welding, although other usual techniques known to persons skilled in the art could also be used.

[0015] It is not necessary to extend the content of this description further so that a person skilled in the art can understand its scope and the advantages derived there from, in addition to carrying out the practical embodiment of its object.

[0016] Notwithstanding the foregoing, and due to the fact that the description made only corresponds to an example of preferred embodiment, it shall be understood that, within its essential naturew, multiple modifications and variations to detail may be introduced, also included within the scope of the invention, and which could particularly affect characteristics such as shape, size or manufacturing materials, or any others that do not alter the invention based on the foregoing description and as defined in the following claims.

Claims

1. Wall mailbox, particularly a mailbox of the type disposed affixed to a vertical wall or anchoring and fixing face, the interior of which houses a collection sack for the postal objects introduced therein through an admission opening, said mailbox being comprised of a metal body (1) of a general rectangular parallelepiped shape, closed at the top by means of a cover (2) having a descending surface tilted forwards, the front body (1) wall of which incorporates an access door (3) to the inner enclosure and also supports a plate (7) showing hours of mail collection affixed thereto by means of rivets or screws (7a), characterised in that the body (1) has the structural characteristic of having all its edges or corners rounded or bevelled; the aforementioned upper cover (2) has a bevelled front edge (2a) that tilts downwards, and the access door (3) to the interior of the mailbox, equipped with a lock (4), is a practicable door susceptible to pivoting with respect to a hinging rod included in the edge opposite to the position of said lock (4), at an angle substantially greater than 90º, the admission opening (3a) being made transversely in the door (3), close to the upper edge thereof, to which a fixed visor (5) for protection from external agents is associated, and a mobile visor (3a), that can be lifted with respect thereto by means of hinging (6b) including in its upper edge, and having a portion (6a) of flap projected from the lower edge with a certain outward tilt.

2. Mailbox, according to claim 1, characterised in that the door (3) also includes, on its inner side and in relation to the lower edge of the opening (3a), an inward-tilted plate (9) which acts as a drop ramp for the postal objects introduced by the users through said opening (3a).

Drawing