There are no related applications incorporated herein by reference.
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. 37 CFR 1.71(d).
This invention relates generally to package receiving devices mountable to an exterior wall of a home or business structure that is collapsible into a flat stored configuration and expandable into a lockable package receiving receptacle having a rectangular volume adapted to temporarily store packages therein.
Various package receiving devices have been developed over the years that are adapted to temporarily and securely store packages therein for retrieval by an addressee. However, the prior and related art are relatively bulky, heavy, complex, and expensive.
Accordingly, the present invention overcomes these disadvantages by providing an apparatus that is more compact, simpler, light weight, and lower cost.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of package receiving devices the instant invention is set forth. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved package receiving device with all the advantages of the prior art and none of the disadvantages.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved package receiving device that is more compact, simpler, lighter in weight, easier to use, and much lower in cost than the prior art.
In short, the instant package receiving device is adapted to be attached to a building wall, or a vehicle wall adjacent to a truck bed, and includes a frame and a series of pivotable panels attached to the frame designed and adapted to be stored against the frame in a collapsible configuration when not in-use and expandable into an in-use configuration forming a closable and lockable interior volume used to receive and securely and removably hold packages therein.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated.
Numerous objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of descriptions and should not be regarded as limiting.
The figures which accompany the written portion of this specification illustrate embodiments according to the teachings of the present invention.
The various embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings.
The embodiments of the present disclosure described below are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms disclosed in the following detailed description. Rather, the embodiments are chosen and described so that others skilled in the art may appreciate and understand the principles and practices of the present disclosure.
The following embodiments and the accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and form part of this disclosure, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, certain illustrative aspects of the invention are described herein in connection with the following description and the annexed drawings. These aspects are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the invention can be employed and the subject invention is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents. Other advantages and novel features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the drawings.
As illustrated in
Furthermore, the elongated left side vertical member of the frame includes a latch connector thereon; and wherein the first locking member of the right side panel is formed as a latch upon adapted to releasably engage the latch connector of the elongated left side vertical member, such that the package receiving device can be securely held in the stored configuration.
Furthermore, the elongated top cross member, the elongated bottom cross member, the elongated left side vertical member, and the elongated right side vertical member of said frame are formed having a rectangular cross-section.
Furthermore, the bottom panel is pivotally connected to the elongated bottom cross member via at least one hinge member, wherein the left side panel is pivotally connected to the elongated left side vertical member via at least one hinge member, wherein the top panel is pivotally connected to the top edge portion of the left side panel via at least one hinge member, wherein the front panel is pivotally connected to the left side panel via at least one hinge member, and wherein the right side panel is pivotally connected to the elongated right side vertical member via at least one hinge member.
The package receiving device 100 may further comprise at least one wall connector adapted to securely connect the frame to a wall. The wall connector may be selected from a group consisting of screws, and nuts and bolts. The frame may be formed from a material selected from a group consisting of iron, steel, and aluminum. Furthermore, in the preferred embodiment the rectangular volume is between 2 and 3 feet in height, between 1 and 3 feet in width, and between 2 and 3 feet in length. Furthermore, the first locking member may include a pivoting handle attached thereto and formed and adapted to be locked and unlocked to the latch connector of the frame via a lock key. Furthermore, the at least one second connector portion of the right side panel are formed as rectangular apertures, and wherein the at least one connector member of the front panel are formed as T-shaped tabs, such that the T-shaped tabs are sized and adapted to be releasably placed within and connected with the rectangular apertures of the right side panel, to thereby releasably hold the front panel in the in-use configuration with said right side panel.
The package receiving device 100 can be used in numerous environments. As shown in
Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that any arrangement, which is calculated to achieve the same purpose, may be substituted for the specific embodiment shown. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the present invention.
Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
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