Patent Grant
10582795
This invention provides a portable secure mailbox system that can be easily transported and put in place, without digging or other site preparation, but which provides a stable secure mailbox after installation.
Many communities use mailboxes that are located very near the street or road, such that a mail carrier can reach the mailbox while remaining seated in a vehicle. Presently, such mailboxes are mounted upon a post sunk into a hole dug into the ground and surrounded by concrete, or upon a brick or masonry pedestal. Those methods require the transportation of and working with heavy materials and mixing concrete or mortar.
In circumstances such as the setting up, taking down, and transporting of temporary buildings, the present methods of installing mailboxes are too cumbersome and expensive.
Mailboxes are frequently vandalized and stolen from. Roadside mailboxes tend to be located far enough away from a dwelling or building such that any motion-detecting security or recording system will not be triggered by activity at the mailbox, and therefore such activity is unlikely to be photographically recorded by the security system.
Roadside mailboxes are frequently struck by vehicles. Mailboxes installed using the present methods, when struck, are likely to be damaged beyond the point of being useable. Posts and pedestals are likely to be so badly broken and damaged that they must be completely replaced. Also, a vehicle striking such a heavy and fixed-in-place mailbox is likely to suffer a large amount of damage, and the vehicle's occupants are likely to be injured. Presently installed mailboxes do not function like modern-day highway barriers that are often filled with water or sand and are made to be firmly fixed in place, but yet will yield somewhat when struck by a vehicle, dampening some of the force.
What is therefore needed is a mailbox and support base that can be easily transported and put in place, without digging or other site preparation, but which provides a stable secure mailbox after installation.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,995,330 discloses a portable stand with rural mailbox accommodating means. The cited disclosure comprises supports and has reference, specifically speaking, to a portable stand that, as is generally the situation, is placed for use along the margin of a road or highway and that is expressly but not necessarily designed and adapted to mount and erect a rural mailbox for practical and available incoming and outgoing mail service.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,022,618 discloses a mailbox support apparatus. The cited disclosure comprises a mailbox support apparatus having a mailbox mounting plate attached to a hollow post member includes aground mount stake driving into the ground and received within the hollow post member.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,783 discloses a flexible mailbox stand. The cited disclosure comprises a stand for mailboxes that provides an elongated structural assembly that includes an upper section that is rigidly mounted to a mailbox and a lower section that is rigidly mounted to a fixed location. The two sections are coaxially aligned next to each other and urged towards each other through the action of a spring member that is pre-stretched inside the inner and lower sections. The larger the deflection of the upper section with respect to the at rest coaxial alignment with the lower section, the larger the recovering force that is created perpendicular to the at rest coaxial alignment.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,847 discloses a releasable mailbox mounting apparatus. The cited disclosure comprises a mailbox post mounting apparatus that includes a post bracket and a mailbox bracket affixed respectively to the ground support post and the mailbox respectively. The brackets include abutting plate-like members having aligned openings with the mailbox in the mail receiving position. A break away pin is secured within the openings to lock the mailbox in place for receiving the nail. If the mailbox is struck by a vehicle, the pin releases or breaks away and releases the mailbox and its support from the post bracket and the post. In one unit, a post-bracket has a post securement plate with an integral lock plate extending outwardly and vertically at the same releasable angular orientation as the post plate. A releasable pin passes through aligned openings to lock the brackets to each other. In another unit, the post bracket and the mailbox bracket may be opposed and telescoped U-shaped channels having vertical pivot bolt units to establish pivotal support. The overlapping channel sides include the pin openings receiving cotter pin that releasably locks the mailbox in place. The mailbox bracket may include a threaded end member having a horizontal axis for receiving a corresponding threaded pipe to which the mailbox is mounted.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,310,835 discloses a portable mail holder. The cited disclosure comprises improvements in clamps for the insertion of and the holding together therebetween of letterheads, billheads, noteheads, letters and other papers in a form convenient to carry or file so as to readily permit each item to be inserted between the clamping members or separately removed therefrom without disturbing the remainder of the items.
International publication WO 2007/097683 discloses a mailbox comprising a container with sides, a top part and a bottom part. The container is constructed as a first container portion and a second container portion where the first container portion is so constructed that its main part may be contained inside the second container portion. The second container portion is accordingly so constructed that it can contain the main part of the first container portion. The first container portion is provided with a first assembly flange that is intended to cooperate with a second assembly flange on the second container portion and that the mailbox, after having been assembled by means of the said first and second assembly flanges, can be provided with a partition wall that divides the first container portion from the second container portion.
This invention provides a portable secure mailbox system providing a mail container unit having a container-unit protrusion, a container-unit door, and a container-unit partition, a base anchor unit allowing filling with anchoring material such as water or sand, and having a base-unit recess, base-unit wheels, a base-unit removable plug, and a base-unit foot, at least one bolt and nut to secure the mail container unit to the base anchor unit, a powered sensor-transmitter unit to detect activity and transmit notifications, an optional solar array to recharge the powered sensor-transmitter unit, and an optional ornamental casing.
The portable secure mailbox system provides a mailbox and support base that can be easily transported and put in place, when empty, and, after the base anchor unit is filled with anchoring material such as water or sand, and the mail container unit is mounted upon the base anchor unit, provides a stable secure mailbox that can detect activity and transmit notifications. The portable secure mailbox system also provides a mailbox and support base that yield somewhat if struck by a vehicle, such that the mailbox remains functional and damage to the vehicle and driver is reduced.
Reference will now be made to the drawings, wherein like parts are designated by like numerals, and wherein:
Referring to
The mail container unit 1 has an interior void or empty area for containing mail. A container-unit door 12 provides a secure closure. A container-unit partition 13 can be closed to segregate a portion of the interior void or opened to allow for containing more mail or larger parcels.
A powered sensor-transmitter unit 5 is mounted at the top front of the mail container unit 1, as treated below.
The base anchor unit 2 provides a set of base-unit wheels 22 allowing the unit to be rolled when the unit is tilted back, which is helpful when moving and placing the mailbox during installation.
The base anchor unit 2 also has an interior empty or void space that can hold an anchoring material that can be a fluid such as water or a granular material such as sand or gravel. Often, the most convenient anchoring material will be water from a garden hose. A base-unit removable plug 23 is provided at the top of the base anchor unit 2 to put in or take out the anchoring material.
The base anchor unit 2 also has a base-unit foot 24 at the front bottom portion that both increases the bottom surface area and acts as a bumper so that, for instance, a wheeled vehicle will be discouraged from approaching to close to the mailbox and possibly damaging it.
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The portable secure mailbox system 10 provides a mailbox and support base that can be easily transported and put in place when empty. No digging or concrete work is required. After the base anchor unit is filled with anchoring material such as water or sand, and the mail container unit is mounted upon the base anchor unit, the portable secure mailbox system 10 provides a stable secure mailbox that can detect activity and transmit notifications.
The portable secure mailbox system 10 is particularly useful in situations such as the setting up, taking down, and moving of temporary buildings, such as a temporary encampment.
The portable secure mailbox system 10 also provides a mailbox and support base that yield somewhat if struck by a vehicle, analogous to water or sand filled highway barriers. The portable secure mailbox system 10 should remain functional and only require being put back in place, and damage to the vehicle and driver is reduced.
Many other changes and modifications can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit thereof. I therefore pray that my rights to the present invention be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.
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| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| WO 2007097683 | Aug 2007 | WO |
