Portable secure mailbox system

Abstract

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.

Claims

1. A portable secure mailbox system for installation on a mailbox site, having up and down, front and back orientation, the portable secure mailbox system comprising: (i) a mail container unit adapted to contain mail within an interior void area, said mail container unit comprising: (a) a container-unit protrusion on a lower portion of said mail container unit, adapted to provide a means for secure mounting, having at least one side-to-side opening; (b) a container-unit door at a front of said mail container unit, adapted to provide secure closure; and (c) a container-unit partition adapted to segregate a portion of the interior void area of said mail container unit; (ii) a base anchor unit adapted to contain an anchoring material within an interior void area, and having at least one side-to-side opening corresponding to said container-unit protrusion, said base anchor unit comprising: (a) a base-unit recess at an upper portion of said base anchor unit, corresponding to said container-unit protrusion, adapted to enclose said container-unit protrusion; (b) a set of base-unit wheels at a back lower portion of said base anchor unit, adapted to provide for rolling of said base anchor unit when tilted back; (c) a base-unit removable plug at a top portion of said base anchor unit, adapted to provide for filling and emptying said base anchor unit with an anchoring material; and (d) a base-unit foot at a front lower portion of said base anchor unit, adapted to provide additional stability and to discourage too close an approach to said mail container unit; (iii) at least one bolt adapted to provide attachment through the aligned side-to-side openings of said container-unit protrusion and said base anchor unit; (iv) at least one nut adapted to secure each said bolt; and (v) a powered sensor-transmitter unit adapted to detect movement within said mail container unit, and to transmit wireless notifications about the status of said mail container unit; where, in use, said portable secure mailbox system is installed by transporting said mail container unit and said based anchor unit to the mailbox site as separate units, filling said base anchor unit with said anchoring material, placing said container-unit protrusion into said base-unit recess and securing with said bolts and nuts, and activating said powered sensor-transmitter unit.

2. The portable secure mailbox system of claim 1, where the anchoring material is a fluid.

3. The portable secure mailbox system of claim 1, where the anchoring material is water.

4. The portable secure mailbox system of claim 1, where the anchoring material is a granular material.

5. The portable secure mailbox system of claim 1, where the anchoring material is sand.

6. The portable secure mailbox system of claim 1, where the anchoring material is gravel.

7. The portable secure mailbox system of claim 1, where said mail container unit is made from a plastic material.

8. The portable secure mailbox system of claim 1, where said mail container unit is made from polypropylene.

9. The portable secure mailbox system of claim 1, where said base anchor unit is made from a plastic material.

10. The portable secure mailbox system of claim 1, where said base anchor unit is made from polypropylene.

11. The portable secure mailbox system of claim 1, further comprising a solar array mounted upon said mail container unit, adapted to use solar power to keep said powered sensor-transmitter unit charged.

12. The portable secure mailbox system of claim 1, further comprising an ornamental casing adapted to cover said base anchor unit.

13. A portable secure mailbox system for installation on a mailbox site, having up and down, front and back orientation, the portable secure mailbox system comprising: (i) a mail container unit adapted to contain mail within an interior void area, said mail container unit comprising: (a) a container-unit protrusion on a lower portion of said mail container unit, adapted to provide a means for secure mounting, having at least one side-to-side opening; (b) a container-unit door at a front of said mail container unit, adapted to provide secure closure; and (c) a container-unit partition adapted to segregate a portion of the interior void area of said mail container unit; (ii) a base anchor unit adapted to contain an anchoring material within an interior void area, and having at least one side-to-side opening corresponding to said container-unit protrusion, said base anchor unit comprising: (a) a base-unit recess at an upper portion of said base anchor unit, corresponding to said container-unit protrusion, adapted to enclose said container-unit protrusion; (b) a set of base-unit wheels at a back lower portion of said base anchor unit, adapted to provide for rolling of said base anchor unit when tilted back; (c) a base-unit removable plug at a top portion of said base anchor unit, adapted to provide for filling and emptying said base anchor unit with an anchoring material; and (d) a base-unit foot at a front lower portion of said base anchor unit, adapted to provide additional stability and to discourage too close an approach to said mail container unit; (iii) at least one bolt adapted to provide attachment through the aligned side-to-side openings of said container-unit protrusion and said base anchor unit; (iv) at least one nut adapted to secure each said bolt; (v) a powered sensor-transmitter unit adapted to detect movement within said mail container unit, and to transmit wireless notifications about the status of said mail container unit; (vi) a solar array mounted upon said mail container unit, adapted to use solar power to keep said powered sensor-transmitter unit charged; and (vii) an ornamental casing adapted to cover said base anchor unit; where, in use, said portable secure mailbox system is installed by transporting said mail container unit and said based anchor unit to the mailbox site as separate units, filling said base anchor unit with said anchoring material, placing said container-unit protrusion into said base-unit recess and securing with said bolts and nuts, and activating said powered sensor-transmitter unit.

14. The portable secure mailbox system of claim 13, where the anchoring material is a fluid.

15. The portable secure mailbox system of claim 13, where the anchoring material is water.

16. The portable secure mailbox system of claim 13, where the anchoring material is a granular material.

17. The portable secure mailbox system of claim 13, where the anchoring material is sand.

18. The portable secure mailbox system of claim 13, where the anchoring material is gravel.

19. The portable secure mailbox system of claim 13, where said mail container unit and said base anchor unit are made from a plastic material.

20. The portable secure mailbox system of claim 13, where said mail container unit and said base anchor unit are made from polypropylene.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Reference will now be made to the drawings, wherein like parts are designated by like numerals, and wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 is a dimetric-projection hidden-line view of the portable secure mailbox system of the invention;

(3) FIG. 2 is a schematic view of installation of the portable secure mailbox system of the invention;

(4) FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the portable secure mailbox system of the invention;

(5) FIG. 4 is a dimetric-projection view of the portable secure mailbox system of the invention;

(6) FIG. 5 is a section view of the portable secure mailbox system of the invention;

(7) FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the portable secure mailbox system of the invention in use, in a sensing state;

(8) FIG. 7 is a schematic view of the portable secure mailbox system of the invention in use, in a transmitting state;

(9) FIG. 8 is a dimetric-projection view of a solar-array embodiment of the portable secure mailbox system of the invention;

(10) FIG. 9 is a schematic view of an ornamental-casing embodiment of the portable secure mailbox system of the invention; and

(11) FIG. 10 is a dimetric-projection view of an ornamental-casing embodiment of the portable secure mailbox system of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(12) Referring to FIG. 1, the portable secure mailbox system 10 provides a mail container unit 1 and a base anchor unit 2 that, in use, are securely connected together with a container-unit protrusion 11 fitting into a base-unit recess 21. The container-unit protrusion 11 and the base-unit recess 21 have corresponding side-to-side openings or holes to accommodate one or more bolts 3 secured with nuts 4.

(13) 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.

(14) A powered sensor-transmitter unit 5 is mounted at the top front of the mail container unit 1, as treated below.

(15) 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.

(16) 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.

(17) 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.

(18) Referring to FIG. 2, during installation the empty and therefore lighter base anchor unit 2 can be rolled to the mailbox site on the base-unit wheels 2. Once in place, the base anchor unit 2 is filled, through the base-unit removable plug 23, with an anchoring material such as water, which makes the base anchor unit 2 now heavy and stable. The mail container unit 1 is then mounted upon the base anchor unit 2, with the container-unit protrusion 11 fitting into the base-unit recess 21.

(19) Referring to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the portable secure mailbox system 10 is shown in exploded and assembled views.

(20) Referring to FIG. 5, the portable secure mailbox system 10 is shown in section view, showing the large amounts of internal void space in both the mail container unit 1, for holding mail, and the base anchor unit 2, for holding anchoring material such as water. Also shown is the powered sensor-transmitter unit 5 mounted with a lower portion extending inside the mail container unit 1 for detecting the status inside the mailbox, and with an upper portion extending above the mail container unit 1 for efficient transmission of notifications about the status inside the mailbox.

(21) Referring to FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, the powered sensor-transmitter unit 5, which is powered by means such as a rechargeable battery or a capacitor, detects the status inside the mailbox, including any opening and closing of the container-unit door and any placing things into or taking things out of the mailbox. This detection can be made with one or more known and available sensors such as motion sensors and proximity sensors. The powered sensor-transmitter unit 5 also wirelessly transmits notifications regarding the status of the mailbox, including the opening or closing of the door and the placement, removal, or presence of mail. This wireless transmission can be made using known and available equipment and protocols, including the Internet of Things or LoRa protocols. The powered sensor-transmitter unit 5 can therefore function as a motion detector for triggering such things as a security system to make photographic recordings during activity at the mailbox.

(22) Referring to FIG. 8, an embodiment of the portable secure mailbox system 10 provides a solar array 6, of the kind known and available, for keeping the battery or capacitor of the powered sensor-transmitter unit 5 charged.

(23) Referring to FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, an embodiment of the portable secure mailbox system 10 provides an ornamental casing 7 covering the base anchor unit 2 and part of the mail container unit 1, providing additional stability and a different appearance. The ornamental casing can be made to emulate bricks, as shown, or stone, wood, concrete, and other materials.

(24) 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.

(25) 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.

(26) 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.

(27) 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.