Curbside mailbox with convenient box handling features

Abstract

The present invention teaches a residential curbside mailbox with enhanced box handling capability, openable by barcode scanning, and with interchangeable bonnets. A body which is generally column shaped has front and rear doors which open at the top and hinge near the bottom and which have interleaved fingers or members extending from the bottom ends into the interior space of the mailbox. A box tray sits on the interleaved fingers. When either door is opened the fingers of that door lift the box tray upward and out of the box on that side. Thus a delivery person may access a box without leaving a delivery vehicle, while the homeowner may do the same without leaving the safety of the yard. In addition, an elastic cord and carefully slanted slots on side panels of the front door allow easy retention of a box even further up the front door.

Claims

1. A residential mailbox comprising: a columnar body having a vertical axis and a front; the front having a front door therein, the front door forming part of the front when in a closed position, the front door having at least one hinge allowing it to move to an open position by swinging outward at a top end; the front door having two side panels, the side panels concealed within the columnar body in the closed position, each side panel having a respective slot therethough, each slot being oriented at an angle to the vertical axis when in the closed position; an elastic member having two ends, each end having a respective fastener thereon, each fastener sliding within one slot whereby the elastic member is suspended loosely between the two slots and moves along the slots.

2. The residential mailbox of claim 1, the side panels further comprising: a relative angle between the front door and the side panels of slightly less than 90 degrees.

3. The residential mailbox of claim 1, further comprising: a first bonnet secured atop the columnar body, the first bonnet having a first letter delivery slot on a front side of the first bonnet.

4. The residential mailbox of claim 3, further comprising: a second bonnet which may be interchanged with the first bonnet to be secured atop the columnar body, the second bonnet having a second letter delivery slot on a front side of the second bonnet, the second bonnet having at least one LED light.

5. The residential mailbox of claim 3, further comprising: a slanted chute inside the residential mailbox, the slanted chute disposed so as to receive letters entering the mailbox via the first letter delivery slot, the slant of the chute allowing the letters to slide into a first letter drawer.

6. The residential mailbox of claim 3, further comprising: the front door having at least one member extending from a bottom end of the front door inside of the columnar body; a box drawer disposed within the columnar body, resting upon the at least one member when the front door is in the closed position, a center of gravity of the box drawer disposed on the at least one member of the front door, whereby the at least one member of the front door provides stable support for the box drawer.

7. The residential mailbox of claim 6, further comprising: the columnar body have a back, the back having a back door therein, the back door forming part of the back when in a closed position, the back door having at least one hinge allowing it to move to an open position by swinging outward at a top end; the back door having at least one member extending from a bottom end of the back door inside of the columnar body, the member of the back door being disposed so that the member of the front door and the member of the back door do not occlude one another; the center of gravity of the box drawer further disposed on the at least one member of the rear door, whereby the at least one member of the rear door provides stable support for the box drawer.

8. A residential mailbox for use with boxes, the residential mailbox comprising: a columnar body having a vertical axis and a front and a back; the front having a first door therein, the first door forming part of the front when in a closed position, the first door having at least one hinge allowing it to move to an open position by swinging outward at a top end; the first door having at least one member extending from a bottom end of the first door inside of the columnar body; a box drawer disposed within the columnar body, resting upon the at least one member when the first door is in the closed position, a center of gravity of the box drawer disposed on the at least one member of the front door, whereby the at least one member of the front door provides stable support for the box drawer.

9. The residential mailbox of claim 8, further comprising: the back having a second door therein, the second door forming part of the back when in a closed position, the second door having at least one hinge allowing it to move to an open position by swinging outward at a top end; the second door having at least one member extending from a bottom end of the second door inside of the columnar body, the member of the second door being disposed so that the member of the first door and the member of the second door do not occlude one another; the center of gravity of the box drawer further disposed on the at least one member of the rear door, whereby the at least one member of the rear door provides stable support for the box drawer.

10. The residential mailbox of claim 9, the first door having two side panels, the side panels concealed within the columnar body in the closed position, each side panel having a respective slot therethough, each slot being oriented at an angle to the vertical axis when the first door is in the closed position; an elastic member having two ends, each end having a respective fastener thereon, each fastener sliding within one slot whereby the elastic member is suspended loosely between the two slots and moves along the slots.

11. The residential mailbox of claim 10, the side panels further comprising: a relative angle between the front door and the side panels of slightly less than 90 degrees.

12. The residential mailbox of claim 9, further comprising: a first bonnet secured atop the columnar body, the first bonnet having a first letter delivery slot on a front side of the first bonnet.

13. The residential mailbox of claim 12, further comprising: a second bonnet which may be interchanged with the first bonnet to be secured atop the columnar body, the second bonnet having a second letter delivery slot on a front side of the second bonnet, the second bonnet having at least one LED light.

14. The residential mailbox of claim 13, further comprising: a slanted chute inside the residential mailbox, the slanted chute disposed so as to receive letters entering the mailbox via the first letter delivery slot, the slant of the chute allowing the letters to slide into a first letter drawer.

15. The residential mailbox of claim 12, for use with a first barcode, the residential mailbox further comprising: a second bonnet which may be interchanged with the first bonnet and be secured atop the columnar body, the second bonnet having a second letter delivery slot on a front side of the second bonnet; the second bonnet having within it a barcode scanner oriented to scan such first barcode when such first barcode is placed near the front side of the second bonnet; the first door having thereon a first solenoid, the first solenoid operative to open the first door when the barcode scanner scans such first barcode.

16. The residential mailbox of claim 13, further comprising: at least one LED light within the bonnet, the LED light disposed to illuminate the first letter drawer and the first box drawer; a camera operative to create an image of the first letter drawer and the first box drawer; a radio frequency connection operative to transmit the image.

17. The residential mailbox of claim 13 for use with a home safety system, the residential mailbox further comprising: at least one LED light disposed upon an exterior of the second bonnet; a radio frequency connection to the home safety system, the home safety system operative to activate the at least one LED light.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The following drawings form part of the present specification and are included to further demonstrate certain aspects of the present invention. The invention may be better understood by reference to one or more of these drawings in combination with the detailed description of specific embodiments presented herein.

(2) FIG. 1 is a transparent front side view of the invention showing the front (delivery person) door and an aperture for depositing mail.

(3) FIG. 2 is a transparent side view of the invention showing a house number and in partial transparency, details of the mail chute and return package holder of the invention.

(4) FIG. 3 is an elevation perspective view of the mail box showing the top bonnet, front and side of the invention.

(5) FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the invention showing details of the fingers on both front and back door which allow the box drawer in the bottom of the box to be lifted out by either door.

(6) FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the components of the invention, including the front door, back door, sides, base parts, drawers, chute, bonnet, number sign and so on.

(7) FIG. 6 is a non-transparent side view of the box of the invention with the front door open, showing the box shelf lifted by the fingers of the front door.

(8) FIG. 7 is a non-transparent side view of the box of the invention with the back door open, showing the same box shelf is now lifted by the fingers of the back door.

(9) FIG. 8 is a view of the front door assembly, including not just the one-piece front door but also the two angled slots on the door side panels, the bungy cord and the fasteners holding the bungy cord to the slots.

(10) FIG. 9 is a view of the assembled box similar to FIG. 3, but showing that optionally a second interchangeable bonnet may be provided as part of the invention.

(11) FIG. 10 is an underside view of a bonnet having electrical features including an internal light, internal and external cameras, a bar code scanner and supporting equipment.

(12) FIG. 11 is a picture of an assembled box similar to FIG. 3 but also showing the security warning and identification lights and an RF connection to a home security/medical system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

(13) Glossary

(14) For purposes of this application and claims, the term slightly less than 90 degrees means an angle of 80 to 89.99 degrees.

(15) For purposes of this application and claims, columnar means having the general aspect of a column e.g. being tall and narrow. In the presently preferred embodiments of the present invention, this includes being a generally rectanguloid body oriented with a vertical axis which is longer than the two horizontal axes.

(16) An elastic member for purposes of this application and claims refers to items such as bungy cords, stretchable cords, rubber or polymer strings and cables, elastic bands such as are used in clothing and the like.

(17) End Glossary

(18) FIG. 1 is a transparent front side view of the invention showing the front (delivery person) door and an aperture for depositing mail, and FIG. 2 is a transparent side view of the invention showing a house number and in partial transparency, details of the mail chute and return package holder of the invention. FIG. 3 is an elevation perspective view of the mail box showing the top bonnet, front and side of the invention and FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the invention showing details of the fingers on both front and back door which allow the box drawer in the bottom of the box to be lifted out by either door.

(19) a. Mailbox 100 has a generally rectangular columnar body 130 which narrows a bit near the middle. Delivery door 102 is also called the front door in this application, and with delivery aperture 104 is oriented toward the street, so that a delivery person in a vehicle can easily open either the door 102 or the aperture 104 and insert either a box (through the door 102) or a letter (through aperture 104).
b. One very important feature of the invention is that the pan in the bottom of the body which holds boxes and packages may be raised up and lifted toward either the front door or the back door upon opening. This, and equipment to allow easy access to a box by a delivery person seated in a vehicle (rather than getting out of their vehicle in the street) are much more important than the mere provision of two doors, and will be discussed in greater detail elsewhere.

(20) Hinges 106a, 106b respectively serve the front door 102 and the owner's door, the back door, which faces away from the street so that the home owner may easily and safely open the mailbox without stepping into the street.

(21) Latch 108 may be manual, keyed or keypad or combination or the like, or it may be automated, operated by an actuator such as a solenoid, and controlled by a bar code scanner or the like.

(22) Bonnet 110 may be an important part of the invention. In particular, the invention may have a basic bonnet which is nothing more than a rain hat or roof to keep the elements out of the columnar body of the mailbox, or it may be an enhanced or upgraded bonnet having a solar cell and various electrical functionality described later, including lights and so on.

(23) House number 112 may be seen to be a multi-layer structure and may have a glowing or light emitting background allowing the house number to be more easily seen in low-light conditions such as bad weather or night-time. The house number 112 may be present on one or both sides of the invention, and may also be present, in alternative embodiments, on the front or rear doors.

(24) Flag 114 may be raised and lowered to indicate the presence of mail. However, there are better and more modern ways to indicate mail arrival, as discussed below.

(25) Letter chute 116 is a generally smooth and slanted surface which is located just below the aperture 104, allowing letters to slide gentely downward, and further into the columnar body toward the rear, until they land in letter drawer 118. It may be seen in later diagrams that letter drawer 118 slides out of the rear of the body when the rear door is opened, allowing the homeowner to obtain typical letter type mail without bending down.

(26) Slanted slot 120 is located on the side panel of the front door, and carried in it fastener/rider 122, which in turn carries one end of an elastic cord, such as a thin Bungy cord or the like. A matching slanted slot and rider on another side panel of the front door carry the other end of the cord. The cord may be used to retain a package to be returned, that is, a package which the homeowner has placed in the box for the delivery person to pick up. (This happens for example when an online product is returned.) When the elastic cord is placed around a returned package, the package will cling to the interior of the front door 102. When the front/delivery door 102 is opened, the package will be carried forward toward the delivery person, making it easier for the delivery person to pick up the box. The fingers on the front door 126 (seen in FIG. 4), will also lift up a pan in the bottom of the column 130 so that the returned package will be lifted from the bottom as well.

(27) Base 124 may be materials designed to withstand contact with the ground, such as stainless steel or the like.

(28) Fingers (front door) 126 and fingers (rear door) 128 will both lift the same pan from the bottom of the columnar body 130 toward whichever direction the box is opened from. Thus if the homeowner opens the rear door, the pan is lifted toward the rear, but if the delivery person opens the front door, the same pan is lifted toward the front.

(29) FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the components of the invention, including the front door, back door, sides, base parts, drawers, chute, bonnet, number sign and so on. Front door ass'y 202 has two side panels (which are not the same as the side assemblies (208)). The front door assembly 202 carries an elastic member in two slanted slots 226 in the sides of the front door. The front door sides may be not quite parallel but may slant inward just a very small amount, a few degrees. This in turns mean that when the elastic cord is pulled outward by a someone putting a package into the elastic, the elastic cord ends (on small riders in the slanted slots 226) are pulled to parts of the side panels which are closer, loosening the elastic and making removal or insertion of the package easier.

(30) Rear door ass'y 204 and the front door 202 fit between frame members 206a, 206b and then with side assemblies 208 forms the columnar body

(31) Bonnet 210 is interchangeable without disturbing other structures of the invention. Thus one bonnet 210 may be removed without any other part of the columnar body being removed, then the bonnet 210 may be replaced with another bonnet.

(32) Base assembly 212 is designed to be seated either directly into the earth or into a foundation of some type, without excessive degradation, rust or rot. Bottom 214 does not hold box shelf 216 directly, rather, the front door fingers 230 and the rear door fingers 232 actually hold the box shelf 216. When either door is opened, that set of fingers then raise the box shelf along with any parcel sitting on the bottom of the box, and turn it while moving it sideways toward the direction of the door being opened: at the end of the door's swing, the package on the box shelf 216 will actually be largely outside of the columnar body.

(33) Letter drawer 218 on the other hand is designed in the best mode now contemplated and presently preferred embodiment to slid out only toward the rear when the rear door is opened. (Letters are only deposited from the front, via aperture 228).

(34) Upper shelf 220 holds the letter drawer 218.

(35) Letter chute 222 gently slides anything deposited in letter aperture 228 down to the letter drawer 218.

(36) House number assembly 224 may include a glowing back panel to that the numbers of the home are more clearly visible in low light.

(37) Front door side panel 234 carries on it the slanted slot which in turn carries the rider, which in turn is attached to the end of an elastic cord.

(38) Rear door side panel 236 on the other hand may not have these parts, in embodiments.

(39) FIG. 6 is a non-transparent side view of the box of the invention with the front door open, showing the box shelf lifted by the fingers of the front door.

(40) Mailbox 600 is shown with the front door ass'y 602 open. It may immediately be seen that the box shelf 606 and the front door side panel 604 will push any package which was sitting in the box shelf 606 to the center of the front door and further will push it outward from the columnar body and closer to the door opener. This is true even if the elastic cord stretched between the slanted slots is not used to hold the package.

(41) Box shelf 606 is depicted here in a rather tray-like shape, however, the preferred embodiment is not necessarily like this: the tray shape is obviously easier to see at the angle of this view.

(42) FIG. 7 is a non-transparent side view of the box of the invention with the back door open, showing the same box shelf is now lifted by the fingers of the back door.

(43) Mailbox 700 is shown with the rear door assembly 702 open, which can be carefully contrasted with the previous view (FIG. 6). It may immediately be seen in this FIG. 7 that the box shelf 706 and the rear door side panel 704 will serve like fences or rails and push any package which was sitting in the box shelf 706 to the rear door interior and further will push it outward from the columnar body and closer to the individual opening the door. Note that in presently preferred embodiments the rear door 702 has no elastic cord, slanted slots, etc.

(44) Box shelf 706 is again depicted here in a rather tray-like shape, however, the preferred embodiment is not necessarily like this: the tray shape is obviously easier to see at the angle of this view. The box shelf may be flat just as easily.

(45) FIG. 8 is a view of the front door assembly, including not just the one-piece front door but also the mail chute and aperture, the two angled slots on the door side panels, the bungy cord and the fasteners holding the bungy cord to the slots, all of which together comprise the convenience features for a delivery person accepting a returned package from the box.

(46) Front door assembly 800 has front door side panel 802 which in turn has angled slot 806. The angled slot 806 has a rider/fastener 808 (rather like the aglet of a shoelace but wider) therein which prevents the end of the elastic cord 810 from coming free, but which allows the elastic cord and rider to move back and forth along the slot. Note that the side panel 802 is not quite perpendicular to the front door itself, rather the side panels may be slanted toward one another just a bit so that when the rider moves along the slot toward the edge of the panel, some slack is generated in the elastic cord.

(47) Solenoid 812 is depicted in this embodiment as being on the door, but it may also be on the bonnet to make for easy retrofitting. The solenoid 812 may automatically open the door or unlock the door when a scanner indicates the presence of the correct bar code, or a keypad combination is entered corrected, a text message is received, and so on.

(48) FIG. 9 is a view of the assembled box similar to FIG. 3, but showing that optionally a second interchangeable bonnet may be provided as part of the invention.

(49) Mailbox 900 may have both a plain bonnet 902 and an enhanced bonnet 904 which may be sold together with the device, or may be sold separately. In one mode of employment, the device may be sold to a developer with the basic bonnet only, while the homeowners may then be offered the option to buy the enhanced bonnet. Either way, it is possible to remove either bonnet without disturbing the overall structure or the columnar body, and replace it. If solar power is used and wireless communication, and if the front door solenoid is located in the bonnet rather than the door, then no wiring work at all need be done to carry out the retrofit.

(50) FIG. 10 is an underside view of a bonnet having electrical features including an internal light, internal and external cameras, a bar code scanner and supporting equipment. Bonnet 1000 may have therein an RF transceiver 1002 such as might be used with Bluetooth or Wifi applications or with longer range (such as citizen's band). By this means, or by means of cellular service module 1028, or a data hardwire, it may communicate with the owner's mobile devices (such as telephones) and equally importantly, it may communicate with home safety services such as home security systems or LifeAlert, which monitors people with dangerous conditions. In addition, it may provide a security camera useful for the homeowner to see not only who is accessing their mailbox and also to view the area about the mailbox, up and down the street, and so on.

(51) Barcode scanner 1004 is one of the most innovative features of the present invention. When a buyer wishes to return an online purchase, the buyer usually prints out, from the seller, a mailing label having a barcode. The buyer places the mailing label on the package and then the mailing charge is paid by the seller. In the present invention, the buyer may furthermore communicate the mailing label to the mail delivery person, for example, by emailing an image of the mailing label with it's barcode. The homeowner/buyer may then inform the advanced mailbox of the present invention (with the enhanced bonnet) of the barcode number, and place the labeled package into the mailbox, presumably using the elastic cord on the delivery person's door. When the delivery person comes to the box, they scan the barcode they have printed out, which the mailbox recognizes and based on that bar code, the mailbox activates the actuator which opens the front door so the mailperson may retrieve the package.

(52) LED light 1006 may illuminate the interior of the mailbox so that internal camera 1008 may show the homeowner, via cellular module 1028 or RF 1002 (for example sending a text or MMS message including a photo or video) the contents of the box.

(53) External camera 1010 on the other hand, like the 360 camera discussed previously, may show the surroundings of the box: the person accessing the box, the street, the front yard etc.

(54) Controller 1012 and non-volatile memory 1014 will be understood to provide control over the functions of the advanced bonnet, by way of data bus 1016 and/or power lines 1018.

(55) Power supply 1020 may distribute power and in embodiments may control power sources, for example, switching to receiving power from solar power cell 1026 when it is generating electricity or switching to the battery 1022 when solar power is unavailable. Note that various combinations of these three power supplies mean that depending on embodiment, any could become optional.

(56) Verisign module 1030 would be an example of the manner in which the mailbox could cooperate with electronic signature systems to allow access to the box, and another potential method would be voice input/output 1032 (allowing speech recognition or simply use as a call box via screen/audio 1034).

(57) Text message module 1036 could allow the device to send notifications to the user via cell service module 1028: the text module 1036 may format the messages, use the camera to take photos, select from various pre-supplied text messages and so on and so forth.

(58) FIG. 11 is a picture of an assembled box similar to FIG. 3 but also showing the security warning and identification lights and an RF connection to a home security/medical system.

(59) Mailbox 1100 has a security light 1102 atop it. Note that in this simplified representation the light is depicted rather like an old-fashioned police car spinning light, however it is more likely that the light preferred will be LED, may be mounted to one side, and is likely to be shaped considerably more esthetically.

(60) Connection to home safety system 1104 may be wireless, and may be wifi or other short range radio, may be cellular service, or may be wired.

(61) 360 view camera 1106 may be replaced with a remote controlled camera, may be replaced with multiple cameras facing different directions, etc. It is shown enclosed in a weather protective bubble.

(62) Solar power cell 1108 frees the device from wired power.

(63) Bar code scanner 1110, as discussed previously, allows the device to be pre-programmed on a daily basis or as-needed basis to open when a particular bar-code/QR code is presented to the scanner.

(64) Throughout this application, various publications, patents, and/or patent applications are referenced in order to more fully describe the state of the art to which this invention pertains. The disclosures of these publications, patents, and/or patent applications are herein incorporated by reference in their entireties, and for the subject matter for which they are specifically referenced in the same or a prior sentence, to the same extent as if each independent publication, patent, and/or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.

(65) Methods and components are described herein. However, methods and components similar or equivalent to those described herein can be also used to obtain variations of the present invention. The materials, articles, components, methods, and examples are illustrative only and not intended to be limiting.

(66) Although only a few embodiments have been disclosed in detail above, other embodiments are possible and the inventors intend these to be encompassed within this specification. The specification describes specific examples to accomplish a more general goal that may be accomplished in another way. This disclosure is intended to be exemplary, and the claims are intended to cover any modification or alternative which might be predictable to a person having ordinary skill in the art.

(67) Having illustrated and described the principles of the invention in exemplary embodiments, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the described examples are illustrative embodiments and can be modified in arrangement and detail without departing from such principles. Techniques from any of the examples can be incorporated into one or more of any of the other examples. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims.