A mail box having a depository vault overlying a secure compartment. A main door and a flag door are independently rotatable to open and close an opening in the depository vault. The main door is attached to a mail platform for receiving mail in the depository vault. If the mail placed on the mail p
A mail box having a depository vault overlying a secure compartment. A main door and a flag door are independently rotatable to open and close an opening in the depository vault. The main door is attached to a mail platform for receiving mail in the depository vault. If the mail placed on the mail platform is incoming mail, the main door is rotated by the postman to the closed position to rotate the platform and deliver the incoming mail to the underlying secure compartment. If the mail placed on the platform is outgoing mail, the flag door is rotated by the user of the mail box to the closed position to provide an indication to the postman that the mail is to be picked up and delivered to the destination.
대표청구항▼
What is claimed is: 1. A mail box, comprising: a depository vault having an opening thereto for depositing and receiving mail in said depository vault; a secure incoming compartment underlying said depository vault; a main door rotatable to open and close the opening in said depository vault; a pla
What is claimed is: 1. A mail box, comprising: a depository vault having an opening thereto for depositing and receiving mail in said depository vault; a secure incoming compartment underlying said depository vault; a main door rotatable to open and close the opening in said depository vault; a platform mounted to said main door and rotated in unison with said main door, the platform adapted for receiving incoming mail thereon via the opening in said depository vault, and when the main door is rotated to a closed position, the platform correspondingly rotates so as to drop the incoming mail in said secure incoming compartment; and a flag door rotatable to open and close the opening in said depository vault, and wherein said flag door is rotatable without rotating said platform. 2. The mail box of claim 1, wherein said main door and said flag door are rotatable from respective closed positions to respective open positions without extending beyond said mail box. 3. The mail box of claim 1, wherein said main door is attached to said platform so as to be generally orthogonal to said platform. 4. The mail box of claim 3, wherein said platform rotates about an axis, and said main door is orthogonal to said axis. 5. The mail box of claim 1, wherein said main door is generally semicircular in shape to cover said opening in said depository vault which is also semicircular shaped. 6. The mail box of claim 5, wherein said flag door is semicircular shaped. 7. The mail box of claim 1, wherein said main door is fastened to said platform by a rod. 8. The mail box of claim 7, wherein said flag door has a hole therein through which said rod extends, and said flag door is freely rotatable around said rod. 9. The mail box of claim 1, wherein said depository vault is barrel-shaped, with a front and a back, said back of said barrel-shaped depository vault being closed, and said front of said barrel-shaped depository vault having a bottom semicircular half closed, and a top semicircular open half defining said opening in said depository vault. 10. The mail box of claim 1, further including a main door knob and a flag door knob, said knobs adapted for grasping and rotating said main door and said flag door respectively, said main door knob adapted for engaging said flag door knob so that when said main door knob is moved to rotate said main door to a closed position, said flag door knob is carried with said main door knob to thereby move said flag door to the closed position. 11. The mail box of claim 10, wherein said flag door knob is engaged with said main door knob so that when said flag door is moved to a closed position, said main door can remain open. 12. A mail box, comprising: a barrel-shaped depository vault having opposing ends, one end of said barrel-shaped depository vault closed with a planar side, and an opposite end of said barrel-shaped depository vault having a semicircular-shaped opening therein for depositing and receiving mail in said depository vault; a secure incoming compartment underlying the depository vault; a semicircular-shaped main door rotatable to open and close the semicircular-shaped opening in said depository vault; a platform mounted to said main door and rotated in unison with said main door, the platform adapted for receiving incoming mail thereon via the opening in said depository vault, and when the main door is rotated to a closed position the platform correspondingly rotates so as to drop the incoming mail in said secure incoming compartment; and a flag door rotatable to open and close the semicircular-shaped opening in said depository vault, said flag door rotatable to close the semicircular-shaped opening in said depository vault while said main door remains in an open position, and wherein said flag door is movable independently of said platform. 13. The mail box of claim 12, wherein said flag door is semicircular-shaped. 14. The mail box of claim 13, wherein an outside surface of said flag door is painted red to indicate outgoing mail in said mail box. 15. The mail box of claim 14, wherein when said main door and said flag door are both rotated to a closed position to close the opening in said depository vault, said main door covers said flag door, and when said main door is rotated to an open position while said flag door is in the closed position, the red color on said flag door is visible. 16. The mail box of claim 13, wherein said main door and said flag door rotate about the same axis. 17. The mail box of claim 13, further including a knob fastened to said main door and a knob fastened to said flag door, and further including a magnet for magnetically attaching said main door knob to said flag door knob. 18. A method of using a mail box, comprising the steps of: rotating a main door of said mail box to an open position to expose an opening in said mail box, thereby allowing mail to be deposited in a depository vault of said mail box; depositing outgoing mail onto a platform located in said depository vault and rotating a flag door to a closed position to close the opening in said mail box, and leaving the main door in the open position; moving the flag door to the open position to retrieve the outgoing mail deposited on the platform; and depositing incoming mail on the platform and rotating the main door to a closed position, where rotation of the main door causes rotation of the platform to thereby drop the incoming mail in a secure compartment located below said depository vault.
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이 특허에 인용된 특허 (9)
Swider,John T.; Fitzgibbons,Patrick J., Drop box for isolating received items.
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