US3054555A - Package delivery box structure - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 18, 1962 D. L. SAXON 3,054,555

PACKAGE DELIVERY BOX STRUCTURE Filed March 13, 1961 IN V EN TOR.

A T TORNEYJ;

BY M W Patented Sept. 18, 1962 3,054,555 PACKAGE DELHVERY BOX STRUCTURE David L. Saxon, 16729 Fern-way Road, Cleveland, Ohio Filed Mar. 13, 1961, Ser. No. 95,252 6 (Ilaims. Zl. 232-43.4)

My invention relates to box structures mounted in a wall for the delivery or transfer of packages or the like through the structure from one side of the wall to the other.

A common example of a package delivery box structure to which my invention is particularly suited is a box or chute mounted within a wall for the deposit of bottles of milk or other container within the box from one side of the wall, such as from the outside of a building, for subsequent removal from the box from the other side of the wall, such as from the inside of a building. Such structures may, of course, also be mounted in other walls in a building, such as in the wall between a hall or corridor and an inside room of an apartment or suite of rooms in the building.

The purpose of my invention is to assure that no one may attain ingress into a room through a wall through such a box structure by opening both doors thereto at the same time.

An object of my invention is to provide such a structure as to prevent both the inner and outer oppositely disposed doors of such a delivery box structure from being simultaneously opened.

Another object is to provide an efiicient and economical means for an interlock between inner and outer opposed doors of a delivery box structure so arranged as to permit either of the doors to be opened but not both of the doors to be opened at the same time.

Another object is to provide an improved structure assuring privacy and safety to the occupants of a house or room so that those on the outside of such house or room may not look through or reach through a delivery box structure in the wall of such house or room and utilized for delivery of packages and the like.

Another object is the provision of an improved structure meeting the needs for an economical and eflicient structure of this character and at the same time including means for preventing concurrent opening of both of the oppositely disposed inner and outer doors of the structure.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of my invention may be had by referring to the following description and claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

'FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a delivery box structure embodying my invention and showing the same unmounted or removed from a wall;

FIGURE 2 is a partial sectional view of my improved box structure showing the same positioned in a building wall with both doors of the structure in closed position;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional View similar to that of FIG- URE 2 but showing one of the doors in an open position and the other door in closed position;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view similar to that of FIG- URE 2 but showing the opposite door open and the door that was open in FIGURE 3 now in a closed position; and

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view showing detail of the interlocking arrangement between the doors and looking in the direction of the arrows 5--5 of FIGURE 2.

The Wall 11} may be the usual wall of a building, either the outer wall or an inner wall, through which delivery of packages or the like is desired. The wall has a usual rectangular opening formed therein for the accommodation of my delivery box structure.

The box denoted by the reference character 11 has two parallel spaced side walls 12 and two parallel spaced top and bottom walls 13, which together form a rectangular frame. Suitable channel members around the edge of the frame overlap the wall 10 and provide a finished bead appearance around the structure and help provide strength and rigidity to the structure, the channel members being preferably welded to the walls 12 and 13.

An outer door 14 is hingedly connected by outside hinges 16 to the frame structure along one of the side walls 12. The axes of the hinges 16 are adjacent one peripheral border of the passageway through the wall provided by the rectangular-shaped box structure 11.

*On the opposite end of the passageway through the box structure 11, that is, on the inside of the wall 10, there is hingedly connected an inner wall 15 by means of inside hinges 17 mounted to the same side wall 12 as was mounted the outside hinges 16. In other words, the axes of the hinges 16 and 17 are both disposed on the same peripheral border of the passageway but are spaced from each other in that hinge 16 is on the outside and hinge 17 is on the inside of the wall in which the box structure is mounted.

A suitable latch 18 is pivotally mounted to the outside door 14 in a manner which interengages with a catch member 19 secured to the wall structure along its edge opposite of the hinges 16. A suitable handle, not shown, is also attached to the inner door 15 so as to facilitate the opening thereof. Hooded vents 20 are formed in the outer door 14- so as to permit air to circulate within the box structure while preventing rain or snow from entering downwardly into the box structure.

An interlocking arrangement is provided by a pair of plates 21 and 23 mounted to the doors 14 and 15, respectively. The plate 21, sometimes referred to as a follower plate, is mounted to the inside of the door 14 by a bentover portion 21a of the plate 21 being welded to the door 14. The plate 23, sometimes referred to as a cam plate, is secured to the inside of the door 15 by a bent-over portion 23a of the plate 23 being welded to the door 15. The plates 21 and 23 are disposed in parallel planes closely adjacent to each other as seen in the drawing.

Mounted to the free end of the plate 21 is a pin 22 which is welded theerto and disposed to extend upwardly from the plane of the plate 21. The upper end of the pin 22 has a flattened end or button portion 22a and disposed under the portion 22a is a washer 22b.

The cam plate 23 has formed therein a slot extending vertically therethrough, which slot may be referred to as a camming slot. The camming slot has a long arm or portion 24 and a relatively short arm or portion 25 which meet and communicate with each other at the junction 26. The pin 22 carried by the plate 21 extends through the slot and the flattened end portion 22a and washer 22b, being greater in diameter than the width of the slot made up of portions 24 and 25, is maintained above the plane of the plate 23. The arrangement is such that the pin 22 may move along the long arm 24 and along the short arm 25 and may move between the arms 24 and 25 through the junction 26.

The short arm or portion 25 of the slot is disposed in an arc of a circle generally generated around the axis of the hinges 17. The long arm or portion 24 of the slot is disposed in an arc of a circle generally generated around the axis of the hinges 16.

When the door 14 is swung on the axis of the hinges 16, as to the open position shown in FIGURE 3, then the pin 22 travels in the arc of the long arm- 24 of the slot from the position of the junction 26 to the position shown in FIGURE 3. As long as the pin 22 is confined Within the long arm 24 of the slot, the interengagement of the pin 22 with the confining edges of the slot prevent the door 15 from being swung to an open position from 3 its closed position. For example, with the door 14 in the position shown in FIGURE 3, it is seen that the door 15 is held in a closed position and cannot be swung open.

When the door 15 is swung on the axis of the hinges 17, as to the open position shown in FIGURE 4, then the pin 22 travels in the arc of the short arm or portion 25 of the slot from the position of the junction 26 to the position shown in FIGURE 4. As long as the pin 22 is confined within the short arm 25 of the slot, the interengagement of the pin 22 with the confining edges of the slot prevent the door 14 from being swung to an open position from its closed position. For example, with the door 15 in the open position shown in FIGURE 4, it is seen that the door 14 is held in a closed position and cannot be swung open. There may be an intermediate position wherein the pin 22 is located intermediate the junction 26 and its position shown in FIGURE 4 upon the door 15 being slightly ajar or opened a very small degree which would permit the door 14 to be also opened a very small degree. However, be cause of the interlocking arrangement, both doors cannot be opened to any considerable degreerand in no case can both doors be swung to their maximum open position. For example, the door 14 cannot be swung to the open position shown in FIGURE 3 at the same time that the door 15 is swung to its open position shown in FIGURE 4. Thus, it may be accurately stated that the interlocking structure here described prevents the simultaneous or concurrent opening of both doors 14 and 15. This prevents unauthorized entry through the passageway, as for example, from the side of door 14 to the side of door 15, because when door 14 is opened, then door 15 is retained in a closed position. Conversely, when the door 15 is opened, then door 14 is retained in a closed position.

There is provided in the long arm 24 of the slot a dwell or enlarged portion 24a. By momentarily stopping the swinging of the door 14 to the position where the pin 22 is located in the dwell 24a, there is a slight retardation to further movement and a tendency for the door 14 to stay in the position determined by the location of the pin 22 in the dwell 2411. This aids in holding the door 14 ajar while deliveries are being made, such as when milk bottles are placed within the passageway formed between the box structure from the outside, that is, from the side of the door 14. However, by manually swinging the door 14 to the closed position, the pin 22 readily leaves the dwell'24a and moves along the length of the arm 24 of the slot to the position of the junction 26, that is, to the position shown in FIGURE 2.

It will be readily appreciated by those having knowledge of the problems of devices of this general nature and of the shortcomings of the prior devices, that there is herein provided a useful and important structure serving a useful function in a novel and eflicient manner.

The present disclosure includes that contained in the spaced transverse walls extending therebetween to description.

Although this invention has been described in its preferred form with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

What is claimed is: a

1. An article transfer compartment for mounting in a wall of a building comprising in combination, an openended frame adapted to be positioned in the wall of a building for providing a passageway therethrough and adapted to accommodate articles being delivered through saidpassageway from one side to the opposite side of said wall, said frame having spaced upright walls and spaced transverse walls extending therebetween to define said passageway, a first door hinged on said frame on a first upright axis disposed adjacent one of the upright walls of said frame on one side, a second door hinged on said frame on a second upright axis disposed adjacent said one of the upright walls of said frame on an apposite side, a first plate attached to said first door to swing in a horizontal plane upon the hinged swinging of said first door on said frame, a second plate attached to said second door to swing in a horizontal plane upon said hinged swinging of said second door, said plates being disposed in parallel horizontal planes proximate to each other, a pivot-pin member carried by one of said plates and disposed on an upright axis, the other of said plates having a slot formed therein accommo dating said pivot-pin member to permit said pivot-pin member to slide along said slot and to be confined between opposite edges thereof, said slot having a first leg and a second leg meeting at .a juncture, the first of said legs, being disposed in a horizontally disposed are generated on the first of said upright axes and the other of said legs being disposed in a horizontally disposed are generated on the second of said upright axes, said pivot-pin member being movable from one leg to another through the juncture of said legs, the confinment of said pivot-pin member in said slot to slide along only one leg at a time assuring that upon the swinging of either of said doors to open position the other of the doors is held against swinging open.

2. In combination, an open-ended frame member adapted to be positioned in a wall to define a passageway therethrough, a pair of doors hingedly connected to said frame member at opposite ends of said passageway to enclose the same, the axes of the hinged connections of said doors being along the same border of said passageway, a first plate member secured to one of said doors to extend toward the other of said doors, a second plate member secured to the said other of said doors to extend toward said one of said doors, said plate members being disposed in parallel adjacent planes, one of said plate members having a pivot portion extending therefrom normal to the plane of said one plate memher, the other of said plate members having a slot extending therethrough and accommodating said pivot por tion to slide therealong and to be confined against movement laterally of the slot by the edges defining said slot, said slot having interconnecting portions to permit said pivot portion to move from one portion to another, one of said portions being formed in an are substantially concentric with the hinged connection of one of said doors, the other of said portions being formed in an are substantially concentric with the hinged connection of the other of said doors, the confinment of said pivot portion in said slot permitting the swinging open only of the door corresponding to the slot portion disposed in an are centered on the axis of the hinges of such door and in which said pivot portion is then located.

3. Interlocking means interconnecting two oppositely spaced doors each swingable on pivot axes, respectively, the said pivot axes being positioned at opposite ends of a passageway closable by said doors and disposed on the same side of said passageway, comprising in combination, a pair of bracket members each carried by a respective door and extending toward the other of said doors to swing in parallel adjacent planes upon the swinging of the respective doors, one of said bracket members having a pair of arcuate slots formed therein inone of the said planes, said arcuate slots interconnecting at a juncture of said arcuate slots, one of said arcuate slots being substantially concentric to one of said pivot axes and the other of said arcuate slots being substantially concentric to the other of said pivot axes, the other of said bracket members having a pin portion carried thereby and slidably movable in said arcuate slots therealong, the swinging of one door on its pivot axis confining the said pin .5 portion in the arcuate slot concentric with the said pivot axis, and the swinging of the other door on its pivot axis confining the said pin portion in the arcuate slot concentric with the other said pivot axis, said confinement restraining against swinging open the door other than the door swung open on the pivot axis centered on the archate slot in which said pin portion is confined.

4. Interlocking mechanism connecting a pair of oppositely disposed spaced doors each hingedly connected to a supporting frame defining a passageway to permit swinging of each door on its respective hinge axis on the same peripheral edge of said passageway, comprising in combination, a cam guide member carried by one of said doors to swing therewith and a cam follower member carried by the other of said doors to swing therewith, each of said members extending inwardly of said passageway toward the other of said members in the closed positions of said doors, said cam guide member having a first arcuate guiding path defined thereby and a second arcuate guiding path communicating with the first arcuate guiding path, said first arcuate guiding path being concentric with the hinge axis of a first of said doors and said second arcuate guiding path being concentric with the hinge axis of a second of said doors, the swinging open of said first of said doors on its hinge axis shifting the second arcuate guiding path from concentric disposition relative to the hinge axis of said second of said doors, said cam follower member being engaged to said cam guide memher to slide along said arcuate guiding paths alternately from one arcuate guiding path to the other in accordance with the positions of said doors, the interengagement of said cam follower member and cam guide member in alternate of said arcuate paths causing either of said doors to be held from swinging open on its hinge axis upon the other of said doors swinging open on its pivot axis.

5. In a mechanism for restricting simultaneous swinging open of spaced aligned hinged doors, the combination of, a first member carried by one of said doors to swing therewith and having formed therein a continuous slot having two arcuately disposed portions, the first portion being disposed in an are centered on the hinge axis of one door and the other disposed in an arc centered on the hinge axis of the other door in the closed position of said one door, and a second member carried by the other of said doors and having a guide portion positioned in said slot to slide therealong and from one portion to another, the opening of said one door swinging the said other portion of the continuous slot from concentric disposition relative to the hinge axis of said other door, the maintenance of said guide portion in said slot permitting the swinging open only of the door associated with the slot portion in wihch the guide portion is located and restricting the swinging open of the other door.

6. In apparatus of the class described, the combination of first cam guide means carried by a first hingedly swinging door, to swing therewith, second cam guide means carried by the same first hingedly swinging door, to swing therewith, and cam follower means carried by a second hingedly swinging door to swing therewith and spaced from and disposed opposite of the said first hingedly swinging door, said cam follower means being selectively engageable with one of said cam guide means only at one time and readily movable from engagement with one cam guide means to the other upon relative movement between said cam follower means and said cam guide means, the first cam guide means being in an arc concentric with the hinge axis of one of said doors and the second cam guide means being in an arc concentric with the hinge axis of the other of said doors in the closed, position of said one of said doors.

References (Jited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,472,251 Siedhofi Oct. 30, 1923 1,571,988 Woodward Feb. 9, 1926 2,266,780 Love Dec. 23, 1941

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