Communications: electrical – Condition responsive indicating system – Specific condition
Patent
1998-01-23
1999-04-27
Wu, Daniel J.
Communications: electrical
Condition responsive indicating system
Specific condition
200 6163, 232 34, 232 36, G08B 1314
Patent
active
058983716
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a box with detecting means, and in particularly to a mailbox according to the preamble of claim 1, which is based on AU-A1-66 640/81.
Such a box will find its primary use as a mailbox which is placed with some distance to a house, and therefore it will be described as such. However, it should be apparent to a person skilled in the art that such a box can be used in other applications, where it is of interest to receive information from a distant position whether an object has been placed in the box or if it is empty.
A mailbox is usually placed at the road on a distance from the house, which makes it difficult for the one receiving the mail to get a proper indication if an object, such as a letter or a newspaper, has been placed in the mailbox.
BACKGROUND ART
AU-A1-66 640/81 describes a mailbox which comprises a detector identifying the presence of an object. How the detector is constituted is not described, except that it can be of any kind and preferably an optical sensor. The main problem to be solved by this patent is the transmission of the detected signal to an indication device. This is done by means of radio waves sending a signal to a receiver as soon an object has been detected.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
The objective problem to be solved by the present invention is to accomplish a box comprising detecting means which have a simple and an inexpensive design and which in a reliable way detects and indicates the presence of small and large objects in the box.
The objective problem is solved by the characterising part of claim 1.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention are described in the dependent claims.
The solution according to the present invention with mechanical detecting means arranged inside the mailbox will in a reliable way detect any object inside the mailbox. Compared to an optical solution which often is used in prior art devices, the detecting means in the present invention is easy to manufacture and operate and does not require any calibration in order to operate. A particular advantage is that the manufacturing tolerances for the detecting means is not as critical as in prior art devices with optical solutions leading to cheaper manufacturing costs. Furthermore, the solution according to the invention is able to in a reliable way detect even very small objects, does not need any maintenance as many of the prior art devices and the detecting means will last for a long time. Thus, there is provided a mailbox which is inexpensive to purchase and in maintenance and which in a reliable way detects small objects better than any to the inventor known mailbox.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention will now be described closer together with the accompanying drawings, in which
FIG. 1 shows a front view of a box according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 shows a schematic illustration of a cross section along line II--II in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 shows a schematic illustration of a cross section along line III--III in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 shows an isometric transparent illustration of the objects in FIGS. 1 to 3;
FIGS. 5-7 show the box according to FIG. 2 in different modes of operation;
FIGS. 8-9 show two modifications of the box according to FIG. 2;
FIG. 10 shows one further modification of the box according to FIG. 2;
FIG. 11 shows a cross section taken along line XIII--XIII in FIG. 10;
FIGS. 12A-D show embodiments of the present invention comprising locking means;
FIG. 13 shows a cross section through an alternative embodiment of the box; and
FIG. 14 shows a modification of the embodiment according to FIG. 13.
MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 schematically shows a mailbox 1 comprising four vertically orientated walls 2, 3, 4 and 5 giving the mailbox 1 its outer shape, a vertical wall 6 placed inside the mailbox 1, a lid 7 which is pivotally attached with a hinge to the upper edge of the rear wall 3 of the box 1, a solar cell 8, a power supply 9 (FIG. 2) and indicating means 10.
The indicating means 10 may
REFERENCES:
patent: 1186772 (1916-06-01), Hammons
patent: 2438785 (1948-03-01), McKallick
patent: 2469558 (1949-05-01), Jaskala
patent: 4651135 (1987-03-01), Duhaime et al.
patent: 5377906 (1995-01-01), Mason
Huang Sihong
Wu Daniel J.
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