Mailbox for Receiving Decorative Overlays

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to decorative mailboxes, and more particularly, to mailboxes designed to mount readily replaceable, decorative overlays.

2. Discussion of the Prior Art

In the past several years, decorative mailboxes have become increasingly popular. Generally, mailbox decorations can be provided as decorative designs which are painted or stenciled on, or otherwise permanently applied to the mailbox such as by permanently fastening an overlay to the mailbox. A purchaser selects a mailbox having the decorative design which suits his or her fancy. To provide a resonable customer selection of designs requires that a manufacturer produce and a retailer stock a large and cumbersome inventory of mailboxes having the different designs which are available for purchase. From the standpoint of the purchaser, the decorative design of a selected mailbox may go out of style, or the purchaser may simply become tired of the same design. Heretofore, the purchaser has had no opportunity to change the design without replacing the mailbox.

The present invention is designed to solve the foregoing problems. Accordingly, one object of the invention is to provide a mailbox which is adapted to mountably receive decorative overlays, which are selected and installed, and, if desired, replaced by a purchaser with little effort.

Another object of the invention is to provide a mailbox which can be customized by a purchaser, whenever desired, by permitting the ready mounting and removal of decorative overlays thereon.

Another object of the invention is to reduce the inventory required by a manufacturer and retailer offering decorative mailboxes.

These and other objects, advantages and features of the invention are achieved by providing a mailbox of the usual overall construction, but which includes a pair of grooved holding flanges on the outside lower sidewalls thereof. The flanges are located on the bottom periphery of the sidewalls of the mailbox and are adapted to receive peripheral edges of a flexible decorative overlay so the overlay can be easily mounted on the mailbox with the peripheral edges inserted into the grooved flanges. A purchaser can easily place the decorative overlay on the mailbox by inserting one edge thereof into one of the grooves, wrapping it over the mailbox and then inserting the other peripheral edge into the other grooved flange. The overlay is then secured to the mailbox by removable rivets which are pushed through aligned holes spaced along the lower edge of the overlay and mailbox. Alternatively, the overlay can be formed as a rigid structure having a cross-sectional configuration corresponding to the mailbox in which it is to be mounted. In this instance, peripheral edges of the rigid structure are placed into the grooved flanges of the mailbox with substantially little bending or flexing of the overlay and the overlay is again fixed to the mailbox by means of removable rivets which pass through aligned holes in the overlay and mailbox.

The present invention thereby offers an economically feasible way to have interchangeable decorative overlays for a purchaser's mailbox, without requiring a manufacturer or retailer to stock a large number of predesigned mailboxes. Instead only one type of mailbox need be manufactured and offered for sale together with a plurality of different types of decorative overlays from which a purchaser can select at the retail level.

The above and other objects, advantages and features of the invention will be more readily understood from the following detailed description of the invention which is provided in connection with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a mailbox of the invention and an associated replaceable decorative overlay;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the mailbox in FIG. 1 with the decorative overlay in place;

FIG. 3 is an end view of the mailbox with the door in its open position;

FIG. 4 is a side view of a removable fastener for fastening the decorative overlay to the mailbox;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the mailbox showing one manner in which the decorative overlay is mounted thereon.

As shown in FIG. 1, the mailbox of the invention has the usual overall shape of a rural mailbox, that is, a mailbox having an overall inverted U cross-sectional shape. It includes a rounded cavernous main body 1, which is open on one end 10a, and closed on the other, a planar floor 4, and sidewalls forming body 1 which are perpendicular to the floor. Two of the sidewalls, 2a and 2b, are generally parallel to one another and merge at the rounded upper portion 30 of body 1, while a third end sidewall 32 forms the closed end of the body 1. One of the sidewalls, e.g., 2b, has holes 17a, 17b, 17c and 17d. Holes 17a, 17b and 17c respectively receive mounting rivets 18a, 18b and 18c of a flag mounting element 18 which is described below. Hole 17d receives a projection 18d of element 18 which is integrally molded, the projection serving as an axle for a flag staff. At the apex of the inverted U, adjacent open end 10a is an apertured tab 3 which extends outward for insertion into an aperture 9h provided in a door 9. The tab 3 enables the door 9 to be locked with conventional lock devices.

A slightly raised portion 1b of body 1 extends around the periphery of open end 10a and from open end 10a towards the closed end of body 1 to form a continuous inverted U-shaped band which embraces the entire opening periphery. At the closed end of body 1 is another, narrower, raised portion 1c, which forms another continuous inverted U-shaped band.

A flange 6 is located on the bottom and along the side periphery of each parallel sidewall 2a, 2b. The sidewalls 2a and 2b have respective lower sections 50a and 50b, which extend below a horizontal plane embracing floor 4. The flanges 6 extend outwardly from the bottom periphery of lower sections 50a and 50b and along the entire length of the mailbox and form overlay holding grooves. In addition, the lower sections 50a, 50b have a series of holes 20 spaced along their longitudinal extent, as shown in FIG. 1. Each lower section 50a, 50b also has a slot 50c located below the intersection of each parallel wall and floor 4 to permit the mailbox door 9 to swing downwardly. Adjacent to the slots are respective hole 12a, 1b for receiving pivots for rotational mounting of the door 9.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the door 9 contains sidewalls 9a and 9b, and a front wall 9c. The door 9 is configured so that it covers the open end 10a of body 1, and each of the sidewalls 9a, 9b of the door has a respective integrally molded, inwardly extending pivot hinge 9f, 9g located near the bottom of the door. The pivot hinges 9f, 9g project inwardly so that door 9 can be mounted over open end 10a, with the pivot hinges entering into respective holes 12a, 12b. Preferably the door 9 and body 1 are made of a generally rigid plastic which has some flexibility to permit the sidewalls 9a, 9b of the door to be pulled apart slightly to allow the hinges 9f, 9g to enter holes 12a, 12b during assembly. At the apex of the door 9 is located the elongated aperture 9h which is adapted to receive apertured tab 3. As noted, when door 9 is in its closed position, tab 3 extends through the aperture 9h, thus allowing the door to be locked.

The mailbox body 1, including sidewalls 2a, 2b, the rear wall 32, floor 4, the lower sections 50a and 50b and the flanges 6, is preferably formed as a one-piece integral molding. Likewise, door 9, including hinges 9f and 9g, is preferably formed as a one-piece integral molding, both the door 9 and body 1 preferably being made of a molded polypropylene, or other known moldable plastic, having a small degree of flexibility.

The mailbox of the invention is particularly adapted to be used with removable decorative ioverlays, one of which is shown in the drawings as 7. One embodiment of the decorative overlay is formed as a flexible sheet which has received a decorative design. These sheets can be formed of an acrylic, fiber glass or a polycarbonate. These designs are applied to a planar surface of the overlay sheet by silk screening, sublimation, heat transfer or the like. As shown in FIG. 1, overlay 7 has a pair of lower edges 8a, 8b along which two series of holes 21 are respectively and laterally arranged. The overlay also has holes 22a, 22b, 22c and 22d which align with holes 17a, 17b, 17c and 17d of body 1 to allow the mounting of a flag support element 18 and the insertion of projection 18d, described below.

The manner in which the above-described flexible decorative overlay 7 is mounted and attached to mailbox body 1 will now be described with particular reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 4 and 5. A purchaser purchases the mailbox, including body 1 and associated door 9, together with a desired decorative overlay 7. One peripheral edge, e.g., 8b, of the overlay is then inserted into a groove formed by a flange 6 on a sidewall, e.g., sidewall 2b, as shown in FIG. 5, and the overlay 7 is wrapped over the mailbox and the other peripheral edge thereof inserted into the groove formed by the other flange 6. Side edges 8c and 8d of the overlay are aligned to abut raised portions 1b and 1c so that the overlay is held in place on the body 1 by the grooved flanges 6 between raised portions 1b and 1c. The fitting of the overlay between raised portions 1b and 1c causes the overlay holes 21 to align with corresponding holes on body 1. As shown by FIG. 2, the overlay is then fixed in place on sidewalls 2a and 2b by inserting removable snap-in rivets 15 of the type shown in FIG. 4 through the aligned holes 20, 21 respectively provided in body 1 and overlay 7 on both sides of the mailbox. Preferably, as shown in FIG. 2, two of the aligned holes 20, 21 on each side of the mailbox do not receive rivets so as to provide apertures which enable the mounting of the mailbox on a post.

As shown by FIG. 4, the snap-in rivet 15 has a tapered insertion end 15b which facilitates insertion of the rivet into a hole. The insertion end 15b comprises a radially expandable portion having a locking edge 15c which engages with the periphery of a hole once inserted therein and prongs 15d, 15e which are spaced apart so that they can be squeezed together to reduce the diameter of the insertion end 15b during an insertion operation. After the locking edge 15c clears the holes, the prongs 15d, 15e expand (snap back) to their original spacing to secure the snap rivets in the holes, thereby locking overlay 7 in place on the body 1.

Of course, the snap-in rivets 15 may first be inserted through the holes 20 and 21 on one side of the mailbox before overlay 7 is wrapped therearound, after which snap-in rivets are inserted through aligned holes on the opposite side of the mailbox.

In a second embodiment, the decorative overlay may be formed to possess a substantially rigid, inverted U shaped cross section, as shown in FIG. 1. This structure alleviates the need to substantially flex and wrap the overlay before inserting the overlay's edges 8a, 8b into the flanges 6. Instead, the rigid overlay is merely positioned over the mailbox body 1 with its lower peripheral edges entering into the grooves defined by flanges 6 and with its side edges positioned between raised portions 1b and 1c. Subsequently, the rivets 15 are inserted through aligned holes in the overlay and mailbox.

For mounting door 9 on the body 1, resilient sidewalls 9a, 9b near the integral hinges 9f and 9g are pulled outwardly so that hinges 9f, 9g can be inserted into holes 12a and 12b. When the sidewalls 9a, 9b return to their original position, the hinges 9f and 9g are driven through holes 12a, 12b, and door 9 is held in place and pivotable about the hinges for opening and closing. When door 9 is opened, slots 50c receive edge 9c and allow the door to have a pivot range from a closed position to an open position of about 0.degree. to 180.degree. with respect to the open end 10a.

As shown in FIG. 1, a flag 40 is affixed to the mailbox by means of a flag support element 18. Rivets 18a, 18b and 18c and the axle projection 18d, which are integrally formed onto the back surface of the support element 18, are respectively aligned with the holes 17a, 17b, 17c and 17d of the mailbox body 1 and corresponding holes 22a, 22b, 22c and 22d of the overlay 7. The rivets 18a, 18b, 18c are then inserted through the holes 22a and 17a, 22b and 17b and 22c and 17c respectively, thereby attaching the flag support 18 to the mailbox body 1. Likewise, the end of the axle projection 18d fits into apertures 17d, 22d so that the end of the projection is flush with the inside surface of sidewall 2b. Flag 40 is pivotably mounted on the axle before insertion of the axle into holes 17d, 22d so that the flag has the usual 90.degree. pivot range once the support element 18 has been mounted.

For removal of the overlay 7, the flagged staff is first removed from the body 1 by removing the integral rivets 18a, 18b, 18c which hold the flag support 18 in place. As a result, projection 18d is also removed from holes 17d and 22d. Then the remaining rivets 15 holding the overlay 7 to the mailbox 1 are removed. All rivets are removed by squeezing together prongs 15d and 15e and pushing them back through the holes in which they were inserted. Once all the rivets have been removed, overlay 7 can be removed from grooved flanges 6, and another overlay can be inserted and attached to the mailbox assembly as described above.

While a specific embodiment of the invention has been described and illustrated, it should be apparent that many modifications can be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, although the grooves formed by flanges 6 run substantially the entire length of mailbox body 1, a plurality of spaced flanges 6 can be formed along each lower edge of the body 1 to thereby form a plurality of aligned, spaced grooves running from the front to the back of each lower edge of the mailbox.Accordingly, the invention is not limited by the foregoing description, but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.