Signal for mailboxes

Claim 1

A signal attachment for a mailbox of the type having a body portion open at one end, a door for selectively closing said one end, hinge means hingedly connecting the lower edge of said door to said body, and spring latch means for holding the door in closed position, said latch means comprising a spring strike device extending forwardly of the upper level of said door and a spring keeper device extending forwardly of the said mailbox body portion; said signal attachment comprising in combination; an elongate arm having one end portion laterally offset and apertured and adapted to be rotatably fastened to a bottom sidewall portion of the mailbox, a screw device for rotatably interengaging said arm offset end portion and the sidewall portion of a mailbox rearwardly of and at substantially the same level as said hinge means thereby to position said arm generally in spaced parallel relation to said mailbox sidewall while frictionally engaging said arm offset end portion and the sidewall of the mailbox, pull means attached at one end to said arm intermediately of its ends and at its other end to the front end of said strike device and being of such length as to permit said arm to lie horizontally alongside said mailbox when said door is closed and to pull upon and raise said arm to an upstanding attitude upon opening of the door, said arm having a signal tab portion at its free end which extends upwardly and above the side view profile of said mailbox when said arm is in upright standing position, said strike device including a generally horizontal portion projecting beyond the outer end of said keeper device and also including a generally vertical portion at the outer end of said generally horizontal portion, said generally horizontal portion having an abutment portion extending therefrom, said keeper device having a dwell portion receiving said abutment portion, said pull means being attached to said generally vertical portion of the strike device whereby said strike device is arranged to elastically deform responsive to pulls thereon by said pull means upon initiation of manual opening of said door when said arm resides in horizontally disposed nonsignaling position.