Patent 7182246 was granted and assigned to Pitney Bowes on February, 2007 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A drop box for storing mail pieces includes an enclosure, and an articulated door which runs on tracks. The door is selectively positioned in a horizontal course. When the door is in the horizontal course, a mail piece may be inserted through an opening in the enclosure and placed on the door. The door is then withdrawn from the horizontal course to allow the mail piece to drop into a lower portion of the enclosure. When the door has been withdrawn from the horizontal course, it closes the opening in the enclosure.