Delivery box and method

Abstract

A delivery box for groceries, other goods, mail, etc., to enable their delivery even to an unoccupied building, is built into an external wall of the building and has an outer door which is openable to enable deliveries to be placed inside the box but which locks automatically when it is then closed. It has a rear door openable directly into, and lockable from, the interior of the building. The box has separate chilled and frozen compartments and respectively, and is accordingly supplied with mains electricity. The outer door is substantially flush with the exterior surface of the wall, and has a digital computerized locking system operable by pre-arranged single use code numbers.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A delivery box adapted to be built into an external wall of a building and having an outer door which is provided with a digital computerized locking system adapted to be operated only by a pre-arranged single-use access code whereby said outer door can be opened and deliveries placed inside the box, and also provided with a mechanism which is engaged when the door is in its fully closed position whereby every time the mechanism is re-engaged a signal is sent to a controller of the locking system, causing cancellation of the code as well as automatic locking of the door; and a rear door openable directly into, and lockable from, the interior of the building.  
     
     
         2 . A delivery box according to  claim 1 , having projections which in use are secured in seams to the wall.  
     
     
         3 . A delivery box according to  claim 1 , wherein the outer door is substantially flush with the exterior surface of the wall.  
     
     
         4 . A delivery box according to  claim 1 , wherein the outer door has a letter deposit flap.  
     
     
         5 . A delivery box according to  claim 4 , wherein the flap opens into a receptacle mounted on the back of the outer door.  
     
     
         6 . A delivery box according to  claim 1 , wherein the outer door has a deposit drawer.  
     
     
         7 . A delivery box according to  claim 1 , having a connection to a mains electricity supply.  
     
     
         8 . A delivery box according to  claim 7 , which includes a chilled storage compartment.  
     
     
         9 . A delivery box according to  claim 1 , which includes a frozen storage compartment.  
     
     
         10 . A delivery box according to  claim 1 , having a connection to an alarm system.  
     
     
         11 . A method of delivering articles to a building equipped with a delivery box for accepting the articles which is built into an external wall of the building and has an outer door with an automatic locking system which is operable by a single-use access code, a compartment for storing the articles, and a lockable rear door for accessing the stored articles from inside the building comprising inserting a single-use code into the locking system, opening the outer door, placing the articles to be delivered in the compartment, closing the outer door so that said door automatically locks and cancels the code used for opening the outer door, opening the rear door from within the building, removing the articles from the compartment, and programming the locking system of the outer door with a new code.