U.S. Patent Office issues new patent claims to Arrive for its smart mailbox platform

Arrive, the inventor of the nation’s first smart mailbox platform, has secured another patent for its high-tech mailbox system designed for autonomous and conventional package delivery.

“This is a big deal because it further positions Arrive as the leader in the space of autonomous delivery,” said Arrive CEO Dan O’Toole. “We’re actually a bit ahead of the market, but that’s great because we’ll be ready when the parcel delivery industry is ready for widespread roll-out of autonomous delivery in a variety of forms.”

Arrive smart mailboxes will soon be installed at numerous sites in Fishers, Ind. Arrive is also showcased at Accentures’ innovation center in Chicago. Stay tuned for a major announcement, centering around a medical campus rollout in Q4 of 2023. O’Toole said he expects to install more Arrive mailboxes next year.

O’Toole first filed for patent protection of his smart mailbox concept in 2014, just edging Amazon by four days and beating the U.S. Postal Service by two weeks and others by less than a month. The latest patent, issued August 29, 2023, covers 39 different elements of the Arrive smart mailbox. that serves as a delivery point for drones, as well as other autonomous and traditional modes. Patented elements include a specific residential/commercial address presentation and the following:

• Mailbox with an expanding/accordian floor for accepting a group of multiple drone deliveries and means for locating the drone dock with GPS and/or bar code reader

• Keypad for onsite access to the drone dock, facial recognition camera, and fingerprint activated release system

• Means for permitting drones to accurately approach and dock with the station in a variety of ways

• Communication systems between the station and drone

• Security

• Hot and cold temperature control and preservation of goods before and after delivery

• Battery charging and exchange station, as well as charging stations for cellular telephones, electric scooters, electric bikes and electric vehicles

• Collector to identify explosive materials, anthrax, etc.

• Ultraviolet light system to eradicate disease, virus and harmful materials

• Ozone applicator to eradicate disease, virus and harmful materials

• Weather monitoring

• Tagging and tracking vehicles and packages

• Facial recognition camera and software for pets and humans

• LED lights that strobe flash, a flood light

• Local two-way speakers

“With the award of this latest patent, there should be no doubt as to the leadership role Arrive is set to play in this hot, enormous space that is proliferating before our very eyes," O’Toole said. "I am so proud of our team’s thought leadership in the deliverance of our robust and comprehensive patent portfolio."