I’ve noticed that the new USPS mailboxes have some sort of mechanism that grabs letters that you deposit and pulls them in. Does anyone know how that works?
They have inward-pointing metal fingers that the letters can slide past going in, but which interlace after the letters go past so nothing’s coming back out through the entrance chute. It’s a bit annoying if you have a dozen letters to mail (which may sound like it would be a rare occurrence but consider “thank you” letters). You can no longer shove a bundle of letters in. But other than that, and being a little bit futzy, it seems like a good solution, although I’m still unclear on what non-hypothetical problem it was a solution TO. (asked in a different thread—some folks said to prevent vandalism, e.g. open cans of tuna fish shoved in; some said it was to prevent fishing letters out using chewing gum and a stick or equiv; some said it was to enforce existing rule about max size/weight for deposited mail; no one had a link to any story about a precipitating incident or ongoing phenomenon, more like a decision being slowly implemented over time)
OK, but it seems that something is actively grabbing and the pulling the letter in. I’m wondering if that is electrical, magnetic, or what?
Not that I’ve noticed. I think it’s just the mechanical action of the fingers that create that impression.