FR2595525A1 - Shrouded telephone apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

Telephone apparatus of the type without coinbox and comprising electronic means of connection to a telecommunication line as well as a removable or non-removable receiver. It is characterised in that most of the electronic means are embedded in a resin block acting as casing for the said telephone apparatus. The invention allows all kinds of combinations of telecommunication devices.

Description

The present invention relates to telephones and more particularly those, without a collection device, for the use of which the user must be identified by the telecommunications administration before obtaining a communication.

In known devices of this kind, the identification is carried out either following a voice procedure or by means of a personal code transmitted using a digital keyboard.

Devices of this type are made available to the public in often isolated places and are therefore subject to acts of free vandalism. They must therefore be particularly solid, reliable and therefore mechanically very resistant, and easy to maintain.

They essentially consist of a rigid box, molded from aluminum alloy, inside which are enclosed the electronic means of access to the telephone line. A removable or non-removable handset is associated with this box, as in the case of a telephone terminal.

The device according to the invention makes it possible to produce the various devices of this type, with improved mechanical characteristics, while being of a lower cost price thanks to its simple design.

It is mainly characterized in that the casing is made up of a single block of resin coating all of the electronics. However, for reasons of interchangeability, certain electronic elements may remain accessible.

For this, they are housed in free volumes, preserved during the overmolding of the resin.

This can be the case in particular, for an electronic protection circuit, acting as a fuse, and whose role sometimes requires its replacement, for a memory card whose change makes it possible to develop the functions of the device by adapting the software , or for a battery, energy source, if a volatile backed-up memory is used.

Finally, for use with a digital keyboard, it may be advantageous that it be removable and recoverable given its cost vis-à-vis the rest of the electronics, embedded in the case, that it is more simple to replace rather than repair.

The accompanying drawing illustrates, by way of example, an embodiment in accordance with the present invention.

As shown, the device comprises a handset 1 bringing together the earpiece and microphone, using a flexible cord 2, to the body 3 of the device. This body is in one piece.

It is obtained by overmolding a resin, loaded with glass, directly on the printed circuit 4 and its electronics 40
This molding allows, after polymerization, to obtain a rigid assembly with free volumes such as 31, 32 and relief shapes, such as 33 serving as a support receptacle for the handset 1. Fastening means 5 and a housing for a lock 6, allow the device to be wall-mounted on a technical plate 7.

On the rear face of the device, the free volume 32 allows the connection, with the printed circuit 4, of electronic elements whose interchangeability is necessary. This is the case of the line card 41 which includes the overvoltage protections, which is therefore the most exposed element of the device, and of a removable memory 42 making it possible to adapt the software of the device for various uses. The presence or absence of the handset in its receptacle 33 is detected by a magnet 10, integral with the handset, and a magnetic detector 34, also embedded in the resin and connected to the electronics 40.

The production of this device consists in placing in a container, for example an aluminum mold in two shells, the non-removable electronic elements 34, 4 and 40 previously protected by a compressible resin with a cellular structure. This resin makes it possible to absorb the stresses due to differential expansion, linked to the dimensional instability of the materials, as a function of the temperature resulting from the polymerization of the casting resin with which the mold is filled. This filling resin, of the epoxy or polyurethane or silicone type, will advantageously be loaded with alumina powder and / or silica flour to give it great mechanical strength.

Thus conceived, the telephone apparatus according to the invention does not comprise mobile mechanical members, apart from a keyboard which could be of the capacitive type, therefore static.

Note that for use in voice recognition there is no longer a keyboard and the device thus obtained, of the hands-free station type, will be reduced to a block of resin particularly resistant to impact, mold and the atmosphere. saline.

Claims (5)

1 - Telephone apparatus, of the cashless type, characterized in that the box (3) is constituted by a block of resin coating all the electronics of the device. 2 - Telephone apparatus, according to claim 1, characterized in that certain consumable or interchangeable elements (42-41) are accessible in free volumes (31, 32) preserved during overmolding of the resin. 3 - Telephone, according to one of claims 1 or 2 characterized in that the user can be identified by a personal code by means of a numeric keyboard (8). 4 - Telephone apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that the numeric keyboard is removable, by suitable means (80), in a free volume (31). 5 - Telephone, according to one of claims 1 or 2 characterized in that it is of the voice recognition type, without keyboard.