US1077900A - Warning device for telephone-booths and the like. - Google Patents

Description

A. E. AYER. WARNING DEVICE FOR TELEPHONE BOOTHS AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.25, 1913 Patented Nov. 4, 1913.

UNITED STATES PATENT ormon.

ALTON E. AYER, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, .ASSIGNOR- OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN IBAXTER, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

WARNING DEVICE 'FOR TELEPHONE-BOOTHS AND THE LIKE. V

toll stations, by patrons forgetting to pay the ptoper toll after using the telephone; and this happens even when the pay station operator is sitting close at hand.

It is the purpose of the present invention to provide means for automatically reminding the customer .of the toll charge at the 1 time of his departure from a booth; and it is a further object to do this by a method that will be both certain .and inoffensive.

More particularly it is the object to accomplish this by a device acting when the door of the booth is opened for the customers departure; and the invention provides means by which the warning may the repeated one or more times, thereby urging the matter insistently on the attention of the departing customer. This is accomplished by providing a special latch, operated by the same handle which operates the ordinary latch of the door, the operation of which special latch results in throwing conspicuously into view asign with a suitable inscription thereon; the repeated operation of the latch being required in order to open the door enough for the customer to go out.

The method of carrying out the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective of apparatus embodying the invention, showing its position when the door is closed; and Fig. 2 is a similar perspective, showing the position of parts when the door is being opened.

Referring to the drawings 10 indicates the door of a booth 11 which may, when used for the purpose assumed, be either-a tele phone pay station with coin boxes or other appliances controlled or observed from a distance by a telephone :operator, or may be a booth under direct personal supervision of an operator as is customary in hotels.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filedFebruary 25, 1913.

Patented Nov. 4, 1913. Serial No. 750,523.

12 is a knob or handle operating a customary latch 13, and 14 is a squared shaft forming part of the handle for operating the latch and turned by the knob, all this being after the customary style of construction, or approximately so.

The new elements of structure added by the invention comprise a light bar 15 having :a square hole .15 through which the squared portion of the door handle 14 passes, the squared sides of the shaft engaging the sides of the slot in such manner that the turning of the handle will also turn the bar, throwing its remote end up or down, according as the handle is turned. The remote endof the bar lies toward the hinge edge of the door, and is arranged suitably so that when down, which is the position of rest of the handle, the part 17'soon to be described,

which it actuates, is engaged as a latch in a.

stationary part 16 on the booth, thus latching the door 10, this latch being released when the bar is lifted by the turning of the handle 12. In the form illustrated the end of the bar 15., near the hinge edge of the door is connected through a link 19 with another bar 20, which, as will be described later,'is also a sign carrying bar, pivoted to the door at 18, and carrying at its hinge end a nose 20 adapted to engage and slide upon a cam surface 17 on the latch 17, the latter being pivoted at 17 on the door. When swung down into the position illustrated in Fig. 1, which is the position it tends normally to assume under influence of gravity, this latch,

17 engages the teeth 16' of rack 16, but is lifted out of engagement whenever the turn ing of the handle 12 and bar let lifts the bar 15 sufiiciently to swing the nose 20 down along the cam surface 1'? enough to raise the latch 17 above the teeth 16. The rack 16 is so arranged that its first tooth engages the bar and thus latches the door whenthe door is not quite closed, although it may be arranged to engage it at any desired position; and so that the next tooth engages the bar when the door has been opened a little; and third when it has been opened a little farther; after which, in the form of the invention illustrated, the door is completely .unlatched. The rack consequently is arranged in such direction that it underlies the path of the latchlY'; and its teeth may be shaped, as illustrated, so that the turning .of the handle to release the latch is the most convenient means of manipulating the device and is naturally adopted, but nevertheless is not the only means, it being possible by the exertion of suflicient force to push the door directly open. In that case the latch 17 will ride up on and over the teeth of the rack 16, which, for that purpose, are made with faces slightly sloping, so that more than ordinary force is required to push the bar past them. This however, is merely a safeguard against imprisoning a person who does not understand that he is expected to turn the handle again to get out; and under ordinary circumstances they severally engage and hold the bar and door until the bar has been re- 7 leased by turning the handle 12.

A further element of the device is the sign-carrying bar 20. This, as above described is pivoted at 18 on the door 10 and is capable of swinging u and down about its pivot under control of the bar 15, to which it is connected through link 19. The link is connected near the hinge end of bar 15, to a point not far from the pivot 18 of bar 20, so that a slight turning of the handle 12, communicated through the squared bar 14: and multiplied through the length of the bar 15; and then again applied through the ratio of distance from the pivot 18 to the link 19 as compared with the distance from the pivot 18 to the sign carrying end of the bar 17 is sufficient to throw the sign 21 from a lowered and inconspicuous position into a raised and conspicuous position.

In operation the customer who has used the telephone, and is about to depart, finds that the door sticks, not being fully released by the release of the customary spring latch neXt the knob 12, and this is true where the customer has either been talking with the door closed or with it slightly ajar, as some customers prefer for purposes of ventilation. Upon turning the handle to release the door the sign 21 is thrown up into view. The door can then be opened, but upon the letting go of the handle the sign 21 falls again to its inconspicuous position, and the next notch of the rack soon engages the latch 17 stopping the door again until the customer again turns the latch, which results in throwing the sign up before him again. This may be repeated if desired by providing additional notches in the rack. The notches may be formed with the teeth flat on top, so that when the latch has been raised it stays up a little while, even after the handle has been let go, as the door is opened, but soon the next notch becomes engaged. The backs of the notches are formed of so gentle a slope that the door may be closed without effort and without being caught or held by the latch. The bar 17 and the sign which it carries may preferably be made of as light material as is feasible. Obviously the sign may bear any inscription that-is desired. It is also obvious that the device may be placed on other doors and used in other connections from that described, and may, for example, be used for advertising purposes.

1Vhile the invention thus far described is purely mechanical and has no connection with the telephone operatorand serves as a notice to all customers, whether they have paid or have not paid, being in the nature of a reminder, it may be adapted for use in connection with a telephone system so that it will be operated only when the customer has not paid. In such cases the inscription on the sign might be that illustrated, or it might, for example, be Please return and speak with the operator. The method of accomplishing this adaptation is illustrated at the right in Figs. 1 and 2, wherein the rack 16 is pivotally mounted at 16, so that gravity holds it normally below and out of reach of the latch 17. It may be moved into operative position, where it will engage said bar (which is the position illustrated), by means of a magnet 2 1- controlled by wires 25 that communicate through the wiring of the telephone system with the operator who, at a distance, is in charge of the station. In the case, for example, that such operator perceives that the customer has used the instrument longer than the period originally paid for, and is departing from the instrument without paying for the balance, the operator may set the warning apparatus into action by simply switching a current through magnet 24:, thus calling the customer back to the instrument. For any such installation, the teeth of the rack may, if desired, be formed so as to interpose a really serious obstacle to the departure of a customer, and even so that the door cannot be opened while the operator keeps the rack in its operative position.

The details of the cam 17 maybe designed according to the effect desired, and indeed some other connection may be employed in place of this. As illustrated the cam surface is nearly about a true are about the center 18, with a notch at its upper end in which the nose 20 enters when the latch is down. The under side of this notch is engaged when the nose 20 is depressed, and a quick lift imparted to the latch 17. after which its movement is slight. This lift may be made as slow as desired, by the proper designing of the cam by entering the slope of theunder side of this notch farther down the cam.

I claim:

1. The combination, with a door, a latch, and a handle operating it, of another latch arranged near the hinge of the door; means connecting the second latch operatively with the said handle; the second latch operating after the door has been released from the first mentioned latch; and a sign, movable from inconspicuous to conspicuous position, engaged with and arranged to be so moved by the operation of said connecting means.

2. The combination, with a door and a handle rotatable thereon, of a latch arranged near one edge of the door; a part arranged on the adjacent wall and adapted to be engaged by the latch; a bar projecting from and moving with the handle; a cam connection between said bar and said latch, where by considerable movement of the bar produces but slight movement of the latch; and a sign, movable from inconspicuous to conspicuous position and connected to the end of said bar remote from the handle.

3. The combination, with a door and a handle on the door, of a latch arranged near one edge of the door; a rack arranged on the adjacent wall with a series of notches in any of which the latch may engage while the door is partially open; a bar projecting from and moving with the handle; a connection between said bar and said latch arranged to operate the latch when the handle is operated; and a movable sign controlled by said bar.

l. The combination, with a swinging door, of a latch handle arranged near the edge of the door; a part on the adjacent wall with which said latch engages to retard the open ing of the door while the door is partially open; a part connecting the latch handle and the latch, movable to release the latch; and a sign, thrown into conspicuous position by movement of said connecting part.

5. The combination, with a door, and a latch holding it closed, of an auxiliary latch holding it when partly open, operating connections from the handle of the first latch to the auxiliary latch; and a sign moved by the connections that release said auxiliary latch.

6. The combination, with a swinging door, of a latch at the hinge edge thereof adapted to engage a stationary part on the adjacent wall; a rotary handle near the free edge of the door and a bar extending thence toward the hinge edge and swung by rotation thereof of said handle; a part pivoted to the door, intervening between said bar and said latch and connected to the end of the bar which is toward the hinge, whereby upon turning the handle a magnified movement is 'communicated to said intervening part; a sign, moved by and partaking of said magnified mot-ion, and means connecting said bar to the latch to operate the latch.

7. The combination, with a door and a latch therefor, of a part on the adjacent wall adapted to be engaged by the latch; releasing means for the latch, arranged on the door; and a sign actuated by movement of said releasing means; the said part on the wall being pivotally mounted and combined with electro-magnetic means for controlling its position as between operative and inoperative positions for engagement with said latch.

Signed by me at Boston, Mass, this twentieth day of February, 1913.

ALTON E. AYER.

Witnesses JOSEPH T. BRENNAN, ANNA B. LINDSAY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

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