US1244081A - Time-calling device for telephones. - Google Patents

Description

E. ROGERS.

TIME CALLING DEVICE FOR TELEPHONES. APPLICATION man JUNE i3, 191's.

L MQOI Patented Oct. 23,1917.

3 SHEETSSHEET 1.

[ DEVICE TELEPHONE J wuawltom E. ROGERS.

TIME CALLING DEVICE FOR TELEPHONES. APPLICATION Hm JUNE 13. I916.

Patented Oct. 23,1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

E. ROGERS.

TIME CALLING DEVICE FOR TELEPHONES.

APPLICATION FILED .IUNE I3| I9I6.

Patented Oct. 23, 1917.

w m h 3 3 I 4 f7 4 7 n I I I 9 I A/ ,1 m m2 w Mwflm 3 5 fvl x u i x .I .3 WW w 0 n H w %z w w r 4 i z w 4 A 5 en srnrne A1E @FMQE MARTIN, ,or 0111 T n-oALLIne-pnmo ASSIGN on or .oNm ALEm reenest cAgo. ILLINOIS v E FomT cL R iQNES -iL Applicatio'n'file lunejlafllllfii'zs. Serial NOE 11039482.; i

To all whom it may cnncernn;

Be-a'it: knoWni-thiit I; En mnngRoenng a; citizen of the UnitedSta/ceg resid'in gilt-,Chlfcago, in the county 'ofCook and State ofll-lianois, have invented certain new- II-1d: useful-1:

Improvements in :KIime-Calling Devices; for 1."

Telephones,enofzjwhich thea-follblvingsiisa. n e specification; My invention 'relatesx'to :n ewi and useful improvements in -te'lephone attachments, they primary object of myc1inveI-1-ti0n; beingsatheaa provision of-zwhat 'l termra time callihgrde-w vice; which may be employed in. tconnection. with-Fa irtelephone system:. .and iwhichr'is; pa-blelof 1 being cut: in and :ou-t oflcircnit withfx the line-.1:

Frequentlml a, subscriber-a repeatedly rate? tempts to call another subscriber WhO51dHI'i ing the time, =.is out... Mywinventioni is Ede-i signed; to sautomzrtically transmitsa :signal: to the calling-subscriber:of such'n ch-arnctenp as to: indicate :at What time thersubscriberw Whose station -is abein'g called iwillf be T able toanswer. In other Words, device/is of'y sucha natureithnt thesperson'havi-ng it in-m connection within telephoneinstrument may, when leaving" the building,- lcut whet device into the :te'lephone:circuitlthereb cutting? out the telephone -and sset the device toatrans,; 3 init a s gnal indicating any desired theme; ofthe ;da v,xthe signaling mechanism abe-i'ngza so rmnged as m-be released andv :operate'd upon the closing of-rthevte'le'phone circuit: such as occurs when one subscriber nczrllsf anal f other. 7

More specifically 'myw'invention 'icolnprehends a movable contactmzirryi-ng member having a :pluralit'v zof-wcontaots .nrra-nged inn series and :an: adjnstablewcontaet member having'racontectwmovable to project r -iIitoi-. the path o'f-the conta'cts of any-desired seriesl=- and'tlie provision of means fer releasing-{ind 11 driving the movable" contactcarryingomemeL ber when a circuit :is closed through: the in? strnment; t x One; of the objects of myvinvention" con-e sists" in providingeach! ofiimy'xtiznieucallinge devices within "buzzer zornother sonn'd: produc-Y ingr device which may a'be-venergized by ene; gagement of r'these :contacts #:with. entrails-1 mitte'r connected; when= the:v device =is 1:in-;z operation; in :the telephone circuitwsoiithatE signals sounded bimthe ibHZZtiI'J'Wrill; be ntfiansere mitted tonth'e telephoneq instrument tofita'any yv.

'statibn upon'thefilinem theeshait membeeeneed; qeb ll ehe Afstillzfurther object fimy invention cone ists in:p ov ding means-a me te al y locking the; mevable .contactearryiang- -meI- b n after thes gnal zhasibeenlgivemi o d that, the deivice qm'ily; again -0per2tte if: an-;--;;g other-subscriber should callith e same station.

l/Viththese and other'iobjects in view my invention will be more :fully tdescr ibed gillus tie-ted in the;1accompanying;drawings sgnd en speeifically peintec1;;,o1 1ti thel claims 1 16 i h e a h d tdia lra rm spen- 319f thisapplieetien. 1 i

nthedraWi-nfgeat Fig; 3 :is; a corresponding sectiongll {View taken 0 1'thei ne :b r v Fig et isi ainontwelevation, xviztlr pe rt -pf tfl 5$ he casing b o ntaway 'ishqwr er e d g, tailSEdIlyStIEHCtllIfQ; i

Wiringgofthezdevicejw Fig: 7 is; ;a dia gra m ne-tic view-oi the win ing g of esnbscribei s gsta; ion equipped; with; my'invention.

Corresponding end likevparts ane referredefizrg to in the following description-find(indi catedi'zin e112 4the;-;vie ws- ;of, i-the dnewinggby the-tasamekre-ferenee ChiIiIZZICtQTSr- My imp roVed-Fti me balling 5 deviceinelu (les; a suitable; electriea-llyoperated rniec-henism4 );v Which:;is pre{erebly -inelosedinf n cnsing lQ r Whichflnay be r-formedmof wanv desired terial; an d the zfnent w-all 11; got which isfzprQ: vided with; at pireulengopening;;l2 to-irecei ves V the reta ni str g 3 acon n l: fo miwn of;.'c1-ock-;dial 1%. closed byqaigl'QSSr face pl 15in Secured to -the ;inne rfnce l-ofi the wells is an ibta'ek t' =16 f: .1 wt gzmete i W i hi inclndesethea speeed supporting plates 1'2 j oinedmt their fle -er deeprev de tube-5 0% 1211' sleeve 18, iverticnllwdisposed within the casin Awbezbni ng lflg-is ;fitted-, in-;;thg, f W351; lie: ofv the bracket; w t-and a bearing racket 2Q is secured ;t -.;.th e g rean 1 plate, shaft 50 :E EbQ ET EL i ef 'n g j onrneled in these 1 (1:5 bearings and provided with a jndi fi handzrQZii pnoiectin g throu the dial la n d thronghathee a en teti flndical lsylll 'ltjtfi uter nfliumillec WW3 by meens o Whighc- 22 opposite any desired division or fractional division of the dial. \Vithin the easing, the shaft 21 carries a pinion 24 which meshes with the teeth of a rack bar 25 having a cylindrical lower portion which is slidably mounted in a contact sleeve 26 of brass or other suitable metal fixed within the insulating sleeve 18 by means of a set screw 27. This rack bar, at its lower terminal, is provided with a rearwardly directed, preferably resilient, contact finger or brush 28.

Front and rear frame plates 29 and 30 are supported upon the bottom of the casing 10 and journal a shaft 31 about which is wound a spiral spring 32, one end of which is fixed to the shaft and the other end of which is fornted to provide a loop 33 through which is passed an anchoring rod 34 carried by the frame members 29 and 30. Loosely mounted upon the shaft 81, is a spur gear 35 and fixed upon the shaft is a ratchet wheel 36. The gear carries a pawl 37 which is constantly held in engagement with one or another of the teeth of the ratchet wheel by a spring 38 also carried by the gear. Because of this arrangement, the shaft 81 may be turned in one direction to tension the spring 32 without turning of the gear, while the shaft can turn in the other direction only if the gear is free to turn. The forward end of the shaft is square, as shown at 89 in Fig. 5, to receive a winding key 40, the shank of which may be passed through an opening 41 formed in the front of the casing for this purpose. A second shaft 42 is mounted in the plates 29 and 30 and carries a pinion 43 meshing with the gear 85 and a gear at which meshes with a pinion 45 carried by a shaft 46 mounted in the plates, all of these shafts extending parallel to each other.

Fixed upon the forward end of the shaft 46, is a contact carrying member or disk 47. the peripheral edge of which is provided with a notch 49 to seat the free end of a. combined latch and armature 50 which is pivoted upon a bracket 51 carried by the plate 30 but insulated therefrom, as shown at 52. A second bracket 53 is carried by but insulated from theplate 29 and a helical spring 5% is connected at one end to this second bracket and at its other end to the latch and armature 50 to normally hold its terminal in the notch 49 and so hold the disk 47 against rotation. due to the action of the spring 32. Obviously. if this latch is released. the spring 32 will act through the train of gears and pinions. above described, to rotate the disk 47 until such rotation is stopped by reen ae'ement with the latch in the notch of the disk.

Arranged upon or formed integrally with thecontact carryin disk 47 are a plurality of contacts adanted to be engaged by the contact brush 28. These contacts are ar ranged in radially spaced series, the contacts of each series being circumferentially spaced and curved from end to end so that they are concentric with respect to the disk, as clearly shown in Fig. 4. Certain of these contacts, as the contacts 55, are longer than the other contacts, such as the contacts 56, so that when the disk is revolved and the contact brush 28 is in position to engage the contacts of any one of the series, the circuit will be successively closed and opened. the periods of time during which it is closed being dependent upon the length of the contacts engaged by the contact brush. The contact carrying disk shown in Fig. 4 is one having contacts arranged to signal any hour and half hour. For instance, disposed next to the axis of the disk is a single long contact 55. If the contact brush carrying rod is lowered so that the brush will engaQe this inner long contact 55. the circuit will be closed but once for a rotation of the disk. The next adjacent series consists of a single long contact 55 followed by a short contact 56, the next adjacent series of two long contacts 55. the next series of two long contacts and a short contact and the like, the outer series consisting of twelve lone contacts followed by a short contact. T he long contacts are intended to close circuits in such a manner as to indicate hours, each contact indicating one hour and the short contacts to indicate half hours. By adjusting the contact brush 28 to the proper position radially of the disk. the rotation of the disk will cause a circuit to be successively closed and opened. which will indicate the desired hour and half hour hrough mechanism to be later described. Obviously. by governing the number of series and by having the short contacts indicate quarter hours and properly arranging such short contacts with re spect to the long contacts. circuit may be closed to indicate any desired time of the hour and quarter hour.

A battery 57 of any su table type is employed in connection with this device and ma or may not be inclosed in the casing, as preferred. A wire 58 leads from one pole of this battery to any suitable binding post 59 carried by one of the plates 29 or 30, with the result that current may flow from the battery to the disk 47 and contacts carr ed bv the disk. A second wire 60 leads from the opposite pole of the battery to one of the binding posts of any suitable type of sound producing device, such as a buzzer 61' and a wire 62 leads from the other binding post ofthis buzzer to the set screw 27. As a result. whenever the brush 28 engages any one of the contacts carried by the disk 47, a circuit will be closed from the battery through the wire 58. contact d sk and that contact on the disk engaged by the brush 28, through the brush 28, Ted 25,-sleeve 26,

binding post 27, wire 62, buzzer 61, and

wire tothe battery.

Disposed within the casing with its mouthpiece in juxtaposition to the buzzer :61, is a telephone transmitter 63 of conventional ing material secured within the casing and a wire leads from a second contact 71 carried by the same bracket to an electromagnet 72 supported by a bracket 73 car ried by the back plate 30, a wire 74 leading from thsmae'net to the binding post 64. It will, therefore, be seen that if a circuit is closed, including the binding posts 64 and 66, bridging of the contacts v68and 71 will permit closing of a circuit through the electro-magnet 72 and consequent attraction of its armature which is the combined l'atch'and armature 50, previously de-v scribed. 'The closing of such a circuit will, therefore, act to release the disk-47 and permit its rotation through the action of the spring 32. The latch and armature .50 carries a sleeve 75 of insulating material which.

in turn carries a switch arm 7 6 formed with a laterally directed head 77 having a downwardly projecting terminal 78 adapted inlowered position of the armature to'bridge the contacts 68- and 71 and in attracted pos tion of the armature to engage the contact .68 alone. This laterally directed head of the switch arm 76 is also formed with a contact stud 79 adapted to engage in the socket of a contact forming bracket 80 secured to the bracket 17 of insulating material and connected to the wire 67 bv-a branch wire 82. A conductor bracket 83 is secured to the plate 30, being insulated therefrom, as shown at 84, and-terminates in a contact head 85 adapted to be engaged by the rod 76' when the armature-5'0 is raised, due to swinging of the rod becauseof the pivotal mounting of the armature. Awire 86 leads from this conductor bracket 83h) the binding post 65. Y

The above structure'comprises my time calling attachment; for telephones. but before describing its operat on, I Wish to ex plain the manner in which it is connected in the telephone circuit with the usual telephone instrument. For this purpose Iprovide a pivotally mounted sw'tch blade 87 towhich one of the telephone line wires 88 leads the: other telephone line-wire 89 leading directly to the telephone 90 in thelusual manner. Also mounted upon-the casing; at

one side of the; switch bladeare spaced. contacts 91 between which the switch blade may bewedged and at the free s de 'ofthe switch blade, spaced contacts92alsoadapted tobe engaged by, the switch blade; .Atwireiare 93 leads from the contacts 91 to the telephone instrument and with the switch blade in the position shown in Fig. 7 forms a continuation of the line wire 88', my attachment being cut out when the switch 87 is in the position there shown. A'wire 94 leadsfrom the contacts 92 to .the binding post 66 and a wire 95 leads from the bindingpost 64: to the line-wire 89. 1

In describing the operatiorn I will first assume that my time calling device is connectedwith a telephone instrument in the manner shown in Fig. 7. Under these conditions the device is inoperative as no current passes to it, the telephone instrument being directly connected with the line wires 88 and 89 through the switch 87 and wire 93. Under these circumstances, the telephone instrument will be employed in the usual man ner. If the telephonesubscriber at the station in which my device is installed expects to be absent forany length of time, such subscriber will set the indicatinghandor needle 22 at the hour and fractional part of the hour of expected return and'will swing the switch 87 to a position opposite that shown in Fig. 7. This setting of the indicating hand 22 will bring thecon-tact brush 28 opposite the proper series of timesignaling contacts upon the disk 47 while the changing of the switch 87 will cutout the telephone instrument 90 and cut in -my calling device. Under these circumstances,

if central connects any calling subscriber with the telephone instrument so set, current will pass over the line wire 88 through the switch 87 and wire 94 to the binding post 66 of my device, from this binding post through the wire 67 and bridged contacts 68 and 71 and wire 71 to the electro-1nagnet 7 2,

from this magnet through the wire 7% to a the binding post 64 and from the binding post 64 through the wire 95 to the return line .wire 89. The circuitthus closed will energize the magnet 72, raising the combined latch and armature 50. The raising of this armature will act to release the contact carrying disk 47, which will then be driven by the spring 32 to move the contacts of the selected series successively into engagement with the contact'brush 28 to close a certain predetermined s ries of circuits through the buzzer 61. At the same time, the raisingof the armature 50 will raise the contact head 77 into engagement with the contact SO-and the contact 85 and out of en-- gagementwith the eonta ct 71, thereby breaking the circuit through the magnet and closmg a circuit from the linewirei 88, through the switch 87, wire 9%, wire 67,.wir'e82,-con-atacts, 80', 77 and 85,.wire :86, transmitter and wire 95 back to; the. return line. wire'89'.

This. circuit beingclosed; the'soundsxp-rd' duced by thebuzZerwillJbe transmitted over the line wireand heardby the. calling-when cuit through the transmitter between the contacts 77 and 80. and to bridge the con tacts 68 and 71. By the time that the disk 47 has completed its revolution, however, a signal will have been received by the calling 4 station and such station will have hung up its receiver and, consequently, cut off the line so that the magnet 71 will not be reenergized upon bridging of the contacts 68 and 71 unless the station having my instrument is again called.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that I have provided a time signaling attachment for telephones which does not in any way interfere with the ordinary employment of the telephone which may be set by a subscriber in such a manner that another station calling a subscriber will be notified when to again call to find the party called at home.

It will further be apparent that my device is so constructed that any desired time of day or night may be signaled by it and so arranged that when once set is automatic in its action, being set in action by the closing of the circuit in which it is attached and acting to utomatically stop and reset itself after the signal has been given. Obviously, many changes in details of construction may be made without affecting the operation of the device and T, therefore, reserve the right to make any changes. within the scope of the appended claims. without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. The combination with a telephone instrument and circuit therefor, of a transmitter, an electro-magnet, means for cutting the telephone instrument out of the telephone circuit and the magnet into the telephone circuit. a revolubly mounted contact carrying disk, means constantly tending to drive the disk, the disk carrying a plurality of series of spaced contacts. a movable contact, means including an indicator for shifting the movable contact to bring it into the path of movement of any one of the series of contacts, a sounding device in an open energized circuit including the movable contact and the contact disk, an armature for the magnet normally holding the disk against turning movement, and means actuated by movement neeapei of the armature to release the disk for placing the transmitter in the telephone circuit.

2. The combination with a telephone instrument and circuit therefor, of a transmitter, an electro-magnet, means for cutting the telephone instrument out of the telephone circuit and the magnet into the telephone circuit, a contact carrying disk mounted for rotation and formed in its peripheral edge with a notch, an armature for the magnet adapted to seat in the notch when the magnet is unenergized to hold the disk and adapted to be held in raised position by the disk during turning of the latter, means constantly tending to turn the disk, a plurality of series of contacts carried by the disk, a movable contact engageable with the contacts of each series, means including an indicator for selectively shifting the movable contact so that it may engage the contacts of any desired series, a sounding device, an energized circuit including the sounding device, contact disk and movable contact and normally open between the movable contact and the contacts of the disk, and means operable upon energization of the magnet for connecting the transmitter in the telephone circuit.

3. The combination with a telephone instrument and circuit therefor, of a transmitter, an electro-magnet, means for cutting the telephone instrument out of the telephone circuit and the magnet into the telephone circuit, an armature for the magnet, an audible signal producing mechanism normally locked by the armature, releasable upon movement of the armature through attraction of the magnet and capable of holding the armature in attracted position until the signal has been completed, and means operable upon closing of a circuit through the magnet for breaking the circuit through the magnet and connecting the transmitter in the telephone circuit.

4. The combination with a telephone instrument and circuit therefor, of a transm tter, an electro-magnet, means for cutting the telephone instrument out of the telephone circuit and the magnet into the telephone circuit, and means operable upon ene gization of the magnet through energization of the telephone circuit for connecting the transmitter in the telephone circuit and giving an audible signal in juxtaposition to the transmitter, said means being adjustable whereby any one of a predetermined number of different signals may be given and including a disk normally locked by magnet controlled means, means constantly tending to rotate the disk, a plurality of contacts concentrically arranged about the disk in radially spaced series, a rod mounted for" reciprocation and'carrying a contact brush movable to extend 1n the path of any series,

means including a rotatable indicator care:

rying shaft for adjustably reciprocating the rod, an electric audible signal device, and an energized circuit including the signal device, rod and disk and normally open be tween the contact carried by the rod and those carried by the disk.

5. A device of the character described, an electro-magnet adapted to be out into a tele-- phone circuit, an armature for the magnet, an audible signal producing mechanism normally locked by the armature, releasable upon movement of the armature through attraction of the magnet and capable of holding the armature in attracted position until the signal has been completed, and means operable upon closing of a circuit through the magnet for immediately breaking such circuit.

6. The combination with a telephone instrument and circuit therefor, of a transmitter, means operable by the transmission of a ringing impulse over the telephone circuit for cutting the transmitter into such circuit and means operable upon the cutting in of the transmitter to sound an audible signal indicating a predetermined time, such means being capable of giving relatively long sounds to indicate hours and relatively short sounds to indicate fractional portions of an hour.

7 The combination with a telephone circuit, of an electroinagnet in the circuit, a transmitter, an electrically operated audible signal mechanism, means normally rendering the signal mechanism inactive, and means operable upon energization of the electromagnet for rendering the signal mechanism active, cutting the transmitter into the telephone circuit and for breaking the circuit to the electroinagnet.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

EDMUND ROGERS. [1,. s.]

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

' Washington, D. G.

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