US2104425A - Telephone booth - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 4, 1938. F. A. KUNTZ TELEPHONE BOOTH Filed Aug. 16, 1.934

5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR F. A. KUNTZ EEPHONE By M24 FIG. A

ATTORNEY Jan. 4, 1938. F. A. KUNTZ TELEPHONE BOOTH Filed Aug/l6, 1 34 Q Sheets-Sheet I5 v ATTORNEY Jan. 4, 1938. F. A. KUNTZ TELEPHONE BOOTH Filed Aug. 16, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG. 7

(" a at:

aw m F ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 4, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TELEPHONE BOOTH Frank A. Kuntz, Woodhaven, N. Y., assignor to Bell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporated,- New York, N. YL, a corporation of New York Application August 16, 1934, Serial No. 740,038

3 Claims. (01. 20-35) This invention relates to telephone booths and Fig. 8 is a partial view of the booth showing its object is to improve the construction of such the door releasing mechanism in its normal posibooths. tion;

According to the present invention a telephone Fig. 9 is a partial rear view of the booth showing booth is provided in which the walls thereof are the door releasing mechanism in its operated held in assembled angular relation at their lower position;

ends by a base on the center portion of which Fig. 10 is a modification of the door releasing is secured an upright support provided for mountmechanism shown in Fig. 8; and ing a revolving chair. These walls are held in Fig. 11 is a partial view of the booth taken on 10 angular relation at their upper ends by an aperline H-ll of Fig. 1 showing the base, the floor- 10 tured ceiling and a roof with a partition extending and the chair upright support in section. ing in parallel relation to the front and rear In the telephone booth of this invention the walls of the booth to form compartments for walls A, B, C and D shown through the several mounting a lighting fixture and a fan, the openfigures cooperate to form a booth of substan- 15 ings in the ceiling in cooperation with the opentially square cross-section. These walls are pro 1 ings in the roof forming an air inlet and an air vided at their edges with interfitting grooves and outlet for the stream of air generated by the tongues GT provided for readily assembling them fan and an opening formed between the base and in proper relation and a number of screws 25 the bottom edge of the door assists in exhausting shown in Figs. 1 and 11 are provided for securing the air from the booth. Means for mounting the them at their lower ends to the upright extendfan on the ceiling is provided whereby the noise ing flanged portions 26 of a base 21, this base generated by the movement of the fan is attenubeing provided with a number of bearing portions ated to a point wherein this noise is ineffective to such as 28 on which the booth rests in an upright afiect the telephone conversations and means is direction.

provided whereby one section of the normal in- Walls A, B, C and D are interiorly lined with 25 wardly folding door of the booth may be moved ornamental plates 29, 30, 3| and 32 and to the in an outwardly folding position as to permit outer surface of walls B and D are secured the access to the interior of the booth whenever the panel boards 33 and 34 shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, l, 5,

normal folding movement of this door is ac- 6 and '7.

cidentally prevented, with means operated upon On the base 21 there is mounted a pad or a pr rm v m of h r f r nflooring IQ of suitable rubber or insulating fibre r l h operation f h h in fix r nd material. This flooring is provided with flanged th a portions A1, B1, C1 and D1 the top edges of which Other novel features of the invention and adare held against the booth walls A, B, C and D 35 van a e Wi app a from the following descripby metallic strips such as 20 as shown in Figs. 1, 35 tion and y the Claims pp thereto, refer- 2 and 11, these strips being secured to the walls ence being had to the accompanying drawings in by a n mb r of s ew I33, W c An upright support I34 having an outwardly Fi 1 is a p p iv s e y v w f he flared base portion is secured to the booth base booth showing two of the walls with portions cut by a number of screws such as 35 shown in Figs. 40

y and the 61001 in s u ded DO tiO I; 1, 2 and 11 and serve for securing the center 2 s a fro t View S ow t 15 D of the portion of the flooring l9 to the booth base 21.

booth with portions cut away and the door in The upright support I34 is provided at its upper ts normal folded position; end with a bearing portion 36 engaged by a bear- Fig. 3 is a top view showing the roof with poring 40 of a spider-shaped support 31 to which the 45 tions cut away and the door in its folded posichair 38 is secured, these bearings having abuttion; ting portions provided for limiting the angular Fig 4 is a, cross-sectional iew taken approximovement 0f the chair 38 on its pivot 2.5 formed mately on line 4-4 of Fig. 2; by the spindle 39 engaging a hole in the upright Fig. 5 is an enlarged partial top view; pp 50 Fig. 6 is a partial view shown in section taken A ceiling 4| is secured by a number of screws approximately on line 6-6 of Fig. 5; 42 on the top portions of walls A, B, C and D Fig. 7 is a partial top view showing the free as shown in Figs. 3 and 5 and holds these walls section of the folding door in its open position in assembled relation at this end.

outwardly; To one side of front wall A is provided a door 55 opening 43 and to the narrow portion of this wall is hinged a door made of folding sections 44 and 45 of unequal width with the narrow section 45 equaling in width the glass panel portion of wall A as shown in Figs. 1, l, 5 and 6, this symmetry of construction giving an esthetic appearance to the telephone booth-while permitting a maximum of natural light to enter the booth.

The door section 35 is provided at its upper end portion with a stop plate E23 shown in Fig. 6 secured thereto by a number of screws H. i. This stop plate engages the top portion of front wall A for preventing the movement of this door section past its maximum unfolded position, that is, with respect to the plane of front wall A.

A wooden block 38 shown in Figs. 3, 5, 6, '7, 8, 9 and 10 of triangular formation is secured to the front wall A and is provided-with a groove i'i along its diagonal side for securely mounting a metallic guiding member 46 shown in Figs. 8 and 10. This guiding member is normally engaged by a slider 59 pivotally mounted at the top end of a gear toothed plunger 55 mounted for axial movement in a bracket 52 which is secured to the top portion of door section is. Bracket 52 is fitted with a gear toothed spindle 60 engaging the gear rack portion of plunger 5| and extends to the front side of this door section for mounting aknob 59 provided for manually moving this plunger against the resistance of a spring iii from the position shown in Fig. 8 to the position indicated in Fig. 9 for disengaging the slider 59 from the guiding bar lt and thereby permitting the movem nt of this door section outwardly as shown in Fig. '7 as to give access to the interior of the booth when the normal inward folding movement of this door is accidentally prevented.

Fig. 10 shows a modification of the door release mechanism wherein the gear toothed plunger 5! and pinion 8E shown in Fig. 8 are replaced by a plain rod R having an operating handle 65 extending laterally therefrom in an elongated slot 86 to the front side of the door section 44, the downward movement of handle 65 and thereby the movement of plunger R. against the resistance of spring 6! being effective to disengage the slider 55] from the guiding member (it as above described in connection with the door releasing mechanism shown in Figs. 8 and 9.

As shown in Figs. 3, 5 and 6 the booth ceiling 4! is provided with a centrally disposed opening it fitted with a lighting fixture consisting of apertured plates H and it connected to each other by a plurality of brackets M, the plate ll being, in turn, secured to the top side of ceiling 4| by a plurality of screws 12.

A bracket '55 secured to the top surface of ceiling M by a number of screws 76 supports a casing i? for housing the connecting block of a lamp socket 88 shown in Fig. 6 to which the lamp i8 is fitted, the lighting fixture plate 73 having a centrally disposed aperture for receiving a translucent inverted dome-shaped light shade i9.

Ceiling ii is provided adjacent the intersecting point of the walls C and D with a preferably square-shaped opening 80 fitted with a frame 8! held in place on the ceiling by a number of screws 82. This frame is provided with a plurality of inwardly bent lug portions such as 83 shown in Figs. 3, 5 and 6 for securing similar ends of resilient strips RS to the other ends of which the motor 85 is secured in a horizontal position and to the armature shaft of motor 85 is mounted a'fan wheel '86 provided for generating a current of air in the direction indicated by the arrows for Ventilating the booth, the air exhausting through the openings in the lighting fixture plates "3 and H and through an opening formed between the lower edge of the folding door and a metallic strip I08 which serves to secure the front edge of the floor covering I!) to the booth base .2? and also as a non-slip threshold, this metallic strip being secured to the base 21 as by a number of rivets I39, shown in Figs. 1 and 4.

To the top edges of walls A and C there is secured a roof 9!). This roof is provided with a louver plate ti for the exhaust of the air and a partition 92 divides the space formed by the ceiling 4i and the roof Sii into two compartments T and T1, as shown in Figs. 2, 3, 5 and 6 serving as a barrier for preventing the vitiated air exhausting from the booth through the several openings in the light fixture plates to reenter the booth at this point, thus forcing the air to exhaust through the louver plate 9i in a direction opposite to that of the air inlet as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 5.

On the top disposed surface of ceiling ii there is mounted a casing $35 for housing a switching mechanism, not shown, this mechanism having a camming arm 96 disposed in engageable relation with an operating lever arm 91 formed integrally with a vertical spindle 93 extending through an opening in ceiling 4i and secured to one flap of the door hinge Hzby a number of screws, such as 99.

The contact elements of the switch in casing 95 are connected to the power line l! by a cable I02 connected to the terminals of lamp 18 to which the fan motor 85 is also connected through wires N13.

The operation of camming arm 96 and of the switch actuated thereby within a predetermined angular movement of the door section 45 is effective to operate the switching device for closing the lamp and the motor circuit for operating them.

In the corner of the booth formed by the intersection of the walls C and D as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4 and disposed at a predetermined distance with respect to the fan wheel 86 is mounted a metallic writing shelf I of unit structure which is held securely to the walls 0', D by a plurality of screws I66 and on this writing shelf is securely mounted a bracket II]? to which the telephone apparatus in the form of a coin collector C-C is secured by a plurality of screws, not shown, such apparatus being so related as to height and distance from the chair 38 as to place the user of the booth in the air stream generated by the movement of the fan, this disposition of elements permitting the use of a fan of minimum air displacement together with considerable saving in the initial cost of the apparatus, current used and the avoidance of noises as generated by a fan or greater air displacement characteristic, while the spring mounting of the fan effectively prevents any vibration from reaching the walls of the telephone booth.

It is understood that minor changes may be made to this telephone booth without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A telephone booth having a rear wall, side walls, a ceiling for holding the walls in angular relation to each other at their upper ends, a base for holding the walls in angular relation to each other at their lower ends, a front wall having a door opening, a door made of two folding sections for the opening, normally folding inwardly of the booth, means for controlling the folding move ment of said door comprising an inverted U- shaped guide member secured to the under side of the ceiling, a slider element normally engaging said guiding member, a plunger on the top of which said slider element is pivoted, a bracket for said plunger carried by the inner face of the free door section, and a handle accessible from the exterior of said free door section, said handle operatively engaging said plunger for disengaging said slider from said guiding member at any point therealong for folding said free door section outwardly of the booth.

2. A telephone booth having a rear wall, side walls, a ceiling, a front wall having a door opening, a door consisting of a plurality of sections for said opening hinged to each other and one of said sections to one side of the front wall, means for controlling the folding movement of the door comprising an inverted U-shaped guiding member secured to the under side of the ceiling, a bracket carried by the inner face of the free door section, a plunger mounted in said bracket, a slider element arranged for pivotal movement on said plunger and engaging said guiding member for controlling the normal inwardly folding movement of said door, spring means acting on said plunger for holding said slider in engaged relation with said guiding member, means mounted on the outer side of said door and connected to said plunger for manually operating said plunger against the tension of said spring means to disengage said slider element from said guiding member at any point therealong for moving said free door section outwardly of the booth.

3. A telephone booth having a rear wall, side walls, a ceiling, and a base, in combination with a front wall having a door opening disposed on one side thereof, a door consisting of two hinged sections of unequal width for the opening, the narrower section being substantially equal in width to the larger portion of said front wall and hinged to the narrower side thereof, an inverted U-shaped guide member secured to the under side of the ceiling, a bracket carried by the wider section of said door and mounted on the inner side thereof, a plunger mounted in said bracket having a slider element normally engaging said guide member for controlling the normal inward folding movement of said door sections, and manually operable means disposed outwardly of said wider door section for disengaging said slider from said guide member for moving said Wider door section outwardly of the booth.

FRANK A. KUNTZ.

Images