US2183713A - Call transmitter - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 19, 1939. J. C. FIELD v CALL TRANSMITTER Filed June 28, 1938 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR J.C. FIELD ATTORNEY Dec. 19, 1939. J. c. FIELD CALL TRANSMITTER 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 28, 1938 lA/VENTOR By J.C.F/ELD 9. gfiaax maid ATTORNEY J; c. FIELD CALL TRANSMITTER Filed June 28) 1938 SShets-Sheet s ATTORNEY Dec. 19, 1939.

J. C. FIELD CALL TRANSMITTER Filed June 28, 1938 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 k at INVENTOR J.C.F/ELD ATTORNEY Dec. 19, 1939. J. c. FIELD CALL TRANSMITTER Filed June 28, 1938 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 R mm. M W WC J ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 19, 1939 CALL TRANSMITTER JosephCQField, Maplewood, N. J., assignor to Bell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application June 28, 1938, Serial No. 216,224 6 Claims. (01. 179-90) This invention relates totelephone call transmitter devices of the repertory type.

The object of the invention is to improve the construction and operation of such devices.

According to the invention, a call transmitter device of the repertory type is provided in which the manual operation of a knob is effective to move a pointer in registry with a desired subscribers name printed on a name-plate, and to rotate a lead screw for moving a wiper in opera.- tive relation with one of a number of code elements representing the call designationof the desired subscriber as indicated by the pointer, the code elements being formed by mounting segment-shaped cams on rings which are in turn keyed on a rotatable drum-shaped support.

Means in the form of a ratchet mechanismis provided for operatively connecting such a support to a motor housed in the drum-shaped support, such means having a camming element for actuating an arm which cooperates with a lever under control of the selected code element for causing the operation of a pulsing contact in a hit-and-miss operating manner for transmitting a number of pulses corresponding to the calldesignation selected by the movement of the knob,

and indicated by the pointer. Means is provided for automatically centering the wiper in operative relation with the selected code element with means for locking the knob and the wiper actu ated thereby in the selected position during the pulsing operation of the transmitter, and auto-- matically operable means is provided for unlocking'the knob and stopping the operation of the motor at the conclusion of each call transmitting operation.

Other novel features of the invention and ad-.

vantageswill appear from the following description and by the claims appended thereto, reference being had to the accompanying drawings Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 3--3 of Fig.4;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation view showing the casing in section and a number of parts with" portions cut away; i

Fig. 5 is a partial view showing the code ele ments, their support and a number of operating parts with portions cut away;

Fig. 6 is a partial view showing the locking mechanism for the knob actuating the selecting mechanism and the switch for the control of the motor in the locked position;

Fig. 7 is a partial top view shown with the casing in section taken on line l'l of Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged view showing the pulsing 5 and the selecting mechanism in perspective;

Figs. 9 and 10 are partial views of the pulsing mechanism showing the contact controlling -mechanism in the non-operated and operated :343 of Fig. 12; and

Fig. 14 is a cross-sectional view taken on line Ml4 of Fig. 4. f As shown in the drawings it is a base which is formed with an upright support 53 shown in Fig. 4. and on this base are secured as by screws M, the upright extending mounting plates or flanges Hand l2. On plate lZare mounted the studs l5, l6 and H shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 5.

-These studs are held securely on this plate by nuts ISA, ISA and HA and on these studs are mounted the rollers [53, 16B and HB provided for rotatably supporting one end of a drum I8, the other end of this drum being supported. by aspindle l9 laterally extending from upright l3 and engaging the bearing ISB carried by a spider-shaped member 20, the arms of which are secured to the end of drum l8 as by rivets or in any other well-known manner.

On drum I8 is mounted a plurality of rings 22 split radially as at 23. Fig. 11, for engaging a key member 2! secured to the drum l8. This key member serves for positioning the rings 22 in aligned position on this drum and each ring 22 is provided with three triangularly disposed pins 24, 25 and 26 extendinglaterally from one side thereof to serve for holding these rings in spaced relation to each other on the drum !8, the ends of the pins, 24, 25 and 26 of one ring abutting against the opposite side of its adjacently dis.- posed ring as shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 7. Rings'22 are held collectively on the drum l8 between retaining radial pins 30 .carried by the drum as shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4 and '7 and a plurality of spring arms 21, 28 and 29 carried by the spidershaped member 20. These arms are pivoted on screws 21a, 28a, and 29a and may be moved from the position shown in Fig. 11 to. the position 5 shown in Figs. 4 and 14 where they may be forced against the ring 22 disposed at this end of the drum by tightening their fastening screws 21a, 28a and 29a. These arms, however, in the position shown in Fig. 11 permit the removal of rings 22 from the drum I8 for replacement by other rings bearing other telephone call designations. The rings 22 are each provided with a row of equally spaced holes I4 any two of which register with holes 32 and 33 in segment-shaped cams as DI, D2, D3, D4, D5, D6 and Di. These cams are made of different angular distance representing the digits 1 to 9, inclusive, and a cipher, the latter meaning 10 as is well known in automatic telephone systems. Each segment-shaped cam may be secured on any one of the rings 22 by a clip member as 3I shown in Fig. 11 engaging the holes as 32 and 33 of such a segment and any two holes as I 4 in one of the rings 22, after which the parallel projections of the clip are bent against the opposite side of the ring 22.

The segment-shaped cams DI, D2, D3, etc., may be combined and assembled on any one of the rings 22 to represent any seven-digit telephone call designation desired and serve to control the operation of a pulsing contact in the form of a stationary spring 35 and a duplex operable spring 35 in a manner which will be hereinafter described in detail. The spaces between the cam portions of any two adjacently disposed segments, however, form the so-called interdigit spaces provided for permitting the selector switches at the telephone exchange to distinguish between the sets of pulses included in a given telephone call designation determined as above described by the angular distance or degrees of the arcs of cam portions DI, D2, D3, etc.

Springs 31 and 39 and the pulsing contact springs 35 and 35 are mounted in a pile-up arrangement on a bracket 38 shown in Figs. 2, 3, '7 and 8 in turn secured to the mounting plate I2 by a number of screws 43. On spring 31 is securely mounted a rigid arm 4I shown in enlarged view in Figs. 8, 9 and 10. This arm is provided with a laterally extending pin 42 bearing against a camming ridge 43 of a wheel 44 under the tension of spring 39, the rotating movement of cam wheel 44 in cooperation with spring 39 being effective to impart reciprocating movements to lever M for a purpose which will be hereinafter described in detail.

The wheel 44 is securely mounted on a shaft 45 journaled in the upright plate I2 and the plate 46 of a motor M shown in Fig. 5. Shaft 45 is operatively connected to the armature shaft of motor M by a gear reduction train including the pinion 47 and the gear 43 secured to the shaft 45. The wheel 44, in addition to its cam surface 43 is provided with a laterally extending crank pin 49 shown in Figs. 3, 4, 5, 8, and 10 cooperating with a retractile spring 5|] for imparting reciprocating movements to a lever 5| best seen in Figs; 2 and 3, pivoted as at 53 on a bracket 52 secured on the upright supporting plate I2 and on the upper disposed end of lever 5i is mounted a pawl 54 disposed in engageable relation with the ratchet teeth RT formed at the front edge of drum I8 for rotating it an angular distance of one tooth for each complete turn of wheel 44, the drum I8 being held in each advanced position by a check pawl PW shown in Figs. 2, 3, 5 and '7.

In the present construction, 108 ratchet teeth are provided at the front edge of the drum I8, thus requiring 108 turns of Wheel 44 for each complete turn of this drum and the rings 22 car-.

ried thereby, the angular distances of the digit defining portions of the segment-shaped cams DI, D2, D3, etc., are therefore equal to one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and ten teeth; and the angular distances at each side of such a digit defining portion are equal to three teeth RT as to form when in assembled relation on one of the rings 22 interdigit spaces equal to six teeth.

On plate I2 and on upright support 55 shown in Figs. 3 and 4 there is journaled a shaft 56 on which a carriage 51 is slidably mounted. This carriage is prevented from rotating movement relative to shaft 55 by a key I0 engaging a key way II and on the carriage 51 is securely mounted an arm or wiper 58 which may be moved in selected position relative to the code elements thus formed through the movement of a yoke member 63 as imparted by the operation of a lead screw 59. The operation of this lead screw is effected by a manually operable knob 60 securely mounted on a shaft 89 and rotating the gear 6|, this gear engaging a pinion 52 secured on one end of lead screw 59 and the carriage is provided with a plunger 12 for engaging V-shaped grooves as I3 in shaft 53 under the tension of a spring "I4 for centering and yieldably holding the wiper arm 58 in registry with the code element selected.

011 one end of shaft 56 is securely mounted an arm I5 which is moved by the pivotal movement of shaft 55 against the resistance of a retractile spring III) and under control of digit cams DI, D2, D3, etc., from the position shown in Fig. 9 to the position shown in Fig. 10 wherein it is engaged by the lug 16 of arm 4| for actuating the duplex contact spring 36 upon the movement of arm 4| effected as above mentioned by the rotation of cam wheel 44 so that the angular distance of digit cams DI, D2, D3, etc., on each ring 22 determines the number of operations of the duplex contact 36 and thereby the digits included in a given telephone call designation.

On upright extending plate I I is rotatably mounted a dial 11 shown in Figs. 1, 2, 4, 5 and 8 operatively connected to the knob 60 by gears I8, I9 and 8D, the dial TI having a radial mark 8I which may be positioned in registry with lead lines as BI, B2, B3, B4, B5 and B6 printed on a plate 82 secured to the upright plate II and having pairs of inwardly turned edges 83-83, 84-84 and 85-85 serving as guide for a paper card or name-plate 86 on which subscribers names are printed in position to correspond with lead lines B E, B2, B3, etc. and therefore with their respective code element 22 on the drum I2.

The gear BI is provided with a circular row of holes 81 shown in Figs. 2, 5 and 8 provided for engaging a pin 88 upon a longitudinal movement of shaft 89 thereby locking the knob 60 and lead screw 59 actuated thereby in the selected position as indicated by the index mark 8| on dial 80 in registry with the lead line indicating the name of the subscriber desired which position coincides with the position of arm or wiper 58 now in operative relation with the code element 22 carrying the digit segments DI, D2, D3, etc., representing the telephone call designation of the subscriber selected.

The shaft 89 as shown in Figs. 5 and 6 is provided with an annular recess 90 which, when this shaft is moved longitudinally from the position shown in Fig. 5 to the position shown in Fig. 6, that is, when the gear 6| is moved in the locked position with pin 88, a latch lever 9| shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4, 5, 5 and 7 engages the collar 90 .ment of shaft 89 causes the closure of switching under the tension of .a spring 92 for holding .the gear 6|. in the locked position with the pin 88 against the tension of a retractile spring93 having its upper disposed end secured to theupright flange l2 by a number of screws 94 and bearing against the inner disposed side of gear 6|.

On upright flange. 52 as shown in Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6 there is mounted a switching-device SW provided for controlling the energization of motor M. This switch is provided with a plunger member 95, one end of'which engages the inner disposed side of gear 6| under the tension of a spring, not shown, so that the longitudinal movement of shaft 89 and the movement of gear 6l carried thereby from the position shown in Fig. 5 to the position shown in Fig. 6 is effective to operate the plunger 95 for closing the switch'SW and thereby starting the operation of the motor for actuating the drum 18 step by step through the operation of the pawl 54 actuated by cam wheel 44. The drum- 2% as shown in Figs. 2, 3,5 and6 carries a pin 9B'provided for imparting a pivotal movement to lever 9! through its engagement with lug 97 carried by this lever upon each complete turn of drum l8 for releasing the shaft 89 which is returned to normal non-operated position by the tension of spring 93 and simul-' taneously causing the opening of switch SW through the return movement of its operating plunger 95 to normal, thereby stopping the operation of motor M which is timed to occur when the key member 9! carried thereby is in registry with the free end of lever or wiper 58 on carriage 57. In that, position the wiper 58 is moved an angular distance determined by the point Pl at the edge of the recess of digit segment Di to the point P2 at the surface of key member'Zl to cause the operation of contact springs I00, NH, Hi2 and 33 through the angular movement of a radially disposed arm I04 shown in Figs. 2 and 3 carried by the shaft 56, the contact springs I50, lfll, I02, I03 being provided to perform switchingfunctions which form no part of the present invention.

In a typical example of operation, supposingthat it is. desired to transmit the telephone call designation 7783254 as represented by the segment-shaped cams D8, D2, D3, D4, D5, D6 and D! in assembled relation on the ring 225 shown in Figs. 4 and 14 clamped onthe drum [8 by the spring arms 27!, 28 and 29 as above described. With the drum l8 and the code elements thus formed in normal position, the operation of knob 60 is efiective to rotate the lead screw 59 through gear BI and pinion 52 for moving the wiper 58 in registry with code element 225, the position of the wiper 58 being indicated by the position of index mark 8| printed on dial ll which as above mentioned is actuated by the movement of knob 50 through gears 18, T9 and 80, such index being new in alignment with one of the lines as Bl, B2, B3, etc., as the case may be, leading to the name of the subscriber printed on the card 86 and having the telephone designation 7783254 above mentioned.

Following the selective movement of wiper- 58 by the turning operation of knob 60 a longitudinal movement is imparted to shaft 89 from the position shown in Fig. 5 to the position shown in Fig. 6 wherein the latch lever 9| is caused to automatically engage the collar 90 adjacent the end of shaft 89 for retaining it in such operated position against the tension of its retractile spring 93. The longitudinal moveoperation of motor M which was device SW through the operation of its operating plunger member 95 in contact with the-inwardly disposed face of gear 6!. l'he longitudinal movementof shaft 8!) and the consequent engagement of one of the holes of gear 6| with the pin 88 prevents rotation of knob 50 during the started upon the closing of the switch SW. 1 I

The operation of motor M is effective to rotate the shaft 45' and the camming wheel 44 carried thereby through pinion 4! and gear 48. The movement of this wheel and the. crank pin 49 carried thereby'is effective in cooperation with sprirg 50 best seen in Fig. 3 to impart reciprocating movements to lever 5i for intermittently rotating the drum l8 step by step in the direction indicated by the arrow in Figs. 8, 9, 10 and 14 through the engagement of pawl 54 carried by lever 55 with the ratchet teeth RT formed at the end of drum is, the drum being held as above described 'in each advanced position by the pawl PW shown in Figs. 2, 3, 5 and'l.

The turning movement of camming'wheel 44 through its ridge portion 43 is effective to impart movements to the arm 4i; see Figs. 8,9 and 10, which movements are timed to occur during the rest periods of drum 18, i. e., during the backward stroke of ratchet pawl 54. The operation of arm 4| is rendered ineffective relative to the movable duplex contact 35 due to the arm l5being positioned out of the path of arm 4| owing to its controlling wiper 53 not being engaged by the cam portion of segment DI. Upon the stepby-step movement of drum Hi from its normal position as shown in Figs. 8 and 14 to the position shown in Fig. 9, and the consequent engagement of the inter-digit portion of segment D! with the arm 58, this arm is moved downwardly imparting a small angular movement to the shaft 56 for closing the contact springs let-40! and opening the contact springs lll2w3. The continued movement of drum 18 from the position shown in Fig. 9 to the position shown in Fig. 10, when the wiper 58- engages thecam portion of segment DI, imparts another down ward movement to wiper 58 and therebya second turning movement to shaft 55 and the lever 15 carried thereby for positioning it now in the path of arm 4!, thus causing the operation of the duplex pulsing contact 36 a number of times corresponding to the angular distance of cam DI, that is, seven pulses.

Upon the release of wiper 58 by the digit portion or cam DI and the consequent pivotal move-. ment of shaft 56 under the tension of retractile spring N the arm 15 is moved from the position shown in Fig. 10 back to the position shown in Fig. 9 wherein the operation of arm 4! is ineffective relative to movable contact 36, the total interdigit space being, as above mentioned, equal to an angular distance of six ratchet teeth RT of the drum [8.

The above-described operation is repeated for each of the other segments D2, D3, D4, etc. Upon a complete turn of drum I8 the pin 96 shown in Figs. 3, and 6 engages the camming portion 91 of lever 9| for pivoting this lever and thereby releasing shaft 89 which is returned to normal under the tension of its retractile spring 93. The return movement of shaft 89 to normal moves the gear 6| from the position shown in Fig. 6 to the position shown in Fig. 5 which is followed by the movement of the plunger 95 for opening the switch SW and thereby stopping the operation of motor M which is timed to occur when the drum l8 reaches the position shown in Figs. 8 and 14. The longitudinal movement of shaft 89 is also effective to disengage the gear 6| from pin 88 to permit its rotation as effected by the knob for moving the wiper arm 58 in selected position with another ring 22 bearing a difierent telephone call designation which may be transmitted by the closing of switch SW as above described.

What is claimed is:

1. In a call transmitter, a pulsing contact, a motor, a cam actuated by said motor, means actuated by said cam for actuating said contact, a code element, a ratchet mechanism actuated by the operation of said cam for rotating said element in timed relation with the movement of said means and means actuated by said element for controlling the operation of the first mentioned means relative to said contact.

2. In a call transmitter, a code element, a rotatable support for said element, a motor, a cam wheel geared to said motor, an arm actuated by the movement of said cam, a pulsing contact disposed in operative relation with said arm, a ratchet mechanism actuated by the movement of said cam for rotating said support, and means actuated by said element for rendering predetermined operations of said arm ineffective relative to said contact for transmitting a signal according to the conjoint operation of said arm and said element.

3. In a call transmitter, a base having upright supports mounted thereon, a drum rotatably mounted on said supports, a code element mounted on said drum, a motor mounted on one of said supports and housed in said drum, a cam wheel actuated by said motor, a pawl actuated by said cam, said drum having a ratchet toothed portion engaged by said pawl for rotating said element, an arm operated by the movement of said cam in timed relation with the operation of said pawl, a pulsing contact disposed in operative relation with said arm and a mechanism operable upon the operation of said element for rendering a predetermined operation of said arm inefiective relative to said contact.

4. In a call transmitter, a drum, a motor, a ratchet mechanism, a cam wheel actuated by said motor having means for actuating said mechanism, a plurality of code elements, a support for said elements actuated by said mechanism, a wiper, means movable in one direction for moving said wiper in operative relation with one of said elements and in another direction for starting said motor, a pulsing contact, an arm disposed in operative relation with said cam wheel for actuating said contact, and means actuated by the operation of said code element for rendering a predetermined number of operations of said arm ineffective relative to contact for transmitting a call according to the character of said element.

5. In a call transmitter, a plurality of code elements, a rotatable support for said elements, a wiper, a pivoted shaft for said wiper, a lead screw, a manually operable member for actuating said lead screw for moving said wiper on said shaft, in selected position relative to said elements, spring means for yieldably holding said wiper in engaged relation with the selected element on said support, a lever carried by said shaft, a motor, a cam actuated by said motor, a step-by-step mechanism actuated by the movement of said cam for rotating said support, an arm actuated by said cam and a pulsing contact actuated by said arm under control of said lever.

6. In a call transmitter, a plurality of code elements, a support for said elements, a wiper, a pivoted supporting shaft for said wiper, a lead screw for moving said wiper on said shaft in operative relation with said elements selectively, spring means for yieldably holding said wiper in engaged relation with the selected element, a pulsing contact, an arm operatively associated with said pulsing contact, a motor, a cam rotated by said motor for actuating said arm, a ratchet mechanism actuated by said motor for rotating said support, and a lever member carried by said shaft and movable in the path of said arm by the operation of the selected element for controlling the operation of said arm relative to said contact.

JOSEPH C. FIELD.

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