US2244918A

US2244918A - Desk telephone set

Info

Publication number: US2244918A
Application number: US218356A
Authority: US
Inventors: Herbert F Obergfell
Original assignee: Associated Electric Laboratories Inc
Current assignee: Associated Electric Laboratories Inc
Priority date: 1938-07-09
Filing date: 1938-07-09
Publication date: 1941-06-10
Anticipated expiration: 1958-06-10

Description

June 10,1941. H. F. OBERGFELL 2,244,918

DESK TELEPHONE SET Filed July 9, 1958 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 2) 2/ FIG. I

FIG. 2

/7 lm'j'illl 12 /8 1mm PEG 3 2 a? 4/ INVENTOR.

HERBERT F. OBERGFELL ATTORNEY.

June 10, 1941. H. F. OBERGFELL DESK TELEPHONE SET Filed July 9, 1938 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 PIC-3.5

INVENTOR. HERBERT F. OBERGFELL ATTORNEY.

June 10, 1941. QBERGFELL 2,244,918

DESK TELEPHONE SET Filed July 9, 1938 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. 7 FIG. 8

Q i ii FIG. ll

FIG. l2

INVENTOR:

June 10, 1941. H. F. OBERGFELL DESK TELEPHONE SET 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed July 9, 1938 FIG. l9

Hale F!G.l7 'FIGIS.

FIG; 20

June 10, 1941. QBERGFELL 2,244,918 DESK TELEPHONE SET Filed July 9, 1938 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG. 23

, INVENTOR. HERBERT F. OBERGF'ELL ATTORNE June 10, 1941. H. F. OBERGFELL DESK TELEPHONE SET 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed July 9, 1938 INVENTOR.

. ATTORNEY? HERBERT F. OBERGFELL W Patented June 10, 1941 nnsx rennrnom: sar

Herbert F. Obergfell, River Forest, 11]., assignor to Associated Electric laboratories, Inc., Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application July 9, 1938, Serial N... 218,356

1 Claim.

The invention relates in general to telephone sets but more particularly to an improved desk telephone of the cradle type.

An object of the invention is to improve the construction and shape of the cover of the desk telephone.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a channel in the cover to allow a proper finger grip of the handset before removing it from the cradle, thus minimizing breakage of the hand set.

A further object of the invention is the provision of means for enabling the desk telephone to be easily moved from one place to another.

A feature of the invention relates to the combination of the channel inthe cover formed by the side walls and the curved rear surface and the fingers lifting plate mounted' between the side walls over the channel.

Another feature of the invention relates to a pivoted fingers lifting plate for use in moving the desk telephone from place to place.

A further feature relates to the construction of the cover which is moulded in one piece and may be provided with different types of fingers lifting plates or no lifting plates, as desired, by providing' different lifting plates and mounting blocks.

Other features will be apparent from the detail description of the drawings comprising Figs. 1 to 27, inclusive.

Fig. 1 shows a front view of the desk set with the calling device or dial removed.

Fig. 2 shows a rear view of the preferred embodiment of the invention with the pivoted fingers lifting plate.

Fig. 3 shows a top view.

Fig. 4 shows a perspective view.

Fig. 5 shows a cross section taken on a line approximately through the center of the desk set.

Fig. 6 shows a partial cross section through one of the side walls.

Figs. 7 and 8 show a top and side view, respectively, of the pivoted fingers lifting plate.

Figs. 9 to 12, inclusive, show various views of the mounting block for attaching the pivotal fingers lifting plate to the cover.

Fig. 13 shows a modification of Fig. 4 in perspective.

Fig. 14 shows a perspective of a modification having a combined stationary fingers lifting plate and mounting block.

Fig. 15 shows a cross-section taken approximately through the center of Fig. 14.

Figs. 16, 17, 18, 19, and show various views of the combined fingers lifting plate and mounting block.

Fig. 21 shows a perspective of another modification. Y

Fig. 22 shows a cross-section taken approximately through the center of Fig. 21.

Fig. 23 shows the combined fingers lifting plate and mounting block of Figs. 21 and 22.

Fig. 24 shows a perspective of a further modification.

Fig. 25 shows a cross-section taken approximately through the center of Fig. 24.

Figs. 26 and 27 show respectively top and side views of the calling device or dial mounting bracket.

Referring now in general to the drawings the cover ID of the desk telephone is formed in one piece of some suitable plastic insulating compound and has a general shape roughly corresponding to a truncated pyramid thereby enabling ease in moulding. The base portion of the cover comprises ten sides or skirts II which ex tend substantially vertical for a short distance at which point the front, rear, and side surfaces slope inwardly. The two side surfaces i2 and I3 slope upwardly and inwardly from the skirt sideportion only a short distance at which point both the side surfaces extend substantially vertical. The front surface It slopes upwardly and inwardly at an angle of substantially 40 degrees until it is rounded in a substantially horizontal top portion [5 which extends a short distance to the rear where it merges into the rear surface it. The rear surface Iii extending from the rear skirts i I to where it merges with the top portion l5 slopes upwardly and inwardly. The slope of the rear surface It is a perfect arc of a circle having substantially a nine inch radius. The two side surfaces form side walls I1 and i8 which extend from the top portion l5 near the front to the rear skirts ll, thereby forming a channel comprising the two inside surfaces I9 and 20 of the side walls and the curved rear surface l6. Each side wall at its highest points terminates in a pair of spaced pillars 2|. The space between these pillars forming a cradle for the well-known combination transmitter and receiver handset.

A plunger 22 is movably mounted in the space between the two pillars in each side wall. These plungers are provided for operating the switchhook springs (not shown) whenever the handset is removed or replaced on the cradle.

A base plate 23 having a rubber ring 24 is secured to the bottom of the cover by means of screws which screw into threaded inserts in the cover.

A hole 3] is provided in the front surface through which a calling device extends, such call ing device being mounted on a bracket 26 which in turn is fastened to the top horizontal portion ll of the cover by means of screws and metal inserts in projections 33. The bracket 28 is secured to the base portion 21 by means of a shouldered female-male screw insert 23. The calling device 23 is fastened to the bracket 23 by means of machine screws and does not touch the circumferpoint.

The channel formed by the curved rear surface It and the inside surfaces l3 and 20 of the two side walls l1 and It starts at the rear and gradually deepens. Its greatest depth being at a vertical point from the two rear pillars 2| in the side walls. Due to this depth of the channel the finthe insecure finger tip grip considerable damage or breakage may occur.

Another advantage provided by this channel is to minimize cord interference. For example, a subscriber, in hurriedly replacing the handset on the cradle, may allow the cord extending from the desk stand to the handset, to loop between the plungers of the cradle. In many instances these loops prevent the proper depression. of the plungers since the handset rests on the cord and does not depress the plungers suflicient to properly control the substation circuit. Under these conditions the telephone is temporarily out of service in regard to incoming calls. In the present invention this defect has been overcome by providing a channel which starts near the front pillars and which has sufiicient depth so that the cord will not interfere with the proper operation of the plungers in case the cord is accidentally looped in between the pillars.

Mounting blocks 32 are provided between each pair of pillars 2| in the side walls. These mounting blocks 32 form the top surface of the cradle which supports the handset and are provided with threaded screw holes 36 into which the screws 42 are screwed. The screws 42 extend through holes in the switchhook spring mounting plate l3 and through holes in a portion of the side walls as shown in Fig. 6 and are then screwed .into the mounting blocks 32 to hold thesame and the switchhook spring mounting plate 43- firmly secured to the cover [0. A hole 31 is provided in each mounting block 32 for the plungers 22'.

Due to the general shape of the cover II) which is provided with smooth sloping sides the desk telephone is not easily moved by hand from place to place because no suitable finger grip is available for lifting the cover. In order to provide means for easily lifting and moving the desk telephone from place to place a fingers lifting plate has been provided which enables the fingers to be inserted below this fingers lifting plate in the channel formed by the rear surface It and the side walls I! and I 8. Several modifications of fingers lifting plates are shown in the different figures of the drawings. The preferred fingers lifting plate 33 is shown in Figs. 2, 3, I4, '1, and 8. The lifting plate 32 has the general shape shown in Figs. 7 and 8 and has two rounded lugs 33 by means of which the plate 33 is pivoted in the cutout rounded openings 33 in the mounting blocks 32. The lower end of plate 33 is curved as shown at 4| which allows the fingers to raise and rotate the plate 33 from the full-line position to the dotted-line position shown in Fig. 5. In the dotted-line position of Fig. 5 the plate 33 strikes against the overhanging flanges or edges 34 of ence of the hole 3| in the front surface It at any mounting blocks32, thereby preventing further rotation of the plate 33. In'this raised position the fingers extend in the channel under the plate 33 and the tips of the fingers engage the cut-out portion 40, thereby giving a firm finger grip for moving the deskstand with the hand set on the cradle. The cut-out portion 40 has been carefully chosen so that the tip of the fingers will not push the handset off of the plungers when moving the telephone.

This pivoted fingers lifting plate 33 normally rests on the rear surface [6 or on the bottom of the channel as shown in full-line in Fig. 5 so as not to interfere with the fingers when removing the handset from the cradle. The combination of the pivoted fingers lifting plate 33 and the channel has a decided advantage over known desk sets in that it allows the fingers of the hand to grasp the underside of the handset, thereby providing a. firm grip on the handset. This is especially true when a lifting means isprovided for moving the entire telephone set, since the lifting means as a rule allows only the finger tips to grasp the sides of the handset resulting in an insecure grip of the handset. Various reports from the telephone companies show that breakage on the handsets greatly exceeds any other breakage of the desk telephones and it is thought that this new combination of the channel and pivoted finger plate will greatly reduce the breakage of handsets because of the improved finger grasping arrangement.

Figs. 14 to 20, iinclusive, show a combined stationary fingers lifting plate and mounting block 50 attached to the cover III in the same manner as shown in Fig. 6. In this modification the combined lifting plate 50 has a flange 5| which fits in a cut-out portion of the cover In as shown in Fig. 15 in such a manner that the top portion of the lifting plate 50 between the two side walls l1 and I8 is substantially horizontal with the top portion l5 of cover Ill. The plate 50 at its rear has an enlarged curved portion 52 provided to improve the finger grip when moving the desk telephone. It will be noted that the depth of the channel formed by the side walls and rear surface I6 is at its greatest depth directly below the rounded portion 52 of the plate 50, thereby giving sufiicient room for insertioncf the fingers.

An improved stationary fingers lifting plate and mounting block 60 is shown in Figs. '21, 22 and 23. This lifting plate and block 60 is secured to the cover I I) in the same manner as shown in Fig. 6. At the rear end of plate 60 an enlarged portion BI is provided to improve the finger grip when the desk telephone is moved. The center portion of the plate 60 is cut away as shown at 62- for two purposes; one is to improve the finger grip and the other is to allow an opening for easily cleaning the channel beneath the plate. The cut-away portion 62 has been carefully chosen so as to allow the finger tips to engage the edge 62 without raising the handset away from the plungers 22 when moving the desk telephone.

Figs. 24 and 25 show a modification comprising a movable fingers lifting rod II. The rod II is u-shaped and extends through holes in the rear surface and through a portion ll of the moulded cover II. The portion ll being provided for guiding the movement of the rod ll. Screws 12, as shown in Fig. 25, are screwed into the lower ends of the rod III to limit the vertical movement of the rod when the same is raised for the purpose of moving the desk telephone. It should be noted that the horizontal portion of rod does not rest on the rear surface ii. The curvature of the rod 10 from its horizontal to its vertical shape prevents the horizontal portion of rod 10 from engaging the rear surface Ii thereby leaving suflicient space between the rear surface 18 and the rod II to force the rod Ill vertically when the fingers are inserted beneath rod Ill. The dotted-line in Fig. 25 shows the position the rod 10 attains when it is raised by the fingers for moving the desk telephone while the full-line shows the normal position of rod II. This type of finger lifting rod, like the preferred embodiment shown in Fig. 4, permits aosecure finger grip of the handset when the same is removed from the cradle because the rod 10 in normal position does not interfere with the finger tips grasping the underside of the handset.

The calling device or dial mounting bracket 26 comprises a flat metal plate of the shape shown in Figs. 26 and 27. The center of this bracket is cut away in order to provide space for the shunt and interrupter. springs of the calling device. Holes II are provided in bracket 28 for mounting the calling device on the bracket by means of machine screws which screw into threaded holes in the casing of the calling device. The holes II are provided for machine screws which fasten the bracket to metal inserts in the portions ll below the top surface I! of the cover. The hole I! is threaded and is secured to the base portion 21 of the cover by means of the shouldered female-male screw insert 20. The calling device is therefore mounted on the bracket 28 which in turn is mounted to top and base portions of the cover l0.

Having described the invention, what is considered to be novel is pointed out in the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

In a desk telephone, a cover formed in one piece comprising side walls each having a pair of spaced pillars forming the hand telephone supports, a rear inwardly and upwardly sloping surface between said side walls merging into a top surface, and a channel formed by said side walls and rear surface, a switchhook spring mounting plate inside said cover, a combined fingers lifting plate and molmting block on the outside of said cover for providing a finger grip to move the desk telephone and screws each extending through a hole in the switchhook spring mounting plate and a hole in the cover into a threaded hole in said combined plate and block for securing said mounting plate and said combined plate and block to said cover.

HERBERT I". OBERGFEIL.