US2828359A - Signaling devices - Google Patents

Description

March 25, 1958 E. E. ANDERSON SIGNALING DEVICES originai Fiied March i3, i945 United States Patent siGNALiNo DEVICES Eric E. Anderson, Needham, Mass., assigiior to National Pneumatic Co. Inc., a corporation of Delaware s claims. (ci. 179-1) The present invention relates to signaling devices `particularly adaptedfor use in hospital signaling and communication systems. This application is a division of my copendiiig application, Serial No. 84,362, led March 30, 1949; nowPatent 2,624,808, which is a continuation of my application, Serial No. 582,466, filed March 13, 1945, and vsince abandoned.

rIhese systems generally employ a push button switch for each patient, the switches 'being connected by a flexible cord to the room outlet to permit placing the push button conveniently close to the patients hand. A system of audible and visual signals is usually provided to direct the attention of the supervising attendant to the existence of a calljand to identify the 'room from which it came.

Such a systemrequires that the nurse or other attendant go to the room to ascertain `the reason for the call. In numerous instances lit 'will lbe found that the trip could have been avoided had direct communication been possible between the patient and the attendant at the desk.

lt is, therefore, one ofthe objects .of the present invention to provide asuitabe signal and 'voice communication system for hospital use, wherein electro-acoustical transducing means may bedirectlyincorporated in the patients push button switch unit to permit twoeway voice commu* nication with substantially-complete privacy and without disturbingother patients.

According to one feature `of the invention, there is provided in a compact housing, corresponding in size to conventional push ,button units, not only button-.operated switching means lfor giving the usual visual and audible signals, but in addition, .an -.electroacoustical transducer adapted to function both as a telephone transmitter or microphone kand Aas a telephone receiver to permit Ytwoway voice communication 'with the attendant at the desk, and where desirable, topermitthe'latter to have auditory supervision of the patients 'directly roni'the desk.

'In the drawings illustrating 4the'several features of the invention, Fig. Al is a view 'in sectional elevationof the switch and transducer assembly on a somewhat enlarged scale; Fig. 2 is an exploded view of the operating parts removed from the housing; Figs. 3, 4, 5, andj6 are detail section views taken along correspondingly numbered section lines in Figs. 1 and 2, Figs. 5 and 6 being taken along the same section line and partly broken away, showing the parts in switch-off and switch-on positions, respectively; and Fig. 7 is a view partly broken away, of a modified form of the invention.

The signaling device comprises a housing or casing formed in two sections 12 and 14 having threaded connections for assembly into a smoothly rounded shape which may be conveniently held in one hand. A liexible multi-conductor connecting cord 16 enters the housing at one end, while at the other end the housing is provided with a push button 18 having a large domed head substantially the diameter of the adjacent end portion of the housing 12. At the base of the bore within which the push button is slidably mounted, a plurality ot switch j p 2,828,359 Patented Mar. 25, 195s r'ice contacts 20 having screw terminals 22 is arranged about a central passage 24 in the housing in spaced, mutually insulated relation.

Arranged within the section 14 of the housing is a transducer in .the form of a combination microphone-re ceiver unit 30 of compact but conventional construction. The unit is mounted within a casing 32 having a projecting neck or stem 34 adapted to be received within the passage at the base of housing 12. The transducer is clamped in position within the housing by means of threaded connections between stem `34 and the inner end of a tube 36. The tube is held against rotation within the housing through the provision of llats 38 and 40 on tube and housing passage 24, respectively.

To transmit sound effectively between the transducer diaphragm and the outside .of the housing, the stem 34 and tube 36 Vare provided with an axial passage 42 which gradually expands in cross-section from the inner end of the stem 34 adjacent the transducer unit to the outer end of the tube 36 adjacent the head of the push button 18. The push button which is bored to provide a free-sliding fit over the tube end, has the portion of its end wall which is in alignment with the tube end perforated at 44 to complete the acoustic vpassageway to the outside.'

The switch mechanism, operating in conjunction with the fixed contacts 20 `to .transmit visual and audible signals to the attendant, is arranged about the longitudinal tube 36 as .an axis, leaving the axial portion of the housing free to provide -t-he acoustic passage. The switch components, in additionto the button 18 and fixed contacts 20 already mentioned, comprise .a stator 50 lintegral with or xedly secured .to ,the tube 436, a sleeve 52, .a rotor 54, and coil springs 56 ,and SSYassociated with the button and rotor, respectively.

The stator 50 is provided with segments 62 having shoulders .64 Aprojecting outwardly beyond the main body of the segments, While the sleeve52 is formed with an inwardly extending shoulder 66 at one end, with segments 68 extending .inwardly therefrom so as to cooperate with the segments 62 :of thestator in permitting limited rotation of the sleeve .and also inward axial movement thereof. The button and sleeve are adapted to be assembled into la single operating unitlocked together by screw 80, with spring 56 disposed -between the button and stator50 in suchmanner as to urge the button and sleeve assembly outwardly and ina counterclockwise direction relative to .the stator. Grooves 82 and 84 in button and stator, respectively, .-servegto .anchor the spring ends.

The switch rotor 54 comprises atlange portion 86 to which resilient contact `fingers 88 are secured. Since the several contact .fingers need not be electrically isolated, the contact nger assembly may conveniently be formed from a single piece of sheet Phosphor bronze or other suitable material. Associated with the flange is Aa hub portion having segments adapted to cooperate with the segments 68 of the sleeve. Spring 58 is arranged between the rotor and the housing 12 to urge the rotor against the sleeve and stator and at the same time to urge the rotor in counterclockwise rotation relative to the stator. Slots or grooves 92 and 94 are provided in rotor 54, tube 36, and at the base of the bore in housing 12 for locking the spring ends.

By reason of the interlocking relationship between the segments on rotor and sleeve, and between the sleeve and the stator, the rotor is permitted limited rotary move ment. The parts are so arranged that the contact fingers, when the rotor is at the limit of its clockwise movement, are out of contact with the fixed contacts 20. When the rotor is at the limit of its counterclockwise rotation, on the other hand, the contact fingers are in alignment with the iexe'd contacts and, except for the contact fingers asesoria which are in control of the buzzer circuit, in electrical contact to rcomplete the circuits, to the nurses signal lights. A substantial portion of the switching operation is thus effected by rotation of the rotor to move the contact fingers into and out of registry with the xed contacts 20. p

Actuation of the switch rotor 54 is controlled by the push button through sleeve 52. Independent axial and rotary movements of the button are utilized to provide onactuation and `oli-actuation respectively, of the rotor. To latch the rotor in Ypre-set, switch-olf position, against the urging of spring 5S, the rotor is provided with short pins Y 100 which project from the face of segments 90 of the roto-r hub. These pins are arranged to register with and to enter holes or sockets 102 in the stator when the rotor is in clockwise, or switch-off position, so as to retainthe rotor in that position until such time as a signal is to be given. Y

To actuate the switch, only slight pressure is required on the push button, since it is only necessary to move the rotor inwardly far enough to release theshort pins 100 from their sockets 102, against the relatively slight axial force of spring 5S. Once the pins are freed of the sockets,

the rotor snaps to on-position, causing the nurses signal lights to be energized. Because of the slight pressure and small movement required to cause the rotor to be lifted out of latching engagement with the stattor, the switch will in most instances be actuated by the blow or impact occasioned by falling from the patients bed to the floor, so as to summon the atendant.

In order that a brief audible signal may likewise be given, as a supplement to the light signals, the switch is so arranged that the contact finger of the rotor which is in control of the buzzer circuit has a shallower bend than the others, and does not normally make contact with the adjacent lixed contact, even with the rotor at the limit of its counter-clockwise rotation, in switch-on position. To actuate the buzzer, the button is pushed to the limit of its inward position, against the force of spring 58 and also of the spring contact fingers already in engagement with the fixed contacts, thereby bringing the buzzer-circuit linger into contact. Thus, the buzzer or other audible signal is given only so long as the button is pushed, while the light signals remain on after pressure on the button is released.

To reset the switch, onceV the call has beenanswered, it is only necessary tojturn the push button clockwise until the pins of the rotor register with and enter the sockets in the stator, thus latching the rotor in off position. Since the resetting and actuating operations are entirely dilerent in character, no chance for confusion exists between the rotary resetting operation and the conventional push-button calling operation.

As an alternative to the use of the microphone-re ceiver unit` in association with the switch mechanism, other signaling means may be provided such as a signal 4 light mounted in socket 112 in the section 14 of the housing, as illustrated in Fig. 7. Such light might be controlled, for example, from the attendants desk, and lighted in response to a call from the patient to indicate to the patient that the call has been noted, the light being visible from the push button end through the axial passage within the housing. In such embodiment a tlanged sleeve 116 takes the place of the transducer casing 30 and stem 34 to retain the tube 36, upon which the switch mechanism is supported in place in the housing i2.

claim: i. A hospital signaling device for hand-held operation comprising a push button, switching means under the control of the push button and arranged around the axis of the push button, an electro-acoustical transducer within the device, and an acoustic passage coaxial with the axis of the push button and extending from the transducer through the push button to the exterior of the device said pushbutton having an aperture therethroughV defining a part of said acoustic'passage.

2. A hospital signaling device for hand-held opera tion, said device comprising an elongated casing, a push button, switching means under the control of the push button, an electro-acoustical transducer within thecasing, and an acoustic passage of gradually increasing cross-sectional area from the interior to the exterior of the device extending axially of the casing from the transducer through the switching means to the exterior of the device said pushbutton having an aperture therethrough defining a part of said acoustic passage.

3. A hospital signaling device for hand-held operation comprising a casing, a push button rotatably and axially movable therein, a member lixed within the casing coaxial with the axis of the push button, said member having an axial passage therethrough, audible signaling means within the casing in communication with the inner end of the passage, a passage through the push button in alignment with the passage in the member, and switching means under the control of the push button and mounted on the xed member intermediate the signaling means and the push button in coaxial relation thereto to provide an unobstructed signaling passage from the signaling means to the exterior of the device.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,066,022 Weidenman Dec. 29, 1936 2,142,993 Brown Jan. l0, 1939 2,262,170 Douglas Nov. 1l, 1941 2,273,353 Harris Feb. l7, 1942 2,305,681 Dunning Dec. 22, 1942 2,452,830 Braun Nov. 2, 1948

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