US3031862A - Replaceable ceiling structure for telephone booths - Google Patents

Description

May 1, 1962 P. H. SHERRON REPLACEABLE CEILING STRUCTURE FOR TELEPHONE BOOTHS Filed Nov. 20, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 JNVENTOR. PATCH/,4! H J /Rmv BY i fl TOKA/fl J May 1, 1962 P. H.'SHERRON REPLACEABLE CEILING STRUCTURE FOR TELEPHONE BOOTHS Filed NOV. 20, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Ewe/m4 /7. f/fieo/v BY 4 9%? ATTUE/VEKS' REPLACEABLE CEILING STRUCTURE FOR TELEPHONE BOOTHS Filed Nov. 20, 1959 May 1, 1962 P. H. SHERRON 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. Pa ka W41 h SM-20m United States Patent Filed Nov. 20, 1959, Ser. No. 854,283

5 Claims. (Cl. 62-259) This invention relates to telephone booths and more particularly to a telephone booth having a removeable and replaceable ceiling structure within which may contain booth ventilating, lighting, air conditioning or other apparatus and equipment either alone or in combination. conventionally, telephone booths have four walls, a foldable front door assembly and a ceiling forming a booth enclosure. In the space above the ceiling there is normally provided booth illuminating means, booth ventilating means and booth air cooling apparatus or air conditioning equipment, together with their respective control equipment. In order to allow for service and maintenance of this equipment and apparatus, access has been provided to the interior of the space above the ceiling or ceiling chamber, either by means of a removeable panel positioned on top of the telephone booth assembly, or by means of a removeable panel on the underside of the ceiling chamber within the telephone booth enclosure. These conventional means of access to the ceiling chamber have been generally satisfactory with only relatively simple booth illumination and ventilation means being positioned or located within the ceiling chamber to be serviced. However, these access means have not proved satisfactory where more complex equipment or apparatus is disposed in the ceiling chamber, such as air cooling or air conditioning equipment.

In order to maintain and service a relatively complex apparatus, such as an air conditioner or the more complex booth ventilating means, positioned in the ceiling chamber, the complete apparatus must be generally available for inspection and servicing. Normally, each air conditioning unit is serviced periodically to brush and clean the condenser coil, brush and clean the evaporator coil, clean the drain pan and condensate tube and brush, clean and oil the fan and blower motors. If the air conditioning equipment is inconveniently or awkwardly positioned in the ceiling chamber, so that the equipment is dit'rlcult to service, it adds appreciably to the time required for maintenance, service and repair of the equipment or apparatu located therein, as well as the quality and thoroughness of the work performed. This is of great importance due to the high labor cost of the skilled maintenance and repair men. Further, the longer the time spent for servicing or repairing the accessory equipment, the longer the down time of the telephone booth and the greater the loss of income therefrom as well as the inconvenienceto prospective users with the ill will this possibly engenders.

Also, due to the extremely large number of telephone booths being used throughout the country, or in fact within any large metropolitan area, great efforts are taken by both the telephone booth manufacturersand the telephone companies using such booths, to keep the booths uniform in size and shape so as to make equipment and parts generally interchangeable. Heretofo re there has been no generally satisfactory way of incorporating more complex booth air circulating and illuminating equipment in an existing telephone booth. Heretofore, such replacement normally required extensive changes in the ceiling structure which often cost more in labor costs than the cost of a new booth having the desired equipment already installed.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a telephone booth having booth air circulating apparatus positioned within the ceiling chamber of the telephone booth adapted to be pivoted downwardly into to telephone booth for providing complete availability to inspection and repair of the entire apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a removable ceiling structure for a telephone booth which may be used interchangeably in any telephone booth of a similar class which provides for easy convertibility of existing telephone booths into booths fully cooled or air conditioned booths either temporarily or permanently.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a telephone booth having a removable ceiling structure on which there may be mounted various electrical and mechanical apparatus.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a telephone booth having a ceiling structure that is easy to install and remove for providing easy and convenient access to the apparatus positioned in the ceiling chamber.

- Another object is to provide a removable ceiling structure for telephone booths which incorporates complex booth air cooling apparatus thereon, and which allows the use of unskilled labor to periodically service the apparatus and upon malfunctioning of the apparatus allows quick replacement of the apparatus with a new unit for returning the malfunctioning unit to central repair shop.

A still further object is to provide a telephone booth having a ceiling structure that accomplishes all of the above and yet is simple to fabricate and assemble, easily adapted to modify or suit varying needs, and reliable in use.

Other objects and features of this invention will be apparent when the following description is considered in connection with the annexed drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of one form of a conventional telephone booth incorporating the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a bottom view of the ceiling structure of the telephone booth shown in FIGURE 1, constructed in accordance with the present invention taken along line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an elevational view, in section of the upper portion of the booth and the ceiling structure taken along line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of a frame structure used with the present invention; and

FIGURE 5 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of the upper portion of the telephone booth taken along line 5-5 of FIGURE 2.

- It is well known that the temperature within a telephone booth is raised by the body heat of the occupant, and the air therein often times becomes stale, especially if the occupant is smoking. If the telephone call is of long duration, the temperature and relative humidity of the air within the booth is often times raised to such a high level as to become uncomfortable to the occupant. The occupant often opens the door to relieve this condition,

which is undesirable, due to noise and the normal desire to maintain the conversation in confidence, so that the occupant is subjected to the uncomfortable temperature and humidity and stale air during most of the time the upper portion of the telephone booth.

Referring to the drawings, numeral designates an assembled telephone booth structure providing a booth enclosure and having corner-posts 12 mounted on a base-- structure, notshown; Between front corner p'osts-12is a door assembly 14, shown in its open position. Betweensideand rear-corner posts 12 are mounted side panels 16 and between rear corner; posts -12 is a rear panel 17'. Within the boothisshown a conventional telephone13 mounted above a-suitable tray 15. This construction is well known inthetelephone art. j -As viewed in FIGURE 1-,-extending between left front and leftrear corner posts 12 and positioned at the'top of booth side 16 is a cross member 18. Extending between left rear and right rear corner posts 12- and positioned at the top of rear side 17 is a cross member 20, and extending between the right rear and right front corner posts 12 and positioned at the top of side member 16 is a cross member 22. Similarly-, extending between front posts 12 and positioned at the top is a cross member 24. Suspended above the booth enclosure is a ceiling structure indicated generally at 19.

i As seen in FIGURE 4, a frame assembly or positioning assembly indicated generally at 28 is adapted to be associated with theupper portion of phone booth 10. Frame assembly 28 has-a pair of'substantially vertically disposed side members 32 and 34 and a rear member 36 which fixedly connect the rear ends of side members 32 and 34. Side members 32 and 34 and rear member 36 each-has an outwardly extending transverse flange or arm from its upper edge, indicated as 32a, 34a and 36a, respectively. Rear member 36 and side members 32 and 34 are of such length that frame assembly 28 is receivable within the upper-=portion of phone booth 10, so that flange 32a and 36a are mounted on cross members 18, 22 and 20 respectively as shown best in FIGURE 3. Extending between the inner surfaces of arms 32-and 34'and-fixedly mounted thereto is a cross arm 40; Advantageously cross arm 40 lies a predetermined distance from rear member 36,"so that cross arm 40 does not interfere with slot 95 for guiding door mechanism 14, as shown best in FIGURE 2. Cross arm 40; has its lower surface disposed substantially flush with the lower edges of side-members32 and 34. Cross arm 40-has a plurality of spaced-apart threaded openings indicated generally at 42; A strengthening strut 44 is mounted tothe inner surfaces of side members '32 and'34; and advantageously is vertically aligned with cross arm 40. Abutting the lower inner surface of side member 32 andextending forwardly from rear member 36 is'an elongated bracket or plate-46 having an upwardly turned forward end 48. Bracket 46 is fixedly secured to side member 32 and rear member 36' in any convenient manner. In a similar manner a bracket 51 is juxtaposed with the lower inner surface of side member 34 and extends forwardly from rear member 36. Plate or bracket 51 also has an upwardly turned forward end 53. Frame assembly 28 of ceiling structure 19 is adapted tobe removably supported-.onphone booth 10. Thus, upon-ceiling structure 19 being positioned completely in place on top of telephone booth'lll. side members 32 and 34 of frame assembly 28 lie substantially parallel to the inner surfaces-of booth side members 18 and 22 respectively and brackets 46 and 51-are substantiallyhorizontally-disposed and extend forwardly from the rear edges of side members 32 and 34respejctively.- 1 fr 2 Ceiling'strncture 19 includes a replaceable, downwardly displaceable inner section indicated'generally at 50, shown best'in FIGURE 3. Section 50 has a basemember or frame assembly 52 whichv advantageously hasupwardly extendingwalls for forming a casingthereabout. Extending from opposite-sides of frame assembly 52'adjacent the rear edges or-in rear corners are a pair-of outwardly extending pins, or shafts 56 and 58 respectively. As shown best in FIGURES 2" and 3,: innersection 50ris of a width sufficient to be received withinframe assemblyr28,bounded by transverse member 40 and rear member 36 and side base-member' 52 being horizontally positioned or suspended in place above-the booth enclosure, lip 62 of bracket 60 lies. immediately belowand abuts the bottom surface of transversely extending cross arm 40 of frame assembly 28, with the openings in each being respectively aligned; Basemember.-52-is removably secured to cross arm 40311 some convenient manner, such as, by bolts 64..

being threadedly received through the alignedropenings in lip 62 andcross arm .40.. Ceiling structure19 is now in operativeposition atop the phone booth assembly 10.. v

As previously discussedabove, telephone booth ceiling structures conventionally mount booth lighting -and/, or ventilating means.v Some booth ceiling .structures also provide mounting "of automatic. illumination control means:and other morecomplex vapparatus,.such as booth cooling means and air conditioning apparatus. Ceiling structure 19 incorporating a novel air conditioning apt paratus will now bedescribed. .An,isolation wall Ellis. mounted onbase assembly 52 andv forms a compartment which separates-the evaporator'or. refrigerator coil 82 from the heat discharging. means of-the air. conditioning unit. Isolation wall 86 is preferably made of some insulating material such as a foam plastic. Advantageously base assembly 52 has a fiooror lower wall 64 which pro-. vides the ceiling .of the booth enclosure and through which projects a portion of a louver through which passes the air to and from the enclosure of phone booth 10.. Beneath evaporatoncoils 82 andspaced from isolation wallSQis a moulded drip pan -6&which extends upwardly from -base assembly. 52. Drip pan 68; has a de-v pression therein for the collection of condensate 69 which forms .on-the refrigerated coils 82. Connected to a lower portion ofthe. depression in. drip pan 68 is a drain 77 which communicates with condenser coils 72 in aman-p her not shown, for disposing-of the collected condensate by evaporation due to the-heat of the condenser coil. Centrally. p'ositionedwithrespect to evaporator coil 82 and aligned with louver 66 is a fan assembly 70 driven by. motor 71. As shown by arrows in FIG. 3, fan assemsbly 70-draws warm air'from the interior of phone booth through louver 66, along the passageway between drip pan68 and isolation wall 80,- over refrigerated coils 82, and through the fan back through louver 66 into the interior of phone booth 10. Moisture in the warm air is condensedout upon the warm" air being cooled by the evaporator coils .82. Thus the returned cooled air has its moisture content-reduced. Disposed in the area outside isolation wall 60 is compressor 73, condenser coils 72, an'outletconduit 74, and a condenser blower and motor which are not'shown, all being mounted on base assembly 52.. Flexibleconduit lines are connected from outlet conduit 74 to an outlet louver 75 on the front panel of telephone booth 10. Advantageously, an illuminating source indicated as a pair of circular fluorescent bulbs 76, .arealsoprovided outside isolation Wall 80. Advantageously lower wa1l'64 may be translucent to permit transmission of light from light source 76 to enterphone booth10.'-. H 1

i Operationofi the condenser-blower, not shown, draws air from outside telephone booth, 10 through inlet louver 78 in: the upper frontportion of telephone booth 10. The inlet airenters the outer area with respect to isolationrwall 80.and, passes over compressor unit 73, illuminating source 76,. and condenser coils/72 thereby carrying oif: the .heat, accumulated by the refrigerating system. The heated, moisture: laden air; leaving condenser-coils 72 is forced through outlet conduit 74 by the condenser hlowerenotzshowmiand then through the outlet louver 65 to the exterior of telephone booth 10.

A switch, not shown, is adapted to be closed when telephone booth door 14 is closed, and is provided to control the supply of electric current to the apparatus just described. Further suitable thermostatic controls are also provided in order to control the minimum temperature of refrigerator coils $2.

Suitable electrical connections are made so fan motor '71 and illuminating means 76 are connected to a source of electricity upon door 14 being closed, so there is always air circulating and illuminating means operating. Preferably compressor unit '73, for actuating the air conditioning apparatus, is controlled individually by the thermostatically controlled switch, not shown.

The floor or lower wall 64 of inner unit 50 may advantageously be hingedly supported by frame 52, such as by a hinge 85, as shown in FIG. 3. Floor 64 can be hingedly lowered as indicated by the dotted line in the position shown as at 64 so as to clean and maintain the lower portion of the apparatus positioned in ceiling structure 17, such as fan 70 and lights 76. Also a covering 94 is advantageously placed over inner unit 50 for dust and dirt control.

In use, to inspect or service the apparatus mounted on ceiling structure 19, bolts 64 threaded in the openings in bracket 62 and cross arm 40 are removed so that base assembly 52 is pivoted downwardly into the booth enclosure about pins 56 and 58, which are supported on brackets 46 and 51 respectively as shown in FIGURE 5 by dotted lines. In this position, with the inner assembly 50 pivotly hanging in phone booth 10, a repair man'can easily see the entire apparatus as well as having the apparatus available for inspection, cleaning and repair work. For ease in working on both sides of assembly 50, base assembly 52 is moved horizontally while in the downwardly displaced position, so that pins 56 and 58 are slidably moved along brackets 46 and 51 respectively. Upwardly turned ends 48 and 53 of brackets 46 and 51 respectively, retain pins 56 and 58 on their respective brackets. After servicing, assembly 50 is returned to its horizontally disposed position above the booth enclosure in a manner described above, with the end of base assembly 52 opposite the pivoting end, being secured to frame assembly 40.

Electrical connection means providing for telephone lines may be mounted in the upper member 20, extending across the rear portion of booth in, and electrical power for the apparatus contained within the displaceable ceiling chamber may be connected thereto by means of a conventional electrical plug connection 89 mounted on frame assembly 52, as shown in FIGURE 5. The electrical plug connection should be provided with sufiicient extra cord length to allow for the downward displacement of ceiling structure 19.

While illuminating means such as circular fluorescent bulbs were shown adjacent isolation wall 60, they may conveniently be mounted in the spaces between side member 18 and member 32 and side member 22 and member 34 for illuminating signs 91 and 92 in booth 10.

While the pivoting means of base assembly 52 was shown as pins or shafts 56 and 58 other types can be used such as rotatable members or such as wheels or ball bearing races. Also pins 56 and 58 were shown on the rear corners of base member 52 and could be on the forward corners if desired. Further, while removable frame assembly 23 allows easy conversion of existing booths, brackets 46 and 51 could be fixedly mounted to the walls of booth if desired.

Although the inlet and outlet louvers 75 and 78 respectively have been shown on the front lintel, one or both may have their openings communicating with the roof so that the front lintels of existing booths need not be changed when placing a replaceable ceiling structure therein.

From the foregoing it is seen that a ceiling structure is obtained that can be used in both new telephone booths and for modernizing existing booths with booth cooling apparatus. Further, the present ceiling structure allows a repair man to replace the entire temperature cooling apparatus unit with another unit by simply removing bolts 64, disconnecting the electrical connection, and removing interior assembly 50 from frame assembly 28 and putting in its place a complete new assembly. This can be done if the repair man finds that there is a serious breakdown or malfunctioning of the apparatus, and allows himto take the apparatus back to the shop where more suitable equipment is available, as well as allowing the telephone booth to be put back into immediate use. This is an especially important consideration where the more complex apparatus is used. Further, it allows an unskilled worker to perform the routine service functions and to replace a non-functioning unit with a functioning unit and return the non-functioning unit to the repair shops where skilled repair men and the proper equipment are.

While the preferred embodiment of this invention has been described above, it will be understood that many variations thereof will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the foregoing description shall be deemed illustrative only and not to be construed in a limiting sense, the present invention being defined solely by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A telephone booth comprising a rear 'wall and side walls forming a booth enclosure, an apertured mounting means extending horizontally for substantially the entire width of said booth enclosure and being spaced fromthe side walls of said booth, said mounting means having pivoting means extending from each side and an upright insulated wall formed of insulating material forming a compartment about said aperture, an air conditioning apparatus comprising a compressor, a condenser, an evaporator coil, a fan, and condensate collecting means, said air conditioning apparatus being mounted on said mounting means so that said evaporator coil condensate collecting meansand fan occupy said compartment and, in register with said aperture, condensate collecting means being made of insulating material and aligned under said evaporator coil and spaced from said upright wall, support means supported by said walls of said booth for removably positioning said mounting means above said booth enclosure, said support means having a. pair of elongated horizontally extending brackets extending downwardly into said enclosure adjacent opposite side walls of said booth for pivotally receiving said pivoting means of said mounting means and providing for longitudinal displacement of said pivoting means upon said mounting means being displaced downwardly into said booth enclosure, and means for removably securing said support means in horizontal position so that air from the interior of the booth is cooled, has moisture removed therefrom and returned into the interior of said booth upon circulating in a passage formed from said aperture in said mounting means between said upright insulated wall and said condensate collecting means through said evaporator coil and through the blower, upon removing said securing means said mounting means being displaced downwardly into said booth enclosure for providing access to said air conditioning equipment thereon.

2. In combination a telephone booth comprising side walls forming a booth enclosure and a ceiling structure removably supported by said booth, said ceiling structure forming a chamber above said booth enclosure and including a horizontally extending downwardly displaceable base assembly forming a lower wall of the chamber, said base assembly extending for substantially the entire width of the ceiling structure and having pivoting means extending from each side thereof, means mounted in said base assembly for conducting a flow of air therethrough,

heat discharging means, ;said air conditioning apparatus being mounted'onsaid base assembly, an insulating partition-"mounted on said base assembly in'said ceiling chamber-forming a compartment about said air flow conducting means, said evaporator being mounted within said compartment, means for causing air from within said booth enclosure to flow through said air conducting means over said evaporator and return to the interior of saidbooth enclosure, support meansremovably extending substantially horizontally along said side walls of the upper portion of said booth for supporting said pivoting means'of saidbase assembly, said pivoting means being shiftable along said support means to remove said base assembly from said booth, means for removably securing said base assembly in horizontal; position so that upon removingsaid securing means-said base assembly is pivotallydisplaced downwardly into said phone booth enclosure for providing access to the equipment mounted thereon and means for admittinga flow of air from theexterior ofsaid booth over said heat discharging means; and back to the exterior of said booth.

, ,3 to 1, downwardly about said shafts into said booth enclosure for providing access to said air conditioning equipment thereon, said base member being shiftable for removal. '4.-A replaceable ceiling structure for-a telephone booth.

having side walls forming a boothenclosure comprising a base member having pivoting means extending from each side and adjacent one end, air circulating equipment mounted on said base member, means removably sup-.

ported by the sides of said telephone booth for removably positioning said base member above said booth enclosure, said positioning means having an elongated hori zontally disposed bracket adjacent an endof and parallel to each of said side walls of said booth, said pivoting means of said base member beingpivotally and shiftably mounted on said brackets for downward displacement of the other end of said base member into said booth enclosure, and means for rernovably securing the other end of said base member to said positioning means for horizontally positioning said base member above said booth en- -3. An-air conditioning assembly adapted to be removably mounted on a--telephone booth'whichincludes side walls forminga booth enclosure, comprisinga base mem-' ber having a shaft extending fromeach side thereof, said shafts being axially aligned and adjacent to one end of saidrbase; an airconditioning apparatus including a com pressor, -a'c0ndenser, and an evaporator mounted on said base member, apartition wall mounted'on said base member surrounding said evaporator, said partition wall being insulatedand dividing said air conditioningapparatus into abooth enclosure air section containing said evaporator andan outside air section containing said condenser, said base member and said air conditioning apparatus forming a-coherent'structure, means for circulating booth air through said'booth enclosure air section over said evaporator coil andback to said booth enclosure, means adapted to be removably supported by said walls of said telephone-booth for removably suspending said base member above the booth enclosure so that said air conditioning apparatus extends upwardly, said suspending means including-a horizontally disposed bracket adjacent one end of each of said booth sidewalls and extending therealong, said'brackets; having their axis lying in a plane substantiallyv parallel-to said side members, said shafts of said" base member being pivotally and shiftably mounted onsaid brackets, and means for removably securing the other endof said basemember to said suspending-means for retaining said'base member in .horizontahposition above said booth enclosure, whereby removing said securing means pivots said base member closure, whereby upon removing said securing means said base member being pivotally displaced downwardly into said booth enclosure, said base member upon downward displacement thereof providing access to said air circular- J ing equipment thereon.

disposed flanges, said arms being receivablewithin said enclosure, said flanges being adapted. to be removably mounted on said side walls of said booth, said support frame having a pair of horizontally disposed brackets adapted to extend substantially parallel ,and adjacent to said inner side walls of said booth, basemeans having booth air circulating equipment mounted thereon and having pivoting means extending from opposite sides, said pivoting means being adapted to be pivotally supported by said brackets and for coacting therewith for downward displacement. of the other end of said base means into said booth enclosure, and means for removably securing, the other end of said base means to said support frame for horizontally positioning said base means above said booth enclosure.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS, 2,1 12,277

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