US561416A

US561416A - John henry miller

Info

Publication number: US561416A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1896-06-02
Anticipated expiration: 1913-06-02

Description

(No Model.) I

' J. H. MILLER.

ATTACHMENT FOR TELEPHONE-S.

Patented June 2, 1896.

ANDREW BGRAHAM. FNOTO'LITHQWASNINFI'ON. D C.

ATENT Orricn,

OF ONE-HALF TO RICHARD T.

MEANY, OF NEYV YORK, N. Y.

ATTACHMENT FOR TELEPHONES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 561 ,41 6, dated June 2, 1896.

Application filed March 12, 1896. Serial No. 582,938. (No model-l T aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN HENRY MILLER, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of lVashington, in the District of Oolumbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Attachments for Telephones, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to telephones, and more specifically to an attachment to the call- IO box thereof for the purpose of preventing the turning of the crank operating the mechanism therein when the transmitter and receiver are in connection with a telephone at the other end of the line;

hen it is desired to use a telephone for the purpose of communicating with a person having a telephone connected with the central office of the system, connection is secured between the two telephones through the contral office. This is done by turning the crank placed at the right-hand side of the call-box. The rotation of the crank operates mechanism which signals the central office and operates mcchanism therein which indicates the telephone from which the call is made. Now .it often occurs that the person who has an swered the call is not the one with whom it is desired to communicate, and when this fact is ascertained it usually becomes necessary to go in search of the person desired, or it may be that either of the persons using the instrument is temporarily called away before he has finished his conversation over the wire. Under such circumstances another person com- 5 ing to the telephone and desiring to use it, not knowing that it is in connection with another telephone, turns the crank on the callbox for the purpose of securing connection with a telephone through the central office, whereupon the central office breaks the connection. The second comer may secure connection with another telephone by the time the user of the instrument who had left it but temporarily returns, thereby causing annoyance and delay to the latter; or, as at public telephones in large buildings, where the calls are received by a messenger, a call is made for a person in the building, and while the messenger is gone to inform him of the call the connection is broken or changed by another person having turned the crank, and

when the person called gets to the call-box there is no means of telling who it was that called him up, and much inconvenience and sometimes serious loss is the result. To pre- 5 5 vent as far as possible annoyances of this kind, I have devised a shield easily and cheaply constructed,which may be readily attached to the side of the call-box by means of a hinged support inserted between the edges of the box and the door thereto, and which may be swung around toward the crank and held in position by a hook attached to the callbox near the rear thereof and set into an eye at the outer end of the shield, and when the telephone is not in use the shield may be swung around against the face of the door of the call-box and kept there as long as desired without interfering in any wise with the use of the instrument. Any suitable notice may be placed 011 the shield conveying the information that the telephone is in use when the shield is placed in front of the call-crank.

In describing my invention reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which. similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure l is a front elevation of a telephone, showing the shield at one side in front of the crank, its position when in front of the boX being shown by dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the callboX, showing the crank and hook, a portion being broken away showing hinge of shield. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the shield and strap to which it is hinged.

In carrying out my invention I use a shield, preferably formed of sheet metal, tin-plate serving that purpose admirably. I make the shield oblong as to its general dimensions with rectangular outlines, except that its four corners may be cut away in straight lines, as shown in Fig. 1,0r they maybe rounded,though it is obvious that the shield maybe circular, or nearly so, without departing from the principle of my invention. The shieldlis hinged to a strap or support 2. (Shown in Figs. 1 and 2.) The edges of the upper and lower part of the shield are turned over and down, as shown in Fig. 3, to form guides 8 for the insertion therein of a card, if so desired. The hinge 3 is made by recessing the end of the plate comprising the shield for a distance about midway of its width at the end, and turning over and back a part of the plate on either side of the recess 4: to form knuckles or eyes 5, the edge of the plate above and below the hinge being on a line therewith. A projecting portion of the strap 2 corresponding with the Width of the recess 4 on the shield-plate is turned over to form a knuckle or eye 7, through which and the eyes 5 of the shield a pintle 6 is passed for holding the shield to the strap. The hinge-strap 2 is made to extend from the front of the call-box door 9, at the edge thereof, back to the edge of the call-box, against which the door 9 is hinged and rests when closed. It is then turned at a right angle to form a part to rest against the edge of the call-box 10, and at a point where it reaches the interior of the box it is again turned at a right angle toward the rear of the interior of the box and extends along and rests directly against the side thereof. hen the hinge-strap 2 is thus formed, all that is usually necessary to hold it firmly in position, when placed in the callbox 10 at a point in front of the crank 11, is to open the door 9 of the call-box 10, place the strap 2 therein, as described, and close and lock the door. The strap 2, however, has a hole 12 in it at the point where it rests against the edge of the call-box, in which a screw or nail may be inserted to fasten it to the edge of the call-box, if desired.

A hook 153 is fastened back of the crank 11 to the molding of the base-board by means of a screw-eye 14 to be hooked into the eye or loop 15, formed on the outer end of the shield, when it is desired to hold the latter firmly in front of the crank.

By using the shield as shown and described a simple and effectual means of preventing the use of the telephone by others when persons communicating therewith are interrupted is provided. By placing the shield bearing a notice thereon in front of the crank the receiver need not be laid down to indicate that the telephone is in use, but may be hung on ing in the rack the circuit with the local battery of the telephone is complete and the battery is constantly being weakened and exhausted.

It is obvious that instead of inserting the strap 2 between the door and edge of box, as described, the hinge can be tacked upon the outside of the call-box; but any means of attaching the shield to the box by screws or tacks driven into its outer surface is objectionable. My shield may also be attached by making the strap 2 flat and inserting it between strips secured to the face of the box by passing them across the face of the door and securing their ends at either end of the door when closed by merely bending said ends between the door and its frame or by having the strips turned so as to clasp the face of the box by extending backward at the corners thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1 An attachment for telephone-boxes, consisting of a movable shield having a hinged strap adapted for attaching the shield to the telephone-box by inserting the strap between the door and the edge of the box, substantially as shown and described.

2. An attachment for telephone-boxes, for indicating that the telephone is being used in connection with another telephone, consisting of a shield having guides on the face thereof and hinged to a strap, to be inserted and supported between the door and the edge of the call-box to which said door is hinged, substantially as shown and described.

3. An attachment for telephone-boxes, consisting of a movable shield having guides on the face thereof, a hinged strap for attaching it to the telephone-box, and a hook for holdin g it in position, substantially as and for the purpose described.

4:. In combination with a telephone callbox provided with a crank, a shield, having guides thereon, hinged to a strap adapted to be inserted between the door of the call-box and the edge thereof, and a hook for securing the shield in front of said crank, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I hereto affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN HENRY MILLER.

Vitnesses:

O. B. LESTER, HARRY W. WALLIs.