Pay telephone station monitor system
First Claim
1. In a pay telephone station coupled to a central office through telephone lines, a fault alarm system comprising:
- detection circuit means connected at the pay telephone station for producing alarm signals upon the detection of malfunctions of the pay station equipment;
monitor circuit means connected at the central office for receiving said alarm signals and producing output signals upon predetermined occurrences of said alarm signals; and
a handset removable from a cradle to cause a dial tone to appear onto the line, and wherein said detection circuit means further comprises;
timing means for timing the time interval from handset removal to the onset of dial tone and producing an alarm signal when the interval is greater than a predetermined amount.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A pay telephone station monitor system which monitors the operation of a pay telephone station and detects malfunction of the pay station equipment. An alarm signal is produced upon detection of such malfunction which signal is transmitted to a central office to produce a visual output display upon predetermined occurrences of the alarm signals. The monitor system senses the impedances of the transmitter and receiver elements in the handset of the telephone, the time delay between removing the handset from the cradle and the occurrence of dial tone, and the delay between the onset of dial tone and dial tone break. The central office equipment produces a hierarchy of visual indications indicative of the number of times faults have occurred, and also gives a time reading since the occurrence of an initial fault or since the last successful use of the pay station. A coin box monitor can also be included to detect the height of coins in a coin box and transmit a signal to the central office when a predetermined height has been reached.
59 Citations
27 Claims
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1. In a pay telephone station coupled to a central office through telephone lines, a fault alarm system comprising:
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detection circuit means connected at the pay telephone station for producing alarm signals upon the detection of malfunctions of the pay station equipment; monitor circuit means connected at the central office for receiving said alarm signals and producing output signals upon predetermined occurrences of said alarm signals; and a handset removable from a cradle to cause a dial tone to appear onto the line, and wherein said detection circuit means further comprises; timing means for timing the time interval from handset removal to the onset of dial tone and producing an alarm signal when the interval is greater than a predetermined amount. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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- 6. A fault detection system for a pay telephone station connected to a telephone line comprising detecting means for determining a malfunction of the pay station equipment, and alarm means responsive to said detecting means for producing an alarm signal indicating such malfunction, and wherein the pay telephone station equipment includes a handset having transmitter and receiver elements, and wherein said detecting means includes monitoring means for checking the proper values of the impedance of said transmitter and receiver elements.
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15. A fault monitor system connected at a telephone central office for monitoring the operation of a pay telephone station connected by telephone lines to the central office and comprising:
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detecting means for detecting both the proper operation and the malfunction of the pay telephone station, and display means for producing output signals upon predetermined occurrences of various malfunctions of the pay telephone station, and wherein said central station receives a dial tone signal from the telephone pay station when a call is placed thereon and an alarm signal when a malfunction occurs thereon, and wherein said detecting means comprises dial tone detection means for detecting said dial tone signal, first time means activated by said dial tone detection means for producing a reset signal when a first predetermined time interval is reached, alarm signal detection means for detecting said alarm signal, second timer means activated by said alarm signal detection means for producing a reset inhibit signal and a clock signal when a second predetermined time interval is reached, said clock signal, reset signal and reset inhibit signal being applied to said display means. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A coin box monitor for a pay telephone station connected to a telephone line comprising:
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detecting means for detecting the height of the coins in the coin box, and alarm means responsive to said detecting means for producing an alarm signal indicating a predetermined height being reached, and wherein said pay telephone station has a coin box and a coin chute leading into the coin box, and wherein said detecting means includes a light emitting device located at the coin chute for directing light to the coins located in the coin box, a light responsive device located at the coin chute for receiving light reflected from the coins in the coin box, and a level detector coupled to said light responsive device for detecting when a predetermined amount of relfected light is received. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27)
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Specification