Telephone command apparatus
First Claim
1. Telephone command apparatus comprising(a) signal transmission channel means,(b) input circuit means connectible to a telephone line and responsive to telephone ringing signals for conditioning said signal transmission means to transmit signals therethrough,(c) decoder means in said transmission channel means for providing a plurality of separate outputs representative, respectively, of a plurality of coded signals supplied as inputs thereto through said channel means,(d) a plurality of controllable means for effecting a plurality of operations, respectively,(e) a plurality of control means for actuating said respective controllable means, said control means being initially disabled to receive the outputs from said decoder means, and(f) access control means initially enabled to receive the outputs from said decoder means and responsive to a predetermined combination of said separate outputs representative of a predetermined combination of first coded signals supplied to said input circuit means for enabling said plurality of control means to receive from said decoder means separate outputs, respectively, representative of other coded signals supplied to said input circuit means, whereby said controllable means may be selectively actuated in response to said other coded signals supplied to said input circuit means from said telephone line.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Telephone command apparatus responsive to ringing current on a telephone line includes a decoder responsive to upper and lower frequency components of two-tone signals and an access and lockout device responsive to decoded signals representative of a correct sequence of two-tone signals for terminating the incoming telephone line and enabling a plurality of relays for actuation selectively in response to other two-tone signals received over the telephone line to initiate and complete one or more operations at the called location. Until the correct sequence of two-tone signals is received, the command apparatus has no effect on the telephone line to which it is connected and the line functions in the normal way. Transmittal of an incorrect series of two-tone signals to the access and lockout device disables the command apparatus and renders it incapable of responding to incoming signals for a predetermined period of time. Selected interrogating two-tone signals transmitted by the caller condition an oscillator to generate audible signals of different frequency to indicate the "on" or "off" status of a selected operation. Relay means responsive either to a selected two-tone signal or to a dial tone or other permanent signal on the line disconnects the command apparatus from the line and readies it for the next incoming call.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. Telephone command apparatus comprising
(a) signal transmission channel means, (b) input circuit means connectible to a telephone line and responsive to telephone ringing signals for conditioning said signal transmission means to transmit signals therethrough, (c) decoder means in said transmission channel means for providing a plurality of separate outputs representative, respectively, of a plurality of coded signals supplied as inputs thereto through said channel means, (d) a plurality of controllable means for effecting a plurality of operations, respectively, (e) a plurality of control means for actuating said respective controllable means, said control means being initially disabled to receive the outputs from said decoder means, and (f) access control means initially enabled to receive the outputs from said decoder means and responsive to a predetermined combination of said separate outputs representative of a predetermined combination of first coded signals supplied to said input circuit means for enabling said plurality of control means to receive from said decoder means separate outputs, respectively, representative of other coded signals supplied to said input circuit means, whereby said controllable means may be selectively actuated in response to said other coded signals supplied to said input circuit means from said telephone line.
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13. In a telephone command apparatus including a two-position controllable means for effecting an operation, control means for said controllable means, input circuit means connectible to a telephone line, and signal transmission channel means for transmitting a first signal from said telephone line to said control means, means for determining the position of said controllable means from a remote calling location comprising
(a) means providing a second signal representative of the position of said controllable means, (b) signal generator means jointly responsive to said first and second signals and to a test control signal transmitted over said signal transmission channel means for generating one or the other of two different signals representative of the condition of said controllable means, (c) and means for supplying said generated signal to said input means for connection to said telephone line.
Specification