Automatic dialing device

• US 4,266,102 A
• Filed: 11/08/1979
• Issued: 05/05/1981
• Est. Priority Date: 04/22/1977
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Card-O-Matic Pty Limited
• Original Assignee: Card-O-Matic Pty Limited
• Inventors: Stanley, Louis, Sinclair, Robert E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Brigance, Gerald L.
• Application Number:
  US06/092,408
• Time in Patent Office: 544 Days
• Field of Search: 179/90 CS, 179/90 B, 179/90 BD, 179/18 BE, 179/5 R
• US Class Current: 379/157
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/278 using punched cards or tapes

Abstract

The present invention discloses an automatic telephone dialling device which is able to read a telephone number encoded on a business card, credit card, or similar flat object, store the number in a memory, and generate telephone dialling pulses in accordance with the stored memory.

In the preferred embodiment, a second memory and a keyboard are provided so that a telephone number may be entered into the second memory via the keyboard, either the card entered telephone number or the keyboard entered telephone number being able to be repeatedly dialled on demand.

In addition, a telephone call re-directing apparatus including the automatic telephone dialling apparatus, is disclosed in which an incoming call to an unattended telephone may be redirected via a second telephone to a predetermined telephone number.

Claims

1. An automatic telephone dialing apparatus comprising card reading means to serially read each digit of an encoded telephone number from an elongated business card, credit card, or similar flat object, said card having a width between a minimum and a maximum predetermined dimension, a variable length of at least a predetermined minimum dimension, and a minimum stiffness insufficient to prevent transverse buckling of said card under longitudinal stress, a card entered memory connected to said card reading means to sequentially receive therefrom at a ramdon rate, and store, each said digit, and a dial pulse generating circuit connected to said memory to generate at a predetermined rate a telephone dialing pulse train in accordance with the numerical value of each of the digits stored in said memory, wherein each said digit is encoded on said card as one or more holes therein, each located at a corresponding spaced location along a line transverse to the longitudinal axis of said card, the location of said holes representing the numerical value of each said digit and being at predetermined distances from one edge of said card, said minimum predetermined card width being directly determined by the maximum number of holes used to encode any digit and the spacing of said holes, the spacing between said lines being random along the length of the card starting from a first end of the card with no line being more than the minimum predetermined card length dimension from said first end;

said card reading means comprising a plurality of spaced light sources, and a corresponding plurality of light sensitive devices in a slot, each of said light sensitive devices being arranged to receive light from the corresponding light source, said card being manually insertable, said first end first, in said slot at any random or variable speed between said light sources and said light sensitive devices, the spacing of said light sources and said light sensitive devices permitting light to be received by said devices only via said holes in said card, and

wherein said maximum predetermined card width is determined by the width of said slot and said minimum predetermined card length is determined by the depth of said slot.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said dial pulse generating circuit is repeatedly operable on demand to generate said telephone dialling pulse train.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 including a first light source and corresponding first additional light sensitive device adapted to receive light therefrom, a second additional light source and corresponding second additional light sensitive device adapted to receive light therefrom, said first end of said card being manually interposed between said first source and device at commencement of manual insertion of said card and being manually interposed between said second source and device only at completion of said manual insertion of said card, the outputs of said first and second devices being connected via a logic circuit to said card entered memory, said logic circuit permitting entry of said encoded telephone number into said card entered memory only during said manual insertion of said card.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 including a keyboard, a keyboard entered memory connected to said keyboard to receive and store the digits of a telephone number manually typed on said keyboard, and a multiplexer connected between said pulse generating circuit and both said card entered memory and said keyboard entered memory, said multiplexer permitting said pulse generating circuit to selectively generate a dialling pulse corresponding to the digits stored in either memory.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein said pulse generating circuit repeatedly, on demand, selectively generates dialing pulses corresponding to the digits stored in either memory.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 including a numerical display connected to said pulse generating circuit and displaying sequentially digits corresponding to the pulses generated by said pulse generating circuit.

7. A telephone call re-directing apparatus including the automatic telephone dialling apparatus as claimed in claim 1, said re-directing apparatus comprising a first telephone line having a first telephone connected thereto, a second telephone line having a second telephone connected thereto, said automatic telephone dialling apparatus being connected to said second telephone and having the telephone number to which calls are to be re-directed stored therein, a sensor connected to said automatic dialling apparatus to initiate dialling of said stored number and being triggerable by an inductive pick-up connected to said sensor and disposed adjacent said first telephone line, and a normally open switch operable by said sensor and connecting said first and second telephone lines wherein dialling pulses applied to said first line are detected by said inductive pick-up to trigger said sensor thereby causing said stored number to be dialled via said second telephone line and closing said switch to connect said first and second line together.