Pay station telephone call answer supervision apparatus
First Claim
1. Apparatus for providing call answer supervision for controlling the charges to the user of a pay station telephone, comprising:
- means for sensing the duration of audio signals on a telephone line connected to the pay station telephone after the completion of dialing by the user;
means for detecting the longest sensed duration audio signal;
means responsive to said detecting means for generating an identification signal representative of said longest sensed audio signal; and
means responsive to said identification signal for controlling the charges to the user of the pay station telephone.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An interface (10) is disclosed for coupling a conventional pay station telephone (12) to a telephone switching system (16). The interface (10) provides supervision signal detection functions normally provided by a switching system, and thus can be connected thereto by a less costly business line (28). The interface includes processor controlled tone generators (72, 76) and detectors (73, 74, 81, 106, 108) for detecting duration of tones and other audio signals, and voltages transmitted by either the telephone (12) or the switching system (16). The interface (10) further includes a detector (106) and a procedure (FIG. 8) for providing an answer call indication. Coin collection or return is controlled by the interface (10) depending on the status of the call (as indicated by audio signal duration) which is also determined by the interface (10).
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. Apparatus for providing call answer supervision for controlling the charges to the user of a pay station telephone, comprising:
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means for sensing the duration of audio signals on a telephone line connected to the pay station telephone after the completion of dialing by the user; means for detecting the longest sensed duration audio signal; means responsive to said detecting means for generating an identification signal representative of said longest sensed audio signal; and means responsive to said identification signal for controlling the charges to the user of the pay station telephone. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. Apparatus for connection to a pay station telephone for providing call answer supervision, comprising:
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a detector for detecting the presence of audio signals directed to the pay station telephone; means for generating a period of time associated with each audio signal detected by said detector; means for storing an indication of the longest time period generated by said generating means during the placing of a call from said pay station telephone; and control means for controlling the disposition of currency deposited in said telephone in response to the detection of an audio signal having an indication of a shorter period of time than that of the stored indication. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. Apparatus for providing call answer supervision for controlling the charges to the user of a pay station telephone, comprising:
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a circuit for sensing the duration of audio signals on a telephone line connected to the pay station telephone after the completion of dialing by the user; a detector circuit for detecting the longest sensed duration audio signal; a processor responsive to said detector circuit for generating an identification signal representative of said longest sensed audio signal; and said processor being responsive to said identification signal for controlling the charges to the user of the pay station telephone. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 27, 28)
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- 23. The apparatus of claim 23 further including a comparator for comparing said time periods and for storing an indication of said longest sensed duration audio signal.
Specification