Low power control apparatus for a coin operated telephone
First Claim
1. A low power, coin operated telephone controller for controlling a coin operated telephone which has an on-hook state and an off-hook state, said controller being energized with power from tip and ring lines of a loop circuit from a central office during said telephone'"'"'s off-hook state, said controller having:
- a standby mode during said telephone'"'"'s on-hook state in which substantially no power is drawn by said controller from the tip and ring lines of the loop circuit;
an audio network;
a totalizer control means for signalling of accepted coin value to the central office;
an electric coin mechanism for electronically testing coins and for generating coin data in the form of electrical signals for each coin deposited into said telephone;
a power supply circuit having a plurality of outputs and which is energized with power from said tip and ring lines of the loop circuit for energizing said telephone controller during said telephone'"'"'s off-hook state;
interface circuitry for set up of status indicators and for monitoring telephone conditions during periods when no current is available between the tip and ring lines; and
a single processing element comprising timing means for establishing times or durations of events or calls, and nonvolatile digital memory for storing a plurality of bits of data during both the off-hook state and on-hook state of the coin operated telephone, for processing said coin data and controlling the electronic coin mechanism, and for controlling operation of said audio network, said interface circuitry and said power supply circuit.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A low power control apparatus for a coin operated telephone controls a full range of phone functions as well as an electronic coin acceptor. The control utilizes phone line power. Power for all the normal operations of the coin operated telephone and its coin acceptor is also supplied from the phone line. The control is preferably microcontroller based and designed utilizing low power components. In the control, an interface circuit serves to connect the phone tip and ring lines to either a power supply circuit or to a totalizer and escrow control circuit. The power supply also provides power to an audio network including a variety of fraud prevention circuits, a modem, and several time generator circuits. A monitor system monitors the status of several security switches to monitor the phone'"'"'s condition. Hardware and software design features control the application of power to circuits only when needed.
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Citations
65 Claims
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1. A low power, coin operated telephone controller for controlling a coin operated telephone which has an on-hook state and an off-hook state, said controller being energized with power from tip and ring lines of a loop circuit from a central office during said telephone'"'"'s off-hook state, said controller having:
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a standby mode during said telephone'"'"'s on-hook state in which substantially no power is drawn by said controller from the tip and ring lines of the loop circuit; an audio network; a totalizer control means for signalling of accepted coin value to the central office; an electric coin mechanism for electronically testing coins and for generating coin data in the form of electrical signals for each coin deposited into said telephone; a power supply circuit having a plurality of outputs and which is energized with power from said tip and ring lines of the loop circuit for energizing said telephone controller during said telephone'"'"'s off-hook state; interface circuitry for set up of status indicators and for monitoring telephone conditions during periods when no current is available between the tip and ring lines; and a single processing element comprising timing means for establishing times or durations of events or calls, and nonvolatile digital memory for storing a plurality of bits of data during both the off-hook state and on-hook state of the coin operated telephone, for processing said coin data and controlling the electronic coin mechanism, and for controlling operation of said audio network, said interface circuitry and said power supply circuit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65)
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7. A low power, coin operated telephone controller for controlling a coin operated telephone which has an on-hook state and an off-hook state, said controller being energized with power from tip and ring lines of a loop circuit from a central office during said telephone'"'"'s off-hook state, said controller having:
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a standby mode during said telephone'"'"'s on-hook state in which substantially no power is drawn by said controller from the tip and ring lines of the loop circuit; an audio network; a totalizer control means for signalling accepted coin value to the central office; an electric coin mechanism which generates coin data in the form of electrical signals for each coin deposited into said telephone; a power supply circuit having a plurality of outputs and which is energized with power from said tip and ring lines of the loop circuit for energizing said telephone controller during said telephone'"'"'s off-hook state; interface circuitry for set up of status indicators and for monitoring telephone conditions during periods when no current is available between the tip and ring lines; and a single processing element comprising timing means for establishing times or durations of events or calls, and nonvolatile memory for storing data during off-hook and on-hook, for processing said coin data and controlling the electronic coin mechanism, and for controlling operation of said audio network, said interface circuitry and said power supply, said processing element controlling power distribution to each of said controller'"'"'s components, enabling each of said components only as their function is needed.
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Specification