Hand-held pay station telephone dispenser and cord retractor

• US 5,109,412 A
• Filed: 12/14/1990
• Issued: 04/28/1992
• Est. Priority Date: 02/27/1989
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: GTE Airfone Incorporated (GOGO Incorporated)
• Inventors: Hollowed, Edward J., Oldani, Jerome L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dwyer, James L.
• Assistant Examiner(s): CUMMING, WILLIAM D
• Application Number:
  US07/632,402
• Time in Patent Office: 501 Days
• Field of Search: 379/144, 379/143, 379/419
• US Class Current: 379/455
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/11 Supports for sets, e.g. incorporating armrests
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/15 Protecting or guiding telephone cords
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 17/026 Constructional features

Abstract

For use in conjunction with vehicular, hand-held, pay telephone, a telephone dispenser and latching mechanism for securing the telephone in the dispenser and, in response to actuation by a telephone user, releasing the telephone from the dispenser. The dispenser includes an elongated dispenser channel or stepwise construction. The dispenser channel is enclosed at one end by a latch plate including a credit-card-actuated latching mechanism. The dispenser channel is enclosed at an opposite end by a face plate having an opening for the insertion and extraction of the telephone from the dispenser channel and a slot for the insertion of a credit-card. The latch-release actuator is located behind the face plate slot and is mechanically linked to the latching mechanism. A credit card, once inserted into the slot, causes the latching mechanism to disengage from the telephone, permitting an ejector mechanism to urge the telephone out of the dispenser. The telephone dispenser and its associated telephone are mounted to the passenger seat armrest of a commercial vehicle. A cord retractor is also mounted to the armrest in proximity to the dispenser. The cord retractor is adapted to store a telephone cord when the telephone is placed within the dispenser and to dispense an appropriate amount of telephone cord when the telephone is extracted from the telephone dispenser.

Claims

1. In combination:

a hand-held telephone including a telephone cord and latch receiver (2);

a telephone dispenser including an elongated substantially enclosed telephone receiving cavity adapted to receive said telephone in response to the manual placement of said telephone in a longitudinal direction within said cavity;

a latch (20) operable to automatically engage said latch receiver to maintain said telephone within said telephone receiving cavity;

means for mounting said telephone dispenser beneath an upper surface of an armrest of a passenger seat of a vehicle; and

means for storing said telephone cord when said telephone is positioned within said telephone receiving cavity.

2. The combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein:

said latch receiver comprises a projection extending from an exterior surface of said hand-held telephone.

3. The combination as claimed in claim 2, wherein:

said projection extending from said hand-held telephone exterior surface comprises a generally rectangular latch-receiving flange extending transversely across a top surface of said telephone.

4. The combination as claimed in claim 3, wherein:

said latch-receiving flange is an integrally molded portion of said hand-held telephone.

5. The combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein:

said telephone receiving cavity included in said telephone dispenser is formed in part by a dispenser channel.

6. The combination as claimed in claim 5, wherein:

said dispenser channel is of stepped construction.

7. The combination as claimed in claim 6, wherein:

there is further included a face plate affixed to said dispenser channel, said face plate including an opening therein adapted to facilitate the placement of said hand-held telephone through said opening into said telephone receiving cavity.

8. The combination as claimed in claim 7, wherein:

said telephone receiving cavity included in said telephone dispenser is further formed by a latch plate extending across an end of said dispenser channel opposite said face plate.

9. The combination as claimed in claim 8, wherein:

said latch plate further includes a hook switch mounted in said latch plate and operable in a first mode in response to the placement of said hand-held telephone within said telephone receiving cavity of said telephone dispenser and operable in a second mode in response to the removal of said hand-held telephone from said cavity.

10. The combination as claimed in claim 5, wherein:

there is further included an ejector adapted to urge said hand-held telephone in a longitudinal direction from within said telephone receiving cavity.

11. The combination as claimed in claim 10, wherein:

said ejector comprises resilient means adapted to urge said telephone from within said telephone receiving cavity.

12. The combination as claimed in claim 11, wherein:

said resilient means further includes a rigid portion projecting into said dispenser channel.

13. The combination as claimed in claim 12, wherein:

said resilient means comprises a coil spring.

14. The combination as claimed in claim 13, wherein:

said rigid portion projecting into said dispenser channel comprises an ejection pin formed on one end of an ejector push-rod, the opposite end of said ejector push-rod affixed to said coil spring.

15. The combination as claimed in claim 5, wherein:

said telephone dispenser mounting means includes a first mounting bracket attached to said dispenser channel.

16. The combination as claimed in claim 15, wherein:

there is further provided a U-shaped dispenser bracket attached to said armrest and said U-shaped dispenser bracket is adapted to receive and retain said first mounting bracket, thereby securing said telephone dispenser to said armrest.

17. The combination as claimed in claim 16, wherein:

said dispenser bracket is mounted to an underside surface of said armrest opposite a surface used by a seated passenger to rest his or her arm.

18. The combination as claimed in claim 17, wherein:

said first mounting bracket includes a perimeter edge generally conformal to said armrest'"'"'s underside surface.

19. The combination as claimed in claim 14, wherein:

said telephone cord includes a first end connected to a rear portion of said hand-held telephone and a portion of said telephone cord extends into said dispenser channel.

20. The combination as claimed in claim 19, wherein:

said means for storing said telephone cord is a cord retractor mounted to said armrest proximate said telephone dispenser and said telephone cord extends from said dispenser channel to said cord retractor.

21. The combination as claimed in claim 20, wherein:

said cord retractor includes a mounting plate secured to a rear portion of said armrest and includes a take-up real rotatively mounted on said mounting plate, said take-up real including a central core having a second end of said telephone cord connected thereat and having a substantial portion of said telephone cord wound about said central core.

22. The combination as claimed in claim 21, wherein:

said take-up real rotates in a first direction about said central core to store said telephone cord received from said telephone dispenser on said take-up real in response to the placement of said hand-held telephone within said receiving cavity.

23. The combination as claimed in claim 22, wherein:

said take-up real rotates in a second direction, opposite the first direction, about said central core to pay-out said telephone cord toward said telephone dispenser in response to the extraction of said hand-held telephone from said receiving cavity.

24. The combination as claimed in claim 23, wherein:

responsive to the extraction of said hand-held telephone from said telephone receiving cavity, said take-up real dispenses an amount of telephone cord which corresponds to the distance of travel which said hand-held telephone is moved away from its latched and stored position within said telephone receiving cavity.

25. The combination as set forth in claim 7 wherein said latch comprises:

a latch body, pivotally mounted to said dispenser channel;

a telephone engaging arm formed on said latch body for interlocking engaging said latch receiver, said engaging arm extending into said telephone receiving cavity;

a spring tension device connected to said latch body for retaining said engaging arm against said latch receiver; and

,

a latch release actuator connected to said latch body, said release actuator being positioned in relation to said face plate so that sufficient insertion of an implement such as a credit card into a slot defined in said face plate causes displacement of said release actuator, thereby disengaging said engaging arm from said latch receiver.

26. In combination:

a hand-held telephone including a telephone cord and a latch-receiving flange;

a telephone dispenser including a telephone receiving cavity formed by a dispenser channel of stepped construction, said dispenser channel having a first mounting bracket attached thereto;

a latch plate attached to a first end of said dispenser channel, said latch plate having a hook switch connected thereto;

a latch pivotally mounted to said latch plate, said latch including a telephone engaging arm that extends into said dispenser channel, said engaging arm being adapted to interlockingly engage said latch-receiving flange;

a coil spring attached between said dispenser channel and said latch, said coil spring normally retaining said engaging arm against said latch-receiving flange when said hand-held telephone is present within said receiving cavity;

a face plate attached to a second end of said dispenser, said second end being opposed to said first end, said face plate having defined therein an opening adapted to permit the placement of said telephone into said telephone receiving cavity or alternately the extraction of said telephone from said telephone receiving cavity, said face plate additionally having defined therein a slot;

a latch release actuator connected to said latch, said release actuator being positioned in relation to said face plate so that sufficient insertion of an implement such as a credit card into said slot cause displacement of said release actuator, thereby disengaging said engaging arm from said latch receiving flange;

resilient ejecting means adapted to urge said telephone in a longitudinal direction from within said telephone receiving cavity and through said face plate opening;

a dispenser mounting bracket attached to an underside surface of a passenger seat armrest of a vehicle, said dispenser mounting bracket adapted to accept and retain said first mounting bracket, thereby fixing said telephone dispenser to said armrest; and

,

a telephone cord retractor mounted to said armrest proximate said telephone dispenser, said telephone cord retractor receiving and storing said telephone cord from said handheld telephone responsive to the placement of said telephone into said telephone receiving cavity, and alternately, dispensing from said telephone cord retractor said telephone cord, responsive to the extraction of said telephone from said telephone dispenser.