Portable radio telephone with sound off-hook production
First Claim
1. A portable telephone comprising:
- voice sensing means which includes a voice activated switch;
means responsive to said voice sensing means for producing an off-hook condition in the portable telephone, wherein the means for producing uses the voice activated switch to produce an off-hook condition and the voice activated switch is also used to enable a discontinuous transmission mode to reduce battery drain by transmitting only when speech is input to a microphone of the telephone; and
means, other than a dial tone, for signaling a user of an occurrence of the off-hook condition after the means for producing the off-hook condition has responded to the voice sensing means.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A portable radio telephone operating under the control of a microprocessor includes a disturbance sensitive switch sensitive to shock, movement or other physical disturbance or to a voice which causes the telephone to go "off-hook" if the telephone is disturbed during an incoming call. The user can thus answer an incoming call very quickly before the system times-out the call by gently striking or simply moving the telephone or talking or shouting to it even when the telephone is in a relatively inaccessible location. In a preferred embodiment the user is required to confirm the off-hook condition by pressing one of the keys on the telephone keypad. The telephone may continue ringing until the confirmatory keystroke has been effected.
49 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A portable telephone comprising:
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voice sensing means which includes a voice activated switch; means responsive to said voice sensing means for producing an off-hook condition in the portable telephone, wherein the means for producing uses the voice activated switch to produce an off-hook condition and the voice activated switch is also used to enable a discontinuous transmission mode to reduce battery drain by transmitting only when speech is input to a microphone of the telephone; and means, other than a dial tone, for signaling a user of an occurrence of the off-hook condition after the means for producing the off-hook condition has responded to the voice sensing means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of producing an off-hook condition in a portable telephone comprising steps of:
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providing the portable telephone with a first off-hook switch and at least one other off-hook switch, the first off-hook switch including a voice sensing means including a voice activated switch and means responsive to the voice sensing means for producing the off-hook condition, the first switch being independently operable from the at least one other off-hook switch; uttering a sound by a user at the portable telephone; and automatically producing the off-hook condition in the portable telephone by the first switch independently from all other switches of the telephone that are used to produce an off-hook condition upon the first switch sensing the sound uttered by the user, wherein the voice sensing means of the first off-hook switch does not compare the sound uttered by the user to a memory of programmed utterances in order to produce the off-hook condition. - View Dependent Claims (11)
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12. A portable telephone comprising:
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independently operable voice sensing means; and means responsive to said voice sensing means for producing an off-hook condition in the portable telephone which is independent of all other switches of the telephone that are used to produce an off-hook condition.
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13. A method of signaling a user of a portable telephone of an off-hook condition of the telephone, the method comprising steps of:
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providing the portable telephone with voice sensing means; producing an off-hook condition in the telephone responsive to the voice sensing means being activated; and signaling the user, other than by a dial tone, of the occurrence of the off-hook condition upon the voice sensing means being activated to produce the off-hook condition, wherein the step of producing an off-hook condition uses a voice activated switch of the voice sensing means without comparing an uttered sound by a user to pre-programmed sounds in the telephone.
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14. A portable telephone comprising:
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voice sensing means; means responsive to said voice sensing means for producing an off-hook condition in the portable telephone; and means responsive to the voice sensing means during an incoming call for signaling a user of an occurrence of the off-hook condition after the means for producing the off-hook condition has responded to the voice sensing means. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method of signaling a user of a portable telephone of an off-hook condition of the telephone, the method comprising steps of:
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providing the portable telephone with voice sensing means; producing an off-hook condition in the telephone responsive to the voice sensing means being activated; and signaling the user during an incoming call of the occurrence of the off-hook condition upon the voice sensing means being activated to produce the off-hook condition.
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Specification