Pay telephone with sanitized tissue dispenser

A pay telephone with sanitized tissue dispenser. A roll of individualized and interconnected sanitized tissues are rotatably mounted to a spindle. An electrical motor is operable upon deposit of a coin into a telephone to rotate the spindle dispensing a tissue through an opening in the telephone. Alternatively, the sanitized tissues are arranged in a stack held by a spring-biased carrier urging the uppermost tissue against a solenoid actuated pusher arm operable to force the uppermost tissue through the tissue-dispensing opening of the telephone.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention is in the field of cleaning agents such as sanitized tissues 
and more specifically the dispensing of said tissues from pay telephones. 
It is known that telephone receivers, particularly public telephones, 
accumulate bacteria and other undesirable materials. The transmission of 
the undesirable material from one user to another user is highly likely 
and thus, a number of sanitary devices have been provided for use in 
cleaning the receiver. A typical approach is to attach a number of 
sanitary tissues to the telephone such as disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 
2,650,269 issued to H. Webb. Another approach is to mount a perforated 
sanitary web over the telephone mouthpiece such as shown in the following 
U.S. Pat. Nos.: 2,520,417 issued to R. L. Lewis; 2,700,075 issued to E. P. 
Korn, 2,938,967 issued to R. V. Guardino; and 3,148,249 issued to J. P. 
King. 
All of the above-listed approaches are particularly helpful and are 
designed primarily for residential telephone use. On the other hand, such 
devices are not particularly advantageous for use with public pay 
telephones since the sanitizers may be easily removed from the receiver. 
Disclosed herein is a pay telephone provided with a sanitized tissue 
dispenser operable to dispense a single tissue upon the receipt of a coin 
into the telephone. Thus, only the actual user of the telephone will be 
able to remove a sanitized tissue. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
One embodiment of the present invention is the combination of pay telephone 
means including a telephone with coin-receiving means operable to issue a 
signal upon receipt of a coin, the pay telephone means further including a 
tissue-dispensing opening, a supply of sanitized tissue, storage means 
within the pay telephone means to receive and hold the supply of sanitized 
tissue, and dispensing means within the pay telephone means operably 
associated with the coin-receiving means and the supply of sanitized 
tissue and operable to force a tissue from the supply into the opening 
upon receipt of the signal, the dispensing means includes an electrically 
operated rotatable spindle, and the supply of sanitized tissue includes a 
roll of sanitized tissue removably mounted to the spindle. 
Another embodiment of the present invention is the combination of pay 
telephone means including a telephone with coin-receiving means operable 
to issue a signal upon receipt of a coin, the pay telephone means further 
including a tissue-dispensing opening, a supply of sanitized tissue, 
storage means within the pay telephone means to receive and hold the 
supply of sanitized tissue, and dispensing means within the pay telephone 
means operably associated with the coin-receiving means and the supply of 
sanitized tissue and operable to force a tissue from the supply into the 
opening upon receipt of the signal, the supply of sanitized tissues 
includes a stack of individual tissues, and the dispensing means includes 
an electrically operated pusher arm with the dispensing means operable 
upon receipt of the signal to move the arm against one of the tissues in 
the stack moving a tissue into the opening. 
It is an object of the present invention to provide new and improved 
sanitizers for use with a telephone. 
A further object of the present invention is to provide a telephone with 
dispensing means for issuing telephone sanitizers. 
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a sanitized 
tissue dispenser combined with a pay telephone. 
Related objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent 
from the following description.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the 
invention, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in 
the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It 
will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the 
invention is thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications 
in the illustrated device, and such further applications of the principles 
of the invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would 
normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates. 
Referring now more particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown a pay telephone 
10 of conventional design with the exception that the telephone has been 
modified to include the tissue dispenser disclosed herein. Telephone 10 
includes a conventional receiver 11 with a coin-receiving means 12 
operable to receive the coins required for use of the telephone. 
Included within telephone 10 is a plurality of sanitized tissues dispensed 
from the telephone via tissue-dispensing opening 13. Many designs are 
contemplated and included within the present invention for issuing the 
supply of sanitized tissues. The preferred embodiment is shown in FIGS. 3 
and 4 and includes a roll of sanitized tissues whereas an alternate 
embodiment shown in FIG. 5 includes a stack of individual sanitized 
tissues. 
The preferred embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 includes a supply of 
sanitized tissues arranged in a roll 14 positioned within a storage means 
15 which is an enclosure mounted within telephone 10. 
The dispensing means for issuing the individualized tissues includes an 
electrically operated rotatable spindle 16 upon which the roll 14 of 
sanitized tissues is removably mounted. The dispensing means further 
includes an electrically operated motor 17 mounted within the telephone 
having a rotatable output shaft 18 releaseably engaged with a hexagonally 
shaped end 19 of spindle 16. Motor 17 is connected to a suitable source of 
electrical power and is operable to rotate output shaft 18 upon closing of 
switch 20 disposed between a source of electrical power and one wire 21 of 
the electrical motor with the other wire 22 connected to ground potential. 
The coin-receiving means 12 is operable to issue a signal upon receipt of 
a coin to operate motor 17. For example, switch 20 may be positioned 
within coin-receiving means 12 to close upon contact with an inserted coin 
thereby providing a momentary closure of switch 20 activating motor 17 and 
deactivating the motor as the coin passes past switch 20 normally biased 
in the open position. Such momentary closure of switch 20 is designed to 
provide a suitable duration of rotation of output shaft 18 to rotate 
spindle 16 a sufficient amount equal to the length of a single tissue 23 
issuing from the telephone. 
Enclosure or storage means 15 is provided with a pair of spaced apart walls 
24 and 25 forming a channel leading to opening 13 guiding the tissue sheet 
outwardly from the telephone. Each tissue 23 is interconnected to the 
adjoining tissue by means of a perforated line allowing the user to 
separate each tissue apart as a tissue issues from the telephone. 
Other means may be provided for activating motor 17 in lieu of the coin 
passing over switch 20. For example, an electrically operated switch 20 
may be used in lieu of the mechanically described approach. Roll 14 
includes an inner cardboard cylinder 26 upon which the interconnected 
tissues 23 are wound in a manner similar to a roll of conventional paper 
towels. Cylinder 26 is removably mounted to spindle 16 in turn including a 
pair of grooves 27 and 28 releaseably held by a pair of wall brackets 29 
and 30 mounted within enclosure 15. Bracket 30 may be hingedly mounted to 
the enclosure to allow pivoting of the bracket in the direction of arrow 
31 to allow for insertion and removal of spindle 16 with roll 14 mounted 
thereon. Upon insertion of the spindle in the roll, end 19 of the spindle 
is inserted into the output shaft 18 with brackets 29 and 30 being 
positioned within grooves 27 and 28. Each bracket 29 and 30 is provided 
with a semi-circular groove to locatably receive the spindle. A hinged 
door 32 (FIG. 1) is provided on telephone 10 to allow for removal of a 
used roll and insertion of a fresh roll. Likewise, enclosure 15 is 
designed to minimize air flow over the sanitized tissue to maintain the 
moisture of each tissue. 
The alternate embodiment of the dispensing means includes an electrically 
operated pusher arm positioned to force the uppermost tissue through 
opening 13. Such a dispensing means may include for example an 
electrically operated solenoid 40 having a reciprocating output rod 41 
connected to push arm 42 in turn provided with a downwardly extending 
finger 43 designed to force the uppermost tissue 44 into channel 45 
leading to opening 13 of telephone 10. Solenoid 40 is operated in a manner 
similar to the operation of motor 17 in that the solenoid is connected to 
a suitable source of electrical power with a contact 20 disposed between 
the source of power and wire 21 of the solenoid with the remaining wire 22 
connected to ground potential. The operation of switch 20 is identical to 
that described for the embodiment shown in FIG. 4. 
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the sanitized tissues are not 
interconnected or mounted on a roll. Instead, the individualized tissues 
are arranged in a sack held by a spring-biased holder 46 with spring 47 
urging holder 46 upwardly to position the uppermost tissue 44 toward and 
in line with finger 43 and channel 45. Due to the possibility of one 
tissue sticking against an adjacent tissue, it is desirable to provide 
separating carriers 48 positioned between each tissue. For example, 
carrier 48 is positioned between tissue 44 and tissue 49. Thus, finger 43 
will engage not only the uppermost tissue, but also the uppermost carrier 
48 and force both together into channel 45. 
Many variations are contemplated and included in the present invention. For 
example, the tissue dispenser is shown as mounted within the main body of 
telephone 10. However, it is to be understood that the tissue dispenser 
may be provided in a separate box or container mounted adjacent the main 
telephone and interconnected together by means of electrical circuitry to 
provide a suitable command to the motor or solenoid engaged with the 
supply of sanitized tissue. It is anticipated that a single tissue will 
issue from the telephone upon deposit of the first coin into the telephone 
for actuation of the conventional telephone circuitry. Alternatively, a 
separate coin may be required for the issue of a tissue from the telephone 
separate and apart from the coin required for the operation of the 
telephone main circuitry. A further alternative is to allow the operator 
to issue a suitable command to the tissue dispenser, such as is the case 
on return of coins when making a long-distance telephone call. The 
sanitized tissue is disposable and is used only a single time. The tissue 
is moisturized and provided with a disinfectant as well as a deodorizer 
providing for a germ-free and scented receiver as the tissue is wiped 
across the receiver. 
It will be obvious from the above description that the present invention 
provides a new and improved sanitized tissue for use with a public 
telephone. It will be further obvious from the above description that the 
present invention provides a combined pay telephone and tissue dispenser. 
While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the 
drawings and foregoing description, the same is to be considered as 
illustrative and not restrictive in character, it being understood that 
only the preferred embodiments have been shown and described and that all 
changes and modifications that come within the spirit of the invention are 
desired to be protected.