Public telephone security bracket

An anti-theft bracket adapted for attachment to the back mounting panel of a public telephone booth housing and to engage the bottom portion of a public telephone unit attached to the back mounting panel including a bottom member adapted to receive the bottom of the public telephone unit and an anti-theft bar mounted a predetermined distance from the bottom member for positioning between rows of booth mounting bolts connecting the public telephone unit to the back mounting panel, the anti-theft bar being positioned to alternately engage the rows of bolts in response to unauthorized relative movement between the public telephone unit and the booth back mounting panel.

TECHNICAL BACKGROUND 
The field of this invention relates to security brackets and in particular 
to security brackets to prevent theft and destruction of public telephone 
units. 
Public telephone units have always been inviting to thieves due to the 
presence of coins in the telephone unit change box. In those areas in the 
country where the telephone rates have recently increased, such as the 
area where this inventor lives, the public telephone units have become 
even more tempting. Due to the location of public telephone units in 
publicly accessible areas, thieves do not generally try to break into the 
telephone unit coin box while in place. Rather, the thieves prefer to rip 
out the entire telephone unit, take it with them and remove the money from 
the coin box in a more secluded spot. The telephone companies suffer 
greatly as a result of this theft procedure. For the telephone companies 
not only lose the change, but the unit itself is actually destroyed or 
lost forever. It is therefore becoming increasingly important to somehow 
discourage thieves from stealing these units. Although an entirely new 
design for a safer, more securely mounted public telephone unit or booth 
is possible, the telephone companies already have a tremendous investment 
in the present design, making the need for a safety device that may be 
used in conjunction with presently installed units a necessity. This type 
of vandalism not only hurts the telephone companies, but also the public 
since the cost of this vandalism is passed directly on to others. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
This invention is directed to an anti-theft bracket adapted for attachment 
to the back mounting panel of a public telephone booth housing and to 
secure the bottom portion of a public telephone unit attached to the back 
mounting panel in order to prevent a thief from easily tearing the public 
telephone unit off of the back mounting panel. The anti-theft bracket 
includes an anti-theft bar which is critically positioned between the 
public telephone booth back mounting panel and the unit itself to engage 
an upper or lower row of booth mounting bolts in response to exertion of 
force and movement against the public telephone unit to thereby lock the 
unit against any further movement and thus secure the unit to keep it from 
being ripped out. 
The detailed features of the anti-theft bracket will be described in the 
written specification to follow, and the invention considered patentable 
will be set forth in the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring to the drawings, FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a free-standing public 
telephone booth housing generally designated by the number 10. The 
free-standing public telephone booth housing has mounted thereon a public 
telephone unit 11, which is shown in dotted lines for the purposes of 
clarity. An anti-theft bracket, generally designated by the number 12, is 
adapted to be mounted between the public telephone booth housing 10 and 
the public telephone unit 11 in order to aid in the prevention of the 
public telephone unit 11 being torn out of the booth housing 10 by a 
thief. 
The free-standing housing 10 includes a U-shaped stand or pole 14 which is 
formed of a back member 14a and side members 14b and 14c. A steel insert 
14d, shown in cross-section in FIG. 2, is mounted by screws or otherwise 
to extend between side members 14b and 14c. The public telephone booth 
housing 10 further includes a back member 10a having a U-shaped back 
mounting panel 10b formed therewith. The U-shaped back mounting panel 10b 
is adapted to be fitted over the front, open portion of the stand 14 
including the steel insert 14d, and to be attached thereto by suitable 
mounting bolts or screws (not shown) which fasten through openings in the 
steel insert 14d, in the back mounting panel, numbered 15a-d, and in the 
rear wall of the telephone unit 11. 
The public telephone booth housing 10 further includes a top 10c and a 
downwardly depending hooded front piece 10d, the hooded front piece 
fitting over housing side pieces 10e and 10f. The side pieces 10e and 10f 
cooperate with the back member 10a and top 10c to provide a partially 
protected enclosure which protects the telephone unit 11 and a user from 
at least some wind and rain. 
Referring to FIG. 1, the back mounting panel 10b typically includes a 
number of key slots such as 15e as well as mounting holes such as 15a-d 
adapted to receive and mount the telephone unit 11. The back mounting 
panel 10b further includes a first horizontal row 16 of openings such as 
16a and a second horizontal row 17 of openings such as 17a which are 
spaced from each other a distance designated as d-1. Rows 16 and 17 are 
adapted to receive bolts such as 16b and 17b shown in hidden lines in FIG. 
2 which extend through the back wall 11a of the public telephone unit 11 
in order to mount the public telephone unit 11 against the back mounting 
panel 10b. 
The public telephone unit 11 is a well-known piece of equipment undoubtedly 
used at some time by any reader of this specification and includes the 
instrument 11b and coin slots (not shown) typically mounted with the unit 
above the resting position for the instrument 11b. A change or coin box, 
illustrated in dash lines and identified as 11c, is typically mounted in 
the bottom part of the unit 11 and may be removed by a key. The bolts 16b 
and 17b actually extend through rear wall 11a of the telephone unit 11 
positioned behind the change box 11c and through back mounting panel 10b 
and steel insert 14d. 
Typically, an authorized person from a phone company periodically removes 
and empties the change box 11c. The lock for the change box 11c is 
sufficiently strong that the usual thief does not have the tools nor 
expertise to tear open the change box 11c quickly and thus has to tear off 
the entire unit 11 and remove it to a hidden location to have time to 
break open the change box 11c. 
The anti-theft bracket 12 of the preferred embodiment of this invention is 
designed to mount with the public telephone booth housing 10 and with the 
public telephone unit 11 to prevent the thief from easily tearing the 
telephone unit 11 out. 
The anti-theft bracket 12 of the preferred embodiment of this invention 
includes a bottom plate or member 20 adapted to extend horizontally 
outwardly from the back mounting panel 10b of the public telephone booth 
housing 10. The bottom plate 20 is adapted to receive the bottom portion 
of the public telephone unit 11 and thus has approximately the same 
rectangular dimensions as the bottom of the public telephone unit 11. 
Bracket mount means generally designated by the number 21 is attached to 
the bottom plate 20 and depends downwardly therefrom for attachment to the 
telephone booth housing back mounting plate 10b in order to attach the 
anti-theft bracket 12 to the housing 10. The bracket mount means 21 
includes a depending back member 22 which is welded onto rear edge 20a of 
the bottom plate 20 and extends vertically downwardly therefrom for 
positioning directly against the back mounting panel 10b. The depending 
back member 22 includes a plurality of openings such as 22a and 22b 
positioned to align with additional openings in the telephone booth 
housing back mounting panel 10b for attachment thereto by suitable screws 
or bolts. One or more gussets 23 are welded onto the bottom face of the 
bottom plate 20 and onto the depending back member 22 in order to provide 
support to hold the depending back member 22 and bottom plate 20 in a 
right angle relationship. In the embodiment illustrated, the gussets 23 
are L-shaped but, the gussets may have other suitable supporting 
configurations. 
Bar mount means generally designated by the number 24 mounts anti-theft bar 
25 a predetermined distance d-2 from the bottom plate 20 for positioning 
the anti-theft bar 25 between rows 16 and 17 of openings which receive 
booth mounting bolts such as 16b and 17b. The bar mount means 24 includes 
left side member 26 and right side member 27, both of which are generally 
triangular in configuration. The left side member 26 includes bottom edge 
26a which is welded onto the left edge 20b of the bottom plate 20, a rear, 
vertical edge 26b, an inclined edge 26c and front shoulder edge 26d. 
Similarly, the right side member 27 includes bottom edge 27a welded or 
otherwise attached to right edge 20c of bottom plate 20, vertical rear 
edge 27b, inclined top edge 27c and front shoulder edge 27d. 
The anti-theft bar 25 is substantially rectangular in configuration and 
extends lengthwise between the top portions of rear edges 26b and 27b of 
the side members 26 and 27. The anti-theft bar 25 has a rectangular 
configuration and includes top edge 25a, bottom edge 25b and side edges 
25c and 25d. The anti-theft bar 25 is welded at sides 25c and 25d to the 
top portions of the rear side member edges 26b and 27b, respectively. 
The anti-theft bar 25 is positioned a predetermined distance d-2 between 
the bottom plate 20 and bar midline 25e. The thickness t of the anti-theft 
bar 25 is sufficient that the bottom edge 25b is positioned a distance d-3 
from the bottom plate 20. And, the top anti-theft bar edge 25a is 
positioned a distance defined as d-4 from the bottom plate 20. Thus, the 
thickness or height t of the anti-theft bar 25 is less than the distance 
d-1 between rows 16 and 17 of openings such as 16a and 17a. The bottom 
edge 25b of the anti-theft bar 25 cooperates with side members 26 and 27 
and bottom plate 20 to form an opening O to receive bolts or screws to be 
mounted in row 17 of openings. 
The anti-theft bracket 12 further includes a front, security lip or rim 30 
which is welded to front bottom plate edge 20d and to the front shoulders 
26d and 27d of the supporting side members 26 and 27, respectively. The 
front security rim 30 includes a vertically recessed portion 30a adapted 
to be positioned under the phone unit coin box 11c in order to allow the 
change box 11c to be easily removed by a representative of the phone 
company. 
The L-shaped gussets such as 23 are mounted directly underneath the 
vertically recessed security rim portion 30a in order to provide 
additional support to the safety rim 30 in the area under the coin box 
11c. 
Corner openings 31a and 31b are drilled through corner portions of the side 
members 26 and 27, bottom plate 20 and front security rim 30 to provide 
drainage. 
In operation and use, the anti-theft bracket 12 of the preferred embodiment 
of this invention may be used to help prevent a thief from easily ripping 
the phone unit 11 off of a public telephone booth housing, such as the 
free-standing housing 10 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. It should be 
understood that the anti-theft bracket 12 may be utilized with other phone 
booth housings such as a housing mounted directly onto a wall. In use with 
the free-standing housing 10 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the anti-theft 
bracket 12 is positioned against the back mounting panel 10b, and suitable 
bolts or screws are mounted through openings such as 22a and 22b in the 
depending back member 22 to thereby firmly attach the anti-theft bracket 
12 to the back mounting panel 10b. 
The phone unit 11 is then installed with bolts 16b and 17b extending 
through each of the openings 16a and 17a in rows 16 and 17 in back 
mounting panel 10b, positioned on either side of the anti-theft bar 25. Of 
course, the other points of connection such as openings 15a-d and key 
slots 15e are also utilized to firmly mount the phone unit 11 to the back 
mounting panel 10b. The phone unit 11 is positioned such that the bottom 
of the phone unit 11 is resting on the bottom plate 20 and the bottom 
portion of the phone unit 11 is confined by side members 26 and 27 and the 
front security rim 30. 
Should a thief attempt to place a lever such as a crowbar between the 
security rim 30 and the bottom part of the phone unit 11 and push upwardly 
on the phone unit 11, the bolts such as 17b in row 17 will be forced 
against bottom edge 25b of the anti-theft bar 25 thus preventing further 
movement of the unit 11 relative to the anti-theft bracket 12, thus 
locking the phone unit against removal. Conversely, should the thief try 
somehow to push downwardly on the phone unit 11, such as by applying lever 
action to the top of the phone unit 11, mounting bolts 16b in row 16 will 
be forced downwardly against top anti-theft bar edge 25a thus preventing 
further movement of the phone unit 11. Furthermore, the cooperation 
between back plate 20 and depending member 22, will prevent a thief from 
getting a lever such as a crowbar between the bottom of the phone unit 11 
and the back mounting panel 10b of housing 10. In this manner, the edges 
25a and 25b of the anti-theft bar 25 cooperate with the booth mounting 
bolts 16b and 17b to secure the unit 11 against further movement relative 
to back mounting panel 10b. 
While the safety mounting bracket will not in all cases prevent the phone 
unit 11 being torn off of the back mounting panel 10b, it will certainly 
discourage a thief by slowing him down to the point that it is unlikely 
that the thief will feel comfortable taking the needed time to rip the 
telephone unit 11 out, since the thief may very well be reported to the 
police by any passerby. 
The foregoing disclosure and description of the invention are illustrative 
and explanatory thereof, and various changes in the size, shape and 
materials as well as in the details of the illustrated construction may be 
made without departing from the spirit of the invention.