Patent GB-700341-A (GB)
Title: Automatic toll-ticketing system
IPC: H04M15/08
Filed: 1948-02-27
Abstract: 700,341. Automatic exchange systems. WESTERN ELECTRIC CO., Inc. Feb. 27, 1948 [June 27, 1942], No. 6073/48. Class 40 (4). In a calling line identification system having a plurality of identifiers, the extension of a connection from a calling line results in the seizure of an idle identifier and the connection of a source of identifying potential to a conductor of the calling line, means in the identifier respond to this potential to determine the group in which the calling line is located, whereupon means common to the identifiers and associable with the identifier which has been taken into use associates the calling line conconductors of that group with the identifier and a registration of the group designation of the calling line is made, means in the identifier then determines the sub-group or sub-groups in which the calling line is located and registers it or them and finally determines the location of the calling line and registers that. Specifications 530,614 and 547,836 are referred to. General outline of operation.-A subscriber requiring a connection to a line in the nearby toll area removes his handset, whereupon an idle line finder paired with a first selector hunts for his line and dial tone is reverted as usual. In response to the dialling of one or more of the office code digits the selectors of a switching train including the first selector extend the caller to an idle ticketing trunk, accessible from all lines in the building housing the originating office, leading to the wanted office. An idle sender common to several ticketing trunks is associated with the seized trunk over a trunk finder individual to the sender. The trunk registers the digit dialled immediately following the last code digit which was dialled to reach the trunk, and the sender registers the remaining digits dialled. As soon as the first digit has be'en registered in the sender (which may be the third code digit the thousands, or the hundreds digit), an idle identifier is associated with the sender over a sender-identifier connector and the identifier is associated directly with the trunk over a trunk-identifier connector. The identifier reconstructs the dialled office code, from information derived from the trunk or the trunk and sender, and transmits it to the sender with other information necessary for handling the call. Simultaneously, the sender-tests the calling line to determine if the caller is a tip or ring party and informs the identifier accordingly. The sender then controls selectors to extend the trunk to the wanted line. The sender transmits the office code and 'numerical registrations over a trunk-sender connector to cause a printer associated with the ticketing trunk to print the caller's number, and is also connected via a day-and-hour connector to a day-and-hour circuit whereby the date and time of the call may be sent to the printer. Each identifier includes a plurality of detecting circuits and register circuits for registering the several elements of the calling line number in the originating office, the identity of the originating office (where the identifier serves several offices in the same building), and the class of the calling line. All these circuits have common access to a plurality of thousands number identification circuits, each having access to the sleeves of the thousand lines to which it is allocated. All the identifiers have common access to a number and class circuit. Upon seizure, the identifier applies an A.C. signal to the sleeve of the ticketing trunk and thence to that of the calling line. The sleeves of the lines in each office having the same thousands, hundreds, tens, and units digits are respectively commoned to the primary windings of thousands, hundreds, tens, and units transformers (ten of each). Each two-party line has a separate appearance for each party and hence two separate sleeves. The sleeves are further grouped in a ring field and a tip field, the first group comprising ring parties of flat rate lines, individual lines, and ring and tip parties of message rate lines; whereas the second comprises tip parties of flat rate lines. When an identifier seizes the common number and class circuit, the party identification already made by the sender and registered in the identifier causes the number and class circuit to associate in succession either the tip or ring fields, as the case may be, of the thousands transformers of the various offices with the detector circuits of the identifier. The response to the A.C. signal from one of the transformers causes registration in the identifier of the thousands line group to which the calling line belongs. At the same time, the class of the calling line, e.g. two-party message rate subscriber, coinbox, local class subscriber, or operator, is determined. For this purpose, there are provided as many transformers as there are classes, the primary of each being connected via resistances and condensers with all the first selector sleeve conductors apertaining to the class, and the secondaries being connectable through the connector of the number and class circuit to detector circuits in the identifier. If the calling line is denied automatic ticketing service its sleeve is not connected to a thousands transformer as above described but to a denied service transformer the secondary of which is associated with a denied service register in the identifier. When the thousands group and class of the calling line have been registered, the number and class circuit is released, and the operated thousands register brings up a thousands group connector relay in the relevant thousands number circuit of the originating office which causes the secondary windings of the ten hundreds transformers of the originating office to be connected to the ten detector circuits in the identifier one of which responds and registers the hundreds digit of the calling line. The relevant hundreds group connector relay then extends the sleeves of the one hundred lines having the registered thousands and hundreds digits to one hundred conductors (each including a condenser and resistance) which are connected in groups of ten to the primary windings of ten transformers. The secondaries are associated with the ten detector circuits, one of which responds to register the tens digit. The sleeves of the lines in that group of ten are then individually connected to the ten detector circuits, one of which causes registration of units digit. The identity of the calling line is then transferred to the sender and is used to control the printer. General lay-out and type of equipment used. -The system described employs step-by-step line finders of the type having two sets of wipers each set having access to 100 lines. The linefinders shown on the left of Figs. 1, 2 serve lines of one office unit of 10,000 lines, whereas those on the right serve a second office unit in the same building. Each line finder is paired with a first selector, such first selectors and a special first selector in which an operator's trunk terminates being indicated by wiper sets 400-403 ; and second and third group selectors 404, 405 and 407 are also provided, all being of well-known step-by-step type directly controlled by the calling subscriber's dial. Access to the ticketing trunks ( e.g. Figs. 7, 8, 9) may be had from 1st, 2nd or 3rd selectors or from rotary out-trunk secondary switches such as 600. This last means of access would be introduced as an extra switching stage between selector bank levels and groups of trunks where a single selector level serves two trunk groups. Such a divided level selector is indicated at 406. The secondary out-trunk switch 600, the digit register 850 and the elapsed time registers 900, 950 associated with the ticketing trunk, the progress switch 3250 of the. sender (Figs. 30-43), and the registers of Figs. 50 and 51 of the month, day, and hour circuit (Figs. 49-52) are of no-normal step-by-step type. The printer 960 may be of any suitable type. Each sender is served by two step-bystep trunk finders with double wiper sets, one such pair of trunk finders being shown in Figs. 45 (right) and 46. Each wiper set of the A finder (Fig. 46) has access to sleeve conductors of the same group of 100 ticketing trunks, while those of the B finder (Fig. 45) serve another 100 ticketing trunks. Each trunk finder has ten trunk-sender connectors (e.g. Fig. 47 ) each comprising a multi-contact relay individual to the sender and ten multi-contact relays each associated with ten trunks. Ten trunk-identifier connectors each serving twenty trunks are provided for extending control circuits between one of the group of 200 trunks and any one of the identifiers. Tip party of flat rate line initiates toll call : trunk selected and trunk finder associates sender with trunk. Upon removal of the handset at substation 100, an idle line finder, e.g. 101, finds the calling line and the caller receives dialling tone. It is assumed that the wanted subscriber is MAR-1345 and that a ticketing trunk in the desired direction is accessible over the sixth level of 1st selector 401. In response to the first digit 6 (M) the 1st selector hunts for an idle trunk in that level and that of Figs. 7, 8, 9 being idle, i.e. no ground on test terminal 408, relays 703 and 705. pull up. Selector 401 switches through, 707 comes up to the loop and 711, 712 follow, grounding start conductor 716 to bring up 4601L the group start relay of the last group of ten trunks of the A group. Segments 4603 of the vertical banks 4602 are all trunk finders of the A group are grounded and the start relay of the first idle finder is operated. Assuming finder 4600 to be free, its start relay 4609 comes up, bringing up stepping magnet 4611 in series with interrupter contacts of vertical and rotary magnets 4612, 4613. Magnet 4611 energizes 4612 stepping the wipers to the first level, operation of vertical off-norm