Patent Publication Number: US-3876837-A

Title: Sequencer for automatic answering and disconnecting device for telephone interfaced facsimile terminals

Description:
United States Patent [191 Gormley et al.  
 1 Apr. 8, 1975 Charles S. Yole, Pittsford, both of NY.  
 [73] Assignee: Xerox Corporation, Stamford,  
 Conn.  
  221 Filed: Feb. 28, 1973 2 1] Appl. No; 336,597  
 [52] U.S. Cl. 179/4; 179/6 AC; 179/2 C; 179/1 C [51] Int. Cl. l-l04m 11/06 [58] Field of Search 179/3, 4, 2 DP, 2 A, 2 C, 179/1 C, 6 AC, 6 R  
 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,159,040 11/1915 .loleen 340/253 3,347,987 10/1967 Chaloupka.... 179/2 A 3,401,396 9/1968 Wolf et 179/2 DP 3,505,474 4/1970 Quatse 179/2 DP 3,527,893 9/1970 Honobe 179/6 AC 3,549,809 12/1970 Stehr 179/2 DP 3,557,312 1/1971 Vogelman 179/6 AC 3,609,241 9/1971 Riethmeier 179/4- 3.656,l36 4/1972 Blair 340/253 3.739.338 6/1973 Jacobson 179/2 DP Primary E.\&#39;aminer1athleen H. Claffy Assistant Examiner-Thomas DAmico [57] ABSTRACT A controller for automatically answering and disconnecting calls to and from telephone interfaced facsimile terminals is compatible with conventional installations of ordinary telephone sets. The controller comprises an actuator arm for mechanically operating the cradle switch of an associated telephone set, a driver for the actuator arm, and a control circuit for the driver. If desired, the controller may be ovcrriden by disengaging the actuator arm from the driver. Otherwise, however, the actuator arm is moved away from and toward the cradle switch by the driver in response to control signals supplied by the control circuit. To that end, incoming calls to be answered are sensed by inductively detecting any ringing voltage applied to the telephone set, and incoming or outgoing calls to be disconnected are sensed by a time out operation which is initiated whenever the associated facsimile unit stops while the telephone set is off-hook.  
 16 Claims, 22 Drawing Figures DOOR SW 50 (GND CLSD) 502 DOOR sw (6ND OPEN) MODE COUPLER INTERLQCK PLATEN LOADED TO r1 16. 4  
 -l6 V SUPPLY A TO FIG. 17A  
 F/ETENTEEAFR 82975 SHEET ElilF 15 PATENTEBAPR&#39; 8M5 SHEET GZUF 15 TRANSCEIVER CONTROL CIRCUIT FIG. 3  
 PATENTEBAPR 81975 187EL837 sum cm 15 PATENTEG APR 8 i975 SHEET DSUF 15 f. m 6R k QBTEEBEJ&#39; war .5  
 SBEET PATHHED APR 8 ms PATEIHEU APR 81975 SHEET llUF 15 now  mm. 07 OF PATENTEUAPR&#39; 8l975 sum &#39;lznr 15 PATENTEUAPR ems SHEET l 6F 15 O: 07 OF SEQUENCER FOR AUTOMATIC ANSWERING AND DISCONNECTING DEVICE FOR TELEPHONE INTERFACED FACSIMILE TERMINALS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates, generally, to the automation of telephone interfaced facsimile terminals and, more particularly, to controllers for automatically answering and disconnecting calls to and from such terminals. An important feature is that the controllers are compatible with conventional installations of ordinary telephone sets.  
  Facsimile systems are characterized by the ability to produce a more or less exact copy or facsimile of an original document at a remote location in a matter of just a few minutes. A basic system comprises a pair of terminals which are interconnected, usually only when the need arises, by a communications link. The terminals are typically equipped with transceivers so that each of them is selectively operable in either a transmit mode or a receive mode, but dedicated transmitters and receivers may also be employed.  
  in operation of such a system, the information content of the document of interest is converted at the transmitting terminal into a series of video signals. These signals (or, more commonly, a carrier modulated by them) are then transmitted through the communications link to the receiving terminal. At that point, the video signals are utilized, together with suitable remotely or locally generated synchronizing and phasing signals, to drive a printer which, in turn, produces a copy or facsimile of the original document.  
  The mounting demand for rapid and accurate communication of graphic information (e.g., written and printed materials, drawings, and sketches) has spurred the development of the facsimile art. The public switched telephone network has become a favored transmission medium for facsimile communications because subscribers may rely on it to provide a communication link to and from almost any location without having to remake a substantial capital investment in telephone equipment, and equipment has been developed to carry out telephonic facsimile communications. Thus, the problem which remains to be solved centers on improving the cost effectiveness of telephonic facsimile communications within the constraints imposed by existing tariff regulations which require that there be a suitable interface between the telephone network and any facsimile equipment coupled thereto to protect the telephone network from being damaged in the event of a failure within the facsimile equipment.  
  Others have previously recognized that the costs of telephonic facsimile communications may be reduced by equipping the facsimile terminals to automatically answer and disconnect incoming and outgoing calls. However, the various approaches which have been previously proposed for achieving such automation have not been entirely satisfactory. For example, as disclosed and claimed in R&#39;eithmeir U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,586,778 and 3,608,241 which issued June 22, 1971 and Sept. 28, 1971, respectively, on applications assigned to the assignee of this application, one proposal has been to satisfy the interfacing requirement with special electronic equipment which is capable of automatically answering and disconnecting calls. The technical merit and commercial potential of that approach is unquestioned. It does, however, suffer from the practical disadvantage that such special electronic interfacingequipment must be interposed between the telephone set and the balance of the telephone equipment with the result that it often cannot be installed or even serviced without the cooperation of the telephone company and the participation of a highly skilled telephone technician.  
  Experience has shown that users of telephonic facsimile equipment generally prefer to avoid the burdens and other inconveniences associated with special telephone installations. Thus, acoustic couplers and inductive couplers (hereinafter sometimes collectively referred to for convenience as transducer couplers&#34;) have been developed to satisfy the interfacing requirement with equipment which is compatible with conventional installations of ordinary telephone sets of the type that are routinely employed for voice communications. Specifically, transducer couplers are characterized by not requiring any direct electrical connection to any of the telephone equipment. 7  
  Heretofore, however, transducer type couplers have also usually been associated with a requirement that the facsimile terminals be manned on a more or. less continuous basis. Indeed, as noted in the aforementioned Reithmeier U.S. patents, this requirement is one of the principal disadvantages of such couplers. Clearly, the practice of manning each facsimile terminal substantially continuously is wasteful of the time and energy the terminal operators might otherwise devote to other tasks. Also, it tends to discourage facsimile users from taking full advantage of the lower telephone toll rates often prevailing outside normal business hours. Nevertheless, the practice persists without substantial abatement.  
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the primary aim of the present invention is to provide methods and means for increasing the cost effectiveness of facsimile communications carried out with conventional installations of ordinary telephone sets. In keeping with that goal, a general object is to reduce the time and attention operators must devote to the operation of facsimile terminals which employ transducer type couplers for telephone interfacing purposes.  
  More particularly, an object of this invention is to provide a controller which is not only capable of automatically answering and disconnecting calls to and from telephone interfaced facsimile terminals but which is also compatible with standard installations of voice-type telephone sets. A related object is to provide a controller which may be easily and quickly enabled or disabled so that calls to and from such a facsimile terminal may be answered and disconnected automatically or manually as desired.  
  Another object of the present invention is to provide a controller which has sufficient versatility to be field modified by moderately skilled workers working with ordinary hand tools to match the diverse characteristics of different facsimile units.  
  A further object of this invention is to embody a controller having the aforementioned characteristics into an accessory which may be readily combined with existing, as well as new, facsimile terminals.  
  Finally, another of the more general objects of the present invention is to provide a relatively reliable, in-  
 expensive, and easy to install controller of the foregoing type.  
  Briefly, to carry out these and other objects of the invention, a controller for automatically answering and disconnecting calls to and from telephone interfaced facsimile terminals without any direct electrical connections of the controller or the facsimile equipment to the associated telephone set has been provided. As here illustrated, the controller comprises an actuator arm for mechanically operating the cradle switch of the telephone set, a driver for the actuator arm, and a control circuit for activating the driver whenever there is an incoming call to be answered or an incoming or outgoing call to be disconnected. Advantageously. the actuator arm is selectively engageable with and disengageable from the driver so that the controller may be enabled or disabled depending on whether it is desired to handle the calls automatically or manually. When the actuator arm is engaged with the driver the controller is enabled since the driver then moves the actuator arm toward and away from the telephone cradle switch in response to control signals supplied by the control circuit. Specifically, the control circuit inductively detects any ringing voltage applied to the telephone set so that the drive is activated to move the actuator arm away from the cradle switch whenever there is an incoming call to be answered. Further, when the telephone set is off hook, the control circuit monitors the operation of the facsimile equipment so that the driver is activated to move the actuator arm toward the cradle switch whenever the transmission or reception of the facsimile message has been completed and there is an incoming or outgoing call to be disconnected.  
 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Of course, even further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent when the following detailed description is read in conjunction with the attached drawings, in which:  
  FIG. 1 is a simplified perspective view of a facsimile terminal equipped with a controller embodying the present invention;  
  FIG. 2 is similar to FIG. 1, but illustrates a second embodiment of the controller which is suitable for use with a different type of facsimile unit;  
  FIG. 3 is a simplified diagrammatic illustration of the controllers shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;  
  FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of a controller constructed in accordance with this invention and illustrates the mechanical details of the controller;  
  FIG. 5 is a simplified fragmentary side elevation of the controller shown in FIG. 3 as used with an ordinary desk-type telephone extension for telephonic facsimile communications and shows the relationship of the ac-- tuator arm to the telephone cradle switch in the various operating states of the controller;  
  FIGS. 6-15 use a series of stop action diagrams illustrating the operation of the controller motor under various conditions;  
  FIGS. l6A-l6C combine to form a schematic diagram of a suitable control circuit for the controller shown in FIG. 2; and  
  FIGS. l7A-l7D combine to form a schematic diagram of a suitable control circuit for the controller shown in FIG. 1.  
 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS While the invention is described in some detail hereinafter with reference to certain illustrated embodiments, it is to be understood that there is no intent to limit it to those embodiments. On the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, alternatives, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.  
 A. Environment and General Overview Turning now to the drawings, and at the outset especially to FIGS. 1 and 2, a couple of facsimile terminals, which are generally indicated at and 51, have been selected to illustrate typical environments for controllers 52 and 53 constructed in accordance with this invention. Apart from the controllers 52 and 53, the facsimile terminals 50 and 51 are quite conventional. In fact, some readers may recognize that they are respectively representative of installations of commercially available Telecopier III and 400 Telecopier facsimile transceivers as manufactured by Xerox Corporation.  
  In the interest of conciseness, it will be assumed that the reader is at least generally familiar with the construction and operation of the Telecopier Ill and 400 Telecopier transceivers. The primary reasons for showing both of the terminals 50 and 51 are to highlight the versatility of the broader aspects of this invention and to provide a foundation for indicating the nature and scope of at least some of the variations that may be encountered in practice with controllers embodying the present invention but intended for use with different facsimile units. Of course, anyone desirous of detailed knowledge of the Telecopier III or the 400 Telecopier transceivers may inspect the commercially available units and review the published literature pertaining to those units.  
  For present purposes, it suffices to note that the first terminal 50 (FIG. 1) comprises a transceiver 54 which is interfaced with a telephone set 55 by an acoustic coupler 56. As is characteristic of a Telecopier III transceiver installation, the acoustic coupler 56 is spaced a short distance from the transceiver 54 and is electrically coupled thereto by an external cable 57. Similarly, the second terminal 51 (FIG. 2) also includes a transceiver 58 which is interfaced with a telephone set 59 by an acoustic coupler 60. In this case, however,  
 the acoustic coupler 60 is built into the transceiver 58 Acoustic couplers are, of course, well known transducer-type interfacing devices. It is therefore, unnecessary to describe either of the couplers 56 and 60 in detail. Likewise, the telephone sets 55 and 59 need not be described in detail, although it is perhaps appropriate to observe that they may typically be ordinary desktype telephone extensions which are integraded (by means not shown) into more or less conventional telephone networks (also not shown).  
  In accordance with the present invention, the controllers 52 and 53 are capable of automatically answering and disconnecting calls to and from the facsimile terminals 50 and 51, respectively. These functions are carried out without any direct electrical connections of the telephone sets 55 and 59 to any of the other equipment comprised by the facsimile terminals. Instead, as best shown in FIG. 2 for the facsimile terminal 51, the  
 telephone 59 is effectively coupled to the transceiver 58 by seating its handset 61 in the acoustic coupler 60. It will, therefore, be realized that the controllers 52 and 53 are compatible with conventional installations of ordinary telephone sets.  
  To simplfy matters it will be assumed that the telephone sets 55 and 59 are identical desk-type telephone extensions of standard configuration. Nevertheless, there still are significant differences between the controllers 52 and 53 because of the diverse characteristics of the transceivers 54 and 58. Generally stated, the rule which comes into play is that each of the controllers must be mateched to the physical and mechanical characteristics of its associated facsimile unit. The term facsimile unit&#34; is here intended to indicate that at least broader aspects of the invention are applicable to controllers for dedicated facsimile transmitters and receivers, as well as to controllers intended for use with transceivers, such as shown.  
  As will be seen, the controllers 52 and 53 monitor the operational status of their associated transceivers 54 and 58 by means of cable connections 71 and 72, respectively, thereby enabling each of the controllers to determine whether its associated transceiver is running or not. One of the differences between the controllers 52 and 53 is the manner in which they make the aforementioned determination. Specifically, to determine whether a Telecopier III transceiver is running or not, advantage is taken of a characteristic change in the motor control outputs of the transceiver since the 360 Hz. A.C. signals appearing at those outputs when the transceiver is running are replaced by DC. signals when the transceiver is stopped. Thus, in the terminal 50 (FIG. 1) the cable 71 enables the controller 52 to monitor the motor control outputs (not shown) of the transceiver 54, and the controller 52 and the transceiver 54 have separate connectors of plugs 73 and 74, respectively, so that each of them has direct access to, say, the commercial power mains (also not shown). On the other hand, with a 400 Telecopier transceiver the simplest parameter to monitor to determine whether the transceiver is running or not is the current drawn by the transceiver. Hence, in the terminal 51 (FIG. 2), only the controller 53 has a plug 75 for accessing the A.C. power supply, with the result that the transceiver 58 must draw its operating current through the controller 53 via the cable 72.  
  Of course, other differences between the transceivers 54 and 58 have been taken into account. For example, it will be seen that special provision has been made in the controller 52 to permit the transceiver 54 to be used with either cut sheet or continuous web copy stock. It is, therefore, worth mentioning that there is a commercially available roll feed accessory, such as is indicated generally at 76 (FIG. 1), manufactured by Xerox Corporation for its Telecopier III transceiver.  
  Still further differences between the controllers 52 and 53 will become evident. Such differences should not, however, be permitted to hide the fact that the controllers 52 and 53 are very similar when considered on a general level. Thus, as shown in FIG. 3 for the controller 53, it will be appreciated that the controllers 52 and 53 have the common characteristics of comprising an actuator arm 81 for mechanically operating the eradle switch 82 of the associated telephone set, a driver 83 for the actuator arm, and a control circuit 84 for activating the driver 83 whenever there is an incoming call to be answered or an incoming call or outgoing call to be disconnected. Further, the control circuit 84 of each controller inductively detects any ringing voltage applied to the associated telephone set to supply a first control signal for activating the driver 83 to move the actuator arm away from the telephone cradle switch 82 whenever there is an incoming call to be answered. And, the control circuit 84 of each controller also monitors the associated facsimile unit to supply another control signal for activating the driver 83 to move the actuator arm 81 toward the telephone cradle switch 82 upon the completion of each facsimile transmission or reception (i.e., whenever there is a call to be disconnected).  
  For additional clarity, separate sections hereof have been devoted to the descriptions of the mechanical, electromechanical, and electrical characteristics of the controllers 52 and 53. All of the sections are essential to a full understanding of the invention, but they may be referred to separately if specific features of one or both of the controllers are of special interest to the reader. The sections heading are, of course, merely intended to generally characterize the contents of the several sections.  
 B. Mechanical Features As will be recalled, the simplifying assumption has been made that the telephone sets 55 and 59 are identical desk-type telephone extensions. Therefore, from a mechanical point of view, the controllers 52 and 53 are alike, with the result that it will be understood that the following detailed description of the mechanical characteristic of, say, the controller 53 applies equally as well to corresponding characteristics of the other controller 52.  
  Referring to FIGS. 2-5 with that in mind, it will be seen that the controller 53 has a step-like housing 91 for supporting the base 94 of the associated telephone set 59 with its cradle switch 82 in alignment with the actuator arm 81. The actuator arm 81 is pivotally mounted on the housing 91 and is capable of being swung toward and away from the telephone cradle switch 82 by the driver 83.  
  More particularly, in the illustrated embodiment, the housing 91 comprises a compartment 92 to accommodate the relatively bulky mechanical and electromechanical components of the controller and a hollow shelf-like member 93 for its more compact electronic components. The shelf 93 is secured to the lower edges of the compartment 92 and extends forwardly therefrom to provide a seat for the telephone base section 94. The inner end of the actuator arm 81 is fast on a substantially horizontal transverse shaft 96 which is journalled in the compartment 92 at approximately the same level that the cradle switch 82 is held when the telephone base section 94 is seated on the shelf 93.  
  Even relatively unskilled personnel can quickly and reliably align the telephone cradle switch 82 with the actuator arm 81. As illustrated, there is a cross bar 97 at the outer end of the actuator arm 81, and the length of the actuator arm 81 is selected so that the cross bar 97 and the cradle switch 82 are at approximately the same distance from the axis of the shaft 96 (i.e., the axis of rotation of the actuator arm 81) when the rear of the telephone base section 94 is abutted against the front face 95 of the compartment 92. Under nominal conditions, the telephone base section 94 is centered on the shelf 93 and has its rear firmly abutted against the front face 95 of the compartment 92. The slight deviations from these conditions that may incur in practice have, however, been anticipated. Specifically, the depth of the cross bar 97 (as measured longitudinally of the actuator arm 81) is selected to be somewhat less that the front-to-back span of the telephone cradle 98 so that slight gaps between the rear of the telephone base section 94 and the front face 95 of the compartment 92 can be tolerated, and the length of the cross bar 97 (as measured transversely of the actuator arm 81) is selected to be somewhat greater than the width of the telephone cradle 98 to accommdate situations in which the telephone base section 94 is mounted slightly off center on the shelf 93.  
  In accordance with one of the more detailed aspects of this invention, provision is made for selectively enabling and disabling the controller 53 so that calls to and from the associated facsimile terminal 51 can be answered and disconnected automatically or manually, as desired. As shown, a reciprocating motion provided by the driver 83 is relied on when the controller 53 is enabled to swing the actuator arm 81 toward and away from the telephone cradle switch 82. The actuator arm 81 is, in turn, selectively engagable with and disengagable from the driver 83. Specifically, the actuator arm 81 is supplied with a toggle type bias which is effective to urge an enlarged inner face 97 of the actuator arm 81 into or out of engagement with the driver 83 depending on whether the enabled or disabled state of the controller 53 has been selected. As will be appreciated, there is little, if any, risk with the illustrated arrangement that the actuator arm-cradle switch alignment will be upset as the controller 53 is enabled or disabled. Further, when the controller 53 is disabled, the actuator arm 81 is out of the immediate area of the telephone cradle 98 and, therefore, does not materially interfere with normal manual operation of the telephone set 59.  
  Suitably, the toggle-type bias for the actuator arm 81 is supplied by a pair of springs 101 (only one can be seen) which are connected between the controller housing 91 and the actuator arm 81 at opposite sides of the controller 53. The inner ends of the springs 101 are anchored to the controller housing 91 at substantially aligned anchor points, while their outer ends are anchored to respective ones of a pair of pins (again, only one can be seen) which are secured to and extend outwardly from the opposite sides of the actuator arm 81. To provide the toggle effect, the pins 102 are substantially horizontally aligned along an axis which is offset from the axis of rotation of the actuator arm 81. Accordingly, the bias supplied by the springs 101 is effective to urge the actuator arm 81 out of or into engagement with the driver 83 depending on whether the actuator arm 81 is oriented with the pins 102 above or below, respectively, the dead center position of the toggle which, of course, is defined by the plane that passes through the anchor points for the inner ends of the springs 101 and the axis of the shaft 96 (i.e., the axis of rotation of the actuator arm 81).  
  As shown, the driver 83 comprises a carriage 105 which is slideably mounted on a saddle 106, together with a circular cam 107 which is eccentrically mounted on the output shaft 108 of motor 109. The saddle 106 is secured to the opposite sidewalls of the compartment 92, and the cam 107 is seated within an aperture 111 formed in the carriage 105. Retaining shoulders 112 (only one can be seen) on the inner faces of the sidewalls of the compartment 92 overlie the opposite sides of the carriage to constrain it against appreciable vertical movement. Suitably, the motor 109 is suspended from a mounting plate 113 fixed to the compartment 92 and its outputshaft 108 extends to the cam 107 via vertically aligned passageways (not shown) through the plate 113 and the saddle 106.  
  As will be recalled, the driver 83 is activated whenever there is a call to be answered or disconnected and, therefore, some reciprocation of the carriage 105 may take place even when the controller 53 is disabled. Forpresent purpose, however, it will be sufficient to concentrate on the enabled condition of the controller 53 since that is the condition in which the motion of the carriage 105 is relied on to swing the actuator arm 81 toward or away from the telephone cradle switch 82.  
  Specifically, when the controller 53 is enabled, the bias springs 101 urge the inner face 97 of the actuator arm 81 into engagement with the outer end of the carriage 105. The outer end of the carriage 105 is offset below the axis of rotation of the actuator arm 81 (i.e., the axis of the shaft 96), with the result that the actuator arm 81 swings upwardly and downwardly as the carriage 105 moves forwardly and rearwardly, respectively, on the saddle 106. The rearward thrust acting on the carriage 105 when the controller 53 is enabled maintains the forward sidewall 114 of the aperture 111 in firm contact with the adjacent edge of the cam 107. Now, as the cam 107 rotates, its effective radius (as measured between the point at which it contacts the forward sidewall 114 of the aperture 111 and the axis of rotation of the motor output shaft 108) changes, thereby causing the carriage 105 to move forwardly during one half of each revolution of the cam 107 and rearwardly during the other half of each revolution. The difference between the maximum and minimum effective radii of the cam 107, of course, determines the length of the stroke of the carriage 105. Therefore, it is selected together with the offset between the axis of rotation of the actuator arm 81 and the forward end of the carriage 105, to ensure that the actuator arm 81 is swung through an arc sufficient to cause the telephone set 59 to be OFF HOOK and ON HOOK when the carriage 105 is at the forward and rearward extremes, respectively, of its stroke. The aperture 111, on the other hand, is dimensioned so that only its forward sidewall 114 contacts the cam 107, and the forward sidewall 114 of the aperture 111 is desirably strengthened by a reinforcing rib 115 or thelike.  
 C. Electromechanical Features This and the next section of this disclosure should be read with the understanding that there is a close functional relationship between the electromechanical and the electrical characteristics of the controllers 52 and 53. Also, it should be noted that those characteristics of the controllers 52 and 53 have been matched on a case-by-case basis to the electrical characteristics of the exemplary transceivers 54 and 58, respectively. Those skilled in the art will, however, be able to extrapolate from this disclosure to the extent necessary to apply the teachings hereof to controllers for other types of facsimile units.  
  As will be seen, the original assumption that the transceivers 54 and 58 are Xerox Telecopier Ill and 400 Telecopier transceivers, respectively, leads tominor differences between the electromechanical charac-