Abstract:
A telephone using conventional telephone mechanical and electrical components mounted within a telephone housing, typically mounted on a wall, with the earpiece and mouthpiece mounted to be protected by the telephone housing. The housing has a front face surrounded by tapered edges, which provide angled transitions from the front face to the mounting surface. To operate, the user pushes an on/off switch and places an ear next to the fixed earpiece. The telephone is designed for use in prisons, so inmates within a prison cannot hang themselves with a handset cord or break a handset and handset cord off for use as a weapon. The tapered edges restrict access to the abrupt sides of the rigid housing, so the phone does not protrude as a blunt object from the wall. The telephone, which may include a payphone escrow system, is also suitable for use in any high crime or remote public areas to reduce the potential for vandalism. The telephone design reduces the cost of maintenance by eliminating the need to fix and replace a telephone handset, or damaged housings.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]    This is a continuation-in-part under 37 CFR 1.53(b) to application Ser. No. 09/709,753, filed on Nov. 11, 2000, which is a continuation-in-part application under 37 CFR 1.53(b) to application Ser. No. 09/459,314, filed on Dec. 10, 1999, abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part application under 37 CFR 1.53(b) to application Ser. No. 09/017,982, filed on Feb. 3, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,009,169. 
     
    
     
       STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
         [0002]    Not applicable.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0004]    This invention relates generally to telephone equipment and more specifically to a structure for a telephone for use by inmates or in other environments wherein the telephone is subject to abuse (hereinafter referred to as an safety telephone).  
           [0005]    2. Description of the Related Art  
           [0006]    Numerous hands-free telephone equipment systems have been taught in prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 2,277,907 issued to Goodale, Jr. et al. discloses a speaker attachment for a conventional telephone. U.S. Pat. No. 3,144,513 issued to Sherron teaches a partially enclosed telephone stall with a microphone and speaker mounted in the enclosure wall of the booth. U.S. Pat. No. 4,101,735 issued to Bridenbaugh uses a shared transducer, alternatingly functioning as a speaker and a microphone, connected to a conventional telephone. U.S. Pat. No. 4,104,485 issued to Pessel et al. discloses a loudspeaker system mounted over a conventional telephone. U.S. Pat. No. 5,371,790, issued to Nevo et al., discloses a telephone such that a mouthpiece, an earpiece, an electronic circuit board, a push-button dialing pad and a dial tone actuating switch are contained in a single housing and which places the entire phone in a housing similar to a conventional telephone handset. The Nevo et al. &#39;790 patent does not teach safety and vandal resistance elements; in fact, the entire phone or alternatively the exterior connection cable may easily be used as a weapon. None of the prior art utilizes a design for a telephone that can be wall mounted and is self-contained with minimal external parts as described herein.  
           [0007]    It would be an improvement to the field to have an inmate phone, which contains conventional telephone mechanical and electrical components mounted within a telephone housing, typically mounted on a wall, with the earpiece and mouthpiece mounted within the housing to serve as a hands-free telephone, with the housing tapered to provide an oblique transition from the front of the phone to the mounting surface for safety. Inmates within a prison would not be able to hang themselves with a handset cord or break off the handset and handset cord to use as a weapon. The phone would not provide an sharply angled protruding surface. Individuals would not be able to vandalize the safety phone handset or even rip the entire phone off the mounting structure. This phone reduces repairs by eliminating the need to fix and replace the telephone handset, thereby saving money for the cost of maintenance.  
         BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0008]    Accordingly, the objectives of this invention are to provide, inter alia, a new and improved telephone that:  
           [0009]    provides hands-free operation;  
           [0010]    is easy to use;  
           [0011]    is economical to manufacture;  
           [0012]    is resistant to vandalism and thus low-maintenance;  
           [0013]    can be mounted on a wall;  
           [0014]    reduces the amount of exposed blunt edge to the telephone when it is mounted on a wall;  
           [0015]    eliminates available prying surfaces to the telephone when it is mounted on a wall; and  
           [0016]    has no external cord, handset or other external parts that could be used as a weapon or means for vandalism or self-injury.  
           [0017]    To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, this invention may be embodied in a mountable telephone that uses standard telecommunication and electronic components, including a handset or separate earpiece and mouthpiece, a push-button dialing pad, electronic circuitry, and switching circuitry, protected by a hard housing. The inventive telephone comprising a telephone housing, having a front face surface oriented generally parallel to and only slightly extending from a mounting surface, with the housing possessing transitional surfaces that gradual extend from the edges of the front face surface to the mounting surface, thereby providing minimal exposed edge and prying surface. The telephone, which may include a payphone escrow system, is also suitable for use in jails and prisons, or any high crime or remote public areas to reduce the potential for injury or vandalism. The drawings are illustrative only, and changes may be made in the specific construction illustrated and described within the scope of the appended claims. Other objects of the invention will become apparent from time to time throughout the specification hereinafter disclosed. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0018]    [0018]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an interior portion of a prison, showing the present invention mounted into a wall thereof.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 2 is an alternate front perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 1.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 3A is a rear perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 1.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 3B is a rear perspective view of an alternate exemplary embodiment.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 4 is a front view of the invention, further showing diagrammatically an electrical circuit incorporating a volume control for the earpiece and mouthpiece.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 5A is a cross-sectional view of housing of FIG. 3A, cut along line  5 A- 5 A.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view of housing of FIG. 3B, cut along line  5 B- 5 B.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention housing an escrow mechanism. 
     
    
       [0026]    Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.  
       DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0027]    The present invention is a telephone described as safety phone  10 , generally depicted in FIGS.  1 - 4 , of the type having housing  12 , capable of being mounted to a building wall, such as mounting surface  14  of prison  16 . While safety phone  10  is described as being mounted and used in prison  16 , it is understood that safety phone  10  may be used, mounted or free standing, in any location where a telephone is desired that encompasses the safety and security features described herein. Referring to FIG. 6, safety phone  10  may be modified for use with coin or card payment mechanisms using standard methods and electrical/mechanical designs for this feature.  
         [0028]    Referring to FIGS.  1 - 4 , safety phone  10  may be mounted directly onto or recessed into a mounting surface  14 , so that only a portion of housing  12  is accessible to a user. In the exemplary embodiment, the mounting surface  14  is a prison wall  16 . Housing  12  includes a housing front wall  20  and sidewalls  26 . Housing front wall  20  includes a front wall inner surface  21 . Sidewalls  26  extend from the perimeter of front wall inner surface  21  to create a protective enclosure within housing  12 .  
         [0029]    An interface element  81  is provided intermediate housing  12  and mounting surface  14 , when the phone is in a mounted position. Interface element  81  extends around the perimeter of housing front wall  20  and extends angularly from the plane of housing front wall  20  to the mounting surface  14 . Interface element  81  comprises left tapered element  82 , right tapered element  84 , top tapered element  86  and bottom tapered element  80 . Left tapered element  82 , right tapered element  84 , top tapered element  86  and bottom tapered element  80  are flanges extending from front wall  20  so as to angle toward the mounting surface  14 . Tapered elements  80 ,  82 ,  84  and  86  extend outwardly from the perimeter of housing front wall  20  at an obtuse angle to provide a gradual slope, or taper, from the surface of housing front wall  20  to mounting surface  14 . In this fashion, safety phone  10  is able to restrict access to housing sidewalls  26  extending outwardly from mounting surface  14 . Such restriction limits the ability of a vandal or thief to effectively damage sidewalls  26  or gain a leverage advantage against the abrupt angle of sidewalls  26 .  
         [0030]    In the exemplary embodiment, front wall  20  and mounting surface  14  are in generally parallel planes, and top tapered element  86 , bottom tapered element  80 , left tapered element  82  and right tapered element  84  are attached to front wall  20  and contact mounting surface  14  at obtuse angles from the parallel planes of front wall  20  and mounting surface  14 . In an alternate embodiment (not shown) of the inventive safety phone  10 , tapered elements  80 ,  82 ,  84  and  86  are of different dimensions in order to provide gentle transition angles from the plane of front wall  20  to the plane of mounting surface  14  when these two planes are not completely parallel. The plane of housing front wall  20  may be skewed in relationship to the plane of mounting surface  14  in order to present front wall  20  to a potential user in a more convenient attitude. A phone with a front wall  20  so skewed is still within the scope of this disclosure if top tapered element  86 , bottom tapered element  80 , left tapered element  82  and right tapered element  84  are able to provide a tapered angle between the planes of front wall  20  and mounting surface  14 .  
         [0031]    Referring to FIGS. 3A and 5A, in the exemplary embodiment, housing  12  is recessed into mounting surface  14  such that tapered elements  80 ,  82 ,  84  and  86  are proximate to mounting surface  14 . Tapered elements  80 ,  82 ,  84  and  86  create tapered angles between the planes of front wall  20  and mounting surface  14 . With housing  12  recessed into mounting surface  14 , the sidewalls  26  of safety phone  10  are no longer exposed to access from the front by a user. Tapered elements  80 ,  82 ,  84  and  86  cover the interface between mounting surface  14  and phone sidewalls  26 . In the exemplary embodiment, tapered elements  80 ,  82 ,  84  and  86  have a beveled end  81 , which provides a flush interface to mounting surface  14 .  
         [0032]    Referring to FIGS. 3B and 5B, in an alternate exemplary embodiment, tapered elements  80 ,  82 ,  84  and  86  create tapered angles between the planes of front wall  20  and mounting surface  14 . With housing  12  recessed into mounting surface  14 , the sidewalls  26  of safety phone  10  are no longer exposed to access from the front by a user. Tapered elements  80 ,  82 ,  84  and  86  are proximate to sidewalls  26  at the intersection of housing  12  and mounting surface  14 , in order to restrict access by a user to the abrupt angles of sidewalls  26 .  
         [0033]    In an alternative exemplary embodiment housing  12  does not include sidewalls  26 . Housing  12 , comprising housing front wall  20  and interface element  81 , provides the protection to the internal working mechanisms by being secured directly to mounting surface  14  by a mounting bracket (not shown).  
         [0034]    Located behind or within housing  12 , and typically attached to front wall inner surface  21 , are electronic circuit board  19 , earpiece  28  and mouthpiece  30 . Typically, push-button dialing pad  18  is a component of electronic circuit board  19 , which is mounted to the front wall inner surface  21 . In an alternative embodiment, push-button dialing pad  18  can be separate from electronic circuit board  19  and electrically connected. A plurality of push-button digits  22  of push-button dialing pad  18  extends outward through push-button apertures  23  through housing front wall  20 . Plurality of push-button digits  22  extend a sufficient distance to afford full travel distance for each of the push-button digits  22  to effect activation of the electric information switch associated with each push-button digit  22 .  
         [0035]    Aural output and input to safety phone  10  is provided respectively by earpiece  28  and mouthpiece  30 , both being mounted to the interior of housing front wall  20  and extending outward from housing front wall  20  through aural apertures  38 . Earpiece  28  and mouthpiece  30  may be referred to collectively as a handset.  
         [0036]    Earpiece  28  and mouthpiece  30  are each electrically connected to electronic circuit board  19  by connection wire  32 . Earpiece  28  and mouthpiece  30  are mounted such that earpiece  28  is positioned above mouthpiece  30 . Earpiece  28  and mouthpiece  30  are affixed to housing front wall  20  using any appropriate form of attachment known in the art. Attachment methods may include, but are not limited to, adhesives, mechanical clamps (not shown) interior to housing  12 , or other devices, which securely mount earpiece  28  and mouthpiece  30  to housing  12 , such that they cannot be removed via the exterior of housing  12 . In the exemplary embodiment, annular seal  42  seals earpiece  28  and mouthpiece  30  into aural apertures  38 . Each annular seal  42  extends about earpiece  28  and mouthpiece  30  within the two vertically spaced apart sound transparent sections or apertures  38  in the housing front wall  20  of the housing  12 . The exemplary earpiece  28  and mouthpiece  30  extend from housing front wall  20 , and are contoured and spaced apart to present an ergonomic external surface for a user to position an ear comfortably adjacent to earpiece  28  and mouth adjacent to mouthpiece  30 . In the exemplary earpiece  28  and mouthpiece  30 , sound transparent sections are in the form of a plurality of small holes  31 .  
         [0037]    In an alternative embodiment, earpiece  28  and mouthpiece  30  are mounted within safety phone  10 , such that no portions of earpiece  28  or mouthpiece  30  extend through housing front wall  20 . In the exemplary embodiment, earpiece  28  and mouthpiece  30  attach to front wall inner surface  21 . In this embodiment, aural communication to earpiece  28  and mouthpiece  30  is afforded through a sound transparent section of housing front wall  20 , such as a solid acoustic transmitter (not shown). The sound transparent regions are contoured and spaced apart to present an ergonomic external surface on housing front wall  20  for a user to position an ear comfortably adjacent to earpiece  28  and mouth adjacent to mouthpiece  30 . This sound transparent section provides protection to earpiece  28  and mouthpiece  30 , while allowing sound to pass.  
         [0038]    Dial tone actuating switch  36  extends through housing front wall  20  of housing  12  via dial tone actuating switch aperture  37 , for manually actuating the dial tone of the safety phone  10 . In the exemplary embodiment, actuating component  36  is an on/off push-button switch  56  as is known in the art. Push button switch  56  may require constant pressure applied by the telephone user to maintain electrical circuit continuity, or may be a toggle push button requiring a first depression to actuate and a second depression to deactuate. In an alternative embodiment, actuating component  36  may be any on/off electrical switch capable of completing an electric circuit, including but not limited to a toggle lever switch, a relay or a breaker switch. Actuating component  36  is limited dimension to prevent injury to the user from being struck by actuating component  36  or its related structure, and for actuating component  36  to be ergonomically correct for proper usage. This ergonomic correctness includes proper positioning on housing front wall  20 , proper throw distance of actuating component  36 , and absence of surround structure, such as a phone hook, that creates an ergonomic hazard. Dial tone actuating switch  36  is electrically connected between phone line  58  and electronic circuit board  19 . Typically, phone line  58 , providing electrical access to the remote telephone routing switching equipment, enters housing  12  through the wall mounting plate (not shown) behind mounted housing  12 , such that phone line  58  is not exposed to vandalism or environmental damage.  
         [0039]    Earpiece  28 , mouthpiece  30  and push-button dialing pad  18  are also electrically and functionally connected to electronic circuit board  19 . Electronic circuit board  19  includes electronic components known in the art of telephone and electrical switching to receive electrical signals from mouthpiece  30  and phone line  58 , to transmit electrical signals to earpiece  28  and phone line  58 , and to receive and process electrical input from push-button dialing pad  18  for transmission to phone line  58 . In the exemplary embodiment, safety phone  10  is capable of dialing out to another phone, but is not enabled to receive incoming phone calls.  
         [0040]    An assemblage  60 , as shown in FIG. 4, can be electrically connected to earpiece  28  and mouthpiece  30  for increasing and decreasing sound coming out of earpiece  28  and sound going into mouthpiece  30 . In one embodiment, the sound increasing and decreasing assemblage  60  consists of the on/off push-button switch  56  having a built-in volume control circuit  62  with a rotatable control knob  64 .  
         [0041]    Amplifier  66  is electrically connected between volume control circuit  62  and earpiece  28  and mouthpiece  30 . Typically, amplifier  66  is a component of electronic circuit board  19 . Typically, when the control knob  64  is manually rotated in a clockwise direction, the sound coming out of the earpiece  28  and the sound going into the mouthpiece  30  will be increased. When the control knob  64  is manually rotated in a counterclockwise direction, the sound coming out of the earpiece  28  and the sound going into the mouthpiece  30  will be decreased.  
         [0042]    In the exemplary embodiment, safety phone  10  is mounted into mounting surface  14  at a height such that earpiece  28  is approximately level with the ear of an average height adult user. The transition from left tapered element  82 , right tapered element  84 , top tapered element  86  and bottom tapered element  80  to the wall each forms an oblique angle, so that the surfaces of the phone housing that are abrupt to mounting surface mounting surface  14  are no longer exposed to the public.  
         [0043]    To use safety phone  10 , the user actuates actuating component  36 . With actuating component  36  actuated, safety phone  10  receives a dial tone and the user dials the desired phone number. The user then places his ear next to extended earpiece  28 , or in the alternative embodiment next to the sound transparent section of housing front wall  20  in front of earpiece  28 , to hear the person being called. The vertical orientation of mouthpiece  30  is such that mouthpiece  30  is ergonomically oriented below earpiece  28  for normal speech input into mouthpiece  30  when the user&#39;s ear is placed next to earpiece  28 . In the exemplary embodiment, the volume for earpiece  28  and mouthpiece  30  is controlled by control knob  64  as described above. When the call is finished, the user disengages actuating component  36 , either by releasing it or by depressing it a second time, depending on the type of switch used for actuating component  36 .  
         [0044]    In an alternative embodiment depicted in FIG. 6, safety payphone  10  is equipped with an escrow mechanism of a style known in the art designed to recognize the receipt of coins, currency or credit cards (referred to hereafter as payments) and enable operation of the telephone when the proper amount of payment has been introduced. Various payment receiving slots may be employed to facilitate the introduction of payment to telephone  10 . In the embodiment depicted, housing front wall  20  may be provided with coin receiving slot  72 , which allows for introduction of coin currency into the housing. The escrow mechanism is located so that the payment is deposited into coin box  87 .  
         [0045]    As is well known in the art, a coin return slot  70  may be included in housing front wall  20  for return of coin currency when appropriate. Alternative methods of receiving payment may be provided, such as a credit card receiving slot or paper currency receiver (not shown). As known in the art, the escrow mechanism receives the payment for calls and permits activation of the electronic circuit board  19  as long as appropriate payment is maintained.  
         [0046]    To use safety payphone  10 , the user deposits sufficient funds and actuates actuating component  36 . With actuating component  36  actuated, safety payphone  10  receives a dial tone and the user dials the desired phone number. The user then places his ear next to extended earpiece  28 , or in the alternative embodiment next to the sound transparent section of housing front wall  20  in front of earpiece  28 , to hear the person being called. The vertical orientation of mouthpiece  30  is such that mouthpiece  30  is ergonomically oriented below earpiece  28  for normal speech input into mouthpiece  30  when the user&#39;s ear is placed next to earpiece  28 . In the preferred embodiment, the volume for earpiece  28  and mouthpiece  30  is controlled by control knob  64  as described above. When the call is finished, the user disengages actuating component  36 .  
         [0047]    It is understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above. While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described are pointed out in the annexed claims, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.