Year: 1885

page_text: We, DAVID JOHNSTONE SMITH, Secretary of the National Telephone Company,
and DANIEL SINCLAIR, Electrical Engineer, both of 13 Royal Exchange Square
in the City of Glasgow, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
The object of our invention is to provide simple and effective means for enabling
an operator in a telephone exchange to check the payment of the charge made for
the use of telephonic communication in a public call box connected to such exchange
and to check the time during which the telephone is used in the call box while
also permitting of the free use of the call box telephones by subscribers to the
Exchange system.
In the systems at present in vogue it is usual to provide in each call box an
instrument which is brought into action to ring up the exchange by dropping
through a shoot and on to a balance the amount in pence or in other coins which
is charged for the right to use the telephone. A time-piece within the instrument
is arranged to determine the length of time during which the telephone may be
used by cutting off the connection of the call box instrument with the exchange
at the expiry of the interval allowed for conversation. Such instruments are very
costly and are liable to get out of order, and their use is open to many objections,
e.g, the user of the telephone is compelled to drop into the shoot the amount
payable for the use of the telephone before he can learn whether he may have
connection with the subscriber with whom he desires to communicate, and ordinary
subscribers cannot have the use of the call boxes without also making payment.
According to our invention we provide at the call box the ordinary means of
calling up the exchange so that the caller may inform the exchange operator that
he desires to use the telephone and may ascertain whether he can communicate
with the subscriber he wants. We also provide in the call office a box having one,
two or more orifices or shoots for the reception of coins or tokens of different
denominations, and at the lower end or other part of each shoot we fit a light
spring which in one modification is normally in the local circuit of the induction
coil and battery, the line wire being the secondary wire of the induction coil The
spring is so fitted that as each coin is dropped down the shoot the coin presses
aside the spring and momentarily breaks the local circuit, the extent of opening
left by the spring at the bottom of the shoot being such that if a coin of less size
:

page_text: than that of the required denomination is passed down the shoot it will not act on
the spring to break the circuit.
The caller having asked the exchange operator to connect him to a subscriber is
requested to drop into the shoot the amount payable for the use of the telephone.
If the charge be for example, sixpence he drops in that amount, and the coin as it
falls through the shoot breaks the local circuit. The operator listening at the
telephone in the Exchange hears the sharp click which occurs at each action of
breaking the circuit, and by that means knows when the coin has been dropped
into the box. The operator then places the caller in communication with the
subscriber through the switch board in the ordinary way and notes the time, and
if the conversation is not finished at the end of the interval allowed a further
payment is called for or the connection with the subscriber is cut off by the
operator.
.
In a modified arrangement the spring at the bottom of the shoot is connected to
the line wire and is fitted normally out of contact with the terminal of a local
battery wire, and is arranged to make contact to complete the battery circuit
through the exchange wire each time a coin of the proper denomination is dropped
through the shoot. In this arrangement, instead of listening for the click which is
heard on the breaking and making of contact, the operator watches the deflection
of a galvanometer or other indicator placed in the exchange circuit and which
is acted on as each coin drops through the shoot; or instead of acting on a
galvanometer the closing of the circuit through the spring at the call box may be
made to act on an electro-magnet or relay and sounding bell in the exchange. In
either case the escapement or other part of a timekeeper at the exchange may be
placed in the circuit and acted on to bring the clockwork into action when the
caller drops his coin or check into the shoot, and such time keeper may either
simply serve to indicate to the exchange operator the length of time during which
the telephone is used or it may be arranged to cut off the connection between the
caller and the subscriber at the end of the interval allowed for conversation.
In cases, in which differential rates are charged for the use of the telephone
e.g. where one charge is made for communicating with subscribers on a local
exchange and a different charge is made for communication with subscribers on a
distant exchange, two (or more) shoots and corresponding connections are employed.
The devices for receiving and checking receipt of coins of one denomination e.g for
distant communication may be arranged as in the first modification so that the
exchange operator listens for the "click" as a means of checking payment for
the use of the telephone, and the devices for use in obtaining connection with the
local exchange may be arranged as in the second modification to effect the deflection
of a galvanometer or the sounding of a bell as means of checking payment. Or the
arrangement under the second modification may be used for both shoots in which
case the batteries in the respective local circuits may be so connected that the one
sends a positive current and effects a deflection of the galvanometer in the one
direction and the other sends a negative current and effects a deflection in the
opposite direction. Or again, the devices in connection with one shoot may act on
a galvanometer and the devices connected to the other shoot may act on a sounder
or similar indicating device.
In order that the subscribers to the exchange system may have the use of the
telephones at the call boxes without making payment we form a shunt or branch
circuit to the exchange circuit or we provide a separate circuit which may be
opened or closed by the subscriber inserting his check through an orifice in the box
to break or make contact between terminals or springs in the circuit, or by the
insertion and pressing or turning of a key with which each subscriber may be
provided. The making or breaking of contact by the insertion of the check or key
may be employed to throw in a local battery in the exchange circuit in order to
act on a galvanometer or other indicator at the exchange or it may by momentarily
breaking the circuit of the local telephone battery and induction coil, produce a
sharp click in the exchange operators telephone as herein before described. Or the

page_text: key or check may be used to act on the devices which are acted on by the coins
to indicate to the operator when payment is made for the use of the telephone,
the key or check being used in such cases to convey a signal distinct from that
transmitted by the action of the coins dropping through the shoot. For example
the falling coin may bring into the exchange circuit a battery which transmits a
positive current, and the subscribers check or key may bring into the exchange
circuit a battery which is arranged to transmit negative currents, or the coins
may act by transmitting an audible signal and the subscribers check or key by
transmitting a visible signal or vice versa.
The devices herein described may obviously be employed in the offices of
subscribers as well as call boxes to serve as means of checking and collecting
payment for each message transmitted by telephone instead of or in addition to
the annual charge usually made to subscribers for the use of the telephone.
Dated this Twentieth day of October 1985

page_text: improvements in Telephonic Apparatus.
We, DAVID JOHNSTONE SMITH, Secretary of National Telephone Company, and
DANIEL SINCLAIR, Electrical Engineer, both of 13 Royal Exchange Square, in the
City of Glasgow, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement :-
Our invention has for object the provision of means for enabling the operators
in telephone exchanges to check the payment of charges made for the use of
telephonic communication in public call boxes and offices connected to such
exchanges and the time during which the telephone is used on each occasion while
also permitting of the free use of the call-box telephones by subscribers to the
exchange system.
Heretofore it has been usual to provide in each call-box an instrument which is
brought into action to ring up the exchange by dropping through a shoot and on
to a balance the amount, in pence or other coin, which is charged for the right to
use the telephone. A timepiece in the instrument serves to determine the length
of time during which the telephone may be used and it is arranged to cut off the
connection of the call box instrument with the exchange at the expiry of the
interval allowed for conversation. Instruments of the class referred to are very
costly, are liable to get out of order and their use is open to many objections such
for example as that the user of the telephone is compelled to drop into the shoot
the amount payable for the use of the telephone before he may ascertain whether
immediate connection may be had with the subscriber with whom he desires to
communicate, and that ordinary subscribers cannot have the use of the call boxes
without also making payment.
• We overcome these and like objections and attain the object in view by providing
at each call-box (in addition to the ordinary means for calling whereby the caller
may ring up the exchange, inform the operator that he desires to use the telephone,
and ascertain if he can communicate with the subscriber he wants) a check box or
instrument having one, two or more orifices or shoots for the reception of coin's or
tokens of different denominations and a spring or springs or similar means, con-
nected to the line wire or a local circuit and so placed in the shoots that by the
closing or breaking of the circuit occasioned by the descent of each coin or by the
action of the subscribers' check, an audible or visible signal is communicated to the
operator at the exchange.
In the accompanying drawings which illustrate our invention, figures 1 and 2,
are respectively a back elevation and a plan of the check box or instrument
provided in each call-box or office, the back board and cover of the box being
removed in order that the working parts of the apparatus may be clearly seen.
Figure 3 is a perspective view of the exterior of the box. Figures 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8,
are detached views showing to a larger scale the details of the apparatus,

page_text: The improved check-box as illustrated in figures 1, 2 and 3 is arranged for the
collection of differential rates for the use of the telephone, one orifice A, and
shoot B, being provided for the insertion of coins or tokens of one denomination in
payment for communication with subscribers on a local exchange, and the other
orifice A¹ and corresponding shoot B¹ being provided for the reception of coins or
tokens of a different denomination for communication with subscribers on a distant
exchange, the operative parts of the apparatus being also in duplicate. A greater
number of shoots and operating parts may however be employed; and when a
uniform charge is made for the use of the telephone a single shoot provided with
checking apparatus is employed.
The checking apparatus in each shoot is alike and in the present instance,
consists of two springs C, O fitted as shown particularly in figures 6, 7 and 8 in the
sides to form a contracted neck which is opened up by the coin or token'in its descent
provided it be of the proper denomination, terminal points on both of said springs
being thereby lifted out of contact with a conducting bar D which is electrically
connected to the line wire connected to the telephone exchange. The conducting
bar D is forked at its end and is provided with an adjusting screw d whereby the
forked ends may be pressed apart slightly in order to so adjust the positions of the
springs C. C, that they may not be acted on by a coin of smaller size than that
which should be inserted in the shoot. The two springs are connected by a
conducting wire leading to a terminal to which in the simple arrangement of the
connections as represented in figure 6 for cases in which a single box is used, the
second telephone wire passing to the local telephone and thence to earth is
connected. The line wire which connects to the operator's telephone at the exchange
passes through a call bell or other audible or visible signalling apparatus and a
battery connected to earth and the effect of the arrangement is that when by the
descent of a proper coin or token through the shoot B the spring points C are
both pressed aside and out of contact with the conductor D the circuit through
the telephone wire is momentarily broken and reclosed and thereby a sharp "click"
or like sound is produced in the exchange operator's telephone or a movement of
the hammer of the bell or other signalling apparatus at the exchange takes place
indicative of the passage of the coin through the shoot, the form of signal trans-
mitted being dependent on whether the check devices are connected to the local
battery circuit or to the line.
When the apparatus is constructed as shows in figures 1, 2 and 3 for collection
of differential rates the springs in one shoot are adjusted so that they are acted on
by coins or tokens of one denomination and those in the adjoining shoot by larger
or smaller coins or tokens. The arrangement of the electrical connections, when as
in the present example provision is made for working the apparatus by the use of
only one wire for connection to both shoots and to check devices for subscribers
keys is as follows:―
The line wire L from the exchange is connected to one terminal T having a
connecting wire w through one of the check key devices hereinafter described to
the springs C of the check apparatus in connection with the shoot B and the
circuit is completed through the bar D and wire w' connected to the terminal T¹
to which is connected the wire L leading to the call-box telephone and to earth,
the secondary wire of the usual induction coil I being in the circuit of the line L¹.
At the exchange a battery, a call-bell or other signalling device and a telephone are
provided in the line circuit L.
The connections of the checking apparatus of the shoot B¹ are made in a manner
similar to those of the shoot B, to terminals T2, T3, to which a wire having in
circuit a local battery l¹ and the primary wire of the induction coil is connected.
The operation of the apparatus is as follows:-
The caller at the call-box or office rings up the exchange through the line L, L,
and asks the operator to connect him with the subscriber with whom he wishes
to communicate: If the subscriber wanted is on the local exchange the operator

page_text: requests the caller to drop through the shoot B a coin or a number of coins
representing the amount payable for the use of the telephone. The coin or cach
coin as it descends through the shoot towards the collecting drawer below presses
apart the springs C, C, and by breaking the line circuit through the battery at the
exchange causes the hammer of the call bell there to vibrate at each interruption
or breaking and making of the circuit, or produces such other audible or visible
signal as will indicate to the operator that the proper payment has been made,
after which the operator makes connection with the subscriber wanted through the
switch board in the usual way. If the subscriber wanted is upon a distant
exchange the operator requests the caller to drop the proper coin or token through
the shoot B¹, and when the coin in its descent breaks the circuit of the check
apparatus of the shoot B¹ which is completed through the local battery 1¹, the
current from said battery is momentarily interrupted in the circuit and a
corresponding interruption of the current induced through the induction coil I in
the line L, L, takes place resulting in the production in the exchange operators'
telephone of a sharp "click" which is heard by the operator listening at the
telephone and indicates clearly that the proper coin has been dropped through the
shoot B. The operator then makes the connection with the subscriber wanted in
the usual way. At the end of the interval allowed for communication in each case
the exchange operator disconnects the subscriber unless a fresh payment is made.
To provide for the use by subscribers to the exchange system of the call box
telephone, without making payment, the telephone circuit is carried through a
bracket piece E provided with a contact point é against which bears a lever arm f,
actuated by a hub F which is electrically connected to the line; and said hub is
capable of being turned by a key, with which each subscriber is provided, to lift
the arm off the contact point and momentarily break the circuit in order that a
"click" or other signal may be communicated to the exchange operator. As is
shown in figure 4 the lever arm f is maintained normally in contact with the
point e of the bracket E by means of a spring S. On the same centre as the hub
a disc G is carried and has a slit g in it through which the subscribers key passes
in entering the hub F and said disc is also turned with the hub but independently
of it against the power of springs S¹. The object of fitting the disc on the hub
centre is that fraudulent use of the telephone by non-subscribers may be avoided,
the disc being capable of being turned by any flat pointed instrument while the
hub beyond it is not acted on excepting by a proper key extending through the
disc slit.
The check apparatus in connection with one of the shoots and one set of the
devices operated by the subscriber's key is thus arranged to communicate one kind
of signal to the exchange operator by the breaking of the circuit, and the other
shoot and set of devices communicate a different signal to indicate the descent of
the coin through the shoot or the insertion of the subscriber's key.
A like result may be attained by arranging one set of the check apparatus to
act in either of the ways above described and the other set to act upon the closing
of the circuit instead of on the breaking of the circuit. Thus as is represented in
figure 5 a second bracket arm E¹ may be fitted so that contact may be made on
turning the hub arm f, to close momentarily a local battery circuit * which may
act through the induction coil or otherwise on the line circuit whereby the desired
signal is communicated to the exchange operator. The arm f is kept normally in
contact with the bracket E (which is in the line circuit) in order that communi-
cation with the exchange may be had before sending the signal by the use of the
subscriber's key. The spring in connection with one of the shoots may obviously
be arranged to act in like manner by closing the circuit instead of opening it to
transmit the desired signal.
The devices herein described may obviously be employed in the offices of
subscribers as well as in call boxes to serve as means of checking and collecting
payment for each message transmitted by telephone instead of or in addition to
the annual charge usually made to subscribers for the use of the telephone.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is:-
1. The herein-described telephone check apparatus for call boxes or offices
consisting of a box having in it two shoots provided each with a spring or springs
or other contact devices so fitted as to be acted on by coins or tokens passing
through the shoots, one set of contact devices being in the line circuit connected to
the exchange and the other in a local battery circuit so that signals of different
kinds may be automatically transmitted to the exchange by the passage of the
coins through the respective shoots, contact making or breaking devices in the
respective circuits and operated by suitable keys being provided for the use of
subscribers to the exchange system, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
2. In telephone check apparatus for call-boxes or offices the combination of two
or more shoots provided with springs or other contact devices, one set of contact
devices being in a circuit through a local battery and the primary of an induction
coil whose secondary wire is in the line or main circuit and the second set of
contact devices being in the line circuit in which a call bell or other signalling
apparatus is provided at the exchange, substantially as and for the purpose set
forth.
3. In telephone check apparatus for call-boxes or offices the combination with a
shoot for the reception of coins or tokens, of a spring or springs adapted to be
acted on thereby and connected to a line wire or circuit having in it suitable
signalling apparatus whereby the breaking or closing of the circuit by the passage
of the proper coin through the shoot communicates a prearranged signal to the
exchange, substantially as herein set forth.
4. In telephone check apparatus for call-boxes or offices the combination with a
shoot for the reception of coins or tokens of a spring or springs adapted to be acted
on thereby and a local battery circuit connected to said spring or springs and to
the induction coil in the line circuit whereby the passage of a proper coin through
the shoot produces an audible signal in the exchange telephone, substantially as
herein set forth.
5. In telephone check apparatus the combination with a line wire having in
circuit signalling apparatus at the exchange and contact devices adapted for being
operated on by coins, keys or the like in a call box instrument, of a local battery
circuit acting on said line circuit through an induction coil and having in the
circuit separate contact devices, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
6. In a call-box instrument provided with means for receiving and indicating
to the exchange the reception of money paid for the use of the telephone the
application of contact making or breaking devices operated by the subscribers'
keys and fitted in connection with the line and the signalling arrangements of the
money check apparatus, substantially as herein set forth.
Dated this Second day of June 1886.
CRUIKSHANK & FAIRWEATHER,
Agents.