The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 10, 1977
Filed:
Jun. 28, 1976
Applicant:
Inventor:
Richard Scott Hoppough, Greensboro, NC (US);
Assignee:
Bell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporated, Murray Hill, NJ (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H04M / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
1791 / ; 179 / ; 179 / ; 179 / ;
Abstract
A telephone line reported by a subscriber to be busy may be checked by the disclosed apparatus to determine if the telephone is actually in use or merely appears busy because of leakage in the telephone line or of the receiver being accidentally off-hook. When the telephone is actually in use, peaks in signals present on the line are counted and cause an in-use indication. When an accidentally off-hook or leakage condition is present, particular signals on the line or the absence of signals cause a not-in-use indication.