Hand-held pay station telephone dispenser and cord retractor

Abstract

For use in conjunction with vehicular, hand-held, pay telephone, a telephone dispenser and latching mechanism for securing the telephone in the dispenser and, in response to actuation by a telephone user, releasing the telephone from the dispenser. The dispenser includes an elongated dispenser channel or stepwise construction. The dispenser channel is enclosed at one end by a latch plate including a credit-card-actuated latching mechanism. The dispenser channel is enclosed at an opposite end by a face plate having an opening for the insertion and extraction of the telephone from the dispenser channel and a slot for the insertion of a credit-card. The latch-release actuator is located behind the face plate slot and is mechanically linked to the latching mechanism. A credit card, once inserted into the slot, causes the latching mechanism to disengage from the telephone, permitting an ejector mechanism to urge the telephone out of the dispenser. The telephone dispenser and its associated telephone are mounted to the passenger seat armrest of a commercial vehicle. A cord retractor is also mounted to the armrest in proximity to the dispenser. The cord retractor is adapted to store a telephone cord when the telephone is placed within the dispenser and to dispense an appropriate amount of telephone cord when the telephone is extracted from the telephone dispenser.