Automatic telephone caller

Claim 2

Apparatus for automatically supplying a pre-recorded message to a plurality of telephone subscriber stations in sequence comprising means for placing a telephone call to a telephone number, means for coupling the message to a telephone line in response to the called number being reached, counter means for storing the number to be called, means for incrementing the counter means by the same predetermined number to change the telephone number by a predetermined number to derive another number, and means responsive to the call being either completed or an indication of the called number being incapable of being reached for again activating the means for placing a call to the another telephone number; the means for placing, means for coupling, means for incrementing and means for again activating being repeatedly activated so that calls are automatically placed in sequence to a plurality of subscribers.

Claim 3

The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the counter means comprises a plurality of cascaded 10-stage frequency dividers, one of said dividers being provided for and storing the numerical value of a digit of a called subscriber number, whereby the plural dividers store plural digits of the called subscriber station number, means for incrementing the divider for the least significant bit once each time a number is called, a telephone dialing means, and means for supplying the stored digits of the dividers to the dialing means in sequence.

Claim 4

The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the counter means comprises: a shift register, an oscillator for advancing the shift register so that different shift register stages are activated in sequence, means for storing binary signals representing the digits of a called subscriber number, said means for storing for at least some of the digits comprising a plurality of cascaded 10-stage frequency dividers, telephone dialing means, gate means for selectively coupling the stored signals for each digit in sequence to the dialing means in response to different stages of the shift register being activated, and means for advancing the count of the frequency divider for the least significant digit by a count of one in response to a further one of said stages of the shift register being activated.

Claim 5

Apparatus for automatically supplying a pre-recorded message via a telephone line to a plurality of telephone subscriber stations in sequence, said line applying pulse-type signals to the apparatus in response to an operator at a called subscriber station connecting and disconnecting his station to the line, comprising means for placing a telephone call to a telephone number, means responsive to the pulse-type signals for deriving first and second signals respectively indicative of a connection being completed to the called subscriber station and the connection being broken at the called subscriber station, means for coupling the message to a telephone line in response to the first signal being derived, means responsive to the recorded message being completed for deriving a third signal, and counter means responsive to the second and third signals for indicating the number of connected subscriber stations that did not stay on the line for the entire message, means for deriving a fourth signal in response to a connection not being established to the called subscriber station a predetermined time after the call was placed, means for changing the telephone number by a predetermined number to derive another number, and means responsive to the occurrence of the third or fourth signals for again activating the means for placing a call to the another telephone number; the means for placing, means for coupling, means for changing and means for again activating being repeatedly activated.

Claim 6

Apparatus for automatically supplying a pre-recorded message via a telephone line to a plurality of telephone subscriber stations in sequence, said line applying pulse-type signals to the apparatus in response to an operator at a called subscriber station connecting and disconnecting his station to the line, comprising means for placing a telephone call to a telephone number, means responsive to the pulse-type signals for deriving first and second signals respectively indicative of a connection being completed to the called subscriber station and the connection being broken at the called subscriber station, means for coupling the message to a telephone line in response to the first signal being derived, means responsive to the recorded message being completed for deriving a third signal, and counter means responsive to the second and third signals for indicating the number of connected subscriber stations that did not stay on the line for the entire message, means for deriving a fourth signal in response to a connection not being established to the called subscriber station a predetermined time after the call was placed, means for changing the telephone number by a predetermined number to derive another number, and means responsive to the occurrence of the third or fourth signals for again activating the means for placing a call to the another telephone number; the means for placing, means for coupling, means for changing and means for again activating being repeatedly activated.

Claim 7

The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the means for deriving the first and second signals includes means for detecting voltage changes and polarity reversals on the telephone line.

Claim 8

The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the detecting means includes a saturable amplifier having a grounded reference terminal and a pair of complementary input terminals connected to tip and ring lines of the telephone line.

Claim 9

Apparatus for automatically supplying a pre-recorded message via a telephone line to a plurality of telephone line subscriber stations in sequence, said line applying pulse-type signals to the apparatus in response to an operator at a called subscriber station connecting and disconnecting his station to the line, comprising a dial tone detector for deriving an enabling signal in response to a dial tone on the line being coupled to the apparatus, means responsive to the pulse-type signals for deriving first and second control signals respectively indicative of the called subscriber station connecting and disconnecting his station to the line, means for deriving a third control signal in response to the prerecorded message being completed, means for deriving a fourth control signal in response to a called subscriber not connecting his station to the line a predetermined time after having been called by the apparatus, means for deriving a plurality of dialing signals for the subscriber stations to be called, control means responsive to the first, second, third and fourth control signals for supplying the enabling signal to the means for deriving the dialing signals so that the dialing signal for each subscriber station to be called is applied to the line in response to the enabling signal being supplied to the means for deriving dialing signals, means for changing the dialing signal from one subscriber station number to another subscriber station number after a previous subscriber station number dialing signal has been applied to the line, means responsive to the first signal for supplying the message to the line, the control means being repeatedly activated in response to at least one of the control signals so that a plurality of subscriber station numbers are called in sequence.

Claim 10

Apparatus for automatically supplying a pre-recorded message via a telephone line to a plurality of telephone line subscriber stations in sequence, said line applying pulse-type signals to the apparatus in response to an operator at a called subscriber station connecting and disconnecting his station to the line, comprising a dial tone detector for deriving an enabling signal in response to a dial tone on the line being coupled to the apparatus, means responsive to the pulse-type signals for deriving first and second control signals respectively indicative of the called subscriber station connecting and disconnecting his station to the line, means for deriving a third control signal in response to the prerecorded message being completed, means for deriving a fourth control signal in response to a called subscriber not connecting his station to the line a predetermined time after having been called by the apparatus, means for deriving a plurality of dialing signals for the subscriber stations to be called, control means responsive to the first, second, third and fourth control signals for supplying the enabling signal to the means for deriving the dialing signals so that the dialing signal for each subscriber station to be called is applied to the line in response to the enabling signal being supplied to the means for deriving dialing signals, means for changing the dialing signal from one subscriber station number to another subscriber station number after a previous subscriber station number dialing signal has been applied to the line, means responsive to the first signal for supplying the message to the line, the control means being repeatedly activated in response to at least one of the control signals so that a plurality of subscriber station numbers are called in sequence.

Claim 11

The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the means for deriving the first and second signals includes means for detecting voltage changes and polarity reversals on the telephone line.

Claim 12

The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the detecting means includes a saturable amplifier having a grounded reference terminal and a pair of complementary input terminals connected to tip and ring lines of the telephone line.

Claim 13

The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the control means includes: means responsive to the derivation of either the second or fourth signals for repeatedly connecting and disconnecting the dial tone detector to the line until the dial tone enabling signal is supplied to the means for deriving the dialing signals, and means for supplying the enabling signal to the means for deriving the dialing signals in response to the third control signal being derived after the first control signal has been derived or in response to the fourth control signal being derived.

Claim 14

The apparatus of claim 7 further including counter means responsive to the second and third signals for indicating the number of connected subscriber stations that did not stay on the line for the entire message.

Claim 15

Apparatus for automatically supplying a pre-recorded message via a telephone line to a plurality of telephone line subscriber stations in sequence, said line applying signals to the apparatus in response to an operator at a called subscriber station connecting his station to the line, comprising multistage shift register means for deriving a plurality of sequential output signals, N of said stages being provided for the N digits of each subscriber station number, means responsive to activation of said N stages for sequentially deriving each of the N digits of a subscriber station number and for applying the digits to the line to call a subscriber station number, means for changing the value of a digit of a subscriber station number in response to the shift register means being activated to a first stage other than the N stages, means for coupling the recorded message to the telephone line in response to the called station being connected to the line, means for deriving a first control signal in response to the prerecorded message being completed, means for advancing the shift register to a second stage other than the N stages after all of the digits of the called number have been applied to the line, means responsive to the register being in the second stage for a predetermined time and the called station not having been connected to the line for deriving a second control signal, and means responsive to the first and second control signals for energizing the shift register to activate the N stages and the first stage in sequence so that the digits for the changed subscriber station number are applied in sequence to the line and the subscriber station number is changed.

Claim 16

Apparatus for automatically supplying a pre-recorded message via a telephone line to a plurality of telephone line subscriber stations in sequence, said line applying signals to the apparatus in response to an operator at a called subscriber station connecting his station to the line, comprising multistage shift register means for deriving a plurality of sequential output signals, N of said stages being provided for the N digits of each subscriber station number, means responsive to activation of said N stages for sequentially deriving each of the N digits of a subscriber station number and for applying the digits to the line to call a subscriber station number, means for changing the value of a digit of a subscriber station number in response to the shift register means being activated to a first stage other than the N stages, means for coupling the recorded message to the telephone line in response to the called station being connected to the line, means for deriving a first control signal in response to the prerecorded message being completed, means for advancing the shift register to a second stage other than the N stages after all of the digits of the called number have been applied to the line, means responsive to the register being in the second stage for a predetermined time and the called station not having been connected to the line for deriving a second control signal, and means responsive to the first and second control signals for energizing the shift register to activate the N stages and the first stage in sequence so that the digits for the changed subscriber station number are applied in sequence to the line and the subscriber station number is changed.