Telephone line scanning circuit

Claim 1

IN A TELEPHONE SYSTEM, MEANS FOR DETERMINING AT A CENTRAL OFFICE THE CONDITION OF A PLURALITY OF LOCAL SUBSCRIBER LINES REMOTE FROM SAID CENTRAL OFFICE COMPRISING A LOCAL CLOCK PULSE SOURCE, A CIRCUIT SELECTOR, A BINARY COUNTER CONNECTED BETWEEN SAID SELECTOR AND SAID CLOCK PULSE SOURCE FOR DIRECTING SAID SELECTOR TO THE PARTICULAR LINE TO BE SCANNED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE DESIGNATION REGISTERED IN SAID COUNTER, BISTABLE MEANS INDIVIDUALLY ASSOCIATED WITH EACH SUBSCRIBER LINE AND HAVING FIRST AND SECOND INPUT PATHS OF DISTINCT TIME DELAY, FIRST MEANS FOR CONNECTING SAID SELECTOR TO SAID BISTABLE MEANS, SECOND MEANS FOR CONNECTING SAID BISTABLE MEANS TO THE CORRESPONDING ONES OF SAID SUBSCRIBER LINES, MEANS COMPRISING THE OUTPUT OF SAID BISTABLE MEANS FOR INHIBITING SAID CLOCK PULSE SOURCE, MEANS FOR TRANSMITTING THE LINE DESIGNATION REGISTERED IN SAID BINARY COUNTER TO SAID CENTRAL OFFICE, AND MEANS FOR ACTIVATING SAID CLOCK PULSE SOURCE AFTER THE TRANSMISSION OF SAID LINE DESIGNATION.