Dialing apparatus

Claim 1

A repertory dialler such as used at telephone subscriber stations, for the transmission therefrom of desired subscriber''s numbers: said dialler including a receptacle for the reception of a plurality of cardlike members; each of said cardlike members having holes coordinately arranged therethrough in a coded representation of a desired subscriber''s number; a plurality of digit busses; means for maintaining said digit busses juxtaposed to one side of said holes of the coded representation of said cardlike members; said digit busses being common to all of said cards and arranged as column wires extending along one face of each of said cards, each of said column wires comprising a continuous ribbon of insulating material having a number of copper strips embedded on the face of the ribbon for contiguous contact with said cards; binary bus means; said binary bus means comprising a plurality of binary busses; said binary bus means further comprising binary board means for extending conductors through aligned ones of said holes to electrically connect selected ones of said digit busses to said binary busses; said binary busses being arranged as row wires extended along the other face of said card, each of said row wires comprising a flexible finger for each column position on a card, which finger projects through said holes on the card to contact the appropriate column wire; means for transmitting digit signals over said digit busses whereby any of said binary busses connected to the digit busses also carry said digit signals, wherein said transmitting means sequentially transmits said digit signals over said column wires; means for selecting a desired one of said plurality of cardlike members; said selecting means operating to connect the binary busses associated with said selected cardlike members to common wires; counter means connected to said common wires for generating dial pulses responsive to the digit signals received on said common wires with said pulses corresponding to the desired subscriber''s number; card holding means retaining each of said cardlike members in said receptacle; each of said card holders being pivotably supported between a pair of slotted rails; there being a set of row wires on one side and a set of column wires on the other side of said holders; means for rotating all of said holders in said slotted rails to provide a staggered edge, when the dialler is in use for reading any inscriptions at the top of said cards; and means responsive to the pivoting of said card holders for causing said fingers to extend through the appropriate holes in all of said cards to couple said digit busses and said binary busses at all of said cards.