Telephone transaction system

Claim 1

A telephone transaction system for transferring funds from one account to another comprising: a. a telephone subscriber set for joint operation by a first person representing a purchaser and a second person representing a seller, said subscriber set including a plurality of manually operable keys each for transmitting signals, each of said signals comprising an encoded pair of distinctive alternating currents of different frequencies; b. a first decoding network connected to the subscriber set for receiving said pairs of alternating current signals and for decoding the signals into digits and directions for operating a printer, said first decoding network including a plurality of back biased diodes which are selectively controlled by a series of pulse generators to pass an electrical signal synchronized with a timing mechanism; c. printing means at the subscriber set for printing symbols representing the decoded signals; d. a second decoding network, similar to the first, positioned at a remote position and coupled to the subscriber set for receiving said pairs of alternating current signals and for decoding the signals; e. a digital computer for recording amounts of money deposited by a plurality of purchasers and a plurality of sellers, said amounts being transferable responsive to signals received by the computer from the decoding network; f. and an automatic data switch connected between the telephone subscriber set and the second decoding network for sending signals from the set to the second decoding network when opened in one direction by a start signal from the set, and for sending signals from the computer to the subscriber set when opened in a reverse direction by an end-of-message signal from the subscriber set.