US4338496A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Testing facility for telephone conference bridge
Assignee: KELTRONICS Corp A CORP OF OK
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Filing: 1981-05-19
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Granted: 1982-07-06
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Expires: 2001-05-19
Abstract
Abstract A passive conference bridge is coupled to telephone lines through pairs of panel mounted plug-in jacks to establish conference call connections with balanced input/output impedances. Test equipment is plugged into the jacks for connection to the bridge circuit and/or telephone lines. The telephone lines are disconnected from a leg of the bridge circuit through one of the jacks of each pair and a terminating resistor is thereby inserted into the disconnected bridge leg.
Inventors
- 👤 Alfred W. Yakel
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-25 22:33
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04M; H04M5/00
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 16
Claim 1
Independent Claim
115 words
In combination with a passive bridge circuit having impedance legs through which conference call connections are established between associated network lines of a telephone communication system, apparatus for connecting said bridge circuit to the network lines while facilitating testing thereof by test equipment, comprising a housing internally mounting the bridge circuit, and a plurality of plug-in jack devices mounted in the housing for interconnecting the bridge circuit and the network lines, each of said jack devices including insertion activated means for alternatively connecting the test equipment to one of the legs of the bridge circuit in parallel with the network lines associated therewith and disconnecting said one of the legs from the associated network lines.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
115 words
In combination with a passive bridge circuit having impedance legs through which conference call connections are established between associated network lines of a telephone communication system, apparatus for connecting said bridge circuit to the network lines while facilitating testing thereof by test equipment, comprising a housing internally mounting the bridge circuit, and a plurality of plug-in jack devices mounted in the housing for interconnecting the bridge circuit and the network lines, each of said jack devices including insertion activated means for alternatively connecting the test equipment to one of the legs of the bridge circuit in parallel with the network lines associated therewith and disconnecting said one of the legs from the associated network lines.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
44 words
The combination of claim 1, wherein each of said jack devices further includes a terminating resistor, and means for connecting the resistor to said one of the impedance legs of the bridge circuit in response to said disconnection thereof from the associated network lines.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
44 words
The combination of claim 2, wherein each of said jack devices further includes a pair of monitoring switch means respectively activated to disconnect the network lines and disable the connection of the terminating resistor to said one of the legs of the bridge circuit.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
48 words
The combination of claim 3, wherein said housing includes a plug-in panel through which the jack devices are exposed in spaced relation to each other, said legs of the bridge circuit being connected to alternate ones of said jack devices, said bridge circuit being of the two-wire type.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
48 words
The combination of claim 1, wherein said housing includes a plug-in panel through which the jack devices are exposed in spaced relation to each other, said legs of the bridge circuit being connected to alternate ones of said jack devices, said bridge circuit being of the two-wire type.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
87 words
For use with a passive bridge circuit adapted to be connected to telephone lines for equalizing input/output impedances of conference call connections, and means for testing the bridge circuit and the lines through insertion plugs, the improvement comprising a plurality of jack devices normally establishing connections between the bridge circuit and the telephone lines, and means mounting the jack devices in spaced relation to each other for reception of the insertion plugs of the testing means to connect the same to the lines and the bridge circuit.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
87 words
For use with a passive bridge circuit adapted to be connected to telephone lines for equalizing input/output impedances of conference call connections, and means for testing the bridge circuit and the lines through insertion plugs, the improvement comprising a plurality of jack devices normally establishing connections between the bridge circuit and the telephone lines, and means mounting the jack devices in spaced relation to each other for reception of the insertion plugs of the testing means to connect the same to the lines and the bridge circuit.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
35 words
The improvement as defined in claim 6, including terminating resistor means and means responsive to connection of the testing means to the telephone lines alone for connecting the terminating resistor means to the bridge circuit.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
42 words
The improvement as defined in claim 7, wherein each of the jack devices includes a pair of switches respectively activated by the insertion plugs to disconnect the telephone lines from the bridge circuit and disable the connection of the terminating resistor means.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
81 words
The improvement as defined in claim 6 wherein said bridge circuit comprises a predetermined number (N) of multi-wire connectors each having at least one pair of terminals through which the jack devices establish said connections to the telephone lines, resistive means connected to said connectors for establishing a normal bridge circuit insertion loss (dB), and additional resistor means connected across each of said pairs of terminals for increasing the insertion loss as a function of the predetermined number (N) of connectors.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
40 words
The improvement as defined in claim 9 wherein said resistive means and said additional resistor means have resistance values (R and r) that are functions of said predetermined number (N) of connectors necessary to establish input and output impedance balance.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
102 words
For use in a telephone conference bridge circuit having a predetermined number (N) of multi-wire connectors each provided with at least one pair of terminals, and resistive means connected to said connectors for establishing a normal bridge circuit insertion loss (dB), the improvement comprising additional resistor means connected across each of said pairs of terminals for increasing the insertion loss as a function of the predetermined number (N) of connectors, said resistive means and said additional resistor means having resistance values (R and r) that are functions of said predetermined number (N) of connectors necessary to establish input and output impedance balance.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
102 words
For use in a telephone conference bridge circuit having a predetermined number (N) of multi-wire connectors each provided with at least one pair of terminals, and resistive means connected to said connectors for establishing a normal bridge circuit insertion loss (dB), the improvement comprising additional resistor means connected across each of said pairs of terminals for increasing the insertion loss as a function of the predetermined number (N) of connectors, said resistive means and said additional resistor means having resistance values (R and r) that are functions of said predetermined number (N) of connectors necessary to establish input and output impedance balance.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
22 words
The improvement as defined in claim 11 wherein the total insertion loss is less than 1/N-1 for a six way bridge circuit.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
21 words
The improvement as defined in claim 11 wherein the total insertion loss for a four-wire bridge circuit is less than √(N)/(N-1)-1.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US2237666A
Cited
US3699284A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1985-07-05 | 1986-01-04 | 1986-07-06 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1989-07-05 | 1990-01-04 | 1990-07-06 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1993-07-05 | 1994-01-04 | 1994-07-06 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |