Coin charging system for mobile telephony

Claim 2

A coin charging system for mobile telephony, of the type used in order to facilitate making calls with mobile telephones by means of charging coins and being provided with display means for displaying information and power supply means for providing power to the system comprising, a control subsystem operatively connected to a coin selecting and charging subsystem, the coin charging system being able to operate as a rating device, being able to change initial and quantity per pass ratings and being able to monitor the collected amount of coins, the total communication time of the call, the total connection time until the communication is started, the total number of calls, the total number of passes of the telephone company, and to zero the quantities.

Claim 3

The coin charging system of claim 1 wherein the control subsystem comprises a microcontroller with corresponding interfaces for digital input/output, the interfaces for the outputs of photoelectric sensors being received from a coin charging and return mechanism and coming from a user control unit, the microcontroller being operatively connected to circuitry for processing the signals coming from the mobile telephone including an interface for audio signals, the interface containing a squaring amplifier to condition the audio signal received by a microtelephone, a high order band pass filter, an analog switch for the audio signal transmitted by the microtelephone, a connection detection circuit for determining the moment in which the mobile telephone enters a connection, a keyboard activation and blocking circuit for acting on the signal of the transmission data conductor, a multifrequency tone detection circuit connected to the audio signal received by the microtelephone, an interface for the rating signal of the telephone company received through a data control conductor terminal, a supply relay and auxiliary circuitry thereof, auxiliary electronics for the operation of the motor for the carriage movement and the charging coil of the coin mechanism and interfaces for the signals received from the coin selector.

Claim 4

The coin charging system of claim 1 wherein the control subsystem is connected to a user control unit, a coin mechanism, a coin selector, a mobile telephone and the display subsystem.

Claim 5

The coin charging system of claim 2 including a mechanism for receiving, storing and charging coins, the positioning of the mechanism being achieved through the use of a series of phototransistors of rough and precise positioning.

Claim 6

The coin charging system of claim 1 wherein the user control units include a first switch of three positions, permitting the selecting of the operation mode, a second switch of two positions, permitting the selecting of the initial and quantity per pass rates to be modified and the accumulated amount desired to be displayed, two push buttons for increasing and decreasing the rate and zeroing and displaying the accumulated quantities, one of the positions of the second switch permitting the display of the total number of telephone company passes.

Claim 7

The coin charging system of claim 2 wherein the coin selector generates a signal code for each type of coin received, said signal being detectable by the microcontroller.

Claim 8

The coin charging system of claim 3 including a plurality of options for detecting the beginning of the rating process.

Claim 9

The coin charging system of claim 7 including keyboard blocking means for blocking the communication through the keyboard during the delay existing from the beginning of the communication to the detection of the same by the charging system.

Claim 10

The coin charging system of claim 4 wherein the coin mechanism includes a motor for advancing a storage unit into a limiting position so as to provoke the coins contained therein to be guided to a return cash box.

Claim 11

The coin charging system of claim 9 including remote monitoring means for monitoring the status of the system.

Claim 12

The coin charging system of claim 1 wherein the control subsystems in communication with a means for reading and recording to intelligent chip cards, the subsystem reading the amount of accumulated money on the card and recording the remnant amount at the conclusion of the cell through a communication port connected to the system.

Claim 15

The method of mobile telephony coin charging as recited in claim 12 comprising the further step of detecting the beginning of a rating per constant pass, comprising the steps of: a) detecting the start of the communication with a microcontroller and a connection detection circuit, an interface of audio signals, and a transceiver, b) filtering the audio signal generated by the transceiver and received by the microcontroller, c) generating a signal by the interface of audio signal, such as a square wave amplifier, with a frequency coinciding with the fundamental frequency of the audio signal received by the transceiver, said generated signal being readably by the microcontroller, d) microprocessing the sampled values of the signal, and applying a digital filter thereto, e) marking the maximum value of separation between tones to detect the start of the communication, and f) charging the call per constant pass.

Claim 16

The method of mobile telephony coin charging as recited in claim 12 comprising the further step of detecting the beginning of a rating per constant pass, comprising the steps of: a) establishing the beginning of the communication by initial rating passes received from the Telephone Company by the transceiver, b) determining the quantities to be charged during the calls made using the subsequent rating passes received, c) reading the information related to the passes by a microcontroller through interface terminals located between the transceiver and the microtelephone.

Claim 17

The method of mobile telephony coin charging as recited in claim 14 including the step of impeding the making of free calls due to the existing delay between the beginning of the communication and the detection of the same by the charging system comprising the steps of: a) detecting the calling tone of the telephony system, b) blocking the keyboard by means of a keyboard activation and blocking circuit in the periods in which a tone is not detected, c) unblocking the keyboard during the time the tone is detected, d) unblocking the keyboard when the beginning of the communication is detected.

Claim 18

The method of mobile telephony coin charging as recited in claim 13 including the further steps of a) having the microcontroller command a motor to advance a storage unit to its limiting position, b) opening all the slots of the system, c) provoking the coins contained therein to the return cash box.

Claim 19

The method of mobile telephony coin charging as recited in claim 16 including the further steps of calling the mobile telephone included within the system to remote monitor the system's status.

Claim 20

The method of mobile telephony coin charging as recited in claim 16 including the step of having the mobile telephone contact another telephone when the coin charging system's operation is no longer normal.

Claim 21

The method of mobile telephony coin charging as recited in claim 12 including the further step of reading an intelligent chip card to determine the accumulated money on the card.

Claim 22

The method of mobile telephony coin charging as recited in claim 19 including the further step of recording the remnant of money on the intelligent chip card at the conclusion of the call.