Telecommunications – Transmitter and receiver at same station – Radiotelephone equipment detail
Reexamination Certificate
1998-04-13
2001-04-24
Tsang, Fan (Department: 2746)
Telecommunications
Transmitter and receiver at same station
Radiotelephone equipment detail
C455S557000, C455S345000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06223060
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to telephone apparatus in general, and more particularly to message recording equipment to be used in conjunction therewith, and still more particularly to limited range transmission of signals for broadcast on a nearby radio receiver.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are already known various constructions of telephone apparatus, among them, besides the traditional wall-mounted, desk or nightstand units, the so-called cordless telephones that include a base unit and a handset unit that communicate with one another by limited range broadcasting, and the so-called cellular telephones that communicate either with a remote central base unit or directly with an overhead satellite.
Regardless of the construction of the telephone apparatus, though, there is often a pronounced need to create a memorandum of, for instance, a name and telephone number of a caller, a time and place of an event to attend, or the like, either while a particular telephone conversation is in progress, or immediately after its conclusion or, generally speaking, at any time. Traditionally, this was accomplished by having a notepad and a writing utensil handy close to the telephone. However, there is a tendency for one or the other, or both, of such items to disappear from its intended location just before a particularly important or crucial piece of information is to be jotted down, so that the telephone user has to interrupt the conversation and try to locate the missing item or a replacement for it.
A similar problem also exists when a more recent development in the information recording field, a so-called voice message recorder, is to be used instead of the paper-and-pencil duo. More particularly, message recorders of this type, which are designed to record a number of relatively short messages on digital data storage chips, are relatively small units that are easily misplaced or covered up by other items that may be present at the vicinity of the telephone apparatus, so that the telephone users again have to go to look for them, or fumble through papers and the like trying to locate them, sometimes in a futile effort, before being able to use them. Moreover, as a result of the miniature size and the resulting easy portability of such voice message recording units, it is highly likely that they will be transported to a location distant from its originally intended one, like to a different telephone apparatus or practically anywhere within the apartment or home, leaving the next potential user of the recording unit at a loss where to even start looking for the recording unit.
Telephones are finding increased usage in automobiles. Safety concerns dictate that drivers not be distracted by having to manually jot messages down on paper, or to hold a cellular telephone in one's hand while driving. Being able to record messages by voice alone, and being able to listen to recorded messages and to the voice of the other party on the telephone call without or with minor manual intervention, reduce the risk of automobile accidents.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to avoid the disadvantages of the prior art.
More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a voice recording unit that does not possess the drawbacks of the known recording units of this type.
Still another object of the present invention is to devise a voice recording unit of the type here under consideration that is always readily available at the location of a telephone apparatus for use if desired.
It is yet another object of the present invention to design the above recording unit in such a manner as to be compatible with existing telephone apparatus of any type.
A further object of the present invention is to promote hands-free operation of cellular telephones in automobile environments.
A concomitant object of the present invention is so to construct the voice message recording unit of the above type as to be relatively simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to use, and yet reliable in operation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In keeping with the above objects and others which will become apparent hereafter, one feature of the present invention resides in a telephone apparatus that includes a handset unit having a mouthpiece portion to be located close to the mouth, and an earpiece portion to be situated at the ear, of a user in a use position of the handset unit, and a handgrip portion interconnecting the mouthpiece and earpiece portions, in combination with a voice message recording unit including an electric power source, a voice message recording device, a microphone operative for converting sounds into electrical signals and electrically connected to the voice message recording device for supplying the electrical signals thereto, means for controlling the operation of the voice message recording device in a recording and playback mode, and means for supporting the voice message recording unit on the handset unit so as to be disposed at the general vicinity of the user's mouth when the handset unit is in its use position. A particular advantage of the present invention as described so far is that, because of the presence of the aforementioned supporting means, the likelihood that the voice message recording unit could be misplaced is significantly reduced if not eliminated altogether.
Moreover, the controlling means advantageously include manually actuatable recording and playback controls which are located at one and/or both opposite lateral side regions of the handset unit. These controls are readily accessible to the user.
In one advantageous embodiment of the present invention, the telephone apparatus further includes a base unit and a telephone cord connected to the base unit and having a modular telephone plug at a free end thereof, and the handset unit has a modular telephone receptacle therein. Then, it is advantageous for the voice message recording unit to further include a casing accommodating all other of its components, and means for establishing electrical connections between the modular telephone plug of the telephone cord and the modular telephone receptacle of the handset unit. Such establishing means advantageously includes an auxiliary modular telephone receptacle in the casing for receiving the plug of the cord, an auxiliary modular telephone plug to be inserted into the receptacle of the handset unit, a short length of telephone cord connected to the auxiliary plug and secured to the casing, and electrically conductive means passing through the interior of the casing and electrically connecting the auxiliary receptacle with the short length of telephone cord.
In this context, it is especially advantageous when the handset unit includes a loudspeaker received within its earpiece portion, when the electrically conductive means of the voice message recording unit includes at least one portion forming a part of an electrically conductive path between the base unit and the loudspeaker of the handset unit, and when the voice message recording unit includes at least one output for electric signals representative of previously recorded voice messages, and means for electrically connecting the output to the aforementioned at least one portion of the electrically conductive means. In this manner, a separate loudspeaker for the voice message recording unit can be dispensed with in that the telephone handset unit loudspeaker is shared by the handset unit and the recording unit.
According to another advantageous aspect of the present invention, the handset unit includes a handset proper and a flap hingedly connected to the handset, in which case the supporting means supports the voice message recording unit on the flap. The voice message recording unit may then include its own casing that accommodates the other components of the voice message recording unit, in which event the supporting means advantageously includes connecting means connected to one
Geffen Samuel
Tamir Baruch
Tamir Giora
Kirschstein et al.
Sobutka Philip J.
Tsang Fan
LandOfFree
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