At present, access to data consulting on telephone users in Italy, Europe and the whole world is usually achieved by means of voluminous paper supports or by querying a series of documents stored in fixed memories, of an optical-electronic type (hard disks or CD-ROM) or in memories that may be updated directly by the user, in electronic notebooks or data banks.

Alternatively, the'companies that manufacture fixed and mobile telephones provide chargeable user services, whereby the user calls certain telephone numbers connected to centres enabled to provide the information required.

However, these traditional methods present various disadvantages, among them the long time taken to access the information, the respective costs, the fact that numerous bulky paper volumes or optical disks containing the desired telephone lists must be collected, with the consequent fact that, in the

latter case, an electronic processor must be used to read them, and this processor may be difficult to use or to obtain.

Furthermore, even if these lists were available at the time they are wanted (consider the case of a customised record stored in the user's own cellular phone or data bank), they are by necessity incomplete and insufficient, because they may refer only to a determined series of subscribers selected by the user of the data bank or cellular phone, since a memory of this kind can currently contain the data of no more than 100-150 subscribers.

The aim of this invention is therefore to indicate an interactive procedure for data consultation and the respective appliances necessary for its implementation, so as to overcome the above- mentioned disadvantages, that is to indicate an extremely reliable and rapid interactive procedure for data consultation.

Another aim of this invention is to realise a suitable appliance for consulting the data, particularly as regards telephone subscribers, to be used at all times and in all conditions of non availability due to the lack of suitable supports or services.

A further aim of this invention is to indicate an interactive procedure for data consultation and to realise the respective appliance, simply and at substantially low costs, considering the advantages obtained.

These aims, according to this invention, are achieved by an interactive procedure for data consultation, according to claim 1, and by a respective electronic appliance, according to claim 3, to which reference is made for the sake of brevity.

The advantage lies in the storage in determined artificial memories, installed with the telephone companies and made directly usable in pocket form or in dedicated handheld appliances, of the data (name, surname, profession and/or activity, address, telephone number complete with dialling code) of all the users, which may be continuously updated by the various public and private telephone companies, so that the search may be carried out immediately, through various fields of selection, no matter where the user interested in obtaining the information may be.

The artificial memories of any type, present and future, are inserted at origin in the printed

circuits of all the dedicated appliances or inserted in special containers or supports which allow their use with all the enabled appliances.

Further aims and advantages of this invention will be clear from the following description and from the enclosed drawings, supplied purely as an example without limitation, in which: -figure 1 schematically illustrates a public telephone appliance partly shown in section, enabled for the implementation of an interactive procedure for data consultation according to the invention; -figure 2 schematically illustrates a private fixed telephone appliance partly shown in section, enabled for the implementation of an interactive procedure for data consultation according to this invention; -figure 3 schematically illustrates a cellular telephone appliance partly shown in section, enabled for the implementation of an interactive procedure for data consultation according to this invention; -figure 4 schematically illustrates an electronic notebook or data bank enabled for the implementation of an interactive procedure for data

consultation according to this invention; -figures 5 and 7 schematically illustrate two dedicated handheld electronic reading devices, in which an interactive procedure for data consultation according to this invention can be enabled; -figure 6 is a block diagram which represent a flow chart of the program developed for implementation of the procedure according to the invention.

With particular reference to figure 1,10 schematically indicates a public telephone appliance enabled for the implementation of an interactive procedure for data consultation according to this invention, comprising a handset 25, an alphanumeric keyboard 15, a display 16, a slot 18 for inserting a pre-paid card, an opening 19 for the card to come out and a pilot light 26 to indicate when it is out of order.

Furthermore, 20 schematically indicates the printed electronic circuits for operation of the appliance 10, which may be connected, by means of a track 27, to a connector 28 of a reading device (14) for stored information supports 14 (such as"smart cards"), realised specifically for the use and

usable in the appliance 10, by means of special buttons 17, after having been inserted in the slot 30 and drawn along the card slide 23; the button 22 allows extraction of the card 14, while the door 21 prevents access to the slot 30, so as to avoid damage, to discourage people from inserting the telephone card for payment, and to prevent vandalism.

With reference to figures 2 to 7, the numerical references with the same number'as the ones in figure 1 correspond to the same components, while 11 schematically indicates a private fixed telephone appliance partly shown in section, enabled for the implementation of an interactive procedure for data consultation according to this invention, 12 indicates an enabled cellular telephone appliance, 13 indicates an enabled electronic notebook or data bank, 31 indicates a dedicated handheld electronic reading device for the implementation of an interactive procedure for data consultation according to this invention and 311 indicates a dedicated CD reading device.

In practice, it is possible to use a solid artificial memory, to be inserted at origin in the printed circuits of dedicated public 10 and private

11 telephone appliances, dedicated mobile cellular telephones 12 (car phones, portable phones and palm phones), dedicated data banks 13 and special dedicated handheld readers 31,311, so that any user can perform an independent search for the telephone numbers and addresses of subscribers to the Italian, European and world telephone network.

Alternatively this search may be carried out by an end user by inserting a flexible (such as a CD) or paper support 14, similar to a telephone card, in public 10 and private 11 telephone appliances, cellular telephones 12 or data banks 13, enabled for operation according to the procedures described below.

In the case of dedicated public and private telephones, having an alphanumeric keyboard 15 and a display 16, the memory may be inserted at origin directly in the printed circuits of the network and of the telephone appliances and it may be queried by the end user through the keyboard 15 and the buttons 17 using the following procedure.

First it is necessary to press the (*) key that activates the alphabetic function of the keyboard 15, so as to be able to compose the name or other known detail of the desired user; here, for the

first letter on the relative key it is necessary to press the numerical key itself, for the second letter on the key it is necessary to press the key itself preceded by the (#) key, for the number it is necessary to press the key itself twice, while to proceed from the surname line to the address line or to the telephone number line it is necessary to press in sequence one of the buttons 17 (called TAB).

Once the surname of the desired user has been typed in, and if necessary the first name too, with or without the address, it is necessary to press repeatedly one of the buttons 17 (called SEARCH) until the desired information of the telephone number is found, which appears on the display 16.

At this point, the user inserts the traditional telephone card for payment; this operation blocks the telephone number on the display 16 and de- activates the number search function; this function is automatically de-activated anyway after 10 seconds of non-use or if the system is used incorrectly.

When the handset 25 is lifted, the number shown on the display 16 is dialled and passed automatically; if the number is engaged, it is sufficient to

redial it simply by pressing one of the buttons 17 (called RP) since, after the handset (25) has been hooked, the number remains in the memory for 30 seconds or until another number is dialled.

In the case of dedicated mobile cellular telephones (car phones, portable phones and palm phones), the memory is inserted at origin directly in the cellular phones, which have a special position on the menu, with its own icon, which, when selected, allows the installed memory to be queried in the same way as for finding a number previously stored in the ordinary memory of the cellular phone; once the desired number has been found, it is sufficient to press the Enter key which, while sending the communication, simultaneously excludes the telephone number search function.

In the case of dedicated electronic notebooks or data banks, the memory of the list of telephone numbers is inserted at origin directly in the data banks, which have a special icon and a special key to go from the notebook's ordinary memory to that of the telephone directory; in this way the data bank may be queried in the same way in which the data bank's own telephone director is normally consulted.

It is also possible to insert at origin one or more CDs 310 (figure 7) or a memory of telephone directories or of other information (such as a list of terms of a vocabulary) in dedicated handheld readers 31,311, which can be available, respectively, for the primary functions of a general electronic telephone directory, automatic sending of the traced telephone number to an enabled telephone appliance by means of a cable, multi-frequency aerial or infra-red ray, automatic remote updating, use with an electronic processor, use of a free memory site to record notes and reserved telephone numbers which are, therefore, not present in the telephone directory.

On this subject it should be noted that, in a preferred, though not limiting, embodiment of the invention, the alphanumeric keys 32, the function keys 33 and the vertical cursors 34 of the handheld reader 31 are made fluorescent or phosphorescent and the displays 16 are lit by means of an optical fibre, so as to make it easy to use in dark places, at night or in a car; these characteristics are obviously extended to the calculators, electronic notebooks or data banks 13 and to any other palm appliance, such as the electronic CD reader 311 of

figure 7.

Finally, in the case of dedicated handheld readers 31,311 the following can be contemplated: a pilot light on the thickness of the shell of the reader 31, indicating on or off status, while the device is switched on or off (even on with a time limit to save the battery) by opening or closing the cover 35; a large display 16A with four fields on which the personal data of the selected subscriber are shown, so that the surname and first name of the subscriber appear on the first line or field, the town and address on the second line, the telephone number complete with dialling code on the third line and the profession or activity on the fourth line; a one-line display 16B, next to the display 16A and with smaller dimensions, showing the amount of homonyms, in three figures.

Finally the function keys 33,34 allow activation of the search, searching among the homonyms by scrolling them from the top or from the bottom, access to the use of numbers, the apostrophe or accent, horizontal scrolling of the four lines of text or of the cursor from one line to another and even activation of the appliance for remote updating of the lists of subscribers and carrying

out interchange of the telephone users'archive, so as to be able to customise them and/or use them differently (once the reader 31,311 has been connected to an electronic processor, a modem and a telephone and by means of a suitable management program).

Furthermore it is possible, by means of the dedicated handheld reader 31,311 and/or the enabled data bank 13, to send the number found to the telephone appliances 10,11,12 enabled for reception, by cable, ultrasound or infra-red rays, to access the separate memory and activate quick search, which may be carried out by means of one or more details of the desired subscriber, such as the surname, first name, town, telephone number, profession and/or activity.

As an alternative to the dedicated appliances, described so far in detail, an artificial solid memory containing the list of users of the various public and private telephone Companies, complete with name, surname, profession and/or activity, address and telephone number with national and international dialling code (such as the one that may be implemented at origin by the manufacturers of public and private telephones, in dedicated data

banks or handheld readers), may be inserted in a special container or support 14, of the"smart- card"type, which allows its use in enabled appliances 10,11,12,13, using a standard connecting slide 23 to insert it.

In this case, by means of a querying procedure similar to the one described and referring to dedicated appliances, the end users can use this card 14, inserting it in enabled public 10 or private 11 telephone appliances with a keyboard 15 and a display 16, in enabled cellular telephones 12 and in enabled data banks 13, in order to perform an independent search of the numbers and addresses of telephone subscribers in Italy, Europe and the world.

After the card 14 has been inserted in the special slots, respectively 30,40,50,60, in the appliances 10,11,12,13, the interconnection procedure to search for the desired telephone number on public 10 and private 11 telephone appliances, mobile cellular telephones 12 and data banks 13 is perfectly identical to the one already described for similar dedicated appliances, apart from the fact that, at the, end of the search and/or of the possible call, in this case, the card 14 may

be removed again by the user by pressing the key provided, indicated with number 22 in figures 1-2.

Also any variations or options already described for dedicated appliances may be similarly used in the appliances enabled for reading data on the card 14.

From the description given, the characteristics of the interactive procedure for data consultation and of the respective appliances, to which this invention refers, may be clearly seen, just as the advantages are clear.

Finally it is clear that numerous other variations, besides the ones already mentioned, may be made to the interactive procedure and to the respective appliances, according to this invention, without for this reason departing from the inherent principles of innovation of the inventive idea, and it is clear that, in the practical use of the invention, the functions, materials, forms and dimensions of the details illustrated may be whatever required and they may be replaced with others that are technically equivalent.