Telephone line tester

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Accordingly, it is a general object of the invention to provide a novel and improved telephone line tester.
A more specific object is to provide a telephone line tester which is capable of providing an indication of the presence or absence of a tip-ring voltage, as well as the polarity of the voltage without requiring the connection of further circuit elements across the tip-ring lines.
A related object is to provide a telephone line tester in accordance with the foregoing objects which is relatively simple and inexpensive in its design and manufacture and yet highly reliable in operation.
A further related object is to provide a method for constructing a telephone line tester in accordance with the foregoing objects.
Briefly, and in accordance with the foregoing objects, a telephone line tester in accordance with the invention comprises a tester body having a connector portion of complementary configuration for insertion into a modular telephone jack; light emitting means having a body and a pair of elongate leads extending outwardly of said body, said light emitting means being mounted to said tester body; and guide means in said tester body for guiding said elongate leads to and across said connector portion to a position for engagement with tip and ring contacts of said modular telephone jack when said connector portion is inserted into said modular telephone jack.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, said light emitting means comprises a bipolar LED adapted to emit a first color of light in response to a voltage of a first polarity thereacross and a second color of light in response to a voltage of opposite polarity thereacross, and to emit no light in response to substantially no voltage thereacross.
In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of forming a telephone line tester of the foregoing type.