EP0325302A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Portable electronic meter
Assignee: Omron Corp
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Filing: 1989-01-23
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2009-01-23
Abstract
Abstract A portable electronic meter for measuring the time duration of a service or the quantity of a commodity provided, comprising a main body and a detachable part, the latter of which may consist of an essential element of the internal circuit of the portable electronic meter such as a battery pack, an IC card, or the like. The detachable part is sold at a price which includes the cost for the service or the commodity which the buyer is entitled to. To permit the repeated use of the main body, the detachable part is provided with a reset element which cooperates with a corresponding part of the main body to restore the main body to its initial un-used state, and, in order to prevent illegal restting of the main body, the reset element is disabled following its activation. Since the detachable part of the electronic meter is obviously much less expensive than the main body, a significant economical advantage can be obtained because the main body may be used indefinitely. Furthermore, since only the detachable part is capable of resetting the main body and it is only for once for each detachable part to be able to do so, it is extremely difficult to fraudulently reset the main body.
Inventors
- 👤 Akihiko C/O Omron Tateisi Nakagawa
- 👤 Toshiaki C/O Omron Tateisi Iga
- 👤 Tetsuo C/O Omron Tateisi Ohbiraki
- 👤 Kazuhiko C/O Omron Tateisi Ejima
- 👤 Isamu C/O Omron Tateisi Ohara
- 👤 Motoi C/O Omron Tateisi Fujiki
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-31 09:04
CPC Classifications
G; G07; G07F; G07F7/00; G07F7/08; G06; G06Q; G06Q20/00; G06Q20/04; G06Q20/06; G06Q20/065; G06Q20/0652; G06Q20/08; G06Q20/12; G06Q20/127; G06Q20/30; G06Q20/34; G06Q20/341; G07C; G07C1/00; G07C1/30; G07F17/00; G07F17/0014; G07F17/24; G07F7/0873; G07F7/088; G07F7/0886; G07F7/10; G07F7/1008
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 16
Claim 1
Independent Claim
141 words
A portable electronic meter for measuring the time duration of a service or the quantity of a commodity provided, comprising: a main body including storage means for storing a certain number of units which correspond to a certain amount of said time or quantity, subtraction means for carrying out subtraction from said number of units according to the elapsing of time or the amount of said commodity provided, and display means for displaying the number of the remaining units; and a detachable element including circuit means which is required for the operation of said subtraction means, and reset means for restoring the number of units stored in said storage means to an initial value; said main body further including disabling means for disabling said reset means of said detachable element following the resetting of said storage means by said reset means.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
141 words
A portable electronic meter for measuring the time duration of a service or the quantity of a commodity provided, comprising: a main body including storage means for storing a certain number of units which correspond to a certain amount of said time or quantity, subtraction means for carrying out subtraction from said number of units according to the elapsing of time or the amount of said commodity provided, and display means for displaying the number of the remaining units; and a detachable element including circuit means which is required for the operation of said subtraction means, and reset means for restoring the number of units stored in said storage means to an initial value; said main body further including disabling means for disabling said reset means of said detachable element following the resetting of said storage means by said reset means.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
16 words
A portable electronic meter as defined in claim 1, wherein said circuit means comprises a battery.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
24 words
A portable electronic meter as defined in claim 1, wherein said disabling means comprises means for blowing a fuse provided in said detachable element.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
25 words
A portable electronic meter as defined in claim 3, wherein said disabling means comprises mechanical means which irreversibly forms a circuit to blow said fuse.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
30 words
A portable electronic meter as defined in claim 4, wherein said disabling means is activated when said detachable element is pushed into said main body beyond its normal operative position.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
76 words
A portable electronic meter as defined in claim 1, wherein said circuit means of said detachable element comprises a circuit pattern formed on a sheet member which is adapted to be attached between said battery and a casing part of said detachable element so as to be necessarily destroyed upon removal of said battery, and said disabling means comprises electric contact means which cooperates with said circuit pattern to short-circuit the two ends of said battery.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
31 words
A portable electronic meter as defined in claim 5, wherein said disabling means is activated when said detachable element is pulled out of said main body from its normal operative position.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
76 words
A portable electronic meter as defined in claim 1, wherein said detachable element comprises second storage means storing a reset command for activating said reset means, and said main body comprises interface means for transmitting said reset command from said second storage means to said reset means, said disabling means erasing the reset command stored in said second storage means following the transmission of said reset command from said second storage means to said reset means.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
71 words
A portable electronic meter as defined in claim 8, wherein said second storage means further stores a registered trademark therein, and said main body further comprises image data transmission means for transmitting said trademark to said display means at least once during the entire service life of said detachable element, and inhibition means for disabling said main body when it has failed to detect said trademark in said second storage means.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
48 words
A portable electronic meter as defined in claim 8, wherein said second storage means comprises coded data including specified coded information, and said main body further comprises inhibition means for disabling said main body when it has failed to detect said coded information in said second storage means.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
30 words
A portable electronic meter as defined in claim 1, wherein said main body is further provided with select switch means for varying the rate at which said subtraction is made.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
118 words
A portable electronic meter for measuring the time duration of a service or the quantity of a commodity provided, comprising: a main body including counter means for carrying out a counting according to the elapsing of time or the amount of said commodity provided, and display means; and a detachable element including storage means which is provided with a plurality of bit addresses corresponding to a certain amount of said time or quantity and can be rewritten only for once; said main body further comprising interfacing means which rewrites said addresses in a sequential manner according to the progress of said counting by said counter means and transmits the state of said storage means to said display means.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
118 words
A portable electronic meter for measuring the time duration of a service or the quantity of a commodity provided, comprising: a main body including counter means for carrying out a counting according to the elapsing of time or the amount of said commodity provided, and display means; and a detachable element including storage means which is provided with a plurality of bit addresses corresponding to a certain amount of said time or quantity and can be rewritten only for once; said main body further comprising interfacing means which rewrites said addresses in a sequential manner according to the progress of said counting by said counter means and transmits the state of said storage means to said display means.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
38 words
A portable electronic meter as defined in claim 12, wherein said main body is further provided with alarm means for issuing an alarm when it has detected that a whole prescribed area of said storage means is rewritten.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
30 words
A portable electronic meter as defined in claim 12, wherein said main body is further provided with select switch means for varying the rate at which said subtraction is made.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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