System and apparatus for programmed control of oil wells and the like

Claim 1

IN APPARATUS FOR DIRECTING THE FLOW OF FLUIDS IN A DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM BY CONTROLLING PERIODICALLY THE OPENING AND CLOSING OF VALVES IN ACCORDANCE WITH A RECORDED PROGRAM, SAID APPARATUS COMPRISING A RECORD MEANS, TRANSLATING MEANS FOR ADVANCING AND READING SAID RECORD HAVING A FIRST AND A SECOND GROUP OF OUTPUT LEADS AND EFFECTIVE TO SELECTABLY ENERGIZE A SINGLE OUTPUT LEAD IN EACH GROUP AT DIFFERENT POTENTIALS IN ACCORDANCE WITH A READING, A MATRIX COMPRISING AN ORTHOGONAL BUS GRID HAVING A FIRST SET OF BUSES RESPECTIVELY CONNECTED WITH OUTPUT LEADS OF THE FIRST GROUP AND A SECOND SET OF BUSES RESPECTIVELY CONNECTED WITH OUTPUT LEADS OF THE SECOND GROUP, AND A PLURALITY OF LOAD DEVICES CONNECTED AT MATRIX JUNCTIONS FOR ENERGIZATION FROM BUSES OF SAID FIRST AND SAID SECOND SETS OF BUSES FOR CONTROLLING VALVE STATES, THE IMPROVEMENT WHICH COMPRISES MEANS FOR ADVANCING THE RECORD AT PREDETERMINED TIMES AND FOR STOPPING THE ADVANCE OF SAID RECORD THROUGHOUT THE REMAINDER OF AN INTERVAL BETWEEN SAID TIMES UPON READING OF A STOP CODE CONTAINED IN SAID PROGRAM, COMPRISING A TIME-CONTROLLED SOURCE OF SHORT VOLTAGE PULSES INDEPENDENT OF SAID RECORD RECURRING AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF EACH INTERVAL, A RECORD DRIVE MOTOR FOR ADVANCING THE RECORD WITH RESPECT TO SAID TRANSLATOR MEANS HAVING A PRIMARY CONTROL OPERABLE IN RESPONSE TO A PULSE TO START ADVANCE OF SAID RECORD, AND AN AUXILIARY CONTROL OPERABLE IN RESPONSE TO ENERGIZATION OF A PREDETERMINED LOAD DEVICE IN ACCORDANCE WITH A READING OF SAID STOP CODE TO STOP SAID MOTOR.