Time delay controlled remote station transmission to central data collecting station

Claim 1

A TIME DIVISION MULTIPLEX COMMUNICATION SYSTEM OF THE TYPE HAVING A MESSAGE SIGNAL TRANSMISSION CARRIER MEANS COMMON TO ALL OF THE STATIONS THEREOF, COMPRISING: A CENTRAL STATION AND A PLURALITY OF REMOTE STATIONS, EACH OF SAID STATIONS INCLUDING TRANSMITTING AND RECEIVING FACILITIES, SAID STATIONS BEING ARRANGED IN AN ARBITRARY SEQUENCE FOR POLLING PURPOSES; A PLURALITY OF MESSAGE TRANSMISSION MEANS, ONE FOR EACH OF SAID REMOTE STATIONS, EACH SETTABLE TO A MONITOR CONDITION OR TO A TRANSMIT CONDITION, ALTERNATIVELY, EACH OPERATIVE WHEN SET TO SAID TRANSMIT CONDITION TO CAUSE THE TRANSMISSION OF MESSAGES FROM THE RESPECTIVELY CORRESPONDING ONE OF SAID STATIONS ON SAID CARRIER MEANS, EACH OF SAID MESSAGE TRANSMISSION MEANS INCLUDING MEANS TO TRANSMIT A GOAHEAD SIGNAL AT THE END OF SAID MESSAGE, EACH OF SAID MESSAGE TRANSMISSION MEANS OPERATIVE WHEN SET TO SAID MONITOR CONDITION TO PREVENT THE TRANSMISSION OF MESSAGES FROM THE RESPECTIVELY CORRESPONDING STATION; A PLURALITY OF GO-AHEAD RECOGNITION MEANS, ONE FOR EACH OF SAID REMOTE STATIONS, EACH INCLUDING A TIMING DEVICE RESPONSIVE TO SAID GO-AHEAD MESSAGES TO ISSUE A DELAYED GO-AHEAD SIGNAL AFTER A PREDETERMINED TIME INTERVAL FOLLOWING ITS INITIAL RESPONSE TO ONE OF SAID GO-AHEAD MESSAGES, SAID TIME INTERVAL IN ANY ONE TIMING DEVICE BEING DIFFERENT FROM THAT IN ANY OTHER TIMING DEVICE, SAID TIME INTERVAL BEARING A DIRECT CORRELATION WITH THE POSITION IN SAID POLLING SEQUENCE OF THE RESPECTIVELY CORRESPONDING STATION, A TIME INTERVAL OF ONE STATION BEING LOWER THAN THAT FOR A STATION SUBSEQUENT THERETO IN SAID SEQUENCE; AND A PLURALITY OF START MEANS, ONE FOR EACH OF SAID REMOTE STATIONS, EACH RESPONSIVE TO A DELAYED GOAHEAD SIGNAL FROM THE RELATED ONE OF SAID RECOGNITION MEANS AND TO THE ABSENCE OF A TRANSMISSION ON SAID CARRIER MEANS TO ISSUE A TRANSMISSION START SIGNAL, SAID TRANSMISSION START SIGNAL SETTING THE RESPECTIVELY CORRESPONDING MESSAGE TRANSMISSION MEANS INTO SAID TRANSMIT CONDITION.