Piece counting system

Claim 2

In a piece counting system for determining the number of pieces having substantially equal weights in a given lot, means for developing a first digital signal that is representative of the weight of an unknown number of said pieces in a lot, means for developing a second digital signal that is representative of the weight of a known number of said pieces, means receiving said first and second signals and providing predetermined digital comparisons involving said first and second signals for producing a serial pulse train in which the number of pulses is substantially proportional to the quotient of the weight represented by said first signal divided by the weight represented by said second signal, and means for summing the pulses in said train and providing a read-out that is a function of said summation.

Claim 3

In a piece counting system for determining the number of pieces having substantially equal weights in a given lot, means for developing a first digital signal that is representative of the weight of an unknown number of said pieces in a lot, means for developing a second digital signal that is representative of the weight of a known number of said pieces, means receiving said first and second signals and providing predetermined digital comparisons involving said first and second signals for producing a serial pulse train in which the number of pulses is substantially proportional to the quotient of the weight represented by said first signal divided by the weight represented by said second signal, and means for summing the pulses in said train and providing a read-out that is a function of said summation.

Claim 4

In a piece counting system for determining the number of pieces having substantially equal weights in a given lot, means for developing a first digital signal that is representative of the weight of an unknown number of said pieces in a lot, means for developing a second digital signal that is representative of the weight of a known number of said pieces, means receiving said first and second signals and providing predetermined digital comparisons involving said first and second signals for producing a serial pulse train in which the number of pulses is substantially proportional to the quotient of the weight represented by said first signal divided by the weight represented by said second signal, and means for summing the pulses in said train and providing a read-out that is a function of said summation.

Claim 5

The piece counting system defined in claim 1 including means for preventing said pulse train producing means from producing said pulses whenever said second signal is less than a pre-selected value.

Claim 6

In a piece counting system for determining the number of pieces having substantially equal weights in a given lot, first means for weighing a lot of said pieces in which the number of pieces is to be determined and for producing a first electrical signal that is representative of the weight of said lot, second means for weighing a known, pre-selected number of one or more of said pieces and for producing a second electrical signal that is representative of the weight of said known number of pieces, circuit means, programming means for selectively and optionally producing a plurality of different predetermined electrical signals respectively representing a plurality of different pre-selected numbers and for applying an selected one of said predetermined signals to said circuit means, said circuit means responsive to said first signal, said second signal and the selected one of said plurality of different predetermined signals to supply an output that is representative of the number of pieces in said lot when the selected number of pieces making up said known number of pieces corresponds to the pre-selected number represented by the selected one of said plurality of different predetermined signals, and selectively operated means for optionally conditioning said circuit means for alternatively providing said output with a value that is representative of the sum of the number of pieces in said lot anD the pre-selected number that corresponds to the selected one of said predetermined signals that is applied to said circuit means.

Claim 7

In a piece counting system for determining the number of pieces having substantially equal weights in a given lot, first means for weighing a lot of said pieces in which the number of pieces is to be determined and for producing a first electrical signal that is representative of the weight of said lot, second means for weighing a known, pre-selected number of one or more of said pieces and for producing a second electrical signal that is representative of the weight of said known number of pieces, circuit means, programming means for selectively and optionally producing a plurality of different predetermined electrical signals respectively representing a plurality of different pre-selected numbers and for applying an selected one of said predetermined signals to said circuit means, said circuit means responsive to said first signal, said second signal and the selected one of said plurality of different predetermined signals to supply an output that is representative of the number of pieces in said lot when the selected number of pieces making up said known number of pieces corresponds to the pre-selected number represented by the selected one of said plurality of different predetermined signals, and selectively operated means for optionally conditioning said circuit means for alternatively providing said output with a value that is representative of the sum of the number of pieces in said lot anD the pre-selected number that corresponds to the selected one of said predetermined signals that is applied to said circuit means.

Claim 8

In a piece counting system for determining the number of pieces having substantially equal weights in a given lot, means for producing an electrical signal that has a value which is representative of the quotient of the weight of an unknown number of said pieces in a gross lot divided by the weight of a known, pre-selected number of one or more of said pieces, selectively operable means for optionally selecting different pre-selected numbers, and circuit means operatively connected to said electrical signal producing means and to said selectively operable means, said circuit means having the mathematical effect of multiplying the quotient-representing value of said electrical signal by the optionally selected one of said different pre-selected numbers to provide a read-out of the number of pieces in at least said gross lot when the number of pieces making up said known, pre-selected number of said pieces is the same as the optionally selected one of said different numbers that said quotient-representing value is multiplied by.

Claim 9

In a piece counting system for determining the number of pieces having substantially equal weights in a given lot, means for producing an electrical signal that has a value which is representative of the quotient of the weight of an unknown number of said pieces in a gross lot divided by the weight of a known, pre-selected number of one or more of said pieces, selectively operable means for optionally selecting different pre-selected numbers, and circuit means operatively connected to said electrical signal producing means and to said selectively operable means, said circuit means having the mathematical effect of multiplying the quotient-representing value of said electrical signal by the optionally selected one of said different pre-selected numbers to provide a read-out of the number of pieces in at least said gross lot when the number of pieces making up said known, pre-selected number of said pieces is the same as the optionally selected one of said different numbers that said quotient-representing value is multiplied by.

Claim 10

The piece counting system defined in claim 4 wherein said electrical signal is in the form of a pulse train in which the number of pulses is substantially proportional to said quotient, and wherein said circuit means comprises counter means for counting in said pulses.

Claim 11

The piece counting system defined in claim 5 wherein said counter means is operatively connected to said selectively operable means to provide an output representing the number of counted pulses multiplied by the selected one of said different pre-selected numbers.

Claim 12

The piece counting system defined in claim 5 wherein said selectively operable means is connected to said counter means for preloading said counter means to provide an output that represents the selected one of said different predetermined numbers before said pulse train is supplied to counted in by said counter means.

Claim 13

In a piece counting system for determining the number of pieces having substantially equal weights in a given lot, means for weighing a lot of said pieces and for producing a first electrical signal that is representative of the weight of said lot, means for producing a second electrical signal that is representative of the weight of a selected, known number of said pieces, circuit means responsive to said first and second signals for providing a read-out of the number of pieces in said lot, and means for selectively conditioning said circuit means to alternatively provide a readout of the sum of the number of said known pieces and the number of pieces in said lot when the number of said known pieces in any of a plurality of different pre-selected numbers.

Claim 14

In a piece counting system for determining the number of pieces having substantially equal weights in a given lot, means for weighing a lot of said pieces and for producing a first electrical signal that is representative of the weight of said lot, means for producing a second electrical signal that is representative of the weight of a selected, known number of said pieces, circuit means responsive to said first and second signals for providing a read-out of the number of pieces in said lot, and means for selectively conditioning said circuit means to alternatively provide a readout of the sum of the number of said known pieces and the number of pieces in said lot when the number of said known pieces in any of a plurality of different pre-selected numbers.

Claim 15

In a weighing system having first and second weighing means for respectively producing first and second electrical analog signals that are functions of loads applied to said first and second weighing means respectively, an analog-to-digital converter for converting an electrical analog signal supplied to its input into a digital signal, first and second digital signal storage means connected to the output of said converter for receiving the converted digital signals supplied by said converter, and control means for (a) alternately and cyclically applying said first and second analog signals to the input of said converter, (b) controlling said first storage means to store the converter-produced digital signals corresponding to said first analog signal but not the converter-produced digital signals corresponding to said second analog signal, and (c) for controlling said second storage means to store the converter-produced digital signals corresponding to said second analog signal but not the converter-produced digital signals corresponding to said first analog signal.

Claim 16

In a weighing system having first and second weighing means for respectively producing first and second electrical analog signals that are functions of loads applied to said first and second weighing means respectively, an analog-to-digital converter for converting an electrical analog signal supplied to its input into a digital signal, first and second digital signal storage means connected to the output of said converter for receiving the converted digital signals supplied by said converter, and control means for (a) alternately and cyclically applying said first and second analog signals to the input of said converter, (b) controlling said first storage means to store the converter-produced digital signals corresponding to said first analog signal but not the converter-produced digital signals corresponding to said second analog signal, and (c) for controlling said second storage means to store the converter-produced digital signals corresponding to said second analog signal but not the converter-produced digital signals corresponding to said first analog signal.

Claim 17

In a piece counting system for determining the number of pieces having substantially equal weights in a given lot, means for developing a first electrical signal that is representative of the weight of an unknown number of said pieces in a lot, means for developing a second electrical signal that is representative of a known number of said pieces, means under the control of said first and second signals for developing a third electrical signal that is representative of the number of pieces in said lot, means for separately and electrically storing said first, second, and third signals in the form of data, data read-out means for providing a read-out of data supplied to the input thereof, and data selector means operatively connected to said means for storing said first, second, and third signals and to said data read-out means for selectively controlling the data input to said read-out means to provide for the optional read-out of said first, second, and third stored signals.

Claim 18

In a piece counting system for determining the number of pieces having substantially equal weights in a given lot, means for developing a first electrical signal that is representative of the weight of an unknown number of said pieces in a lot, means for developing a second electrical signal that is representative of a known number of said pieces, means under the control of said first and second signals for developing a third electrical signal that is representative of the number of pieces in said lot, means for separately and electrically storing said first, second, and third signals in the form of data, data read-out means for providing a read-out of data supplied to the input thereof, and data selector means operatively connected to said means for storing said first, second, and third signals and to said data read-out means for selectively controlling the data input to said read-out means to provide for the optional read-out of said first, second, and third stored signals.

Claim 19

In a piece counting system for determining the number of pieces having substantially equal weights in a given lot, means including a first weighing apparatus for weighing an unknown number of said pieces and for developing an electrical signal that is representative of the weight of said unknown number of pieces, means including a second weighing apparatus for weighing a known number of pieces and for developing a second electrical signal that is representative of said known number of pieces, first circuit means under the control of said first and second signals and having the mathematical effect of dividing said weight of said unknown number of pieces by the weight of said known number of pieces to provide a third signal that is representative of the quotient of said division, means responsive to said third signal for providing a read-out of number of pieces applied to said first weighing apparatus, and second circuit means controlling said first circuit means for preventing said first circuit means to effect said division in response to a value of said second signal that is representative of zero weight.

Claim 20

In a piece counting system for determining the number of pieces having substantially equal weights in a given lot, means including a first weighing apparatus for weighing an unknown number of said pieces and for developing an electrical signal that is representative of the weight of said unknown number of pieces, means including a second weighing apparatus for weighing a known number of pieces and for developing a second electrical signal that is representative of said known number of pieces, first circuit means under the control of said first and second signals and having the mathematical effect of dividing said weight of said unknown number of pieces by the weight of said known number of pieces to provide a third signal that is representative of the quotient of said division, means responsive to said third signal for providing a read-out of number of pieces applied to said first weighing apparatus, and second circuit means controlling said first circuit means for preventing said first circuit means to effect said division in response to a value of said second signal that is representative of zero weight.

Claim 21

The piece counting system defined in claim 11 comprising means for selectively overriding the control of said first circuit means by said second circuit means, and means providing an indication whenever the weight represented by said second signal is less than a predetermined value.

Claim 22

In a piece counting system for determining the number of pieces having substantially equal weight in a given lot, means including a weighing apparatus for weighing an unknown number of said pieces and for producing an electrical signal that is indicative of the weight of said unknown number of pieces, means for producing an electrical signal that is indicative of a known number of said pieces, a circuit responsive to said first and second signals for developing an electrical digital signal that is indicative of the number of pieces weighed by said weighing apparatus, said first signal being varied by variations in the weight applied to said weighing apparatus to cause variations in the value of said digital signal, signal storage circuit means receiving said digital signal and having a memory that is capable of being opened and closed, said signal storage circuit means being operative upon closure of said memory to store a memorization of said digital signal at that value that it possessed when the memory was closed, and said signal storage circuit means being further operative upon opening said memory to up-date the value of the stored signal to correspond with existant value of the digital signal developed by signal responsive circuit, means responsive to variations in said first signal for preventing said memory from closing, and means controlled by the signal stored by said signal storage circuit means for displaying the number indicated by the value of the stored signal.

Claim 23

In a piece counting system for determining the number of pieces having substantially equal weight in a given lot, means including a weighing apparatus for weighing an unknown number of said pieces and for producing an electrical signal that is indicative of the weight of said unknown number of pieces, means for producing an electrical signal that is indicative of a known number of said pieces, a circuit responsive to said first and second signals for developing an electrical digital signal that is indicative of the number of pieces weighed by said weighing apparatus, said first signal being varied by variations in the weight applied to said weighing apparatus to cause variations in the value of said digital signal, signal storage circuit means receiving said digital signal and having a memory that is capable of being opened and closed, said signal storage circuit means being operative upon closure of said memory to store a memorization of said digital signal at that value that it possessed when the memory was closed, and said signal storage circuit means being further operative upon opening said memory to up-date the value of the stored signal to correspond with existant value of the digital signal developed by signal responsive circuit, means responsive to variations in said first signal for preventing said memory from closing, and means controlled by the signal stored by said signal storage circuit means for displaying the number indicated by the value of the stored signal.

Claim 24

In a piece counting system for determining the number of pieces having substantially equal weights in a given lot, means for developing a first digital signal having a first numerical value that is representative of the weight of an unknown numbEr of said pieces in a lot, means for developing a second digital signal having a second numerical value that is representative of the weight of a known number of said pieces, counter means, means under the control of said first and second digital signals for recurrently advancing the count in said counter means from a predetermined starting count to coincidence with said second numerical value and for producing a pulse each time coincidence is reached until the summation of counts that said counter means has been advanced by becomes equal to or greater than said first numerical value, and means for counting said pulses.

Claim 25

In a piece counting system for determining the number of pieces having substantially equal weights in a given lot, means for developing a first digital signal having a first numerical value that is representative of the weight of an unknown numbEr of said pieces in a lot, means for developing a second digital signal having a second numerical value that is representative of the weight of a known number of said pieces, counter means, means under the control of said first and second digital signals for recurrently advancing the count in said counter means from a predetermined starting count to coincidence with said second numerical value and for producing a pulse each time coincidence is reached until the summation of counts that said counter means has been advanced by becomes equal to or greater than said first numerical value, and means for counting said pulses.

Claim 26

In a piece counting system for determining the number of pieces having substantially equal weights in a given lot, means for developing a first digital signal having a first numerical value that is representative of the weight of an unknown number of said pieces in a lot, means for developing a second digital signal having a second numerical value that is representative of a known number of said pieces, counter means providing a third digital signal having a numerical value that is capable of being increased from a pre-selected value to coincidence with said second numerical value, means for increasing the numerical value of said third signal, comparator means for comparing said second and third digital signals, means under the control of the comparison provided by said comparator means and of said first digital signal for producing a pulse and for resetting said third digital signal to said pre-selected value each time coincidence is reached between said second numerical value and the numerical value of said third digital signal until the summation of the numerical values by which said third digital signal is increased becomes at least equal to said first numerical value, and means for counting said pulses.

Claim 27

In a piece counting system for determining the number of pieces having substantially equal weights in a given lot, means for developing a first digital signal having a first numerical value that is representative of the weight of an unknown number of said pieces in a lot, means for developing a second digital signal having a second numerical value that is representative of a known number of said pieces, counter means providing a third digital signal having a numerical value that is capable of being increased from a pre-selected value to coincidence with said second numerical value, means for increasing the numerical value of said third signal, comparator means for comparing said second and third digital signals, means under the control of the comparison provided by said comparator means and of said first digital signal for producing a pulse and for resetting said third digital signal to said pre-selected value each time coincidence is reached between said second numerical value and the numerical value of said third digital signal until the summation of the numerical values by which said third digital signal is increased becomes at least equal to said first numerical value, and means for counting said pulses.

Claim 28

In a piece counting system for determining the number of pieces having substantially equal weights in a given lot, means for developing a first digital signal having a first numerical value that is representative of the weight of an unknown number of said pieces in a lot, means for developing a second digital signal having a second numerical value that is representative of the weight of a known number of said pieces, first counter means providing a third digital signal having a third numerical value that is capable of being increased from a pre-selected value to coincidence with said second numerical value, means for increasing the numerical value of said third digital signal, first comparator means for comparing said second and third digital signals, means under the control of the comparison provided by said first comparator means for producing a pulse and for resetting said third digital signal to said pre-selected value each time coincidence is reached between said second and third numerical values, second counter means providing a summation of the increases in said third numerical value, second comparator means for comparing said first numerical value with the summation provided by said second counter means, and means under the control of the comparison provided by said second comparator means for terminating the production of said pulses when the summation provided by said second counter means becomes at least equal to said first numerical value.

Claim 29

In a piece counting system for determining the number of pieces having substantially equal weights in a given lot, means for developing a first digital signal having a first numerical value that is representative of the weight of an unknown number of said pieces in a lot, means for developing a second digital signal having a second numerical value that is representative of the weight of a known number of said pieces, first counter means providing a third digital signal having a third numerical value that is capable of being increased from a pre-selected value to coincidence with said second numerical value, means for increasing the numerical value of said third digital signal, first comparator means for comparing said second and third digital signals, means under the control of the comparison provided by said first comparator means for producing a pulse and for resetting said third digital signal to said pre-selected value each time coincidence is reached between said second and third numerical values, second counter means providing a summation of the increases in said third numerical value, second comparator means for comparing said first numerical value with the summation provided by said second counter means, and means under the control of the comparison provided by said second comparator means for terminating the production of said pulses when the summation provided by said second counter means becomes at least equal to said first numerical value.

Claim 30

In a piece counting system for determining the number of pieces having substantially equal weights in a given lot, means for developing a first digital signal having a first numerical value that is indicative of the weight of said given lot, means for developing a second digital signal having a second numerical value that is indicative of the weight of a known number of said pieces, first and second counter means, means under the control of said first and second signals for (a) advancing the count in said first counter means from a pre-selected starting count to coincidence with said first numerical value, (b) advancing the count in said second counter means from a pre-selected starting count to coincidence with said second numerical value, (c) resetting said second counter means to its starting count each time the count in said second counter means reaches coincidence with said second numerical value, and (d) producing a pulse each time coincidence is reached between the count in said second counter means and said second numerical value until the count in said first counter means becomes at least equal to said first numerical value, and means for counting said pulses.

Claim 31

In a piece counting system for determining the number of pieces having substantially equal weights in a given lot, means for developing a first digital signal having a first numerical value that is indicative of the weight of said given lot, means for developing a second digital signal having a second numerical value that is indicative of the weight of a known number of said pieces, first and second counter means, means under the control of said first and second signals for (a) advancing the count in said first counter means from a pre-selected starting count to coincidence with said first numerical value, (b) advancing the count in said second counter means from a pre-selected starting count to coincidence with said second numerical value, (c) resetting said second counter means to its starting count each time the count in said second counter means reaches coincidence with said second numerical value, and (d) producing a pulse each time coincidence is reached between the count in said second counter means and said second numerical value until the count in said first counter means becomes at least equal to said first numerical value, and means for counting said pulses.

Claim 32

In a piece counting system for determining the number of pieces having substantially equal weights in a given lot, means for developing a first digital signal having a first numerical value that is indicative of the weight of said lot, means for developing a second digital signal having a second numerical value that is indicative of the weight of a known number of said pieces, means for producing a train of first pulses, first and second counter means connected to receive said pulse train for concomitantly counting said pulses, first digital comparator means connected to said first counter means and to said second signal developing means for digitally comparing the said second signal with the number of pulses counted by said first counter means, means under the control of the comparison provided by said first digital comparator means (a) for resetting said first counter means to a pre-selected starting count each time the number of pulses counted by said first counter means reaches coincidence with said second numerical value and (b) for producing an output pulse each time coincidence is reached between said second numerical value and the number of pulses counted by said first counter means, second digital comparator means connected to said second counter means and to said first signal developing means for digitally comparing said first signal with the number of pulses counted by said second counter means, means under the control of the comparison provided by said second digital comparator means for terminating the production of said output pulses when the number of pulses counted by said second counter means becomes at least equal to said first numerical value, and means for counting said output pulses and for providing a numerical read-out that is a function of the counted number of said output pulses.

Claim 33

In a piece counting system for determining the number of pieces having substantially equal weights in a given lot, means for developing a first digital signal having a first numerical value that is indicative of the weight of said lot, means for developing a second digital signal having a second numerical value that is indicative of the weight of a known number of said pieces, means for producing a train of first pulses, first and second counter means connected to receive said pulse train for concomitantly counting said pulses, first digital comparator means connected to said first counter means and to said second signal developing means for digitally comparing the said second signal with the number of pulses counted by said first counter means, means under the control of the comparison provided by said first digital comparator means (a) for resetting said first counter means to a pre-selected starting count each time the number of pulses counted by said first counter means reaches coincidence with said second numerical value and (b) for producing an output pulse each time coincidence is reached between said second numerical value and the number of pulses counted by said first counter means, second digital comparator means connected to said second counter means and to said first signal developing means for digitally comparing said first signal with the number of pulses counted by said second counter means, means under the control of the comparison provided by said second digital comparator means for terminating the production of said output pulses when the number of pulses counted by said second counter means becomes at least equal to said first numerical value, and means for counting said output pulses and for providing a numerical read-out that is a function of the counted number of said output pulses.

Claim 34

In a piece counting system for determining the number of pieces having substantially equal weights in a given lot, means including a weighing apparatus for weighing said given lot and for producing a first digital electrical signal that is indicative of the weight of said given lot, means for producing a second digital electrical signal that is indicative of the weight of a known number of said pieces, circuit means responsive to said first and second signals for producing a third digital electrical signal that is indicative of the number of the pieces at least in said given lot, means responsive to said third signal for displaying the number of pieces indicated by said third signal, said first signal being varied by variations in the weight of the pieces on said weighing apparatus, and means forming a part of said circuit means and being responsive to the variations of said first signal in either direction during a predetermined period to up-date the value of said third signal, said displaying means being responsive to the up-dating of the value of said third signal to up-date the display of the number corresponding with the up-dated value of said third signal.

Claim 35

In a piece counting system for determining the number of pieces having substantially equal weights in a given lot, means including a weighing apparatus for weighing said given lot and for producing a first digital electrical signal that is indicative of the weight of said given lot, means for producing a second digital electrical signal that is indicative of the weight of a known number of said pieces, circuit means responsive to said first and second signals for producing a third digital electrical signal that is indicative of the number of the pieces at least in said given lot, means responsive to said third signal for displaying the number of pieces indicated by said third signal, said first signal being varied by variations in the weight of the pieces on said weighing apparatus, and means forming a part of said circuit means and being responsive to the variations of said first signal in either direction during a predetermined period to up-date the value of said third signal, said displaying means being responsive to the up-dating of the value of said third signal to up-date the display of the number corresponding with the up-dated value of said third signal.