US3750156A — Decoder circuits for shaft encoder apparatus

Claim 1

Independent Claim 327 words

In a remote meter reading system, indicator means for indicating a meter reading of a number having two or more digits, said indicator means including a plurality of meter registers each having a shaft rotatable to a plurality of digit positions and encoder means for each shaft, each of said encoder means including a code member having a plurality of code elements disposed on said code member in a single annular track and energizing means for each code member for selectively energizing the sense elements of an associated code member as a function of different angular positions of said shaft to provide different sets of coded output signals representing said predetermined positions, first sets of output signals representing the codings for digit positions to be indicated whenever only one sense element is energized and second sets of output signals representing the codings for positions intermediate a pair of adjacent digit positions whenever two sense elements are energized, and read out means including roundoff gate means having a roundoff gate stage corresponding to each sense element of said code member, select means for extending the set of coded output signals provided by each of said encoder means to said roundoff gate means in sequence, said roundoff gate stages being controlled by output signals of the first sets provided by one of said encoder means to provide a set of logic signals representing a digit position and to respond to output signals of the second sets provided by said one encoder means to provide a set of logic signals coded to represent one of the digit positions of said pair whenever the previous set of output signals extended to said roundoff gate means represented a digit less than five and to provide a set of logic signals coded to represent the other digit position of said pair whenever the previous set of output signals extended to said roundoff gate means represented a digit equal to or greater than five.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 327 words

In a remote meter reading system, indicator means for indicating a meter reading of a number having two or more digits, said indicator means including a plurality of meter registers each having a shaft rotatable to a plurality of digit positions and encoder means for each shaft, each of said encoder means including a code member having a plurality of code elements disposed on said code member in a single annular track and energizing means for each code member for selectively energizing the sense elements of an associated code member as a function of different angular positions of said shaft to provide different sets of coded output signals representing said predetermined positions, first sets of output signals representing the codings for digit positions to be indicated whenever only one sense element is energized and second sets of output signals representing the codings for positions intermediate a pair of adjacent digit positions whenever two sense elements are energized, and read out means including roundoff gate means having a roundoff gate stage corresponding to each sense element of said code member, select means for extending the set of coded output signals provided by each of said encoder means to said roundoff gate means in sequence, said roundoff gate stages being controlled by output signals of the first sets provided by one of said encoder means to provide a set of logic signals representing a digit position and to respond to output signals of the second sets provided by said one encoder means to provide a set of logic signals coded to represent one of the digit positions of said pair whenever the previous set of output signals extended to said roundoff gate means represented a digit less than five and to provide a set of logic signals coded to represent the other digit position of said pair whenever the previous set of output signals extended to said roundoff gate means represented a digit equal to or greater than five.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 239 words

In a remote meter reading system including a utility meter for measuring quantums of a commodity, said utility meter having indicating means for indicating a reading of a quantum measurement of said meter, meter encoder means operatively connected to said indicating means and operable when enabled to provide signals representing the reading of said meter, readout means including signal encoder means having a plurality of inputs and gating means for extending said signals to said inputs to enable said signal encoder means to provide data words representing the meter reading for transmission to an interrogate source, and cathodic protection monitoring means for providing cathodic protection information which indicates a first or second condition of apparatus at the location of said meter, said cathodic protection monitoring means being operable when enabled to extend a control signal over a first output path and said gating means to a first preselected input of said signal encoder means to enable said signal encoder means to provide a first data word indicating said first condition and over a second output path and said gating means to a second preselected input of said signal encoder means to enable said signal encoder means to provide a second data word indicating said second condition, said readout means further including select means for enabling said cathodic protection monitoring means and said meter encoding means in sequence to effect readout of said meter reading and said cathodic protection information.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 239 words

In a remote meter reading system including a utility meter for measuring quantums of a commodity, said utility meter having indicating means for indicating a reading of a quantum measurement of said meter, meter encoder means operatively connected to said indicating means and operable when enabled to provide signals representing the reading of said meter, readout means including signal encoder means having a plurality of inputs and gating means for extending said signals to said inputs to enable said signal encoder means to provide data words representing the meter reading for transmission to an interrogate source, and cathodic protection monitoring means for providing cathodic protection information which indicates a first or second condition of apparatus at the location of said meter, said cathodic protection monitoring means being operable when enabled to extend a control signal over a first output path and said gating means to a first preselected input of said signal encoder means to enable said signal encoder means to provide a first data word indicating said first condition and over a second output path and said gating means to a second preselected input of said signal encoder means to enable said signal encoder means to provide a second data word indicating said second condition, said readout means further including select means for enabling said cathodic protection monitoring means and said meter encoding means in sequence to effect readout of said meter reading and said cathodic protection information.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 164 words

In a remote meter reading system, cathodic protection monitoring means operable when enabled to provide a first or a second output for indicating a first or a second condition, respectively, of apparatus associated with a utility meter at a remote meter location, said cathodic protection monitoring means including a voltage sensing relay operable to provide a control signal over a first output path to inDicate said first condition and to provide a control signal over a second output path to indicate said second condition, readout means responsive to a control signal provided over said first output path to provide a first data word representing said first condition provided by said cathodic protection monitoring means and responsive to a control signal provided over said second output path to provide a second data word representing said second condition provided by said cathodic protection monitoring means, said readout means including register means for storing the data words representing the cathodic protection information provided by said readout means.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 164 words

In a remote meter reading system, cathodic protection monitoring means operable when enabled to provide a first or a second output for indicating a first or a second condition, respectively, of apparatus associated with a utility meter at a remote meter location, said cathodic protection monitoring means including a voltage sensing relay operable to provide a control signal over a first output path to inDicate said first condition and to provide a control signal over a second output path to indicate said second condition, readout means responsive to a control signal provided over said first output path to provide a first data word representing said first condition provided by said cathodic protection monitoring means and responsive to a control signal provided over said second output path to provide a second data word representing said second condition provided by said cathodic protection monitoring means, said readout means including register means for storing the data words representing the cathodic protection information provided by said readout means.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 35 words

A remote meter reading system as set forth in claim 3, including means responsive to an interrogate signal transmitted from an interrogate source for effecting transmission of said cathodic protection information to said interrogate source.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 122 words

A remote meter reading system as set forth in claim 3 wherein said voltage sensing relay has first and second control leads connected to first and second electrically conductive members of said apparatus which are electrically insulated from one another, and contacts connected in one of said output paths said voltage sensing relay being deenergized to permit said control signal to be extended to said readout means over said first output path whenever the potential difference between said conductive members is less than a predetermined threshold value and energized to operate said contacts to permit said control signal to be extended to said readout means over said second output path whenever the potential difference between said conductive members exceeds said threshold value.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 268 words

In a remote meter reading system, indicator means for indicating a meter reading of a number having two or more digits, said indicator means including a plurality of meter register dials, each having a shaft rotatable to a plurality of digit positions and encoder means including a separate encoder for each shaft having a plurality of outputs, each encoder output corresponding to a different digit position to be indicated, each of said encoders being operable to provide different sets of coded output signals over corresponding encoder outputs thereof representing predetermined angular positions of an associated shaft, certain ones of said sets of output signals representing the codings for digit positions to be indicated and certain other ones of said sets of output signals representing the codings for positions intermediate a pair of adjacent digit positions, and read out means including a plurality of round off gate stages, one of said gate stages corresponding to each digit position to be indicated, and means for sequentially connecting the outputs of different encoders which correspond to like digit positions over a common output path to the one of said gate stages which corresponds to such digit position to permit the sets of output signals provided by different encoders to be extended to said round off gate stages in a preselected sequence, said gate stages being controlled by said output signals and operable when enabled to respond to each set of output signals representing the coding of a position intermediate a pair of adjacent digit positions to provide a further set of output signals representing one of said two adjacent digit positions.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 268 words

In a remote meter reading system, indicator means for indicating a meter reading of a number having two or more digits, said indicator means including a plurality of meter register dials, each having a shaft rotatable to a plurality of digit positions and encoder means including a separate encoder for each shaft having a plurality of outputs, each encoder output corresponding to a different digit position to be indicated, each of said encoders being operable to provide different sets of coded output signals over corresponding encoder outputs thereof representing predetermined angular positions of an associated shaft, certain ones of said sets of output signals representing the codings for digit positions to be indicated and certain other ones of said sets of output signals representing the codings for positions intermediate a pair of adjacent digit positions, and read out means including a plurality of round off gate stages, one of said gate stages corresponding to each digit position to be indicated, and means for sequentially connecting the outputs of different encoders which correspond to like digit positions over a common output path to the one of said gate stages which corresponds to such digit position to permit the sets of output signals provided by different encoders to be extended to said round off gate stages in a preselected sequence, said gate stages being controlled by said output signals and operable when enabled to respond to each set of output signals representing the coding of a position intermediate a pair of adjacent digit positions to provide a further set of output signals representing one of said two adjacent digit positions.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 141 words

A remote meter reading system as set forth in claim 6 wherein each roundoff gate stage comprises first and second input gates, first inputs of said input gates being connected to an output path corresponding to one of said digit positions, means for connecting a second input of said first input gate to an output path corresponding to a digit position adjacent said one digit position and means for connecting a second input of said second input gate to an output path corresponding to another digit position adjacent said one digit position, the input gates of each roundoff gate stage having said first inputs individually connected to different ones oF said output paths, and means for enabling one of the input gates of one of the round off gate stages for each set of output signals provided over said output paths.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 229 words

In a remote meter reading system, a meter having indicator means for indicating a meter reading of a number having two or more digits, said indicator means including a plurality of meter register dials each having a shaft rotatable to a plurality of digit positions and encoder means for each shaft for providing different sets of coded output signals representing predetermined angular positions of an associated shaft, certain ones of said sets of output signals representing the codings for digit positions to be indicated and certain other ones of said sets of output signals representing the codings for positions intermediate a pair of adjacent digit positions, readout means including select means for effecting sequential readout of the sets of output signals provided by the encoder means of said meter register dials and round off means including a plurality of roundoff gate stages, one of said gate stages corresponding to each digit position to be indicated, controlled by said output signals and operable when enabled to respond to each set of output signals representing a digit position to provide a set of logic signals coded to represent said digit position, and to respond to each set of output signals representing the coding of a position intermediate a pair of adjacent digit positions to provide a set of logic signals coded to represent one of the digit positions of said pair.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 229 words

In a remote meter reading system, a meter having indicator means for indicating a meter reading of a number having two or more digits, said indicator means including a plurality of meter register dials each having a shaft rotatable to a plurality of digit positions and encoder means for each shaft for providing different sets of coded output signals representing predetermined angular positions of an associated shaft, certain ones of said sets of output signals representing the codings for digit positions to be indicated and certain other ones of said sets of output signals representing the codings for positions intermediate a pair of adjacent digit positions, readout means including select means for effecting sequential readout of the sets of output signals provided by the encoder means of said meter register dials and round off means including a plurality of roundoff gate stages, one of said gate stages corresponding to each digit position to be indicated, controlled by said output signals and operable when enabled to respond to each set of output signals representing a digit position to provide a set of logic signals coded to represent said digit position, and to respond to each set of output signals representing the coding of a position intermediate a pair of adjacent digit positions to provide a set of logic signals coded to represent one of the digit positions of said pair.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 101 words

A remote meter reading system as set forth in claim 8 wherein said roundoff means includes test enable means operable when enabled to provide a first enable signal for said roundoff gate stages whenever the logic signals read out represent a digit value less than five and to provide a second enable signal for said roundoff gate stages whenever the logic signals read out represent a digit value equal to or greater than five, said test enable means being controlled by said select means to provide said first enable signal prior to the readout of the first set of output signals.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 75 words

A remote meter reading system as set forth in claim 8 wherein each set of output signals comprises ten signals coded in a one or two out of ten code to represent twenty angular positions of said shaft, and wherein said round off circuits are operable to convert said sets of output signals to sets of logic signals in a one out of ten code representing the coding for ten digit positions of said shaft.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 65 words

A remote meter reading system as set forth in claim 10 wherein said read out means further includes logic signal encoder means for encoding said sets of logic signals provided by said roundoff circuits to further logic signals in a two out of five code, shift register means, and load enable means for gating each of said further logic signals into said shift register means.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 72 words

A remote meter reading system as set forth in claim 11 wherein said roundoff means includes test enable means comprising a flip flop circuit providing a first enable signal when reset and a second enable signal when set, and means controlled by said further logic signals to provide a set command signal for said flip flop circuit whenever said further logic signals represent a digit value equal to or greater than five.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 70 words

A remote meter reading system as set forth in claim 11 wherein said readout means further include clock pulse generating means for effecting serial readout of said shift register means, said select means being controlled by said clock pulses to effect read out of successive sets of output signals provided by said encoder means at the completion of read out of each data word stored in said shift register means.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 95 words

A meter readout system as set forth in claim 8 including cathodic protection monitoring means having sensing means energizable to control said readout means for providing a first set of logic signals representing a first conditioN of apparatus associated with said meter, said sensing means controlling said readout means to provide a second set of logic signals representing a second condition of said apparatus whenever said sensing means is deenergized, said cathodic protection monitoring means being enabled by said select means prior to readout of said sets of output signals provided by said encoder means.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 128 words

A remote meter reading system as set forth in claim 14 wherein said roundoff means includes test enable means controlled by each set of logic signals provided by said readout means and operable when enabled to provide a first enable signal for said round off gate stages whenever the logic signals read out represent a digit value less than five and to provide a second enable signal for said round off gate stages whenever the logic signals read out represent a digit value equal to or greater than five and wherein said first and second sets of logic signals represent digit values less than five, whereby said test enable means provides said first enable signal prior to the read out of output signals provided by said encoder means.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1976-07-30	1977-01-29	1977-07-31	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	1980-07-30	1981-01-29	1981-07-31	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	1984-07-30	1985-01-29	1985-07-31	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Decoder circuits for shaft encoder apparatus

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