Solid state remote meter reading system having non-volatile data accumulation

Claim 1

A remote meter reading system for connecting each of plural meter pulse sources located at a remote location to a data transmission line terminating at a central location, wherein the system comprises: plural integral solid state remote metering circuit modules arranged consecutively including a first module and following modules being formed of field effect transistor active circuit elements having a common integrated circuit arrangement connected to a separate one of said meter pulse sources and wherein each said module includes, an input for receiving pulses from the associated meter pulse source and generating meter pulse logic signals in response thereto, a nonvolatile binary counter including plural stages with each stage including a flip-flop stage formed by two counting logic elements and having an input responsive to said meter pulse logic signals and a binary meter pulse counting output and further includes a memory section including two non-volatile memory elements connected to said two counting logic elements and having an input responsive to said meter pulse logic signals to set the two nonvolatile memory elements in opposite memory characteristics corresponding to the opposite states of said two counting logic elements so that upon an interruption of voltage energization of the binary counter the set memory characteristics of the memory elements return said two counting logic elements to the same opposite state as established prior to the interruption, said each module further including an encoder circuit including parallel data inputs connected to said binary meter pulse counting outputs of the counter stages and the encoder circuit further including sampling inputs and a serial data word output, said each module further including a clock signal input for receiving clock logic signals, said each module further including a start control circuit having a clock input connected to the clock signal input, and a start input responsive to a start next readout signal and an output gate means being enabled to develop said clock signals when said start signal is present, with said start input of said first module receiving a start command interrogation signal from said central location and each other start input receiving a start next readout signal from a preceding module, said each module further including a readout control circuit including a clock input receiving the clock signals at said output gate means, a binary counter having counter outputs connected to Said sampling inputs and sequentially energized in response to said clock signals to develop said binary meter pulse outputs at said serial data word output of the encoder circuit during a predetermined number of counts at said counter outputs, and a start next readout signal output generated in each preceding module when the counter outputs develop an initial count not included in said predetermined counts, and each module further including an output buffer circuit including a gate circuit means having an input from said serial data word output of said encoder, an enabling input received from the counter outputs of said readout control circuit during said predetermined number of counts, a data out output, and a data in input wherein each data in input of a preceding module is connected to the data out output of a following module with the data out output of said first module connected to said transmission line such that each module produces the associated encoder circuit serial data word output and then the serial data word output of the following module at the data out output, whereby said remote metering circuit modules are connected together in a cascaded consecutive arrangement so that receipt of said start command signal at said firt module effects continuous serial readout of the encoder circuit serial data word outputs of the plural modules.