GB2193013A

GB2193013A - Programmable tape or card

Info

Publication number: GB2193013A
Application number: GB08715496A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Raymond Mcenaney
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1986-07-03
Filing date: 1987-07-01
Publication date: 1988-01-27
Also published as: DE3721936A1; GB8715496D0

Description

GB2193013A 1

SPECIFICATION

Programmable tape and load time controller programmable by means of said tape FIELD OF THE INVENTION 5

The present invention relates to programmable tapes or cards to be read by tape readers. Such tapes may be used to enter data, via a tape reader, into computer memory.

An object of the invention is to provide a tape which may be programmed in a simple manner without the need for equipment, and which may also be read by simple tape reading equipment.

10 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect the invention provides a tape or card for use in entering data via a tape reader into a data store for processing, the tape including one or more series of data locations for bearing data which may be read by the tape reader, the tape further comprising a recognizable repeating pattern parallel to the data locations, which serves as a scale or graduation of position 15 along the tape, whereby the tape may be passed manually through the tape reader, the repeat ing pattern indicating the rate at which the tape is being so passed.

In another aspect the invention provides a tape or card for use in entering data into a data store provided with an associated light sensitive tape reader, the tape including one or more series of data locations which are translucent, and self adhesive opaque stickers for making 20 individual data locations opaque, whereby data may be manually entered on the tape by making appropriate data locations opaque while leaving the remainder translucent.

Tapes according to the invention may be used for a variety of purposes, for example, for programming electricity load time controllers, for programming electronic musical instruments with note sequences and for entering data such as questionnaire results into a computer. 25 The present invention also relates to electricity load time controllers.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a time controller the settings of which are easier to use than in conventional time controllers, while at the same time allowing the user to obtain more switching variations thereby saving energy.

In another aspect the invention provides a time controller for controlling a supply of electricity 30 on a time basis, the time controller including a tape or card reader for reading a tape or card according to the invention which bears data indicating when the electricity supply to the, or each, load is required, a data store for storing the data read by the tape reader, a real time clock, logic means for determining when the switching operation is to be carried out based on the data in store and on the real time clock, and switching means operable under the control of 35 the logic means for switching on and off the electrical loads.

Advantageously, the time controller is adapted for use in connection with a dual immersion domestic hot water heating system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 40

The invention will now be described more particularly with reference to the accompanying drawings which show, by way of example only, a time controller for a dual immersion domestic hot water heating system and a tape for programming the time controller. In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the time controller; Figure 2 is a plan view of a tape bearing data to be stored in the controller; 45 Figure 3 is a block diagram of the controller; and Figures 4A, 413, 4C and 4D together illustrate a flowchart of the.time controller internal program.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 50

The time controller may be used in either of two modes, a manual mode and an automatic mode.

In the manual mode the immersion heating elements are switched on and off by means of controls on the console 1 of the time controller.

In the automatic mode the time controller switches the immersion heating elements on and off 55 according to a stored programme. The programme! is decided by the user and is loaded into store by the user. The loading consists of applying the desired programme to a tape in a manner which will be described in more detail below and then feeding the tape through a tape reader 2 which forms part of the time controller.

The manual mode will now be described in more detail. Operation of the controller in the 60 manual mode will override operation in the automatic mode, if in fact the controller was operating in the automatic mode. The first control which the user may have to operate is the on/off switch 3, which is operated only if the controller is not operating at all. Having switched the controller on (if necessary), the user then selects whether it is the bath or the sink immersion heating element that it is desired to switch on. Selection of the bath element is made 65 2 GB2193013A 2 by pressing the bath button 4, in default of which the sink element will come on. Finally, the user presses either the 15, 30 or 60 minute buttons 5a, 5b or 5c to select the appropriate time in minutes for which the selected immersion heating element is to come on. Pilot lights 6a,6b indicate the state of the sink and bath immersion heating elements respectively. The immersion heating elements will remain on for the selected time and will then automatically switch off. If 5 the bath immersion heating element was switched on during the manual mode the time controller will automatically revert to the default sink heating element at the end of the time.

The automatic mode will now be described. The user is supplied with a tape 10 (shown in Figure 2) which may be programmed in switching intervals of 15 minutes covering a cycle of 24 hours. Different programs may be implemented for different ones of the seven days of the 10 week.

The user decides on a suitable program of on/off switching to suit his particular needs and then enters this program on the tape 10. The tape 10 and the entering of the program onto the tape by the user will be described in more detail below.

After programming the tape the user then passes the programmed tape 10 through the tape 15 reader 2 which scans the tape to read the program, and then enters the program into a computer memory. The time controller then continues to operate cyclically according to the - program. The time controller only deviates from the automatic programme if: (a) the controller is switched off by means of the on/off button 3 in which case the controller will resume operation according to the automatic program when switched on again; (b) the controller is operated in the 20 manual mode, in which case the controller automatically reverts to the automatic mode when themanual cycle is completed; and (c) a new automatic program is loaded to replace the existing program.

Referring to Figure 1, the remaining features shown in the Figure and not already mentioned will now be described. The time controller includes a back-up battery 14 in case of power 25 failure. The back-up battery 14 would continue to supply power to the controller clock and to the volatile computer memory which stores the program loaded by the user, so that when power is restored from the electricity mains the time controller will function thereafter as if no power failure had occurred. In a simpler construction the back-up battery 14 may be omitted. In the event of power failure the program would then have to be reloaded when supply would 30 resume. The time controller also includes a receptacle 15 in which the tape 10 may conveniently be stored when not in use. The construction of time controller illustrated in the drawings also includes a depth extension piece 16 to facilitate suitable mounting. Finally the time controller includes a light emitting diode pilot light 18 for indicating the status of the program loaded by the user, as will be described in more detail below. 35 The tape 10 and the programming thereof by the user will now be described. The tape 10 is shown in Figure 2. The tape 10 is intended to receive-a twenty four hour program with a resolution of a quarter of an hour between switching operations, which program may be imple mented on selected days of the week. The tape 10 includes five channels, a time channel 10a, a bath switching channel 10b, a sink switching channel 10c, a day and initialisation channel 10d, 40 and a clock channel 10e. The middle three channels 10b, 10c, 10d are intended to be pro grammed by the user. The channels 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d, 10e will now be each described in more detail.

The time channel 10a is marked out with the time of day in 96 sections of a quarter of an hour each. The purpose of the time channel 10a is simply to assist the user in programming the 45 bath and sink channels. The time channel 10a itself is not programmed and is not read by the tape reader 2.

The bath channel 10b is marked out with 96 (0-95) sections each representing a switching time, the switching times being separated by a quarter of an hour. The times for switching on and off the bath immersion heating element may be programmed by making opaque the appro- 50 priate squares, by means of opaque stickers, the odd stickers representing switching on and the even stickers representing switching off. Thus a user who wishes the bath to come on at 07.00 hours and to go off at 08.00 hours in the morning and to come on at 20.00 hours and to go off at 21.00 hours in the evening should put opaque stickers on the twenty eighth thirty second, eightieth and eighty fourth squares. The markings in the time channel 10a assist the 55 user to find the appropriate sections of the bath channel 10b. When the tape 10 is passed through the tape reader 2 the opaque stickers prevent light passing from the tape reader emitters to the tape reader detectors, thus providing a signal to the tape reader. The time controller contains software which recognises the signal as representing a switching operation, and further recognises odd stickers as switching on and even stickers as switching off. For the 60 convenience of the user when programming, green and red stickers are provided to indicate switching on and switching off respectively. The detector does not distinguish between the green and red stickers.

The sink channel 10c is similar to the bath channel 10b.

The day and initialisation channel 10d enables the user to select the days of the week on 65 3 GB2193013A 3 which the bath and sink automatic switching operations entered in channels 10b and 10c are to take place. For example the user may come home only at weekends and may thus require the automatic switching operations entered in channels 10b and 10c to take place on Saturdays and Sundays only. The desired days are selected as follows. After the word--- DAYS-in channel 10d there appear the letters -M-, -T-,---W- etc. representing Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday etc. 5 The appropriate letters are covered by stickers to represent that automatic switching operations are required on that day. If different programs of automatic switching operations are required on different days, the tape 10 may be reprogrammed and re-read for each different program. The computer memory contains storage space for receiving up to seven different programs, one for each day of the week. The day and initialisation channel also enables the user to initialise the 10 controller, so as to indicate the day of the week, and the time in hours at which the program is being entered so that the controller starts to operate the sink and bath switching cycles at the appropriate points in the cycles. The day of the week is entered by covering with a sticker one of -M-,---V,"W" etc. which occur after the word---WEEKDAY---. The hour of the day (which may be 00 to 23) is entered by covering with stickers one of -0-,---1 -, or -2occurring aft er 15 the word---TENS-and one of -0- up to -9- occurring after the word---UNITS- --.

The clock channel 10e is intended to indicate to the tape reader 2, as the tape 10 is drawn through the tape reader, when to take readings. The clock channel 10e is permanently marked out in sections, each section corresponding to a quarter of an hour. Each section has a transparent half followed by an opaque half. As the tape 10 is drawn through the tape reader 2, 20 at whatever speed the user draws the tape through, when a change from transparent to opaque is detected in the clock channel 10e the tape reader detects this change, and as a consequence, takes readings in each of the three programmed channels10b, 10c and 10d. It will be noted, that the change from transparent to opaque is midway through each section so that the readings in the three programmed channels 10b, 10c, 10d are taken dead centre along the length of the 25 appropriate section, to avoid any error in reading which might occur due to, for example, a slightly misplaced sticker.

The time controller software includes a number of routines for detecting errors. One routine is that the bath overrides the sink if both are programmed to be on at the same time. Another routine consists of detecting the diagonal pattern 10f at the end of the tape 10 to see that the 30 end of the tape has been reached. A further routine is to cheek that at least one day of the week has been nominated for switching on and off of heating elements. Other routines exist also, which will not be described.

The loading of the programmed tape 10 will now be described. Loading consists simply in switching on the time controller, checking that the light emitting diode 18 is emitting light 35 continuously, and drawing the tape 10 in the appropriate direction through the tape reader 2. If the light emitting diode 18 goes off the program has been correctly loaded. If the light emitting diode 18 flashes then this indicates an error in passing the tape 10 through the tape reader, which occurs if the tape is inadvertently drawn through the tape reader 2 upside down or is drawn to and fro through the tape reader. When the light emitting diode flashes the reset button 40 19 should be pressed and the tape 10 should then be pulled through the tape reader 2 again.

Once the controller is loaded successfully the tape 10 may then be rolled up and stored in the tape storage receptacle 15 until it is desired to program the apparatus again. Programming may be seasonal, or may be due to a change in living habits, or due to a power and back-up battery 14 failure. 45 Figure 3 shows a block diagram. The diagram includes a tape reader 2 capable of reading four channels (the time channel 10a does not need to be read), the tape reader including an infrared transmitter 2a and detector 2b for each channel. The diagram also includes:

4 GB2193013A 4 Signal conditioner to resolve the signal' from the clock channel 10e into a square wave 20 A programmable peripheral interface 21 Manual keys 3,4,5a,5b,Sc,19 Error signalling light emitting diode 18 10 Sink and bath immersion heating elements 22,23 Triacs for switching on and off alternating 15 current supply to sink and bath immersion heating elements 24,25 20 Opto-isolators for isolating the low voltage electronics from the high voltage mains" supply to sink and bath immersion heating 25 elements 26,27 A microprocessor 28 30 A data bus connecting the programmable peripheral interface 21 and the 35 microprocessor 28 29 1 GB2193013A 5 A control bus from the microprocessor 28 to the programmable peripheral interface 21 30 5 An address decoder 31 A CMOS random access memory for storing the programmed data entered by the user 32 10 An electronically programmable read only memory for storing the time controller 15 operating programme 33 A real time clock in the form of a quartz crystal controlled chip 34 20 Backup battery 14 Address, control and data buses each from 25 the microprocessor 28 to the decoder 31, the memories 32 and 33 and the clock 34 36,37,38 30 Direct current supply to all circuit ry 39 In a more refined version of the controller a 35 microcomputer will replace 28, 32 and 33.

Figures 4a, 4b, 4c and 4d show a flowchart of the permanent program of the load time controller. The 40 various parts of the flowchart are listed below:

Start 100 4. 5 A: Initialize the RAM and other circuitry Load S.P. 101 50 Initialize Circuitry 102 6 GB2193013A 6 B: Cheek if storage portion of memory needs to be cleared "Call LDCHK 103 5 Decrement the result flag from LDCHK 104 Is Z = 0 105 P4 106 To AUTCOM routine 15 C: Input the data from the tape 10 and store in 20 - tape - input - buffer located in memory Enter tape read polling routine 107 Load S.A. of tape buffer 108 25 Enter tape read routine 109 Is buffer address at 4064H 110 30 D: Check if the tape has been loaded correctly 35 by checking that the tape's error cheek codes are stored in the correct input - buffer locations in memory 40 Call LDCHK and clear memory on error load ill 45 Decrement the result flag from LDCHK 112 Is Z flag - 0 113 50 P3 114 To TAPDEC routine (tape loaded correctly) 7 GB2193013A. 7 E. Enter the'error-load flashing light emitting diode routine and continue in same until a reset key is detected by the "keyscn" 5 subroutine at the keyboard. When reset is detected go to LDBUFF and await for 10 reloading of the tape Enter ERRLD flashing light emitting 15 diode 115 Call Keys= subroutine 116 Is reset key active Y TO LDBUFF 117,118 20 N JUMP 119 25 F. Decode the tape's time channel and program the real-time-clock. Also program the current weekday 30 in the real time clock.

Decode channel 10e of tape time channel 120 -Program the real time clock's TIME/DAY 35 REG'S 121 40 G. Decode the 'DAYS' indicated by the tape's time channel 10e. The switching sink/bath sequences 45 contained in the remaining tape channels are to be used on these days.

50 Decode channel 10e for DAYS covered by 8 GB2193013A 8 tape just loaded i.e. TAPEDAYS' 122 If the tape just loaded has no day settings (M - S) then jump to the 5 keyboard routine Continue with switching settings 10 already stored 15 H. Pseudo decode and store the switching settings in the tape input buffer (the actual switching times will be decoded during the 20 comparison routines of the automatic and manual modes). Store in the relevant day 25 switching storage buffers. Store a maximum of 50 settings only per day, per channel of 30 sink-and bath. 124 35 I. Check if the override-off switch is active. If it is then don't switch on any of the immersion elements.

Also go and check if the 'reset' key is active. If 40 it's not then enter the compare and switch routine.

Call keyscn subroutine 125 45 Is the override off switch active 126 P4 127 50 To 'RESCHK 9 GB2193013A 9 J. Call 'MANTIM' subroutine and check if any of the manual keys are active - If they are then switch the appropr iate element on for the period required. 5 Call MANTIM subroutine 128 Is reset key active 129 10 Clear the reset FLAG 130 Jump 131 15 P1 132 To LDBUFF 20 K. If the reset key is activated during this time then switch the element off and go to LDBUFF and wait for 25 loading of new tape, otherwise time out and switch element off at the end of the required manual period. 30 DAY/TIME compare and switch 133 Deccom subroutine 134 35 Decode the tape time values for real time clock comparison Return on match 135 40 P3 136 To AUTCOM' 45 L. Enter the auto mode comparison section. Check for the 50 correct day and time from the real-time-clock by comparing with the switching-settings stored in GB2193013A 10 memory for the particular day in qu estion. Do this for the settings (on/off) stored for both the sink and bath.

Switch on and off as required by the stored switching-settings. Keep checking/looping in 10 auto-mode and switching on and off each element as required. Manual-mode (MANTIM) switching only 15 interrupts this-sequence or the reset and override keys as explained.

20 The principal advantage of the time controller according to the invention relative to existing time controllers resides in the use of the tape 10. Existing controllers permit only simple programs to be used or, alternatively, have relatively complicated controls which deter users from loading different Programs. Because the time controller according to the invention is easy 25 to program it is envisaged that users will be able to more effectively control their energy usage and thus reduce energy consumption.

A time controller for dual immersion domestic hot water heating elements has been described by way of example. It would of course be Possible to make electrical load time controllers according to the invention for use in connection with a variety of other electrical loads, with 30 appropriate modifications. In particular it would be possible to make a single time controller for controlling a variety of domestic electrical appliances. The control of all these appliances would then take place from a single location which could be made tamper proof. In accordance with the invention a more sophisticated time controller could be made for dual immersion domestic hot water elements, for example one which allows a program to be loaded which includes 35 seasonal variations.

It will of course be understood that the invention is not limited to the. specific details described herein, which are given by way of example only, and that various modifications and alterations are possible within the scope of the invention.

Claims

CLAIMS _40

1. A tape or card for use in entering data via a tape reader into a data store for processing, the tape including one or more series of data locations for bearing data which may be read by the tape reader, the tape further comprising a recognizable repeating pattern parallel to the data locations, which serves as a scale or graduation of position along the tape, whereby the tape 45 may be passed manually through the tape reader, the repeating pattern indicating the rate at which the tape is being so passed.

2. In combination, a tape or card for use in entering data into a data store provided with an associated light sensitive tape reader, the tape including one or more series of data locations which are translucent, and self adhesive opaque stickers for making individual data locations 50 opaque, whereby data may be manually entered on the tape by making appropriate data loca tions opaque while leaving the remainder translucent.

3. A time controller for control ling a supply of electricity on a time basis, the time controller including a tape or card reader for reading a tape or card according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 which bears data indicating when the electricity supply to the or each load is required, a data store for 55 storing the data read by the tape reader, a real time clock, logic means for determining when the switching operation is to be carried out based on the - data in store and on the real time clock, and switching means operable under the control of the logic means for switching on and off the electrical loads.

Published 1988 at The Patent Office, State House, 66/7 1' High Holborn, London WC 1 R 4TP. Further copies may be obtained from The Patent Office, Sales Branch, St Mary Cray, Orpington, Kent BF15 3RD. Printed by Burgess & Son (Abingdon) Ltd. Con. 1/87.