CA1131815A - Apparatus and method for the transmission of data (information) - Google Patents
Apparatus and method for the transmission of data (information)Info
- Publication number
- CA1131815A CA1131815A CA321,301A CA321301A CA1131815A CA 1131815 A CA1131815 A CA 1131815A CA 321301 A CA321301 A CA 321301A CA 1131815 A CA1131815 A CA 1131815A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- central point
- telephone line
- data
- telephone
- switching device
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
Links
Abstract
A B S T R A C T
System and method for transmission of information from locations spread over a large area to a central point where data processing takes place, all locations and said central point having a normally operating telephone connection, wherein each location is equipped with a memory for the temporary recording of the information to be transmitted and in which each memory is equipped with a switching device, which can connect the memory, with the telephone line to the central point with simultaneous blocking of the telephone apparatus present in that location as long as the memory is connected, which switching devices can be activated from the central point via the telephone line by a special signal.
System and method for transmission of information from locations spread over a large area to a central point where data processing takes place, all locations and said central point having a normally operating telephone connection, wherein each location is equipped with a memory for the temporary recording of the information to be transmitted and in which each memory is equipped with a switching device, which can connect the memory, with the telephone line to the central point with simultaneous blocking of the telephone apparatus present in that location as long as the memory is connected, which switching devices can be activated from the central point via the telephone line by a special signal.
Description
~L3~81~
APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR THE TRANSMISSIO~ OF DATA
(INFORMATION) The invention relates to an apparatus and a method for the transmission of management data (information) from fuel stations or depots spread ovar a large area to a central point, where data processlng takes place, all fuel stations on depots just as the central points having a normally operating telephone connection.
An important example of locations spread over a large area s a networ~ of service stations for road traffic n a district. Such a network may comprise many do~ens of stationa, which are managed and must be supplied from a central point 9 the district office. Many data play a role here, such as stocks of the various products, quantities delivered, distribution of customer calls over a given time, money received, etc.
Such data are generally entered on lists and are very important for efficient management. It may also provide a sounder basis for the optimization of the supply.
It ls essential that the data should be available at a cen~ral point and this can be done by having normal telephone calls between each fuel station or depot and the central point.
However, this is a very digressive way. The app~ratus and method according 'tO the invention remove these difficulties and the invention provides the means with which these data can be transmitted in an effective~ inexpensive and flexible way.
.
, The invention therefore i~ characterized in that a switching device is present at the fuel station or depot Just as at the central point, said switahing device upon activation, connects said relevant fuel station or depot with the ¢entral point and data processing device by way of the telephone line, whereas a simultaneous blocking of the telephone apparatus at the central point and at the fuel station or depot exists, as long as the data processing device is linked with the fuel station or depot and in that each fuel station or depot is equipped with a memory for the temporary recording of information to be transmitted to the central point, whereas said memory is connected with a receiver at the central point through the telephone line by way of said switching device to be activated by means of an activating device related to said fuel station or depot, and in that further a signal element is present at the fuel station or depotj said element serving to reset the switching device of the fuel station or depot after finishing reading out t and in that a signal element beine present at the central - -point, said element before reading out acting upon said signa~
element at the fuel station or depot by way of the telephone line by means of a special signal, and a reset device for the switching device at the centra~ point after reading out also being present.
Said special signal may be a signal to which the normal telephone apparatus is not sensitive.
Considerable advantages are achie~ed with this apparatus.
Use is made of e~isting telephone lines with which each location is equipped in any case. During transmlssion of the information nor~al telephone services at the location concerned are not availab~e. This i9 hardly a restriction~ since -depending o~ the information to be transmitted readingtakes only a few seconds and at most one minute. ~9 a rule it will be suf~icient to read once every 24 hours. In addition, it is o~ course possible to do this out of busines~
hours, since it can all be done automatically. When an installation is called from the central point and the telephone at the location is found to be engaged, the telephone conversation at the location is not broken, but the location(s) concerned is (are) called again a~ter t0rmination of one round of readings until all data have been collected. The normal telephone bell may ring when a location is called ~or reading~ but this is not necesqary.
When the connection has been made, a special alarm si~nal is given, for instance an alternating current o~ a certain frequency9 to which the s~itching device reacts. The switching device may contain a bi-stable switching element, equipped with a signal-identification device.
Calling the locations one after the other may very conveniently be done by an automatic selector.
The apparatus according to the invention is very f`lexible as regards its potentialities, because any norma1 telephone connection may be used. Only a minor operation is neces~ary to connect a location to the readin~ apparatus.
The memory in the location can be ~ed with information in any convenient way. As a rule, a minicomputer will be used here to code the information by conversion into a series of pulses and to direct the information to the desired place in memory. Certain data which are constantly available, such as the level in the underground tanks of a ~ervice station, do not pass through the memory until the readine. Other data such as the distribution of sales over the day will obviously have to be collected and stored. The data to be re8istered may be conducted to the input of the memory fully automatically and by known means. Obviously, this may also be done entirely or partly by hu~an action.
~3~
At the central point the incoming information ls decoded in a suitable way and processed, as a rul.e by a computex.
~ n apparatus according to -the invention is also very suitable for other applications, such as reading of results from widely spread test stations at drilling locations, at depots, at tank farms or for the transmission of data from, for instance, branch offices of a bank to a central point.
The invention in its broadest form is a method of trans-mitting data from remote stations to a central point all of the remote stations and the central point having a normally operating telephone line connection and telephone apparatus and also having a respective switching device, comprising disconnecting the tele-phone apparatus at the central point from the telephone line by means of the appropriate switching device and using the disconnect-ed telephone line to interrogate a selected one of the remote stations, disconnecting the telephone apparatus at the selected remote station from the telephone line by means o~ the respective switching device, subsequently sending data from the selected remote station along the telephone line to the central point while the telephone apparatus at the central point and the remote station is disconnected, reading the data received at the central point, and subsequently resetting the switch device at the central point and the selected remote station whereby the telephone appar-atus at the central point and the remote station is once more connected to the telephone line.
The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawing, the single figure of which is a block diagram of apparatus according to the invention.
In ~ig. 1 number 1 indicates a telephone line which may connect a central point I with a location II. Telephone line L
runs via a normal e~change, not further indicated here.
Switch 2, in the normal position, connects telephone apparatus 3 with telephone line 1. The same is done by switch 4 with telephone apparatus 5. Swi-tch 2 can be put in the desired positions by actuator 6. The required siynals are emitted by computer 7 via line 8. When actuator 6 puts switch 2 in the position not drawn, telephone appara-tus 3 is disconnected. Sub-sequently, computer 7 emits pulses via line 9 with which locationII is called.
This is done by emitting the pulses for the normal subscriber's number. Moreover, frequency generator (tone generatorl 10 is switched on at the right moment. This frequency generator produces, for instance, a frequency of 1300 Hz. The connection with location II has meanwhile been made. Frequency detector (tone detector) 11 recognizes the emitted frequency of 1300 H~
and activates actuator 12, which puts switch 4 in the position not drawn. Telephone apparatus 5 is thus disconnected and tele-phone line 1 is connected with element 13, which contains, interalia, a signal converter, a memory and a pulse generator.
For a short time a reply frequency of for ins-tance 2100 Hz is emitted by element 13 to the central point.
-4a-Receiver 14 reacts to it b~J instruct:ing computer 7 to carry out the pro6ram of data reading. These data are transm:itted via receiver 14 to computer 7. By decodine and further processing the data become available in the desired form. An "end--of-message" signa]. from element 13 puts switch 4 back in the position drawn. The same happens to switch 2 with an end signal from computer 7.
The norma]. telephone connection is now available again.
Line 15 indicates the place where the data to be transmitted from the meters and other sources, not drawn here, are conducted to element 13.
Broken lines 16 and 17 i.ndicate that the parts in--side these lines have been assembled in boxes, which can be connected, via the external connections shown, to parts and lines as indicated.
APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR THE TRANSMISSIO~ OF DATA
(INFORMATION) The invention relates to an apparatus and a method for the transmission of management data (information) from fuel stations or depots spread ovar a large area to a central point, where data processlng takes place, all fuel stations on depots just as the central points having a normally operating telephone connection.
An important example of locations spread over a large area s a networ~ of service stations for road traffic n a district. Such a network may comprise many do~ens of stationa, which are managed and must be supplied from a central point 9 the district office. Many data play a role here, such as stocks of the various products, quantities delivered, distribution of customer calls over a given time, money received, etc.
Such data are generally entered on lists and are very important for efficient management. It may also provide a sounder basis for the optimization of the supply.
It ls essential that the data should be available at a cen~ral point and this can be done by having normal telephone calls between each fuel station or depot and the central point.
However, this is a very digressive way. The app~ratus and method according 'tO the invention remove these difficulties and the invention provides the means with which these data can be transmitted in an effective~ inexpensive and flexible way.
.
, The invention therefore i~ characterized in that a switching device is present at the fuel station or depot Just as at the central point, said switahing device upon activation, connects said relevant fuel station or depot with the ¢entral point and data processing device by way of the telephone line, whereas a simultaneous blocking of the telephone apparatus at the central point and at the fuel station or depot exists, as long as the data processing device is linked with the fuel station or depot and in that each fuel station or depot is equipped with a memory for the temporary recording of information to be transmitted to the central point, whereas said memory is connected with a receiver at the central point through the telephone line by way of said switching device to be activated by means of an activating device related to said fuel station or depot, and in that further a signal element is present at the fuel station or depotj said element serving to reset the switching device of the fuel station or depot after finishing reading out t and in that a signal element beine present at the central - -point, said element before reading out acting upon said signa~
element at the fuel station or depot by way of the telephone line by means of a special signal, and a reset device for the switching device at the centra~ point after reading out also being present.
Said special signal may be a signal to which the normal telephone apparatus is not sensitive.
Considerable advantages are achie~ed with this apparatus.
Use is made of e~isting telephone lines with which each location is equipped in any case. During transmlssion of the information nor~al telephone services at the location concerned are not availab~e. This i9 hardly a restriction~ since -depending o~ the information to be transmitted readingtakes only a few seconds and at most one minute. ~9 a rule it will be suf~icient to read once every 24 hours. In addition, it is o~ course possible to do this out of busines~
hours, since it can all be done automatically. When an installation is called from the central point and the telephone at the location is found to be engaged, the telephone conversation at the location is not broken, but the location(s) concerned is (are) called again a~ter t0rmination of one round of readings until all data have been collected. The normal telephone bell may ring when a location is called ~or reading~ but this is not necesqary.
When the connection has been made, a special alarm si~nal is given, for instance an alternating current o~ a certain frequency9 to which the s~itching device reacts. The switching device may contain a bi-stable switching element, equipped with a signal-identification device.
Calling the locations one after the other may very conveniently be done by an automatic selector.
The apparatus according to the invention is very f`lexible as regards its potentialities, because any norma1 telephone connection may be used. Only a minor operation is neces~ary to connect a location to the readin~ apparatus.
The memory in the location can be ~ed with information in any convenient way. As a rule, a minicomputer will be used here to code the information by conversion into a series of pulses and to direct the information to the desired place in memory. Certain data which are constantly available, such as the level in the underground tanks of a ~ervice station, do not pass through the memory until the readine. Other data such as the distribution of sales over the day will obviously have to be collected and stored. The data to be re8istered may be conducted to the input of the memory fully automatically and by known means. Obviously, this may also be done entirely or partly by hu~an action.
~3~
At the central point the incoming information ls decoded in a suitable way and processed, as a rul.e by a computex.
~ n apparatus according to -the invention is also very suitable for other applications, such as reading of results from widely spread test stations at drilling locations, at depots, at tank farms or for the transmission of data from, for instance, branch offices of a bank to a central point.
The invention in its broadest form is a method of trans-mitting data from remote stations to a central point all of the remote stations and the central point having a normally operating telephone line connection and telephone apparatus and also having a respective switching device, comprising disconnecting the tele-phone apparatus at the central point from the telephone line by means of the appropriate switching device and using the disconnect-ed telephone line to interrogate a selected one of the remote stations, disconnecting the telephone apparatus at the selected remote station from the telephone line by means o~ the respective switching device, subsequently sending data from the selected remote station along the telephone line to the central point while the telephone apparatus at the central point and the remote station is disconnected, reading the data received at the central point, and subsequently resetting the switch device at the central point and the selected remote station whereby the telephone appar-atus at the central point and the remote station is once more connected to the telephone line.
The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawing, the single figure of which is a block diagram of apparatus according to the invention.
In ~ig. 1 number 1 indicates a telephone line which may connect a central point I with a location II. Telephone line L
runs via a normal e~change, not further indicated here.
Switch 2, in the normal position, connects telephone apparatus 3 with telephone line 1. The same is done by switch 4 with telephone apparatus 5. Swi-tch 2 can be put in the desired positions by actuator 6. The required siynals are emitted by computer 7 via line 8. When actuator 6 puts switch 2 in the position not drawn, telephone appara-tus 3 is disconnected. Sub-sequently, computer 7 emits pulses via line 9 with which locationII is called.
This is done by emitting the pulses for the normal subscriber's number. Moreover, frequency generator (tone generatorl 10 is switched on at the right moment. This frequency generator produces, for instance, a frequency of 1300 Hz. The connection with location II has meanwhile been made. Frequency detector (tone detector) 11 recognizes the emitted frequency of 1300 H~
and activates actuator 12, which puts switch 4 in the position not drawn. Telephone apparatus 5 is thus disconnected and tele-phone line 1 is connected with element 13, which contains, interalia, a signal converter, a memory and a pulse generator.
For a short time a reply frequency of for ins-tance 2100 Hz is emitted by element 13 to the central point.
-4a-Receiver 14 reacts to it b~J instruct:ing computer 7 to carry out the pro6ram of data reading. These data are transm:itted via receiver 14 to computer 7. By decodine and further processing the data become available in the desired form. An "end--of-message" signa]. from element 13 puts switch 4 back in the position drawn. The same happens to switch 2 with an end signal from computer 7.
The norma]. telephone connection is now available again.
Line 15 indicates the place where the data to be transmitted from the meters and other sources, not drawn here, are conducted to element 13.
Broken lines 16 and 17 i.ndicate that the parts in--side these lines have been assembled in boxes, which can be connected, via the external connections shown, to parts and lines as indicated.
Claims (3)
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. Apparatus for the transmission of data relating to remote fuel stations or the like spread over a large area from the said remote stations to a central point where data processing of the data takes place, all remote stations and the central point having a noramlly operating telephone line connection and telephone apparatus, the apparatus further comprising a switching device at the remote station as well as at the central point, the apparatus further comprising, at the central point, interrogating apparatus comprising means for receiving data from the telephone line, means for reading the data, activator means, calling means and encoding means, the activator means being arranged to activate the switching device at the central point thereby disconnecting the telephone apparatus at the central point and connecting the interrogating apparatus to the telephone line, the calling means being arranged to call selectively one of the remote stations via the connected telephone line and the encoding means being arranged to send a coded signal to the selected remote station, via the telephone line, the remote stations each having a decoder, activator means connected to an output of the decoder and a transponder having an input connected to a data source and an output, the decoder being permanently connected to the telephone line and the activator means being arranged to activate the switching device at the selected remote station in response to identification of a code thereby disconnecting the telephone apparatus at the selected remote station and connecting the output of the transponder to the telephone line, the transponder being arranged to transmit the data from the data source via the telephone line to the inter-rogating apparatus where it is received and read and the trans-ponder being connected to the activator means of the same remote station and causing the activator means to reset the switching device at the remote station when reading of the data has been accomplished, the interrogating apparatus also having means to reset the switching device at the central point when reading of the data has been accomplished.
2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the encoder at the central point is a tone generator and the decoders at the remote stations are tone detectors.
3. A method of transmitting data from remote stations to a central point all of the remote stations and the central point having a normally operating telephone line connection and telephone apparatus and also having a respective switching device, comprising disconnecting the telephone apparatus at the central point from the telephone line by means of the appropriate switching device and using the disconnected telephone line to interrogate a selected one of the remote stations, disconnecting the telephone apparatus at the selected remote station from the telephone line by means of the respective switching device, subsequently sending data from the selected remote station along the telephone line to the central point while the telephone apparatus at the central point and the remote station is disconnected, reading the data received at the central point, and subsequently resetting the switch device at the central point and the selected remote station whereby the telephone apparatus at the central point and the remote station is once more connected to the telephone line.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA321,301A CA1131815A (en) | 1979-02-12 | 1979-02-12 | Apparatus and method for the transmission of data (information) |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA321,301A CA1131815A (en) | 1979-02-12 | 1979-02-12 | Apparatus and method for the transmission of data (information) |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1131815A true CA1131815A (en) | 1982-09-14 |
Family
ID=4113516
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA321,301A Expired CA1131815A (en) | 1979-02-12 | 1979-02-12 | Apparatus and method for the transmission of data (information) |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1131815A (en) |
-
1979
- 1979-02-12 CA CA321,301A patent/CA1131815A/en not_active Expired
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| MKEX | Expiry |