US2734936A - perry - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 14, 1956 D. B. PERRY 2,734,936

TELETYPEWRITER INVENTORY CONTROL SYSTEM Filed June 21, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG.

//v l/EN TOR D. 8. PE RRV Z QkQZMw ATTORNEY Feb. 14. 1956 D. B. PERRY 2,734,936

TELETYPEWRITER INVENTORY CONTROL SYSTEM Filed June 21, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 3 I

/N|/EN TOP 0. B. PERRY United States Patent 6 TELETYPEWRITER INVENTORY CONTROL SYSTEM Donald B. Perry, Maplewood, N. J., assignor to American Telephone and Teiegraph Company, a corporation of New York Application June 21, 1952, Serial No. 294,847

1 Claim. (Cl. 178-4.)

This invention relates generally to information systems and more particularly to such an arrangement of an information system as might be utilized with a teletypewriter system.

This invention has for its main object the improvement of teletypewriter information storage systems.

Another object of the invention is the utilization of a teletypewriter system for inventory counting purposes.

A feature of the invention is the utilization of additional contacts operable by teletypewriter pull-bars to operate an inventory counting system.

This invention relates to a teletypewriter information storage system that is utilized as an inventory control system or an inventory counter system. The invention comprises a relay counter selection circuit utilized in conjunction with a teletypewriter system wherein certain additional contacts are mounted on the receiving teletypewriter and are selectively operable thereby. The selective operation of these additional contacts effects the operation of various relays which, in turn, cause the operation of related counters.

The present invention is designed to be attached to and to work with present day teletypewriter systems. All that needs to be done to present day teletypewriter systems in order to associate them with the present invention is to install a few additional pull-bar operated contacts on the teletypewriter located at the station where inventory information storage is desired. These contacts will be operated by the reception of certain characters at the teletypewriter and will, in turn, operate the counter selection circuit. In other words, an operator at a distant station can, by sending proper characters, control the operation of the counter selection circuit. The reception of certain characters will disengage the counter selection circuit and restore the teletypewriter system to its normal condition so that it can again be used for the two-way transmission of regular messages. The reception of certain other characters will again put the counter selection circuit in operative condition for the reception of inventory information.

For purposes of this discussion, the teletypewriter station at which the counter selection circuit is located will be referred to as the receiving station. The station that transmits inventory information to the receiving station will be referred to as the sending station. However, it should be remembered that any station can both send and receive when regular messages are sent during the periods when the counter selection circuit is disengaged.

The relay selection counter circuit is composed of three groups of ten counters, each of which is associated with certain control relays in such a manner that any one of the thirty counters may be actuated by the sequential closing of two predesignated contacts. It should be realized that this is merely an exemplary showing and that as many counters as desired could be provided. The contacts that control the operation of the relays and counters in the counter selection system are mounted on ice and actuated by the receiving teletypewriter so that the reception of certain characters by the receiving teletypewriter will actuate the contacts mounted thereon which, in turn, will effect the actuation of the appropriate counter.

Such an information storage system could find utility in any field or application where the process of inventory control is utilized, such as in the merchandising field, in the food distributing field, in the manufacturing field, in the restaurant field, and in a host of other applications too numerous to mention herein. The present invention will find utility in any application wherein it is desired to operate one counter out of a plurality of counters for the purpose of effecting an entry therein.

A preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention is shown on the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic showing of a two-station teletypewriter system; and

Figs. 2 and 3 when placed together illustrate a preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention as would be utilized at the receiving teletypewriter station.

1 is a diagrammatic showing of a two-way twostation teletypewriter network. The arrows at each station represent the contacts therein that are used to send the proper code to the other station. Each station comprises a typical receiving teletypewriter and may be of the type shown in the patent to J. F. Beattie et al., patented March 29, 1938, Patent No. 2,112,234, which is hereby made a part of this specification the same as if fully disclosed herein. The electromagnet R in each station is responsive to the code impulses transmitted from the other station and controls the operation of the teletypewriter upon the receipt thereat of said code signals. The electromagnets R shown in Fig. 1 correspond to the similarly designated electromagnet shown in Fig. 1 of the Beattie et al., patent.

Figs. 2 and 3 when placed together illustrate a relay actuated counter selection circuit which is designed to be used in conjunction with the teletypewriter shown in the Beattie et al. patent. The control contacts shown in Figs. 2 and 3 are mounted on the teletypewriter of Beattie et al., so that they will be actuated upon the reception thereat of certain codes from the sending station. These contacts are designed to be installed as additional pull-bar contacts similar to those contacts shown on Fig. l of the Beattie et al. patent that are designated C, C2, C3 and so forth.

The counter circuit shown in Figs. 2 and 3 comprises a two-step counter selection circuit and is divided into three groups of ten counters each. The three groups of counters are designated A, B and C, respectively, while the counters themselves are also designated by a numerical designation that is representative of the number they have been chosen to represent. Thus, the first group of ten counters is designated A1 through A10, the second group is designated B1 through B10, while the third group is designated C1 through C10. The counters maybe of the electromagnetically actuated type or of any other type suitable for the purpose. A group control relay is associated with each group of counters and bears the same letter designation as does its associated group of counters. Relay A is associated with the group of counters designated All through A10, relay B is associated with the group of counters designated B1 through B10, while relay C is associated with the group of counters designated C1 through C10.

All counters that have the same numerical designation, such as A1, B1, C1, etc., are collectively associated with a counter control vrelay. Since there are ten groups of three counters with the same numerical designations, there are also ten different counter control relays, each of which is associated with a group of three counters.,-These 3 counter control relays are designated R1 through R and bear the same numerical designation as do their associated groups. of threerelays.

The counter control relays designated R1 through R10 are individually associated with and operated by the individual contacts designated 1 through 10, respectively, which are mounted on the teletypewriter and operable thereby. The group control relays A, B and C are associated with and operated by contacts A, B and C, respectively, which are also mounted on the teletypewriter. Contacts Figs M and H are also mounted on the teletypewriter and operated thereby.

This system was designed so that it could be operated from a main control center which would receive inventory data from outlying locations, assemble the data materials such as aluminum, brass and copper, while the numerical designations under each group could represent different sizes or different styles of articles composed of each of the three basic materials. As the orders for the different articles are received at the control center, or as the various articles are desired to be withdrawn from stock, the appropriate information would be sent to the receiving station which would operate the particular counter that represents the transaction in question. At the same time the printed record made by the receiving teletypewriter could be used as a written authorization for the stockroom to dispense the desired merchandise.

If it is desired to actuate the counter A2, the teletypewriter at the sending station would transmit the letter A and then the number 2 to the receiving station. The reception by the receiving station of these characters will successively actuate the contacts A and 2 on the pullbar of the receiving teletypewriter. The operation of contacts A will close a circuit from battery on the upper contacts of relay E, unoperated, through the contacts A, to relay A which will operate and lock over its own contacts, by means of an obvious circuit, to a battery on the same upper contacts of relay E. The operation of group control relay A will place a battery on the right-hand winding terminals of all the counters in the A group. The operation of the contacts 2 following the operation of contacts A will momentarily operate counter control relay R2 which, in turn, will place a momentary ground on the left-hand winding of all the counters bearing the numerical designation 2. Only counter A2 will operate at this time since only it has a potential applied to both sides of its winding.

Should the operator at the sending station desire to operate any other counter in the A group at this time, he may do so without retransmitting the character A since relay A remains locked over its own contacts. Therefore, the transmission of any numerals from the sending station at this time will cause the operation of the correspondingly designated counters in the A group of counters.

When the operator desires to effect the operation of a counter in a different group, he must first cause the release of. group control relay A. The operation of the Figs contacts and the H contacts of the receiving teletypewriter will effect the operation of relay RLS which, in turn, will release relay A by opening its holding circuit. Contact H is only momentarily operated upon the reception of the H character from the sending station. However, the Figs contact is of the locking type, due to the construction of the teletypewriter, and upon the reception of the Figs character at the receiving station, it will remain locked and will not release until the Letters character is transmitted from the sending station. When the Pigs contact is released, the circuit is once more in condition to effect the operation of any counter.

If the operator at the sending station should desire to operate counter C6, he would transmit the character C followed by the. character 6. This would operate group control relay C and counter control relay 6 which, in turn, would effect the operation of the counter C6. Similarly, as many C counters as desired can now be operated without reoperating relay C since it remains operated over its own contacts.

Should the operator desire to operate a counter in another group, he would first have to momentarily operate relay RLS in order to open the holding circuit for group control relay C, thereby allowing it to release. As was stated before, relay RLS operates in response to the closing of contacts Figs and H. This counter selection process may continue as long as the operator at the control station desires to actuate the counters at the receiving station.

The applicants counter selection circuit is unique and versatile in that it is possible to enter a count into the corresponding counters of each group simultaneously by first actuating the group control relays for all of the counter groups Whose registers it is desired to actuate. For example, if it is desired to actuate all thirty counters this may be done upon the transmission of ten numbers rather than thirty. Characters A, B and C would first be transmitted which would operate and lock up group control relays A, B and C. Next, numbers 1 through 10 respectively would be transmitted and thereby eifect the operation of counters 1 through 10 respectively in each of the three groups of counters. This feature offers a decided advantage over the conventional two-stage counter selector system wherein it is impossible to operate a plurality of counters simultaneously.

The E relay is provided for the purpose of deactivating the counter selection circuit so that the system may be utilized for the transmission of regular messages. When the transmission of inventory messages is completed and it is desired to restore thev system to normal, the Figs and the M contacts are operated which together close the energizing path for relay B. As has been explained before, the Figs contact is of the locking type and, when operated by the transmission of the Figs character, will remain operated until released by the transmission of the Letters character. Upon the reception of the Letters character, the teletypewriter causes the Figs contact to release. The energizing path for relay E is closed when the M contact is operated after the Pigs contact is operated and locked. Relay E operated, removes battery from the upper contacts of relay RLS and the group control relays A, B and C; it closes a holding path for itself to ground on a contact of relay RLS; it will light the lamp thereby indicating to the attendant at the receiving station that the counter selection circuit is not in an operative condition. In this deactivated condition, the group control relays A, B and C will not be able to be operated and will thereby prevent the operation of any counter in' response to the reception of any numerals from the transmitting station.

When it is again desired to operate the selection counter circuit, the operator at the control station will send the characters Figs and H. This will momentarily operate relay RLS which will open the locking path for relay E and thereby release it. Upon the release of relay E, the circuit will again be in condition to receive inventory information.

It is to be understood that the above-described arrangements are but illustrative of the application of the principles of the. invention. Numerous other arrangements may be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is: p In a permutation code receiving system, a selector operable upon the receipt of code signals, a first group of relays having a normal condition and a prepared condition, circuit means controlled by said selector upon the receipt of a specific sequence of code combinations to cause said first group of relays to assume a prepared condition, a first group of contacts associated with said selector and operable thereby, means interconnecting each of said contacts with a different individual relay in said first group of relays so that the operation of any contact in said first group of contacts will efiect the operation of its related relay in said first group of relays only when said group of relays is in a prepared condition, a plurality of groups of registers with each group being related to a difierent relay in said first group of relays, means interconnecting each group of registers with its related relay in said first group of relays so that the operation of a relay in said first group of relays causes its related group of registers to be placed in a prepared condition, a second group of contacts associated with said selector and operable thereby with each contact being functionally related to a corresponding individual register in each of the groups of registers, and means whereby the operation of each contact in said second group of contacts causes the operation of its related corresponding register in each group of registers that has been placed in a prepared condition.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,917,294 Carr July 11, 1933 2,074,423 Peterman Mar. 23, 1937 2,103,761 Wheeler et a1. Dec. 28, 1937 2,120,235 Beattie et a1. June 14, 1938 2,134,076 Duncan Oct. 25, 1938 2,139,079 Haselton Dec. 6, 1938

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