DE3721936A1 - PROGRAMMABLE TAPE OR CARD AND THEREFORE PROGRAMMABLE TIMER FOR ELECTRICAL CONSUMERS - Google Patents

Abstract

A tape or card for use in entering data via a reader into a data store for processing, e.g. for programming an immersion heater, is provided with a repeating pattern 10e to indicate the rate at which it is manually passed through the tape reader. The tape is translucent and may be manually programmed by applying opaque self adhesive stickers to tracks 10b and 10c to indicate desired switching times of two heater elements. A track 10d is similarly programmed to indicate the day of the week and the time at which the programme is inserted into an optical tape reader of a time controller (Fig. 1). <IMAGE>

Description

The present invention relates to programmable tapes or cards read by tape or card reader can be. Such tapes or cards can do this are used, via a tape or card reader Enter data into a computer memory.

The object of the present invention is a programmed Tape or card to create that in a simple way programmed and without the use of additional equipment  can also be read by a simple reader.

This task is done with a tape or a card of the named Kind according to an embodiment by the in claim 1 specified features and according to another embodiment The present invention by those specified in claim 2 Features solved.

Tapes or cards according to the invention can be used in many ways can be used, for example, for programming Time control devices or devices for electrical Consumer, for programming electronic musical instruments with note sequences and for entering data, such as Questionnaire results in a computer.

The present invention further relates to Time control devices or devices for electrical consumers.

There is therefore the further object of the present invention in creating a timing device of the type mentioned, their settings in a simpler way than conventional ones Timing devices are handled and made can, with the user at the same time more switching variants Be available, which saves energy.

This object is achieved in a timing device of the type mentioned Kind solved by the features specified in claim 3.  

Advantageously, the timing device for the Use in conjunction with hot water heating systems with a Twin heating element arrangement suitable for apartments or houses, the one electric heating element for heating the entire Water in the water tank e.g. for bathing or showering (in called the following bathtub heating element) and the other electric heating element for heating only part of the water in the water tank e.g. only for washing at the sink (in the following sink heating element) is suitable.

Further details of the invention are as follows Description can be found in which the invention using the in the drawing shown embodiment closer is described and explained, both Timing device for, for example, an above-mentioned. Hot water heating system as well as a tape for programming the timing device is shown. It shows:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a timing apparatus of the present according to a preferred embodiment of the invention,

Fig. 2 carries a plan view of a tape that data to be stored in the control device,

Fig. 3 is a block diagram of the control device and

4A-D. A flow chart of the timing controller's program.

The timing device can be used in two modes become, namely on the one hand and on the other hand in automatically.

In the manual operating mode, the immersion heating elements are switched on and off by actuating or control elements of the time control device on the console 1 .

In the automatic mode, the timing device switches the immersion heating elements according to a saved program to and from. The program is selected by the user and is run by loaded into memory. The loading is that desired program on a tape in a way bring, which is described in detail below, and then to pass the tape through a tape reader 2, the part the time control device or device.

The manual operating mode will now be described in detail. The mode of operation of the control device in the manual mode of operation is superior to that in the automatic mode of operation or has priority if the control device has just been operated in the automatic mode of operation. The first control element that the user has to operate is the on / off switch 3 , which is only operated when the control device is not in operation. If the user has possibly switched on the control device, he selects whether he would like to switch on the bathtub or the sink immersion heating element. The selection of the bathtub heating element is achieved by pressing the bathtub button 4. If this is not done, the washbasin heating element is switched on. Finally, the user presses either the 15, 30 or 60 minute button 5 a , 5 b or 5 c to select the appropriate time in minutes during which the selected immersion heater should be switched on. Control lights 6 a , 6 b indicate the condition of the sink or bathtub heating element. The immersion heating elements remain on for the selected time and are then switched off automatically. If the bathtub immersion heating element was switched on during the manual operating mode, the time control device will automatically switch over to the wash basin heating element at the end of the time as the standard setting.

The automatic operating mode will now be described. The user receives a tape 10 (see FIG. 2) that can be programmed at switching intervals of 15 minutes covering a 24 hour cycle. Different programs can be saved or entered for each of the 7 days of a week.

The user decides on a specific program for switching on / off according to his particular needs and then puts this program on the belt 10 . The tape 10 and the user entering the program on the tape will now be described in more detail below.

After programming the tape, the user passes the programmed tape 10 through the tape reader 2 which scans the tape to read the program and then enters the program into computer memory. The time control device then continues to operate cyclically according to the program. The time control device only deviates from the automatic program if: (a) the control device is switched off using the on / off button 3 , in which case the control device, when it is switched on again, operates according to the automatic program resumes; (b) the control device is operated in the manual mode, in which case the control device automatically switches to automatic mode when the manual cycle has ended; and (c) a new automatic program that is to replace the existing program is loaded.

The remaining features shown and not yet mentioned there will now be described with reference to FIG. 1. In the event of a power failure, the time control device has a reserve battery 10 . The spare battery 14 would continue to supply power to the control clock and the self-erasing or energy-dependent computer memory that stores the user-loaded program, so that when power is restored from the power supply line, the timing device thereafter functions as if no voltage interruption would have occurred. In a simpler version, the replacement battery 14 can also be omitted. If a voltage interruption occurred, the program would have to be loaded again when the voltage supply starts again. The timing device has a receptacle 15 in which the tape 10 can be conveniently stored when it is not needed. The time control device according to the drawing also includes a depth compensation part i 6 to facilitate a suitable assembly. Finally, the timing device also has an LED indicator light 18 for indicating the status of the program loaded by the user, as will be described in detail below.

The tape 10 and its programming by the user will now be described. The tape 10 is shown in FIG. 2. The band 10 should be able to record a 24-hour program with a resolution of 1/4 hour between switching operations, which program can be applied or entered for selected days of the week. The belt 10 has five channels, one time slot 10 a, a bath heater switching channel 10 b, a washbasin heater switching channel 10 c, a day and Erstbelegungskanal 10 d, and a clock channel 10 e. The middle three channels 10 b , 10 c , 10 d are to be programmed by the user. The channels 10 a , 10 b , 10 c , 10 d , 10 e will now be described in more detail.

The time channel 10 a is marked according to the time of day in 96 sections of 1/4 hour each. The purpose of the time channel 10 a is simply to support the user in programming the bathtub and wash basin channel. The time channel 10 a itself is not programmed and is not read by the tape reading device 2 .

The bathtub channel 10 b is provided with 96 (0-95) sections, each of which represents a switching time, the switching times differing by 1/4 hour each. The times for switching the bath immersion heating element on and off can be programmed in that the corresponding squares or surfaces are made opaque with the aid of cover stickers, the odd stickers representing the switching on and the odd stickers representing the switching off. Thus, a user who wants the bathtub immersion element to be switched on at 7 a.m. and switched off again at 8 a.m. and switched on again at 8 p.m. and switched off again at 9 p.m. must switch the cover stickers to the 28th Apply the 32nd, 80th and 84th surfaces. The markings in time channel 10 a support the user in finding the corresponding section in bathtub channel 10 b . When the tape 10 is passed through the tape reader, the opaque or cover stickers prevent light from emitters of the tape reader from reaching detectors of the tape reader, thereby generating a signal and reaching the tape reader. The time control device contains software which recognizes the signal as a characteristic of a switching operation and which recognizes the odd sticker as such for switching on and the odd sticker as such for switching off. For the convenience of the user when programming, green and red stickers are used to indicate the switching on and off. However, the detector does not distinguish between green and red stickers.

The wash basin channel 10 c is similar to the bathtub channel 10 b .

The day and first occupancy channel 10 d enables the user to select the days of the week on which the automatic switching operations for the bath tub and wash basin immersion elements to be entered into the channels 10 b and 10 c are to take place. E.g. the user can only come home on the weekends and can choose so that the automatic switching operations that are entered in channels 10 b and 10 c should only take place on Saturdays and Sundays. The desired days are selected as follows. After the word "DAYS" in channel 10 d , the letters "M", "T", "W" etc. appear, which means Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday etc. The letters in question are covered with stickers to show that the automatic gearshifts are required that day. If different programs of the automatic switching processes are necessary on different days, the tape can be reprogrammed and read again for each different program. The computer memory contains storage space for up to 7 different programs, one for each day of the week. The day and first occupancy channel also allows the user to prepare the control device so that the day of the week and the time in hours at which the program is entered are displayed, so that the control device begins to start the switching cycles for washbasin and Switch on the bathtub heating element at the appropriate points in the cycles. The day of the week is entered by covering it with a sticker of one of the letters "M", "T", "W" etc., which occurs after the word "WEEKDAY". The hour of the day (which can be between 00 and 23) is entered by one of the digits "0", "1" or "2" that appear after the word "TENS" and one of the digits "0" to "9 "that occur after the word" UNITS "is covered.

The clock channel 10 e is intended to indicate to the tape reading device 2 when the tape 10 is pulled through the tape reading device when it should take readings. The clock channel 10 e is divided into sections, each section corresponding to 1/4 hour. Each section has a transparent half that is adjacent to an opaque half. When the tape 10 is pulled through the tape reader 2 at whatever speed the user is pulling the tape, and when a change from transparent to opaque is sensed in clock channel 10 e , the tape reader detects that change and consequently takes in each of the three programmed channels 10 b, 10 c and 10 d prior readings. It should be noted that the change from transparent to non-transparent takes place in the middle of each section, so that the readings in the three programmed channels 10 b , 10 c , 10 d take place in the middle of the length of the section concerned and so any reading errors that For example, can occur due to a badly arranged sticker, are avoided.

The timing device software includes a variety of error detection routines. One routine is that the bath tub immersion element takes precedence over the sink immersion element when both are programmed to be on at the same time. Another routine is to scan a diagonal pattern 10 f at the end of the tape 10 so that it is seen that the end of the tape has been reached. Another routine is to check that at least one day of the week has been designated to turn the heating elements on and off. There are other routines, but they are not described.

The loading of the programmed tape 10 will now be described. The loading consists simply in switching on the time control device, checking that the light-emitting diode 18 continuously emits light, and in pulling the tape 10 in the appropriate direction by the tape reading device 2 . If the light emitting diode 18 remains on, the program is loaded correctly. If the light-emitting diode 18 flashes, this indicates an error when the tape 10 passes through the tape reading device, which occurs when the tape is accidentally pulled upside down or by the tape reading device 2 or back and forth by the tape reading device 2 becomes. If the light-emitting diode flashes, the reset button 19 must be pressed and the tape 10 must then be pulled through the tape reading device 2 again. If the control device has been successfully loaded, the tape 10 can be rolled up and stored in the tape receptacle 15 until one wishes to reprogram the device. The programming can be seasonal or due to a change in lifestyle or a failure of the energy supply and possibly the replacement battery 14 .

Fig. 3 shows a block diagram. This block diagram includes the tape reading device 2 , which can read four channels (the time channel 10 a need not be read) and which has an infrared transmitter 2 a and a detector 2 b for each channel. The block diagram also contains:

a signal former to disassemble the
Signal
from clock channel 10 e into one
Square wave 20 a programmable peripheral
Interface 21 manually operated buttons 3, 4, 5 a ,
5 b , 5 c , 19 an error signaling, light
emitting diode 18 sink and bathtub heating
elements 22, 23 triacs for switching the
AC supply to the
Sink and bathtub diving
heating elements 24, 25 optoelectric isolators for iso-
low voltage electronics
from the high voltage supply to the
Sink and bathtub diving
heating elements 26, 27 a microprocessor 28 a data bus, which
bare peripheral interface 21 and
Microprocessor 28 connects, 29 a control bus from microprocessor 28
to the programmable peripheral
Interface 21 , 30 an address decoder 31 a CMOS random access memory
(RAM) to save the user
entered programmed data 32 an electronically programmable
Read only memory (ROM) for storing the
operating the timing device
Program 33 a real-time clock in the form of a
quartz crystal controlled chips 34 a spare battery 14 address, control and data buses from
Microprocessor 28 to decoder 31 , too
the memories 32 and 33 or to the clock generator 34 36, 37, 38 a voltage supply to all
Circuits 39

In a more refined version of the control device, a microcomputer replaces elements 28, 32 and 33 .

Figures 4a, 4b, 4c and 4d show a flow diagram of the permanent program of the consumer time control device. The various parts of the flow chart are listed below:

begin

• A: Prepare RAM and other circuitry
  Preparing to load SP 101 circuit 102
• B: Check whether the memory area of the memory needs to be deleted
  Getting LDCHK 103 Gradually decrease the
  Result indicator of LDCHK 104 Is Z = 0 105 P 4 106 To the AUTCOM routine
• C: Input data from tape 10 and store tape input buffer arranged in memory
  Entering the tape read polling
  Routine 107 Loading SA of the tape buffer 108 Entering the tape reading routine 109 actual buffer address at 4064 H 110
• D: Verify that the tape has been loaded correctly by checking that the tape error check codes are stored in the correct input buffer locations in memory. Retrieve LDCHK and erase
  the memory in the event of a fault
  Loading 111 Gradually reduce the
  Result indicator of LDCHK 113 Is Z indicator = 0 113 P 3 114 To the TAPDEC routine (tape loaded exactly)
• E: Enter the fault loading light emitting diode routine and continue until a reset key is detected by the "keyscn" subroutine on the keypad. If the reset is detected, go to LDBUFF and wait for the tape to be reloaded. Enter the ERRLD light emis
  sionsdiode 115 Call of the keyscn subroutine 116 I reset key active - Y closed
  LDBUFF 117, 118 N jump 119
• F: Decode the tape time channel and program the real time clock. Also programming the current day of the week in the real time clock.
  Decode the channel 10 e of the
  Band time channel 120 Programming the real time clock
  TIME / DAY REG'S 121
• G: Decode the "DAYS" displayed by the tape time channel 10 e . The wash basin / bathtub switching sequences contained in the remaining band channels are to be used on these days.
  Decode channel 10 e for
  "DAYS", that of the currently loaded
  Band, ie, TAPEDAYS covered
  122 If the tape just loaded
  no daily settings (M to S)
  then jump to the keyboard
  Routine 123 Continue with those already saved
  Switching settings.
• H: pseudo-decoding and storage
  the switching settings in the band
  gear buffer (the current switching
  times are
  same routines of automatic and
  manual mode decoded).
  Save in the relevant daily
  circuit memory buffer. to save
  a maximum of only 50
  positions per day, per sink
  and bathtub channel. 124
• I: Check whether the priority switch is active. If this is the case, then no activation of any of the immersion heating elements.
  Continue and check whether the "Reset" or "Reset" button is active. If this is not the case, then enter the comparison and switching routine.
  Calling up the "keyscn" subroutine 125 If the priority switch is active 126 P 4 127 To "RESCHK".
• J: Call "MANTIM" subroutine and check that each of the manual buttons is active; if these are active, then switching on the corresponding element for the required period.
  Calling up the "MANTIM" subroutine 128 Is the reset key active 129 Deleting the reset indicator 130 Jump 131 P 1 132 To LDBUFF.
• K: If the reset button is activated during this time, then switch off the element and continue to LDBUFF and wait for a new tape to be loaded, otherwise remove the timer and switch off the element at the end of the required manual period.
  DAY / TIME comparison and switching 133 DECCOM subroutine 134 decoder of tape time values for
  the real-time clock comparison
  Return in case of equality 135 P 3 136 to "AUTCOM".
• L: Enter the automatic operation comparison section. Check the exact day and time from the real time clock by comparing them with the switching settings stored in the memory for the particular day in question. Appropriate making for the settings (on / off), which are stored for both the sink and the bathtub immersion heater.
  Switching on and off using the saved switching settings. Receiving the check / loop formation in the automatic mode and switching on and off of each element according to the requirement. Only switching in manual mode (MANTIM) interrupts this sequence or the reset and priority buttons, as mentioned.

The main advantage of the timing device of the present invention over existing timing devices is the use of tape 10 . Existing timing devices only allow the use of simple programs or have relatively complicated operations that prevent users from loading various programs. Since the time control device according to the present invention is easy to program, it is achieved that the users are able to control their energy consumption more effectively and thus reduce their energy consumption.

While it has become a timing device for a Hot water heating system with an electric Heating element twin arrangement for living rooms or apartment buildings described according to an embodiment, but it is also possible timing devices for electrical consumers according to the present invention in connection with a variety other electrical consumers with suitable modification use. In particular, it is possible to have a simple one Timing device for controlling a variety of to create electrical household appliances. The control of all these devices would then operate from a single location against Intervention is secured. According to the present invention could also be a more technical or refined one Timing device for the above Heating system created which, for example, enables the loading of a program that contains seasonal changes.

Claims (3)

1. tape or card for use when entering data via a tape reader into a data memory for processing the data, characterized in that the tape ( 10 ) or the card one or more rows ( 10 b - d ) of data locations for recording and Carrying data that can be read by the tape reading device, that the tape ( 10 ) or the card further has a recognizable repetition pattern ( 10 e ) parallel to the data locations, which serves as a scale or a position degree along the tape, wherein the tape ( 10 ) or the card is passed manually through the tape reading device ( 2 ) and the repetition pattern indicates the speed at which the tape is carried out in this way. 2. tape or card for use when entering data in a data storage device to which a photosensitive tape reading device is assigned, characterized in that the tape ( 10 ) or the card has one or more rows ( 10 b-d) of data locations which are transparent or are translucent, and that self-adhesive, opaque or opaque stickers are provided, with which individual data locations can be made opaque or opaque, whereby data is put onto the tape by hand by making corresponding data locations opaque while leaving the others transparent . 3. Time control device for controlling the supply of electricity on a time basis, characterized in that the time control device comprises a tape or card reading device ( 2 ) for reading a tape ( 10 ) or a card according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the tape ( 10 ) or the card carries data indicating when the supply of electricity to the consumer or consumers is required, that the control device further comprises a data memory ( 32 ) for storing the data read by the tape reading device (2), a real time clock ( 34 ), logic means ( 28 , 33 ) for determining when the switching operation is to be carried out depending on the data in the memory and on the real-time clock, and switching means ( 24 , 25 ) which, under the control of the logic means for switching on and off of the or the electrical consumer ( 24 , 25 ) can be actuated.