FR2772497A1 - MULTI-CURRENT DISPLAY LIQUID DISPENSER - Google Patents

Abstract

Liquid dispenser comprising a gun for dispensing said liquid and a display device (40) comprising a display (42) of the volume of liquid delivered, a unit price display (43) and an amount payable display (41). According to the invention, said distributor comprises display means, capable of alternately displaying said unit price in a plurality of different currencies (Euro, FF), and means for selecting the unit price in a given currency by simultaneity detection of an action performed on said gun and of the display, by said display means operating alternately, of the unit price in said given currency. Application to fuel dispensers for motor vehicles.

Description

AT

  MULTI-CURRENT DISPLAY LIQUID DISPENSER

  The present invention relates to a liquid dispenser.

  The invention finds a particularly advantageous application in the field of fuel dispensers for motor vehicles. Fuel dispensers generally comprise a display device comprising a display of the volume of fuel delivered, a unit price display and an amount payable display. The unit price display is fixed while the volume of fuel delivered and the amount payable scroll on the respective displays as fuel is delivered, which is controlled by a dispensing gun operated by the motorist. With the imminent arrival of the Euro as the European currency, many consumer associations are demanding, at least provisionally, that prices be displayed in the two currencies, the Euro and the

  local currency, this in order to avoid errors and scams.

  This question of dual display naturally arises for fuel distributors, with, in this particular case, the particular situation linked to the habit of many motorists of determining the quantity of fuel transferred not in terms of volume, but as a function of '' a round price (100 francs, 200 francs) corresponding to the

  amount of cash they have at their disposal.

  Various solutions have been proposed to adapt existing distributors with simple display to this display requirement of the

  amount payable in two different currencies.

  A first simple solution consists in adding a second computer to the one already present in the fuel distributor, each computer working in a given currency. This solution is in fact very expensive and almost impossible practically because the available space remaining in the head of the distributor is

  generally insufficient to accommodate a second computer.

  A second solution would be to replace the existing calculator with another capable of operating with two currencies, this duality can be taken care of by displaying the amount to be paid out of two

  different displays, each assigned to a given currency.

  This solution is hardly acceptable because the coexistence of the Euro and local currencies will only last for a limited period of around three years. At the end of this transitional period, a computer and a display will no longer be used. Such a loss

  investment is not admissible industrially.

  One can also imagine a system in which the motorist would be able to select the currency of his choice by means of a button placed on the front of the dispenser. This solution would however have the disadvantage of entailing high costs in terms

  adaptation to the fleet of existing distributors.

  Also, the technical problem to be solved by the object of the present invention is to provide a liquid dispenser comprising a dispensing gun for said liquid and a display device comprising a display of volume of liquid delivered, a unit price display and an amount payable display, a distributor which would allow a simple and inexpensive way of producing an amount payable display in several different currencies, and this without

  physical modification of the dispenser.

  The solution to the technical problem posed consists, according to the present invention, in that said distributor comprises display means, capable of alternately displaying said unit price in a plurality of different currencies, and means for selecting the unit price in a currency given by detection of simultaneity of an action carried out on said pistol and of the display, by said display means operating alternately, of the unit price in

said given currency.

  Thus, taking up the case of a fuel distributor, the motorist, before acting on the distribution pistol, sees the unit price displayed alternately in different currencies, Euro and local currency for example, each price unit remaining displayed for a period of the order of a few seconds. To select a given currency, the motorist only has to act on the dispensing gun when the unit price in the desired currency is displayed on the unit price display. Means which will be described in detail below make it possible to detect the simultaneity of the action on the pistol and the display of the unit price in the currency chosen by the motorist, which has the effect of "freezing" the currency in which will be displayed the amount to be paid during the distribution on

the amount payable display.

  At the end of distribution, the amount payable can remain displayed in

  permanence, as well as the unit price in the corresponding currency.

  However, in an alternative embodiment of the invention, the display means are capable of alternately displaying the amount to be paid in each currency, in synchronism with the unit price in said currency. In this way, the motorist can know the amount to

  pay both in local currency and in Euro.

  According to a first embodiment, said action performed on the gun is a hook or a hang up of the gun. In this case, an electro-mechanical device for detecting the presence of the gun in a receptacle sends a signal to the distributor's computer in order to establish the simultaneity of the action with the display of the selected currency. According to a second embodiment, said action performed on the gun is an actuation of the gun. "Activation" means the triggering of the distributor's flow meter

  obtained by the maneuver by the motorist of the trigger of the pistol.

  When triggered in this way, the flow meter sends the computer a series of electrical pulses, the simultaneity of the arrival of the first pulse with the display of the unit price determines the

selection of the chosen currency.

  The description which will follow with regard to the appended drawings,

  given as nonlimiting examples, will make it clear how

  consists of the invention and how it can be realized.

  Figure 1 is a front view of a liquid dispenser

according to the invention.

  FIGS. 2a and 2b are side views of a detector for the presence of the pistol of the liquid dispenser of FIG. 2, in

  the absence and presence of the pistol in its receptacle.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram of a computer of the distributor of

liquid of figure 1.

  FIGS. 4a and 4b are successive front views, during a dispensing, of the display device of the liquid dispenser of

  Figure 1, according to a particular embodiment of the invention.

  Figures 5a and 5b show another embodiment of the invention. Figures 6a and 6b show yet another mode of

realization of the invention.

  Figures 7a and 7b show yet another mode of

realization of the invention.

  In Figure 1 is shown in front view a liquid distributor, for example a fuel distributor for motor vehicles. Conventionally, this dispenser comprises a box in which are housed a certain number of hydraulic members, namely at least one pump intended to suck the fuel from an underground storage tank, a fuel degassing device, a flow meter capable of supplying a computer located in the head 20 of the distributor with an impulse signal representative of the fuel flow, and at least one hose 30 terminated by a dispensing gun 31 which, in the rest position, is placed in a

receptacle 32.

  In the distributor head 20, near the computer, is housed a display device 40 comprising a display 42 for the volume of fuel delivered, a display 43 for unit price and a display 41 for the amount to be paid. As shown in FIG. 3, the volume of fuel delivered is established, during distribution, by the computer 21 from the signal 12 received from the distributor's flow meter 11 after shaping by a signal conditioning device 212 . The amount payable is calculated based on the volume delivered and the unit price in a given currency. The display of these various data is controlled by a microcontroller 210 and a

interface 211.

  In order to be able to satisfy the requirements for displaying the amount to be paid in multiple currencies, Euro and local currency for example, the invention provides that the display means, constituted by the microcontroller 210 and the interface 211, are capable of alternately displaying the unit price in the various currencies, each unit price remaining displayed on the display 43 for a time t, of the order of a few seconds. The motorist stopped in front of the distributor therefore sees successively the unit price in Euro and in local currency. To select the currency of his choice, he must perform an action on the dispensing gun 31 when the unit price in the desired currency is displayed on the display 43. The computer 21 detects this simultaneity of the action and of the display, which has the effect of defining the currency in which the amount to be paid will appear on

  the display 41 during distribution.

  By display of the unit price is meant both the display of the unit price proper expressed in figures, and the display of characters representative of the desired currency. Figures 4a and 4b show a first example of a sequence

  display sequences on the distributor display device 40.

  In this example, the dispenser pump is first released manually by the service station manager from its control keyboard 100. This release operation has the effect of putting into operation the means 210, 211 of alternately displaying the unit price in Euro and in French francs FF. It will be noted that representative characters, Euro and FF, of each currency are displayed on the volume display 42, in synchronism with the corresponding unit price. Of course, these characters could just as easily appear on the amount payable 41 display. As long as no action is carried out on the dispensing gun 31, the unit prices in Euro and in FF are displayed successively for a time t of three

seconds for example.

  As shown in Figure 4a, to select a currency, the motorist must unhook the dispensing gun simultaneously with the display of the unit price in the desired currency. Then, to fill his tank, he will, in the usual way, squeeze the trigger of the gun. During the entire distribution, until the gun is hung up, the amount to be paid will appear on the display 41 in the selected currency. At the end of distribution, after hanging up, the amount to be paid will remain displayed in the chosen currency. Optionally, as can be seen in FIG. 4b, the volume display 42 can alternately display, every three seconds, the total volume delivered and the

  characters representative of the currency selected.

  Figures 2a and 2b, there is shown a device for detecting the presence of the dispensing gun in its receptacle 32, this in order to allow the detection of the off-hook, or on-hook, of the gun, necessary for the computer 21 to establish the simultaneity of action with the display of the unit price in the desired currency, as shown in FIG. 3. Said presence device essentially comprises a proximity sensor 21, of the magnetic switch type for example, capable of changing state depending on whether the pistol 31 is present or

not in receptacle 32.

  Figures 5a and 5b illustrate another embodiment of the sequence of Figures 4a and 4b. The currency selection and filling phases of FIG. Sa take place in the same manner as in FIG. 4a. On the other hand, in the case of FIG. 5b, after hanging up the pistol, we see that the amount to be paid is also displayed alternately in each currency, in synchronism with the unit price

in the corresponding currency.

  FIGS. 6a and 6b relate to the case of service stations which do not have a pump release system controlled from a keyboard 100 for manual control or which operate in automatic pump release mode. In accordance with FIG. 6a, the display sequence begins with an initialization phase carried out by the manager when he starts the dispenser, which has the effect of

  trigger the alternating display of the unit price in Euro and in FF.

  This display is present until a first motorist picks up the dispensing gun, this action causing the selection of the currency, as before, and the release of the dispenser pump. The motorist only has to press the trigger to fill his tank, the amount to be paid being displayed in the chosen currency. Figure 6b shows that at the end of distribution, when the gun is hung up, the amount to be paid is displayed in triple alternation, as in Figure 5b, in each currency and with an indication of the total volume of fuel delivered. This display in triple alternation is maintained until the arrival of the next motorist who, according to the general principle of the invention, can select the currency of his choice by picking up the pistol when it is displayed on the display device 40. FIGS. 7a and 7b illustrate another variant according to which the detachment of the gun causes at the same time the release of the dispenser pump, the reset of the displays and the alternating display of the unit price in Euro and FF. The selection of the desired currency is made at the start of filling by actuation of the trigger of the dispensing gun 31 at the time of display of the unit price in the selected currency. As described above, the selection of the currency is made by detection by the microcontroller 210 of the computer 21 of the simultaneity of the reception of the first pulse emitted by the flow meter 11 and of the display of the unit price in the chosen currency . Then, after hanging up the pistol, the amount to be paid is displayed in triple alternation, as in Figures 5b and 6b, until reset to

  zero by unhooking the pistol by the next motorist.

Claims (4)

  1 - Liquid distributor comprising a gun (31) for distributing said liquid and a display device (40) comprising a display (42) of volume of liquid delivered, a display (43) of unit price and a display (41) amount payable, characterized in that said distributor comprises display means (210, 211), capable of alternately displaying said unit price in a plurality of different currencies (Euro, FF), and means (210) for selecting the unit price in a given currency by detecting simultaneity of an action carried out on said pistol (31) and of the display, by said display means operating alternately, of the unit price in said given currency.   2 - Dispenser according to claim 1, characterized in that said display means (210, 211) are capable of alternately displaying characters representative of each currency on the display of volume of liquid delivered (42) or amount to pay (41), in   synchronism with the corresponding unit price.   3 - Distributor according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized   in that said action performed on the pistol (31) is a hook or hung up the pistol.   4 - Distributor according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized   in that said action performed on the gun (31) is an actuation gun.   - Distributor according to any one of claims 1 to 4,   characterized in that the display means (210, 211) are capable of alternately displaying the amount to be paid in each currency, in   synchronism with the unit price in said currency.