GB2070829A

GB2070829A - Assimilating utility meter data

Info

Publication number: GB2070829A
Application number: GB8105286A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1980-03-05
Filing date: 1981-02-19
Publication date: 1981-09-09
Also published as: IT8147928A0; FR2477739A1; GB2070829B; AU546662B2; MX149057A; IT1142759B; BR8101200A; AU6756781A; FR2477739B3; DE3108327A1; JPS56137497A

Abstract

Utility meter data is assimilated at the meter locations by accumulating customer profile information for a plurality of meter customers on a base computer, transmitting said customer profile information over a telephone line to a telephone receiver and coupling the telephone receiver to a portable computer for imposing the customer profile information into it. The portable computer is then disconnected from the telephone receiver and carried to the site of a given meter whereupon the portable computer is actuated to segregate and to visually present customer profile information for the respective customer. The new meter reading which calculates the charge for utility usage and prints a bill for the meter customer at the site of the meter based upon that calculation. The updated customer profile information is imposed on a storage means of the portable computer for later transmission to the base computer by coupling the portable computer to a telephone transmitter of the manually held type. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Method and means of assimilating utility meter data Background of the invention The present invention relates to a method and means for utilizing a portable computer to assimilate utility meter data at the meter location, print a utility bill, and store updated data, the portable computer including means for connecting it to at least the manually held type receiver or transmitter of a telephone unit for communication with a base computer.

Conventionally, a typical meter reading cycle required printing route cards at a main office, shipping the cards to a branch office where the cards would be distributed to meter readers who would carry the cards to the meter locations for recording updated meter readings on them. The cards were then sent to the main office where they were read and a bill was computed, prepared and mailed to the customer. Such systems required substantial mailing costs, many people to perform clerical functions and inherent time delays between the meter reading and billing functions.

Subsequent systems such as that disclosed in my prior U.S. Patent 4,133,034 provided portable computers capable of calculating and printing a utility bill at the meter location at the time the meter was read. Whereas that system was a substantial advance in the art, it nevertheless required the meter reader to report to a branch office to receive an input tape or the like at the beginning of his route and to deliver the updated output tape at the end of his route for communicating the updated information to a main computer. Thus the size of a district which could be effectively serviced by a single branch office was necessarily limited. The daily handling of the tapes required certain clerical personnel and contributed generally to the wear and tear of the tapes. These problems are believed to be resolved by the present invention.

Summary of the invention The method and means of assimilating utility meter data according to the present invention comprises a portable computer which is connectable to at least the manually held type receiver or transmitter of a telephone unit for receiving or transmitting customer profile information from and to a remote base computer. Thus, customer profile information accumulated on a base computer is transmitted over a telephone line to a telephone receiver coupled to the portable computer having an information storage means onto which the information is imposed. The portable computer is disconnected from the telephone receiver, carried to a meter location and actuated to display at least the meter number and customer identification information of the respective customer.The current meter reading is imposed into the portable computer which is then actuated to calculate the charge for utility usage, print a bill for the meter customer and store the updated customer profile information. After servicing all of the meters on a given route, the portable computer may be connected to a telephone transmitter of the manually held type for transmitting the updated customer profile information over a telephone line to the base computer. Accordingly, the delivery of tapes between the individual meter readers and their branch office is eliminated as well as the clerical tape handling functions.

Brief description of the drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of an operator operating the portable computer of the present invention at a meter site; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the portable computer connected to the manually held type transmitter of atelephone unit; Figures 3 and 4 are detail views of the single cup acoustic couplers for connecting the portable computer to a telephone unit; and Figure 5 is a diagrammatic illustration of the operating sequence for the present invention.

Description of the preferred embodiment A small portable computer 10 having a shoulder harness 11 secured thereto has most of its components conventionally mounted within a housing 12 which is thus conveniently carried by a meter reader 13 as illustrated in Figure 1. A hand held manual control means 14 is connected to the housing 12 by a flexible coupling 16.

The computer 10 may be comprised essentially of conventional hardware well known in the art and the precise electronic circuitry is not disclosed herein. The manual control means 14 includes a visible message output board 18 which may be a conventional character display panel, and a plurality of depressable switches 20 which serve to recall information from the computer for display on the output board 18, and which serves to permit raw data to be placed within the computer. For a further disclosure of the structure and operation of the manual control means 14, reference is made to my prior U.S. Patent No. 4,133,034 issued January 2, 1979.

The portable computer 10 includes an electronic storage means (not shown) onto which customer profile information is imposed from a base computer and from which updated customer profile information is transferred to a remote base computer. To effect such communication between a remote base computer and the portable computer 10, the latter is provided with an input acoustic coupler or modem 22 (Figure 3) and/or an output acoustic coupler or modem 24 (Figure 4). The input acoustic coupler 22 includes a cup 26 which is adapted to be secured onto the manually held type transmitter 28 of a telephone unit 30 (Figure 2). Cup 26 houses conventional circuitry adapted for converting audible signals from the telephone transmitter 28 into electronic input signals which are transmitted to the portable computer 10 through wire 32.Single cup acoustic couplers of the type described are commercially available from Telxon Corporation of Bath, Ohio.

Likewise, the output acoustic coupler 24 includes a flexible cup 32 which is adapted to be secured onto the manually held type receiver 34 of a telephone unit 30. Cup 32 is connected to the portable computer 10 by wire 36 and houses circuit elements adapted for converting electrical output information signals from the portable computer 10 into audible signals capable of being picked up by the telephone receiver 34.

The meter reading and billing operation begins at the main or base computer, indicated at 38 in Figure 5, which is generally situated at the main offices of a utility company. Base computer 38 is connected to output printer 40 in the conventional manner for printing central office records and reports. Customer profile information for a plurality of meter customers is accumulated in the memory of the base computer. In addition, special instructions indicating problems with tampering, broken meter seals or glass or indicating such things as meter location and whether a dog is present may be stored as well. Normally, the information for a given customer will include the following: Customer Profile Special Instructions Account number 1.Instruction/codes Service address Dog Meter number Key in office Name Meter inside Previous Reading Date Previous Reading/Usage 2. Location Codes Maximum Use In House Estimated Maximum Reading Rate factorsidesignation 3. Special Codes Debit/credit Tampering Deposit Special Information The above information for all of the customers on the routes within a given district is transferred to a computer terminal 42 in the branch office for that district. Specifically, the base computer 38 is connected to a a conventional modem 44 for transmission of the information by wave transmission as indicated at 46 or over telephone lines as indicated at 48 to a corresponding modem 50 associated with the branch office computer terminal 42.

From the branch office, customer profile information is transmitted through a conventional modem 52 over a telephone line 54 to a telephone receiver 56 of the manually held type including transmitter and receiver portions 28 and 34 respectively. Transmitter portion 28 is coupled to a portable computer 10 for imposing all of the information of a given route onto the information storage means of the portable computer 10. The portable computer is then disconnected from the telephone receiver 56 and manually carried to the site of the first meter on a given route.

Upon arriving at the location of the first utility customer, the meter reader will actuate the portable computer to segregate and to visually present from the customer profile information stored in the portable computer at least the meter number and customer identity information for the first customer. The portable computer will also be actuated by the manual control means 14to sequentially display on the output board 18 any special instructions relating to meter location, dogs and the like.

While standing before the meter 60 as indicated in Figure 1, the operator will read from the meter, and place the meter reading in the portable computer 10 by actuating various of the switches 20. Another switch is then actuated to cause the computer to calculate or otherwise take into account the following factors: Computes the kilowatt hour usage.

Subtracts the last month's reading from the new reading.

The utility rate is applied.

Applies debit/credit entry.

Applies any special factors.

The operator then actuates another of the switches 20 to cause the bill 62 to be printed. The printed bill is deposited in a plastic sack and placed on the doorknob of the dwelling involved. As the computer prints the bill, the updated customer profile information reflected in the printed bill 62 is imposed on the information storage means of the portable computer 10. The operator can further impose on the storage means irregularities such as broken seals on the meter, cross dogs, or the like.

At the end of the day, all of the customers on the route have been billed on the day that their respective meters were read. At this point, the meter reader need only go to the nearest telephone whereupon the portable computer 10 may be connected to the receiver portion 34 of telephone receiver 56 by the acoustic coupler 24 and the portable computer may be actuated to transmit the updated computer profile information over the telephone line 54 to the branch office computer terminal 42.

The portable computer 10 thus have both unloading capabilities for receiving information from the base computer and downloading capabilities for transmitting updated information to the base computer. With this flexibility, the portable computer 10 can be unloaded or downloaded at any time from any location where there is a telephone. A meter reader does not need to go to his office or branch office in the morning to get his route information nor will it be necessary for him to go to the office at the end of the day to turn in his work. This chore can be handled in a matter of minutes from any telephone.

With this capability, it would additio#nally be possible to totally load each portable computer 10 with the full program in software supplied by the base computer. However, to save memory storage in the portable computer and lessen the chance of error, it is preferred to have some of the program such as the operating system, extended library, billing program logic, etc. in hard chips. This will save the majority of the portable computer memory capacity for route information.

It should be understood that the information storage means of the portable computer 10 may be of any of the conventional forms including tapes. It is preferred however that the portable computer include a solid state memory because of several considerations. The solid state chips weigh less, require less space and are highly energy efficient. Also, the cost of memory chips is less than the cost of tape drives. Most importantly, the solid state memory provides improved data reliability over a longer life span since it is not affected by heat, cold, humidity, dropping, etc. The ability to search the solid state memory forward and backward at random and to transmit information at higher speeds renders the solid state memory all the more attractive.

From the above description, it is seen that this invention achieves a substantial improvement in the process of assimilating utility meter data.

Claims

1. A method of assimilating utility meter data at the meter locations comprising: accumulating customer profile information for a plurality of meter customers on a base computer, transmitting said customer profile information over a telephone line to a telephone receiver of the manually held type, coupling said telephone receiver to a portable computer capable of being manually carried to the site of a given meter, said portable computer having an information storage means and having the capability of receiving and storing said customer profile information, and having the capability of updating, printing and presenting various of said customer profile information for said meter customers, disconnecting said portable computer from said telephone receiver, actuating said portable computer to segregate and to visually present from the customer profile information for a plurality of meter customers stored in said portable computer at least the meter number and customer identity information of a given meter customer, imposing into said portable computer the correct meter reading of said given customer at the site of the meter being read, actuating said portable computer to calculate the charge for utility usage, actuating said computer to print a bill for said meter customer at the site of said meter based upon said calculation, and imposing on said storage means the updated customer profile information reflected in said printed bill.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said portable computer is connected to a telephone transmitter of the manually held type, and transmitting said updated customer profile information over a telephone line to said base computer.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said printed bill is deposited at the service address of said given customer.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein said printed bill is deposited at the service address of said given customer.

5. A method of assimilating utility meter data at the meter locations, comprising, accumulating customer profile information for a plurality of meter customers, imposing said customer profile information on a storage means of a portable computer capable of being carried to the site of a given meter, said portable computer having the capability of receiving and storing said customer profile information, and having the capability of updating, printing and presenting various of said customer profile information for said customers, actuating said portable computer to segregate and to visually present from the customer profile information for a plurality of meter customers stored in said portable computer at least the meter number and customer identity information of a given meter customer, imposing into said portable computer the correct meter reading of said given meter customer at the site of the meter being read, actuating said portable computer to calculate the charge for utility usage, actuating said computer to print a bill for said meter customer at the site of said meter based upon said calculation, connecting said portable computer to a telephone transmitter of the manually held type, and transmitting said updated customer profile information over a telephone line to a base computer.

6. The combination of a device for assimilating utility meter data and a telephone unit having a receiver and transmitter of the manually held type, comprising, a portable computer comprising a computer housing, computer circuitry including an electronic storage means capable of storing customer profile information for a plurality of meter customers, printout means operatively connected to said computer circuitry, manual control means for actuating said portable computer circuitry and for putting raw data into said portable computer, said manual control means including a visible message output board connected to said computer circuitry whereby the operator can visually observe certain of the information contained in said computer as said information is imposed on said output board, said control means including means for segregating and visually presenting on said output board customer profile information for one meter customer from the customer profile information for a plurality of meter customers stored on said storage means, a base computer containing customer profile information connected to a telephone line, a telephone unit having a receiver and transmitter of the manually held type connected to said telephone line, and means for connecting said portable computer to at least one of said receivers or transmitters, for connecting said portable computer to said base computer.

7. A device for assimilating utility meter data at the meter location, comprising, a portable computer comprising a computer housing, computer circuitry including an electronic storage means capable of storing customer profile information for a plurality of meter customers, printout means operatively connected to said computer circuitry, manual control means for actuating said portable computer circuitry and for putting raw data into said portable computer, said manual control means including a visible message output board connected to said computer circuitry whereby the operator can visually observe certain of the information contained in said computer as said information is imposed on said output board, said control means including means for segregating and visually presenting on said output board certain profile information for one meter customer from the customer profile information for a plurality of meter customers stored on said storage means, and means for connecting said portable computer to at least the manually held type receiver or transmitter of a telephone unit.

8. A method of assimilating utility meter data substantially as hereinbefore described.

9. A device for assimilating utility meter data substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.