JP2526907B2 - Multifunction electronic scales - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial field of application> The present invention is a so-called multifunctional electronic device having a unit conversion function, a number measurement function, an animal measurement function, etc. in addition to the usual weight or mass measurement in grams. Regarding scales.

<Prior Art> Generally, in a multifunctional electronic scale as described above,
Programs for each function are stored, and the switching of programs to be used is conventionally performed by giving a command by a switch provided on an electronic scale or by giving a command from a computer or the like connected to the electronic scale. Is going.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> By the way, in such a conventional multi-function electronic balance, for example, when performing number measurement, a keyboard or the like for inputting the unit weight of the sample may be connected, In this case, after the keyboard is connected, it is necessary to switch the program by operating a switch or the like, and the preparation work before the measurement is complicated, and there is a possibility that an incorrect operation may be performed to cause a malfunction. Further, when the selection switch is provided, the hardware cost increases accordingly.

In addition, when used as a scale for animal measurement, a printer is often connected.In this case, after connecting the printer, switch the switch to select the program for animal measurement, or switch from the printer to the scale. It is necessary to issue a command, which is similarly complicated and may cause malfunction.

In order to prevent such a situation, for example, to supply a dedicated electronic scale for animal measurement or the like, that is, to supply an electronic scale containing only a dedicated program, it is necessary to prepare a dedicated ROM separately or to install it. It is disadvantageous in terms of cost because it requires time management.

For the same purpose, it may be possible to automatically issue a command from a peripheral device such as a printer to select a program for the electronic scale, but the relationship between the balance and the power switch of the printer is turned on and off. It becomes a problem.

<Means for Solving Problems> The present invention stores a plurality of executable programs, and in an electronic balance equipped with a connector for connecting to a peripheral device, by connecting the peripheral device to the connector, The unique physical pattern for identification, which is set in advance on the peripheral device side, is identified through the connector, and the program to be executed is automatically selected from the stored multiple programs according to the identification result. It is characterized by being configured.

<Operation> Peripheral devices to be connected are determined corresponding to each measurement function of the electronic scale, and a physical pattern unique to each peripheral device is set on the peripheral device side. By connecting peripheral equipment to the connector of the electronic scale,
By configuring this physical pattern so that the electronic scale can identify it, it is possible to identify what the required function is,
The program to be executed can be automatically selected.

<Example> An example of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the embodiment of the present invention.

The load sensor 1 generates a signal corresponding to the load on the pan 11, and the signal is taken into the microcomputer 4 via the amplifier 2 and the AD converter 3.

The microcomputer is composed of a CPU 41, a ROM 42, a RAM 43, a non-volatile RAM 44 and an input / output port 45. In the ROM 42, in addition to a normal measurement program u for displaying the load on the pan 11 on the display 5 in grams, For example, programs for a plurality of functions such as programs a and a'for unit conversion measurement, programs b and b'for animal measurement, and a program selection program described later are written.
Further, the RAM 43 has an area for storing the digital conversion data from the load sensor 1 while sequentially shifting the data, and an area for storing unit conversion data input from the keyboard A or the like via the connector 7 described later. It is set. Further, in the nonvolatile RAM 44, addresses M ₄ and M ₅ for storing the identification result of the connected device are set as described later.

In addition to the AD converter 3 and the display unit 5 described above, the input / output port 45 is connected with a tare key 6 for giving a tare erase command and a connector 7 for connecting peripheral devices. ing. The connector 7 is provided with a common terminal P _c and a plurality of pulled-up terminals P _{0 to} P ₅ , of which the terminals P ₄ and P ₅ are terminals for identification described later.

2 (a) and 2 (b) are wiring diagrams of the peripheral devices connected to the above-mentioned multifunctional electronic scale, respectively. (A) is a keyboard A dedicated to unit conversion measurement, (b) is a dedicated animal measurement The wiring diagram of the keyboard B is shown.

The keyboards A and B are provided with connectors 8 and 9 which can be connected to the above-described connector 7, respectively. The connectors 8 and 9 have common terminals A _c and B _c , respectively, and a common terminal A via keys. Terminals connected to _c and B _c A _{0 to} A ₃ and B ₀
And .about.B _3, and further comprising identifying terminal A _4, A _5, and B _4, B _5. The connectors 8 and 9 are different from the connector 7 of the electronic scale in that the common terminal A _c or B _c is the common terminal P _c , the terminal A ₀ or B ₀ is the terminal P ₀ , and the A ₁ or B ₁ is P ₁ , A ₅ or B ₅ is connected to P ₅ , respectively.

Among the identification terminals of keyboard A, A ₄ is the common terminal A _c
Internally connected to, A ₅ floats. Further, in the keyboard B, the terminal B ₄ is floating, and B ₅ is connected to the common terminal B _c . Therefore, when the keyboard A is connected to the connector 7, the terminal P ₄ is at _Lo level and the terminal P ₅ is at _Hi level. Similarly, when the keyboard B is connected, the terminal P ₄ maintains the H _i level and the terminal P ₅ becomes _Lo . Connector 7
If nothing is connected to, both terminals P ₄ and P ₅ will maintain the H _i level.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing a program written in the ROM 42, and the operation will be described below with reference to this figure. It is assumed that 1 is written in the addresses M ₄ and M ₅ of the nonvolatile RAM 44 at the time of manufacturing at the factory.

Now, first, whether the terminal P ₄ of the connector 7 is at the H _i level L _o
It is determined whether it is in the level (ST1). If P ₄ is at the H _i level, then it is determined whether the terminal P ₅ is at the H _i level or the L _o level (ST2). If both P ₄ and P ₅ are at the H _i level, it is next determined whether the contents of the addresses M ₄ and M ₅ of the nonvolatile RAM 44 are 0 or 1 (ST3, ST4). If both M ₄ and M ₅ are 1, the normal measurement program u is selected (ST5).

If P ₄ is at the _Lo level in ST1, the unit conversion measurement program a is selected (ST7), and at the same time, the nonvolatile RAM 44
The contents of addresses M ₄ and M ₅ are 0 and 1 respectively (ST6).

Further, if P ₅ is at L _o levels in ST2, an animal measuring program b is selected (ST9), at the same time non-volatile RAM
The contents of addresses M ₄ and M ₅ of 44 become 1 and 0 (ST
8).

Further, if the 0 contents of the address M ₄ in ST3, the program a 'is selected (ST10), if 0 the contents of the address M ₅ in ST4, the program b' is selected (ST1
1).

As a result, by connecting the unit conversion measurement keyboard A to the connector 7, the unit conversion measurement program a
However, by connecting the animal measurement keyboard B to the connector 7, the animal measurement program b is selected,
As a general rule, the normal measurement program u is selected when nothing is connected to the connector 7. However, for example, if the keyboard A for unit conversion measurement is connected and then the keyboard A is detached from the connector 7, a unit conversion measurement program a ′ different from the program a is selected. The difference between the program a'and the program a is that, for example, the program a transfers data to the outside for printing, whereas the program a'does not transfer data. The relationship between the programs b and b'is also the same.

Here, the contents of the addresses M ₄ and M ₅ in the nonvolatile RAM 44 can be returned to 1 by, for example, a predetermined specific operation of the tare key 6.

As the dedicated peripheral devices connected to the connector 7, in addition to the keyboard as in the above example, any device such as a printer required for using the function can be used.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the programs a and a ′ and b and b ′ may be the same. In this case, once a peripheral device dedicated to a certain function is connected to the connector 7, it can be used as an electronic scale having the same function even if the peripheral device is subsequently removed.

Further, the nonvolatile RAM 44 for storing the identification result of the connected peripheral device may not be provided, and in this case, it is used as an electronic scale for the function only when the peripheral device for the predetermined function is connected. It can be used as a normal electronic scale by removing peripheral devices.

Further, although the tare key 6 is connected to the microcomputer 4 through the port different from the connector 7 in the above-described embodiment, it may be connected through the connector 7, that is, provided on the peripheral device side.

<Effects of the Invention> As described above, according to the present invention, the unique physical pattern for identification (that is, the pattern by the hardware) set in advance on the peripheral device side is used as the electronic scale for the peripheral device. By connecting to a connector, you can identify it through the connector and select the program to be executed automatically according to the identification result. It becomes the electronic scale of. As a result, not only the changeover switch is not required, which is advantageous in terms of cost, but also the operation of the changeover switch and the like is not necessary, and the risk of malfunction due to an operation error is eliminated.

The above-mentioned “physical pattern” is not limited to one that is printed or wired on the board in the peripheral device, but is generated by a PLA (Programmable Logic Array) or the like provided in the peripheral device. It may be one. In this case, various patterns can be generated for the number of cable wirings.

Further, when the identification result of the connected peripheral device is configured to be stored in the non-volatile memory, the peripheral device may be temporarily connected at the time of shipment to provide an electronic scale having a dedicated function. Many types of dedicated electronic scales can be manufactured using a common ROM, which helps reduce manufacturing costs.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a connection diagram of keyboards A and B connected to its connector 7, and FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing a program written in ROM 42. 1 …… Load sensor 11 …… Plate 4 …… Microcomputer 41 …… CPU 42 …… ROM 43 …… RAM 44 …… Nonvolatile RAM 45 …… I / O port 7,8,9 …… Connector P _c , P _o ~ P ₅ , A _c , A _o ~ A ₅ , B _c , B _o ~ B ₅ ...... Terminal

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An electronic scale, which stores a plurality of executable programs and which has a connector for connecting to a peripheral device, is preset in the peripheral device side by connecting the peripheral device to the connector. It is characterized in that a unique physical pattern for identification is identified through the connector, and a program to be executed is automatically selected from the plurality of programs according to the identification result. Functional electronic scales. 2. The multifunctional electronic scale according to claim 1, wherein the identification result is stored in a non-volatile memory.