Automatic report register

• US 4,014,004 A
• Filed: 08/04/1975
• Issued: 03/22/1977
• Est. Priority Date: 08/04/1975
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Harris Corporation (L3Harris Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Harris Corporation (L3Harris Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Fuller, Robert Melvin
• Primary Examiner(s): Zache, Raulfe B.
• Application Number:
  US05/601,561
• Time in Patent Office: 596 Days
• Field of Search: 340/172.5, 340/152 R, 340/152 T, 325/31
• US Class Current: 340/10.41
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 3/00 Traffic control systems for marine craft marking of navigational route B63B22/16, B63B51/00

Abstract

A report register, for use in conjunction with radio receiver-transmitter of a mobile unit, such as a ship, for receiving, storing and displaying stored data, and being responsive to interrogation signal from a distant station for automatically outpulsing the stored data. A mode switch selects the storage location and identifies the data to be stored and includes an output position for enabling the register to automatically outpulse the data, in a preset sequence including the identity of the mobile unit, in response to the interrogation signal.

Claims

1. A report register for use with a mobile unit for automatically transmitting data to a distant station via a radio in response to an interrogation signal from the distant station, comprising:

input switch means for accepting input data to be stored;

means for storing data;

means for displaying data;

switch means having a plurality of record data positions and at least one transmit data position;

means responsive to said switch means in said record data positions for applying input signals received from said input switch means to said storage means;

means responsive to said switch means in said record positions for applying data stored in said storage means to said displaying means, and

means responsive to an interrogation signal and said switch means in said transmit position for outpulsing the data stored in said storage means to the radio for transmission.

2. A report register for use with a mobile unit for automatically transmitting data to a distant station via radio transmitter-receiver in response to an interrogation signal from the distant station, comprising:

keyboard means for inserting data into the register;

means for storing data;

means for displaying data;

switch means having a plurality of data record positions and at least one transmit position;

means responsive to said switch means for selecting a separate storage location in said storage means for each of said data record positions;

means responsive to the actuation of said keyboard means when said switch means is in the record positions for storing data in said storage means in the storage locations corresponding to the switch means record positions;

means responsive to said switch means in said record positions for applying data from said storage means to said displaying means from the storage locations corresponding to said switch means record positions;

indicia means coupled to said switch means for identifying the mode of operations corresponding to the record and transmit positions, and

means responsive to the receipt of a preset interrogation signal from the transmitter-receiver when said switch means is in the transmit position for outpulsing the data stored in said storage means and for enabling the transmitter-receiver to transmit said outpulsed data.

3. A report register for use with a mobile vehicle for automatically transmitting data to a distant station via a radio transmitter-receiver in response to an interrogation signal from the distant station, comprising:

input switch means for receiving input data to be stored;

digital processor means, including memory means for storing data;

means for displaying data;

switch means having a plurality of record data positions and at least one transmit data position;

means responsive to said switch means in said record data positions for enabling said processor means to apply input signals received from said input switch means to said memory means;

means responsive to said switch means in said record positions for enabling said processor means to apply data stored in said memory means to said displaying means, and

means responsive to said switch means in said transmit position for enabling said processor means to respond to a precoded interrogation signal from the transmitter-receiver for outpulsing the data stored in said memory means to the transmitter-receiver.

4. A report register for mobile vehicles for automatically transmitting data to a distant station via radio transmitter-receiver in response to an interrogation signal from the distant station comprising;

keyboard means for inserting data into the register;

digital processor means, including memory means for storing data;

means for displaying data;

switch means having a plurality of data record positions and at least one data send position;

indicia means coupled to said switch means for identifying the mode of operations corresponding to the data record and send positions;

circuit means responsive to said switch means for selecting a separate storage location in said memory means for each of said record positions and enabling said processor means to;

(a) respond to the actuation of said keyboard means when said switch means is in the data record positions for storing data in said memory means in the storage locations corresponding to the switch means record positions, and (b) to apply data from said memory means to said displaying means from the storage locations corresponding to said switch means data record positions, and

circuit means responsive to said switch means in the send data position for enabling said processor to respond to a precoded interrogation signal to outpulse the data stored in said memory means and for enabling the transmitter-receiver to transmit said outpulsed data.

5. A report register for mobile vehicles for automatically transmitting data to a distant station via a transmitter-receiver in response to an interrogation signal from the distant station, comprising:

a digital computer, including memory units, coupled to the transmitter-receiver;

keyboards means;

switch means, having a plurality of data entry positions and at least one data send position, for identifying the data to be entered and selecting the entry and send modes of operation;

circuit means connecting said switch means to said digital computer so that when said switch means is in said data entry position the data storage locations in the memory units are preselected in accordance with the switch positions, and when said switch means is in said data send position said digital computer is conditioned to outpulse the data stored in the memory units;

circuit means connecting said keyboard means to said digital computer so that, in response to actuation of a switch in said keyboard means, a digital value of the actuated switch is stored in the memory units at a location determined by the position of said switch means in one of said data entry positions;

circuit means for connecting said display means to said digital computer so that the data stored in storage locations corresponding to the data entry positions of said switch means is displayed;

circuit means for applying coded interrogation signals from the transmitter-receiver to said digital computer, and

precoded circuit means coupled to said digital computer providing an indication of the precoded interrogation signal assigned to the report register so that said digital computer responds to a preset interrogation signal and rejects others to outpulse the data in said memory units along with a precoded interrogation signal.

6. A report register as defined in claim 5 wherein:

said keyboard means includes a plurality of input lines, a plurality of output lines, and a plurality of switches interconnecting the input lines to said output lines in the form of a matrix, and

said keyboard means connecting circuit means connects said keyboard to said digital computer so said digital computer detects an actuated switch by applying signals to all input lines for detecting a signal on any of the output lines, and subsequently identifies the actuated switch by sequentially scanning the input lines for a signal on an output line, wherein a comparison of the input line scanned and the output line with a detected signal provides the identity of the actuated switch.

7. A report register as defined in claim 5 wherein:

said switch means connecting circuit means includes a decoder circuit responsive to sequential binary signals from said digital computer for applying sequential scanning signals to said switch means so that in response to a binary signal corresponding to the position of the switch means said digital computer detects a signal from the switch means thereby identifying the position of said switch means.

8. A report register as defined in claim 5 wherein:

said display means include a plurality of series oriented display elements; and

said display means connecting circuit means includes a first decoder responsive to binary signals from said digital computer for controlling the value to be displayed, and a second decoder responsive to binary signals from said digital computer for controlling the element to respond to the first decoder output signals.

9. A report register as defined in claim 5 wherein:

said precoded circuit means includes a strap field coupled to an encoder which in turn is connected to said digital computer, and a decoder coupled between said digital computer and strap field so that said encoder applies signals to said digital computer in response to preselected binary signals applied to said decoder.

10. A report register as defined in claim 5 wherein:

said digital computer includes a central processor, at least one read only memory, at least one random access memory, and a plurality of data lines interconnecting said central processor for communicating with said read only and random access memories for transmitting stored signals to and from said read only and random access memories.

11. A report register as defined in claim 5 wherein:

said digital computer sequentially applies data to said display means and detects the position of said switch means and the actuation of a switch in said keyboard means between sequential application of data to said display means.

12. A report register is defined in claim 11 wherein:

said digital computer detects the position of said switch means prior to storing the digital value of an actuated switch in said keyboard means.

13. A report register as defined in claim 12 wherein:

indicia means are coupled to said switch means for identifying the mode of operations corresponding to the data record and send positions.

14. A report register for mobile vehicles for automatically transmitting data to a distant station via a transmitter-receiver in response to an interrogation signal from the distant station, comprising:

a digital computer, coupled to the transmitter-receiver, including a central processor, at least one read only memory at least one random access memory, and a plurality of data lines interconnecting said central processor for communicating with said read only and random access memories for transmitting stored signals to and from said read only and random access memories;

switch means, having a plurality of data entry positions and at least one data send position, for identifying the data to be entered, and selecting the entry and send modes of operation;

circuit means connecting said switch means to said digital computer so that when said switch means is in said data entry position the data storage locations in random access memory are preselected in accordance with the switch position, and when said switch means in in said data send position said digital computer is conditioned to outpulse the data stored in the random access memory, including a decoder circuit responsive to sequential binary signals from said digital computer for applying sequential scanning signals to said switch means so that in response to binary signals corresponding to the position of the switch means said digital computer detects signals from the switch means thereby identifying the position of said switch means;

keyboard means including a plurality of input lines, a plurality of output lines and a plurality of switches interconnecting the input lines to said output lines in the form of a matrix;

circuit means connecting said keyboard means to said digital computer so that, in response to actuation of a switch in said keyboard, a digital value of the actuated switch is stored in the random access memory at a location determined by the position of switch means in one of said data entry positions, said digital computer detects an actuated switch by applying signals to all input lines and detects a signal on any of the output lines, and subsequently identifies the actuated switch by sequentially scanning the input lines for a signal on an output line wherein a comparison of the input lines scanned and the output line with a detected signal provides the identity of the actuated switch;

display means including a plurality of series oriented display elements;

circuit means for connecting said display means to said digital computer so that the data stored in storage locations corresponding to the data entry positions of said switch means is displayed, including a first decoder responsive to binary signals from said digital computer controlling the value to be displayed and a second decoder responsive to binary signals from said digital computer for controlling the element to respond to the first decoder output signals;

circuit means for applying coded interrogation signals from the transmitter-receiver to said digital computer, and

circuit means coupled to said digital computer providing an indication of the precoded interrogation signal assigned to the report register so that said digital computer responds to said precoded interrogation from said transmitter-receiver and rejects others to outpulse the data in said random access memory along with an identification code to said transmitter-receiver, including a strap field coupled to an encoder which in turn is connected to said digital computer, and a decoder coupled between said digital computer and said strap field so that said encoder applies signals to said digital computer in response to preselected binary signals applied to said decoder.

15. A report register as defined in claim 14 wherein:

said digital computer sequentially applies the data to said display elements and detects the position of said switch means, and the actuation of a switch in said keyboard means, between the sequential application of the data to said display elements.

16. A report register as defined in claim 15 wherein:

said digital computer detects the position of said switch means prior to storing the digital value of an actuated switch in said keyboard means.

17. A report register as defined in claim 16 wherein:

indicia means are coupled to said switch means for identifying the mode of operations corresponding to the data record and send positions.

18. A report register as defined in claim 17 wherein:

said digital computer, in response to the precoded interrogation signal, interrogates said circuit means including said strap field, said encoder and said decoder, to receive said identification code.

19. A report register as defined in claim 18 wherein:

said digital computer, in response to the precoded interrogation signal, enables the transmitter-receiver to transmit outpulse data.