Fluid delivery control and registration system

• US 4,074,356 A
• Filed: 09/07/1976
• Issued: 02/14/1978
• Est. Priority Date: 09/07/1976
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Veeder Industries Incorporated (Danaher Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Veeder Industries Incorporated (Danaher Corporation)
• Inventors: Schiller, Robert J., Perrill, Theodore Charles
• Primary Examiner(s): Wise, Edward J.
• Application Number:
  US05/720,789
• Time in Patent Office: 525 Days
• Field of Search: 235/151.34, 235/92 FL, 222/28, 222/30, 222/33, 222/23, 222/29, 222/25-27, 328/65, 307/88 MP
• US Class Current: 705/413
• CPC Class Codes: B67D 7/228 using digital counting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply

Abstract

A fuel delivery control and registration system having a bank of four BCD price switches for establishing a unit volume price within a four place price range; a BCD memory for accumulating BCD cost and volume amounts of the fluid dispensed; a binary adder summation circuit operated by a decimal volume pulse provided for each one-hundredth increment or one-thousandth increment of a unit volume, depending on the established unit volume price, for indexing the BCD volume amount stored in the memory one count and for indexing the BCD cost amount stored in the memory by the decimal price of the decimal volume pulse increment; and cost and volume indicators with incandescent 7-segment numeral displays for registering the cost and volume amounts stored in the BCD memory. An operator'"'"'s control circuit provides for remotely manually authorizing a fluid delivery, for remotely temporarily discontinuing a delivery and recontinuing the delivery from the existing accumulated volume and cost amounts stored in the memory, and for remotely presetting a whole number volume or cost amount of fuel to be delivered and timely operating a two-stage fuel shut-off valve by means of serial comparison of each BCD amount of a preset multiple place BCD cost or volume amount and a corresponding multiple place BCD cost or volume amount stored in the BCD memory.

Claims

1. A fluid delivery station control and registration system for selectively controlling the delivery of fluid at the delivery station and for accumulating and registering the cost and volume amounts of fluid delivered, comprising a BCD price selector for establishing a BCD unit volume price within a multiple place decimal price range having at least dollar, ten cent and cent places, pulses means for providing a relatively high and low frequency volume pulse trains having 1000 and 100 pulses per unit volume respectively with a volume pulse for approximately each predetermined decimal increment of fluid delivered, selector means for selecting the relatively high frequency pulse train when the established BCD unit volume price is at least 1 dollar and the relatively low frequency pulse train when the established BCD unit volume price is less than 1 dollar, electronic storage memory circuit means having an electronic storage memory for accumulating and storing the cost and volume amounts of fluid delivered, and storage memory control means for selectively resetting the storage memory and for operating the storage memory circuit means for accumulating and storing in the storage memory the cost and volume amounts of fluid delivered in accordance with the established BCD unit volume price and the number of volume pulses of the selected pulse train.

2. A fluid delivery station control and registration system according to claim 1 further comprising multiple place cost and volume indicators connected to the storage memory circuit means and to the selector means for respectively displaying the cost amount stored in the storage memory to two decimal places and the volume amount stored in the storage memory to two decimal places if the relatively low frequency pulse train is selected and to three decimal places if the relatively high frequency pulse train is selected.

3. In a fluid delivery station control and registration system for selectively controlling the delivery of fluid at the delivery station and for accumulating and registering the amount of fluid delivered, comprising a unit volume price selector for selectively establishing a BCD unit volume price within a multiple place price range, pulse means providing an active volume pulse train with a volume pulse for approximately each predetermined decimal increment of a said unit volume of fluid delivered, electronic storage memory circuit means having an electronic storage memory for accumulating and storing the cost amount of each fluid delivery, storage memory control means for operating the storage memory circuit means for accumulating and storing in the storage memory a multiple place cost amount of fluid delivered in accordance with the number of volume pulses of the active pulse train and the established BCD unit volume price, the storage memory control means being selectively operable for operating the storage memory circuit means for resetting the storage memory for accumulating and storing a multiple place cost amount of the fluid delivered, and delivery control means manually operable for operating the storage memory control means for resetting the storage memory and activating the delivery station for delivering fluid, the improvement wherein the pulse means is operable for providing two interim higher and lower frequency volume pulse trains, each with a volume pulse for approximately each predetermined decimal increment of said unit volume of fluid delivered, having frequencies which differ by a factor of ten, wherein the storage memory control means comprises BCD unit volume price sensing means for sensing if the established BCD unit volume price is greater than a predetermined price level within said multiple place price range and operable for selectively operating the storage memory circuit means for accumulating and storing a multiple place cost amount of fluid delivered in the storage memory in accordance with the number of volume pulses of the higher frequency pulse train if the established BCD price is not less than said predetermined price level and in accordance with the number of pulses in the lower frequency pulse train if the established BCD price is less than the predetermined price level.

4. In a fluid delivery station control and registration system for selectively controlling the delivery of fluid at a delivery station and for accumulating and registering the amount of fluid delivered, comprising a two-stage delivery control valve with first and second stages operable respectively for reducing the rate of delivery and terminating the delivery, pulse means for providing a volume pulse train with a volume pulse for each predetermined incremental amount of fluid delivered, a BCD price selector for establishing a BCD unit volume price within a multiple place price range, electronic storage memory circuit means having a BCD storage memory with cost and volume sections, each having a plurality of BCD storage decades of ascending place, for accumulating and storing multiple place BCD cost and volume amounts respectively of fluid delivered, storage memory control means for operating the storage memory circuit means for accumulating and storing multiple place cost and volume amounts of fluid delivered in the cost and volume sections respectively of the storage memory in accordance with the number of volume pulses and the BCD unit volume price established by the BCD price slector, the storage memory control means being selectively operable for operating the storage memory circuit means for resetting the storage memory cost and volume sections for accumulating the cost and volume respectively of fluid delivered, delivery control means manually operable for operating the storage memory control means for resetting the storage memory cost and volume sections and activating the delivery station for delivering fluid, and preset control means for selectively presetting the amount of a fluid delivery and deactivating the delivery station when the preset amount is delivered, the improvement wherein the preset control means comprises manually operable selector means for selectively presetting a designated cost or volume amount of fluid to be delivered, having a least significant place higher than the least significant place of the corresponding cost and volume section of the storage memory, the selector means providing a diminished BCD amount equal to the designated amount minus one from its significant place, serial comparator means for serially comparing two multiple place BCD inputs and generating a "comparison" signal when they are the same and a "greater" signal when a first of said inputs is greater than a second of said inputs, and means connecting the serial comparator means to serially compare a multiple place BCD preset amount, comprising said diminished BCD amount and a fixed next lower place BCD 9 amount with the corresponding multiple place BCD amount stored in the corresponding memory storage section for generating a "comparison" signal when said BCD amounts are equal and a "greater" signal when the multiple place BCD amount stored in the corresponding memory storage section is greater than the multiple place BCD preset amount, the serial comparator means being connected for operating the first stage of the two-stage valve for reducing the rate of delivery when a "comparison" signal is generated and for operating the second stage for terminating the delivery when a "greater" signal is generated.

5. A fluid delivery station control and registration system for controlling the delivery of fluid at the delivery station and for accumulating and registering the cost and volume amounts of fluid delivered, comprising a BCD price selector for establishing a BCD unit volume price within a multiple place decimal price range, pulse means for providing a volume pulse train with a volume pulse for approximately each predetermined decimal increment of fluid delivered, electronic storage memory circuit means having an electronic storage memory for accumulating and storing the cost and volume amounts of fluid delivered, storage memory control means for selectively resetting the storage memory and for operating the storage memory circuit means for accumulating and storing in the storage memory the cost and volume amounts of fluid delivered in accordance with the established BCD unit volume price and the number of volume pulses and multiple place cost and volume indicators connected to the storage memory circuit means for respectively displaying the cost amount stored in the storage memory to two decimal places and the volume amount stored in the storage memory to at least two decimal places, each of the multiple place cost and volume indicators having multiple place numeral displays consisting essentially of seven bar type incandescent numeral displays, the incandescent numeral displays of the cost and volume indicators except for the lowest order decimal place display of the volume indicator being substantially the same size and the lowest order decimal volume place display being substantially smaller to visibly distinguish the cost and volume indicator displays.

6. In a fluid delivery station control and registration system for controlling the delivery of fluid at the delivery station and for accumulating and registering at the delivery station the cost and volume amounts of fluid delivered, comprising volume and cost indicators at the delivery station, each having a bank of a plurality of incandescent numeral indicators, for displaying multiple place cost and volume amounts of the fluid delivered, a volume pulse means operable for generating a volume pulse for approximately each predetermined volume increment of fluid delivered, price selector means for selectively establishing a BCD unit volume price within a multiple place price range, electronic accumulating means operable by each volume pulse for accumulating and storing a multiple place BCD volume amount of the fluid delivered, and a multiple place BCD cost amount of the fluid delivered in accordance with the BCD volume amount and the BCD unit volume price, connecting means for connecting the bank of incandescent numeral indicators of the volume and cost indicators to the electronic accumulating means for respectively displaying the BCD volume and cost amounts stored therein, power supply means for supplying power to the incandescent numeral indicators, manually operable control means for selectively activating and deactivating the fluid delivery station for delivering fluid, the improvement wherein the control and registration system comprises power control means for energizing the incandescent numeral indicators at a relatively higher intensity when the fluid delivery station is activated for delivering fluid and at a relatively lower intensity when the delivery station is inactivated for delivering fluid and for de-energizing the incandescent numberal indicators after a predetermined interval after the delivery station is inactivated for delivering fluid.

7. A fluid delivery station control and registration system according to claim 6 further comprising error detection means for detecting pulse generation errors of the pulse means and BCD errors of the BCD unit volume price established by the price selector means and operable when an error is detected for cycling the incandescent numeral displays off and on.

8. A fluid delivery station control and registration system according to claim 7 wherein the error detection means is operable for deactivating the delivery station when an error is detected.

9. A fluid delivery station control and registration system according to claim 6 wherein the power supply means comprises a main power supply and a backup battery power supply having a lower voltage than the main power supply, wherein the main power supply is connected for sequentially temporarily energizing the incandescent numeral indicators for a predetermined interval, and wherein the control and registration system further comprises main power supply failure sensing means operable for alternately cycling the incandescent volume and cost indicators off and on when there is a main power supply failure and with the indicators being temporarily energized for a longer interval than said predetermined interval.

10. A fluid delivery station control and registration system for selectively controlling the delivery of fluid at the delivery station and for accumulating and registering the volume amount of fluid dispensed and the cost amount of fluid dispensed in accordance with the volume amount dispensed and an established multiple place unit volume price, comprising a BCD price selector for establishing a plurality of BCD price signals of the amounts of the multiple places respectively of a multiple place unit volume price;

pulse means providing a pulse for each predetermined decimal fraction of said unit volume of fluid dispensed;

a BCD adder having first and second BCD inputs for respective BCD input signals, a third input for an add one input signal, a BCD summation output for a BDC summation signal of the lowest place of the summation of the first, second and third input signals, and a carry output for a carry output signal of any carry from the summation;

a multiple word BCD read/write memory having a plurality of BDC memory words forming a BCD cost word section with a plurality of BCD cost words of ascending order of significance for accumulating a multiple place cost amount of the fluid dispensed and a BCD volume word section with a plurality of BCD volume words of ascending order of significance for accumulating a multiple place volume amount of the fluid dispensed, a timing circuit comprising a binary counter connected to be repetitively indexed through a multiple count cycle having a plurality of counts corresponding to said plurality of BCD memory words respectively and having a multiple lead binary output connected for repetitively activating the plurality of BCD memory words of the memory through a cycle providing for repetitively activating the BCD memory words of each word section in an ascending order sequence;

the words of one of said word sections being in the first half of the binary counter cycle and words of the other word section being in the second half of the binary counter cycle, a binary decoder connected to the multiple lead binary output of the counter providing a plurality of digit time signals for the plurality of counts of the counter respectively, the memory having an input for writing a BCD signal into the active memory word and a read output for reading the BCD signal of the active memory word;

a cost register having a plurality of incandescent numeral cost place displays for corresponding BCD cost words respectively for registering a multiple place cost amount of the fluid dispensed;

a volume register having a plurality of incandescent volume place displays for corresponding BCD volume words respectively for registering a multiple place volume amount of the fluid dispensed;

first control means interconnecting the summation output with the memory input, interconnecting the carry output with the third input, and interconnecting the read output with said first BCD adder input and being operable for each digit time signal to write into the active memory word a BCD summation signal of the lowest place summation of any carry signal from the summation for the preceding memory word pulse of the same word section, any second BCD input signal and the preceding BCD signal of the active memory word, means interconnecting the read output with the cost and volume registers and timely operating the incandescent place displays of the cost and volume registers with the digit time signals for registering the BCD signal of the corresponding cost and volume words respectively; and

second control means interconnecting the BCD price selector and said second BCD adder input and operable by each pulse generated by the pulse generator for applying the BCD price signals to the second BCD adder input in synchronism with the activation of the corresponding cost words respectively for inclusion in the summation written therein and for applying an add one signal to the third input in synchronism with the activation of the lowest order volume word for inclusion in the summation written therein, power supply means for supplying power for operating the system, and failure sensing means for sensing at least one predetermined failure in the system and operable for alternately energizing and de-energizing the highest binary value output lead of the multiple lead binary output of the binary counter for alternately cycling the cost and volume counters.

11. A fluid delivery station control and registration system for selectively controlling the delivery of fluid at the delivery station and for accumulating and registering the volume amount of fluid dispensed and the cost amount of fluid dispensed in accordance with the volume amount dispensed and an established multiple place unit volume price, comprising a pair of price selectors at the delivery station, each selectively settable for establishing a BCD unit volume price for the fluid within a multiple place price range and for displaying the unit volume price established by the setting thereof, a pair of price selectors being mounted for displaying their unit volume prices to different locations, volume pulse means providing a volume pulse for each predetermined incremental volume amount of fluid dispensed, electronic storage memory circuit means having an electronic storage memory for accumulating and storing the cost and volume amounts of each fluid delivery, electronic memory control means for selectively operating the storage memory circuit means for accumulating and storing in the storage memory the volume amount of the fluid delivered in accordance with the number of volume pulses and for accumulating and storing the cost amount of the fluid delivered in accordance with the number of volume pulses and the BCD unit volume price established by at least one of the price selectors and electronic price selector comparison means for comparing the established BCD unit volume prices of the pair of selectors and deactivating the delivery station for delivering fluid if the established BCD unit volume prices of the pair of selectors are not the same.

12. A fluid delivery station control and registration system according to claim 11 further comprising control means for selectively activating and deactivating the fluid delivery station for the delivery of fluid, detection means for detecting resetting either of the price selectors while the delivery station is activated for the delivery of fluid and deactivating the delivery station for the delivery of fluid if either of the price selectors is reset while the delivery station is activated for the delivery of fluid.

13. A fluid delivery station control and registration system for selectively activating a fluid delivery station for dispensing fluid and for deactivating the fluid delivery station for dispensing fluid and for accumulating and registering the cost amount of fluid dispensed in accordance with a multiple place unit volume price, comprising volume pulse means operable for providing first and second relatively lower and higher frequency pulse trains, having pulses respectively for different relatively larger and smaller decimal fractions respectively of said unit volume of fluid dispensed, a multiple decade BCD price selector for establishing a BCD unit volume price within a multiple place unit volume price range, a multiple word BCD read/write memory having a plurality of BCD memory words forming a BCD cost word section with a plurality of BCD cost words of ascending order of significance for accumulating a BCD multiple place cost amount of the fluid dispensed, first control means connected for repetitively activating the BCD memory words of the cost word section in an ascending order sequence for reading a BCD amount stored therein and writing a BCD amount into storage therein, addition means operable through an addition cycle by each volume pulse of one of the pulse trains for adding each BCD place amount of the BCD unit volume price to the corresponding BCD price amount stored in the corresponding word of the memory and then writing the summation thereof plus any carry from the preceding summation into the memory word for thereby adding, for each such volume pulse, a corresponding decimal cost to the prior accumulated cost stored in the BCD cost word section, price sensing means for sensing the established unit volume price relative to a predetermined price level by sensing the established BCD price amount of one of the places of the multiple place unit volume price range and for selectively connecting the said relatively higher and lower frequency pulse trains for operating said addition means through an addition cycle for each pulse of the selected pulse train in accordance with the BCD price amount of said one place of the multiple place unit volume price range.

14. A fluid delivery station control and registration system for selectively controlling the delivery of fluid at the delivery station and for accumulating and registering the cost and volume amounts of fluid delivered, comprising a BCD price selector for establishing a BCD unit volume price within a multiple place decimal range having at least dollar, ten cent and cent places, pulse means for providing relatively high and low frequency volume pulse trains having 10a and a pulses per unit volume respectively with each pulse train having a volume pulse for approximately each predetermined unit volume decimal increment of fluid delivered respectively, selector means automatically operable for selecting the relatively high frequency pulse train when the established BCD unit volume price is equal to and greater than a predetermined price and for selecting the relatively low frequency pulse train when the established BCD unit volume price is less than said predetermined price, electronic storage memory circuit means having an electronic storage memory for accumulating and storing the cost and volume amounts of fluid delivered, and storage memory control means for selectively resetting the storage memory and for operating the storage memory circuit means for accumulating and storing in the storage memory the cost and volume amounts of fluid delivered in accordance with the established BCD unit volume price and the number of volume pulses of the selected pulse train.

15. A fluid delivery station control and registration system according to claim 14 wherein the pulse train selector means is automatically operated by the storage memory control means in conjunction with resetting the storage memory for selecting one of said pulse trains in accordance with the BCD unit volume price established by the price selector.

16. A fluid delivery station control and registration system according to claim 14 further comprising multiple place indicator means connected to the storage memory circuit means and to the selector means for respectively displaying the cost amount stored in the storage memory to two decimal places and displaying the volume amount stored in the storage memory to two decimal places if the relatively low frequency pulse train is selected and to three decimal places if the relatively high frequency pulse train is selected.

17. A fluid delivery station control and registration system according to claim 16 wherein the indicator means comprises a multiple place indicator with at least five places and decimal indication means connected for automatically displaying the volume amount stored in the storage memory to two decimal places if the relatively low frequency pulse train is selected and to three decimal places if the relatively high frequency pulse train is selected.

18. In a fluid delivery station control and registration system for selectively controlling the delivery of fluid at a delivery station and for accumulating and registering the amount of fluid delivered, comprising a two-stage delivery control valve with first and second stages operable for reducing the rate of delivery and terminating the delivery respectively, a price selector for establishing a unit volume price within a multiple place price range, resettable accumulator means having multiple place cost and volume sections respectively for accumulating and storing multiple place BCD cost and volume amounts of fluid delivered in accordance with the volume amount of fluid delivered and the established unit volume price, delivery control means operable for resetting the accumulator means and activating the delivery station for delivering fluid, and preset control means for selectively presetting the amount of fluid delivery and deactivating the delivery station when the preset amount is delivered, the improvement wherein the preset control means comprises manually operable selector means for selectively presetting a designated amount of fluid to be delivered having a least significant place higher than the least significant place of the corresponding multiple place section of the accumulator means, the selector means providing a diminished BCD preset amount equal to the designated amount minus one from its least significant place, comparator means for comparing first and second multiple place BCD inputs and generating a "comparison" signal when they are the same and a "greater" signal when a first of said BCD inputs is greater than a second of said inputs, and means connecting the comparator means to compare a multiple place BCD preset amount, comprising said diminished BCD preset amount and a fixed next lower place BCD nine amount, with the corresponding multiple place BCD amount stored in the corresponding section of the accumulator means for generating a "comparison" signal when said multiple place BCD amounts are equal and a "greater" signal when said corresponding stored multiple place BCD amount is greater than said multiple place BCD preset amount, the comparator means being connected for operating the first stage of the two-stage valve for reducing the rate of delivery when a "comparison" signal is generated and for operating the second stage for terminating the delivery when a "greater" signal is generated.

19. A fluid delivery station control and registration system according to claim 18 wherein the manually operable selector means comprises first selector means operable for individually selecting each of a plurality of whole number designated amounts.

20. A fluid delivery station control and registration system according to claim 19 wherein the manually operable selector means comprises second selector means operable for selectively establishing the designated amount as either a cost or volume amount.

21. A fluid delivery station control and registration system for controlling the delivery of fluid at the delivery station and for accumulating and registering the cost and volume amounts of fluid delivered, comprising a price selector for establishing a unit volume price within a multiple place price range, accumulator means for accumulating the volume amount of fluid delivered to at least two decimal places and the cost amount of fluid delivered to at least two decimal places in accordance with the volume amount delivered and the established unit volume price, and multiple place cost and volume indicators connected to the accumulator means for respectively displaying the cost amount to two decimal places and the volume amount to at least two decimal places, each of the multiple place cost and volume indicators having multiple place numeral displays consisting essentially of seven bar type incandescent numeral displays, the incandescent numeral displays of the cost and volume indicators excepting for the lowest order decimal place display of the volume indicator being substantially the same size and the lowest order decimal volume place display being substantially smaller to visibly distinguish the cost and volume indicator displays.

22. In a fluid delivery station control and registration system for controlling the delivery of fluid at the delivery station and for accumulating and registering at the delivery station the cost and volume amounts of fluid delivered, comprising volume and cost indicators at the delivery station, each having a bank of a plurality of incandescent numeral indicators, for displaying multiple place cost and volume amounts of the fluid delivered, price selector means for selectively establishing a unit volume price within a multiple place price range, volume pulse means operable for providing a volume pulse for approximately each predetermined unit volume increment of fluid delivered, electronic accumulating means operable by each volume pulse for accumulating and storing a multiple place volume amount of the fluid delivered, and a multiple place cost amount of the fluid delivered in accordance with the volume amount delivered and the established unit volume price, connecting means for connecting the banks of incandescent numeral indicators of the volume and cost indicators to the electronic accumulating means for respectively displaying the volume and cost amounts stored therein, power supply means for supplying power to the incandescent numeral indicators, and manually operable control means for selectively activating and deactivating the fluid delivery station for delivering fluid, the improvement wherein the control and registration system comprises error detection means for detecting pulse generation errors in the volume pulse means and price errors in the unit volume price established by the price selector means and operable when an error is detected for cycling at least some of the incandescent numberal indicators off and on.

23. In a fluid delivery station control and registration system for controlling the delivery of fluid at the delivery station and for accumulating and registering at the delivery station the cost and volume amounts of fluid delivered, comprising volume and cost indicators at the delivery station, each having a bank of a plurality of incandescent numeral indicators, for displaying multiple place cost and volume amounts of the fluid delivered, price selector means for selectively establishing a unit volume price within a multiple place price range, volume pulse means operable for providing a volume pulse for approximately each predetermined unit volume increment of fluid delivered, electronic accumulating means operable by each volume pulse for accumulating and storing a multiple place volume amount of the fluid delivered and a multiple place cost amount of the fluid delivered in accordance with the volume amount delivered and the established unit volume price, connecting means for connecting the bank of incandescent numeral indicators of the volume and cost indicators to the electronic accumulating means for respectively displaying the volume and cost amounts stored therein, power supply means for supplying power to the incandescent numeral indicators, and manually operable control means for selectively activating and deactivating the fluid delivery station for delivering fluid, the improvement wherein the power supply means comprises a main power supply and a backup battery power supply having a lower voltage than the main power supply, wherein the main power supply is connected for sequentially temporarily energizing the incandescent numeral indicators of the cost and volume indicators for a predetermined on/off time interval relationship and wherein the control and registration system further comprises main power supply failure sensing means operable for alternately cycling the incandescent volume and cost indicators off and on when there is a main power supply failure and with each of the volume and cost indicators having an on phase with their incandescent indicators energized for a longer on/off time interval relationship than said predetermined relationship.

24. A fluid delivery station control and registration system for selectively controlling the delivery of fluid at the delivery station and for accumulating and registering the volume amount of fluid delivered and the cost amount of fluid delivered in accordance with the volume amount delivered and an established multiple place unit volume price, comprising a price selector having a plurality of rotary BCD price selector decades of increasing order selectively angularly settable for selectively establishing a BCD unit volume price within a multiple place BCD price range, volume pulse means operable for providing a volume pulse for approximately each predetermined unit volume increment of fluid delivered, manually operable control means for selectively activating and deactivating the fluid delivery station for the delivery of fluid, electronic storage memory circuit means having an electronic storage memory for accumulating and storing the cost and volume amounts of each fluid delivery, electronic memory control means for selectively operating the storage memory circuit means for accumulating and storing in the storage memory the volume amount of the fluid delivered in accordance with the number of volume pulses and for accumulating and storing the cost amount of the fluid delivered in accordance with the number of volume pulses and the BCD unit volume price established by the price selector, and price selector detection means for detecting resetting each of the BCD price selector decades during the delivery of fluid and deactivating the fluid delivery station for the delivery of fluid if any of the BCD price selector decades is reset while the delivery station is activated for the delivery of fluid.

25. A fluid delivery station control and registration system according to claim 24 wherein the price selector detection means is operable for detecting that any of the rotary BCD price selector decades is at an intermediate angular setting between angularly spaced BCD price settings thereof and for deactivating the fluid delivery station for the delivery of fluid if any of the BCD price selector decades is at a said intermediate angular setting while the delivery station is activated for the delivery of fluid.

26. A fluid delivery station control and registration system according to claim 24 further comprising volume and cost indicators at the delivery station, each having a bank of a plurality of incandescent numeral indicators, for displaying multiple place cost and volume amounts of the fluid delivered, and wherein the price selector detection means is operable, when detecting that a BCD price selector decade has been reset during the delivery of fluid, for cycling at least some of the incandescent numeral indicators off and on.

27. In a fluid delivery station control and registration system for controlling the delivery of fluid at the delivery station and for accumulating and registering at the delivery station the cost and volume amounts of fluid delivered, comprising volume and cost indicators at the delivery station, each having a bank of a plurality of incandescent numeral indicators, for displaying multiple place cost and volume amounts of the fluid delivered, price selector means for selectively establishing a unit volume price within a multiple place unit volume price range, volume pulse means operable for providing a volume pulse for approximately each predetermined unit volume increment of fluid delivered, electronic accumulating means operable by each volume pulse for accumulating and storing a multiple place volume amount of the fluid delivered and a multiple place cost amount of the fluid delivered in accordance with the volume amount delivered and the established unit volume price, connecting means for connecting the bank of incandescent numeral indicators of the volume and cost indicators to the electronic accumulating means for displaying volume and cost amounts stored therein respectively, power supply means for supplying power to the incandescent numeral indicators, and manually operable control means for selectively activating and deactivating the fluid delivery station for the delivery of fluid, the improvement wherein the power supply means comprises a main power supply and a backup battery power supply and wherein the control and registration system further comprises main power supply failure sensing means operable for deactivating the fluid delivery station for delivering fluid and for alternately cycling the volume and cost indicators off and on when there is a main power supply failure.

28. A fluid delivery station control and registration system according to claim 27, wherein the main power supply is connected for sequentially temporarily energizing the incandescent numeral indicators of the cost and volume indicators for a predetermined on/off time interval relationship, wherein the main power supply failure sensing means is operable for alternately cycling the volume and cost indicators off and on when there is a main power supply failure and with each of the volume and cost indicators having an on phase with their incandescent numeral indicators energized for a longer on/off time interval relationship than said predetermined relationship.

wherein R³ is an alkylene group having from 1 to 8 carbon atoms, and R⁴ is hydrogen or an alkyl radical, having from 1 to 8 carbon atoms;

R² is an alkoxy or acetoxy group;

n is a positive integer of 1 to 3; and

(ii) a metal ester of the formula M--(OR)_x, wherein M is selected from the group consisting of titanium, aluminum, and zirconium;

R is an alkyl radical having from 1 to 8 carbon atoms, and x is equal to the number of valence bonds of M; and